When I'm on the night shift, all the department heads can't sleep.

On Saturday morning, Lin Ye finished washing up and stood in front of the mirror shaving.

When I was shaving my chin, my phone rang by the sink. The screen showed it was my mother calling.

"Is the health monitoring finished?"

"It ended yesterday."

"Are you free at noon? Your dad and I can come over and have lunch at your place."

"have."

"Then let's go to that casual restaurant. You can grab a seat if you get there first."

It was almost noon when Lin Ye entered the store early and chose a seat by the window.

The waiter put down the menu and pencil, and my mother came in.

The father followed behind, still holding his phone. As soon as he sat down, he said, "There are only three of us, why do you insist on coming out to eat?"

"You've been talking the whole way here, and you still haven't finished talking when you get home?" His mother slammed his phone on the table, then turned to look at Lin Ye. "Just ignore him. This morning, when I asked him what he wanted to wear, he spent ages choosing, but now he's acting like he didn't want to come."

The father picked up the teacup: "When did I choose it?"

"No, were you standing in front of the mirror for ten minutes to take your blood pressure?"

Lin Ye poured tea for the two of them, then glanced at the menu and marked two light dishes, along with a serving of spare ribs and a stir-fried beef with yellow peppers. His father snatched a pencil from beside him and crossed it off: "We already have a meat dish, why order this?"

The mother took the menu back and put a new checkmark next to the scratch: "He's treating today, let him order."

The father said, "Even if he's invited, he can't just order anything."

"Ordering a dish is considered ordering randomly?"

The waiter stood by the table with a tablet, his eyes following the menu back and forth. Lin Ye changed the portion to a smaller one: "That's fine, Dad, I'm sure I can finish it."

The father muttered, "He hasn't even received his official salary yet, and he's already learned how to treat people."

"How many times has he treated us since he started school?" The mother handed the menu to the waiter. "You're already feeling bad about letting him treat you once?"

After the waiter left, the mother stared at Lin Ye for a moment and asked, "Have you lost weight again? Did you even eat properly during those days in the hospital?"

"I ate. I just didn't sleep enough."

"I knew it. Every time you say you've eaten, and I ask what you ate, it's always bread and milk."

"And there are boxed lunches too."

"The boxed lunch is actually worth mentioning," his mother said, adding some hot water to his cup. "By the way, where will you be living from now on?"

Lin Ye took the teapot and refilled her cup: "The dormitory is only checking the bed assignments right now; the check-out date hasn't been announced yet. I'm planning to look for a room first, so I don't have to rush to find one when the notice comes."

"Your things can't fit in two boxes," her mother said, counting on her fingers. "Your winter blankets are still at home, what about your books, your shoes, and the pot I gave you last time? You haven't used it even once, have you?"

"I've used it."

"Does cooking instant noodles count?"

Lin Ye was speechless when asked the question, so he picked up his cup and took a sip. His father lowered his head, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

His mother immediately turned to him: "What are you laughing at? When you were checking the house on your phone this morning, you even asked me if he had a pot or a pan."

The father unlocked his phone: "I just watched two shows."

"Watching from nine to eleven o'clock, that's really casual."

Lin Ye took the phone.

Sure enough, there were two apartments saved in my favorites. The first one was in an older neighborhood with low rent, and the page said it was only a 20-minute drive to the hospital.

"This is cheap," the father zoomed out the route, "and it's not far from the hospital."

The mother tapped the screen with her chopsticks: "Make the car appear for him first."

My father switched to the bus, and what should have been a 20-minute ride suddenly became almost an hour, with the need to change buses in between.

He stared at it for two seconds: "There are more cars during the day, so the software calculates more slowly."

"The software will take the bus for you?" the mother asked.

Lin Ye changed the departure time to night.

The last bus stops early, and if the emergency room is delayed even a little, you'll miss it.

He removed that apartment from his favorites: "This one won't do. I can try my luck if it's a late-night apartment, but coming back late at night would be too far a detour."

The father tried to stop him, but then lowered his hand halfway through, saying, "I haven't finished reading yet."

"You're only looking at the cheap price." His mother pushed the dishes she had just served in front of him. "Your son is only thinking about how to get home in the middle of the night."

The second apartment is a ten-minute walk from the First Municipal Hospital, but it's older and the rent is much higher.

The father flipped through the kitchen photos, staring at the yellowed wall tiles for a long time: "For this price, the kitchen is still like this."

"How many times a month does he cook in the kitchen?" the mother asked.

Lin Ye picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his father's bowl: "I'll also post on my WeChat Moments to see if any of my friends know any rental information nearby."

His father hummed in agreement and casually shoved the meat from the plate back into his bowl: "You live alone, can you afford to rent somewhere nearby?"

"I'll look for a job based on my current salary. The hospital hasn't told me how much they'll ultimately pay me, so I won't make plans with money I haven't received yet."

"Then don't just look at one-bedroom apartments," the mother said. "What about Xiao Ma, your roommate? Didn't he cover for you at the wedding last time?"

"He needs to undergo a four-week observation period after his emergency room visit, and we don't know yet whether we can stay together."

The father asked, "He didn't stay?"

"It's not that he didn't stay. The exams and reviews are still on. The emergency room wants to see him for another four weeks." Lin Ye turned the dishes he had just served towards his mother. "We can look at apartments together, but I haven't asked him what he thinks yet."

"Let's find a place that you can afford on your own first. The most important thing is that it's close by. You're exhausted after your night shift, and then you have to change buses twice. I can't even sleep at home just thinking about it."

"If I really miss the bus, I can walk back."

"You walked for more than half an hour in the middle of the night, how am I supposed to sleep at home?" His mother glared at him. "Don't argue with me like that."

The father, head bowed, picked up some food and asked, "Who was it that said not to meddle too much last night?"

"Don't pretend. Who checked the last bus until 11 PM?"

"The website keeps crashing with 'GG'."

"GG ​​wants you to click on every single line?"

Lin Ye couldn't help but laugh as he listened: "I'll send the new schedule to you guys first."

His mother glanced at him: "You said it yourself."

"I said it."

When the waiter came to refill the water, the father pushed the plate of ribs in front of Lin Ye: "Eat it quickly, it'll get cold and all oily."

Lin Ye picked up a piece, then picked up another piece for his father that wasn't coated in much sauce: "You eat some too."

"I ate yesterday."

"Didn't you complain that yesterday's pot was bland?" Mother immediately exposed her, "You put it back on today."

The father stopped talking and ate the piece in his bowl.

Towards the end of the meal, Mother asked the waiter for a small box to pack the remaining food. While Father went to wash his hands, Lin Ye got up and went to the front desk to pay the bill.

He had just returned to the table when his father came back as well, and immediately noticed the receipt on the corner of the table: "Who told you to pay for this?"

"Let me, as your son, treat you to a meal."

"Are you afraid I'll try to take it from you?"

"Yeah, I'm scared!!"

The mother burst out laughing, picked up the takeout box, and stood up: "Alright, let our son pay this time. Next time, once the paperwork is really done, we'll cook at home, and he can do the dishes."

"Okay." Lin Ye folded the receipt and put it in his pocket. "I'll use it to buy groceries later."

His father glanced at him and swallowed back what he was about to say.

"Don't just trust the photos when you look at a house. Try out the water pipes and air conditioning, and read the contract carefully before you pay."

"I've got it."

Lin Ye watched the two get into the car before turning back.

Chen Kai's message came through then, first a screenshot of a rental listing, followed by: "[I saw you posted a listing for a room. A friend of mine is moving out at the end of the month; it's a two-bedroom apartment, three bus stops from the First Municipal Hospital. The building is old, but the price is okay. The landlord will be there tomorrow afternoon, wanna go?]"

Lin Ye opened the address, read the directions, and then forwarded it to Ma Hao.

Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Let's go house hunting together.

Ma Hao replied quickly: [A two-bedroom apartment?]

Lin Ye replied: "Yes, let's go take a look first."