She and Miao Ying each held a cardboard box filled with items Zhou Wang had prepared in advance.
Under the curious gazes of the relatives, Zhou Wang stood up and, following the order of the seats, began distributing the red envelopes from the box.
"Auntie, this is for you and Uncle, thanks for changing my diapers when I was little!"
"Oh, you child, that’s not necessary..."
Despite his aunt’s smiling refusals, Zhou Wang still pressed the red envelope into her hand.
The red envelope was the largest kind, with a thickness equivalent to half a brick, it was clear it held a significant amount of money. Encouraged by her sister-in-law, Aunt took a peek and couldn’t stop grinning.
The envelope contained a standard ten thousand yuan.
This amount was about a third of Aunt’s annual cash income...
Zhou Wang hadn’t considered cigarettes or liquor for these relatives. Money was simply the most practical gift.
"Uncle, back when you were at the textile factory, I sure caused a lot of trouble in your dorm. This is for you..."
"Little Uncle, there’s no need for us to say much, hahaha..."
"Auntie, thank you for not hitting me too hard back when you caught me smoking in the fields..."
"Aunt..."
He didn’t miss a single family among the five households. On the surface, all the red envelopes appeared to be ten thousand each, but Zhou Wang gave a knowing wink to his little uncle, Zhao Guilin.
The envelope for Little Uncle came with a bonus, leaving him with a few extra thousand as "pocket money." Even though Little Uncle could make money, his status in the family was dire. Let’s see if he could appreciate the gesture...
"Zhou Wang, why didn’t you give your grandmother a large red envelope too?"
Little Aunt asked curiously.
"If I overshine here, my mom would scold me!"
Zhou Wang waved his hand with a smile. "So, the respect for Grandma is left for my mom to express..."
"You cheeky boy, always with the loose talk!"
Zhao Guihua playfully scolded, but still sat next to Grandma, took out the envelope she’d prepared, handed it to Grandma, and whispered something to her.
Zhou Wang just watched the scene with a smile, not probing into how much money his mom gave.
For Grandma, Zhou Wang naturally had the deepest feelings. Otherwise, when buying high-end medical insurance, he wouldn’t have considered the age limits first.
But when it came to respecting elders, there had to be some thought in it.
Giving them too much money might not be a good thing. Grandma didn’t really have many places to spend it, so in this regard, Zhou Wang let Mom manage it as she saw fit, he wouldn’t interfere.
"Of course, since it’s Grandma’s birthday, I, as the leading grandson, have to make a gesture."
After his mom and Grandma finished, Zhou Wang clapped his hands with a smile, attracting everyone’s attention again.
"Grandma, would you like to see what foreign countries are like?"
Sitting next to Grandma again, Zhou Wang put an arm around her shoulder and said mysteriously.
"Oh my, going abroad?"
It took Grandma a moment to grasp what her eldest grandson meant.
"Yep!"
Zhou Wang laughed, "I’ve already arranged it for you. Just waiting for my dad and mom to take some time off to take you to Europe for a 21-day, 10-country tour, so you can have a good time!"
"We’d be taking Grandma?"
Zhou Dajun and Zhao Guihua, who were unaware of the plan, were dumbfounded.
"Yeah, mom’s tea room being open or not doesn’t matter. And Dad, it should be easy for you to take leave, since you’ve been transferred to the archives. If it really doesn’t work, you can take early retirement. You’ve worked hard for half a lifetime, take mom sightseeing."
Zhou Wang’s words touched both Zhou Dajun and Zhao Guihua’s hearts; they had no reason to refuse.
The thought of going to Europe filled them with excitement and anticipation.
Few of their generation had been abroad, Zhou Dajun had barely stepped out once, if counting the time he visited a border marker...
"Elders, cousins, all of you are welcome to join. Don’t worry about expenses; I’ve got the food, accommodation, and tickets covered. All you need to do is make time and have fun!"
Zhou Wang didn’t let the envy of other relatives last too long, quickly glancing around with a grin.
Once Zhou Wang said this, the atmosphere in the room heated up again.
Only a fool would pass up a free trip abroad!
Zhou Wang actually welcomed more people joining; after all, Grandma loved a lively crowd. With so many children with her, her experience would only be maximized.
For the elderly, having the family together was the most important thing, no matter where.
Just like the lyrics say, "simpler than six hundred bucks."
"Elders, whether you want to go is up to you. If you do want to go, register with my mom and send over your ID cards. You don’t need to worry about anything else."
After they laughed and chatted for a while, Zhou Wang wrapped up with a final note.
Passports, visas, tickets, everything would be managed by Brother Ruan. Once Jiang Qingkui got the list, she just had to send it to Brother Ruan’s company.
As for Zhou Wang, he was only responsible for the bill. He had little interest in traveling with elders.
"Xiao Xin, come over here!"
After arranging for the elders, Zhou Wang waved to his eldest cousin.
"Brother..."
The eldest cousin was from Second Aunt’s family, who had just graduated high school, barely making the cut for a second-tier university.
"Here, this is a gift to congratulate you on getting into college."
Zhou Wang took out a laptop, a tablet, a phone, and a pair of Bluetooth earphones from the box one by one.