In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 123: The Hypocritical Stepfather (2)

Twenty minutes passed quickly. After being released from his punishment, Qi Wenle didn’t immediately pester Qi Sheng to buy him books. Instead, he happily trotted back to the bedroom. Seeing Qi Chenghao lying on the bed, he burst out laughing. Afraid their dad would hear and scold him again, he quickly covered his mouth.

Qi Chenghao glanced at his unlucky younger brother and rolled his eyes before continuing to read his book on the bed. He didn’t want to pay him any attention—but unfortunately, Qi Wenle was in a great mood.

“Hey, are you stupid or what?”

Qi Chenghao shot him a glare but kept flipping through his book, clearly not interested in responding.

But Qi Wenle was full of energy and continued provoking his brother on the bed. “Haha, so embarrassing, got your butt smacked by Dad!”

Qi Chenghao’s face turned red at the remark. He rolled off the bed, looked at Qi Wenle, and shouted toward the door, “Dad, Qi Wenle called me stupid!”

Qi Wenle, who had been so smug just a second ago: ???

He hadn’t expected Qi Chenghao to tattle so quickly and naturally!

Qi Wenle immediately stood up straight and tried to look obedient. When Qi Sheng entered the room, he greeted him with a fawning smile. “Dad, big brother is just joking with you.”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Seeing that Dad didn’t believe him, Qi Wenle quickly gave Qi Chenghao a flattering smile. “Brother, say something quick. You’re just joking with Dad, right?”

Qi Chenghao gave a little snort and turned his head away, ignoring him. So Qi Wenle rushed over to him, continuing to act cute. “Good brother, say something, please!”

Qi Chenghao glanced at his silly little brother desperately trying to win him over. A smile flashed in his eyes, but he held it back and didn’t show it. He turned to Qi Sheng and said, “Dad, I want to buy books too. Can you take me?”

Qi Sheng had already noticed the little spat between them but pretended he hadn’t. Taking advantage of Qi Chenghao’s request, he nodded. “Sure. I’ve got time now—want to go right away?”

Qi Chenghao nodded and said yes. Qi Wenle, relieved the crisis was over, happily echoed his agreement. But as soon as Qi Sheng turned around, he couldn’t help but stick out his tongue and make a face at Qi Chenghao.

Seeing that he still wasn’t behaving, Qi Chenghao called out toward Qi Sheng’s back, “Daaaad—”

“Brother, let’s hurry up and go with Dad!”

Immediately, the cheeky Qi Wenle turned meek again, grabbing Qi Chenghao’s hand and acting cute. When Qi Sheng turned around, he even winked at Qi Chenghao to look more lovable.

Qi Chenghao felt secretly pleased to have tamed his silly brother again. Watching him act all cutesy, he gave a small snort but didn’t shake off his hand.

So Qi Sheng, who had just turned around: ?!

Weren’t they just bickering a moment ago? Now they’re suddenly holding hands like best buddies?

Since he was taking the two kids to buy books, Qi Sheng specially brought a backpack and held one child in each hand as they walked to the bus stop near their home.

It was the early 2000s, and in Su City where they lived, public buses were still the main form of transportation. The bus arrived not long after they got to the stop. Since their home was close to the starting point, there weren’t many people on board yet. As soon as Qi Wenle got on and saw some empty seats, he immediately called Qi Sheng over to sit. Qi Chenghao, however, looked at the hard bus seats, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to sit down.

Qi Sheng looked at the little boy standing next to him, holding onto the back of a seat. Remembering how the kid had just gotten spanked, he smiled and pulled him into an embrace.

Qi Chenghao, now held in his dad’s arms, looked up at him, pursed his lips, then naturally snuggled into his chest.

The three of them arrived at the Xinhua Bookstore in the city center, which already had quite a few people browsing. Qi Sheng led both kids directly to the children’s section.

Qi Chenghao was seven years old this year and in first grade. He had already learned pinyin and recognized quite a few characters, so when he saw the shelves full of all kinds of books, his eyes lit up.

As for Qi Wenle, who had been the one clamoring to come buy books in the first place—he wasn’t even five yet. He was still in kindergarten, spending his days dancing and playing games with the teachers, and barely knew any characters. The only reason he wanted to buy books was out of curiosity about his brother’s things.

But now, looking at the colorful storybooks and picture books, his interest was instantly piqued. He tugged on Qi Sheng’s finger, pointing to the cartoon-covered books laid out on the table and exclaimed, “Daddy, I like this one! And this one! This one looks nice too!” Basically, whatever had a pretty cover, Qi Wenle wanted to take home.

Qi Sheng was more than happy to buy books for his children. Seeing the little guy so excited, he tapped his tiny nose and said, “If we buy these, you have to finish reading them. Otherwise, Daddy won’t buy you any more books in the future.”

Qi Wenle didn’t care about “the future” at all. He immediately nodded eagerly and, seeing how generous his dad was today, started picking out more books with pretty pictures.

Compared to his little brother, who chose books purely based on the pictures, Qi Chenghao was far more discerning. He was carefully selecting from the shelves, looking very serious—which naturally caught Qi Wenle’s attention.

With Qi Sheng nearby, Qi Wenle behaved sweetly and asked, “Brother, what are you going to buy?” He couldn’t read the titles, but he figured if his brother chose something, he wanted it too.

Qi Chenghao was already used to his silly little brother copying everything he did. He picked up a children’s edition of A Brief History of Five Thousand Years and pointed to it. “This one. Do you want to read it?”

Qi Wenle leaned over to take a look but didn’t find the pictures all that appealing. He wasn’t that interested, but he asked a key question: “Do you like it, brother?”

Qi Chenghao did, so he answered honestly. “Yeah, I like it.” Then he turned to Qi Sheng and said, “Dad, can I get this one?”

Qi Sheng glanced at the title and naturally agreed. Then he heard a tiny voice chime in: “Daddy, I want one too!”

Qi Sheng laughed. “Can you even understand it? Your brother’s already getting one—why don’t you just borrow his to read at home?”

The little guy wasn’t having it. “No, Daddy, I want my own copy.”

Qi Sheng teased him, “If you get this one, then you can’t take any others.”

The little one hesitated. He really liked the books with little animals, and this one didn’t have any of those fun pictures. He pouted and pleaded, “Daddy, please buy me one too. You’re the best!”

Qi Sheng shook his head. “Nope. One copy at home is enough. Besides, you wouldn’t understand it anyway.” Seeing the little guy about to cry, he added, “Let me give you a tip: when we get home, ask your brother to read it to you. That way, you get to see the book and understand what it says.”

Qi Wenle puffed out his cheeks. “What if he won’t read it to me?”

Qi Sheng encouraged him, “Be good around your brother. Ask him nicely—he’ll cave.”

Seeing his son still a little unwilling, Qi Sheng kept coaxing him. “Your brother reads so many books; he knows tons of stories. Don’t you want to hear some?”

The moment he heard “stories,” the little guy’s imagination lit up. He eagerly nodded. “Yes, I want to hear stories!”

Qi Sheng asked, “Then don’t you want to get along well with your brother? Only if he likes you will he be willing to tell you stories.”

Qi Wenle blinked his big eyes, glancing between his dad and his brother who was still browsing books. He scratched his little head and asked, “Can’t you or Mommy tell me stories?”

Qi Sheng kept going, “Daddy and Mommy have to work during the day to earn money. At night, we’re too tired to read. But your brother is different—he’s just read the book and knows the story best. He’ll tell it even better than us.”

The little guy found this very reasonable. He turned toward Qi Chenghao, saw him holding a stack of books, and ran over eagerly. “Brother, I’ll help you carry them!”

Qi Chenghao, momentarily baffled by his silly brother’s sudden attentiveness, stared in confusion. Watching the little one trying hard to carry books with his small arms, he hesitated for a moment but didn’t take them back. Hmm… having a little book-carrying assistant wasn’t too bad.

Qi Sheng watched the little one already spring into action. Though inwardly amused, he kept a serious face as he walked over. “Come on, Daddy will help you hold these. Go pick out a few books you like, and let your brother read them to you at home.”

Now feeling light and carefree again, Qi Wenle immediately grinned. He was going to pick lots and lots of books and have his brother read them all to him!

The two kids were having a blast picking out books, and since they were so happy, Qi Sheng didn’t stop them. So when Mi Fei returned from her parents’ house that evening and saw two tall stacks of books on the living room couch, she was quite surprised.

“Why’d you suddenly buy so many books?”

Qi Sheng explained, “I took them to the Xinhua Bookstore today. They got a little excited and picked out a bunch. But don’t worry, I already told them—they have to finish reading them all.”

Mi Fei smiled and didn’t ask further. She glanced at Qi Sheng and headed into the kitchen. She found it a little odd, though—he was usually very frugal. Why was he so generous today?

But since it was for the kids, she just shook her head and didn’t dwell on it.

Qi Sheng saw his wife preparing dinner but didn’t go in to help. The original version of him was a stereotypical macho man who believed cooking was a woman’s job. Even though Mi Fei earned more and had more assets than he did, he could still sit comfortably at home like a lord.

Qi Sheng didn’t want to start acting too differently right away, so he stayed seated on the couch, watching his youngest son play with building blocks, while quietly thinking about his future plans.

In most cases, the root of hidden schemes and nasty conflicts comes down to money—and the original Qi Sheng was a prime example of that.

The original host was a vocational school graduate from the countryside. Thanks to his major, and after spending quite a bit of money pulling strings, he finally managed to land a “decent” job in Su City—as a contract worker at a large state-owned enterprise.

Five years ago, when state-owned enterprises were still highly sought after, even being a contract worker at one was enough to make his parents back home proud.

But everyone has ambitions, regardless of how smooth or twisted the path toward them may be.

He had long envied the benefits of permanent employees—not only was their salary higher and perks more generous, but most importantly, they got assigned housing!

As a contract worker, he naturally hoped to one day become a permanent employee. Unfortunately, he lacked both background and education. In an era when people would do anything to secure a permanent post, he didn’t stand a chance.

With the normal route blocked, he began to consider other possibilities.

Most of his relatives were also from rural areas, unable to help him settle down in Su City. He couldn’t rely on them, but he was desperate to gain a foothold in the city as soon as possible—so, naturally, his mind turned to other schemes.

At first, he thought he could leverage his good looks to woo the daughter of a department leader at his company. But before he could even start, he heard the girl had a bad temper, was spendthrift, and treated her ex-boyfriend like a servant. As someone with a strong patriarchal mindset, he couldn’t tolerate that kind of personality, so he quickly shifted his focus to other potential targets.

Reality was cruel—his options remained few. Women with good backgrounds also wanted to marry men with even better prospects. As a contract worker, his looks were his only asset—nothing else about him stood out.

In the end, there was only one option left: someone rumored to come from a good family, but unfortunately not very attractive.

At that point, he almost gritted his teeth and went back to chasing the first girl. But by then, she was already seeing someone else. He hesitated for a long time and never made a real move—just occasionally strung her along.

After all, this would be someone he’d spend his life with. If he couldn’t even stand looking at her, no amount of housing would make up for that.

That period was incredibly frustrating for him, until one day he overheard a conversation between coworkers in the office.

“You know, Accountant Mi is beautiful, well-educated, and comes from a decent family. Can you believe some guy actually divorced her? What an idiot!”

Someone else whispered, “No kidding. I heard from my partner that her ex-husband was some small-time businessman—pretty rich, apparently. Who knows what rich people are thinking.”

The first person was still confused. “But Accountant Mi’s got great qualifications. How big of a boss do you have to be to think she’s not good enough?”

The second person smirked and nudged their shoulder. “Hey, don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on her?”

Before getting an answer, they started muttering to themselves again: “You’ve got to admit, Accountant Mi’s the whole package. Gorgeous! Always looks gentle too—I bet she’s a sweet, docile wife at home. And get this, she was on the last list for housing assignments. That young and already getting a place? Damn, she’s got a bright future ahead.”

“Right?” They nudged their friend again. “So? Tempted to go after her?”

The other person rolled their eyes. “If she’s that great, why don’t you go after her?”

“I already have someone, okay? But seriously, think about it—if you marry Accountant Mi, you hit the jackpot. A beautiful wife, a house, and a free kid. Everything all in one go!”

That last part made his coworker curse: “Yeah right. Like hell I want someone else’s kid. I still want to marry a pure girl!”

They drifted into gossiping about someone else, but the original host—who had eavesdropped on everything—began to feel tempted.

Back when he had just started the job, he had seen Mi Fei and was struck by how pretty and gentle she was. When he heard she was married, he’d felt disappointed and reluctantly dismissed any thoughts of her—though he still wished he could marry someone like her someday.

Now that Mi Fei was single again, of course he was tempted. But the thought of marrying her and becoming a stepfather gave him pause.

His deeply ingrained patriarchal mindset made him hesitate. In the end, he turned his attention back to the second target. Unfortunately, due to his long indecision, that girl caught on to his true motives.

She had liked him a little, but she realized that he was only interested in her for her conditions—and he couldn’t even make the first move to kiss her. Naturally, she was angry. Good-looking men weren’t exactly rare. She rolled her eyes, gave him the cold shoulder, and walked away.

And so, he turned his sights back to Mi Fei.

As Qi Sheng thought about everything the original host had done before getting together with Mi Fei, he internally rolled his eyes and was just about to get up for a glass of water when he saw his wife bringing out the food.

He quickly got up to take the plates from her. Seeing that she’d turned back into the kitchen, he couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.

People always say “women love bad boys,” but honestly, the reverse is just as true.

Looking at his gentle, dutiful wife, Qi Sheng thought of Mi Fei’s ex-husband and shook his head with scorn.

That man would regret it one day!