God's Whole Family Descended to Earth

When he woke the next day, Lin Rui got out of bed and went to the Jones family's kitchen.

As usual, Mrs. Jones was already in the kitchen making breakfast. Last night, she hadn't gone to the hospital for her second job. Instead, she had stayed home making calls to arrange the food truck's future ingredient supplies.

When she saw Lin Rui, she eagerly handed him a handwritten list and said proudly, "Leon, take a look at what I accomplished last night."

Perhaps because she had rested well last night, coupled with the excitement of making money, Mrs. Jones was in exceptionally high spirits that morning, her smile almost exaggerated.

Lin Rui took the handwritten list and scanned it.

It listed the addresses and contact numbers of several supermarkets in Manhattan, along with an itemized food purchase list.

At the top was Target, a general supermarket with affordable prices, offering everything from food and daily necessities to household goods.

Next was Sunrise, which specialized in Japanese foods and products. Small but refined, it carried Japanese sweets, rice balls, and sushi.

Then came Whole Foods, which had two stores in Manhattan and offered organic vegetables, meat, snacks, and prepared foods-high prices, high quality.

"These are all friends of mine. They're happy to take advantage of a few perks of their jobs to earn an extra fifty dollars a day," Mrs. Jones said proudly.

"You know, at my part-time nursing aide job at the hospital in Lower Manhattan, I have to deal with countless patients and emergencies, and I only make eighty-something dollars for staying up all night."

"Now I've asked those friends to use their positions to process some scraps in exchange for an extra fifty dollars. They couldn't thank me enough over the phone. They said I'd saved their whole families, like the Virgin Mary."

The more Mrs. Jones spoke, the prouder she grew. "Leon, you only worked the morning and evening yesterday, and you made nearly three thousand dollars.

"Money from tourists and white-collar workers is so easy to earn.

"If we could make use of the afternoon and predawn hours too, the earnings might shoot up to five thousand dollars. If the returns stay good, I'd be happy to do this full-time."

New York was the "city that never sleeps," and Manhattan in particular had foot traffic and customers around the clock. It was hard to rest without squeezing every last drop of value out of that food truck license.

With the supply problem solved, scheduling came next.

Lin Rui and Linda would work from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon. Samantha would arrive in the afternoon to take over Linda's shift and stay until eight in the evening.

At night, Mr. and Mrs. Jones would take over and work into the early hours. The stretch from the early hours until dawn was the hardest, so Mrs. Jones called in a Mexican couple to cover it.

"Adrian is an honest man. He's a driver for Whole Foods. For ten dollars an hour, he and his wife are willing to do anything."

The Mexican couple were thin, short, and dark-skinned. They said little when they met and did indeed look thoroughly honest and simple-only later did Lin Rui learn that they spoke Spanish and their English wasn't very good.

As for "doing anything," those weren't just empty words.

Quite a few Mexicans went to the United States as illegal immigrants. The men did hard labor and the women sold themselves, taking on any dirty or exhausting work.

Working the register and selling burgers in a food truck was easy and safe, already the sort of job found only in heaven.

Everything seemed to be getting on track. The only surprise was Toby-the black kid seemed like a different person after getting out of bed. He actually volunteered to go to school.

When she saw her son heading out with his schoolbag slung over his shoulder, Mrs. Jones looked as though she had seen the sun rise in the west. She couldn't help chasing after him to ask, "Toby, where are you going?"

Normally, Toby would dawdle at home until ten in the morning before slowly walking to school-he wasn't even willing to take the school bus, just so he could exchange a few more greetings with assorted street punks.

Seeing her son leave so early, his mother thought he was going out to mess around.

Quite unlike his usual self, Toby answered, "I'm going to catch the school bus. I love studying. I want to get A-pluses on my tests so I can make big money in the future."

"Child, did something happen to you?" Mrs. Jones was frightened. She thought her son's expression looked a little stiff, as though he'd lost his soul.

"Something did happen to me. I want a brain like Leon's. I don't want to be an idiot." Having said that, Toby pulled his schoolbag tighter against him. "Oh, and I'm going to lose weight. From now on, I'll only eat normal portions at all three meals."

Inexplicably uneasy, Mrs. Jones reached out to feel her son's forehead. "Toby, don't push yourself too hard. I want you to become better, but I don't want you to lose your happiness."

A hint of struggle flashed in Toby's eyes, but when he saw Lin Rui standing at his front door, that momentary wavering vanished. He forced out, "Mom, don't worry."

Looking deeply worried, Mrs. Jones watched her son board the school bus, then went on sighing.

Puzzled, Lin Rui asked, "Toby's growing up and understands the importance of studying. Isn't that a good thing?"

"The change is too drastic. He'll be isolated and shut out at school," Mrs. Jones answered, torn between hope and fear.

"If you want to gain something, you have to give something. If you're unwilling to pay any price at all, don't expect to make progress." Lin Rui didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

With Toby sorted out, Lin Rui began working "eight to eight" on the food truck, spending the day in Central Park and heading to Broadway at night.

If everything went smoothly, his monthly income could exceed twenty thousand dollars, certainly no worse than that of the elites in Wall Street's upscale office buildings.

At night, he no longer stayed with the Jones family, instead returning to Pastor Essen Borg's little church. He didn't conceal the food truck's earnings, but he left out his tricks for "cutting costs and boosting efficiency."

When he learned that a single food truck could earn a "conservative" ten to twenty thousand dollars after costs, labor, and taxes, the old pastor was delighted and thought Lin Rui was an honest boy.

"Leon, didn't you keep a little for yourself?" the old pastor asked.

"Of course I kept a little. I'm not without self-interest," Lin Rui said with a show of candor. "Actually, I set aside a little for everyone running the food truck, to make sure they have enough enthusiasm for charity."

"It's good to keep a little. That respects human nature. People who give mustn't go unrewarded." The old pastor began talking about things like "God loves mankind."

Lin Rui simply nodded in silence, occasionally asking a question or two that hit the old pastor's sweet spot and provided plenty of emotional value.

"By the way, Leon, you've been at the church for a while now, but I still don't have a full understanding of your faith. What are your thoughts on God?" In a good mood today, the old pastor spoke a little more than usual.

"Actually, I've known about God since I was little. I even studied him seriously in my textbooks," Lin Rui answered with a perfectly straight face.

"Studied him in textbooks?" The old pastor was astonished. "You received orthodox theological education in Country Z?"

"Not exactly. I learned about him from history textbooks. Perhaps you don't know this, but our country once had a branch of the church called the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

The old pastor knew little about Country Z's history, and the name "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" meant nothing to him. He merely asked in puzzlement, "Was there anything special about this branch of yours?"

"It united church and state."

"Ah... Country Z actually had a union of church and state?"

"Yes, yes. Our history is so long, we've had everything."

The old pastor had originally wanted to discuss baptism with Lin Rui, but as they talked, the conversation wandered off course. By around ten, they were both sleepy and returned to their rooms to rest.

But before bed, the old pastor still felt a little uneasy. He had a computer in his bedroom, so he decided to look online and find out what sort of Christian denomination the "God Worshipping Society" was.

Then he saw...

"What... Heavenly King Hong was God's second son descended to earth?"

"What... the 'Trinity' consisted of the Heavenly Father (God), the Heavenly Elder Brother (Jesus), and the Heavenly King (Hong Xiuquan)?"

"What... the Heavenly Father, Yang Xiuqing, descended to earth too?"

"What... the Heavenly Elder Brother, Xiao Chaogui, also descended to earth, and he was God's son-in-law? He even played the Heavenly Mother descending to earth?"

Good heavens, God's whole family had descended to earth.

The old pastor felt as though he was losing his mind. He hurried out of his bedroom and knocked on Lin Rui's door. "Leon, Leon, you can't believe in that God of yours! You can't!"