His new clothes were torn, his father had grown tired of beating, and the couple faced tears in the New Year.
Ye Jiaxing, facing his crying parents, could not blame them for the pain he was enduring; he could only sigh that his family was too poor and had been bullied because of their poverty.
Ye Jiaxing’s brothers were not much better off; they too were dragged home by their parents and beaten.
But they all said they had done nothing, merely helped a brother who was about to be beaten.
How could brothers not stand up for each other!
Their parents called them fools. If others were fighting, why should they get involved?
Ye Jiaxing had fought with a rich family for the sake of a girl, not considering the situation of his own household. Would the daughter of Hongji’s house marry him?
The boys, thus admonished by their parents, were not seen in a good light, and chastised again for not having any fields to cultivate after the New Year. What were they to do!
The boys, previously always lazy, now felt helpless. Their parents announced that after the second day of the New Year, they must go to the mountains to clear new lands.
And they must grow crops, else they would starve.
One by one, they looked worried, realizing there would be no idleness in the days to come.
Ye Jiaxing thought working was better than this land clearing.
Thinking thus, they pleaded again with their parents to speak to Hongji’s house, hoping to work there after the New Year.
Although the sons were finally keen to work and earn money for the family, the painful cost it had come at was hardly cause for cheer.
Thus, the family decided that after the second day of the New Year they would go to Hongji’s house, allowing their surplus labor to work there.
Hongji had bought more estates that needed workers, a well-known fact; yet because it was not yet New Year, they had not decided whether to go.
After this incident, Hongji’s house would have no shortage of help.
Hongji, holding his little daughter, brought his five daughters back home, indifferent to visitors. Seeing that his daughters were unharmed, he took them to their rooms, instructing them not to go out.
In the future, no matter the rich man’s daughter’s invites or invitations, he would not let them attend.
Ye Luoqi, as the eldest sister, felt she had failed to protect her sisters adequately today and should not have accepted the invitations.
However, what followed was not her intention; this quarrel had tarnished her reputation.
Ye Fengqi, among the sisters, was the first unable to contain her anger:
"Daddy, who knew they were such hypocrites, why should we let them look down on us! We won’t attend their events in the future!"
As for the five invitations received today, after this incident, of course, the other four were declined.
Hongji looked grim... instructing his daughters not to go out, to stay in their rooms and meet visitors only if they wished, otherwise, not to see them.
At this moment, they could not have imagined being kept in mind by the other party.
After instructing his daughter, Hongji left with some unease in his confident gaze, for the day was crowded with visitors and he had just rushed out, leaving his guests behind.
Mrs. Li was also holding her son, receiving villagers, her gaze continually shifting to the entrance, relieved to see her husband returning with their daughters unharmed.
The commotion outside was unknown to Hongji’s father, who was enjoying his time drinking with peers of his age, delighting in their flattery.
Mrs. Lai, averse to the cold, stayed in her room, ordering food to be placed on the table as she ate, gazing out the window, watching everyone who entered the courtyard.
Staying in her room during the New Year was another desire in Mrs. Lai’s heart.
Most who came to visit were poor, arriving empty-handed during the New Year, consuming their food, and hoping to collect their red packets.
Mrs. Lai, stingy by nature, thought these people wished in vain to receive her red packets.
In this locality, if you meet someone slightly older and are well-off, you also give red packets, as do older generations like hers to the younger ones, not to mention the little children.
Thinking through this, if the villagers were not 1000, there were at least 800, and even handing out tens or hundreds of red packets would amass a considerable number if one were stingy, with one copper coin per packet.
She would not act like Hongji or Mrs. Li, feigning wealth and distributing so many red packets during the New Year period.