Reborn as a high school freshman with an awakened system, a fat boy transforms into a male god.

"...What is it?"

"Your son received a sum of money today."

"How much?"

Three million.

There was a full three seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"...What did you say?"

"Three million. He saved his classmate's grandfather's life, and this is the thank-you fee he received."

"Are you kidding me?" Lin Jianhua's voice rose. "What kind of thank-you fee is three million? Who's so generous?"

"His classmate's name is Shen Qingzhi, given to him by her father. Your son said that she has a very high status in Jiangcheng."

There was silence on the other end of the phone again, this time for even longer. Lin Jianhua was probably processing the information; it was three million, enough for him to run long-haul freight for over a decade.

"He wants to buy a house as an investment. A house in the old city, he said it was suggested by that classmate's parent," Wang Xiulan added.

"What does a kid like him know about investing?"

"He doesn't understand, but that parent does," Wang Xiulan said. "Can someone who can come up with three million be an ordinary person?"

Lin Jianhua let out a long sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, I understand." His voice was tired, and there was also a sense of bewilderment, as if he needed time to process this. "I'll go back after this trip. We'll talk about the house when I get back."

"Okay. Drive carefully."

"Wait. Give the phone to Beibei."

Wang Xiulan handed the phone to Lin Bei: "Your dad."

Lin Bei answered the phone: "Dad."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Then Lin Jianhua spoke, his voice soft but earnest: "Beibei, tell me the truth, did you hear about this house from someone else, or did you figure it out yourself?"

Lin Bei was taken aback.

He hadn't expected his father to ask that question.

"It was Shen Qingzhi's father's suggestion," Lin Bei said. This was his standard answer.

There was silence on the other end of the phone again. This time, the silence lasted a long time, so long that Lin Bei thought the signal had been lost.

"I understand. I'll be back." Lin Jianhua finally spoke, his voice carrying an indescribable emotion.

The next day was Sunday.

Lin Jianhua returned early in the morning.

He arrived several days earlier than expected. He rushed back overnight, getting home at four in the morning. When he entered, Wang Xiulan was still asleep, and Lin Bei was still asleep.

He went into Lin Bei's room, stood by the bed for a while, and looked at his son's sleeping face.

Then he went to the kitchen and cooked himself a bowl of noodles.

When the noodles were served, he didn't eat immediately. He placed his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl, stared blankly at the gray sky outside the kitchen window for a long time.

Three million.

He drove long distances for over a decade, braving wind and rain, and the money he saved wasn't even a fraction of that amount. His son saved someone, and that person gave him three million without hesitation.

He picked up his chopsticks and ate the noodles clean, even drinking the soup.

When Wang Xiulan got up, she was startled to see Lin Jianhua sitting at the dining table eating noodles.

"Why are you back? Didn't you say you'd finish this trip?"

Lin Jianhua looked up, his eyes bloodshot, but his expression was calm: "With a three million yuan involved, how can I drive a car with peace of mind?"

Wang Xiulan paused for a moment, then smiled: "That's true."

When Lin Bei got up, he was taken aback to see his father sitting in the living room.

"Dad? What's wrong...?"

"Sit down." Lin Jianhua pointed to the sofa opposite him. "Tell Dad what's going on with Shen Qingzhi's father."

Lin Bei recounted the whole story again. The process of rescuing the person, receiving the card, and... Shen Qingzhi relaying her father's suggestion, though of course, he made it up.

After listening, Lin Jianhua remained silent for a long time.

Then he asked, "Have you met her father?"

"No," Lin Bei said. "She gave me the card."

"Then how do you know her dad really recommends buying a house?" Lin Jianhua's eyes narrowed, the expression of an experienced driver observing the road conditions... alert, focused, and ready to brake at any moment.

Lin Bei had thought about this problem long ago.

"Shen Qingzhi has no reason to lie to me. What would she gain from lying to me? Is it because I'm handsome? Or because my 200-pound frame can be her human shield?" he said. "Besides, her family isn't short of money."

Lin Jianhua's lips twitched, clearly taken aback by Lin Bei's self-deprecating remark.

He stared at him for several seconds, then remained silent for a while.

"Buy a house?" he finally spoke, his voice tinged with obvious hesitation. "Three million is no small sum. What do you, a kid, know about real estate? What if you lose money? I've been to that old town area; the houses are all dilapidated. What could you do with them? Raise pigs?"

[Raising pigs is a good idea. However, the system does not recommend that the host invest in pig farming in 2012, because the host can't even keep a cactus alive. The cactus the host raised in the previous life eventually died... from lack of water. The system still cannot understand how a cactus could be killed.]

"Dad, I've checked." Lin Bei had already prepared this explanation. "There have been rumors about the government redeveloping that old town area for a while now. Besides, someone like Shen Qingzhi's father wouldn't give advice casually. He has no reason to harm us."

Lin Jianhua fell silent again. He picked up the cigarette pack on the table, took out a cigarette, didn't light it, and put it back. He did this twice.

"Let's go take a look first," he said finally. "No rush to decide. We'll decide after we've seen it."

Lin Bei nodded. He knew that it was normal for a middle-aged man who had worked hard for most of his life to develop a habit of being cautious with money.

"Shall I go for a run first?" Lin Bei said.

"Beibei..." Lin Jianhua looked at Lin Bei, "I've noticed you've changed a lot since I came back!"

Lin Jianhua stood in the living room, looking Lin Bei up and down several times. His gaze was like that of an inspector, moving from face to stomach, from stomach to legs, and then back to face.

"You've lost weight," he said, his tone a mixture of surprise and something else, a complex mix. "I haven't seen you for over ten days, how come you've lost so much weight?"

"I ran there," Lin Bei said.

Lin Jianhua took two steps closer, squinting as he stared at Lin Bei's face. His expression was quite interesting. He paused for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly, and his mouth opened and closed, as if he had something to say but didn't know where to begin.

"And the pimples on your face... seem to have lessened?" His tone was uncertain, as if he were asking Lin Bei, or as if he were talking to himself.

Wang Xiulan poked her head out from the kitchen and added, "I noticed it too. These past few days he's been getting up early every day to run, then he comes back, takes a shower, and then goes to the apartment across the hall for breakfast."

After she finished speaking, she retreated back into the kitchen, the sound of the spatula hitting the iron pot ringing out.

Lin Jianhua turned his head to look in the direction of the kitchen, then turned back to look at Lin Bei.

"Want to go across the street for breakfast?"

Lin Bei nodded.

"Did that girl from 502 make it?"

"Um."

Lin Jianhua's lips twitched slightly. The twitch was very small, but Lin Bei saw it clearly. His lips first turned down, then turned up, finally settling into a half-smile.

"Okay," he said, then turned and went into the kitchen.

What does "okay" mean? Okay, I understand? Okay, you're awesome? Okay, I don't care anymore? Okay, you've got guts, kid? Okay, you just wait and see? Or okay, I'll settle the score with you later?

The system analyzed the semantics of the word "行" (xíng). Based on the host's father's tone, intonation, micro-expressions, and the speed of his turn, it determined that the meaning of "行" was: "Okay, I roughly know what's going on. I won't ask anymore, but I understand." In plain terms, it means... "You better watch yourself."

Lin Bei stood in the living room and heard Lin Jianhua's hushed voice coming from the kitchen: "Xiulan, when did this kid become so familiar with that girl across the street?"

Wang Xiulan's voice was also very low, but Lin Bei still heard a few words through the wall... "bring lunch", "tutoring in English", "every day", "together", "alone".

Then Lin Jianhua said, "Oh..."

The "oh" trailed off with a slight upward curve, taking a meaningful turn that conveyed a complex mix of emotions: surprise, understanding, gossip, relief, and the realization that "my son seems to have finally figured it out."