In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 120: Cuckold Dad (13)

Zhong Jin hadn’t been doing well these past few days. Both of her sons refused to see her, and she herself had no way of contacting Kang Hongxian. The money in the bank card she had secretly taken out was almost gone. After more than ten years of not needing to worry about money, Zhong Jin had now returned to the miserable days before she married Qi Sheng.

She looked at her dwindling balance and began to panic. Staying at a hotel was no longer an option—but if not a hotel, then where could she go?

She began scrolling through her phone contacts and even her WeChat friends list, but after several rounds, she still couldn’t find anyone she completely trusted. In the end, with no other choice, she called Zhang Yu.

“Sister Yu, um, I’m kind of tight on money lately… could you maybe lend me some?”

Zhang Yu, on the other end of the line, had no idea that Zhong Jin was divorced, and was completely shocked. “You? Short on money? Doesn’t Qi Sheng usually give you plenty of spending cash?”

Zhong Jin gave an awkward laugh. “Well… I kind of saw this diamond necklace the other day and… bought it without asking him. I haven’t told him yet. Sister Yu, just lend me a little for now—I’ll pay you back in a few days.”

Zhang Yu was about to ask how much she needed, but then she paused, realizing something didn’t add up. “Zhong Jin, are you hiding something from me again? You’ve bought stuff behind his back before, and I’ve never seen you short on cash. Qi Sheng might scold you, but he’d still give you the money, wouldn’t he?”

Zhong Jin realized she couldn’t keep it hidden anymore. With no one else to turn to, Zhang Yu was the only person she could possibly count on. So she said, “Um, Sister Yu, are you free right now? Let’s meet up.”

Driven by curiosity and a bit of gossip-fueled interest in Zhong Jin’s situation, Zhang Yu leisurely made her way to the café they had agreed on. And then—Zhong Jin completely overturned her worldview.

Across the table, Zhong Jin was still sobbing and complaining: “Sister Yu, can you believe how heartless those two ungrateful brats are? I’m their real mother! I’m practically homeless now and they don’t even care. I should’ve never given birth to them!” In her heart, Zhang Yu snapped: If they hadn’t had a mother like you, maybe their lives wouldn’t be such a mess!

Zhong Jin kept crying: “Wuwuwu… Sister Yu, now I finally understand—men say they love you, but when they turn cold, they’re absolutely ruthless. How could Qi Sheng treat me like this? He didn’t just make me leave with nothing—he even took the boys away and won’t let them listen to me! I finally get it now… men are all garbage!”

Zhang Yu kept mentally roasting her: Men really aren’t great, sure, but Qi Sheng? He’s in a league of his own. If I were him—even with two kids in the mix—I’d still teach you a lesson. Making you leave with nothing is harsh? Please, you’re lucky he didn’t completely ruin you!

“Wuu… Sister Yu, why aren’t you saying anything? Why is my life so miserable?! Wuu…”

Zhang Yu took the opportunity, while Zhong Jin was wiping her tears, to roll her eyes hard. You’ve got the nerve to say your life is miserable?

But when Zhong Jin looked up again, Zhang Yu put on a sympathetic face and said, “Yeah… that’s pretty rough.”

Zhong Jin: “……”

“Sister Yu, what should I do now? That brat Qi Yuancheng won’t even listen to me anymore! I even went to his school to block him, and he acted like I was invisible! Who knows what kind of nonsense Qi Sheng has fed them—now they won’t listen to a word I say. Sister Yu, if he doesn’t return to the Kang family, how am I supposed to survive?”

“How are you supposed to survive? Just survive, I guess.” Seeing Zhong Jin instantly look up at her, Zhang Yu smiled and said, “You’ve got hands and feet, and you’re still pretty. You’re young—why not hurry and find another man to take over?”

Zhong Jin frowned. “Sister Yu, stop joking around. Even if I started looking now, I probably couldn’t find someone with Qi Sheng’s qualifications. And besides, Kang Hongxian’s lost his heir—this is the best time for Xiao Chen to rise up! How can I just stand by and let that opportunity slip away?”

Zhang Yu rolled her eyes inwardly at the first part. So you do know that men like Qi Sheng are hard to find! By the time she heard the second part, she almost got up and left. You had a perfectly fine life, but you just had to chase after a rich family like your eyes were bleeding. Do you really think marrying into a wealthy family is that easy?

Zhang Yu deliberately tried to dampen her spirits: “Kang Hongxian is still in his prime, and Madam Kang takes good care of herself too. If they really needed an heir, having another child now wouldn’t be difficult. Are you so sure the Kang family would accept an illegitimate child as the heir? And besides, Kang Hongxian has two younger brothers and three nephews—can’t they just choose one from them?”

Zhong Jin defended herself: “Choosing between a nephew and your own son—does that even need to be debated? Do you think Kang Hongxian would be willing to hand over the empire he built over so many years to a nephew? And even if they do have another kid now, it’ll take at least twenty years to raise him. By then, Kang Hongxian will be in his seventies. Who knows if he’ll even be able to pass on the family business successfully!”

Zhong Jin’s analysis was sharp and confident. Her eyes grew brighter as she looked at Zhang Yu: “Sister Yu, I just realized—I’ve been focused on using Xiao Chen as a starting point, but I completely forgot about Kang Hongxian. If he wants to bring Xiao Chen back, could Qi Sheng even stop him?!”

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. It felt like a new opportunity had appeared. Her confidence rekindled, her mind was racing with plans. Looking at Zhang Yu, she suddenly smiled a little awkwardly: “Sister Yu, could I stay with you for a while and maybe borrow a bit of money too? Don’t worry—when Xiao Chen inherits the Kang family, I promise I won’t forget everything you did for me!”

Zhang Yu heard her words and snorted inwardly. You forgot all about Qi Sheng, who spoiled you endlessly—and now you’re bad-mouthing him like he was nothing. And I’m supposed to believe you’ll remember me later?

Zhang Yu hesitated: “Let you stay with me? Zhong Jin, you know how my family is—we’ve got three generations living under one roof. Bringing you home out of the blue, how would that even work? As for my other properties, well, you know they’re all rented out. And about the money… not gonna lie, I just invested in a jade ring, so I really don’t have any extra cash right now.”

Zhong Jin, who had just reignited her fighting spirit, instantly darkened when she heard Zhang Yu’s blunt refusal. Her face twisted with anger and disbelief as she stared at her: “Sister Yu, we’ve known each other for over ten years. I come to you now in a tough time, and you just brush me off like this?”

Zhang Yu stopped pretending to be conflicted. She smiled again, this time casually: “What kind of friendship do we really have? I just thought it through—I’m not capable of treating you like Qi Sheng did. And even he couldn’t get a single good word out of you in the end. As someone who doesn’t want to waste her energy, I’d rather not bother.”

Seeing that Zhong Jin still looked shocked, Zhang Yu added with a smile: “But honestly, your idea just now was pretty good. Really! Why don’t you go find Kang Hongxian first? Maybe for the child’s sake, he’ll take you back. Just don’t forget who encouraged you today, alright?”

After saying that, Zhang Yu glanced at her watch and gave a fake smile: “It’s getting late, I’ve seen enough drama for the day. If something exciting happens again, feel free to look me up. Oh, right—today’s coffee is on me. Consider it a tip for the storyteller!”

With that, Zhang Yu swung her purse over her shoulder and walked off, hips swaying. When it came to women who had no grip on reality, she’d rather keep her distance. The mess that was the Kang family wasn’t something a small fry like her could meddle in. She wasn’t about to become cannon fodder before even seeing any benefits.

In the café, Zhong Jin hadn’t expected Zhang Yu to turn her down like this. Her face flushed red from both anger and humiliation. Unable to hold back, she grabbed the coffee on the table and threw it.

She turned to storm off, but was immediately surrounded by the café manager and some waitstaff: “Excuse me, ma’am, but your companion only paid for the coffee—not for the cup you just broke.”

Zhong Jin, already fuming, wanted to make a scene, but seeing the large male staff closing in around her, she had no choice but to pull out her wallet and begrudgingly pay for the broken cup.

At a top-tier hospital in the capital, Xu Ruhuan looked at the video on her phone and sneered. So that’s the woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child?

Men really do think with the wrong head—he’ll sleep with anything!

She smirked and turned to the hospital bed. Looking at the person lying there, she held his hand tightly and said with firm resolve: “Xiao Yi, I won’t let anyone touch what belongs to you.”

Qi Sheng had no idea about the humiliation Zhong Jin had just experienced outside. Still, he could more or less guess what she was facing without any source of income.

He wasn’t actually concerned about Zhong Jin herself, but he did have to think about the two children. After all, she was their biological mother. If things played out like in the original plot and she ended up being manipulated by Xu Ruhuan and sold off to some seedy entertainment venue, it would definitely affect the kids.

So the next day, when Qi Sheng faced the elegant and well-dressed Xu Ruhuan, listening to her snide remarks, he was still debating whether or not to bring up Zhong Jin.

“You’re really okay raising someone else’s child?” Xu Ruhuan asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Even someone with her standards could tell that this man had excellent conditions. She couldn’t understand why a man like him would willingly raise a child who wasn’t even his—especially one born from infidelity.

Qi Sheng replied, “Madam Kang came to see me just to ask this question?”

Xu Ruhuan shook her head, “I’m just curious. With your qualifications, Mr. Qi, it’d be so easy to find another woman and have your own child. Why bother protecting someone else’s kid?”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. “So what brilliant idea does Madam Kang have?”

“I heard that child listens to you. Why don’t we work together? Don’t you want to get revenge on that bitch who smeared your name?”

Qi Sheng replied, “Madam Kang’s so-called cooperation is to use me against Xiao Chen?” He looked at Xu Ruhuan and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I watched Xiao Chen grow up. There’s no way I’d hurt him. And I won’t let anyone else hurt him either!”

Xu Ruhuan frowned. “Qi Sheng, you really surprise me. I know you’re not short of money, but no one ever thinks they have too much. This would benefit you too—why not consider it?”

Qi Sheng didn’t have much affection for Xu Ruhuan. He didn’t care about her ruthlessly taking revenge on Kang Chengzhi and Zhong Jin—that was their personal feud, and he, as an outsider, had no business commenting. But Qi Yuancheng had never shown any intention of returning to the Kang family, yet this woman still tried every trick to suppress and retaliate against him. That deeply displeased Qi Sheng. In the original story, Xiao Chen had gotten into a serious accident because of this woman’s madness. Remembering that made Qi Sheng even less patient with her.

“Miss Xu, let me be clear—no one is allowed to harm my child. As for what you did to Kang Chengzhi, I don’t think the Kang family knows yet. But if someone were to remind them, I don’t think Madam Kang would be able to keep her status for long—you might even face jail time.”

Seeing Xu Ruhuan’s wary expression, Qi Sheng continued, “Of course, as long as Miss Xu doesn’t go around causing trouble, I think most people wouldn’t want to get involved in someone else’s personal vendetta.”

Xu Ruhuan stared at Qi Sheng for a while. At first, she was furious at being threatened, but eventually she couldn’t help laughing. “Mr. Qi, I remember under Huaguo’s laws, defamation can be prosecuted, can’t it?”

Qi Sheng replied, “Yes, defamation can be prosecuted—but inciting someone to inject drugs into another person is a more serious offense.”

Xu Ruhuan’s eyes widened—she hadn’t expected Qi Sheng to know that much. She had indeed had someone inject drugs into Kang Chengzhi little by little, but since he hadn’t shown any odd behavior yet, she thought it was well hidden. That Qi Sheng already knew this much forced her to reevaluate him. “Looks like I underestimated you, Mr. Qi.”

Qi Sheng said, “Shall we now talk properly about my eldest son?”

Xu Ruhuan looked at Qi Sheng warily for a while before finally asking, “What do you want?”

Qi Sheng smiled. “There’s no need to be nervous, Miss Xu. I’m not your enemy. I only said all this to remind you—Xiao Chen has no intention of taking anything from the Kang family. You don’t need to waste your efforts trying to deal with him.”

Xu Ruhuan replied, “He’s still young now. He hasn’t experienced the real world and doesn’t understand the power of wealth and influence. When he grows up, can Mr. Qi guarantee he’ll still feel the same?”

“That, Miss Xu, you can rest assured. I know my son’s character. And if worst comes to worst, I’m still here to guide him. But you, Miss Xu—you still have a son to take care of. You’d best not take things too far.”

Xu Ruhuan looked at Qi Sheng, somewhat bitter. “You really do care about him.”

Qi Sheng just smiled and didn’t answer. The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Xu Ruhuan asked, unwilling to give up, “What if Kang Hongxian himself wants to take him back? Are you sure the boy won’t feel anything toward his so-called biological father?”

Qi Sheng replied, “We’ll know when the time comes. If Xiao Chen really wants the Kang family, then it’ll be up to his own abilities.”

Hearing that, Xu Ruhuan was finally a little relieved. Though her goal today hadn’t been achieved, knowing that Qi Yuancheng wasn’t eyeing the Kang family inheritance eased her mind a bit. Just as she was about to leave, she turned back and looked at Qi Sheng. “And what does Mr. Qi plan to do about your ex-wife?”

“I won’t interfere in your grudge,” Qi Sheng said. “Just don’t drag my son’s reputation into it.”

Xu Ruhuan nodded—she now understood Qi Sheng’s bottom line. She gave him another glance, then turned and left. What he said was true: she still had a son to raise. She needed to plan carefully.

After she left, Qi Sheng didn’t stay either. The kids were waiting at home for him to eat dinner. Looking at their well-behaved little faces—he might even have enough appetite for another bowl!