Ye Yaodong shook his head with a helpless smile, stuffed the money into her arms, and stood up. "Stop fussing and go back to bed. It's already the first day of the lunar new year. In a few hours, every household will be setting off firecrackers again."
The Old Lady was just as stubborn. She tugged on his clothes and refused to let him leave, insisting on stuffing the packet of money into his pocket. "Take it, or I won't be able to sleep easy. Just consider it your New Year's money. You're going to look after me in my old age anyway. I eat your food, drink your water, live under your roof, and spend your money. If you won't take it, I'll move back to the Hometown tomorrow and live off your father."
Ye Yaodong truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All the sentiment from earlier had been worn away by their back-and-forth refusals.
Before he could take it out and return it, the Old Lady finished speaking and hurried nimbly back to her room.
Once inside, she waved at him before shutting the door. "Hurry back to bed. It's very late."
"So you do know it's late? Yet you waited up until now."
She chuckled. "Go on, go back to your room. Remember to keep a little for yourself. Don't hand it all over."
Seeing him take the red paper packet out of his pocket again, the Old Lady quickly shut the door.
Ye Yaodong smiled helplessly and weighed the banknotes wrapped in red paper in his hand. They weren't very heavy, but they weighed heavily on his heart.
The old woman couldn't save much money. What she had saved was either from her younger days or gifts from her children. There was probably a