Chapter 33: 32, now I am also a father. _1
Translator: 549690339
Lin Changshui wasn’t tall, with graying hair. His face, weathered by the years, bore wrinkles that time had etched deeply into his skin.
Watching Lin Xiaoxiao run toward him, Lin Changshui’s face broke into an uncontrollable smile as he opened his arms wide and indulgently picked her up.
“Oh my, my sweet granddaughter, Grandpa missed you too.”
“Look, what’s this?”
Like a magician pulling a trick, Lin Changshui took a piece of candy from his pocket and held it in front of Lin Xiaoxiao.
“Thank you, Grandpa!” Lin Xiaoxiao tore open the candy wrapper, ready to pop it into her mouth.
“Still eating? You’ll have no teeth left at this rate.” Lin Mo scolded and then quickly added, “Get down now, have you forgotten about Grandpa’s bad back?” Not long ago, Lin Changshui had undergone surgery for a lumbar disc herniation, and the doctor had specifically advised him to minimize physical labor.
“Hmph…” Lin Xiaoxiao snorted, purse-lipped, and complained, “Grandpa, Daddy is picking on me.”
“It’s ok, you enjoy your candy. I’ll scold him for you.” Lin Changshui looked over at Lin Mo with a frown and asked, “What happened to my granddaughter’s forehead? Did she fall?”
After the long car ride, the redness and swelling from the coin on Lin
Xiaoxiao’s forehead had mostly subsided,
so much so that neither Lin Siyu nor Xu Qin noticed anything unusual.
But such details did not escape the eyes of Lin Changshui, who adored his granddaughter the most.
Lin Mo didn’t want his father to worry and dismissively answered, “It’s nothing, she just took a fall at school.”
However, as soon as school was mentioned, Lin Xiaoxiao’s eyes immediately began to brim with tears, her voice quivering as she complained, “Grandpa, there’s a bad classmate who keeps bullying me at school. Today he even used a remote-control car to intentionally…”
“Lin Xiaoxiao!” Lin Mo frowned, trying to stop his daughter from continuing.
Holding up a hand to gesture for silence, Lin Changshui asked in a deep voice, “My sweet girl, tell me in detail what happened.”
Feeling aggrieved, Lin Xiaoxiao recounted the whole incident to Lin Changshui from start to finish.
As she spoke of the moment when her forehead nearly hit the podium, Lin Changshui’s eyes reddened with her.
He truly felt her pain!
That’s just how grandparental affection is, even if they themselves bear many hardships, they don’t take it to heart; but upon hearing that their grandchild is being bullied, anger is all that remains in their heart.
Lin Mo hurriedly interjected, “Dad, don’t worry, everything has been resolved.” Li Jinwen also quickly picked up Lin Xiaoxiao, explaining, “Dad, rest assured, the school is very supportive of us, and that child has already apologized.” “Xiaoxiao, didn’t we agree on the way here not to tell Grandpa everything?” Lin Changshui gently blew on Lin Xiaoxiao’s forehead, asking with concern, “Does it still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, Grandpa.”
“It was just a small matter, and it’s already been taken care of, so you don’t need to worry,” said Lin Mo, seeing his father’s worried look, and hurriedly added, “Wife, take Xiaoxiao inside, I have something to discuss with Dad.” Li Jinwen nodded and went into the kitchen with Lin Xiaoxiao in her arms. Once only the father and son were left in the courtyard, Lin Mo asked, “Dad, how are things going with the construction payment?”
He had especially made the long trip back this time partly to get to the bottom of this matter in person.
Although his father verbally assured there was nothing wrong, the information Lin Mo had received indicated that the situation wasn’t so simple.
Lin Changshui pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and took a deep drag before saying, “Did you come all the way back just for this?”
“You worry too much; didn’t I tell you on the phone? It’s nothing significant, and it will be settled soon.”
Lin Mo, still not reassured, persisted, “Dad, please tell me the truth. What exactly is going on? I have many friends who might be able to help.”
“I am thirty years old now, the household can’t just rely on you to shoulder everything, can it?”
“I am a father now too.”
Listening to his son, a faint smile curled the corners of Lin Changshui’s mouth, a glint of pride showing in his eyes.
Yes.
His own son had grown up!
Taking out a cigarette from his pocket, he asked, “Want one?”
Lin Mo shook his head, “No thanks, that stuff is bad for your body, you should quit early too.”
“If I could quit, 1 would’ve done it a long time ago.
Lin Changshui put away the cigarette and after a few seconds of silence said, “Honestly, I did run into some trouble.”
“Half a year ago, 1 took a few fellows from the village to work on a construction site for Lvkai Group. We worked there for over half a year but, when it came time to settle accounts, the contractor ran off and couldn’t be found anywhere.” “But don’t worry, I’ve already contacted the contractor’s boss, and it shouldn’t be long before all the money is accounted for.”
After listening, Lin Mo nodded, clearly seeing that his dad probably wasn’t lying, and then he seriously advised, “It’s best if there are no issues, but if there are, I’ll help you find a lawyer. The Labor Bureau is quite concerned about the wages of migrant workers these days.”
“Your health isn’t great either, so don’t go stirring up trouble. Worst comes to worst, we can let the money go—I can cover it for you.”
Lin Mo had worked on construction sites before and was all too familiar with overdue wages.
Construction sites…
Many shady things happen there!
Don’t know how many workers have been beaten up, or even killed, by people hired by the other side when they went to claim their wages.
It was also common for some to threaten to jump from buildings over unpaid claims and to fall by accident.
What he remembered most vividly was a friend who went to demand payment not long ago, and ended up being detained for several days for “malicious wage claiming.”
The reason Lin Mo was so worried was that he didn’t want such tragedies to happen to his own family.
“Tens of thousands… You think you can just come up with that kind of money?” Lin Changshui snuffed out the cigarette butt in his hand and said with a laugh, “But today, I really see it.”
“You, my boy, have really grown up.”
“Don’t worry, dad has a plan. It’s just about getting the wages back, nothing bad will happen.”
At that moment,
Lin Siyu called out from the kitchen door, “Dad, Brother, the food’s ready. Mom asked you to move the table outside.”
Neither the kitchen nor the bedroom were big enough for so many people.’
They had to move all the tables and chairs out to the yard to eat outside.
Though it had turned autumn and the weather was a bit cold, the atmosphere was still very warm with the whole family together.
Besides, being a poor family, they didn’t have many luxuries to begin with.
After setting the table, plates of nicely prepared food were brought out, filling the yard with the delicious aroma of the dishes.
Some of the other tenants returning from work, upon seeing such a warm scene, looked visibly disheartened.
They were all workers,
laboring hard all year long just to be able to have a joyful reunion dinner with their families on New Year’s Eve.
But the government had just introduced a policy that there would be no holidays even for New Year’s Eve this year, so the dream of having a family reunion for these people was mostly dashed.
As the saying goes, no matter how good you are, there’s always someone better.
And no matter how poor you are, there are those standing in the abyss, envying your life.
After the food was laid out,
Lin Siyu brought out a bottle of liquor from the room, excitedly saying, “Dad, look what your precious son has brought you.”
“Jiannanchun, huh!”
“That’s what the boss was drinking at our last team building event. It cost several hundred yuan per bottle.”
Lin Changshui rarely drank, but he knew the price of liquor, and after confirming the bottle was indeed Jiannanchun, he scolded, “Coming back is fine, but why buy such expensive liquor?”
“Isn’t this a waste?”
“What waste!” Lin Siyu said proudly, placing the liquor in front of Lin
Changshui and laughing, “Your precious son is no simple character now. He just made over a million.”
“If you don’t believe it, you can ask your precious granddaughter.”
“What, over a million? Xiaoxiao, tell Grandpa, what nonsense is your dad spouting now?”