In the dimly lit room, the family of three sat at the dining table. The radio on the wall not far from the dining table was rattling. The speaker that was about to break down came out with a somewhat distorted female voice. It was obvious that it was an opera.
It was hard to describe the feeling of eating a sh * tty dinner and tasting a bottle of good wine that cost dozens of yuan.
Not long after Lynch finished his dinner, Neil picked up a spoon and put a big spoonful of food into his mouth. He asked while eating, "So, what do you want to do here? Taunt us for living the same life as before?"
Neil showed his aggressiveness at once. This was his territory, his family. No one could interfere with his domination and control of this family.
In many countries with different cultures, people thought that the social and family relationship of the Federation people were speechless, just like how the Federation people looked at people from other countries.
Culture was the most important link in the composition of a society.
When he was young, whenever Neil was angry, Lynch would feel a huge pressure and fear in the face of a landslide and tsunami. Neil was like a volcano that was about to erupt.
At that time, he was younger, stronger, and more dominant. Now, everything seemed to have changed.
Neil became less frightening. Perhaps for most children, it might mean that they had grown up. However, in Lynch's view, it was something different.
"You're old …" He shrugged and looked at Neil. "So, let's not get angry. Let's stay calm and talk rationally. I'm not here to make trouble for you, nor am I here to laugh at you. I just came back to see you."
Lynch hid Sella's phone call. Neil didn't have a habit of domestic violence, but if he said it, it would put Sella in a bad situation. So, he hid it.
"When I was chatting with Sella just now, I heard that you lost your job. Do you have any new plans?"
He looked at Neil, who lowered his head and silently dealt with the food on the plate in front of him.
Lynch smiled. "Come on, you can treat me as an acquaintance, a friend. Isn't this what we always talk about?"
There was a profound and meaningful saying in the education circle of the Federation — parents are children's best friends.
This phrase was also recognized by the whole society. It played a key role in promoting the Federation's education and family and social relations, if you ignored the crimes caused by family problems.
Neil quickly finished all the food in the plate. He even used his finger to scrape along the edge of the plate where the spoon couldn't be used, and stuffed the remaining food into his mouth along with his finger.
Then he took the glass of what was probably the best wine he had ever tasted, and gulped it down, rinsing his mouth, and swallowing it along with the remains of the food.
Lynch was still looking at him. Only then did he look up at Lynch. "Yes, I'm unemployed. Do you want to give me a job? Do I have to call you Boss like the others?"
This might be Neil's last shred of dignity as a father. He couldn't help but want to mock Lynch.
Lynch didn't have too many expressions. In fact, at his real age, these things were a bit interesting.
As a person who was good at persuading others, he didn't need to use his brain to deal with a guy like Neil.
He didn't refute or agree. Instead, he directly changed the topic. "Recently, many people have lost their jobs. Do you remember Catherine? Her father lost his job too."
Neil quickly found a sense of agreement with this topic. Sella also picked up the topic in a timely manner. "I know, your girlfriend's father lost his job too. That's terrible!"
Lynch nodded. "After I found out about this, I discussed it with her and arranged a job for her. I recently set up a transportation company. You know, those warehouses and trucks."
Warehouses and trucks had always been the most desirable jobs for the bottom of society for a period of time. No matter what kind of job it was, as long as one could get in, it meant a stable income, and the income would not be too small.
When he heard this, Neil couldn't help but complain. "I know that guy. He's so stupid that he can only do some dirty work. What kind of job did you give him?"
"Manager. This job isn't difficult. He just needs to record some things that go in and out. By the way, he has to keep an eye on those workers and prevent them from taking things that don't belong to them."
Lin Qi answered casually, as if this was something that didn't matter to him at all.
Sella looked at Neil. The couple completed a communication in a very short time in a way that outsiders couldn't understand. Then she said, "He's definitely not as good as your father. You know he's always the best, whether at home or in the factory."
Lynch smiled. His smile seemed to be filled with some kind of … something like that. He looked at Neil. "He's calling me Boss now."
Neil suddenly became a little annoyed. "I won't call you Boss!"
Lynch clapped his hands. "That's a deal. I'll arrange a job for you, but you won't call me Boss!"
Neil was stunned. They looked at each other. His face suddenly turned a little red. Then he suddenly stood up, leaving an excuse of "I'm full", and quickly returned to the room.
After closing the door, Neil walked to the bedside table and pulled open the drawer. There was a photo frame in it with three smiling faces.
Outside the room, Sella's face was already full of smiles. She held Lynch's hand and didn't know what to say.
Lynch was her son, but she wanted to thank Lynch. Lynch patted the back of her hand. "Don't thank me. This is what I should do. We're a family."
Lin Qi didn't leave at night. When the sky was completely dark, the streets outside had become very unsafe. However, what was surprising was that Lin Qi felt very at ease living here.
This might have something to do with the fact that the people on the streets knew that the people living here and their families didn't have any property. Therefore, they never considered burglarizing a poor family with a sentence of more than 10 years and facing the Fury that might make them suffer. According to research, rich people would be more cooperative when burglarizing, while poor families would fight back desperately.
Over 11 o 'clock in the evening, when Zhang Tie was about to fall asleep on his short bed, he heard a knock on the bedroom door.
Neil popped his head in after knocking on the door. He looked at Lin Qi who was lying on the bed and shook the half bottle of wine in his hand. Lin Qi knew that he wanted to ease the tension between them.
Soon, the father and son sat in the living room. They bathed in the night, watching the TV full of static and not very funny programs.
There wasn't much deeper communication between the father and son. They simply picked up the wine glass, put it down, and poured the half bottle of wine into their stomachs.
The next morning, Lynch patted his head and got up. According to the Baylor Federation's standards, each bottle of wine should be at least 680 milliliters and no more than 760 milliliters. He was still not used to drinking so much wine all of a sudden.
He looked at the watch on the desk. It was almost 10 o 'clock. He patted his face to wake himself up. When he came out of the room, Neil was already sitting on the shabby sofa and watching TV.
Compared to Lynch's playfulness and hangover, the stuff Nell had drunk the night before was like water. It had no effect on him.
The father and son glanced at each other and then moved their eyes away. However, Sela could keenly feel that the relationship between the two had eased a lot, which made her very pleased.
In fact, after not seeing each other for two years, except for some strange feelings, how many conflicts could there be?
Lynch was doing well now. Neil just didn't want to admit defeat, but in fact, he was also proud. This was the truest situation of almost all parents.
On the one hand, they were strict with their children. On the other hand, they were proud of them.
"Do you want to have lunch at home?"
Sela asked. If they had lunch at home, she would buy some beef. Last night's meal was a bit too simple, so lunch would be more formal.
Lynch shook his head. He woke up much later than he expected. "No, I'll go to the company with Neil. Also, give me your bank account. I'm an adult now. I have reason to bear part of the family's expenses."
Yes, according to the Federation's regulations, Lynch was 20 years old. He was finally an adult. Perhaps some people's children had already run away at his age, but it didn't matter. It was allowed by the law.
Sela was still a little hesitant. Neil said impatiently, "Give it to him. It's time for him to do something."
After getting the bank account, Lynch and Sela said goodbye. He didn't give Sela a check. In poor areas, the appearance of a check was not a good thing.
This was because cash checks required a deposit. A twenty-dollar check was often backed by hundreds or thousands of dollars of deposit. A transfer check meant the normalization of a huge transaction, which was full of temptation for those who had been forced to the edge of the cliff.
Lynch would directly transfer the money to Sela's account. This way, she wouldn't attract attention when she withdrew money. After all, the homeless people on the street had bank accounts. It was normal for them to withdraw money.
Not long after, an inconspicuous car appeared on the side of the road and then left inconspicuously. It was the car of the community service company.
Last time, Lynch drove his own car to Catherine's house and caused her family a lot of trouble. So this time, he became smarter.
While sitting in the car, Neil asked, "What kind of job are you going to give me?"
"I have a piece of land on the outskirts of the city. I'm going to start construction during this period. At the same time, I also have a small construction company. I'm temporarily short of a manager."
Lin Qi smiled. "Do you think you're satisfied with your job as a manager?"
=
The word "boss" was actually a tribute to the early transliteration of movies. At first, the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan directly transliterated "boss" into "boss." The dubbing would also be accompanied by "boss" instead of "boss." This was the breath of the era.