家族群里都有什么？
Chinese family WeChat groups: red packets, good-morning pictures and health rumours
Name: ________________ Date: ________
早上六点半，手机响了一声。不用看也知道，是家族群。姑姑在群里分享了一张图片：一朵大大的荷花，上面有四个闪闪发光的金色大字：“早上好！”
几乎每个中国家庭都有一个这样的微信群。爷爷奶奶、爸爸妈妈、叔叔阿姨、表哥表妹，几十个人都在一个群里。平时群里最活跃的人，常常是家里的长辈。
家族群里的东西，大概可以分成三种。
第一种是“早上好”图片。鲜花、风景、可爱的小猫，再配上大大的字和闪光的效果。这样的图片，年轻人叫它们“中老年表情包”。很多长辈每天早上都会准时分享一张，从来不会忘记。
第二种是红包。2014年1月，春节快到的时候，微信推出了红包功能。在群里发红包，红包里的钱会随机分给抢到的人，有人抢到几毛，有人抢到十几块，全看手气。过年的时候，一个红包发出来，几秒钟就被抢光了。在很多家族群里，还有一个不成文的规矩：手气最好的人，要接着发红包。
第三种让年轻人最头疼：养生文章。“这种水果千万不能和那个一起吃！”“每天这样做，能多活十年！”这样的文章，标题常常很吓人，还带着好几个感叹号。可是其中不少内容，其实是谣言。
为了解决这个问题，2017年，微信推出了“微信辟谣助手”。在这个小程序里可以搜索谣言；你读过或者转发过的文章，如果后来被认定是谣言，它还会提醒你。
那么，年轻人怎么办呢？有人在群里认真地辟谣，结果跟长辈吵了起来。有人干脆把群设置成“消息免打扰”。但也有人慢慢明白了：长辈每天分享一张“早上好”，转发一篇养生文章，其实想说的只有一句话：“我在想你们，你们要好好照顾自己。”
所以，下次家族群又响了，你也可以回一张图：一朵更大的荷花，写着“早上好！”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 分享 | fēnxiǎng | to share |
| 朵 | duǒ | classifier for flowers and clouds |
| 配 | pèi | to match; to go with |
| 功能 | gōngnéng | function; feature; capability |
| 群 | qún | group; crowd; herd |
| 抢 | qiǎng | to snatch; to grab; to rob |
| 标题 | biāotí | title; headline; heading |
| 搜索 | sōusuǒ | to search; to look for; search |
| 吵 | chǎo | to quarrel; to argue |
| 设置 | shèzhì | to set up; to install |
| 姑姑 | gūgu | paternal aunt (father's sister) |
| 发光 | fāguāng | to shine; to emit light |
English (for the teacher)
Six thirty in the morning, and the phone pings. You don't even need to look: it's the family group. Your aunt has shared a picture in the group: a huge lotus flower with four glittering golden characters on it: “Good morning!”
Almost every Chinese family has a WeChat group like this. Grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins: dozens of people all in one group. Usually the most active people in it are the older generation.
What goes on in a family group falls roughly into three kinds.
The first is the “good morning” picture. Flowers, scenery, cute kittens, with big characters and sparkly effects on top. Young people call pictures like these “middle-aged and elderly stickers”. Many elders share one at the same time every morning and never forget.
The second is red packets. In January 2014, as Spring Festival drew near, WeChat launched its red packet feature. When you send a red packet in a group, the money inside is shared out at random among whoever grabs it: some get a few jiao, some get a dozen yuan or so, all down to luck. At New Year, a red packet is snapped up within seconds of being sent. Many family groups also have an unwritten rule: whoever got the luckiest share has to send the next red packet.
The third kind gives young people the biggest headache: health articles. “Never eat this fruit together with that one!” “Do this every day and live ten years longer!” Articles like these often have scary headlines, with a string of exclamation marks. But a lot of what's in them is actually rumour.
To deal with this, in 2017 WeChat launched the “WeChat Rumour-Busting Assistant”. In this mini-program you can search for rumours, and if an article you've read or forwarded is later found to be a rumour, it warns you.
So what do young people do? Some carefully debunk the rumours in the group, and end up arguing with their elders. Some simply set the group to “mute notifications”. But some slowly come to understand: when elders share a “good morning” every day or forward a health article, all they really want to say is one thing: “I'm thinking of you; take good care of yourselves.”
So next time the family group pings, you can reply with a picture too: an even bigger lotus that says “Good morning!”