Thanks Irish
Introduction Red Envelope Wars
The discussion about how much I and Sunny's family have to give the security guard Mr Huo [ for introducing us ] has been an ongoing topic ever since I left Kaiping on July 31st. He constantly hounds Sunny on her cellphone. At one point, he asked for 30,000 RMB. First of all, I'm glad that he introduced Sunny by way of his friend Mr. Wu and through Sunny's uncle, Mr. Kuang Guo Pei. But all he did was make a phone call. I was going to give him a token of appreciation of 3,000 RMB but that changed last night. Mr. Huo had the audacity to suggest to Sunny that he would gossip about her family if he didn't get a large amount of money. So I reduced his Red Envelope to 2,000 RMB. Nobody talks to my wife like that. At lunch today, the family gathered and Mr. Huo and Mr. Wu was invited. I gave them each a pack of Canadian 'Export A' cigarettes and Mr. Huo said a smartass remark of ... "only one pack, where's the carton". To which I replied ... "Why smoke so much, you want to die ?". Mr. Huo is the type of man where nothing ever is going to satisfly him. If you get him "A", he'll want "A+". He even had the nerve to say that since his wife won't be able to make the wedding dinner reception, we'll need to treat him and his wife for dinner at a later date. When I gave him my Red Envelope, he put it in his pocket. After they left, the family had a heated discussion about how much they should give him. Mr. Huo phoned Sunny soon to say that I didn't give him a lot and wanted more from the family. So the negotiations began. The bottom line was that the family will give Mr. Huo 8,000 RMB. However he wants to split it with Mr. Wu is his problem. I gave Sunny's parents $ 2,999 Cdn. At the current exchange rate of 6.49, that's over 19,000 RMB. Mr. Huo wasn't going to get more than my in-laws. The only person who wanted to give more was Sunny's Grandmother but that's because she got 12,000 RMB once before when she introduced a girl to someone. All the uncles and aunts are deadset against giving Mr. Huo anymore than 8,000 RMB. The guy only makes $ 250 Cdn a month. He's getting five months of free salary for just making a phone call. He should be happy he's getting anything IMHO. Anyhow during the evening, he called Sunny again after receiving his second Red Envelope clearly disappointed. That's when I took over the phone and set him straight. In short, thanks for introducing Sunny to me and be thankful for what you received. Don't call Sunny anymore.