Family

Whether it was day or dark, the lighting in the house was never very good.

At night, with the lights on, the dim yellow glow could make it feel a little warmer. But during the day, it seemed rather gloomy.

Yet Lu Xin was still in a good mood.

The elegant, gentle Mom had already set out breakfast: three bowls of plain rice porridge and a halved salted egg on a small plate. Mom ate only a little of the white, leaving the oily yolk for Lu Xin and Sister. Lu Xin, in turn, gave most of his share to Sister. Their father did not eat with them. He rarely came out of the kitchen, and whenever he did, it always led to a terrible mess.

"Are you planning to start that new job today?"

As though making casual conversation, Mom gently asked Lu Xin, "Are you ready?"

Although neither Lu Xin nor Sister had mentioned it after coming home, Mom seemed to know everything. She had always been like that.

Lu Xin nodded. "I'm ready."

"Little Lu has really grown up."

Mom looked at Lu Xin with great satisfaction and picked up a piece of egg white for him. "Working two jobs is hard. Eat more!"

"Damn it! Useless trash! You know they're using you, yet you're still rushing to do it!"

Their father's dissatisfied cursing came from the kitchen. Everyone at the table pretended not to hear it.

"You're the most useless one of all. You got tricked and don't even know it..."

Father's voice rose, his anger becoming fiercer.

Everyone at the table still acted as if they had heard nothing, silently eating their meal.

"If you ask me, you should've chopped them all to death!"

With a crash, the kitchen door was pulled open, and Father appeared in the living room.

He glared fixedly at Lu Xin and viciously cursed, "Do you know they almost got you killed yesterday? They never treated your life like it mattered. They planned to send you to your death from the very beginning. They'd even prepared to kill you!"

"If it hadn't been for that damn girl, they would've gotten you killed long ago!"

"They nearly got you killed, so why are you still working for them?"

As he spoke, he stalked fiercely toward Lu Xin. His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins covered his bulging eyeballs, which looked ready to pop out.

"What they did at the coffee shop really was wrong..."

Lu Xin silently ate his porridge. When he could no longer avoid answering, he said softly, "But they pay me..."

Father froze at that answer.

"Trash! How could there be such useless trash as you?"

Then his anger flared even greater. Cursing loudly, he suddenly reached for Lu Xin.

"Crash..."

Just as Father was about to grab Lu Xin's shoulder, a bowl of plain porridge suddenly splashed across his face.

"You dare..."

Father immediately turned on Mom in a rage, roughly wiping the porridge from his face.

"The real useless trash is you!"

Mom sat elegantly and properly in her chair, an icy air about her as she looked at Father with utter disdain. "If you weren't so incompetent and hot-tempered, how could you have gotten us all trapped here?"

"You bitch! You're looking to die! Looking to die!"

As though she had struck a sore spot, Father suddenly roared. He reached toward Mom.

But this time, Mom seemed to have no interest in dealing with him. She merely looked at him coldly, then lightly raised two fingers.

The enraged Father seemed to be frightened by that gesture. He abruptly stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you making that gesture?"

He actually seemed deeply wary, lowering his voice as he snarled.

"You understand."

Mom smiled faintly. "So if you're scared, get the hell back in there!"

"Trash, trash, all damned useless trash..."

Father's rage seemed to keep mounting. Several times, it appeared ready to break past its limit and make him lose all reason.

Meanwhile, Mom held that gesture and watched him calmly.

In the end, the enraged Father actually held himself back. He merely began cursing madly, overturning the dining table like a lunatic, tearing down the ceiling fan, smashing the cabinet beside him, and crushing a glass cup in his hand. Then his bulging, bloodshot eyes swept viciously over Lu Xin, Mom, and Sister before he retreated into the kitchen, still cursing.

"All right, it's fine now."

Mom rose gracefully and straightened Lu Xin's collar. "Go do what you need to do. It's important."

"I know."

After a moment of silence, Lu Xin softly said, "Thank you."

"Silly child, we're family. Why thank me?"

Mom lightly smacked him and smiled. "But remember, no matter who you meet, you must be polite and reason with them!" As she spoke, she gently brushed back her hair and smiled again. "Of course, if we reason with them, they need to reason with us too. You're so honest. You never hurt anyone. But if someone wants to bully you..."

Lu Xin looked up at Mom warily.

Her smile was both gentle and considerate. "Then our whole family will go find them together..."

Lu Xin's scalp went numb, but he only sighed softly.

For the sake of everyone else's safety, he really couldn't let anyone bully him...

As usual, Lu Xin arrived at the office forty minutes before his official start time.

Throughout the day, he diligently finished every report and document assigned to him. But unconsciously, he sped up. He even skipped lunch. By the time work ended that evening, he had completed all his tasks, and he was the first to shoulder his backpack and leave his desk.

He did not voluntarily stay behind to work overtime as usual, because he now had other matters to attend to.

The night before, he had carefully reviewed the materials Chen Jing had left him and gained some understanding of his new job.

What he focused on most was the salary and subsidies.

He knew that if he received notice from Chen Jing, he had to immediately report to the designated location, follow their orders, and handle the contamination incident. But even if nothing special came up throughout the entire month, he would still receive his salary.

Most importantly, he would receive an allowance every time he handled a contamination incident.

That was where the real money was—anywhere from ten thousand to thirty thousand, with some targets even marked at one hundred thousand.

Lu Xin was highly motivated by that, so he decided to do this job well.

Seek opportunities, take things seriously, work hard, and become a full employee as soon as possible.

He brought his identification, packed the satellite phone and gun into his backpack, and headed out onto the street.

He took Sister with him and went out on patrol.