As the jeep drove home, the listless sun in the distance had already sunk halfway, and the setting sun shone on the river on both sides, gilding it with a layer of orange.

Father Lin still seemed very interested, and kept talking about interesting jokes stolen from a few fishing friends, and said that he would make those little loaches into loach soup.

But at some point, his voice suddenly stopped and became quiet.

Su Yueliang fell asleep.

She didn't sleep well last night, and today she has played well all day, and her physical strength has reached its limit.

With the comfortable slight tremor of the jeep, I soon fell asleep.

Gently leaning on Lin Qi's shoulder, his breathing was steady and even.

Her hair was wrapped around Lin Qi's ears, making Lin Qi feel itchy.

"It doesn't matter how special her family's circumstances are.

The important thing is that a girl resolutely chooses to go home with you during this kind of Chinese New Year, and there is no sense of security in the whole process.

She is completely at ease with you and has never been suspicious.

You can't live up to her. ”

Lin Qi recalled what Father Lin had said to him on the first night he went home.

Disappoint...

Lin Qi's face was bitter.

Why don't you understand this truth...

It's just that it's really not fair to her...

"Son, is Xiao Su asleep?"

Father Lin's soft words interrupted Lin Qi's thoughts.

"Sleepy."

Lin Qi could see that she would not wake up for a while.

"Then Daddy wants to tell you something."

Father Lin seems to want to discuss something with Lin Qi, which is a bit inconsistent with his usual style, usually the father and son want to talk about anything directly, and there is no need for this kind of foreshadowing.

"Say it." Lin Qi didn't want to make the atmosphere so serious, in his perspective, there was nothing tricky in his hometown.

"It's tomorrow's family gathering, and Dad hopes that you won't embarrass the scene for the sake of so many relatives who are very good to us.

It's actually nice to have a nice meal together..."

Father Lin finally said what was on his mind.

Is that so?

As soon as Father Lin's words came out, Lin Qi basically understood.

Father Lin made a slight detour, and the subtext of his mention of "relatives who are good to us" is "there are relatives who are not good to us", but he doesn't want Lin Qi to be angry for them on this occasion, everything is based on the overall situation.

From this moment, Lin Qicai really understood his father, Father Lin is not a heartless and blindly optimistic person, on the contrary, he is a person who is wise and foolish, and his sensitivity is not inferior to his mother, the difference between him and Mother Lin is that he will not chew those things that make people feel sad and unhappy repeatedly, but choose the most relaxed way of life.

Be clear about your troubles, and then forget about them.

This is an extremely rare psychological realm.

They saw the strength that Lin Qi showed when he went home this time, and they fully believed that their son was no longer the immature child he used to be.

"I think carefully about every one of my actions and decisions."

Lin Qi replied to his father.

"That's good, that's good..."

Father Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

"But if he doesn't want to be aggressive, then I don't mind letting him be a clown."

Lin Qi added.

"Alas... Let's hope not. ”

Father Lin did not stop Lin Qi's thoughts.

......

Lin Qi's family did not stay at his grandmother's side for the night, but rushed back to the county at night, preparing to attend a relative's gathering starting tomorrow.

It was a gathering of relatives from my father's side, including various uncles and uncles, as well as grandparents of the older generation.

In Lin Qi's impression, such a gathering has been held once or twice a year since he was in elementary school.

The process is also very fixed, that is, to book a more high-end restaurant and find the largest private room.

Each family takes turns to have a lunch or dinner, so that six or seven families can play together for three or four days, and the entertainment is also very fixed, that is, playing mahjong and poker.

The meal is not fixed for each meal, and it is the family that treats the guest who decides what to eat, so this link reflects the financial strength of each family.

Lin Qi remembers that when he was young, he liked this kind of gathering very much, he could eat very delicious meals for several days in a row, and he could also see many relatives gathering together lively.

But as he grew older, Lin Qi gradually realized that there were other meanings behind the activity.

Parents aren't really that happy.

They always put more effort on the menu than their other relatives.

How should you order food so that it doesn't seem too far behind everyone else's order, but can save as much as possible?

I don't know what year it started, but there were faint signs of comparison in the matter of ordering, everyone wanted to show their economic strength as much as possible, and the dishes served from the back kitchen gradually became extravagant and expensive.

In the past, the purpose of rushing for excitement and friendship has become shallow, and everyone cares more about who has more face.

It's gone bad.

In recent years, the rounds of parents' treats have become more and more advanced, and they even compete for the first treat.

The reason is simple, because the first meal does not need to be compared with the previous one, even if the dish is not so good, it will not bring a sense of disappointment and contrast of "not as good as the previous meal".

Lin Qi's family is just an ordinary family in the world, and they can't come out with so much money to compete for this so-called face title.

They just want to maintain the family's self-esteem to the maximum extent possible, that's all.

Gradually, Lin Qi attended fewer and fewer parties, and sometimes he would rather call one of his acquaintances to the old street to eat a spicy meal of less than 20 yuan than feel the torment-like atmosphere.

Father Lin and Mother Lin did not stop this, there was some pressure, it was enough for adults to bear it.

But ordering food is not the only source of stress, there is a more direct source, which is playing mahjong and poker between relatives.

】

Adults play cards with real money as bargaining chips for winning or losing, and the amount of money is getting bigger and bigger, and it gradually comes to a point where Lin Qi's family can't afford it.

At the end of the day, the difference between wins and losses can be in the five digits.

This is the amount that Lin's father and Lin's mother can save by saving money for several months.

But as a person who participates in the party, it is unrealistic to participate at the table at all, so you can only go to the table with great psychological pressure, and then force a smile after others win the card, and with a slight trembling fingers, take out the 100 yuan bill from the mahjong table drawer, take a deep breath, hand it to the winner, and then continue to start the next game of fear.

At the poker table, it is difficult to win money with blindly conservative tactics, even if it is the smallest fan, Lin Father and Lin Mu will choose to Hu Hu immediately, because they will definitely not lose money if they Hu Hu.

But from the perspective of probability, if you don't properly grasp your own luck, you will still lose in the end when others are Hu Dafan.

But Father Lin and Mother Lin didn't have a choice, and those thrilling basic amounts couldn't help them exert all their luck strength.

Their ordinary little home is like a small sampan that walks alone in the raging waves, and there is no room for error.

Worrying is the best way to describe it in this sentence.

All these years have passed, Lin's father and mother are basically losers in the party, but the one who loses the most is not the one who loses, obviously the most economical economic conditions, but he is forced to be a loser year after year, and the gathering of relatives has become a complete pressure field, which is a very ironic thing in itself.

If you have to find a "backer" for this kind of unhealthy evolution process in the later stage of the originally normal relatives' gathering, Lin Qi feels that he can also find it.

Lin Qi's cousin.

This cousin is about 2 years younger than Lin's father, and their family has always been very close to Lin Qi's grandfather, and they have a lot of contacts.

He basically grew up with Father Lin, and it stands to reason that such a relationship should be very strong in the kinship interaction of the previous generation, but this person behaved extremely badly.

He has been a very naughty person since he was a child, and he also did not receive much cultural education, but he embarked on a completely different life path from Father Lin.

Father Lin has been a very honest type since he was a child, although he doesn't like to talk, but he is well-behaved and has no crooked thoughts, but this cousin has a lot of thoughts in his mind since he was a child, and he will always do a lot of things that are difficult to accept.

In the discipline concept of the grandparents, children are basically educated by sticks, and if they cause trouble and are disobedient, they should be beaten, and the more disobedient they are, the more they must be beaten.

Especially when there is an extremely contrasting object, this kind of stick education is quite convenient to implement.

Everything has to look at Father Lin, a child like Father Lin is a good child, as long as there is something different from your cousin in your daily behavior, then you have to change!

If you don't want to change, then fight! Beat until you change!

Therefore, this cousin's childhood and youth life always lived in the shadow of Father Lin.

He was hostile to his cousin in his heart, complaining about why he was so honest and why his father had to restrain himself after him.

But in fact, Father Lin's family did nothing wrong, and Father Lin even felt sorry for this cousin since he was a child, and he would leave him with any good things.

When he reached the age of joining the work, Lin's father entered the best local unit, his work and life became stable, and happiness seemed to be just around the corner.

And this cousin, due to his long-term rebellion, could not enter the regular unit, and could only become an idle unemployed person, at the bottom of the chain of contempt in his hometown.

In terms of personal emotions and marriage, Father Lin married the shrewd and capable Mother Lin under the introduction of others, gave birth to Lin Qi, and lived a prosperous life, while this cousin's life was a mess, he got married very abruptly, and divorced very abruptly a few years later, leaving a son who was awarded to him but no one cared about.

The child was eventually placed in foster care by his grandparents, but his whereabouts were uncertain, sometimes working in other places, and sometimes returning to his hometown to stay for a long time, but he never paid too much responsibility for the child.

This child is often taken care of by Lin's father and mother, and on weekends he will be taken home to study and play with Lin Qi, and every New Year's Day, Lin's father and mother will buy a new dress for the child.

Later, with the great changes in the domestic economic situation, Lin's father and Lin's mother's unit closed down, and both of them became laid-off workers, and the family's economic situation became very bad for a while, but what made Lin's father and Lin's mother feel relieved was that his son Lin Qi was very angry.

Not only have he had excellent grades since he was a child, but his personality, politeness, and habits are also the best among his peers.

Although life is not rich, the family has never lost confidence in the future.

During this period, my cousin found a little sense of responsibility as a father, although life and work are still a piece of chicken feathers, but every year during the Chinese New Year, he will go home to accompany his children.

It is natural that he will follow the old people in the family to the relatives party.

At the party, the relatives were not too enthusiastic about him, and they couldn't help but compare with Father Lin, he neither fulfilled the responsibility of a junior, nor was he a good father, and some outspoken relatives even directly picked out the problem after drinking, asking him why he was still ignorant at such an old age.

He became the most faceless one at the party.

But the attitude of relatives towards Lin Qi's family is completely different, highly praising the happy life of Lin Qi's family, and praising Lin Qi as the undisputed first among the juniors among so many relatives.

These words further pierced my cousin's sensitive heart.

The progress bar of time has been pulled to the last few years, that is, the stage at which Lin Qi is admitted to university as an adult.

My cousin suddenly found his own opportunity in a foreign country, successfully made a fortune, and became the person with the best economic conditions among these relatives.

When years of bitterness and pain, years of humiliation and heart knots find an outlet, what kind of consequences will it cause?

Money and capital are terrible things, and they have a magic that is unique in the world.

As long as a person succeeds in holding them, all the mistakes he has made in the past can be glorified and rationalized.

Idleness can be described as looking for opportunities, and not supporting parents and educating children can be described as thinking about the overall situation.

In short, everything is distorted into another state.

Of course, everyone didn't believe this kind of statement when he first became a "nouveau riche", but as he gradually showed his financial strength, pushing glasses and changing glasses at the wine table, and crisscrossing the card table, everything became a matter of course.

His reputation is getting better and better, and he has gradually become the core figure in the gathering of relatives, and the specifications of the party have been imperceptibly raised by him.

All this is just to vent his dissatisfaction for many years.

In addition to these, he has one of the biggest knots in his heart that remains unsolved.

"Revenge" against Lin Qi's family.

He may not even know the specific composition of this knot, and there is no need to study it clearly!

It doesn't matter if Lin Qi's family did anything wrong or not.

All he had to do now was enjoy himself and create maximum pleasure for himself.

So something must be done to this family, and the psychological shadow of more than ten years must be liquidated!