Incompetent Elder Sister

Every family pastes spring couplets on New Year's Eve without exception.

Even the neighbors across the street, who rarely came home, brought out their ladders early, gathering together to paste the spring couplets.

Adults were in charge of pasting, and children were responsible for holding the ladders steady. Everyone had a job to do.

In previous years, Shen Shi was the one who climbed the ladder. Now that Shen Nian was taller than Shen Shi, it naturally became his job.

Shen Shi's job shifted to pasting the couplets on the roof and in the kitchen backyard, which didn't require a ladder.

Every time Shen Nian pasted the spring couplets, he had to carefully study the left and right scrolls. If they were pasted wrong, tearing them off could easily ruin them, which was considered unlucky. Although it was a bit of feudal superstition, the older generation believed in it quite strongly.

Be careful, Shen Yue reminded him from below while holding the ladder for Shen Nian.

Shen Nian didn't answer her, busying himself on the ladder. He aligned the spring couplet, let it hang down naturally, and taped along the edges with clear tape. When he reached the bottom, he had to climb down the ladder and continue aligning it...

If he wasn't careful, the couplet would end up crooked with a small crease, which would make anyone with OCD explode on the spot.

After finishing up, Shen Nian hurried to put the ladder back and ran next door to watch Uncle Xia paste his spring couplets.

Shen Nian, help me check if the bottom is aligned.

Coming!

Xia Yanchun watched Shen Nian trot over eagerly and pouted. Dad, why didn't you call me? I'm right here.

Ah, you need to help me hold the ladder.

I can just wedge it with my foot. Isn't that what we did the year before last?

Shen Nian wanted to be a little cheeky. This just proves that in Uncle Xia's heart, you're far less useful than I am.

I'm going to beat you to death in a minute.

Oh wow, I'm so scared I'm crying.

...!

Xia Yanchun was so mad she could die. Did he really have the self-awareness of someone who was supposed to be her number one best friend in the world?

Getting angry would shorten her lifespan. If she died of anger, let's see who he'd be best friends with then.

Xia Yanchun decided to subject Shen Nian to the ultimate silent treatment for the next hour.

Stop arguing. Shen Nian, go fetch me a small knife.

Alrighty. Shen Nian grinned, bustling about.

After running around and helping Xia Herui finish pasting the couplets, Shen Nian openly pushed Xia Yanchun by the shoulders, shoving the reluctant Chunbao into his own house.

Let's divide the fireworks. These are yours, and these are mine. I've already sorted them for you.

...

What's wrong? Are you mad?

...Hmph.

What are you hmph-ing about.

Who are you trying to fool? These sparklers are mine, Xia Yanchun puffed, exposing Shen Nian's little trick after checking her fireworks.

Uh, I didn't see them when I was sorting. Haha, my bad.

Faker. Not a single word of truth comes out of your mouth.

It was still within the one-hour silent treatment window. Xia Yanchun didn't want to talk to him, so she grabbed her fireworks and ran back home.

She had woken up too early today and needed to go back for a nap. Anyway, she could do anything as long as she ignored Shen Nian.

Lunch break.

Xia Yanchun slowly woke up. Coming downstairs, she saw her mother, Wen Zhining, folding red envelopes and stuffing a crisp new red bill into each one.

Xia Yanchun narrowed her eyes and sat down next to her with a cheeky grin.

Mom, let me help you.

I'm almost done. Wen Zhining smiled. How could she not know her daughter's intentions? She pulled a large red envelope from the drawer and handed it to Xia Yanchun. Happy New Year.

Wow, thanks Mom!

Xia Yanchun accepted the red envelope and ran downstairs happily.

This kind of red envelope giving within the family was basically passing money from the left hand to the right, so the amount was usually quite generous. Xia Yanchun pinched it and felt it was thick and weighty.

Several hours had passed already. The silent treatment time was over, so she could go find Shen Nian to play.

Chen Minyue was chatting with a few aunties outside. When they saw Xia Yanchun come out, the aunties acted like cats catching a scent, laughing and joking as they stuffed red envelopes into Xia Yanchun's hands.

A distant relative is not as good as a near neighbor. Everyone in the town's neighborhood knew each other. These aunties, in a way, had watched Xia Yanchun and Shen Nian grow up, so they were incredibly quick to hand out red envelopes.

Thank you, thank you! Wishing you prosperity! May everything go smoothly for you next year, Auntie, and may you be healthy and happy...

Xia Yanchun's little mouth babbled off several blessings. She stuffed the red envelopes into her pockets and openly slipped into Shen Nian's house.

As soon as she entered, she ran into Shen Yue, who was sitting on the sofa looking completely soulless and devoid of the will to live.

She looked like she was dead inside.

Sister Shen Yue...?

Waaah!

A sudden bout of loud, fake crying gave Xia Yanchun a fright.

What on earth could make Sister Shen Yue suffer so much on New Year's Eve...?

Before Xia Yanchun could ask, Shen Yue started rambling between sobs.

Little Chun, did you know? Those people outside actually... actually only gave Shen Nian red envelopes and not me! I'm not even married yet, and they've already stopped giving them to me!

It's bad enough they didn't give me any, but since they didn't see Shen Nian, they shoved the red envelopes at me and told me to pass them to him! Wow, my heart hurts so much!

Having red envelopes handed to you only to realize you have to pass them to your younger brother did sound pretty painful.

Like an incompetent older sister.

But thinking about it, Sister Shen Yue was already twenty-five. At this age, the only ones who would give her red envelopes were probably her immediate family or her own parents.

Xia Yanchun muttered in her heart that normally, someone Shen Yue's age should be the one giving out red envelopes. The only reason she didn't have to was that she wasn't married yet.

It's okay, Sister Shen Yue. Just go ask Shen Nian for two red envelopes. If he doesn't give them to you, just rob him.

Shen Yue stopped her fake crying, rubbed her chin, and pondered for a moment.

Hmm...

Good, good, good. Xia Yanchun had truly surpassed her master. When it came to dealing with her younger brother, Xia Yanchun was already on par with, if not better than, herself.

Two years ago, she probably really would have gone up and robbed him.

But now she was working. It wasn't that she lacked the meager amount of money in those red envelopes; she just felt unhappy about not receiving any.

But seeing Shen Nian so happy made Shen Yue depressed. So, she patted Xia Yanchun's shoulder and said seriously, You're going to look for Shen Nian, right? If you go up and see him smiling, slap him once. If you see him opening red envelopes, slap him twice.

??

When it came to being inhuman, Xia Yanchun felt she was still slightly inferior to Shen Yue.

What if he's neither smiling nor opening red envelopes? Xia Yanchun asked curiously.

What? Having red envelopes and neither smiling nor opening them? He's either going through withdrawal or his brain is fried. Just beat him to death.

Xia Yanchun: ...

So the true legendary king of enduring pressure was Shen Nian in his childhood. It was hard to imagine what kind of life Shen Nian used to live.

She'd allow Shen Nian to post on Xiaohongshu to complain about his family of origin.

Xia Yanchun nodded, chatted for a couple more sentences, and went upstairs.

The third floor belonged exclusively to Shen Nian. It was quite empty, and as soon as she came up, she could see the open bedroom door and Shen Nian sitting on the bed, tearing open red envelopes.

There were piles of colorful bills scattered on the bed.

How many red envelopes did you get? Shen Nian just glanced over briefly to confirm it was Xia Yanchun, then continued opening his red envelopes.

He didn't hear Xia Yanchun reply, but instead received two smacks on his back.

What are you doing, getting all physical?

Your sister told me to hit you.

Good lord. Later, come downstairs with me and we'll wave our red envelopes in her face.

...

Now it made sense why Shen Yue wanted to beat up Shen Nian herself.