Chapter 10 Chapter 10 On New Year's Eve, a group of brothers who came to the house...

On New Year's Eve, a group of brothers and friends who came to the house helped to cook together. Xiaozhen also helped to fry a dish.

When she wanted to continue, Xiaochun said, "Don't work. How can we, a group of grown men, use child labor?"

So she moved a small stool to pick vegetables and wash them, scratching the dishes. Qiao Yihua pulled Xiaozhen up and said, "Don't work. Change your clothes first. Wear red, which is more festive. You will perform a show later."

"Ah?"

Xiaozhen looked embarrassed.

Qiao Yihua patted her head, "Hurry up! Go wash your hands."

When she came back from changing clothes, several men were already sitting in the living room smoking and bragging about world news and domestic news, and they seemed to know the world best.

Two or three aunts and a man who looked like a chef came to the kitchen. They should be the staff hired from the restaurant.

Maybe her brother really made a fortune again.

Xiaozhen had never imagined such a scene in her life. Winter can be so warm, the atmosphere can be so strong, and the Spring Festival really feels like a festival.

At that time, my father had just passed away and we couldn't put up festive things. It was only a few years later during the Spring Festival that we were really dazzled.

The dishes on the big table were cooked very quickly and the meal was served within half an hour. Xiaozhen originally planned to eat at the side, but Qiao Yihua took her hand and sat next to her.

She was very greedy for the big fish and meat. She was the only woman at the table with seven or eight people, and she was embarrassed to pick up some. They were all drinking and smoking, and sometimes they joked because a student was not too explicit.

Qiao Yihua picked up a few pieces for her, and everyone was drinking with him, so they had no time to pay attention.

Xiaozhen quickly ate a few bites and said, I'm full.

I'm going to watch TV.

Xiaochun was still shouting beside her: "Ah Zhen, Ah Zhen, come and eat." As he said that, he broke off a chicken leg from the whole roast chicken and brought it over.

Qiao Yihua laughed beside her, and Xiaozhen's face turned red instantly.

Who would chew such a big chicken leg.

But she didn't watch TV for long. With the noise, she slowly fell asleep. In the morning, she was awakened by a knock on the door.

She quickly got dressed and opened the door.

"You are such a good sleeper. What time is it now?"

Xiaozhen looked at the clock in the living room, passing Qiao Yihua. It was almost ten o'clock.

He slapped the New Year's money on Xiaozhen and put on his coat while walking: "I will take a flight to Beijing at noon. It may take two days or three days. It's uncertain. Can you stay at home alone?"

Qiao Yihua's mother has lived in Beijing for many years. In the past, she would throw a tantrum and not go anywhere during the Spring Festival. Now that her father is gone, she has learned the limits and temper. She bought clothes and gifts for her mother a few days ago.

Xiaozhen nodded.

When he left, his assistant was waiting at the door. He took the gift and Qiao Yihua said, "You can watch TV, but don't open the door to strangers. I will call before I go home. The New Year's gift is in the study."

Xiaozhen nodded again.

Qiao Yihua came back very late. He came back from Beijing on the sixth day of the New Year. In the middle, he called Xiaozhen to tell her that it was uncertain. The money was in the drawer of his bedside table and Wu Ma would be back soon.

Qiao Yihua lives with his mother in Beijing. His mother is cold to his father. She used to be cold to her son. As he gets older, he is no longer extreme in his actions. He is successful in his career and can speak nice words. Many relatives of his mother's family have never seen him, but they look up to him when they see him. The relationship has eased a lot in recent years.

He visits relatives and friends almost every day and drinks a few cups.

He is like the head of the family. His mother is used to living alone, but she still needs to rely on him. She has become more soft-hearted as she gets older.

Before leaving, his mother bought a lot of local specialties and stuffed a big bag of them. This is a treatment he never had when he was in school.

Qiao Yihua persuaded her several times to go to Shanghai to live with him, but she still disagreed. Perhaps there are the best memories there.

After returning home, Qiao Yihua slept from the afternoon to the next day, and vomited all the time.

Xiaozhen was shocked and thought he was sick.

He waved his hand and said, "I'm almost dying of drinking these days."

Later, Wu Ma came back from her hometown, and Qiao Yihua's work got back on track and became more and more busy. He could go home almost every day in the first semester, but in the second semester, he could only come back two or three times a week at most.

Xiaozhen is about to face the high school entrance examination, and has just caught up with the pace of ordinary students.

When Qiao Yihua works overtime on holidays and weekends, she will cook dishes and soups according to his instructions and go to the company to deliver meals to him.

Every time Qiao Yihua delivers meals, he procrastinates, talking to this person for a while, and giving instructions to his subordinates for a while. In short, it usually takes two hours to finish eating.

In the past, she stayed in the meeting room waiting to sleep on her stomach, and then she read a book for a while. Later, when the high school entrance examination was approaching, she would take two papers. Occasionally, when there was a meeting in the meeting room, she would go to the empty seat next to the employee.

She was wearing a school uniform and her hair had grown into a student's head, looking like a top student.

It was very hot at home in the summer. The newly installed air conditioner would automatically trip due to excessive power consumption. Xiaozhen would turn on the big fan to do her homework, and next to her was the watermelon cut by Wu Ma.

Occasionally, when Qiao Yihua was not busy, he would lie here to take a nap, because the community used a lot of electricity and there were always power outages. It was so hot in June that only this study room was shaded by the big tree.

Such scenes, the heat, the chirping of cicadas, the fan, the homework, the sweat on her forehead, the math problems she couldn't solve, the anxious heart, later on, healed her heart for a long time.

Xiaozhen was extremely nervous for the high school entrance examination, but Qiao Yihua was not nervous at all. She didn't even go. After breakfast in the morning, the driver took her to the examination room. It was much easier than the college entrance examination.

Qiao Yihua said that if she didn't pass the exam, she could just use the money to go on. She could still drop out of school.

That summer vacation was the happiest time for Xiaozhen in her memory. She traveled all over Shanghai for the first time, took the bus to many places, and tried the beauty of the southeast. She couldn't eat it before, always felt it was too sweet, probably because she didn't eat good things, hairy crabs, shengjian, and pork ribs and rice cakes, each of which was very expensive and delicious.

All the New Year's money was spent on eating, drinking and having fun.

Later, she went to Qiao Yihua's company to help. The company had to move again, to a high-rise building that could only be seen in movies and TV series.

Together with several administrative staff and the people hired by the moving company, she cleaned the brand new office and decorated the flower pots.

Qiao Yihua rewarded her with 100 yuan.

He treated her to a big meal again.

At this time, he was still quite energetic. He would compete with each other on the fitness equipment in the community downstairs to see who could ride a bike faster. After a walk, he would go to the store to buy two ice creams.

Then when he was bored at home, he would brush all of their shoes and put them in order. There were hundreds of pairs of shoes, and he brushed them for three days. He

was so tired that his back and waist ached and he had to sleep all day.

However, such days only happened this year, and they never happened again.

After adolescence, especially in high school, the state of mind is completely different from that in junior high school.

High school students get out of school very late every day, and the difficulty and depth of each subject are at a higher level.

Qiao Yihua didn't need to urge her at all. She seldom went to bed at ten o'clock every night. Occasionally, when he saw her head was about to fall on the textbook, he pressed her forehead to make her sit up straight, "Your eyes will be blind soon."

Later, the desk lamps were replaced one after another.

In order to learn English, she bought a tape recorder, and played tapes every day, which she could not understand but heard in English.

Occasionally, Xiaozhen would stop by a music store on her way home from school and buy a few music tapes, and then hide them instinctively when she went home.

However, Qiao Yihua could not fail to notice this little thought. She sat at the desk, with novels and bizarre readings under the papers and exercise books, and then listened to love songs. She could hear them clearly even at the lowest volume.

Sometimes Qiao Yihua would quietly lean against the door with a cup of tea and pointed at her watch.

"Two hours."

Xiaozhen hid the novel in a panic, turned off the music and changed the tape.

She smiled awkwardly.

Qiao Yihua said, "Learning is a very painful thing. There is a saying that goes, 'The sea of ​​learning is endless and the journey is hard.' The scholars in ancient times and the scholars now are the same, boring and tasteless, but only those who endure the most hardships can become the best. If you don't endure the hardships of studying, you will endure other hardships."

Xiaozhen lowered her head and said nothing.

"But it depends on you. Girls who go to a good university and get a good job can live a decent life. They can see the work content at a glance, and work is more boring than studying. The world is full of ups and downs." He paused, "Life is like this."

Xiaozhen raised her head and smiled, "Brother, I don't want to go anywhere. I want to work in your company."

"Work for what? Count money."

Xiaozhen thought for a long time, "hmm," and said, "Pay back the money."

Qiao Yihua laughed and said, "Silly!"

Even when Xiaochun and the others talked to Xiaozhen, from the initial "Where is Brother Hua" to "Where is your brother", from the initial restrained feeling of being a boarding student, after a few years, they have become a very close family, and sometimes he still feels a little embarrassed when giving her pocket money.

Qiao Yihua saw her self-esteem and discomfort, and gave her 100 yuan as a New Year's gift in the first year, and then 1,000 yuan in the first and second year of high school.

She basically didn't have to buy clothes and shoes. It wasn't that Qiao Yihua had to buy them. On weekends, the two of them would rest and go out for a big meal. Everything seemed delicious. It wasn't easy to go shopping. The price tag of several hundred yuan was incredible. Was such an ugly thing worth so much?

When I was a girl, I would definitely look good in cheap clothes with colorful flowers. But in high school, I didn't like bright colors. I had too many things to do.

After buying a few times, Xiaozhen was satisfied and comfortable wearing them. The assistant helped memorize the brand's phone number and called every time the season changed.

What concept did Xiaozhen have about brands? The more well-cut and low-key the clothes, the better they looked. In fact, these were the most expensive.

Later, she stopped asking about the price. Once when she went to the company to deliver food to Qiao Yihua, he was still in a meeting and waiting in the office, playing with the watch on the coffee table. Ren Qiu said, "Don't throw it around. It costs 70,000 or 80,000 yuan."

Xiaozhen was stunned and put it away quickly.

Later, when she turned 18, Qiao Yihua wanted to make a big fuss, but Xiaozhen kept shaking her head. It was embarrassing to have a group of people around her on her birthday. She didn't like that feeling at all.

In addition, her birthday was very close to the company's eighth anniversary, so she, who had never participated in their company activities, went along. When she went, Xiaozhen insisted that Qiao Yihua promise not to sing the birthday song or make a big fuss.

After Qiao Yihua agreed, she was asked to perform a show on the stage.