Double Life: My whole world is you

Cheng Qiao looked at the content on her phone, [Qiao, Auntie Wang, the red envelope was agreed upon by my father and I. It is a token of our appreciation. Thank you for taking care of me over the past year. It has made me feel happy to have my family around. But please don’t mention returning the red envelope, or we will be unhappy.]

Cheng Qiao glanced at Cheng's mother, who nodded. Cheng Qiao quickly replied with a text message on her phone, "OK, Yan Di, see you tomorrow."

The next morning, Cheng Qiao woke up to Cheng Ma's gentle call. When she saw Cheng Qiao open her eyes, she smiled and said, "Qiao, it's half past seven."

"Okay." Cheng Qiao stretched and got up quickly. Cheng's mother prepared breakfast. After Zhang's father and Zhang Yandi came over to eat breakfast, everyone went to the small garage rented by my aunt downstairs to help move the things into the trunk. Because there were so many things, not only did Zhang Yandi, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, put two bags under his feet, but even Cheng Qiao and Cheng Zhu, who were squeezed into a larger seat, also put two small bags. The two of them were also carrying Yangyang and Xiaoyanzi's schoolbags. Because Yangyang and Xiaoyanzi were sitting on Cheng's mother and my aunt.

If this had happened more than ten years ago, it would definitely have been illegal overloading, but these days there aren't many vehicles in their small town, so the traffic police only watch for vehicles that can pass.

Since it was cloudy and drizzling that day, the weather was a bit gloomy, and the temperature was several degrees below zero, so the car door was closed the whole way. But fortunately, Zhang Yandi gave Cheng Qiao a box of motion sickness patches and motion sickness medicine before leaving. So when Cheng Qiao arrived at the elementary school behind her grandmother's house, although she felt dizzy, she was much more comfortable than before.

Zhang Yandi and Zhang's father helped everyone move their things into the house, sat down to drink a glass of water, and then left. Before leaving, Zhang's father smiled and said, "Sister Wang, we will come to pick you up at five o'clock in the afternoon."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Cheng's mother was used to it and nodded in agreement with a smile.

This year's New Year's dinner was a big family reunion. My aunt's brother Yuan rode a motorcycle with my aunt, brother Ping and sister Wan. My second aunt's brother Jian called a car and brought my second aunt over. My third uncle also brought my third aunt and Junjie over before dinner.

Cheng Ma is the fourth child, and her family arrived early. Fifth uncle also rode a motorcycle with my eldest aunt, Lulu and Kunkun and arrived at 10 am. My youngest aunt and her family were the last to arrive. It turned out that my youngest uncle's motorcycle broke down on the way, and he worked hard for the whole morning to fix it. When my youngest uncle arrived, he laughed and complained, "I'll buy a car after another year of work. This broken motorcycle should be retired."

"Why buy a car? We are not at home most of the time, and we can only use it during the Chinese New Year." My aunt responded unhappily.

"My brother-in-law is a leader now, he should have his own car." My uncle joked.

My aunt pouted in dissatisfaction, "What kind of leader is he?"

My uncle-in-law refused to do it, "I am a project manager after all."

"What kind of manager are you? You manage less than ten people in total." My aunt complained, "Xiao Jian is in CCB. In the future, he will be in charge of dozens of branches across the province. That's what a manager is, that's what a leader is!"

"Yes, your brother Jian is really awesome. You should all learn from him!" Aunt and Cheng's mother said to Cheng Qiao and several younger brothers and sisters.

Brother Jian is the most promising person in their family, and a role model for those born in the 1990s and 2000s. Cheng Qiao was looking at Brother Jian with admiration, but she was unexpectedly called by her uncle, "Qiao will be our next college student, you have to set a good example for your younger brothers and sisters."

"Okay." Cheng Qiao nodded confidently. In this life, she could also be a role model for her younger brothers and sisters.

The New Year's Eve dinner was still held in my uncle's living room, with one table for adults, one table for children, and an extra small table for the younger brothers and sisters born in the 2000s.

Before dinner, grandma smiled happily. She raised her glass and said, "I gave birth to 12 children in my life and raised 8 of them. I now have 6 daughters and 2 sons. 9 grandmothers and 7 granddaughters. 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters. I am really happy to see so many descendants. I hope our family will prosper and you descendants will get better and better."

"It's getting better and better." Everyone raised their glasses and shouted together with a smile.

Except for a few married cousins, everyone was present at the New Year dinner. My aunt said with some regret, "Our photo is broken, otherwise it would have been great to take a picture of this scene."

"Yeah, I don't know if everyone will be able to get together next year." Aunt sighed.

Hearing her sigh, everyone looked at her unhappily, even her grandmother glared at her. She said unhappily, "Am I wrong? Isn't Xiaowan going to get married next year?"

"Yes, yes, I heard that Xiaowan is engaged. Has the date been set?" The third aunt quickly tried to smooth things over and looked at the eldest aunt's family with a smile.

"The date hasn't been decided yet, it will probably be in March or April after the New Year," said my aunt with a smile.

"I heard that my nephew's husband drives a truck?" asked the aunt.

"Yes, they have one..."

Then everyone's topic revolved around Sister Wan. Sister Wan is now 22 years old and will be 23 next year. This age is not too early for people who come from poor families and enter society early to get married.

Cheng Qiao gritted her teeth and thought, the first thing she has to do next year is to install a water heater for her home, then buy a refrigerator, and in the second half of the year she can buy a camera. The pixels of mobile phones in this era are too poor, cameras are still more popular. It is meaningful to take a few more photos of this scene. She will also enter the third year of high school next semester, and the days of being together are also counting down...

After dinner, the adults gathered together to talk privately. Cheng Qiao played the game of eagle catching chicken with her brothers and sisters for a while, then took off her coat and sat aside to rest for a while. At this time, the three boys of her four classmates in the yard were not there. It was rare that Lulu didn't pester her to explain the questions. Cheng Qiao noticed that Lulu was not very active this year. Cheng Qiao was going to talk to him about high school life.

She met Ping and Junjie in her uncle's living room. They were four children of the same year. Ping was born in February, so he was the eldest. Cheng Qiao was the second, Lulu was the third, and Junjie was the fourth.

Ping saw her nod, and Junjie smiled and called out, "Qiaojie."

"Junjie, are you learning to be a chef now?" Cheng Qiao stopped and asked.

Junjie nodded, "With an uncle from my own bay in Shandong."

"How does it feel?" Cheng Qiao asked.

"Not bad! I have a job." Junjie shrugged and said, "Brother Ping also studied cooking."

Cheng Qiao saw that the two did not want to talk more, so she stopped asking them and just asked them, "Have you two seen Lulu?"

"He seems to be on his way." Ping replied.

Cheng Qiao said goodbye to the two of them and walked towards the second floor of her uncle's house.