Chapter 490: – Dad
"Why did you come over?"
Lin Jin somewhat helplessly asked Xia Tian, who was sitting beside her.
At this moment, the two of them were sitting in a taxi, heading towards the rental apartment.
Lin Jin found it hard to believe that Xia Tian actually came to pick her up. After all, it was noon right now, and logically speaking, Xia Tian should be working in the office, not waiting for her at the exit of the train station. Moreover, she had only told him a ‘sure’, so how did this guy know she would be back at this time?
"Didn’t you say you were coming back?" Xia Tian seemed to have not slept well last night. He yawned with a sleepy look on his face leaning his head against the car window. "I have a one hour lunch break at noon, so I just came over to take a look. It turned out to be just in time."
"Is your luck that good?" Lin Jin rolled her eyes at him, feeling that this guy might be fooling her.
Or did he actually have an inside source? Had Lin Chen or someone else already been recruited as his informant, so he knew as soon as she left home?
Hmm, it sounded impossible no matter how she thought about it. So she could only regard Xia Tian appearing at just the right time to pick her up as a coincidence.
From the train station to the rental apartment was only about ten minutes. Lin Jin also didn't bother to chat much with Xia Tian during those ten minutes. After quickly arriving and getting out of the car, Xia Tian just hurriedly ran off to continue working.
So, what was the point of this guy coming to pick her up?
Lin Jin bitterly smiled and looked down at the keys in her hand. These were left to her by Xia Tian before he left, saying that if she didn't want to go home, she could go to his place.
Wouldn't that just be entering the tiger’s mouth?
Lin Jin wasn't stupid. Besides, even though her dad's current state might not be great, she was long used to it.
Because of the summer break, the stores on the street behind the school were almost all closed. Glancing over the row of stores, it was just her dad’s milk tea shop and a small convenience store that were still open. There were quite a few cars on the street, but very few pedestrians. Only some residents in their thirties or fifties living nearby or some kids could be seen.
Anyway, it was definitely not as lively as during the school term.
Her dad’s milk tea shop was also very quiet. In the entire store, it was just her dad, alone, sitting on a chair inside while absentmindedly on his phone. Occasionally, he would receive a milk tea order, and he would hurriedly make the milk tea, then close the door, get on his bike, and deliver it.
Lin Jin observed from across the street for a long time but didn't see a single customer go in.
Her dad, who went out to deliver the milk tea, quickly came back. The person who ordered it seemed to live in a nearby neighborhood, so it only took ten or so minutes to complete. When her dad came back, he finally noticed Lin Jin across the street.
A smile appeared on his face as he waved at Lin Jin. Then, he turned his bike and came over to her.
"Back so soon? How was it over at mom's place?"
"It wasn’t bad, just a bit boring." Lin Jin saw that her dad didn't look as bitter and resentful as she had imagined, and was actually quite happy. She smiled and asked, "How's business at the shop lately?"
"It’s managing. Luckily, the taste is pretty good. Even though there are no students, people nearby would still order takeout or come to drink milk tea." Her dad smiled, seeming quite satisfied with the current business. "There aren’t many people right now. Wait until the evening, quite a bit of people will come over here to play mahjong and stuff."
Lin Jin followed her dad into the shop. The shop didn't look much different from when she left, just quieter than before. Also, there was a folding mahjong table placed deep inside the shop, indicating that this milk tea shop was turning into a mahjong parlor.
There weren't many milk tea takeout orders, averaging only one per hour. So her dad just stayed in the shop playing on his phone during the day, occasionally testing out new milk teas, saying that in the evening he would give the new flavors to the people playing mahjong to taste for free.
It seemed that her dad’s life was going quite well.
Lin Jin sat in the shop, watching her dad make her a cup of milk tea and place it on the table. Then her dad just sat across from her, smiling and asking: "Did you do anything fun over there in Guangdong?"
"No, just stayed at home every day. There wasn’t really anything fun, just ate some good food." Lin Jin took a sip of the milk tea and found the taste quite good. But milk tea tastes mostly the same, nothing too special.
"The taste is better than before. It should be the best milk tea near the school." After drinking the milk tea, Lin Jin commented, "When school starts next semester, do some promotions. You should be able to make a lot of money quickly, yeah."
Dad smiled and nodded, though he didn’t say much, just continuing to ask: "Why did you suddenly come back?"
"It was a bit boring over there. I'd rather come back to help you deliver takeout." Lin Jin shrugged. "One yuan per order, okay."
"Sure!"
Maybe because her dad’s life had become more disciplined lately, he looked much more spirited than when he first came to Xiamen.
Lin Jin didn't know if her dad was still gambling recently. In the past, when he gambled, he usually stayed up all night or late into the night, resulting in two terrible dark circles under his eyes. But now, his dark circles had quite obviously faded a lot.
After chatting a few lines with her dad, Lin Jin packed up her stuff and stood up to leave.
She hadn't lived in Xiamen for a while, Lin Jin suspected her bedroom had become dusty.
Carrying her backpack, Lin Jin used the key to open her home door. Speaking of which, it was her mom who helped her rent this apartment and also helped her pay a few months’ rent. But now, the rent recently should have been paid by her dad. Anyway, she had never taken care of this matter.
Strangely, the house was actually clean and tidy. Lin Jin even felt it was cleaner than when she was here. Her dad’s room was no longer as messy as when he had set up the street stall. Her own room also seemed to have been cleaned every day, clean enough to walk barefoot without any problem.
Lin Jin lazily stretched. Although this bedroom was obviously not as spacious and beautiful as the one in Guangdong, maybe it was because she was used to living here, anyways, she just felt that the bed here was more comfortable.
She stretched on the bed, then took the laptop on the bedside table onto the bed. Putting it on her lap, she was half lying down as she went on it.
Sure enough, it was more comfortable over here. She could carry her laptop and watch videos while in bed. Over there, to watch a video, she needed to sit in front of the computer.
After watching a video, Lin Jin lazily stretched again, preparing to practice dancing.
This week's dance video would be a solo. Next week, she will bring Xia Tian along. That expressionless guy dancing anime style dances would definitely look funny. It was fun just thinking about it.