Chapter 161 First Birthday

Lu Qingfeng, as the district head, earns a salary of 168.5 yuan there. The factory manager at the textile factory earns 116.5 yuan, plus Lu Qingfeng's technical subsidy of 68 yuan. His salary here is even higher than his salary as district head.

Of course, there were also various coupons, but the district head didn't have industrial coupons. The textile factory had 10 industrial coupons and some meat coupons and two cloth coupons, which added up to about 30 coupons.

"Minister, I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's alright, factory manager. Before, we absolutely couldn't finish before 8 o'clock. Today we were able to finish so early because Accountant He's method is quite good, saving us a lot of time." The finance minister specifically praised He Caiwei, as it was indeed because of He Caiwei's method that they had been able to save so much trouble today.

"Factory Manager, the department head is treating us to dinner tonight. We're going to Guangyuanlou Restaurant. Would you like to join us?" A woman from the finance department invited the factory manager to dinner.

"Sure, but it's on me. Thank you for taking care of my Weiwei. Minister, please bring your wife along too, so we can all have some fun." Lu Qingfeng knew that the Finance Minister and his wife only had one son, who had died on the battlefield. That was why their Finance Department took such good care of the Finance Minister's wife.

"Oh dear, that's too much trouble for the factory manager. Everyone, take your wages home first. We'll meet at Guangyuan Building later. It's time to go home, it's time to go home..." The manager was worried that they might lose their money, so he told them to go home first, put their money away safely, and then come back and pick up their wives.

He Caiwei and the others also needed to go home and tell their families. Lu Qingfeng directly handed over the two wages he received today to He Caiwei.

He Caiwei was a little stunned at first, but after seeing clearly what he was stuffing into her pocket, she quickly stuffed everything back into his pocket.

"Are you crazy? Why are you giving me so much money and tickets...?"

“It’s only right that I earn money for you to spend. What, you want to go back on your word? No way. I’ve decided on you for the rest of my life. Be good. Tell me what’s wrong with me and I’ll change…” Lu Qingfeng stuffed the things directly into her arms again.

His father had said that the family finances should be managed by his wife, and that when giving her money, he should tell her to buy whatever she wanted without worrying about it, and that he could earn more money if she ran out. He did as he was told, but why didn't Weiwei want the money?

Could it be that he did something wrong that made the girl dislike him?

"No, we're not married yet, what are you doing? I'm not going to manage your money..." He Caiwei has her own money, and she doesn't think that having control of the finances means controlling a man's heart.

They're not even married yet, and she's already in charge of his finances. He Caiwei feels this is inappropriate because if you're not married, things could change at any time. Even married people are prone to changing their minds, let alone unmarried people.

“These aren’t things for you to manage. You can buy whatever you want and spend the money however you want.” Lu Qingfeng didn’t want her to return the money.

He Caiwei was afraid of pushing people too far, so she reluctantly accepted the money. When she got back, she would have to ask her mother what to do in this situation; she was a little unsure of what to do.

She wasn't really keen on getting married so early, but this guy kept insisting on dragging her into marriage. He was speechless. The current marriage age is 18 for girls and 20 for boys, etc. Wait, that seems to be based on actual age. She's only 17 in terms of actual age, so she still has a long way to go.

Lu Qingfeng is currently 22 years old according to the Western age system, but he doesn't know that He Caiwei and the others in Pengcheng use the traditional Chinese age system. He is eagerly anticipating that they can register their marriage when she turns 18.

"Brother, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it? Tell me..." Lu Qingfeng was riding his bike in front and couldn't see the girl's somewhat strange expression, so he could only let her speak.

“My…age…you’ve miscalculated…In Pengcheng, we use the traditional Chinese age system, so I’m only 18 this year. If we calculate it according to your system, I’ll only be 17 in August. So if you want to marry me, you’ll have to wait another year and a month.” After He Caiwei finished speaking, she carefully observed his expression and noticed that the joy on his face suddenly froze.

What's so hard to understand? It's obvious. She thought she'd be 18 in August, so she was happily planning to take him to get their marriage certificate first, so that they could be together legitimately.

Little did he know that he was too happy too soon. Who could have imagined that there would be such a big difference between the North and the South, and that even the way people count their age was not calculated in the same way?

"So, according to our local custom, how old were you when you and your aunt came here?" Lu Qingfeng almost went crazy.

“According to our local custom, I was already 5 years old at that time. Pingcheng also uses the traditional Chinese age system, but if you calculate it the way you do, I would only be a little over 4 years old, not even 5. I was born in August 1945 and turned 10 in August 1955. It’s only July 1962 now, so my birthday in a month will be my 17th birthday. I’m still a year away from the legal marriage age…” He Caiwei suddenly felt like laughing, but seeing her brother like this, she could only hold it in.

When she got home, He Yuping looked at her nephew, whose face didn't look too good, then at her daughter, who was trying not to laugh and blushing a little, and looked at her husband with a blank expression.

"What's wrong? Isn't it payday? Why do you look so upset?"

"I don't know. This kid is too good at hiding his thoughts. Apart from Weiwei, no one should know what he's thinking." Lu Zhiheng couldn't figure out what this guy was thinking either, so he could only shake his head in response to his wife's question.

He Yuping reached out and pulled her daughter back to her room. As soon as she closed the door, she began to ask, "Sweetie, what's wrong with your brother? Did something happen? Why does he look so strange?"

"Mom, my brother just gave me his salary. I didn't really want it. I know he wants to marry me, but when you were talking about age, did you say my actual age instead of my nominal age? My brother thought I'd be 18 in August and was even planning to drag me to get our marriage certificate after my birthday..."

"Uh, isn't that how they calculate it?" He Yuping was also confused; she thought everyone calculated it that way.

"No, they're based on actual age. That means I'll only be 18 next August, so according to the current marriage law, I'll have to wait a little over a year before I can get married." He Caiwei said to her mother while changing her clothes. She had to go out later; she couldn't refuse the minister's invitation to dinner.

"Oh, then Qingfeng will have to wait another year, won't he?"

"Yes, Mom, we're not eating at home tonight. We got paid today, and our department head is treating us to dinner at Guangyuanlou." In just a few words, He Caiwei had changed her clothes, wiped her face, and was ready to go out.

"Want to go out to eat? Is Qingfeng going? What are the people in your finance department like? If not, have Qingfeng or your dad go with her..." He Yuping was a little worried about her daughter's safety.