"Grandma, Grandpa, I'm kowtowing to you! I wish Grandma and Grandpa a happy Spring Festival, happiness and reunion, good health, and may everything go your way!"
On the second day of Lunar New Year, Li Ye brought his wife and children to his mother-in-law's home. The moment she entered, Little Pouch briskly kowtowed to offer New Year's greetings.
Of course, the little girl was so efficient at kowtowing mainly because there was a reward in "real gold and silver."
It was just like the famous zoologist Pavlov's theory of conditioned reflexes. As long as there was a red envelope every time, she kowtowed with more and more vigor.
And ever since Little Pouch's new year's money had been handed over to Grandma Fu Guiru for safekeeping last year, the little thing had become increasingly motivated to make money. That little mouth of hers was sweeter than anything.
Even her arithmetic had visibly improved because of her red-envelope income. She used to count on her fingers, but now she had learned to use paper, pen, and a calculator.
Yesterday, on the first day of Lunar New Year, she had punched away at the calculator, beep beep beep, calculating several times, then made crooked entries in her little notebook.
Li Ye asked who had taught her bookkeeping, and Little Pouch said she had learned it from her little aunt.
But Li Ye wondered whether Little Pouch's money-grubbing ways since childhood had been passed on to her by Li Ying.
"Hahahaha! Little Pouch, are you going to become a comic performer when you grow up?"
Teacher Ke knew all too well what her granddaughter was like. She had long prepared a red envelope, and now she handed it over while teasing her.
"Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa."
Little Pouch took the red envelope