Chapter 38: A Thunderclap on a Clear Day

  "Mom! I'm back."

  Returning home, Su Lin called out in a pleased tone, but found that her mother was not at home.

  "Dad, is he back?"

  I went to the bedroom and bathroom, but no one was there. It's already six o'clock today, but neither Mom nor Dad has come back yet. What's going on?

  "Seriously, won't Mom and Dad leave me behind and go have a romantic getaway just for the two of them?"

  Su Lin smiled secretly, then took out a piece of paper from his backpack, which was the score sheet for this mock exam. On it were recorded Su Lin's scores for each subject in this mock exam, as well as his ranking in the class and the entire grade.

  "When they scold me normally, they can always find a reason. Today, we finally achieved something, but none of them are at home."

  Su Lin let out a sigh of discontent, placing the test results on the living room table. His stomach was growling with hunger, but his mother had not returned yet, so Su Lin could only turn on the TV and watch it while waiting.

  Before long, Su Lin's mother Liu Aizhen returned, but with a worried and troubled look on her face, as if she had aged ten years.

  "Mom! What's wrong?"

  Seeing his mother like this, Su Lin couldn't help but clench his heart, he had never seen his mother so worried before.

  "Eh! Kobayashi, mom... mom's been laid off."

  Choked back tears for half a day, Ye Mu looked at her own son, and the tears were already welling up in her eyes. Liu Ai Zhen used to work as a processing worker in a state-owned enterprise's workshop, with a monthly salary of only over 2,000 yuan, but it was enough for the daily expenses of a family of three.

  However, the efficiency of state-owned enterprises has been declining year after year. Many state-owned enterprises have already started large-scale layoffs and this time, it was finally the turn of Ye Mu's work unit.

  This afternoon, the workshop director suddenly came to find Liu Aizhen and directly let her prepare for layoffs.

  "Has mom been laid off?"

  Su Lin's head also buzzed, and this was not a small blow to their family. Nowadays, only his father works at the transportation company, with a monthly salary of over 3,000 yuan, barely enough to support the family.

  Su Lin still has to go to college, where isn't a place that needs money? The family's savings were originally not much, now it's even more strained.

  "Hey! Kobayashi, forget it, I won't tell you. This is grown-up stuff, and your dad is still supporting the family, so just focus on studying for now. As long as you get into a second-tier university, your parents will find a way to let you continue your studies even if they have to borrow money. It's getting late, aren't you hungry? Mom will go cook dinner. That's weird, why hasn't your dad come back yet? Is he working overtime?"

  After talking for a while, Ye Mu wiped away her tears and then rolled up her sleeves to go cook in the kitchen, leaving Su Lin sitting alone on the sofa in the living room with an unpleasant feeling.

  "Dad and mom have been supporting my education for so many years, it's not easy. But I've always been so disobedient, didn't know how to study, those tuition fees were all earned by dad and mom through hard work, every drop of blood and sweat."

  Sitting on the sofa, Su Lin's mood was somewhat heavy and very regretful. Why didn't she understand things? Not only did she not help her family share economic burdens, but also she didn't study every day and just messed around.

  "No! I've grown up already, and in two more months I'll be an adult at 18. I'm a member of this family, I shouldn't let Mom and Dad worry about the household because of me anymore. It's time for me to take on some responsibilities too, Mom and Dad are getting older, they shouldn't be working so hard, it's time for them to enjoy life."

  Su Lin clenched his fists, slightly furrowed his brow, and secretly vowed in his heart while regretting.

  Perhaps, in the past, Su Lin thought and vowed that it was unrealistic, but now with the ability to pause time, as long as Su Lin uses it well, just helping his parents share some of the family's economic burden is not too difficult.

  Bang!

  The big gate of the house was pushed open, and Su Lin looked at the door coldly. It was his father, Su Guorong, who had returned. But today, Father Su's return was in a very unusual state, with a strong smell of alcohol, stumbling into the living room.

  "Dad, why are you drinking? Isn't it forbidden to drink before work?"

  Su Lin quickly stepped forward to support his father, normally, as a long-distance transportation driver for the company, he was not allowed to drink alcohol unless it was a day off the next day.

  "You damned fool, drinking again!"

  Su's mother, who had just come out of the kitchen with an iron spoon in her hand, saw Su Guorong like this and immediately became angry, scolding loudly, "I told you not to drink wine, don't drink wine, you still have work tomorrow, can you still go to work and drive after drinking like this?"

  "I'm not going to work! I've had enough. I won't take that kind of treatment anymore, working hard for that crappy company for 10 years and only getting a few bucks raise, now they say fire me just like that? A company like this, I'm outta here..."

  After drinking, Su Guorong was completely different from his usual strict and taciturn image in front of his father. As soon as he opened his mouth, he cursed continuously and scolded loudly, waving his hands and feet, but unfortunately lost his balance and couldn't stand still. With Su Lin's support, he fell onto the sofa and fell fast asleep.

  "What? Old Su, what did you say? You've also been laid off by the company?"

  Su's father's words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, and Su's mother instantly turned pale. She didn't care that Su's father had fainted, but rushed forward, shaking his body, and asked repeatedly: "Old Su, speak up! How could you also be laid off? Isn't the company's boss your former comrade-in-arms? How could they just fire you like that? Speak up!"

  He asked several questions in a row, but Su's father had drunk wine and was now sleeping soundly as soon as he touched the bed, snoring loudly, and no matter how he was called, he couldn't be woken up.

  "Mom, maybe dad was just drunk and talking nonsense? You also said that the boss of the company is one of dad's old comrades from his army days, it's impossible for him to suddenly fire dad like that. He must have been drunk and spouting rubbish."

  Su Lin also looked worried and anxious, looking at her mother's urgent appearance, she could only comfort her mother.

  "You don't understand! These days... these days are unbearable!"

  It's heartbreaking to think that if both husband and wife lose their jobs, the Su family will have no source of income at all. With only a few tens of thousands of yuan in savings, they still need to support Su Lin's university education. Money, money, money, it's needed everywhere, what can be done?

  A heavy burden, a hopeless future, and guilt towards her own son! Su Guorong is still drunk from the past, and all these pressures have flooded Liu Aizhen's heart. Although she usually appears to be strong, how can a woman bear so much pressure?

  "Mom! Don't worry, I...I will make it. Even if Dad has been laid off, there's still me, I'll support this family."

  Su Lin rushed forward and hugged her mother tightly, looking at her mother who was actually sobbing in her arms, feeling a sour taste in her heart, which was not pleasant at all.

  It turns out that parents also have a hard time.

  It turns out that adults have so many troubles.

  It turns out that mother is not as strong as she appears on the surface.

  ……

  At this moment, Su Lin felt that he seemed to have understood a lot and realized a lot. Those childish thoughts from before now seem so ridiculous.

  Yes, Su Lin has matured a bit and understood that living in this world means taking responsibility. In the past, there were parents to rely on, and whenever something happened, they would help him deal with it. But now, this family is already in a precarious state.

  It's time, Su Lin felt that his shoulders had become much heavier in an instant, it was a responsibility, he also had to take on this family.

  "Mom, take care of dad first! I'll go stir-fry the vegetables."

  Patting her mother's back, Su Lin took the iron spoon from her mother's hand and went to the kitchen to continue scooping out the soup that was being cooked in the pot.

  "Kobayashi..."

  The kitchen was filled with a warm mist, and Su Mu gazed at the back of her son as he busied himself, feeling a slight sense of comfort in her heart. No matter what, her own son seemed to have truly grown up a bit. Even if Su Lin didn't get into college, as long as he found a job and was diligent and hardworking, this family wasn't completely without hope.

  She found some comfort in Su Lin, and also the only hope. Su Mu was a little more spirited. That's right, she couldn't do it, her husband couldn't do it, but there was still her son Su Lin.

  Su Lin is the only hope for the couple, unfortunately, Su Lin's grades are not good. If he really can't get into college, with just a high school diploma, how will they make a living in this society?

  Liu Aizhen is very clear that nowadays, when young people look for jobs, diplomas are the key to opening doors. Even if you have a junior college diploma, it's better than those who only have high school diplomas.

  But on the other hand, Liu Aizhen is now afraid that Su Lin will be admitted to a university, especially one of those third-tier universities with high tuition fees. Moreover, it's highly likely that Su Lin will end up in this kind of university, which means that not only is the school's quality not great to begin with, but they'll also have to pay a large sum of tuition every year.

  Where does the university's tuition come from? This is another thing that makes Liu Aizhen a headache.

  "Oh no! Old Su, old Su! I hope you were just talking nonsense, if you really got laid off too, how are we going to make ends meet?"

  Liu Aizhen's worried face reappeared as Su Fu, who had been lying on the sofa like a dead pig, shook slightly.

  "Huh? What's this? Are these Kobayashi's results from his last mock exam?"

  Suddenly, Su Mu saw the grades that Su Lin had placed on the living room table earlier.

  "How come the grades came out so quickly after just finishing the exam? And in the past, when this little rabbit's grades came out, they would hide them away, but today why are they so obediently placed on the living room table?"

  Su Mu picked up the report card and didn't even take a serious glance at it. It was better not to look, because when she did, she got a fright. Yes, it was the scores on the report card, as well as the two-digit class ranking and three-digit grade ranking.