Lin Jin actually doesn't have much interest going online and stuff. When he did, it would usually just be to play Dota or watch some videos. However, since he hadn’t played much games recently, he had lost much of his Dota addiction. As for watching videos, his phone had a student sim card which provided enough data for him to watch standard-definition videos.
After killing time at the internet cafe, he and Lin Jin returned to their grandparent’s house. As for their cousin Weiwei, who was an extreme homebody, he simply went home.
It was dinner time when they returned to their grandparent’s house. Their grandpa had sparse hair and some sun spots on his face. He was so thin that he seemed to only be bones. He had already finished playing mahjong and was sitting on the sofa in the front room watching TV.
Though he was thin, he was actually very strong. Even though he was over 60 years old, Lin Jin still felt that he couldn’t beat him in arm wrestling. After all, his grandpa was a person who woulds till work in the fields from time to time.
"Lin Chen, come here" Although grandpa could speak mandarin, he was still used to speaking in the local dialect. He greeted Lin Chen who just walked in with Lin Jin, but selective ignored Lin Jin. “Let grandpa see how much stronger you’ve gotten.”
Lin Chen glanced at Lin Jin beside him, who had his hands in his pockets, and then looked at his grandpa waving to him. With no choice, he walked over, and every muscle in his arms was pinched by his grandpa.
Their grandfather was a bit patriarchal, or a bit chauvinistic. He couldn't stand the androgynous celebrities on TV. As a result, their grandfather who was once really enthusiastic towards Lin Jin is now a little cold.
After feeling Lin Chen's muscles, grandpa nodded satisfactorily and praised, "Not bad, big and strong, like a real man."
Lin Chen was stunned for a moment. Was grandpa implying something about his brother? He sneakily glanced at Lin Jin, who was eating peanuts at the edge of the coffee table with an indifferent face.
After eating more than a dozen peanuts, Lin Jin directly went to the back room, where their grandmother and mother were busy cooking. His mother was just helping out, while his fashionably dressed aunt sat at the dining table, eating the freshly cooked dishes with chopsticks and chatting with his mother.
"Lin Jin is back?" Auntie noticed Lin Jin entering the room immediately and waved at him. Seeing that Lin Jin took the initiative to sit across from her, she continued, "What about Weiwei? Did he go home already?"
"Yeah, he said he was too lazy to come over" Lin Jin casually took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick basket on the side to stuff some food into his mouth.
This aunt was probably the relative who treated Lin Jin the best. Although she also had a bit of the mindset that favored males over females, among the conservative-thinking relatives, her thoughts were likely the most open-minded.
So, when Auntie saw that Lin Jin had become noticeably more feminine, she wasn't surprised. After confirming that the short-haired beauty in front of her was indeed Lin Jin, she still displayed her usual enthusiasm.
t's just that between the lines, she was always encouraging Lin Jin to exercise to be more masculine.
"Lin Jin, do you plan to go to the gym and work out like your brother?" Auntie's smile was always beautiful, and although she was in her forties, she still had two cute dimples on her face. "Or come live at my house for a while. Aunt will take you hiking every day."
"Hiking?" Lin Jin immediately showed a disdainful expression but still offered an excuse, "My dad needs me to accompany him at home. It's not good for him to be alone, what if he goes gambling again?"
"Let him go." Auntie had a particularly bad impression of their dad. She once lent him fifty thousand yuan for an emergency, only for that money to be gambled away. Even though the money was eventually paid back, for various reasons, her impression of him remained very negative.
"Look at how old your dad is now? Ten years ago, he was in his thirties and he actually gave up my sister for gambling!" Auntie's eyebrows rose, and she forcefully slapped the table. "Why are you still following him? To put it bluntly, what can he do now except gamble? I heard that he even has you do the cooking, he's too lazy to even cook for himself when you went to college!"
Lin Jin shrugged. After all, it was the court that decided the custody arrangement. Moreover, Lin Jin was not an ungrateful person. His dad had once provided him with a decent life before. Even dogs don’t mind being poor, right?
The wooden door to the backyard suddenly swung open. His dad with a cigarette hanging from his mouth stood in the backyard, looking at Lin Jin from a distance.
Lin Jin glanced at him and said nothing. He continued to listen to Auntie's dissatisfied ranting. Auntie had no idea that his dad had actually heard her words.
"Listen to me, even a bird knows to find a good nest. What's stopping you from leaving with your mom? Your mom told me she wanted to take you to Guangzhou, but you refused, preferring to stay in a house with your dad where there's not even a washing machine."
Auntie was clearly trying to disparage his dad while persuading Lin Jin to leave with his mom. However, Lin Jin remained expressionless, continuing to eat his meal. His aunt’s words went in one ear and out the other.
Even if his own principles had been shattered by the tasks set by the black cat, his dad was still his dad. He was fine at home now, at least his father knows that gambling was bad. In the past, every time he went to gamble late at night, he would always be sneaking away when Lin Jin was asleep. If Lin Jin left, his father’s would have probably gotten worse and stayed the entire day at the casino.
Lin Jin became a little irritable after listening to her aunt’s rant. He pursed his lips and had an unhappy look on his face.
His aunt finally stopped talking. He shook her head helplessly and walked to the rice cooker. She made a few bowls of rice and put them on the table: “Let’s eat first.”
"Mhm."
The dining table was small, accommodating a maximum of five or six people at its four corners. But today, seven mouths were waiting to be fed, so they had to take turns eating.
Dad finished smoking, but he was still wandering around in the backyard. He would look at his phone from time to time. In this environment where he couldn’t fit in, he looked a little lonely. He found a stone in the backyard and sat down. Along his feet were cigarette butts. He wanted to go in and shout to Lin Jin’s aunt: “I’ve changed!” but he had no confidence to do so.
He doesn’t know if he will be pressured to gamble again when the casino reopens. But if he doesn’t gamble, could he really support his family by working as a part time worker every day?
Mom and Lin Chen also sat at the table. Auntie's nagging immediately shifted from Lin Jin to Lin Chen, as she continued to complain about the bad things their dad had done in the past.
However, just like Lin Jin, Lin Chen kept his head down and focused on eating, completely ignoring his aunt's words.
Lin Jin actually doesn't have much interest going online and stuff. When he did, it would usually just be to play Dota or watch some videos. However, since he hadn’t played much games recently, he had lost much of his Dota addiction. As for watching videos, his phone had a student sim card which provided enough data for him to watch standard-definition videos.
After killing time at the internet cafe, he and Lin Jin returned to their grandparent’s house. As for their cousin Weiwei, who was an extreme homebody, he simply went home.
It was dinner time when they returned to their grandparent’s house. Their grandpa had sparse hair and some sun spots on his face. He was so thin that he seemed to only be bones. He had already finished playing mahjong and was sitting on the sofa in the front room watching TV.
Though he was thin, he was actually very strong. Even though he was over 60 years old, Lin Jin still felt that he couldn’t beat him in arm wrestling. After all, his grandpa was a person who woulds till work in the fields from time to time.
"Lin Chen, come here" Although grandpa could speak mandarin, he was still used to speaking in the local dialect. He greeted Lin Chen who just walked in with Lin Jin, but selective ignored Lin Jin. “Let grandpa see how much stronger you’ve gotten.”
Lin Chen glanced at Lin Jin beside him, who had his hands in his pockets, and then looked at his grandpa waving to him. With no choice, he walked over, and every muscle in his arms was pinched by his grandpa.
Their grandfather was a bit patriarchal, or a bit chauvinistic. He couldn't stand the androgynous celebrities on TV. As a result, their grandfather who was once really enthusiastic towards Lin Jin is now a little cold.
After feeling Lin Chen's muscles, grandpa nodded satisfactorily and praised, "Not bad, big and strong, like a real man."
Lin Chen was stunned for a moment. Was grandpa implying something about his brother? He sneakily glanced at Lin Jin, who was eating peanuts at the edge of the coffee table with an indifferent face.
After eating more than a dozen peanuts, Lin Jin directly went to the back room, where their grandmother and mother were busy cooking. His mother was just helping out, while his fashionably dressed aunt sat at the dining table, eating the freshly cooked dishes with chopsticks and chatting with his mother.
"Lin Jin is back?" Auntie noticed Lin Jin entering the room immediately and waved at him. Seeing that Lin Jin took the initiative to sit across from her, she continued, "What about Weiwei? Did he go home already?"
"Yeah, he said he was too lazy to come over" Lin Jin casually took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick basket on the side to stuff some food into his mouth.
This aunt was probably the relative who treated Lin Jin the best. Although she also had a bit of the mindset that favored males over females, among the conservative-thinking relatives, her thoughts were likely the most open-minded.
So, when Auntie saw that Lin Jin had become noticeably more feminine, she wasn't surprised. After confirming that the short-haired beauty in front of her was indeed Lin Jin, she still displayed her usual enthusiasm.
t's just that between the lines, she was always encouraging Lin Jin to exercise to be more masculine.
"Lin Jin, do you plan to go to the gym and work out like your brother?" Auntie's smile was always beautiful, and although she was in her forties, she still had two cute dimples on her face. "Or come live at my house for a while. Aunt will take you hiking every day."
"Hiking?" Lin Jin immediately showed a disdainful expression but still offered an excuse, "My dad needs me to accompany him at home. It's not good for him to be alone, what if he goes gambling again?"
"Let him go." Auntie had a particularly bad impression of their dad. She once lent him fifty thousand yuan for an emergency, only for that money to be gambled away. Even though the money was eventually paid back, for various reasons, her impression of him remained very negative.
"Look at how old your dad is now? Ten years ago, he was in his thirties and he actually gave up my sister for gambling!" Auntie's eyebrows rose, and she forcefully slapped the table. "Why are you still following him? To put it bluntly, what can he do now except gamble? I heard that he even has you do the cooking, he's too lazy to even cook for himself when you went to college!"
Lin Jin shrugged. After all, it was the court that decided the custody arrangement. Moreover, Lin Jin was not an ungrateful person. His dad had once provided him with a decent life before. Even dogs don’t mind being poor, right?
The wooden door to the backyard suddenly swung open. His dad with a cigarette hanging from his mouth stood in the backyard, looking at Lin Jin from a distance.
Lin Jin glanced at him and said nothing. He continued to listen to Auntie's dissatisfied ranting. Auntie had no idea that his dad had actually heard her words.
"Listen to me, even a bird knows to find a good nest. What's stopping you from leaving with your mom? Your mom told me she wanted to take you to Guangzhou, but you refused, preferring to stay in a house with your dad where there's not even a washing machine."
Auntie was clearly trying to disparage his dad while persuading Lin Jin to leave with his mom. However, Lin Jin remained expressionless, continuing to eat his meal. His aunt’s words went in one ear and out the other.
Even if his own principles had been shattered by the tasks set by the black cat, his dad was still his dad. He was fine at home now, at least his father knows that gambling was bad. In the past, every time he went to gamble late at night, he would always be sneaking away when Lin Jin was asleep. If Lin Jin left, his father’s would have probably gotten worse and stayed the entire day at the casino.
Lin Jin became a little irritable after listening to her aunt’s rant. He pursed his lips and had an unhappy look on his face.
His aunt finally stopped talking. He shook her head helplessly and walked to the rice cooker. She made a few bowls of rice and put them on the table: “Let’s eat first.”
"Mhm."
The dining table was small, accommodating a maximum of five or six people at its four corners. But today, seven mouths were waiting to be fed, so they had to take turns eating.
Dad finished smoking, but he was still wandering around in the backyard. He would look at his phone from time to time. In this environment where he couldn’t fit in, he looked a little lonely. He found a stone in the backyard and sat down. Along his feet were cigarette butts. He wanted to go in and shout to Lin Jin’s aunt: “I’ve changed!” but he had no confidence to do so.
He doesn’t know if he will be pressured to gamble again when the casino reopens. But if he doesn’t gamble, could he really support his family by working as a part time worker every day?
Mom and Lin Chen also sat at the table. Auntie's nagging immediately shifted from Lin Jin to Lin Chen, as she continued to complain about the bad things their dad had done in the past.
However, just like Lin Jin, Lin Chen kept his head down and focused on eating, completely ignoring his aunt's words.
