Lin Jin was quite interested in the world described by the black cat. According to the black cat, that world was a gathering of all sorts of 2D cats from Lin Jin's own world.
Hmm, Doraemon like robotic cats were one thing, although they were technically machine cats, even "cats" like Hello Kitty, whose designers had clarified was actually a little girl and not a cat, existed in that world.
As for why Lin Jin knew Hello Kitty wasn't a cat, of course, he had just looked it up on Baidu! Otherwise, with his limited knowledge, how could he know about such things, which are typically only of interest to girls?
After asking Lin Jin for advice on courting a female cat, the black cat disappeared. In truth, Lin Jin hadn't taught the black cat any techniques to chase girls... Not to mention that Lin Jin himself had little experience in pursuing girls. But the black cat was trying to chase a female cat, okay?! Who knew how to do that!
Lin Jin yawned and sat on his bed. He reviewed the task details once again, only to realize it was actually quite challenging.
Because there wasn't even a third bedroom for his mother to sleep in! There was no way his mother would come here and sleep on the sofa, let alone share a bed with his dad! Sleeping on the floor for a day or two might be tolerable for his mom, but she would surely go back to the countryside and stay at grandpa’s house under the pretext of celebrating Chinese New Year.
Ah, if he wanted his mother to spend the night, he at least needed to offer her a comfortable room to stay in, right?
Thinking of this, Lin Jin immediately sprang into action.
He stepped out of his room, glanced at his dad who was expressionlessly watching TV in the living room, and went into the dining room to start organizing the clutter in the corner.
After organizing for a while, Lin Jin found that most of the clutter was old clothes and books his mother had left behind, as well as textbooks and other miscellaneous items from his childhood. He packed a box of books and poked his head out to call to his idle dad, "Dad! Take this stuff down to the storage room in the basement!"
"What are you trying to do?"
Dad got up from the sofa and walked to the entrance of the dining room.
"Mom is coming back. If you don't want her to sleep on the floor for a couple of days and then run off to the countryside to stay with Grandpa, it'd be best to clear out a room for her" Lin Jin turned to look at his surprised looking dad and continued, "Fix up mom's room, make it look nice, so she can see your sincerity."
To be honest, his father would usually scoff at this sort of talk. However, perhaps because it concerned about mom, he actually nodded. He then picked up the box Lin Jin had packed without a word and headed for the door.
"Remember to put it in the storage room!"
"I know."
Lin Jin was afraid that his dad might think these things were useless and throw them directly into the trash…
But why did he feel that his dad seemed to be taking his words more seriously recently? If it weren't for the fact that his girly appearance had irritated his dad and led to a few angry outbursts, Lin Jin would almost think his dad was starting to fall for his own son.
Maybe it was due to his proficiency in eloquence?
Those mastery skills didn't come with detailed explanations. Many of Lin Jin's skills felt utterly useless, merely listed on the app’s interface.
So far, only his vocal proficiency seemed somewhat useful. As for the rest, like yoga, they seemed ridiculous. What use was there for a man to learn yoga?
Thinking of this, Lin Jin unhesitatingly did the splits. He found that his mastery in yoga could indeed increase his range of positions. Doing a split only made his ligaments feel a slight pain.
Hmm, it really does unlock positions.
Getting up from the floor, Lin Jin pressed his legs against the wall, easily making his legs parallel with his body. Then he heard the sound of his dad returning through the door. Without hesitation, he lowered his legs and resumed an earnest look as if he were sorting through the items.
Dad went down and back up four times before they finally cleared out the room. He assembled the bed frame that was leaning against the wall, placed the desk that had served as a dining table into a corner, and set a stack of four or five books that Mom had read before on top before they finished.
The layout of the dining room had now returned to how it was before mom left. Lin Jin thought for a moment, made some minor changes, and then, with his dad's help, moved his own double bed into the room while opting to sleep on the newly assembled single bed.
The room, which wasn't particularly large to begin with, seemed a bit cramped after fitting in Lin Jin's double bed. However, the cramped space had its own charm, making the room appear less empty.
Well, mom should find this quite cozy, right?!
It would be even better if they could add some stickers to the room, that would make it feel even more like home.
"That should do." After half an hour of bustling around, Lin Jin stood up and stretched, then turned to look at his dad who was standing behind him. "This should be fine, right?"
"Mm." Dad maintained a cold expression from beginning to end, as if someone owed him millions. After nodding, he went back to the living room to watch TV, acting as if he couldn't care less about mom’s return.
How could he not care? His father was just a tsundere!
Lin Jin chuckled quietly in his heart, then returned to his bedroom and sat down on the newly assembled wooden bed.
Though Lin Jin found it a bit hard to adjust to the wooden bed after sleeping on a large double bed for over a week, it was still better than the beds at school, right? Those were high off the ground so there was always the risk of falling off while sleeping. If he could get used to those hard beds, then this bed should be no problem.
Leisurely lying on the bed, Lin Jin looked at the ceiling, eager to see his mom, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.
Yet he felt somewhat nervous. Mom definitely harbored some resentment towards dad. If mom slapped dad as soon as she returned, or got into an argument on the first day, she might just go to the countryside to celebrate the New Year and then return to Guangdong.
They shouldn’t argue, right? After all, they've been divorced for eight years. No matter how big the conflict was, no matter how angry they were back then, they would have calmed down now, right? ...Hmm, it's Chinese New Year, so make that nine years.
Would his younger brother find it hard to adapt to life here? After all, he had lived in Guangdong with his mother since he was nine, and the quality of life there was far better than here. Not to mention computers and phones, this place doesn't even have internet. If he didn’t have enough mobile data, life would be even tougher here.
Maybe he should get internet?
Lin Jin paused, remembering that he had thought of setting up an internet connection at home after he got some money, but he'd forgotten about it. Now it was the first day of Chinese New Year, chances were none of the service providers would be open. Even if they were, the technicians wouldn't come during the holiday season.
"Lin Jin, why did you buy so much food?" Dad shouted from outside the bedroom.
"It's for making a big meal for mom tomorrow" Lin Jin responded before lying back down on the bed.
The truth was, he had bumped into his dad doing that in the morning and felt so awkward he didn't know where to go. So, he decided to kill time by buying a heap of things at the market.
Besides, it's winter, the food won't spoil.
Lin Jin was quite interested in the world described by the black cat. According to the black cat, that world was a gathering of all sorts of 2D cats from Lin Jin's own world.
Hmm, Doraemon like robotic cats were one thing, although they were technically machine cats, even "cats" like Hello Kitty, whose designers had clarified was actually a little girl and not a cat, existed in that world.
As for why Lin Jin knew Hello Kitty wasn't a cat, of course, he had just looked it up on Baidu! Otherwise, with his limited knowledge, how could he know about such things, which are typically only of interest to girls?
After asking Lin Jin for advice on courting a female cat, the black cat disappeared. In truth, Lin Jin hadn't taught the black cat any techniques to chase girls... Not to mention that Lin Jin himself had little experience in pursuing girls. But the black cat was trying to chase a female cat, okay?! Who knew how to do that!
Lin Jin yawned and sat on his bed. He reviewed the task details once again, only to realize it was actually quite challenging.
Because there wasn't even a third bedroom for his mother to sleep in! There was no way his mother would come here and sleep on the sofa, let alone share a bed with his dad! Sleeping on the floor for a day or two might be tolerable for his mom, but she would surely go back to the countryside and stay at grandpa’s house under the pretext of celebrating Chinese New Year.
Ah, if he wanted his mother to spend the night, he at least needed to offer her a comfortable room to stay in, right?
Thinking of this, Lin Jin immediately sprang into action.
He stepped out of his room, glanced at his dad who was expressionlessly watching TV in the living room, and went into the dining room to start organizing the clutter in the corner.
After organizing for a while, Lin Jin found that most of the clutter was old clothes and books his mother had left behind, as well as textbooks and other miscellaneous items from his childhood. He packed a box of books and poked his head out to call to his idle dad, "Dad! Take this stuff down to the storage room in the basement!"
"What are you trying to do?"
Dad got up from the sofa and walked to the entrance of the dining room.
"Mom is coming back. If you don't want her to sleep on the floor for a couple of days and then run off to the countryside to stay with Grandpa, it'd be best to clear out a room for her" Lin Jin turned to look at his surprised looking dad and continued, "Fix up mom's room, make it look nice, so she can see your sincerity."
To be honest, his father would usually scoff at this sort of talk. However, perhaps because it concerned about mom, he actually nodded. He then picked up the box Lin Jin had packed without a word and headed for the door.
"Remember to put it in the storage room!"
"I know."
Lin Jin was afraid that his dad might think these things were useless and throw them directly into the trash…
But why did he feel that his dad seemed to be taking his words more seriously recently? If it weren't for the fact that his girly appearance had irritated his dad and led to a few angry outbursts, Lin Jin would almost think his dad was starting to fall for his own son.
Maybe it was due to his proficiency in eloquence?
Those mastery skills didn't come with detailed explanations. Many of Lin Jin's skills felt utterly useless, merely listed on the app’s interface.
So far, only his vocal proficiency seemed somewhat useful. As for the rest, like yoga, they seemed ridiculous. What use was there for a man to learn yoga?
Thinking of this, Lin Jin unhesitatingly did the splits. He found that his mastery in yoga could indeed increase his range of positions. Doing a split only made his ligaments feel a slight pain.
Hmm, it really does unlock positions.
Getting up from the floor, Lin Jin pressed his legs against the wall, easily making his legs parallel with his body. Then he heard the sound of his dad returning through the door. Without hesitation, he lowered his legs and resumed an earnest look as if he were sorting through the items.
Dad went down and back up four times before they finally cleared out the room. He assembled the bed frame that was leaning against the wall, placed the desk that had served as a dining table into a corner, and set a stack of four or five books that Mom had read before on top before they finished.
The layout of the dining room had now returned to how it was before mom left. Lin Jin thought for a moment, made some minor changes, and then, with his dad's help, moved his own double bed into the room while opting to sleep on the newly assembled single bed.
The room, which wasn't particularly large to begin with, seemed a bit cramped after fitting in Lin Jin's double bed. However, the cramped space had its own charm, making the room appear less empty.
Well, mom should find this quite cozy, right?!
It would be even better if they could add some stickers to the room, that would make it feel even more like home.
"That should do." After half an hour of bustling around, Lin Jin stood up and stretched, then turned to look at his dad who was standing behind him. "This should be fine, right?"
"Mm." Dad maintained a cold expression from beginning to end, as if someone owed him millions. After nodding, he went back to the living room to watch TV, acting as if he couldn't care less about mom’s return.
How could he not care? His father was just a tsundere!
Lin Jin chuckled quietly in his heart, then returned to his bedroom and sat down on the newly assembled wooden bed.
Though Lin Jin found it a bit hard to adjust to the wooden bed after sleeping on a large double bed for over a week, it was still better than the beds at school, right? Those were high off the ground so there was always the risk of falling off while sleeping. If he could get used to those hard beds, then this bed should be no problem.
Leisurely lying on the bed, Lin Jin looked at the ceiling, eager to see his mom, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.
Yet he felt somewhat nervous. Mom definitely harbored some resentment towards dad. If mom slapped dad as soon as she returned, or got into an argument on the first day, she might just go to the countryside to celebrate the New Year and then return to Guangdong.
They shouldn’t argue, right? After all, they've been divorced for eight years. No matter how big the conflict was, no matter how angry they were back then, they would have calmed down now, right? ...Hmm, it's Chinese New Year, so make that nine years.
Would his younger brother find it hard to adapt to life here? After all, he had lived in Guangdong with his mother since he was nine, and the quality of life there was far better than here. Not to mention computers and phones, this place doesn't even have internet. If he didn’t have enough mobile data, life would be even tougher here.
Maybe he should get internet?
Lin Jin paused, remembering that he had thought of setting up an internet connection at home after he got some money, but he'd forgotten about it. Now it was the first day of Chinese New Year, chances were none of the service providers would be open. Even if they were, the technicians wouldn't come during the holiday season.
"Lin Jin, why did you buy so much food?" Dad shouted from outside the bedroom.
"It's for making a big meal for mom tomorrow" Lin Jin responded before lying back down on the bed.
The truth was, he had bumped into his dad doing that in the morning and felt so awkward he didn't know where to go. So, he decided to kill time by buying a heap of things at the market.
Besides, it's winter, the food won't spoil.
