Chapter 1: Traveling again in the old place

My family is in an industrial town in the north. My father teaches in middle school. My mother is an employee of a state-owned factory.

When I was young, my family was always struggling with my parents’ meager income. Of course, in that era, except for a few of the rich first classes, every household in the town had basically the same economic level as that of this kind of economy, except for a few.

I have an aunt who married a Shanghai businessman when I was young

Later, the businessman's business grew bigger and bigger, and he became the entrepreneur, and his aunt also became the chairman's wife.

Before I was born, there was an accident at home, and since then, my father and aunt have had a very stalemate relationship.

In addition, the family gap between the two families later became huge, so our family and our aunt's family rarely traveled.

My dad is a typical poor and arrogant intellectual. He flatly rejected his uncle's invitation to arrange a job in Shanghai. When his family was in trouble, he would never bow his head to ask for help from his aunt's house. For this reason, my mom quarreled with my dad a lot, but in the end my dad had the final say in the family.

My father is very strict and a teacher. I have been studying hard since I was a child under his strict discipline since I was a child.

The only time I went to my aunt's house when I was five years old

For that trip, I remembered that little but quite deep impressions include the shopping malls and amusement parks in big cities, delicious Jiangnan dim sum, the big ships on the Huangpu River, the grand and comfortable car of my uncle, and the large villa in my aunt's house...

Of course, there is my second rich brother

My cousin is eight years older than me. In my opinion at that time, he has everything and can do it.

I clearly remember the first time I walked into his room, looking at the room full of books, toys and trophys, I opened my eyes wide, as if I had come to a museum

Some of my cousin's dazzling treasures are willing to play with, but some are not allowed to touch me.

Once I went into the piano room and played my cousin's piano a few times. He rushed over and threw my hand off the piano keyboard, scolding me hard.

I was so scared that I cried loudly, and the crying attracted both parents.

I don't remember how things ended, but from then on, my cousin became a fierce and terrifying shadow in my childhood heart.

Although I am afraid of my cousin, I like Shanghai very much and always want to go there again. But my dad doesn't like it. Since that time, we have never been to my aunt's house again for many years.

Until ten years later, in 2007

I had very good grades in the high school entrance examination that year and was admitted to a key provincial high school.

My dad promised the whole family to go to Shanghai for the first time during the summer vacation, but later he changed his words and said that he would ask students for extra lessons during the holidays, so he asked my mom and me to go there.

Of course we all know that it was just my dad's excuse. The real reason is that he still doesn't want to see his aunt's family.