Investment Life

CHAPTER 34

Although he had stayed up late on New Year's Eve and didn't fall asleep until after 1 a.m., Chen Yuanming was dragged out of bed by his mother early the next morning.

"Look at the time, you need to get up quickly and wash up!"

Wang Juan spread two quilts on the bed and laid a brand new coverlet over it. Its peony flower pattern was rich and festive and suddenly made the whole room feel bright. New curtains were hung on the rod, the bulbs were replaced with 60-watt overhead lights and the whole family was neatly dressed in new clothes. It was the first day of the lunar New Year and they were waiting for relatives to pay a New Year's call. How could they appear sloppy.

Taking out leftovers from last night, breakfast was nice and warm. Eating leftovers was not purely for the sake of economy, but the custom was to avoid using a knife on the first day of the New Year and to use "surplus wealth". After a quick meal, Chen Yuanming busily laid out the fruit plate again, took out melon seeds and peanuts, and waited for their relatives to arrive.

In City L, there was only one family that would normally visit on the first day of the year, and that was Chen Yuanming's Uncle Wang Tao. Sitting on the bed while watching TV, Chen Yuanming could not help looking at the door every few minutes. So many days after his return he had only just realized that he wanted to see Yuanyuan, his gloomy and self-depreciating cousin, most. Compared to the numbers in his bank account, for him, perhaps this was most intuitive manifestation of the changes in their lives.

Just after 10, o'clock there was a knock on the room door. Chen Yuanming rushed up in three steps and opened it. Standing at the door were two children, one big, one small. The boy was about 12 or 13 years old, and the girl was only about 10 years old. Both children were taken aback after seeing Chen Yuanming. The boy reacted first and yelled "Happy New Year cousin! and then rushed inside.

When he was attacked by this half-sized boy, Chen Yuanming almost lost his footing. Thus, he grabbed the collar of the little rascal and stuffed him in his mother's arms. Then he turned his head and looked at the little girl, who was still standing at the door with a shy smile.

"Yuanyuan, do you still remember me?" Chen Yuanming squatted slightly and flashed a smile. Not having seen her for two years, the little girl had become more and more refreshing, her eyes were big and round. She had a pair of willow eyebrows of a suitable shade, red lips and white teeth. She also had two little dimples. It need not be said how cute she was.

This little girl didn't seem to be afraid of people either. She blinked her two big eyes and called out to her cousin sweetly. After thinking about it, she added a Happy New Year greeting. She looked carefree. Where was the dull and gloomy personality of his memories? His heart suddenly became hot, Chen Yuanming reached out and touched the top of the girl's head, and said softly, "Happy New Year to you too."

Less than half a minute later, the two adults also entered the house. The TV was turned on and the Spring Festival Gala was being replayed. The family was eating melon seeds and watching TV, while talking and laughing. It's unknown how the topic turned to the little girl. Wang Tao boasted with pride, "Don't look at how round and small she is, she is strong. At that time, the re-operation was so hard on her, but she didn't cry. Despite taking two months off school, her grades have also not fallen. I think she will be admitted to No.1 middle school this time!"

His wife Sun Jiajia also smiled and said, "This is all thanks to the help given by second sister's family, otherwise we don't know how we would have paid for the cost of the operation this time around. Over the past two years, the factory's profits have improved a little bit. Our salary would be raised, we will pay you back once we have saved enough money!"