It’s Chinese New Year.
Last night, on Chinese New Year's Eve, Yuli and Liu Shengqi played at Lin Jin's house until 2 am. before going home. Lin Jin then showered and did his bedtime routine, not falling asleep until 3 a.m. So Lin Jin who usually spelt for a long time was still dazedly laying in bed at 10 am.
Until his cell phone rang.
Lin Jin blankly opened his eyes and reached for his phone following the direction of the ringtone. After fumbling for quite a while, he finally grasped the phone in his hand, but by then, the ringing had abruptly stopped.
"Mmm…" Holding the phone, Lin Jin turned over and curled up on his side. His mouth was slightly opened as he dazedly closed his eyes again.
A few seconds after Lin Jin fell asleep again, the phone rang once more.
Slow to react, Lin Jin was stunned for five or six seconds before finally answering the phone. Lazily turning over again, he finally spoke with a somewhat raspy voice, "Who is it?"
"Brother, it's me."
"Oh…"
Lin Jin again sank into a daze, mumbling an acknowledgment before his head completely blanked out again.
"Mom said she’ll go back with me tomorrow."
"Oh." Lin Jin blankly opened his eyes, and his confused brain didn't think much after hearing Lin Chen's words. He just mumbled, "Coming back, huh… Mmm."
"What?!" His eyes suddenly widened, and his body instantly straightened up, sitting up in bed. She asked for confirmation once again, "You and mom are coming tomorrow?"
"Yes, brother, are you half-asleep?" Lin Chen's tone was full of helplessness. "We're taking the train at 1 pm tomorrow, we should be home by evening."
"Oh, okay." Lin Jin no longer had the dazed look he had earlier, his expression turned serious as he asked again, "Did mom say anything?"
"No, she just said we're going back for New Year visits or something."
Hearing this, Lin Jin's eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Mom wasn't coming back to reconcile with Dad, but at least she was coming back. If dad could put on a perfect performance, perhaps they could keep mom around.
Lin Jin didn’t want to call a strange man “dad” the next time he went to Guangdong to visit his mother.
That would be terrible, right?
"Tomorrow afternoon, come home with mom first, don't go directly to the countryside for New Year's visits. Tell her I've cooked dinner and am waiting for you both." What Lin Jin feared the most was that his mom wouldn't come home at all, and would directly go to the countryside for the Chinese New Year and then head back to Guangdong.
"Alright."
"Let's leave it at that for now."
Lin Jin climbed out of bed, hung up the phone, and pressed his lips together with a serious expression.
If he could sort things out with his mother, then the chain task could be completed. Although she hadn't sorted things out with his father in the chain task, if things goes smoothly this time, getting his mother on board would also be a good thing.
But will mom accept me as I am now?
Although his mother often dressed Lin Jin in girls' clothes when he was young and even mentioned how nice it would be to have a daughter, that didn't mean she would easily accept that Lin Jin, a full-fledged boy, looked almost indistinguishable from a beautiful girl.
Well, thinking about this now was useless. It was better to first make sure dad is prepared to welcome mom.
Changing out of his pajamas, Lin Jin yawned and walked out of the bedroom with sleepy eyes.
His father wasn't in the living room watching TV as usual. Lin Jin looked around and noticed some movement in his father’s bedroom. Completely preoccupied thinking about his mother, he disregarded any etiquette about knocking on the door and directly turned the doorknob to enter.
What he saw next left him stunned.
At that moment, his dad was lying on the bed wearing only a pair of oversized underpants, so big they almost looked like shorts, and wearing nothing else.
The sudden intrusion gave his father a deep shock, his face twisted in surprise. He pulled his hand out from his pants, coughed awkwardly, and then drew a blanket over his lower half.
What the f*ck?! What the f*ck?!
Dad! When you do this kind of thing... can you lock the door?!
I understand you've been divorced for eight years without a woman's company, but you can't be doing this in front of your own son!
Lin Jin's face turned red, he forcibly shifted his gaze away from his dad’s lower half, stammering, "Um... Lin Chen said he and mom are coming back tomorrow evening, so you should prepare a bit..."
"Uh... Just don't dress too sloppily, and hide whatever needs hiding in your room." Lin Jin, feeling awkward and unable to make eye contact with his dad, let his gaze wander aimlessly around the room. It then landed on the small TV in Dad's bedroom, which had been retired from the living room and was now playing a small film.
"Anyway, that's it. I'm going out to buy groceries!" Lin Jin rushed out the door.
Accidentally seeing dad doing that kind of thing... Ah, how should I face him when I come back home later?!
So embarrassing...
As he descended the staircase, Lin Jin couldn't help but think of the scene he'd witnessed when he opened the door. His face flushed and his heart raced, as if he had just run several kilometers.
He shook his head forcefully, but the image still didn’t go away. So he glanced at the wall of the starwell, braced his hands against it, and gave it a solid headbutt.
Motherf*cker! It hurts... Lin Jin, who had sensitive tear glands, almost burst into tears from the pain.
At least that image finally faded.
Lin Jin was also an adult. If he were a more open-minded individual, he might have already had a girlfriend and go check out a room everyday. Even though he understood and empathized, he still felt it was.. so f*cking embarrassing!
As for dad, who hadn't been with a woman for eight years... Well, not exactly. Lin Jin wasn't too familiar with his dad’s private life, but he knew dad had a group of rowdy friends. Who knows, they might go find some company after a night of gambling.
Eh, let's just pretend he hasn't been with anyone. So it wasn't totally incomprehensible for dad to do something that most teenage boys would do, and watch a kind of movie that most teenagers watch.
It was just incredibly awkward that Lin Jin had to catch him.
Lost in thought, Lin Jin slowly arrived at the market.
"Lil’ Lin! What are you eating today?"
"Let me see, just looking around." Lin Jin's flush hadn't yet receded. Feeling awkward talking to people, he decided to keep quiet and just circled the market aimlessly.
Maybe I should send dad a text at noon, telling him to go eat out by himself?
Then I could hide at Yuli's house under the pretext of Chinese New Year's greetings. It would be better not to have face to face interaction with dad until this blows over.
Otherwise, the atmosphere might become really awkward.
From now on, I should definitely avoid entering dad’s room casually. It would be awful to stumble upon such a scene again.
But... Dad's looked quite big.
It’s Chinese New Year.
Last night, on Chinese New Year's Eve, Yuli and Liu Shengqi played at Lin Jin's house until 2 am. before going home. Lin Jin then showered and did his bedtime routine, not falling asleep until 3 a.m. So Lin Jin who usually spelt for a long time was still dazedly laying in bed at 10 am.
Until his cell phone rang.
Lin Jin blankly opened his eyes and reached for his phone following the direction of the ringtone. After fumbling for quite a while, he finally grasped the phone in his hand, but by then, the ringing had abruptly stopped.
"Mmm…" Holding the phone, Lin Jin turned over and curled up on his side. His mouth was slightly opened as he dazedly closed his eyes again.
A few seconds after Lin Jin fell asleep again, the phone rang once more.
Slow to react, Lin Jin was stunned for five or six seconds before finally answering the phone. Lazily turning over again, he finally spoke with a somewhat raspy voice, "Who is it?"
"Brother, it's me."
"Oh…"
Lin Jin again sank into a daze, mumbling an acknowledgment before his head completely blanked out again.
"Mom said she’ll go back with me tomorrow."
"Oh." Lin Jin blankly opened his eyes, and his confused brain didn't think much after hearing Lin Chen's words. He just mumbled, "Coming back, huh… Mmm."
"What?!" His eyes suddenly widened, and his body instantly straightened up, sitting up in bed. She asked for confirmation once again, "You and mom are coming tomorrow?"
"Yes, brother, are you half-asleep?" Lin Chen's tone was full of helplessness. "We're taking the train at 1 pm tomorrow, we should be home by evening."
"Oh, okay." Lin Jin no longer had the dazed look he had earlier, his expression turned serious as he asked again, "Did mom say anything?"
"No, she just said we're going back for New Year visits or something."
Hearing this, Lin Jin's eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Mom wasn't coming back to reconcile with Dad, but at least she was coming back. If dad could put on a perfect performance, perhaps they could keep mom around.
Lin Jin didn’t want to call a strange man “dad” the next time he went to Guangdong to visit his mother.
That would be terrible, right?
"Tomorrow afternoon, come home with mom first, don't go directly to the countryside for New Year's visits. Tell her I've cooked dinner and am waiting for you both." What Lin Jin feared the most was that his mom wouldn't come home at all, and would directly go to the countryside for the Chinese New Year and then head back to Guangdong.
"Alright."
"Let's leave it at that for now."
Lin Jin climbed out of bed, hung up the phone, and pressed his lips together with a serious expression.
If he could sort things out with his mother, then the chain task could be completed. Although she hadn't sorted things out with his father in the chain task, if things goes smoothly this time, getting his mother on board would also be a good thing.
But will mom accept me as I am now?
Although his mother often dressed Lin Jin in girls' clothes when he was young and even mentioned how nice it would be to have a daughter, that didn't mean she would easily accept that Lin Jin, a full-fledged boy, looked almost indistinguishable from a beautiful girl.
Well, thinking about this now was useless. It was better to first make sure dad is prepared to welcome mom.
Changing out of his pajamas, Lin Jin yawned and walked out of the bedroom with sleepy eyes.
His father wasn't in the living room watching TV as usual. Lin Jin looked around and noticed some movement in his father’s bedroom. Completely preoccupied thinking about his mother, he disregarded any etiquette about knocking on the door and directly turned the doorknob to enter.
What he saw next left him stunned.
At that moment, his dad was lying on the bed wearing only a pair of oversized underpants, so big they almost looked like shorts, and wearing nothing else.
The sudden intrusion gave his father a deep shock, his face twisted in surprise. He pulled his hand out from his pants, coughed awkwardly, and then drew a blanket over his lower half.
What the f*ck?! What the f*ck?!
Dad! When you do this kind of thing... can you lock the door?!
I understand you've been divorced for eight years without a woman's company, but you can't be doing this in front of your own son!
Lin Jin's face turned red, he forcibly shifted his gaze away from his dad’s lower half, stammering, "Um... Lin Chen said he and mom are coming back tomorrow evening, so you should prepare a bit..."
"Uh... Just don't dress too sloppily, and hide whatever needs hiding in your room." Lin Jin, feeling awkward and unable to make eye contact with his dad, let his gaze wander aimlessly around the room. It then landed on the small TV in Dad's bedroom, which had been retired from the living room and was now playing a small film.
"Anyway, that's it. I'm going out to buy groceries!" Lin Jin rushed out the door.
Accidentally seeing dad doing that kind of thing... Ah, how should I face him when I come back home later?!
So embarrassing...
As he descended the staircase, Lin Jin couldn't help but think of the scene he'd witnessed when he opened the door. His face flushed and his heart raced, as if he had just run several kilometers.
He shook his head forcefully, but the image still didn’t go away. So he glanced at the wall of the starwell, braced his hands against it, and gave it a solid headbutt.
Motherf*cker! It hurts... Lin Jin, who had sensitive tear glands, almost burst into tears from the pain.
At least that image finally faded.
Lin Jin was also an adult. If he were a more open-minded individual, he might have already had a girlfriend and go check out a room everyday. Even though he understood and empathized, he still felt it was.. so f*cking embarrassing!
As for dad, who hadn't been with a woman for eight years... Well, not exactly. Lin Jin wasn't too familiar with his dad’s private life, but he knew dad had a group of rowdy friends. Who knows, they might go find some company after a night of gambling.
Eh, let's just pretend he hasn't been with anyone. So it wasn't totally incomprehensible for dad to do something that most teenage boys would do, and watch a kind of movie that most teenagers watch.
It was just incredibly awkward that Lin Jin had to catch him.
Lost in thought, Lin Jin slowly arrived at the market.
"Lil’ Lin! What are you eating today?"
"Let me see, just looking around." Lin Jin's flush hadn't yet receded. Feeling awkward talking to people, he decided to keep quiet and just circled the market aimlessly.
Maybe I should send dad a text at noon, telling him to go eat out by himself?
Then I could hide at Yuli's house under the pretext of Chinese New Year's greetings. It would be better not to have face to face interaction with dad until this blows over.
Otherwise, the atmosphere might become really awkward.
From now on, I should definitely avoid entering dad’s room casually. It would be awful to stumble upon such a scene again.
But... Dad's looked quite big.
