All Hail Cousin Brother

good day.
You can’t cry and ruin your luck.”

Yu Youyao sniffed and tried her best to hold back the tears in her eyes.
She carefully opened the box.
There was indeed a longevity lock inside.

This time, the lock was in the shape of a koi fish’s mouth.
There were two koi fishes on each side.
In the fish’s mouth was a lock.
The scales on the fish were made of red and yellow jade.
They looked exquisite and beautiful.

“This embedding technique is really beautiful.” Yu Youyao liked it the moment she saw it.
This was the second longevity lock that her mother had given her.
Unfortunately, the previous one was broken!

She flipped the longevity lock over.
On the back, there was a engraving that said, “Long life and wealth, good fortune comes from the east!”

Old Madam Yu first undid the longevity lock that her granddaughter had been wearing for a year.
Then, she took the longevity lock that Yu Youyao loved so much that she couldn’t bear to part with it.
She held it in her hand and looked at it carefully.
“There’s a special rule about giving longevity locks.
It’s only a suitable gift from ancestors, not parents.
Therefore, your mother made 15 longevity locks and handed them to me to keep.
She asked me to help you wear them on your birthday every year.
It’s also considered a gift from me.”

Yu Youyao felt a lump in her throat and nodded vigorously.

Old Madam Yu placed the longevity lock on Yu Youyao’s neck and hugged her granddaughter.
“You have to be good.
I look forward to seeing you grow up well for the rest of my life.”

Yu Youyao threw herself into her grandmother’s arms and called out softly, “Grandmother.”

Her voice was as tender as a swallow’s, and Old Madam Yu’s heart melted.
“You’ll be a big girl in the future.
You can’t always be in Grandmother’s arms.”

Yu Youyao did not agree.
“Even if I’m a big girl, I’ll always be Grandmother’s granddaughter.
Why wouldn’t I crawl into Grandmother’s arms? Grandmother won’t dote on me anymore.”

Old Madam Yu’s sadness immediately dissipated.

Yu Youyao raised her head from her grandmother’s arms and looked at her anxiously.
“Grandmother, where’s my birthday gift? You can’t forget it.”

Old Madam Yu glanced at her angrily and said, “Isn’t it on your wrist?”

Yu Youyao puffed up her cheeks.
“Grandmother, Grandmother, you promised to give me a birthday gift.” As she spoke, she raised her wrist and revealed the blood beeswax prayer beads on it.
“This doesn’t count.
You can’t go back on your word.”

Old Madam Yu poked her forehead lightly.
“I’m afraid of you.
If I don’t give it to you, I’m afraid you won’t stop asking today.”

As she spoke, she called out to Nanny Liu to bring over the gift she had prepared early in the morning.

Yu Youyao finally understood that it wasn’t that her grandmother didn’t want to give a gift to her.
She was clearly teasing her on purpose.
She was furious.
“Grandmother, you’re just making fun of me.”

Old Madam Yu laughed.
She took the box from Nanny Liu and stuffed it into her granddaughter’s arms.
“Take it!”

After receiving the gift, Yu Youyao couldn’t care less about being angry.
She hugged the box and smiled.
“But Grandmother gave it to me yourself.
I didn’t ask you for it.”

When Old Madam Yu heard this, she glared at her.
“You’re still pretending after receiving such a benefit.”

Yu Youyao spat out a laugh and quickly opened the box to take a look.
There was a small crown of pearls inside.
On the crown, there were various kinds of gems, pearls, and jade.
There were tassels on all four sides, and they were all covered in light gold and shiny shark pearls.
Each of them was the size of a peanut.
They were plump, bright, round and noble.

The shark pearl was also a type of pearl.
It was a faint golden color and shone brightly under the light.
It was even more dazzling than pure gold.
It was much rarer and more precious than the southern and eastern pearls.

It was obvious that her grandmother had already prepared this small crown in advance.