In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 10: The Playboy Dad (10)

If a simple warning could make Zhou Yan give up, Qi Sheng could live the rest of his life comfortably without a care. But unfortunately, some people are too stubborn to give up easily.

Qi Sheng rubbed his brow. Although he came to be a father to these children, he wasn’t about to be their saint. He couldn’t always think about teaching them well just because they were children. For now, he would carefully raise the three of them, but if things progressed as they did later, he was fully capable of handling them.

When Qi Wenfeng returned home, Zhou Yan had already called Liu Jing. By this point, she had calmed down. She had her son on her side, and Qi Sheng wouldn’t be able to easily get rid of her. Now, her priority was to make sure her son stood with her.

“Xiao Feng, woo… Your dad doesn’t want us anymore…” Seeing her son come in, Zhou Yan, who had been sitting on the couch thinking, immediately burst into tears. If there was a close-up shot, it would definitely rival those of professional actors.

However, Qi Wenfeng had already absorbed too much information today. When he saw his mother crying, he felt somewhat numb. He helplessly comforted her, holding her while she wept, and sighed, “Mom, can you give me some time? My head hurts so much right now. Don’t worry, even if Dad doesn’t want you anymore, you still have me!” After saying this, he helped her sit on the couch and then went back to his bedroom, locking the door.

He didn’t care about his mother’s crying and shouting outside the room. Right now, he just wanted to be alone and think things over.

Both mother and son spent a very unsettling New Year’s Eve, while the Qi family appeared to be somewhat harmonious on the surface.

The old man had drunk a little more than usual and had become more talkative. However, he still knew to give his son some face in front of his two grandsons, so he didn’t say anything criticizing Qi Sheng, which made Qi Sheng feel a lot more at ease.

Holding the hands of his two grandsons, the old man kept telling them to love and help each other. By the end, Qi Sheng’s ears had grown sore from hearing it, but the two children were well-behaved, sitting there obediently, echoing their grandfather’s words.

However, Qi Sheng didn’t interject; he wasn’t stupid. Speaking up now would just invite criticism, so he continued drinking his wine, subtly replacing the old man’s glass with water. Luckily, the old man wasn’t too drunk. After a while, he let the two grandsons help him to rest.

Qi Sheng stayed downstairs, watching the New Year’s Gala. After spending these past few days at home, he found himself enjoying the show immensely. Bai Ruoqing was still cold towards him. After a while, she got up and went upstairs. Qi Sheng didn’t care; he didn’t plan on becoming a repentant man who would start caring for his wife from now on.

In Bai Ruoqing’s eyes, their marriage was initially a business arrangement. She never liked Qi Sheng, but she did try to make the marriage work. Unfortunately, her efforts didn’t affect Qi Sheng much. Qi Sheng was not someone who would compromise for others. Once they had a son, he felt like he had fulfilled his father’s wishes and continued living as he pleased. Qi Wenfeng was an unexpected outcome of Zhou Yan’s plotting, but he was the only one. However, his existence had directly eliminated any chance of love between the young couple.

Now, Qi Sheng didn’t intend to go around causing trouble. After thinking for a moment, he realized that the kids were growing up, and with him keeping an eye on things, the old man had hired a professional manager for the company. With the old man overseeing things, Qi Sheng didn’t plan to interfere hastily. With nothing urgent on his plate, he felt that life wasn’t too bad.

Qi Sheng was happily thinking about his future, when Qi Wenyu and Qi Wenyan came downstairs. Seeing them, he asked, “Grandpa’s asleep?”

“He’s already asleep, Dad.” Qi Wenyan replied, sitting down next to Qi Sheng and casually pouring him a glass of warm water.

Qi Wenyu silently sat down on Qi Sheng’s right side, not saying a word, fully focused on watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV. His serious and stern demeanor made Qi Sheng laugh. With such a funny skit on, is it really okay for you to be so serious?

The two kids sat on either side of him like door gods. Qi Sheng glanced left and right but didn’t pay attention to them. Such a wonderful Spring Festival program would be wasted if they didn’t focus!

When the clock struck midnight, Qi Sheng started to feel a little tired. He looked at the two kids who were forcing themselves to stay awake, suppressing his smile, and said, “Alright, the New Year’s Eve vigil is over. You two should go upstairs and rest. You need to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Dad, Happy New Year!” Qi Wenyu spoke first.

Qi Sheng smiled broadly. “Happy New Year!”

Qi Wenyan, not wanting to fall behind, also said, “Happy New Year, Dad!”

“Mm, Happy New Year!” Qi Sheng found it funny in his heart. These two little rascals.

The father and two sons went upstairs to wash up and rest. The new year was about to begin, and for the Qi family, it truly marked a fresh start!

During the first few days of the new year, Qi Sheng stayed at home, accompanying the old man to host guests or taking the two kids to visit a few families they were close with.

This year, the old man also specifically went to visit a few prominent families. In previous years, he always took Qi Wenyu along, but this time, he only took Qi Wenyan. It was also a way to introduce Qi Wenyan to these people.

Qi Wenyu was a bit silent, but he didn’t say anything. When there were no guests to entertain, he obediently stayed in his room reading.

However, today Bai Ruoqing took Qi Wenyan to the Bai family, and after breakfast, Qi Wenyu returned to his room. He originally sat on the sofa reading, but his book stayed unopened for a long time. He only snapped out of it when he heard a knock on the door.

“Dad.” Seeing Qi Sheng standing outside, Qi Wenyu was a bit surprised. In the past few days, Qi Sheng rarely went out, and he had turned down invitations from his unruly friends. Qi Wenyu was momentarily stunned, not expecting his dad to be out today as well.

“Let’s go, I’ve booked two movie tickets. Come with me to watch a film.” Qi Sheng was already ready to go out. Even if he was taking his son to the movies, he had to look presentable.

“Ah? Okay!”

The Qi family had a private screening room, but it was more fun to go out and join the lively atmosphere during the New Year. This was Qi Wenyu’s first time going out with his dad to watch a movie. The previous sour feeling had long since disappeared. Wrinkling his nose, he couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, did you spray perfume?”

“Mm, what do you think? Want some?” Qi Sheng looked at his son’s disgusted expression and teased him on purpose.

“No, you can keep it for yourself!” His dad, really, still acting all fancy at his age.

Qi Sheng laughed a couple of times and drove to a nearby cinema.

Although Qi Sheng was a bit reckless in his actions, he did care about his image. Even though he didn’t really work out much, he still managed to keep from gaining weight. Moreover, he had maintained himself well over the years. At 42, he still looked somewhat handsome, which Qi Sheng considered a source of pride among his friends. He was generous and used to attract women to his side!

Father and son arrived at the cinema, and Qi Sheng picked up the tickets. He also bought a bucket of popcorn and a bottle of cola. After all, kids needed to be spoiled!

Qi Sheng picked a comedy that had good reviews. Most of the New Year’s movies were light comedies. He handed the popcorn and cola to his son, led him to their seats, and then left him to settle in.

The film was indeed quite good. Even though Qi Wenyu had a high threshold for humor, he couldn’t help but laugh a few times. As for Qi Sheng, whose humor threshold was lower, he had already laughed several times.

The old man, who stayed at home to rest, was a little surprised when he heard that his son had taken his grandson to watch a movie. But in the end, he chuckled in comfort, “This good-for-nothing finally acts his age.”