Grandpa's hand rested on Karen's shoulder.
Karen's body trembled slightly.
"Let's... go home."
"Oh, okay."
Karen was clear and certain about what he had just experienced. He didn't think it was his "overthinking" under the circumstances. It was pure "life and death."
Reaching out,
and pushing open the courtyard gate,
Karen took a step forward.
Only for his knees to buckle and almost stumble forward.
Luckily, his other hand had been holding the leash of the golden retriever, dragging the dog along and eventually falling on top of it.
"Urgh..."
The golden retriever let out a cry.
Karen immediately pushed himself up off the ground and couldn't help but look back at his Grandpa standing there.
Grandpa was looking at him without any expression.
Karen took the tough-skinned and unharmed golden retriever by the leash and continued walking home.
In the living room, Aunt Mary was sitting there discussing something with several middle-aged men and women. It must be the children of the elderly man from the nursing home coming to arrange his affairs.
Aunt Mary called out to Karen, who didn't respond and let go of the leash as he went up the stairs.
He walked straight to the third floor, pushed open the door, walked in, and locked the door behind him. He then slid down the door and slumped to the floor.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Karen started gasping for air uncontrollably,
Tears, snot, and cold sweat flowed freely,
His hands clenched into fists,
And he muttered various profanities under his breath.
At this moment,
only thoughtless and instinctive curses could help him relieve some of his stress.
However,
not long after,
Mina's voice came from outside the door,
"Karen, there's lunch in the kitchen. Do you want me to heat it for you?"
Karen took a deep breath, wiped his tears with his palm, and wiped his snot with the back of his hand,
And said,
"No, I'm not hungry."
"Alright."
Mina left.
Karen leaned against the door, looking up.
Mr. Hofen recognized who he was, and just now at the doorway, Grandpa was... was trying to kill him!
Grandpa wanted to kill him!
The "identity problem" that he had originally thought he wouldn't have to worry about was now giving him a clear crisis. It had already brought him to the gallows.
At this moment, Rent's voice sounded outside the door,
"Karen, Grandpa wants you to have lunch with him."
Karen clenched his teeth and waved his fists.
Damn, damn, damn!!!
He was most afraid of facing Grandpa right now!
But,
what's even worse was that Karen found himself not daring to refuse.
After a moment of emptiness in his eyes,
"Hehe..."
Karen suddenly laughed.
Covering his face with both hands,
unable to suppress the laughter, his shoulders shook with it.
He was aware of the change in his mentality at this time,
swinging from one extreme to another.
Or in other words,
what the hell!
When one was subjected to great mental stimulation, he or she tended to have a similar emotion like this. For example, a thrifty person would suddenly spend a lot of money, or a sexually restrained person would run wild.
After their emotions stabilize, they may regret it.
But that didn't prevent them from indulging in that period of excess.
After all, people are beings of blood, flesh, and soul. Even machines need maintenance and repair after being overworked.
Karen slowly stood up,
looking at himself in the bedroom mirror.
He didn't feel any regret or shame for his previous weakness. In the face of a sudden life-and-death situation, who could remain calm?
However,
he was fed up.
...
It was now three in the afternoon, well past lunchtime.
Karen walked over to the dining table and sat down.
Dis looked up at Karen and noticed that Karen seemed quite natural, with his wet hair combed back, looking refreshed.
In front of him was a plate of pasta with tomato sauce, and in the middle was a plate of stuffed pancakes.
Grabbing a fork, he rolled up some pasta and ate it.
Sour, sweet, soft, and chewy... Ugh, it tasted awful.
He then speared a piece of the stuffed pancake and took a bite. The overly sweet taste nearly choked him.
Helplessly, Karen put down his fork and sighed.
Dis ate leisurely and asked,
"What's wrong?"
Noticing that Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie were not on the second floor, Karen bluntly replied,
"It doesn't taste good."
Mina, who was carrying water to the table, was taken aback by this straightforward conversation. The whole family, including her parents, always revered Grandpa.
Commenting on food and showing any whim was not allowed.
Dis took a bite of the pancake and asked,
"What do you want to eat?"
Karen shook his head and said, "I'll make lunch tomorrow."
Dis wiped his mouth with a napkin and slowly said,
"Alright."
And then Dis pointed to Karen's food, "Don't waste it."
"Fine."
Karen resumed eating.
Dis took a sip of water from the cup beside him, his gaze fixed on Karen.
And Karen frowned as he ate, not bothering to hide his emotions, even letting out sighs as he ate.
"Be respectful of the food." Dis reminded Karen.
Karen took a cup of water from Mina and used it to swallow the sweet stuffed pancake in his mouth, said...