The Lin household.

After dinner, Father Lin took his tobacco pipe and headed to his workplace. It was his turn to be on duty tonight. Whenever it got past midnight, he would feel extremely drowsy and had to rely on smoking his pipe to stay awake.

Father Lin worked as a boiler operator at the machinery factory. His job was to tend to the massive boiler, feeding it coal to keep the fire burning strong.

Everything went as usual that night. Around two o’clock, Father Lin let out a big yawn. He took out his tobacco pipe, pulled a pinch of tobacco from his pouch, packed it into the pipe, and lit it with a match.

Then, Father Lin took a deep puff, “Hiss—!”

And then, he knew nothing more.

Ten milliliters of ether could anesthetize a 100-pound adult for at least half an hour, let alone the fact that Father Lin had inhaled it all in one go. With a loud thud, he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.

Father Lin was in the boiler room, right next to the several-meter-high boiler. The boiler walls were scorching hot, filled with burning coal. The air near it was searing.

When Father Lin fell, he landed right next to the boiler, with half of his body leaning against the hot boiler wall. His clothes immediately began to sizzle and burn.

The ether was potent, and Father Lin didn’t wake up at all. Ether is an anesthetic; even if someone were to cut into your body while under its influence, you wouldn’t feel a thing, let alone the burning sensation.

The boiler room was staffed by only one person on night shifts, so no one came to check on Father Lin even as his flesh began to cook.

About an hour later, Father Lin woke up—jolted awake by the pain. It felt like someone was stabbing him with needles. Why did it hurt so much?

When he opened his eyes, Father Lin screamed, “Oh no, how did I fall asleep?”

He tried to get up to check the boiler, but as soon as he moved, he heard a sizzle and felt a searing pain shoot through him.

Father Lin looked down and nearly fainted. His left side had been pressed against the boiler wall. His clothes were burnt to shreds, and his skin had stuck to the boiler, emitting a sickening smell of cooked flesh.

Father Lin yanked himself away, and a large chunk of his flesh tore off, the pain nearly knocking him out.

“Help! Help me—!”

He screamed desperately, but no one came. The boiler room was too far from the main factory building, and his cries went unheard. Father Lin could only crawl toward the door, howling in agony as he moved.

He crawled for several hundred meters before a patrolling worker finally spotted him. “Old Lin, what happened to you?”

“I got burned by the boiler… take me to the hospital…”

Seeing someone arrive, Father Lin passed out. But as soon as they moved him, the pain woke him up again. Oh, the agony!

The factory workers quickly rushed Father Lin to the county hospital. The doctor took one look and said, “This is a severe burn. He might need amputation. We can’t treat this here. You need to take him to Yongzhou City Hospital immediately.”

Father Lin heard this and exclaimed, “What? Amputation?”

He was just over fifty years old. How could he live without a limb? The thought made his blood boil, and his face turned red as a beet. He rolled his eyes and fainted.

The doctor panicked. “This is bad. It might be a brain hemorrhage. Quick, emergency treatment!”

After a round of emergency treatment, Father Lin slowly regained consciousness. He tried to move his fingers and felt excruciating pain on his left side, while his right side was completely numb.

The doctor looked at him sympathetically and delivered even worse news. “You just had a brain hemorrhage. The right side of your body is paralyzed. You can’t move it.”

Father Lin’s mouth hung open. He wanted to say something but couldn’t. Finally, he closed his eyes and burst into tears.

Back at the Lin household, the door was being pounded loudly. Mother Lin, half-asleep, asked, “Who is it?”

“Sister-in-law, open the door! Something’s happened to Brother Lin!”

Mother Lin’s heart raced. She opened the door to find someone from the machinery factory, who explained that Father Lin had fallen asleep while tending the boiler and had burned himself.

Hearing this, Mother Lin’s legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed. The visitor caught her. “Sister-in-law, you have to stay strong. Brother Lin will need you now more than ever!”

Mother Lin felt even weaker. She called Lin Yong, and they rushed to the county hospital. There, they learned that Father Lin had also suffered a brain hemorrhage, paralyzing half of his body. He had been transferred to Yongzhou City Hospital for burn treatment.

Mother Lin collapsed to the ground. “Heavens, why is our Old Lin so unlucky?!”

They hurried to the city hospital, where Father Lin had already been taken into surgery. Five hours later, he was wheeled out.

The doctor informed them that the left side of Father Lin’s body had been severely burned. The damaged flesh had been removed, and they needed to ensure proper care to avoid infection.

Additionally, Father Lin had suffered a brain hemorrhage, paralyzing the right side of his body. Whether he would regain movement depended on his recovery.

In short, Father Lin, the family’s breadwinner, was now incapacitated.

When the machinery factory’s leadership heard about the incident, they visited the family. They assured them that Father Lin’s injuries were work-related, and the factory would cover all medical expenses. The Lin family didn’t need to worry about the costs.

However, given Father Lin’s condition, he could no longer work at the factory. He would have to return home to recuperate. The factory gave them 1,000 yuan as a condolence payment and left.

Mother Lin clutched the 1,000 yuan, staring at her unconscious husband. Tears streamed down her face. “Our family’s world has collapsed. What are we going to do?”

When Father Lin finally woke up, he found his left side bandaged, throbbing with pain at the slightest movement. His right side, though unharmed, was completely paralyzed. His wife and son stood by his bedside, crying as if mourning him.

The pain made Father Lin irritable. He wanted to lash out but couldn’t move. Instead, he berated Mother Lin and Lin Yong, cursing them and their ancestors for generations.

Mother Lin, heartbroken for him, didn’t dare say a word and stood there, taking the verbal abuse.

Lin Yong, however, felt a strange sense of satisfaction as he watched his father. You were always so tough and capable, weren’t you? Now you can’t even move. Serves you right!

The dynamics in the Lin family had subtly shifted. In the past, Father Lin and Mother Lin had doted on Lin Yong, giving him whatever he wanted.

But after Lin Yong became a live-in son-in-law, Father Lin and Mother Lin began to see him as unreliable and treated him poorly, especially Father Lin, who often found reasons to scold him. This change had been hard for Lin Yong to bear.

Now, with his father incapacitated, Lin Yong immediately felt his mother’s renewed reliance on him. She consulted him on everything, treating him as the head of the household.

Lin Yong recalled a story from Animal World: when the old lion king weakens, the new lion king rises. If the old lion king doesn’t decline, the new lion king never gets a chance.

Now, his father was the old lion king, and he was the new one. With his father unable to lead, the family was his to command. He had become the true head of the household!

While in the hospital room, Lin Yong wore a worried expression. But once he stepped outside, he felt a sense of relief and joy. From now on, the Lin family would be under his control. No one could challenge him!