Chapter 1 The Red Packet Refusal
Husband refused immediately.
"Mom, Elder Brother only gave our daughter a thousand yuan last month—I’m not giving him Ten Thousand And One."
I felt a flicker of satisfaction inside me.
I knew Husband had been bitter about Red Packets for years.
Five years ago, when Elder Brother got married, Husband had just graduated with a monthly salary of three thousand yuan but still gave five thousand yuan as a gift because he was his only brother’s wedding guest.
Two years later, when we married, Elder Brother only gave us one thousand yuan in return.
At the time, I’d betted Husband that Elder Brother wouldn’t give more than five thousand yuan—he didn’t believe me.
"No way! He only has one younger brother—I gave him five thousand yuan three years ago! He’d never go below that!"
Of course, he was proven wrong again.
When Husband later brought up this matter with his brother, Elder Brother replied casually:
"Huh? Five thousand? I thought you gave five hundred—you always give five hundred! That’s why I doubled it this time."
"How much could you possibly earn when you first graduated? Five thousand? You’re remembering wrong."
Years had passed—there was no proof left but silence and swallowed resentment.
This incident became a thorn in Husband’s side—the five thousand yuan he saved for two months of frugal living had been dismissed as insignificant by his own brother’s careless words.
When Elder Brother visited our newborn daughter afterward, he joked with Husband:
"You complained my wedding gift was too small before—this time I gave you a big one for your baby!"
I’d hoped he’d finally shown some conscience—but it was still just one thousand yuan.
Husband had sworn then he’d never give his brother an extra cent again.
It wasn’t hard to understand his anger—Elder Brother ran an advertising company earning four hundred to five hundred thousand yuan annually in pure profit alone—and last year he’d bought his sister-in-law’s husband both a house and car without hesitation while refusing us ten thousand yuan when we needed help buying our own home during our Confinement Period struggles over School District Property costs earlier that year…