When Lin Miao was little, her mother had told her that one was not allowed to open red packets in front of those who gifted them. So, Lin Miao tucked her prize in her pocket. She even kept her hands in with the money to make sure none of the bills could fly out unnoticed. However, she still resisted her urge to sum up the prize and count how much money there was.
Even the coach pitied her when he saw her expressions caused by resisting her urge.
Lin Miao ran home after returning to her school and saying goodbye to her coach.
The house they rented was very close to her school. She only had to turn through one alley.
Lin Miao skipped up the stairs and eagerly opened her door. Stepping inside, she saw her younger brother studying and her mother preparing dinner. She shut the door behind her and exuberantly announced the news, “Mom, Didi, I won! I got prize money!”
Lin Miao took out the great red packet the event host awarded her.
Lin Miao’s mother paused, then she cleaned her hands on her apron, surprised. “You went to a competition?”
It suddenly came to her realization that she didn’t tell her family about her competition because she anticipated that she would lose again.
She was worried about it hindering her mother’s work if she lost...
She also wanted to keep her face. It was fine for her to lose in front of strangers, but it would be so embarrassing to lose in front of her parents.
Lin Miao quickly changed the topic with her prize, “Let me split this first!”
Lin Miao took the thick stack of bills out and started to count and distribute it into five piles, “One for Papa, one for Mama, one for Didi, one for Gege, and one for me.”
And then she repeated, “One for Papa, one for Mama, one for Didi…”
Tears flooded Lin Miao’s mother’s eyes. She was touched by Lin Miao’s genuine actions and almost cried.
Then, she quickly wiped her eyes while Lin Miao was focused elsewhere. She also pushed their money all back to Lin Miao’s pile. “Pile” was a bit of an overstatement, there were only a few bills per person.
“It’s all yours. You won it, so you should save it.” Lin Miao’s mother said.
Lin Miao’s younger brother agreed, “I’ll also be able to make money once I get a bit older.”
“Let me share this with everyone. It’s quite a feat for me to win, so this may be the last time if you don’t want anything.” Lin Miao said.
The problem wasn’t about sharing the money. She was just happy that she had gained money!
She had won three thousand in total, so each of the five piles had six hundred yuan.
Lin Miao flipped through her drawers for empty red packets and then packed each pile into a separate packet.
She tucked the six hundred dollars for the Young Master in the biggest red packet, it looked a bit empty...
Lin Miao excitedly gave everyone in her family their red packets during dinner. She borrowed her father’s phone to call the Young Master afterwards.
Lin Miao’s mother had wanted to purchase her a phone for a long time. However, Lin Miao thought it was unnecessary. She didn’t have time to play games on it during school, and her school had telephones. The telephone cards she bought lasted forever. Smartphones were too expensive and Lin Miao didn’t know where she would put it, which would make it terribly inconvenient for her.
At home, she could use her dad’s phone. Moreover, she didn’t have a need to call anyone other than the Young Master, plus he often visited her, so she told her mom she didn’t need a phone.
Meanwhile, the Young Master soon picked up the line.
Lin Miao’s first sentence was, “Gege! I Won!”
“Good job, Shuishui!” The Young Master congratulated as he flipped through the pictures.
“Does Gege have any time tomorrow?”
While Lin Miao talked to the Young Master on the phone, her mother collected her father and younger brother’s red packets and stored them in a drawer.
For Lin Miao’s future.
Lin Miao returned to her school for the night since Tan Jing was still afraid of sleeping alone.
Her mother and younger brother walked her to the school and only left after seeing her enter her dorm.
Lin Miao brought some of her mom’s crispy pork for Tan Jing.
A moment after Lin Miao settled herself, Tan Jing returned from practice. “Shuishui! You’re finally back!”
“I won!” Lin Miao said ecstatically.
“I knew you would win!” Tan Jing said as she leaned on Lin Miao’s shoulder, “It was so boring today playing with the new teammates while you were gone.”
Lin Miao pulled her into their room and closed their door. “There was also prize money!”
Tang Jing blinked in surprise as she ate a piece of crispy pork. “Did you not know? My mom told me a long time ago.”
Lin Miao started to question her life, “...”
Tan Jing rested her head on her desk, “If we don’t have money and turn out to be jobless in the future, we’d starve to death…”
Lin Miao thought for a bit; she seemed to be right.
Lin Miao blinked. Even though her school was free, she needed to pay for her meals and new clothes when she grew out of her current ones...
She would be playing badminton instead of working, so her mother would still have to pay for her expenses if she didn’t have money…
Lin Miao quietly saved her share of the prize.
Tournaments only happened occasionally, and there was no guarantee that she would win, so she still had to be conservative.
But she wasn’t regretful of sharing her prize with her family. It was a rare occurrence, and she wanted to share the happiness.
The next day, the Young Master received a great red packet upon entering the door to his room.
The Young Master was stunned.
Lin Miao’s excitement had been diluted by the night, but she still couldn’t resist being happy in front of the Young Master, “Gege, I have money now, this red packet is for you.”
Her older brother always bought her snacks and cartons of milk. He always came to help her study and was super nice to her. However, she didn’t know what to give in return. Her brother seemed to have everything. She felt that she was the happiest when she received her prize, so she decided to share it and the happiness that was associated with it.
Seeing that the red packet had words on it, the Young Master quickly realized that it was her prize money. No wonder she was so ecstatic on the phone yesterday.
Lin Miao was a bit shy, “I also split it with my family, so don’t be afraid of taking it~”
The Young Master looked at her sparkling eyes and gingerly received it. He felt that he was holding the prettiest red packet, the cutest in the world.