(New book, asking for recommendation votes!!!)
In the living room, regarding Zhou Xing's education of Mo Jingchun, everyone nodded slightly. The same kind of ledger, who in this room doesn't have a similar one at home?
After Mo Jingchun's mother, Zhou Wan, passed away, why did the villagers come to Mo Jingchun's house spontaneously to help and keep coming to pay their respects and even bring gifts for days?
All the respect and connections were slowly accumulated by Mo Jingchun's mother and father, and now this "ledger" has been passed on to Mo Jingchun.
With his head down, Mo Jingchun, whose vision was a bit blurry, softly murmured:
"Got it, Uncle."
Zhou Xing raised an eyebrow and casually asked, "Really got it, or just pretending to understand?"
"Really got it."
Zhou Xing nodded, "It's best if you really understand and can be sensible."
"I'm not forcing you, now the burden of this family is something you have to carry, whether you want to or not."
After speaking, Zhou Xing got up and offered his seat.
"Sit down and remember it slowly, don't mess up the accounts, or it'll be a laughingstock later."
In rural areas, reciprocity is important, and how much you give as a gift is particular. The figures in the ledger serve as crucial reference values.
The "laughingstock" Zhou Xing mentioned refers to the worry that Mo Jingchun might carelessly record a wrong amount, like if someone gives your family a gift of 200 yuan, but the ledger shows only 100. When it's their turn to receive gifts, giving 200 yuan based on a previous 100 could lead to misunderstandings. Giving 150 instead might upset them.
As they say, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news spreads a thousand miles. Within days, everyone in the village would know.
At the table, Mo Jingchun's hands trembled slightly as he counted each bill of money, silently tallying in his mind.
The wad of red money in Mo Jingchun's hand was precisely taken out by Zhou Xing.
Zhou Xing noticed that his nephew Mo Jingchun finished counting the last bill and knowingly asked:
"Finished counting? How much is it?"
"It's a total of 6,000 yuan." Yes, Mo Jingchun counted carefully and found exactly sixty bills, much more than he had initially estimated.
"Hmm."
Zhou Xing just nodded and said nothing more, stepping aside without further comment.
Zhou Xing: 6000 yuan
Mo Jingchun recorded this on a blank page and then continued to slowly count another wad of red notes.
Focused on recording the accounts, Mo Jingchun didn't notice that when he reported 6,000 yuan, a few of his aunts and uncles exchanged strange glances, looking a bit embarrassed.
Unsurprisingly, the gifts from the younger uncle's and older aunt's families were also 6,000 yuan each. Mo Jingchun knew they must have discussed beforehand.
The reason Mo Jingchun was so sure wasn't just because the amounts given by the older uncle, younger uncle, and older aunt were the same; it was mainly because he often saw his mother calling to discuss gift amounts with them before.
Becoming more adept in his actions, Mo Jingchun opened the granduncle's red envelope before everyone and, after counting, looked back towards Zhou Xing by the window, seeking help with uncertain eyes.
After all, Mo Jingchun was just a high school graduate, and he couldn't discern whether to announce the amount before recording it, like earlier.
"Why are you looking at me? Just read it out."
"Th-three thousand..."
Seeing Zhou Xing silent, Mo Jingchun didn't dare to look up and make eye contact with Granduncle Mo Changyou.
As expected, the other uncles gave 3,000 yuan each, but what surprised Mo Jingchun was that the two aunts gave 5,000 yuan each.
Mo Jingchun bit his lip, his nose tingling.
The two aunts were busy in the kitchen and weren't in the living room; it was their husbands who handed over the red envelopes.
At this point, leaning against the window, Zhou Xing spoke again in a deep voice, "Take the ledger and the money and lock them up. After lunch, I'll go with you to the bank to deposit them, so you don't lose them through carelessness."
Mo Jingchun obediently nodded, took the money and ledger to his room, and locked them in the drawer where the ledger was usually kept. It was the first time he held such a large sum of cash, totaling 37,000 yuan.
After passing the entrance exam to Jing University, the school awarded him a prize of 50,000 yuan, but it was credited directly to his bank account rather than given in cash.
The number 50,000 and the tangible 37,000 yuan in hand felt significantly different.
After a lunch prepared with the help of his two aunts, Mo Jingchun rode with Zhou Xing on a motorcycle to the town's bank, depositing the 37,000 yuan into his account.
As they exited the bank lobby, Zhou Xing patted Mo Jingchun's shoulder with his rough hand.
"Xiaochun, sometimes even a penny can trip up a hero. You can never be too careful with money matters."
Mo Jingchun opened his mouth, but finally just breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
"Let's go, I'll take you home."
"Your Aunt and I have to head back soon too; there's still a lot to be done at home."
Back home, Mo Jingchun was surprised to find only Aunt, holding Candy, was left. Everyone else had gone; the motorcycles and cars that had been parked in the yard were nowhere to be seen.
"They've all gone back. You know, everyone's busy harvesting rice these days."
As she spoke, Yu Yaqin continued, "Even if you have to take care of Candy and can't help them much, when you're free during the day, you should still go help keep an eye on your uncles' kids so that they can work without worry."
"It'll also save you from having to cook lunch for yourself, right?"
"I understand, Aunt."
"Alright, he's not that young anymore; he's got some sense of measure." From the motorcycle, Zhou Xing waved.
Mo Jingchun took Candy, who was asleep, from his aunt's arms and watched her get on the motorcycle.
"Xiaochun, if you need anything, just call your uncle."
Yu Yaqin's voice gradually faded, and finally, the small motorcycle carrying the two disappeared around the bend.
For a moment, the house turned peaceful again, and Mo Jingchun felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
For several consecutive days, following his aunt's advice, Mo Jingchun helped take care of the kids. Although taking care of children can be quite challenging, it filled the void in his heart, and smiles appeared more frequently on his face.
On August 16th, Mo Jingchun finally received the long-awaited laptop. Despite its high cost, he gritted his teeth and bought it.
Online, people often say that software development heavily demands good computer specs. However, Mo Jingchun didn't dare even think about running a full version of an AI virtual assistant on it.
He felt that it would be quite impressive if the computer could handle ten threads of the AI virtual assistant simultaneously.