"I am who...where am I..." A white old man, in his sixties or seventies, with bandages wrapped around his head and a drip on his arm, slowly opened his eyes as he lay on the hospital bed.
"Ugh...my head hurts and I have no strength in my body..." The old man frowned in pain.
Looking around, the old man realized he was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by busy medical staff.
"English...when did I become so good at English..." The old man subconsciously thought as he listened to everyone around him speaking in English and reading English words on the instruments next to him.
"Doctor, he's awake!" A nurse noticed that the old man had woken up.
Shortly after, a doctor in a white coat with a scruffy beard walked over with a thick medical record book.
"Hey, look who woke up. I thought this time you would never wake up. How do you feel, Frank?" The doctor greeted him like an old friend.
"...?" Frank looked at the doctor with a puzzled expression.
"Huh? Hey!" The doctor waved his hand in front of Frank's eyes. Seeing no response, he took out a flashlight from his pocket and shone it in Frank's eyes.
"What are you doing?" Frank snapped out of his confusion and swatted away the doctor's hand.
"How do you feel now?" The doctor put away the flashlight.
"I feel...terrible. Do I know you?" Frank asked, glancing at the doctor's name tag, which read Dr. Zarber.
As they spoke, Frank realized he was using English to communicate with the doctor.
"Of course, we're old friends. According to your lengthy medical history, this is your forty-third time here. You've become a legend here, Frank." Dr. Zarber shook the thick medical record book in his hand.
"I'm Frank? No, I remember I might be called..." Frank tried to recall his name.
"You hit your head this time, on the stairs. But you're lucky, you only lost consciousness for a week and only had a small cut on your head. No intracranial bleeding. You were in a coma for so long because of too much alcohol and drug use. But your body is really resilient. Most people would have suffered brain damage from such a large amount of drugs. If you had died from overdose, our financial department would have rewarded me." Dr. Zarber joked, showing that he was indeed close with Frank.
"I always need more drugs. Gallagher never gets high enough. I'm feeling really bad right now. Is there anything that can make me feel better, like morphine, Vicodin, fentanyl, or hydromorphone?" Frank's mind was still processing Dr. Zarber's words, but his body instinctively spoke.
Halfway through his sentence, Frank realized his mistake and immediately stopped speaking.
"Frank, do you think I would give you those things? Now that you've woken up, you'll be discharged soon. The hospital's financial department doesn't welcome you..."
"Doctor, there's a patient over there for you," said the nurse as she approached Dr. Zarber.
Dr. Zarber didn't notice Frank's confusion and kept talking until the nurse led her away.
"My name is Frank, and Gallagher is my last name. I'm also communicating in English, but as I recall, I should be...," Frank thought to himself as he watched the doctor leave and lay alone in his hospital bed.
As he thought, Frank became deeply conscious and gradually fell asleep, slowly recalling something vague in his dream.
"Frank! Frank!!!" But not long after he slept, Frank was forcibly awakened.
Frank opened his eyes and saw Dr. Zarber and a girl standing next to his hospital bed.
The girl looked pretty and was in her early twenties, but her eyes had a melancholic and tired look. She had a head of black curly hair.
"Frank, your daughter is here to see you," said Dr. Zarber.
"My daughter?" Frank was dumbfounded, as if a thunderbolt had sounded in his head, but his heart couldn't help but surge with an indescribable, unexplained ecstasy.
"Frank, today is the last Friday of the month," said the girl with a complicated look at Frank.
"Daughter, I have a daughter," Frank mumbled out of his mouth, not yet reacting.
"Hey, Frank?" Seeing Frank's lack of reaction, the girl was puzzled.
Today was the last Friday of the month, and she had said so, but Frank had no reaction.
"My daughter, come here, let me see my daughter," Frank said excitedly, reaching for the girl.
"Doctor, what's wrong with Frank?" The girl asked Dr. Zarber, clearly taken aback.
"This... Frank, do you know what your daughter's name is?" Dr. Zarber asked.
"What's my daughter's name?" Frank asked rhetorically.
"Do you know what your name is?" Seeing this reaction from Frank, Dr. Zarber finally noticed his abnormality and continued to ask.
"My name is... Frank," Frank answered with a pause.
"You know your name, but you don't remember your daughter?" Dr. Zarber asked.
"You were the one who told me that my name is Frank," Frank said.
"Then do you know where this is?" Dr. Zarber asked.
"A hospital," Frank answered.
"Where's the hospital?" Dr. Zarber asked.
Frank got stuck for a moment.
"Do you remember your other children? Do you remember their names?" Dr. Zarber continued to ask.
"I have other children? How many did I have?" Frank asked in surprise.
"Doctor," the girl couldn't help but call out.
"It seems that your father has lost his memory," Dr. Zarber said to the girl.
"How can you lose your memory? There have been worse cases than this before, and they were fine," the girl frowned.
"Not quite sure. It could be due to too much drugs, damage to the brain, or perhaps when his head bumped into the steps, resulting in memory loss," Dr. Zarber said.
"Can he recover from that?" the girl asked.
"I don't know. If the brain damage is caused by too much drugs, it may be permanent and irreversible memory loss. If the memory loss was caused by the head injury, it should be a short period of time and may be able to recover. A detailed examination is needed to determine the specific cause, but it may be costly," Dr. Zarber said.
"I understand," the girl nodded her head before Dr. Zarber finished speaking.
"It is probably a good thing that he has lost his memory. Then I will leave you alone," Dr. Zarber said.
"Okay, doctor. I will take him home," the girl said.
After a couple of instructions, Dr. Zarber left to attend to other patients. He couldn't waste all his time on people like Frank who were consuming medical resources.
"Hey, Frank. This is Chicago. I'm your daughter, and my name is Fiona," the girl said as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Fiona, my daughter, let me take a closer look at you..." Frank looked at Fiona in awe and reached out to touch her cheek.
"Do you remember anything?" Fiona was a little uncomfortable with Frank's intimacy but didn't slap his hand away.
"No, but the name is so familiar... Are you really my daughter? How many other children do I have?" Frank asked.
"You have many children: Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, Liam..." Fiona replied.
"Oh my God, so many children, I must be the happiest father in the world," Frank murmured.
"..." Fiona didn't answer, just had a complicated look in her eyes.
"By the way, where's your mother?" Frank suddenly remembered something.
"She left a long time ago," Fiona pursed her lips.
"Passed away?" Frank froze.
"No, just...left," Fiona said.
"Oh..." Frank grasped Fiona's meaning.
Although Frank said he had lost his memory, he had only lost his memory and had not become demented. He understood Fiona's meaning of this sentence: the mother of the children, his Frank's wife, left him and the children to run away. Only, he didn't know if she had run away long ago or after he was hospitalized. Afraid of touching Fiona's wounds, Frank didn't ask any more questions.
"It's okay, just run away, there is still Daddy. Daddy will take care of you and will not let anyone hurt you," Frank hugged Fiona.
"..." Fiona was obviously flabbergasted, came back to her senses, and hugged Frank too.
"Why are you still crying?" Frank looked at Fiona's eyes, which were red, and asked nervously.
"Nothing, we should go," Fiona wiped her eyes and said with a smile.
"This is my dress? Umm... It smells so bad, how many days has this been unwashed?" Frank took back his clothes and frowned.
Frank's clothes were dirty and smelly, not only with the smell of acid but also with the smell of vomit. Frank did not know what he had gone through before he was hospitalized and lost his memory, but he was wearing such clothes.
But now, the clothes that were thrown into the garbage can were too dirty for the garbage can. Frank said that he couldn't put them on and didn't want to touch them.
Fiona seemed to see Frank's entanglement and walked straight out of the hospital room.
Frank watched Fiona walking in the hospital corridor as if she was looking around. Then, she dodged into a ward and not much later came out with a set of clothes, obviously stolen.
"This is not good," Frank took the clothes and said apprehensively.
"It's okay, just change," Fiona looked at Frank with surprise, as if to say, "You still care about this?" and urged him to change.
"It's better to return it and buy a new set of clothes," Frank hesitated.
"We do not have the money to buy new clothes. Hurry up and change. We will be discovered if we wait any longer," Fiona said, directly forcing the clothes on Frank's body.
"Okay, okay, I'll wear it myself..." Frank said in a hurry.
After changing clothes, Fiona took Frank out of the hospital. Fiona walked boldly, but Frank was very apprehensive about being a thief. It wasn't until they walked out the door that he let out a big sigh of relief.
Fiona took Frank home. They did not drive, did not take a taxi, but walked to the subway.
As Frank walked on the road, he surveyed the landscape of Chicago, looking at everything around him, feeling very strange and yet very familiar.
Instead of taking Frank straight home, Fiona arrived at a government office where two boys were waiting.
The boy on the left looked seventeen or eighteen years old. He was a big, handsome young man with a pair of dead fish eyes that were extraordinarily attention-grabbing.
The boy on the right looked younger, with a face that was still a bit tender, just fifteen or sixteen years old. He was somewhat handsome, with small freckles on his face.
"Luckily, you guys finally caught up," Fiona said as she greeted them.
"Who are they?" Frank asked.
"He's Lip, and this is Ian," Fiona introduced them briefly.
The older, dead fish-eyed boy on the left was called Lip.
The younger, freckled boy on the right was called Ian.
"Fiona, what's wrong with him?" Just as Phillip was sizing up the two, the dead fish-eyed Lip asked with some surprise.
"Alas, it's hard to say. In short, Frank has lost his memory," Fiona said helplessly.
"Ha!?" Lip and Ian said in dismay.
"He has amnesia?" Little Freckles Ian asked for repeated certainty.
"Lip, Ian, you told me in the hospital that they were both my sons!" Frank said in surprise.
"Let Daddy hug them. Oh my God, my sons!" Frank hugged both of them and excitedly kissed them on the forehead.
"!!!" Lip and Ian looked incredulous.
"By the way, daughter, what are we doing here? Shouldn't we go home?" Frank asked.
Seeing that Frank did not ask for the money, Fiona put it back into her pocket, and the three of them took Frank home.
Their home was in the South Side of Chicago, a single wooden structure of a two-story house with a spacious yard. It looked like a small villa, but in the United States, it was an ordinary residential home.
Frank followed Fiona and the three of them back home. As soon as they opened the door, they saw a little girl run towards them and hug Frank's thigh.
The little girl was about eight or nine years old, with chubby baby cheeks, and freckles on her face just like Ian. She looked extremely cute.
"Welcome home, Dad!" The little girl hugged Frank tightly.
"Who's this little cutie? Let me guess, is your name Debbie?" Frank picked up the little girl and rubbed her cheek.
Fiona had told him the names of his children: Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam. He had already met Lip and Ian, two handsome young boys. The name Debbie was the only one that sounded like a girl's name.
Frank carried Debbie into the house and saw two more children inside. One was a six or seven year old boy, who looked a bit slow and was sitting on the sofa watching TV. He didn't even look at him when he entered the house, his attention was all on the TV.
The other child was still in a crib, a baby who looked about a year old, and more importantly, a black baby!
"This is Carl." Fiona took off her coat and threw it onto the sofa, then rubbed the head of the little boy sitting on the sofa. The little boy pushed Fiona's hand away.
"This is Liam. Did you miss me?" Fiona walked over to the black baby and picked him up.
"Uh... your mom is... black?" Frank was surprised to see the black baby and turned to Fiona to ask.
"What's going on, Frank?" Debbie and Carl were both surprised when they heard Frank's words. Carl stopped watching TV and turned to look at Frank.
"The situation is a bit complicated. He has amnesia now, and he remembers nothing." Fiona explained.
"Amnesia? Cool!" Carl's eyes lit up.
"Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, Liam..." Frank held Debbie and looked at the children in the room, trying hard to remember their names.
There were too many children, and for a moment, Frank couldn't remember who was who. But he felt familiar with all these names and felt like he could call them out at any moment.
After returning home, Fiona and the others ignored Frank and went about their own business. Frank sat on the sofa and watched TV with Carl. Debbie knew that Frank had amnesia, so she stayed by his side, while Carl stopped watching TV and asked all sorts of strange questions.
After a while, it was getting late, and Fiona began to prepare dinner.
"Do you want me to help?" Seeing this, Frank got up and walked into the kitchen.
"!?" Fiona was stunned, not expecting Frank to offer to help at all.
"So... Help me bring the eggs to the table." Fiona handed the plate to Frank.
Frank dutifully helped Fiona in preparing the group's dinner.
"How long has your mother been gone?" Looking at Fiona's skilled appearance, Frank couldn't help but ask.
"A long time." Fiona answered casually.
Obviously, this time away is not a day, two days, or even one or two months; the unit of time should be calculated in 'years', otherwise, Fiona would not be so skilled in doing things.
"Have you been taking care of these children? I used to... not help?" Frank asked.
"Pfft! Help? We'll be lucky if you don't add to the mess." Fiona, busy with the task at hand, couldn't help but laugh when she heard Frank's words, as if she had heard a very funny joke.
"Uh..." Frank didn't expect to get such a reply. He really didn't know what he used to be like.
"Fiona, is dinner ready?" Lip shouted.
"Almost done. Everyone, come down for dinner." Fiona shouted.
Immediately after, a chicken jump was heard, and the footsteps on the second floor thumped chaotically.
"All these years, it's really hard for you. You're really great." Frank exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.
Others talk about how hard working single-parent families are. Parents bring up their children with blood and sweat, but basically, there are only one or two children in the family.
However, in this family, there are boys, girls, teenagers, and babies. Before he lost his memory, he didn't seem to be able to help Fiona raise the children.
"Nothing..." Fiona moved and turned around.
The group of children was seated at the table, gorging themselves on dinner. Instead of joining the group, Fiona grabbed a beer from the fridge and pulled open the back door of the house, which led out into the yard.
"Fiona?" Lip called out.
"You guys go ahead and eat, I'm not hungry," Fiona said, looking at the door.
Fiona sat on the steps, took a sip of beer, looked at the street view, and couldn't help but laugh. But as she laughed, she buried her head in her arms and silently cried.
"What's wrong?" After everyone finished dinner, Lip came to the backyard with a bottle of beer and asked.
"Nothing," Fiona said, wiping away her tears and not saying anything. She was very strong.
"Is it because of Frank?" Lip asked.
"..." Fiona nodded.
"Do you think a person losing their memory can really change that much? It feels like he has become a completely different person," Lip leaned against the pillar, took a sip of beer and asked.
"I don't know," Fiona shook her head and took a sip of beer too.
"Actually, it's not too bad to keep losing memories like this, but if you recover your memory, you'll definitely turn back into the asshole you were before. You better not have any expectations," Lip reminded her.
"I know, I never had any expectations for Frank," Fiona said.
"Okay, I'm going back to read. The weather's been getting colder lately..." Lip turned and went back to the house.
Fiona sat on the steps for a while, patted her face, and then turned back into the house.
"Tomorrow you still have to go to school, so go to bed early..." Fiona shouted at everyone sitting on the couch watching TV, especially Debbie and Carl.
Debbie took Frank to the bathroom to wash up and then sent him to his room.
"My children..." Frank thought, with a smile on his lips, closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
Frank remembered many things in his dream, this time without anyone interrupting and disturbing his memories.
When the sunlight shone through the window and into the room, Frank opened his eyes and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling, lost in thought for a while, as if sorting out his thoughts.
"I remember, I know who I am! I have children! I finally have children!!" After a moment, Frank suddenly sat up from the bed, his face full of excitement, clenching his fists, and wildly waving his hands to vent his excitement.
Frank has recalled his true identity, who he really is.
He died in a truck accident while trying to save someone, and when he woke up, he became Frank.
Because he just woke up and had short-term memory loss, he didn't remember who he was at first. He only gradually remembered after taking a nap.
As for why he was so excited about having children and being a father, it was because he couldn't have children in his past life. He was young and healthy, but his wife had fertility issues. After professional examination, it was found that it was difficult to have offspring, even with the success rate of IVF being low.
Therefore, Frank's biggest regret in his past life was not having children, but he still liked children and wanted to adopt as many as possible. However, he was not wealthy enough to meet the adoption standards.
He had planned to marry a woman with children so that he could treat them as his own, but he died in the accident before he could carry out his plan and became Frank.
He could have recovered his memories of his past life if he had just taken a nap in the hospital, but he was abruptly awakened and his recollection failed, resulting in amnesia.
However, even though he had amnesia, he was still instinctively excited and happy to learn that he had children because he had always wanted them. This obsession had become ingrained in his subconscious.
Being abruptly awakened in the hospital had a significant impact on Frank's memory. It was like reading a bar halfway and being interrupted.
He had lost many memories of his past life, and only remembered who he was and his basic situation, along with some fragmented memories.
But Frank didn't care about those things because they were all from his past life. He considered himself reborn, and the most important thing was that he had children, several of them.
"I have children now~ I have children now, hehe~" Frank hummed a tune as he put on his clothes, feeling incredibly beautiful.
"Dad, are you awake?" Debbie knocked on the door and poked her head in.
"Good morning, Debbie." Frank hugged Debbie and kissed her hard. She was his precious little doll.
"Have you regained your memory?" Debbie asked.
"Not yet, but it doesn't matter whether I do or not." Frank smiled.
Frank had only remembered some things from his past life, and his memory of this body had not recovered at all. But as he said, having children was enough. Memories were not important.
"I'll take a shower first!"
"You took one yesterday. It's my turn today. Damn it..." Frank held Debbie and heard the chaos outside.
The house had two floors, and there were bathrooms on both the first and second floors, but only the one on the second floor had a shower. With so many children in the house, they fought over the bathroom every day.
"I'll go take care of Liam." Debbie ran back to her room.
Frank went downstairs and sat at the dining table with the children. They took one look at him and could tell that he was still in amnesia.
Their breakfast was cereal cookies and milk.
"We have to pay the electricity bill this month." Fiona was busy putting a box on the table, and each child took out their crumpled money and threw it into the box, including Debbie, who was not yet ten years old.
After the round, only Frank and Liam, who was still a baby and couldn't even speak, didn't contribute.
"Um..." Frank was a little embarrassed as he searched himself, but he didn't find any money.
"Frank, you don't have to pay." Lip was eating cereal and could tell that Frank was in an awkward situation.
"After school, I'll tutor someone and probably make around ten dollars..."
"Carl, have you paid yet? You're almost nine years old, you should start learning to support the family."
"That's right, find a real job, don't just steal money from the St. Tim's Church donation box."
"I'm working a shift today, and if it's not enough, there's still Frank's disability payment." Fiona held Liam and fed him while talking.
"Give him to me, you eat." Frank quickly took Liam from Fiona's hand.
"Who's taking care of Liam today?" Fiona hurriedly ate a cookie and asked.
"I have a test today." Lip said.
"I have to go to work after school." Ian said.
Fiona glanced at Carl, who was playing with his milk and cereal, and looked directly at Debbie.
"It's okay, you all go to school, I'll take care of Liam." Frank said.
"You take care of Liam..." Fiona hesitated, obviously not trusting Frank, but she was too busy today and couldn't spare the time to take care of Liam.
"It's okay, I'll come back after school and take care of Liam with Dad!" Debbie quickly said.
"Well, if Liam..." Fiona could only leave Liam to Frank, and gave many instructions.
"Dad, we're leaving." The children all ran out of the house, only Debbie kissed Frank and said goodbye.
Soon, the chaotic house became very quiet like a market.
"It's just us now, little chocolate." Frank looked at Liam in his arms and said.
"Ah ha~" Liam played with his children's spoon and smiled like a child.
Frank held Liam and carefully looked around this strange yet familiar home, and checked the current situation.
He currently has six children.
The eldest daughter, Fiona, in her early twenties, is probably twenty-one or twenty-two, no longer going to school, dropping out to work and earn money.
Next are the second and third children, eldest son Lip and second son Ian, both teenagers, not yet eighteen, and both in high school.
Then there are the fourth and fifth children, youngest daughter Debbie and third son Carl, one in her early teens and one not yet ten, both in elementary school.
Lastly, there is the youngest, the little baby of the family, Liam, a black baby, unsure of how many months old, can crawl and stand, but still can't walk or talk, the youngest member of the family who needs the most care.
Faced with these six 'heaven-sent' children, Frank's heart was excited and somewhat nervous.
He was excited because he had always dreamed of having children, and suddenly he had six, boys and girls, big and small, black and white, a complete package.
But he was nervous because with so many children, six in total, four of them were in school, Fiona dropped out to work, but she's only in her early twenties, in Frank's eyes, she should still be a studying in school.
How can a single father whose wife ran away support such a big family?!
Frank's house was quite big, with two floors. There are two rooms on the first floor, one is a living room and the other is an open kitchen. There are four rooms on the second floor, and there is a bathroom on each floor, but only the bathroom on the second floor has a shower.
The layout is basically two floors, four bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen, and two bathrooms. The front and back yards add up to a garden that is one or two hundred square meters and is fenced.
If this were in his previous life, such a large yard would definitely not be wasted, and it would basically be used to grow some vegetables or something. However, Frank's yard is all abandoned. Although the lawn is being used, the weeds are overgrown and it is clear that it is not regularly maintained.
Although the house is very large and could be considered a small villa if it were in in his previous life, there are many people and children. Frank and Fiona each have their own room, Lip and Ian share a room, and Carl, Debbie, and Liam all cram into one room.
With many people, there are also many things. Clothes, especially children's clothes, as well as toys, clutter the house. Shoes, socks, and toys are scattered on the corridor and stairs. If you're not careful, you can easily step on something.
The cleanliness of the house is also worrying. The dishwashing cloth in the sink is as torn as the floor-cleaning cloth, and is covered in green, mold-like substances.
"I look so old..." Frank holds Liam in his arms and stands in front of the mirror in the bathroom, unable to help but say.
Last night, Frank talked to Debbie for a long time and she told him a lot of information about Frank, including his age.
Frank is just over fifty years old and can be considered middle-aged. He still has more than ten years until retirement. This age is by no means old, and if he takes care of himself well, he may even look like he's in his thirties.
But in the mirror, Frank looks like he's in his sixties or seventies, with sagging skin on his face. He doesn't know if it's because Europeans age faster or not, but he doesn't have any gray hair. He has a head of blonde hair and a sturdy physique, which is one of the few bright spots in his body.
Although Frank has recovered some memories from his past life, he has no memories of Frank's body, and is very unfamiliar with the city and the streets outside. He has to take care of Liam and is afraid of getting lost, so he hasn't gone out. He just tidied up the house as best as he could and cleaned up the bathroom.
Although Frank was a first-class housekeeper in his past life, the house is too big and there are too many things and messy, so he barely did anything and spent most of the day tidying the house.
Fortunately, Liam is very well-behaved and doesn't cry or make trouble like other children. He sits quietly in his stroller, biting his fingers and playing with his hands and feet. He doesn't need special care and seems to be aware of not adding any burden to the household.
"There are too many things to replace in the house..." Frank thinks as he opens the refrigerator and looks inside. He has a simple lunch with Liam.
Drinking milk that tastes like plain water with no milk flavor, Frank wrinkles his brow.
"Dad~" Debbie comes home from school in the afternoon, throws her backpack into the house, and jumps into Frank's arms.
"Hey, my little cotton jacket." Frank hugs Debbie and spins her around in the air.
Debbie helps take care of Liam, tidy up the house, and looks at the pictures of the children from when they were young to now to help Frank, who has amnesia, remember.
After being busy and tired, Frank lies on the sofa with Debbie and falls asleep without realizing it.
In his sleep, Frank's brain begins to recall not the things from his past life, but the memories of this Frank's body. It's like a carousel, like watching a movie, returning to Frank's memories.
"Creak..." the door is pushed open.
Fiona returns home with a tired body, takes off her coat casually, and puts the big black plastic bag in her hand on the kitchen table.
"Hey, did you miss me?" Fiona looks at Liam in the stroller and bends down to pick him up.
"Where's Frank?" Fiona turns her head and sees the two sleeping people on the sofa.
Looking at Frank, who is sleeping with Debbie, Fiona smiles for a moment, but the smile quickly turns into a sigh, and her eyes looking at Frank were very complicated.
"Did you poop again?" Fiona carries Liam to change his diaper.
"Hmm..." Liam's cried while getting his diaper changed and woke up Frank.
Frank opened his eyes, feeling a bit confused. The vast memories flooding his mind made his thoughts jumbled.
"Hey, Fiona..." Frank called out to Debbie, who was lying on top of him.
"Hmm?" Fiona, who was in the kitchen, heard Frank's voice and walked over.
"Sorry, Fiona. We left you and Lip in Washington Park last night. The drug dealer gave us a sample, and we accidentally forgot that you and Lip were still waiting for us outside," Frank explained.
"Do you know how long we waited? We could have frozen to death!"
"Sorry, I promise I won't do it again. I'll be a better dad," Frank said to Debbie, not noticing Fiona and mistaking her for a young Fiona in his memories. He sounded like he was talking in his sleep, full of self-blame.
"It's okay, Dad," Debbie said, not understanding what was happening but guessing that Frank's memory might be returning. She didn't correct him and just went along with his words.
"Are you mad at me?" Frank asked.
"No," Debbie shook her head.
"Hehe, my precious daughter, tomorrow I'll take you to Claire's to get your ears pierced. You've been wanting to do that, right?" Frank touched Debbie's head.
"Mhm," Debbie agreed.
As Frank murmured, Lip walked in with his backpack.
Before Lip could speak, he saw Fiona covering her mouth, tears in her eyes, waving to him not to make a sound.
"I'm glad you're with me, Fiona. You're really great. Thank you... I don't know what I would do without you," Frank said to Fiona, still half asleep.
"Hehe, if it weren't for you taking care of Lip, he might have been sold by mom by now to buy drugs," Fiona joked.
"Ah, I'm so sleepy. My head feels light, and the drugs haven't worn off yet. I'm going to sleep a bit more. When I wake up, we'll go eat hamburgers and then go to Claire's..." Frank said, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Lip walked over, looking at Debbie with a questioning look.
Debbie made a quiet gesture with her finger, picked up the blanket, and covered Frank while Fiona ran upstairs.
Fiona ran back to her room, burying her head in the covers and muffling her sobs with the pillow. Lip leaned against the door with a bottle of beer, listening to her crying inside.
"Fuck! Frank!" Lip took a sip of beer and cursed before leaving the house.
When Frank woke up, it was already dawn the next day.
"Ugh..." Frank held his head, feeling dizzy and confused as he sat up from the couch.
Frank was in his fifties today, with over fifty years of life experience. Even just a rough recollection of "Frank's" memories from the previous night was a great burden.
"Dad." Debbie came downstairs with Liam in her arms and noticed Frank had woken up. She immediately ran over.
"Oh, Debbie, can you grab me a beer..." Frank held his head, seeming hungover, and didn't treat Debbie as affectionately as before. He just spoke casually.
"!!" Debbie, who had been running halfway, froze in place.
"It seems Frank's memories have already returned. I knew he couldn't change his ways. Debbie, don't bother with him." Lip came downstairs, glancing disdainfully at Frank before speaking to Debbie.
"Umm..." Frank also realized what he had said.
He wasn't a person who liked to drink. The words he had just said were entirely subconscious and were habits of this body's "Frank". He hadn't even realized it himself.
Mornings were always busy for the Gallagher family because there were a lot of children going to school. They not only had to prepare breakfast but also prepare lunch for each person.
Everyone was busy, and regarding Frank's recovered memories, they only chatted briefly and didn't pay much attention to Frank, let alone invite him to the dining table.
After learning that Frank had recovered his memory, the children's attitude towards him changed dramatically, completely treating Frank as if he were invisible.
However, Debbie still took a beer from the fridge and placed it in front of Frank.
"Sorry about earlier, I was half asleep, Debbie." Frank reached out and touched Debbie's head.
"Have your memories returned?" Debbie asked.
"Somewhat," Frank replied.
"Debbie!" Fiona called out, and Debbie quickly ran back to the dining table.
"Congratulations on recovering your memory." Fiona came over with a plate in hand, containing two fried eggs and two slices of toast cut into triangles.
"Fiona..." Frank was stunned. In his recovered memories, he had never seen Fiona bring breakfast to "Frank". It was always "Frank" shamelessly stealing the children's breakfast to eat.
"The kids need to go to school!" Fiona turned around and clapped her hands.
"I cannot return your disability benefits." The children left home one after another, and Fiona picked up Liam. Before leaving, she said to Frank.
With Frank's memory recovered, Fiona did not dare to leave Liam in his care. Who knows if Frank would take Liam begging on the streets. She would rather take Liam with her.
After Fiona left with Liam, only Frank was left in the house.
Frank held his head, sorting through the memories of this body that came to him in his sleep.
"Frank Gallagher" was a super scumbag, a promiscuous drunkard and drug addict, who committed breaking and entering, excessive drinking, disturbing the peace, public indecency, inciting disorder, occupying others' property, disrupting other families, and even drunk driving, according to his resume, despite not even having a car.
According to Frank's memory, "Frank" was originally not so bad. He had even gone to college, and not just any college but the prestigious Northwestern University. It was a top world-class private school that was on par with Harvard, MIT, and other schools in the United States, and some of its disciplines were even ranked first in the country.
You have to know that such a highly respected institution of higher education is not a place where just anyone can enter, especially several decades ago when it was filled with elite talent.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, after "Frank" graduated, he would definitely have become a high-end member of society.
However, "Frank" dropped out of college before his senior year and instead of getting a job, he quickly deteriorated, becoming an alcoholic, drug addict, and a scheming opportunist who skirted the law.
For example, the disability benefits he receives are obtained through playing with the law and taking advantage of loopholes.
In an "accidental" work injury, he was declared disabled and unable to work. You have to know that this level of disability is only achievable with missing limbs. However, in reality, Frank's body is intact and he didn't work for more than three days at that job that caused his "injury."
The welfare system in the United States is pretty good, and with the added advantage of being white, Frank receives a substantial amount of disability benefits every month due to his inability to work. It's enough to keep him drunk all day.
Frank is now in his fifties, and in over fifty years, he has worked for no more than a week.
Apart from that, Frank spends most of his time drinking and doing drugs or on his way to drink and do drugs. When he gets high, he finds a place to sleep and his lifestyle is similar to that of a homeless person.
More importantly, Frank has no sense of responsibility or duty as a father.
Most men, even if they are terrible people, will undergo significant changes once they have children and work to become better for their sake. However, even after having children, Frank didn't change at all. In fact, he became worse and did things that no sane person would do.
For example, yesterday, Frank was dozing off on the couch and started talking in his sleep, mistaking Debbie for a young Fiona and saying things he shouldn't have.
In reality, back then, there was not only Fiona and Lip, but also Ian. He left the three young children in the park to go buy drugs and got high, forgetting that they were still in the park.
After recalling the incident, it was during winter, and Fiona was only six years old at the time while Lip and Ian were still infants.
In the end, it wasn't Frank who actively searched for the children, but Fiona who found him with Lip and Ian. The first thing Frank asked wasn't about the children's wellbeing, but if Fiona had any money on her.
This incident left a deep impression on Frank's heart and he feels guilty about it.
Although Frank's memories are fleeting and rough, he remembers this incident very clearly because it left a deep mark on him.
Although Frank felt guilty about leaving Fiona, Lip and Ian in the park during winter, it didn't change his behavior and he didn't turn his life around. Similar incidents happened more than once and Frank had a careless attitude, with no regret or desire to change.
Frank's wife left him and although he stayed, he was an alcoholic and drug addict who only enjoyed himself and never gave anything to his children. He never gave them money or helped them out, so it could be said that he didn't really raise his six children.
It was Fiona who worked hard to support and raise her siblings, acting as both a mother and father figure, while Frank never lifted a finger and sometimes even caused trouble. To support the family and send her siblings to school, Fiona had to drop out and work multiple jobs every day, while Frank spent all his disability money on alcohol and drugs.
It was clear that Frank was a terrible father and it was no wonder that his children didn't trust him. Debbie and Carl were too young to fully understand, but when they grew up like Lip and Ian, they would surely be disgusted with Frank.
"Frank...this Frank...is such a scumbag..." Frank muttered to himself. He couldn't understand his behavior and wanted to beat him up.
"All these children are good, how can you be so heartless? Now that I've become you, I will fulfill my duty as a father!" Frank thought.
Now that he had taken over this body and become Frank, he was determined to change everything. But his situation was difficult because of the complicated relationship with his children. The younger ones like Debbie were okay, but the older ones didn't trust him and were very resistant. He had to find a way to improve their relationship.
Besides that, their financial situation was also a major issue. They were very poor and could barely afford breakfast. Fiona was the only one working and they had four children still in school, a baby to take care of, and even Debbie and Carl, who were not yet ten years old, were trying to earn money. They were always on the brink of bankruptcy.
Frank had to find a way to improve their relationship with his children and also improve their financial situation. He realized that his body's habits were difficult to change, like the muscle memory of a chef who could still cook even after losing their memory. He had to consciously overcome these habits.
However, this matter takes time. Frank redirected his attention to the most important thing at the moment - how to make money.
In truth, if one just looked at their house, the Frank family was doing okay. At least they had a roof over their heads and weren't homeless. Real homeless people didn't have homes - they either slept under bridges or in parks for a night, or they made makeshift shelters out of cardboard or rubber.
However, although their house was large, it wasn't worth much, being located in the south side of Chicago. The south side was essentially a slum, with many different gang members residing there, making it very chaotic. Naturally, housing prices were low. Frank couldn't sell the house for money either. With the house, they at least had a home.
But what could they do without money? If it were the "old Frank" from before, his first thought would be to cheat and steal, but Frank couldn't do that. In his previous life, he was a law-abiding citizen.
If he wanted to earn money, the only thing Frank could think of was to work. But as a fifty-something man without a degree or work experience, and with his resume being empty except for his age, he couldn't find anything but odd jobs.
"Wait..." Frank frowned. He suddenly remembered that he couldn't work because he was disabled. Although he didn't know how the "old Frank" managed it, he was indeed a "disabled person" and received disability benefits every month, which was quite a sum - 674 each month. The amount he received in disability benefits was much more than what he could earn from odd jobs.
If he were to work officially, he would lose his monthly disability benefits, which would be a loss.
"If I can't work officially, I can only...work under the table, like day labor?" Frank wondered.
Sitting around and thinking wouldn't solve anything. Frank straightened himself up and left the house.
"Hey, Gary, long time no see!" Frank walked into the office and greeted a balding Mediterranean man wearing glasses.
"Frank? It's rare to see you here." Gary was surprised to see Frank.
"I missed you. Do you have any good jobs?" Frank pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Did your disability benefits stop?" Gary asked in confusion.
Frank, I'm done with your job..." Gary said to Frank.
Gary's department was responsible for providing job opportunities for people, in short, it was a specialized job agency that promoted employment. However, Gary was not like other agencies, he worked for the government and did not receive commission for job referrals. He earned a fixed salary every month, which was not enough to support his family.
But as they say, where there's a will, there's a way. Even the smallest job can have special ways to earn extra money. Gary had a list of "special jobs" that were dangerous but could result in work-related injuries, such as falling from scaffolding, getting metal shavings in the eyes, being bitten by dogs, or burns. These jobs were specifically prepared for people like Frank, who wanted to play on the edge of the law.
Frank had already received disability benefits with the help of Gary in the past. Of course, Gary didn't help him for free. After the job was done, he would take a cut.
Frank and Gary were old friends, and Frank approached Gary when he needed a job to earn money.
"I don't want the jobs on your 'special list' in the top drawer. I want a legitimate job," Frank said.
"Oh, well, we have many job vacancies here, such as pizza delivery, liquor sales, hourly maid, truck driver, and even sperm donation...oh? Oops, wrong category..." Gary was surprised, but he still introduced several job vacancies.
"I have some special requirements," Frank said.
"What requirements?" Gary nodded, this was the Frank he knew.
"I'm still receiving disability benefits, and I don't want them to stop. You know what I mean," Frank said hesitantly.
"You want to work while still receiving disability benefits?" Gary was shocked.
"Because I need money," Frank said bluntly.
"Well, that's a problem. You can't officially apply for a job and be registered as an employee. Also, you can't be seen working outside, otherwise, the disability association will find out and your benefits will be revoked," Gary said with a frown.
The disability association knew that some people would pretend to be disabled to obtain disability subsidies. To cope with these situations, there were special "hunters" who caught these people who pretended to be disabled and earned money. If there was video or picture evidence that proved that the person was falsely disabled, they would receive an unspecified amount of money as a reward.
"There are only a few job vacancies that meet your requirements," Gary typed on the keyboard.
"I can do this one," Frank leaned over and looked at the computer screen, pointing to one of them.
"Translator? Are you sure you can do it?" Gary was skeptical.
"I should be able to," Frank nodded.
"Then fill out this form," Gary handed Frank a form.
The form contained some basic information such as education, experience in translation work, and the field of translation expertise. After all, there are so many languages in the world, and it depends on what type of language you are good at translating.
Naturally, Frank filled in Chinese and English, which were now both his mother tongues. He had no problem with translation work, which was also his "golden finger."
However, formal translation work had its own threshold, requiring certification in the language and the ability to translate professional content such as corporate and legal documents, etc. The pay for such work was very high.
Frank's job was only part-time and had no threshold, so he could only take on some basic documents.
But for Frank, no matter how much he earned, as long as he could make money, it was good enough. He was an old man in his fifties with no diploma or work experience. What else could he ask for?
"Chinese? You even know Chinese. This is one of the most difficult languages, and the prices for related translations are higher than other languages," Gary said.
"Add this email address later, and they will arrange the translation work for you. It depends on what kind of work you want to take on," Gary handed Frank a piece of paper.
"Thanks," Frank took the note and thanked him.
After leaving the office, Frank didn't go straight home. Instead, he wandered around the streets, picking up plastic bottles and cans from garbage cans to sell as scrap.
It's unlikely that any transmigrator would end up as miserable as Frank, forced to collect garbage for a living.
The situation in the story where you can easily make a lot of money is simply unrealistic. In reality, making money is not that simple. As the saying goes, "money is hard to earn, and shit is hard to swallow."
Frank didn't feel ashamed of collecting garbage. His family was so poor that they couldn't make ends meet. He didn't care about what was shameful or not. Plus, the previous "Frank" often scavenged for food in the garbage cans.
Although Frank found a job as a translator, he probably didn't make as much money as he did collecting garbage. Frank never saw any other old men or women collecting bottles and cans, so there was no competition for him.
In fact, in "Frank's" memories, there were many other ways to make money that didn't require such hard work.
For example, he could use Liam to beg for money. He could stand outside of a supermarket or in a traffic jam with Liam on his back and wipe down car windows to make some money. With a little acting, he could earn a few hundred dollars a day if he was lucky.
You see, his disability pension was less than seven hundred dollars a month.
In addition, he could mix some flour and other powders together to create fake cocaine and sell it. He could scam people that way. Or, if he was desperate, he could go to a gay bar and sell himself.
Yes, "Frank" had done these things before. Although he wasn't gay, he had done everything that gay men do. He had been used all over his body. He didn't dare to remember too much about that.
"Frank" had many ways to make money by cheating and scamming people, but Frank couldn't do that. He could only find his own way to make money.
As Frank collected garbage, he thought about how to improve his relationship with his children and how to make money to support his family.
"Wait, there seems to be some money..." Frank flattened a bottle and threw it into a bag. Suddenly, he remembered something and stopped abruptly.
According to his memory, Frank found a mailbox and took out a pile of letters. Most of them were bills and junk mail.
"Not this one, not this one... Ah! Found it!" Frank pulled out an envelope.
He opened the envelope and found a check inside.
Frank's excitement lasted less than half a minute. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember what the check was for. According to "Frank's" memory, he would come to this mailbox every month to pick up a check.
"This seems to be a welfare allowance, it's... Ginger's pension..." Frank remembered.