Lin Fan returned home and collapsed onto her bed. Perhaps because she'd been downstairs for too long, or perhaps because the conversation had taken so much energy, she felt exhausted and drifted off to sleep.
The words she had said circled in her mind, and the anxiety and fear turned into dreams.
In her dream, Lin Fan was taken to a special agency by John Woo. Men in white coats surrounded her and began cutting into her flesh. She ran and ran until she encountered someone dressed like a wizard, who threatened to hypnotize her and grabbed her scalp, threatening to rip her head off. After finally escaping, she ran back to the prison. John Woo laughed heartily outside. Lin Fan, anxious and annoyed, suddenly transformed into a nine-headed monster, spewing fire at the iron bars.
Wu Yusen pulled out a machine gun from somewhere and fired at her, killing eight of her heads with only one left.
The disappeared white coat came back in and nailed her to the wall, chopped off the dead heads, made specimens and hung them where she could see them. Every day they cut flesh from her body and hit her head with a hammer, making a clanging sound.
The remaining head kept crying, wanting to die but unable to. Wu Yusen ran over and taunted him, saying that it was her fault for trusting him to follow her, and that she deserved it. Then he took the hammer and smashed it on the head. He even bit off some flesh from her body and ate it. After that, he continued to smash it.
Lin Fan woke up suddenly. The "clang clang" sound in her ears scared her so much that she rolled over and looked closely. It was her cell phone ringing.
She covered her chest, took a long breath, and took a few slow breaths.
Obviously, John Woo's words still had an impact on her.
The phone stopped ringing for a few seconds, then started to ding again. Lin Fan calmed down and picked up the phone. He glanced at the note and answered: "Hello."
Lin Ma's high-pitched voice came from the other end of the line: "Xiao Fan, what took you so long to answer the phone?"
"I was sleeping just now." Lin Fan replied.
"Why are you sleeping after 4 o'clock? It's neither early nor late. Get up quickly, or you won't be able to sleep at night." Lin's mother shouted.
Lin Fan looked at the clock and saw it was almost 5 o'clock. She came back around 10 o'clock and slept for about six or seven hours.
"Yeah. What's up?" Lin Fan took a cup and went to the hall to pour water.
"Your Aunt Mao called just now and said that she saw someone introduce you to a job with very good conditions. The salary and bonus are in the tens of thousands. What's going on? Why didn't you tell us?" Lin's mother's voice was a little excited.
"That's true." Lin Fan took a sip of water. She knew Aunt Mao was a gossip and liked to spread rumors. She hadn't expected her to even have her mother's phone number. "But I don't think it's appropriate..."
"What's inappropriate about it? Why is it inappropriate?" Before Lin Fan could finish his words, Lin's mother interrupted him anxiously.
"Your Aunt Mao said the base salary is 20,000 yuan, and there are five social insurances and one housing fund that you don't have to pay for yourself. There are also subsidies of several thousand yuan. I can't remember exactly, but it's hundreds of thousands a year. How can I not go?"
Lin's mother was also surprised when she suddenly received a call from her neighbor, Lao Mao. Although they had been neighbors for many years, they had only greeted each other when they went upstairs and had never kept in touch. She thought for a long time before she remembered who this person was. After a polite greeting, she was shocked by the news Lao Mao revealed.
A monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, and that's the base salary. Her sister's daughter, a graduate student, works in Gaohe City and only makes a little over 10,000 yuan a month. In their area, earning 5,000 or 6,000 yuan is considered good. If she could make 7,000 or 8,000 yuan, I wonder how many people would envy her.
Although their family had run a business before, they only made about 300,000 to 400,000 yuan a year, all of which was hard-earned money from working from dawn to dusk.
And her daughter, when she thought she was going to be dragged down like this for the rest of her life, someone actually offered such a high salary and such good treatment. How could she not seize it? She had to accept it!
She was so anxious that she even skipped her midday nap, waiting for Lin Fan to call and tell them, but he never came. Unable to wait any longer, she took the initiative to call and ask about it, but what did she hear?
"What are you not satisfied with? What's not suitable? What are you thinking about?" Lin's mother shouted directly.
“…” Lin Fan moved the phone away. For a moment, he didn’t want to talk anymore and felt a little uncomfortable.
"Xiao Fan, Xiao Fan, say something! Where are you? Lin Fan, what's wrong with you? Speak!"
"Okay, what are you making noise about! You're just making noise without saying a word!" Lin's father's voice came from the receiver.
"What's your business? Did I talk to you?" Mother Lin was very angry.
"Xiao Fan must be annoyed by your noise. Give it to me and I will talk to her properly."
Mother Lin handed the phone to Father Lin while mumbling something, then thought it wouldn't work and turned on the speakerphone so that both of them could hear it.
Lin Fan also turned on the hands-free mode and put her phone on the table. She felt exhausted again and her whole body was numb, so she lay down on the table to rest.
"Xiao Fan." Lin's father's voice came, neither anxious nor impatient, which slightly calmed Lin Fan's slightly anxious heart.
"dad."
"Don't blame your mom. That's just her temper, you know." Father Lin said after a few words of advice, then asked, "What exactly happened? I was shocked when I heard your mom's unclear explanation. Can you tell me about it?"
"Someone said this morning that he would introduce me to a job. But you know my situation. I can't even maintain a normal life..." Lin Fan said slowly.
"Why can't you live a normal life? Haven't you been living a normal life alone for several years?" Lin's mother's voice came again.
"Hey, stop talking." Lin's father stopped him anxiously. "What kind of job is it? How good is the salary?"
Lin Fan continued half-truthfully, "It's my old job. The pay was really good, over a million a year, but..."
"More than one million!" Lin's mother shouted from the opposite side.
"Let the child finish what he is saying!" Lin's father was a little angry and yelled at Lin's mother. Lin's mother wanted to say something back, but when she thought of the more than one million yuan, she held back and concentrated on listening to the phone.
"Xiao Fan, please speak slowly." Dad Lin paused and tried to speak softly to Lin Fan.
"When I was at the peak of my career in Gaohe City, I was a supervisor and only made around 200,000 yuan a year. Now I've been ill for so many years. Putting aside my health, I've been out of work for so many years that my hands are numb. How could any company still pay me so much to work for them?"
Lin Fan never wanted to go with John Woo from the beginning to the end.
I didn't expect Auntie Mao to be so nosy and let her parents know about this. There was no way to talk about this matter, so I could only make up a lie to cover it up.
Father Lin thought about it and realized that this made sense. He had always thought his daughter was outstanding and believed that she would definitely recover. But to be fair, considering her current condition, he didn't think it was realistic for someone to offer her a million dollars.
"Why not? You were working in a small company back then, and now that you're working in a big company, your salary must be higher! It must be that someone saw something you made before and appreciated it, so they came to you. You should agree to it first and go take a look. It won't be a loss!" Mother Lin was anxious.
"Xiao Fan, you mean this person might be a liar, right?" Dad Lin thought.
"What kind of liar would come all the way here to cheat your daughter?" Lin's mother became even more anxious and shouted at Lin's father, "What's so good about her?"
"Shut up!" Lin's father yelled.
Lin's mother also realized that she had said the wrong thing, but she was not convinced by Lin's father's yelling and said stubbornly, "That's what she is. She is already like this, not working, not getting married, and still relying on us for support. With her like this, what do they want from lying to her?"
"You..." Lin's father was so angry that he wanted to stand up and hit someone. This damn old woman, didn't she know that the speakerphone was on, could Xiaofan hear her?
"Dad," Lin Fan called softly. She seemed sad, but also not sad. She should be used to it.
breathe……
breathe……
When Dad Lin heard him being called on the phone, he quickly picked up the phone, turned off the hands-free function, and whispered into his ear, "Xiao Fan, don't take it personally. You know, your mother says that, but she doesn't really think that way."
"Where were we talking about just now?" Lin Fan suddenly forgot what he had just said.
"It's not normal to say that someone paid a lot of money to invite you." Lin's father reminded him. Seeing that Lin's mother leaned over to listen to the phone again, she glared at him fiercely.
Mother Lin also knew that she was wrong, but she didn't want to admit it, and she felt a little regretful in her heart.
"If a complete stranger suddenly walked up to you and said he wanted to hire you for one million, would you believe him?"
No, Lin’s father instantly denied it in his heart.
"Doesn't he have any certificate from his employer?" asked Mother Lin.
"Even if there is proof, should I believe it immediately and go with him?" Lin Fan asked back.
Mother Lin frowned. She also felt it was inappropriate, but it was one million. Why didn't someone cheat her for no reason? There must be a reason!
Mother Lin was right. There was certainly a reason, but Lin Fan couldn't say it, so he mixed the truth with lies and told her about the matter and his concerns.
"What if I never come back? You won't be able to find me?" This was also Lin Fan's hidden worry.
"Call the police!"
"Do you know how many missing persons cases there are in the country every year?" Lin Fan felt a fire burning both coldly and hotly.
"Xiao Fan, stop talking." Dad Lin interrupted in time.
"Dad knows money is hard to come by. A boss who pays you a million dollars is bound to make you do a million dollars' worth of work. If you weren't sick, Dad would be sure you'd be fine. But you're sick now, so your health is our priority. Everything else will come slowly once you're well."
Father Lin still decided to support Lin Fan: "Is the money enough? Don't worry, Dad can support you."
Lin's father's words were like a trickle of water, instantly extinguishing the restless flames. Just as the mood eased a little, he heard Lin's mother's voice again: "Let me talk to Xiaofan."
"Don't talk nonsense." Lin's father warned.
Mother Lin glanced at Father Lin, then held the phone and said, "Xiao Fan, I know you're afraid of being scammed, and I also know this doesn't sound plausible, but there's always a chance of something happening. What if it's true?"
"Let Xiaofan rest and recuperate." Dad Lin tried to grab the phone, but Mom Lin dodged it.
"If it's true, it would be one million a year! Do you know what one million means? One year's work is equivalent to many years of other people's work!" Mother Lin stood up and hid from Father Lin.
"Stop talking." Dad Lin was anxious and walked around the coffee table to grab the phone from Mom Lin.
"Mom really wants you to be well, I really do. No one wants you to be well more than me. But you know the situation at home. We're all old and have many illnesses. I've been feeling unwell lately, and your dad has been coughing a lot, but we don't dare go to the hospital for fear of wasting your money."
"Your uncle and his family have always looked down on us for being poor. After you fell ill, they openly and secretly accused us of spoiling you. You were not much worse than your brothers and sisters, so why did you become like this now?!"
"Shut up! Why are you saying this!" Dad Lin was anxious. His fat body couldn't catch up with Mom Lin.
"It's not that I'm cruel. I'm afraid that one day we'll be gone, and you won't be well enough to take care of me." Lin's mother said this with tears streaming down her face. "I know you're having a hard time, but who doesn't? Just grit your teeth and push yourself, and you'll get through this. If this is real, and you let me go, you'll definitely regret it when you get better!"
There was a burst of noise, and then Lin's father's voice came over with a wheezing sound: "Xiao Fan, don't listen to your mother."
Mother Lin was still shouting beside her: "You have to think it through! You must think it through!"
Dad Lin ran downstairs with a thumping thud. He went a long way downstairs, and when he couldn't hear Mom Lin anymore, he continued, "Xiao Fan, don't listen to your mom. Take good care of yourself. Dad is sure you'll be well again soon. You won't have to worry about not having a good job then. If you can find a job worth a million now, you'll definitely get one in the future. Mom and Dad will be waiting to enjoy your blessing then."
Lin Fan lay motionless on the table, tears streaming down his arms onto the tabletop. He opened his mouth and cried, "I understand."
Dad Lin heard her cry and quickly advised, "You can't cry. The doctor said that you can't be sad with this illness. You need to relax and be happy, so that you can recover faster. If you think that job is unreliable, just turn it down and don't think about it. Your health is the most important thing, okay?"
"Um."
"Okay, I won't say much to you. Just find some comedy or music to listen to and be happy, okay? We are finally much better now than we were two years ago. Don't be sad anymore, okay?" Lin's father advised earnestly.
"Got it, Dad. You guys take care of yourselves too. You can hang up first."
"Well, I'm hanging up now. Take care of yourself." Dad Lin hung up the phone reluctantly and walked back home slowly.
