In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 125: The Hypocritical Stepfather (4)

When Qi Sheng returned from the south, it had already been over a month. That day happened to be a weekend, and both children were at home. Seeing him come back carrying several large bags, the two immediately ran up excitedly.

Qi Wenle instantly turned into a little loudspeaker, shouting “Daddy! Daddy!” nonstop. Even Qi Chenghao was tailing closely behind Qi Sheng, handing him a glass of water one moment and asking if he was hungry the next.

Enjoying the grand welcome, Qi Sheng put down his things, stretched a little, and then asked them, “Where’s Mom? Were you good at home? Did you make Mom angry?”

Qi Chenghao replied, “Mom went grocery shopping. She just left. Dad, we’ve been very well-behaved at home.”

Qi Sheng smiled and ruffled his hair. Seeing that his younger son seemed to have something to say, he chuckled and asked, “Lele, what do you want to say?”

Hearing his name, Qi Wenle could finally say what he had been holding back. He began bragging about their recent “heroic deeds.”

“Daddy, Daddy! My brother and I were so good at home. We even helped Mom wash vegetables!”

“Mom praised us and said when you came back, you should praise us too!” He blinked his big eyes, waiting expectantly for Qi Sheng’s praise.

Qi Sheng was charmed by his serious little face begging for praise. He smiled and played along, “Our Chenghao and Lele are so well-behaved, really Daddy’s good sons. Here, I brought you gifts as a reward, okay?”

As soon as he heard “gifts,” Qi Wenle, who was previously just seeking praise, immediately switched focus. He looked at the two big bags on the floor, and his eyes lit up — so many?! Qi Chenghao’s eyes also lit up. The way the two brothers simultaneously stared at the bags made Qi Sheng laugh again.

He pulled his elder son over to sit on the couch and gestured for them to open the bags.

“Go see what’s inside.”

The two little ones got excited right away. Each opened one woven bag and found smaller packages inside. Like a treasure hunt, they peeked at what was in each other’s bag, then very in sync, each picked the biggest package and opened it.

Qi Chenghao opened a bag containing clothes. At first, he looked a bit disappointed, but after pulling everything out, he realized these were quite different from what he usually wore.

He first unfolded the one that fit him — a red, mid-length down jacket with his favorite Transformers character printed on the back. Qi Chenghao turned it over and saw a patch on the left sleeve with another Transformer — he couldn’t help but try it on immediately. As soon as he put it on, it caught the little one’s attention.

The little guy was already thrilled by the toys, but when he saw his brother putting on a new jacket, he quickly ran over and wanted to try it on too.

Qi Sheng had bought them matching jackets — mainly red with black accents. Once the two boys put them on, they looked both lively and adorable.

One big, one small stood in front of the mirror. Qi Wenle beamed when he saw their jackets were the same. He swayed left and right, then suddenly hugged his brother beside him. The fluffy jackets squished together, making him burst into laughter.

“Brother, look! Our jackets match!”

Qi Chenghao gave his silly brother a slightly annoyed look and said, “Stand still. You’re blocking the mirror.”

Qi Wenle kept giggling and refused to stand up straight. Seeing this, Qi Chenghao couldn’t resist and tried to tickle him, but the thick jacket made Lele immune to it.

“Haha, Brother, that doesn’t work—la!”

Before he could finish, his cheeks were squished by his brother’s hands, making him pout and talk funny.

Qi Chenghao discovered a new way to play with his brother, and getting interested, continued pinching his cheeks.

The two of them could start play-fighting at any time, and Qi Sheng just stood by smiling, not interfering.

At that time, logistics weren’t as developed as they are today. Compared to Su City, fashion in the south was already leading the trends, so once the boys tried on the jackets, they didn’t want to take them off.

Qi Sheng saw how much they liked the jackets and felt happy too. He reminded them, “Take them off and hang them outside to air out. It’ll be cold in a few days, and then you can wear them.”

The boys obediently took off the jackets. It wasn’t cold yet, and they were indoors, so wearing down jackets made them feel hot quickly. After putting the jackets away, their attention quickly shifted to the toys in the other bag.

Qi Sheng had bought two Transformers and two four-wheel drive racing cars. The boys had been obsessed with the anime Let’s & Go!! recently, and when they saw the toy cars that looked just like the ones from the show, they immediately cheered.

They didn’t even bother opening the rest of the packages — they just grabbed the cars, popped in batteries, and started playing. By the time Mi Fei came home with groceries, she could hear the boys’ cheers from outside the door.

Her first thought was: Qi Sheng is back. Sure enough, when she opened the door, he was sitting on the couch.

Seeing her, Qi Sheng walked over and took the groceries from her hands. Noticing there was a live fish in the bag, he quickly said, “I’ll clean the fish for you. You go check out the gift I bought you.”

Mi Fei smiled and agreed. After washing her hands, she first picked up the down jackets on the couch for a closer look. She loved the boys’ jackets at first glance. Then she noticed there were also two other down jackets — one black, one white — and curiously opened them up.

The white one was clearly for her. She tried it on and found it not only warm but also very stylish.

Mi Fei was a little delighted. Qi Sheng rarely bought her clothes — he hadn’t cared much about clothing before. Could it be that now, with plans to get into the clothing business, he’d suddenly started paying attention?

She took the jacket off and laid it on the couch. Like the kids who were just excited a moment ago, she also wanted to know what was inside the two big woven bags.

So she began opening each package one by one and soon discovered that the man who rarely bought her clothes was now apparently trying to make up for all of it at once.

Wool coats, trench coats, sweaters, knitted dresses, high heels…

In addition to her clothes, there were of course clothes for the two children. But at that moment, Mi Fei was completely captivated by the stylish new outfits and instantly forgot about her sons. She immediately started trying on the clothes Qi Sheng had bought for her.

So, by the time Qi Sheng finished dealing with the meat, he saw his wife already looking a few degrees more beautiful, dressed up in the clothes he’d picked out.

Qi Sheng walked over and wrapped his arms around her, looking into the mirror with her and saying, “Didn’t I say these clothes would look even better on my wife than on a model?”

Mi Fei felt both happy and a little shy hearing his praise. With the man holding her and the reflection in the mirror fixated on her, her cheeks flushed even deeper. Combined with her pretty new outfit, her beauty was elevated even more.

Mi Fei wasn’t quite used to this kind of atmosphere. To escape the awkwardness, she deliberately changed the subject, “What happened to you on this trip? Your mouth suddenly got so sweet!”

Qi Sheng laughed, “I’m just telling the truth!”

The two of them stood there chuckling in front of the mirror when Qi Wenle, who had been playing with his toy car, suddenly ran over. Tilting his head and standing in front of them, he asked curiously, “Mommy, Daddy, what are you doing?” Why were they acting like kids too, always hugging?

Mi Fei blushed even more at her little son’s innocent curiosity. She quickly broke free from Qi Sheng’s arms, pretending to tidy up the clothes and avoiding eye contact.

Qi Sheng saw his wife get flustered by just one question from their son and couldn’t help but pinch the little guy’s nose: “You little lightbulb!”

The little one didn’t understand what being called a “lightbulb” meant. He shouted, “Daddy, I’m not a little lightbulb, I’m Lele!”

Qi Sheng tapped him on the forehead: “Go play with your brother. Once you’re done, come back and keep opening your gifts.”

The little one had been distracted from his excitement over the toy car by his parents’ hug, but hearing there were still more gifts brought his attention right back to the large woven bags.

“Brother, come on! We still have more presents to open!”

The brothers dove into another round of unwrapping. Eventually, they found two cool electronic watches among the new clothes.

Instant joy returned to their faces. They quickly put them on and didn’t want to take them off. Qi Wenle proudly ran up to Mi Fei to show off, “Mommy, look! Is it pretty?”

Mi Fei praised her younger son and his new watch. But to her surprise, she then heard Qi Sheng say, “Don’t be jealous of the boys. You have one too.”

Still stunned, she looked down to find a silver ladies’ quartz watch being slipped onto her wrist.

“I noticed your old one was falling apart, and I thought this one looked pretty nice. Do you like it?”

Mi Fei smiled and nodded. Taking a closer look at the material, she could immediately tell it was much better than her old one. Of course she was happy to receive a gift. But looking at all the things sprawled out across the floor, she couldn’t help but worry about the cost. Still, not wanting to kill the mood, she quietly put everything away and headed into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

That night, when they were lying in bed, Mi Fei finally voiced the concern she had been holding back all day. “Didn’t you say you wanted to start a business? This is the time when we should be saving money. Why did you suddenly buy so much stuff?”

“It’s not that much,” Qi Sheng replied. “You and the kids didn’t have any new clothes for this year yet. The clothes over there are cheaper, better quality, and more stylish. So I bought everything in one go. Honestly, I think we even saved money.”

Seeing that she still wasn’t convinced, Qi Sheng smiled and said, “The reason I want to start a business is to give our family a better life. I can’t cut back on your quality of life before the business even starts. Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Hearing that, Mi Fei didn’t press the issue further. She thought to herself that he had always been frugal before. Maybe this time he just found things too affordable to pass up. And since it was rare for him to buy her gifts and the family wasn’t too tight on money, she decided to let it go.

“So how did the research trip go this past month? Are you still planning to go into the clothing business?”

Qi Sheng hummed affirmatively and started sharing his plans for the next six months: “I took a good look while I was there. I think our country’s market still has a lot of potential. Just look at the clothes I brought back. They’ve already been trendy in the south for a while, but we’re still wearing last year’s or even the year before’s styles up here. I’m planning to open a clothing store here first. I’ve already secured supply channels. And with the New Year around the corner, we might even make a good profit during the holiday rush.”

He hadn’t gone to the south just to study the market. He also visited several well-established garment factories and confirmed his supply sources.

Qi Sheng had thought it through. Since switching to an entirely unfamiliar field like fashion retail would raise eyebrows without a transition period, he planned to run a store for six months to a year first. That way, he could save up capital while also gaining experience in the industry, preparing to one day launch his own brand and open a factory.

Mi Fei hadn’t expected him to be so decisive. Feeling a bit worried, she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really sure about this? What if the clothes don’t sell?”

Qi Sheng smiled, “It’s fine. I already discussed it with the factory manager. If things don’t sell, I can return the goods at the original price. I’d just need to cover the shipping cost. So even in the worst-case scenario, the only losses would be rent and shipping.”

Before settling on a supplier, Qi Sheng had made sure to speak thoroughly with several factory managers. He finally chose one who impressed him most—a bold, sharp-eyed individual with a keen sense for fashion trends.

With his knowledge beyond this era, Qi Sheng had a natural edge in both vision and business management. He had subtly shared some of his ideas with Manager Xie, who quickly saw him in a new light.

In the last few days of Qi Sheng’s visit, the two had numerous discussions. Although Manager Xie still thought some of his ideas sounded like an outsider’s, they often left him feeling enlightened. After a few such conversations, Xie felt he had grown immensely and wanted to maintain long-term contact with Qi Sheng. Upon learning he planned to open a store in Su City, Xie immediately offered to support him however he could.

With the supply side secure, Qi Sheng added, “Besides, it’s not like nothing will sell. What do you think of the clothes I brought back?”

Mi Fei thought of the outfits she had just tried on and couldn’t help but praise them: “They look great!”

That made her feel more at ease. Even someone like her, who wasn’t usually into fashion, genuinely liked the pieces. So the trendier women were definitely going to be thrilled.

Seeing her worries fade, Qi Sheng smiled again. “From now on, I’ll take care of your wardrobe and the kids’. I’ll make sure my wife looks gorgeous, and Haohao and Lele will be the coolest kids on the block!”