At that moment, everyone had but three words in their minds: What’s her angle?
What on earth would such a young, pretty, and wealthy girl see in an older man with a child from a previous marriage?
Could she really just be after the role of a stepmother??
While everyone was deep in their musings, Yang Hao, having parked the car, walked into the banquet hall with Liu Yani.
“Hao is here.”
Hao Fang was the first to spot Yang Hao.
Then everyone’s gaze shifted towards the entrance of the banquet hall.
Yang Hao was dressed in a casual Hermes suit that day, looking very sharp. Especially after losing some weight, he appeared remarkably refreshed and lively.
“Hao has a different aura about him, looks a lot younger!”
Yang Huizhi remarked with emotion.
“Indeed, he looks about thirty now,” Hao Fang nodded and agreed.
In his heart, Liang Fei quietly muttered, This doesn’t look like someone in dire straits, but rather has a successful person’s air.
“Uncle, Aunt, Little Aunt…”
Walking over to the table where the Yang Family members were seated, Yang Hao first greeted a few of the elders.
“Hao, when did you get yourself such a beautiful girlfriend like Xinyi? We had no idea at home; you kept it very well hidden!”
Aunt Hao Fang teased.
“Well, now you know!”
“Xinyi, this is Aunt.”
Yang Hao placed his hand naturally on Sun Xinyi’s shoulder and introduced her.
“Huizhen has already introduced us.”
“You sure know how to make a big move in silence,” Hao Fang sighed.
Yang Hao simply smiled, not saying much, and took a seat with Sun Xinyi.
“Hao, have you made a fortune again?”
Liang Xiaojun glanced at Yang Hao sitting across from him and ventured to ask.
“Not bad, I made a little money!”
Yang Hao gave a noncommittal response. He understood this little uncle of his: he was the kind of relative everyone has, the one who despises the poor and fawns over the rich.
When your family is doing well, he licks your boots more than anyone, but if you fall on hard times, he has a basketful of snide remarks and mockery at the ready.
If you had to sum up such a relative in four words, it would be: better off without them.
So Yang Hao was somewhat reluctant to entertain his little uncle.
However, such relatives are not entirely useless after all; they do serve a certain purpose.
For instance, they can be used as a backdrop to showcase yourself!
“Are we giving red envelopes today or writing in the gift ledger?”
Not seeing any red envelopes on the table, Yang Hao asked.
“Writing in the gift ledger.”
Liang Xiaojun pointed to a corner of the banquet hall where a table was set up with three people sitting behind it, receiving gifts.
“Hao, now that you’ve made some money, you should remember to repay your gratitude!”
“Your Uncle helped you a lot when you were in a tight spot…”
Liang Xiaojun added, obviously suggesting that Yang Hao should contribute a generous gift, and at the same time curious to see just how much his wealthy nephew would give, to confirm if he had truly made money.
“You are right, Uncle.”
Yang Hao nodded, while inwardly he snarked: Do I need you to remind me?
Uncle’s family was truly beyond reproach toward Yang Hao. Knowing Yang Hao needed money, they did not hesitate to give him a hundred thousand yuan.
Although Yang Hao had already repaid the money, he remembered the favor.
Not all relatives are willing to help you out in your time of need!!
The reality is, not throwing a few biting comments your way is considered good enough.
Yang Hao stood up from his seat, ready to contribute his gift.
“Let’s go too, no need to wait for Big Brother and Sister-in-law…”
Seeing Yang Hao getting up, Liang Xiaojun also stood up. No one at the table had given their gifts yet; they had been waiting for Yang Guomin to arrive.
Liang Xiaojun, curious how much his seemingly prosperous nephew would give, took the initiative to organize the group.
“Hao, why haven’t your parents come yet?”
Yang Guofu asked.
“I’m not sure, maybe there’s traffic on the road!”
Yang Hao had sent a WeChat message to his mother when he left Guanjiang Lanting. She replied that they were about to leave, so they should have been arriving soon.
“Alright, then let’s not wait for them.”
The group from the table proceeded to the gift ledger station.
Writing in the gift ledger is a traditional way of receiving gifts. The host family usually finds someone with beautiful handwriting to record all the gifts from friends and relatives.
The person responsible for collecting the money is a trusted family member of the host. Currently, seated behind the gift table collecting money are two people; one is the sister of Yang Hao’s sister-in-law, Tian Miaomiao, and the other is Sun Qingmei, the sister of Yang Hao’s aunt.
It’s clear to see that in Uncle’s family, the women are indeed capable of carrying half the sky; there were no members of the Yang Family handling the money.
“Yang Guofu, two thousand.”
Approaching the gift table, Yang Guofu passed over the cash he had prepared in advance.
He and his siblings had already agreed to give two thousand each per family.
The person in charge of recording was an accountant from Yicheng Steel Group, surnamed Liu.
Accountant Liu had excellent penmanship, and the leaders of Yicheng Steel Group would always ask for his help with their family celebrations.
For this grandchild’s full-month celebration, Yang Guoqiang had also invited Accountant Liu over.
“Yang Guofu!”
“Is this Director Yang’s cousin?”
Accountant Liu recorded the amounts while casually asking a question.
“Mm, I’m the third child in the family,” Yang Guofu nodded in confirmation.
Sun Qingmei, who was collecting the money, knew Yang Guofu as well, and greeted this “relative by marriage,” but in her mind, she thought that people from the old Yang Family didn’t give a small amount for the gift money.
Their Sun Family side all gave a unified gift of one thousand, after all, it was just a baby’s full-month celebration, not a major event like a wedding.
“Yang Huizhen, two thousand.”
“Yang Huizhi, two thousand.”
After Yang Guofu had given his gift, his two sisters also passed their money over one after another.
“It seems these are sisters from the main family.”
Accountant Liu was a man in his fifties with a propensity to chat, muttering as he wrote down the names.
After several elders had given their gifts, Liang Fei approached with a cheerful smile: “Liang Fei, two thousand.”
Seeing him give two thousand, Yang Guofu and Yang Huizhen couldn’t help but glance at him, as according to the local customs, unmarried younger brothers and sisters actually didn’t need to give gift money.
Because being unmarried meant not having established one’s own household, so it wouldn’t matter if Liang Fei didn’t give a gift at all.
Of course, this still depended on personal circumstances; some people used customs as an excuse to save money, while others, feeling goodwill toward their siblings, were willing to spend it.
So Liang Fei giving money wasn’t an issue, but the problem was that he gave quite a bit, as much as the elders.
What Yang Guofu and Yang Huizhen didn’t know was that Liang Fei’s decision to give the gift was actually prompted by his father, Liang Xiaojun.
Liang Xiaojun wanted to suck up to his second brother’s family and planned to give more money during the full-month celebration, but since Yang Guofu and Yang Huizhen had already agreed to give two thousand per family, it wouldn’t look good if he acted differently, so he came up with the idea of sending the money through his son.
Liang Fei felt very proud giving the money, as two thousand was already a lot.
Watching Accountant Liu write down his name, Liang Fei finally stepped aside, content, and then turned his gaze to Yang Hao.
He thought to himself, if I, as the younger brother, have given two thousand, you, as the older brother, surely can’t give less than me.
Yang Hao hadn’t been paying attention to Liang Fei, his cousin. He took Sun Xinyi’s backpack and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, pulled out a stack of red bills.
Holy crap!
Ten thousand!
To give so much!!!
Everyone was astonished.
Especially Liang Xiaojun, who had just mentioned Yang Hao, had not expected this elder nephew to really be “grateful”!
To give ten thousand for a full-month celebration!
Sun Qingmei and Tian Miaomiao, sitting behind the table collecting money, were also a bit stunned, as ten thousand was currently the largest amount given.
The people who gave that were parents-in-law of Yang Hao’s cousin.
In fact, it was just like transferring money from one hand to the other within the family.
But Yang Hao’s case was different; he was actually giving out that much…
However, just when everyone was in shock, Yang Hao took out another stack of red bills from Sun Xinyi’s bag.
Holy shit!
Twenty thousand!!
Liang Fei’s eyes bulged out.
Liang Xiaojun unconsciously opened his mouth in astonishment.
You’re trying to show gratitude, but isn’t this a bit too much?
If you give twenty thousand, where is my second brother going to put his attention if not on our four thousand!!
Liang Xiaojun was feeling some regret, thinking he shouldn’t have spoken about being “grateful.”
But from the current situation, it seemed his words didn’t make a difference; Yang Hao obviously came prepared!
Yet, while everyone was still stunned, Yang Hao took out three more stacks of red bills from Sun Xinyi’s bag and spoke indifferently, “Yang Hao, fifty thousand!”
Holy crap!!
Fifty thousand!!!
Huh???
This…
Everyone’s faces were filled with shock.
If it had been ten or twenty thousand, folks might have just been momentarily impressed.
But fifty thousand was truly too much!
In a city like Yicheng, where many people earned a monthly salary of three to four thousand, Yang Hao casually spending fifty thousand was equivalent to an entire year’s salary for some.
Liang Fei swallowed hard, his gaze towards his elder cousin involuntarily changing.
A man who could give a gift of fifty thousand must naturally earn a significant amount of money.
Thinking back on how he wanted to control this elder cousin, it now seemed somewhat laughable.
Liang Xiaojun also had a complex expression. Giving fifty thousand in one go suggested that this elder nephew might have really struck it rich again.
“Are you Director Yang’s nephew?”
Accountant Liu, coming to his senses, began to write the name, curiously asking.
“Mm-hmm.”
Yang Hao nodded, but didn’t say much else.
Sun Qingmei couldn’t help but take several more glances at Yang Hao. Her sister had told her about this nephew, how he was once successful with five hotpot restaurants in Jiangcheng, and then they all went under, leaving him with a huge debt, even his wife left…
But looking at him now, he seems to have made it big again!
Really capable!
Sun Qingmei inwardly marveled, but her hands never stopped working, placing stack after stack of red bills into the bill counter.
Tian Miaomiao, standing nearby, was taking a serious look at Yang Hao. She’d heard her sister talk about this man, who her brother-in-law even jokingly considered introducing to his own elder brother — presumably him!
Although it was a joke at the time, her sister scolded her brother-in-law, accusing him of trying to push her into a pit of fire.
But now, it seemed this man might not be so bad after all.
Tall and mighty, quite handsome, and so generous with his money, the only drawback seemed to be that he was divorced with a kid, but it was a daughter, which wasn’t necessarily out of the question…