Chapter 9: Problems (1)

When she left the cla.s.sroom, Lin Zhao Xi was contented.

She hadn't studied math hard. What could she do?

But on the way home, there were so many people that she was squeezed all the way home, and lost a little of her composure after she got off the bus.

It was completely dark.

Barbecue stands outside the residential district had been set up.

Smoke curled up, with the scent of mutton kebabs and grilled scallops shrouding the surrounding.

Standing in front of the familiar barbecue stand, her mind was full of Pei Zhi's leaving silhouette, and she was very hungry, so she sent Old Lin a message on WeChat*, asking if he wanted to come down and eat together.

*Chinese Messenger

Old man Lin quickly replied - [Great].

Holding her cell phone and waiting, she ordered what they usually ate. But everything was almost done, and Old Lin hadn't arrived. Looking at the black and lonely iron gate, Lin Zhao Xi suddenly felt off.

When she dialed Old Lin, her hands were shaking.

There was a lot of noise around, but all she could hear was the 'beep' on her phone.

'Beep… Beep…'

Her heart sank. What was wrong with her? Wanting her father to go out for BBQ!

After the phone went unanswered, Lin Zhao Xi decisively gave up calling again. She complimented the owner of the barbecue stall and ran to the gate of the residential district.

Old Lin was still at home when he texted her. If he hadn't left through the back door, he would probably still be at home…

But why didn't he answer his phone?

In just a few minutes, several possibilities flashed through Lin Zhao Xi's mind.

She ran to her door and suddenly saw a leisurely figure under the tree.

An old man's sweats.h.i.+rt, plastic slippers, a hand teasing a pa.s.sing stray cat.

In the blink of an eye…

Air instantly poured into her chest, Lin Zhao Xi's legs gave out, almost kneeling.

After stabilizing her mood, she approached Old Lin.

Old Lin looked up and asked in surprise, "Why did you run back? To lose weight?"

Lin Zhao Xi had a bad premonition. Old Lin seemed to have forgotten all about the BBQ.

"What are you doing here?" She tentatively asked, carefully choosing her words.

"Taking out the trash, I forgot my keys. Waiting for my daughter to come back and rescue me, I fed the mosquitoes."

"Where's your cellphone? Why haven't you answered your phone?"

"Who takes out the trash with their cellphone?"

Old Lin said as if his mistake was nothing but normal. Her heart sank again, Old Lin really didn't remember.

Forgetting what happened makes it difficult to make plans, which is perfectly normal for people with Alzheimer's.

It's not like she's never been in a situation like this.

But now, under the tree, in the face of a puzzled father, she was utterly helpless.

Humans beings were too vulnerable to disease, there was nothing they could do about it. (T/N: Physicians beg to differ… :P)

Looking at her father, Lin Zhao Xi forced herself to laugh, pretending that nothing had happened.

"Mr. Lin, have you prepared a meal? I'm starving to death."

"Am I forgetting something again?" The old man was too observant.

"Yes, guess what you forgot?"

Lin Zhao Xi pulled him up and pushed him through the entrance.

Until he entered the house, Old Lin was silent.

But when the door opened, he cursed and went straight to the kitchen.

There was a burnt smell in the air. Lin Zhao Xi left him alone.

She looked around the house and saw her father's cellphone on the shoe cabinet. She crept over to unlock it. On the WeChat interface was her invitation and Old man Lin's reply.

"Ah, I turned off the fire. Sure enough, Alzheimer's…" Old Lin breathed a sigh of relief in the kitchen.

Looking at her father's merry and busy figure in the kitchen, Lin Zhao Xi made up her mind and deleted the entire conversation.

"What are you eating today?" She put down the phone and shouted.

She didn't know what she was thinking. Nevertheless, the deletion of their WeChat conversation lasted 58 minutes before her father discovered it.