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

Su Wantang lowered her head, picked up her teacup, and took a sip. The lamplight fell on her profile, illuminating her eyelashes clearly.

"Lin Bei".

"Um."

"Thank you for coming tonight."

Lin Bei was taken aback.

"My dad..." she paused, "He said he was afraid you wouldn't come."

Lin Bei looked at her, and his heart stirred.

"I promised I would come," he said.

Su Wantang raised her head, glanced at him, and smiled slightly.

"The food is here!"

Su Yuan came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl, a smile on his face. He walked quickly, almost spilling the soup in the bowl. Su Wantang quickly stood up, took the bowl from him, and placed it on the dining table.

It was a large bowl of pork rib and lotus root soup. The soup was clear, with a few red dates floating on top. The lotus root was cut into different sizes, some thick and some thin, but the pork ribs were stewed until they were very tender, and the meat was almost falling off the bone.

Su Yuan made two more trips and brought out four dishes: braised fish, stir-fried shredded pork with green peppers, garlic broccoli, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

He stood in front of the dining table, looked at the dishes he had prepared, and rubbed his hands together.

"It doesn't look very appealing, but you should try it." He glanced at Lin Bei.

"Uncle Su, please don't stand there, sit down and eat with us," Lin Bei said.

"Okay, okay." Su Yuan sat down next to Su Wantang, picked up his chopsticks, but didn't eat first. Instead, he picked up a piece of fish belly meat and put it in Lin Bei's bowl. "Here, try this fish. I bought it at the market, it was alive and freshly killed."

Lin Bei took a bite. The fish was tender, but a bit too salty and fishy, ​​probably because there wasn't enough ginger.

"It's delicious," he said.

Su Yuan's eyes lit up.

"Really? I was worried I wouldn't do it well." He picked up another piece of pork rib and put it in Lin Bei's bowl. "Then try this pork rib."

"Uncle Su, I can do it myself."

"It's alright, it's alright. You're a guest, please eat more."

Su Wantang watched her father from the side, a slight smile curving her lips, before lowering her head to begin eating.

Su Yuan tried to find topics to talk about while eating.

"Xiaolin, you ranked ninth in the class in this monthly exam?"

"Um."

"Amazing!" Su Yuan's tone was full of genuine admiration. "Wan Tang's mother was also a good student back then, and she's just like her mother."

Su Wantang paused with her chopsticks, lowered her head, and remained silent.

Su Yuan was also stunned for a moment, seemingly realizing what he had said, and remained silent for a while.

The living room fell silent for a moment.

"Uncle Su, this scrambled eggs with tomatoes is pretty good." Lin Bei picked up a piece of egg and put it in his mouth. "The saltiness is just right, and the eggs are tender."

Su Yuan snapped out of his daze and smiled.

"Wantang taught me," he said, glancing at his daughter. "She said I made it too salty last time, so she used less salt this time."

Lin Bei glanced at Su Wantang.

She kept her head down, but the corners of her mouth were curved.

After finishing their meal, Su Wantang cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them. Lin Bei wanted to help, but Su Yuan stopped him.

"Let her wash it, you sit down and have some tea." Su Yuan took out a box of tea leaves from under the coffee table, opened the lid, pinched a pinch and put it into the teapot, then poured in hot water.

The aroma of tea slowly wafted out.

Su Yuan poured two cups of tea, pushing one towards Lin Bei and holding the other himself. He leaned back on the sofa, holding the teacup, but didn't drink it, only watching the tea leaves slowly unfurl in the hot water.

"Kobayashi," he suddenly spoke, his voice lower than before.

Lin Bei raised his head.

Su Yuan didn't look at him; her gaze fell on the bottle of daisies on the coffee table.

"That last text message..." He paused, "...was my fault."

Lin Bei remained silent.

"Back then, I knew nothing. I thought she was just throwing a tantrum, and that you were meddling. Looking back now..." He shook his head, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. "I've been such a failure as a father."

The living room was quiet. The sounds of running water and Su Wantang washing dishes came from the kitchen.

"Uncle Su," Lin Bei put down his teacup, "you don't need to tell me all this."

"No, I have to say it." Su Yuan looked at him, "You've helped our family so much, and I haven't even properly thanked you."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"Wantang was only fourteen when her mother passed away. At that time, all I could think about was 'I have to support this family,' but I didn't know how. So I worked as hard as I could to earn money, thinking that earning more money was the best thing for her."

He gave a wry smile.

"Later I met Zhao Yumei. She was good to me, and I felt...maybe I should have a new life. Wan Tang will understand. She's always been sensible."

His fingers rubbed against the teacup a few times.

"About the house, if it weren't for you..." Su Yuan's voice was a little hoarse, "I don't dare to think about it."

Lin Bei looked at him without saying a word.

"There's one more thing," Su Yuan frowned, "During the interrogation, Zhao Yumei named someone."

Lin Bei's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

"Who?"

"There was a woman in Jiangcheng who specialized in 'marriage fraud' brokers, nicknamed 'Sister Hong.' Zhao Yumei said that all of her 'clients,' the men she scammed... were introduced by this Sister Hong. Zhang Mingqiang, Li Dong, and me were all among them."

Su Yuan paused for a moment.

"Sister Hong has more than just Zhao Yumei under her control. She has at least four or five women like Zhao Yumei working for her, specifically targeting middle-aged divorced or widowed men with a certain economic foundation. After they are swindled, Sister Hong takes a 30% cut."

Lin Bei felt a chill run down his spine. It turned out that Zhao Yumei was just a "lower-level" contact; there were others behind her.

"Sister Hong has been doing this in Jiangcheng for seven or eight years, and has cheated at least dozens of people. But those men have no idea that they are being scammed in an organized way, and most of them have not reported it to the police."

Su Yuan looked at him, his gaze deep and intense.

"What you did not only helped our family, but may have also opened a door for the police."

Lin Bei remained silent for a few seconds.

"Then Sister Hong..."

"The case has been filed," Su Yuan said.

Lin Bei breathed a sigh of relief.

The kitchen tap was turned off. The clattering of dishes and chopsticks also stopped.

Su Yuan took a deep breath, picked up his teacup, and looked at Lin Bei.

"Kobayashi, thank you."

His voice wasn't loud, but he spoke each word slowly and earnestly.

Lin Bei picked up his teacup and clinked it against his.

"Uncle Su, you don't need to thank me. Just be nicer to Wantang in the future, that's enough."

Su Yuan was stunned for a moment.

Then he smiled, a smile that contained both bitterness and relief.

"Don't worry," he said, "I will."

Su Wantang came out of the kitchen, holding a towel to dry her hands, and glanced between her father and Lin Bei.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing," Su Yuan stood up. "Let's talk about your childhood."

Su Wantang glanced at him: "What happened to me when I was a child?"

"When you were three years old, you were chasing after the cat in the neighborhood, you tripped and fell, and you knocked out half of your front tooth."

Su Wantang's ears turned red instantly.

"dad……"

"Later, you were missing a tooth when you smiled, and it didn't grow back until your permanent teeth came in." Su Yuan smiled. "Your mom said that for those few years you were too embarrassed to smile and would cover your mouth."

Su Wantang glared at her father, but the corners of her mouth were curved.

She walked over and sat down next to Lin Bei.

“Don’t listen to my dad,” she said. “He didn’t say he wet the bed when he was a kid.”

Su Yuan's expression changed: "Wan Tang..."

Lin Bei couldn't help but laugh.

There was a moment of silence in the living room, then all three of them burst out laughing at the same time.

Lin Bei watched as Su Yuan laughed so hard he bent over, while Su Wantang's eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

This family seems to be slowly coming back to life.