The aloof school beauty has been reborn and is now pursuing me relentlessly.

It takes about ten minutes to cycle home from school.

Lin Ran's home is on the thirteenth floor.

While in the elevator, he couldn't help but feel inexplicably nervous.

As the elevator doors opened and I walked through the corridor toward my front door, I saw the shoe cabinet and miscellaneous items placed in front of the corridor, an extremely familiar arrangement, and a faint, familiar aroma of food wafting down the corridor.

Lin Ran's mood suddenly relaxed again.

Walk to the door of your home.

Take out the key, insert it into the lock, and turn it.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

What came into view was the living room scene that I used to know so well and feel so close to. Under the dim and soft light, the simple furnishings and layout of the house were on full display, and a middle-aged woman was bending over and sweeping the floor with a broom.

Lin Ran shouted:

"mom."

Hearing the call, Lin's mother, Zhao Shuqin, looked up and saw Lin Ran standing in the entryway. A smile of surprise immediately appeared on her face.

"Xiao Ran is back?"

Then Lin's mother turned to the kitchen and shouted:

"Old Lin, my son is back!"

Then, hurried footsteps were heard coming from the kitchen.

Wearing an apron and holding a spatula, Lin Guozheng quickly came out. Upon seeing Lin Ran, he immediately smiled and greeted her warmly.

"You're back? Quickly change your shoes and come in, Dad made you a midnight snack!"

Then he turned to look at his wife and complained:

"What do you mean 'your son'? Isn't that my son too?"

Lin's mother said matter-of-factly, "Xiao Ran is so handsome because he takes after me. Of course he's my son—what, Lin Guozheng, do you have a problem with that?"

The last sentence was a sidelong glance at her husband.

Old Lin, who was used to being henpecked, immediately lost his temper and obediently raised his hands in surrender after being given that look by his wife.

"No objection, no objection, your son, your son..."

Looking at the familiar scene of my parents bickering.

It's been a long time.

At this moment, Lin Ran couldn't help but want to laugh, but for some reason her nose felt slightly sore, and she vaguely remembered many things.

……

In his previous life, he failed his college entrance exam and barely made it into a second-tier university.

Instead of blaming him, his parents put aside their pride and tried every means to ask for help. In the end, they managed to scrape together the family's meager savings and did everything they could to send him to a university that was as good as possible.

He still remembers that late night when his parents, covered in sweat, returned from their visit with the people they had contacted. Unable to hide their exhaustion, they still tried to smile brightly and optimistically as they told him:

"It's done!"

"With this score, you can at least get into Donghai University of Technology."

"That's all your parents can do to help you. Getting into university will depend on your own efforts from now on!"

That night, however, he overheard his parents talking quietly in their bedroom:

"I heard that Old Zhou's son next door didn't even score as high as Xiao Ran, but he knows the vice dean of Donghai University and managed to get his son in."

"Our Xiaoran is such a smart child, she just didn't do well on the college entrance exam, she could have gone to a better university..."

A moment of silence.

Finally, he heard his father, Lin Guozheng, let out a soft sigh from the bedroom:

"It's because we, as parents, are incompetent..."

……

Another thing.

Inspired by that night, he truly turned over a new leaf and worked hard after entering university.

He ranked highly in his class and consistently received scholarships.

While studying, he also worked part-time to earn living expenses.

After graduation, I found a job and tirelessly threw myself into my work, working hard and striving for success.

Later, his work gradually improved.

His career is on the right track.

But it also made them busier.

His parents, who live far away in his hometown, often call. On the phone, he talks incessantly about his work progress, and his parents listen quietly and patiently, happy for him. But each time, they end with more words of worry and advice:

"Don't overwork yourself; you can never earn all the money in the world."

"Take care of yourself and get some rest."

"When I have free time... I'll go home occasionally."

But because he was so engrossed in his work, he rarely went back for more than a decade afterward.

Years later, when he returned home, his parents were overjoyed. Now, his parents, who are nearly sixty years old, have graying temples, but his father was still excited and couldn't wait to roll up his sleeves and go to the kitchen to cook a sumptuous meal for him.

He sat on the sofa with his mother, who happily took out her phone and asked him to help teach her how to use some new apps.

"Your neighbor Aunt Sun's daughter is teaching her mom how to use Douyin (TikTok)."

"What other special effects are there?"

"Teach me how to use it too."

When he opened the mobile app and demonstrated a few effects to his mother, he used one of them, the "aging effect," and instantly his image in the phone camera turned into that of a little old man.

Somewhat funny.

But his mother watched with great interest and excitedly urged him to take more photos with the effect.

"Take another pat."

"I'll put it in the album so your dad can see it too."

Then, seemingly unintentionally, a sentence was uttered:

"Otherwise, your parents wouldn't be able to see you grow old."

……

Just one sentence.

Looking back now.

Suddenly, Lin Ran's eyes welled up with tears.

In the previous life, he failed to care for his parents in their old age and see them off in their final days, and even became the one who outlived his child.

This is extremely unfilial.

Looking at my parents, who are still relatively young and healthy.

Lin Ran suddenly strode forward and hugged her parents tightly.

Lin Guozheng and Zhao Shuqin were caught off guard and momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"what happened?"

"Were you bullied at school?"

Lin Ran raised her head, trying her best to calm herself down and force a smile:

"It's okay."

"I just missed you all."

After a while.

A family of three sat at the dining table eating a late-night snack.

The late-night snack wasn't lavish, but it had a familiar taste.

Lin Ran, holding her bowl and chopsticks, buried her head in her food and ate with great relish, making her parents, sitting opposite her, unable to help but laugh.

"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."

"It looks like a wild boar reincarnated; isn't it afraid people will laugh at it?"

While watching their son eat his late-night snack, Mr. and Mrs. Lin chatted casually.

And soon.

The content of the conversation, however, caught Lin Ran's attention—

Lin's mother: "Old Lin, how's your factory doing lately?"

Lin's father: "It's not very good, it'll have to do. How about yours?"

"Our factory isn't doing well either; there are rumors lately that we might be laying off workers—"

At this point, Lin's mother, Zhao Shuqin, frowned slightly, revealing a troubled expression:

"I'm annoyed too."

"If you leave now, you can still get a resettlement fee—"

"If I stay, my salary will be cut even further."

"I don't know what to choose either."