Ren Hao, having declined Xie Zhijing's offer to take him out for dinner, boldly asked her to drive him home.

Mainly, he wanted to confirm his sense of existence.

The familiar courtyard, the hand-cranked faucet, the slightly dilapidated north room. Ren Hao's eyes welled up, and it was only at this moment that he truly believed he had been reborn.

"Ma"

He pushed open the slightly ajar door with trembling hands, only to see his mother, Zhuo Yuqin, washing clothes in the outer room. Beads of sweat trickled down her face, dripping into the basin, her appearance quite weary. The Ren family wasn't wealthy, his parents were both state-owned enterprise workers earning 800 yuan a month, so they usually didn't use a washing machine for clothes.

As his mother would say, it consumes too much electricity.

Zhuo Yuqin, in her late forties, didn't look up. "How about the bank card? Sigh, our family is broke, you're just a kid, what's the use of getting that? Go wash your hands quickly, your dad will be back soon and we'll eat." Like the mothers of ordinary families, she loved to nag. "You're going back to school soon, get some studying done early. High school is the most crucial time, you need to work hard, yeah, our family is counting on you to make something of yourself."

Ren Hao turned his head and wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes. "Ma, I will, I will."

Death made Ren Hao realize many things. Many joys were right beside him, just that he hadn't noticed them before.

His parents were healthy, his family was harmonious, could there be anything happier in the world?

No.

Truly no.

Zhuo Yuqin stopped her work, raising her eyes to look at him in surprise. "You usually respond impatiently to me. What's wrong today?" Wrinkles had already appeared around her eyes. "If you're being considerate, help your mom wash the clothes."

"Okay." Ren Hao rolled up his sleeves and squeezed past his mother, snatching the clothes and soap. "You rest, watch some TV."

Zhuo Yuqin chuckled and nudged her son with her shoulder. "Stay aside, I was just saying that. You take it seriously. Besides, you don't know how to wash either. I'll have to wash them again later." As long as her son had this thought, it was enough for Zhuo Yuqin. How could she bear to let him work?

But Ren Hao wouldn't give up, insisting on washing the clothes. Zhuo Yuqin helplessly folded her arms and watched him make a fool of himself with a smile. For sixteen years, let alone doing chores, he hadn't even folded a blanket. How could Ren Hao possibly know how to wash clothes?

He lathered soap, rubbed the clothes, rinsed and drained them, wrung them out, and hung them on the nylon line in the courtyard. Six items of clothing were completed in one go, all washed in just ten minutes. Moreover, under Zhuo Yuqin's supervision, each piece was washed clean.

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"Son, where did you learn this?"

Zhuo Yuqin was a little surprised.

Ren Hao chuckled triumphantly, evading the question. "I've been watching you wash clothes every day, so I learned it. What do you think, is it passable?" Ren Hao had experienced hardship, this kind of work was naturally a piece of cake.

"Look at you being smug." Zhuo Yuqin was amused by her son. "If you can cook dinner for us too, that would be impressive." Cooking was different from washing clothes, it couldn't be learned by watching once or twice.

Ren Hao took a towel from the washbasin and wiped his palms, refusing to be outdone. "Just watch me." Without another word, Ren Hao confidently rushed to the small kitchen outside the house.

"Hey, you want to cook? Forget it, go back to your room and do your homework, don't burn yourself."

"Heh, I'm fine."

How could Zhuo Yuqin know that after Ren Hao graduated from university, he had been responsible for all the cooking at home?

"Yuqin, I'm back."

It was his father, Ren Xueyu's voice. His dad, with a stubble beard, carried a small bag and walked into the courtyard with a tired expression. His father was a simple man, not into scheming, flattery, or currying favor, so he just drove a delivery truck for the factory, his path to promotion destined to be blocked.

Ren Xueyu saw Zhuo Yuqin standing outside the small kitchen in surprise, and couldn't help but walk over curiously. "What are you doing? Why aren't you cooking yet?"

Zhuo Yuqin pointed to the inside of the kitchen. "Look at our good son."

Ren Xueyu looked inside, only to see Ren Hao holding a three-pound iron pot in one hand and a spatula in the other, scraping vegetables, his movements were skilled and varied, even the art of tossing the spatula, which they couldn't do, was mastered by him!

The couple watched from the side, their hearts pounding, afraid that he would burn himself.

After putting a few simple home-cooked dishes on the small round table in the inner room, Ren Hao clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Dad, Mom, try my cooking."

The color, aroma, and taste, Ren Hao seemed to have nailed it.

Ren Xueyu chewed on the potato chips, slowly nodding. "You even used a spatula to fry the potatoes, not bad, the taste is not worse than your mother's." Zhuo Yuqin was overjoyed, but her gaze gradually became suspicious. "Tell your mom the truth, who did you learn all this from?" They both felt that their son was a bit different today.

"I learned from the cookbook, I'm a fast learner, I practiced a few times and mastered it." Ren Hao arranged dishes for his parents. "Eat quickly, it'll get cold later."

At this moment, the twenty-one-inch, old-fashioned牡丹牌 TV popped up a news report.

"Today, the Tigerfang Bridge Industrial Bank was robbed, two criminals wielding homemade pistols held over thirty hostages, and the lives of the hostages were seriously threatened. The police then deployed three snipers and shot the criminals dead, but the situation took a turn for the worse. One of the criminals was not hit and raised his gun to shoot at the crowd. At the critical moment, a middle school student stepped forward, picked up the bandit's gun, and pulled the trigger, four shots later, the criminal fell to the ground. Then, the middle school student used the gun to hold the other criminal, who had been shot but not killed and was able to rescue the hostages in his hands, saving the lives of many people. Because he was unwilling to disclose his name..."

Zhuo Yuqin's heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Ren Hao, who was silent, with a sense of fear. "It's a good thing our son didn't go to that bank. Sigh, today's middle school students are so amazing, so young and they dare to use a gun, they even confronted those desperados." Ren Xueyu also felt unbelievable, put down his faded bamboo chopsticks, and stared at the TV with his eyes.

Ren Hao smiled bitterly and touched his nose. He wasn't that amazing, now that he thought about the scene, his legs were still shaking.

"Xiaohou, if you ever encounter this kind of thing, you have to stay as far away as possible, don't try to be a hero."

"Got it."

If it were any other kid, they would probably brag a little about it. But Ren Hao was different, the first thing he considered was how to keep his parents from worrying, so he didn't say anything, just quietly waiting for Chief Ye's promised reward to be credited to his account.

This money, Ren Hao deserved it.