Chapter 13: Midlife Crisis

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation  Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After parting ways with Yu Jianhao, Lin Bai went to the bank, cashed out the check from the lottery center, and deposited them into his bank account.

Seeing that his balance had increased by four million yuan, Lin Bai finally felt at ease.

Checks always felt light and airy, so much that it was worrisome.

Now that it had really been deposited in his bank account, he finally felt at ease.

Since it was the weekend and he had no classes for the next two days, Lin Bai decided to go home and spend some time with his parents.

As soon as he entered the house, the aroma of food wafted up to his nostrils.

Lin Bai’s mother came out of the kitchen with a plate in her hand and said to him cheerfully, “I knew you would definitely come back today, so I specially made all your favorite dishes. Just as the last dish was ready, you entered the house. I’ve got accurate timing, huh?”

Lin Bai’s heart was immediately filled with a warm feeling. He quickly went forward.

“Mom, let me get the rice.”

His mother said repeatedly, “No, no, you go wash your hands quickly and come back to eat after you’re done.”

After that, she shouted to the study, “Old man, let’s eat!Stop working, have your meal!”

The door to the study room was opened very quickly, and Lin Bai’s father walked out, looking rather tired.

However, he smiled happily when he saw that Lin Bai had returned.

Looking at the white hair on his father’s head, Lin Bai couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.

He asked, “Dad, has your boss still arranged lots of tasks for you?”

“You can’t always be so hard-working, find an opportunity to reflect this to your superior and ask him to delegate some of the tasks to others.”

“He can’t make you do everything. No one can’t stand working overtime every day!”

Speaking of his father’s superior, Lin Bai felt infuriated.

Lin Bai even suspected that the leader was deliberately bullying his father.

Otherwise, why did his father have such a heavy workload while others didn’t have to work overtime every day?

His father smiled and said, “It’s good to be busy. It means that the company can’t do without me.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. Just study hard.”

Lin Bai was about to say something when his father interrupted him.

“Okay, okay, go wash your hands.”

Lin Bai knew that his father intended to distract him, so he obediently washed his hands.

However, he was careful. When he washed his hands, he didn’t forget to eavesdrop on the conversation between his parents.

Sure enough, he heard his mother whispering, “We can’t keep going on like this. We have to look for other sources of income.”

His father said, “I know too. They just want to force me to resign.”

“If I could switch jobs, I would have done so long ago. But at my age, which company would want me?”

“If I start my own business, the risk is too high, and we don’t have the start-up capital…”

“With the conditions of our family, we can live a normal life, but the risk of starting a business is really too high for us.”

“In any case, I’ll bear with it for a few more years, at least until our son graduates.”

Hearing his father’s words, Lin Bai couldn’t help but feel sad.

His father was an ordinary employee in a private company, and ever since he passed the age of forty, he had been very unpopular.

Whatever rubbish was thrown at his father, he would always be the first to solve it.

He would never get a promotion or a raise.

Presumably, the company’s leaders also knew that this kind of middle-aged man, who had a family to feed, was the most hardworking and uncomplaining. No matter how much he was pressurized, he would not dare to leave his job easily.

Because at this age, unless he had become a middle-or high-post leader, it was impossible for an ordinary employee to find a family.

Leaving at this time was equivalent to completely becoming jobless.

Lin Bai secretly thought that his father had suffered a lot in the company in order to maintain the daily expenses of this family.

He had already grown up and had considerable financial ability. He could not let his father continue to live such a life of enduring humiliation.

It was his turn to support the family.

Perhaps it was because Lin Bai had been in the bathroom for too long that his mother began to call out to him.

“Lin Bai, are you still not done washing up?”

Lin Bai quickly turned off the tap and replied loudly, “Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

His parents had already filled the bowl with rice and were smiling as they waited for him to sit down and eat.

The distress and woes that the two of them had been whispering to each other about earlier was not revealed front of him at all.

But the more it was like this, the more Lin Bai’s heart ached for them.

In the past few years, he had been able to grow up without worrying about food and clothing because of his parents’ hard work and forbearance.

It was time to pay back.

Lin Bai concealed his emotions and chatted casually with his parents, but in his head, he was constantly thinking about how to broach the subject and talk to his father about starting a business.

The television was broadcasting the news, but the family did not pay much attention to it. They simply treated it as background noise.

This was also a habit of the Lin family over the years. They had to put something on during dinner to make the atmosphere livelier.

Lin Bai deliberated as he spoke.

“Dad, actually, you don’t have to work so hard. Since your superior is bullying you, just quit.”

“I’m already grown up, I can help you share the burden…”

Before he could finish, his father deliberately changed the topic.

“Hey, look at this news, someone won the lottery!”

“It’s from our city! If he won 100 bets at once, wouldn’t that be a prize of 5 million? What a lucky person!”

Lin Bai was silent.

‘He knew that his father didn’t actually pay attention to the news about gambling. He was just deliberately changing the topic.

In his father’s heart, as long as he didn’t graduate, he would still be a child who should focus on his studies.

The burden of earning money to support the family shouldn’t be placed on his shoulders.

His mother also changed the topic, wanting to completely digress from the topic of Lin Bai earning money to support the family.

She pretended to be interested as she looked at the news and sighed, “This person is really lucky!”

“Five million yuan grand prize is enough to last him a lifetime if he spends wisely!”

His father said, “It’s enough to start a business and let his money make money for him. It will completely change his fate from now on.”

“Yes, yes…”

The old couple chimed in, not giving Lin Bai any chance to speak.

For a moment, Lin Bai almost blurted out that the person who won the lottery was him.

But on second thought, he was afraid that his parents wouldn’t be able to accept it.

They were all ordinary employees living on their average salaries. They had never seen so much money in their lives.

If they suddenly saw so much money, after being pleasantly surprised, they would definitely be worried and anxious.

They would worry that they would not be able to keep so much money and be overwhelmed with the fear of being cheated by others. They would feel that no matter where they put their bank cards, it would not be safe.

That would instead make it more difficult for them to sleep and eat, so it would be better to maintain the status quo because then, they could at least live in peace.

Moreover, if he told his parents the news of him winning lottery, it would be even more troublesome if they accidentally spilled the beans and let their relatives, friends, and colleagues know.