In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 138: The Villain Boss’s Prodigal Father (2)

An’an couldn’t sit still after playing at Grandma Wang’s house until a little past 4 PM. In his little mind, Daddy’s words never counted for much. The baby brother’s toys had lost their appeal, and he started staring at the front door like a little prince, full of sorrow.

Grandma Wang was sewing clothes for her grandson nearby. Seeing his downcast expression, she felt sorry for him and tried to comfort him.

“An’an, are you hungry? Grandma will get you a steamed bun. Didn’t you say you liked them at lunch?”

An’an shook his head. “Thank you, Grandma. I’m not hungry.”

The old lady sighed in her heart at the sight. She couldn’t bring herself to say, “Your dad will be back soon,” anymore. She had tried that a few times in the past, but that rascal Qi Sheng never kept his word. Saying it only made the little one sadder, so she had stopped.

Luckily, her grandson Zhouzhou came over again to pester An’an, distracting him and lifting his mood a little.

When Qi Sheng returned, he had bought two skewers of candied hawthorn along the way. So when he arrived at Grandma Wang’s to pick up his son, he was greeted with the collective gaze of one adult and two kids.

“What?” Qi Sheng was baffled by their stares. Was something wrong with the hawthorn skewers, or with the peanuts in his hand?

After the initial surprise, An’an cheered and ran to Qi Sheng—then promptly took both skewers from his hand.

Qi Sheng smiled, seeing the little guy share one skewer with his little buddy, and prepared to say goodbye to the old lady. She was pleasantly surprised to see him actually show up on time for once and couldn’t help but remind him, “You should spend less time messing around outside. An’an is such a good kid—you ought to be there for him.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t anymore.”

She’d heard that line many times before and didn’t take it seriously. Qi Sheng saw his son looking at him, walked over, picked him up, and bounced him in his arms. “Let’s go, An’an, Daddy’s taking you home!”

They didn’t go straight home—they stopped at a small restaurant first. Qi Sheng ordered two bowls of noodles and a side of smashed cucumber, acting like a big spender, which made An’an stare in awe.

The portions were similar in size. Worried the little guy wouldn’t finish his, Qi Sheng used his chopsticks to transfer about half to his own bowl.

“Daddy, I can eat it all!” An’an pouted in protest. He didn’t often get to eat noodles.

Qi Sheng laughed when he saw the little guy eyeing his bowl with a pout. He returned a bit of the noodles. “Here, is this enough?”

An’an nodded reluctantly. Fine, he thought. Having a dad who steals your food is really a headache!

Unaware of the new strange image he’d earned in his son’s mind, Qi Sheng tore into his noodles far more aggressively than the boy. The group he’d played with at noon had gone wild—he’d only eaten some peanuts and had to sneak a compressed biscuit during a bathroom break to keep himself going. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he started eating.

Fortunately, the portion was big, and he still had what he’d taken from An’an’s bowl. Only after he was full did he feel like his strength had returned.

He noticed the little guy was starting to slow down and said, “An’an, if you can’t finish, it’s okay. If you like it, I’ll bring you back tomorrow.”

“I can finish!” An’an was indeed full, but he was afraid it might be a long time before he got noodles again, so he kept trying.

Qi Sheng patted his round little belly—it felt like a stuffed toy. He looked at the nearly empty bowl and saw An’an trying to sip the broth.

“Alright, that’s enough. If you like it, we’ll come again tomorrow, but no more for now.”

An’an reluctantly looked at the remaining broth. When Qi Sheng pushed the bowl away, he finally gave up. Qi Sheng chuckled, “Want to go for a walk? Can you still move?”

An’an obediently slid down from his chair, but after just two steps, his belly felt like a water bottle—too full to even sway.

Qi Sheng saw his expression and immediately knew the boy was stuffed. He laughed and lifted him up, carefully holding him to avoid squishing his belly.

“No more eating like that next time.”

An’an said nothing, just smiled sheepishly while covering his belly.

When father and son got home, they saw Xu Huadong waiting outside the door. Qi Sheng greeted him, then opened the door and closed it behind him without a second thought.

Xu Huadong was left dumbfounded outside. He banged on the door a few times until Qi Sheng poked his head out.

“Bro, what’s this about? I’m standing right here and you’re not inviting me in?”

Qi Sheng shook his head. “Not tonight. My son needs to sleep—I’ve got to put him to bed.”

“Who are you trying to fool? It’s still early! Hurry up and let me in!”

“No way. I really don’t have time to entertain you today. Let’s talk another day.” With that, Qi Sheng shut the door and ignored the shouting outside. They were just a bunch of good-for-nothing drinking buddies—best if they went back to wherever they came from!

Back in the main room where they lived, Qi Sheng set his son down on a carved armchair and sat in another. He pulled all the money from his pockets and laid it out on the Eight Immortals table.

An’an had just been slumped in his chair rubbing his belly, but the moment he saw the pile of cash on the table, his expression instantly changed.

He reached out with his little hands to touch one bill, then grab another—his greedy little look made Qi Sheng burst out laughing again.

The little guy didn’t know how to count yet, so Qi Sheng counted it himself. He was very satisfied with the day’s “spoils.” In the morning, he’d been stressing over not having a single cent for tomorrow, and by nightfall, he was decently well off!

In total, after tallying it all up, he had over 180 yuan!

Qi Sheng laughed as he counted, marveling at how those two guys really shelled out today. This kind of “empty-handed, wolf-style hustle” felt great!

Under the watchful eye of his son, he gathered up the money and said with a smile, “When we have more in the future, I’ll give you some. For now, Daddy will keep it.”

“Daddy, you should save some of it.” The little guy often heard Grandma Wang nagging: “If you’ve got money and don’t save it, how are you supposed to live?” So, he stored away another piece of wisdom in his little head—if you have money, save it!

“We’ll save when we have more. Right now, we’re just finally able to eat enough.”

An’an didn’t really understand, but he got one thing: Daddy still didn’t know how to save money. He sighed like a little adult, worried again—Daddy was still the same. When would he finally grow up?

Qi Sheng had no idea what was going through his son’s head. He looked at the small, skinny boy across from him—there was no sign of the future villainous boss in sight. But those bright black eyes of his were incredibly spirited. Qi Sheng sighed to himself: yep, his son had that aura!

Filtering everything through rose-colored glasses, Qi Sheng slumped into the armchair, lost in thought. Father and son, one big and one small, sat in matching positions. Qi Sheng occasionally glanced at the kid and made a decision: his life’s mission now was to raise the kid right. As for striving or working hard? Forget it.

A future villainous boss probably wouldn’t need him to worry about intelligence or ability. As long as the boy grew up healthy, when he got married and had kids, even without doing much, this big old house alone would make him worth millions.

Qi Sheng silently thanked the ancestors of the Qi family. The older generation plants the tree, the younger enjoys the shade. He decided his life was mainly about enjoying the shade. Whether or not his son wanted to enjoy it would be up to him.

Still, just because he didn’t have to fight for success didn’t mean he could survive without money. That 180 yuan might feed them for a few months, but they couldn’t live on water alone. And the little guy still needed to go to school. No matter how he did the math, they still needed income.

So, Qi Sheng stopped lounging around. He found the family’s one old flashlight and decided to search the house for anything that could make money without too much effort.

When An’an saw him heading out, he immediately followed, clutching Qi Sheng’s clothes. “Daddy, where are you going?”

“I’m just checking around the courtyard to see if there’s anything that can support the two of us.”

“I want to go too.” He was afraid if Daddy got money again, he’d go drinking, so he decided to tag along and keep him in check.

Qi Sheng could see right through him but didn’t say anything. He walked out of the room and started looking around with the flashlight.

He didn’t search the other rooms right away because, during those ten years, the courtyard had been full of his old teammates—members of some vague group. Fortunately, the original Qi Sheng, though slippery and lazy, still had a bit of conscience. At least when that group caused trouble in the alley, he would speak up for the neighbors. Sure, he would take advantage of people afterward, but at least he helped a bit. So the neighbors didn’t hate him too much. Otherwise, Qi Sheng might’ve had to leave town for a few years first.

Those other rooms probably only had old furniture, and Qi Sheng wasn’t willing to sell any of that. He could only hope to find something valuable tucked in the corners of the courtyard—or in the family’s underground cellar.

There were a few big clay jars in the yard. Qi Sheng went to check them one by one, only to find some had mold growing inside. He quickly replaced the lids.

“Daddy, what are you looking for?” The little guy was doing a perfect job of being a clingy tail. Everywhere Qi Sheng looked, he had to peek too. Only when Qi Sheng was done would he help close the lid.

Qi Sheng sighed. “Why does our house have nothing?”

Hearing that, the little guy copied him with a sigh, frowning like a little adult as he stared at the rows of jars by the wall.

Qi Sheng was amused by his exaggerated expression. He reached out to ruffle his son’s soft hair. “Come on, let’s go check out the cellar.”

The cellar was beneath a shed in the backyard, covered with a pile of firewood. Qi Sheng spent quite some effort clearing it all away. There was a padlock on the cellar’s iron door. Qi Sheng tried every key on the bunch hanging from his waistband until he finally found the one that fit. However, it seemed the cellar hadn’t been opened in years—the key no longer worked.

In the end, Qi Sheng had to use an axe to break it open. After expending a tremendous amount of energy, he finally forced the door open—only to be hit by a wave of damp, musty air so foul it nearly made him gag.

He quickly pulled his son back and said, “Come on, An’an, we’re not going down tonight. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

The little guy obediently followed. Since Dad turned back toward the house, he didn’t ask what was in the cellar, simply trailing behind step for step.

There wasn’t much entertainment these days. After boiling some water for the two of them to wash up, Qi Sheng, bored out of his mind, could only cuddle the little guy and go to bed.

Kids sleep early, and An’an dozed off soon after lying down. Qi Sheng watched his son sleeping soundly and had worried he might have trouble falling asleep tonight—but that thought didn’t last long. The next time he opened his eyes, daylight was already streaming in.

It was May—not too hot or cold—so Qi Sheng washed his face and brushed his teeth with cold water, planning to go buy some breakfast.

When he returned with breakfast, he found his son squatting on the doorstep of the main room, looking quite downcast. As soon as he saw Qi Sheng, his face lit up with a bright smile.

“Daddy, I thought you went out and left me again.” The little guy was aggrieved—he’d woken up and didn’t see anyone around, thinking he’d been abandoned once more.

Qi Sheng couldn’t bear that expression. He picked him up with his free hand and comforted him, “From now on, whenever Daddy goes out, I’ll take you with me. And if you’re still asleep, I’ll carry you.”

That one line immediately made the little guy laugh. After they finished breakfast, Qi Sheng let his son play on his own and grabbed the flashlight, planning to check out the cellar.

After a night of airing out, the cellar no longer smelled as bad, though Qi Sheng still covered his nose with a handkerchief.

There were quite a few items in the cellar. Right near the entrance were the tools An’an’s grandfather had used for brewing alcohol. Qi Sheng did a rough inspection and began carrying them out one by one—not sure if they still worked.

Besides the brewing tools, there were also many large jars. Qi Sheng opened them curiously. Some were empty, while others seemed to contain liquor.

The cellar was too dim, so he hung the flashlight up and continued carrying items out. An’an, bored of playing by himself, had already run over and was crouched at the cellar entrance, watching him.

As Qi Sheng brought things up, An’an busily opened the jars one by one to peek inside, clearly enjoying himself. It took Qi Sheng the entire morning to move everything out.

Completely exhausted, he gave himself a quick wash and changed clothes, deciding to take his son out for lunch. After eating, he didn’t immediately inspect the pile of items. From his earlier look, the only things that might be worth money were the jars of liquor his father had hidden away. So, after lunch, he took another nap with his son.

They woke up around two in the afternoon. Qi Sheng finally went to the backyard for a more detailed inspection. He stacked all the empty jars together, planning to wash them thoroughly when he had time. Seeing the brewing tools had already sparked an idea—he’d start brewing and selling liquor when he had spare time. He was confident in his skills; making a bit of liquor now and then was neither tiring nor boring, and it could even support the two of them!

Qi Sheng carefully examined all the brewing equipment. Most were old tools passed down in the family—some even from An’an’s great-grandfather. Usable items were set aside, while unusable ones weren’t discarded either—they might fetch a price as antiques.

Then there were several jars of aged liquor. Qi Sheng opened each one and was instantly refreshed by the rich aroma. Mm, these jars were definitely being saved for his own enjoyment!

A few other jars felt unusually heavy. Qi Sheng opened them one by one and found… dirt? He was momentarily puzzled but decided to tip them all over to clean them out. That’s when he made an unexpected discovery.

Like a treasure hunter, Qi Sheng pulled out a red wooden box hidden inside one of the jars. His heart fluttered with excitement—could this be something valuable?

He checked the other jars and found another wooden box. Qi Sheng was overjoyed. Even after witnessing many big scenes in his life, the thrill of finding treasure never got old.

Ignoring everything else, he brought the boxes back inside with his son. He used an old towel to carefully clean them off, washed his hands, and finally opened one with great care.

Inside was a scroll painting.

Qi Sheng gingerly unrolled it and grew more excited the more he looked—this was clearly an authentic antique painting!

He quickly opened the second box and found another treasure!

Qi Sheng couldn’t help but laugh aloud. An’an, not understanding what was going on, tilted his head in confusion.

“Daddy, why are you laughing?”

Qi Sheng picked him up and gave him a big kiss. Watching his son blush with embarrassment, he didn’t reply, but thought to himself:

Son, your future net worth just went up by another few hundred million. How could Daddy not be thrilled?