In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 141: The Villain Boss’s Prodigal Father (5)

When An’an finished first grade, the first batch of Qi Sheng’s white liquor was already ready to be opened and tasted. This time, there was no need for Qi Sheng to personally promote it at Boss Song’s small shop—Boss Song had already been eagerly waiting for days.

On the first day the liquor was opened, Qi Sheng, Boss Song, and Boss Song’s eldest son, who insisted on coming along, tasted it together. Qi Sheng was fairly composed—he knew the quality of his own craftsmanship and simply smiled modestly. But the other two, less experienced, began exclaiming loudly.

“Qi Sheng, you’re amazing! This liquor’s kick is even better than your dad’s!”

“Brother Qi, you’re incredible! This is the best liquor I’ve ever had!”

…

The two of them bombarded Qi Sheng with praise while helping themselves to more drinks.

Qi Sheng didn’t stop them. Thankfully, Boss Song managed to keep a bit of clarity toward the end and asked, “How many jars are in this batch?”

Qi Sheng held up five fingers slightly spread. Boss Song understood immediately: “Five jars? That’s too little! You’ve got so many more jars back there!”

Altogether, Qi Sheng had brewed twenty jars of white liquor, but he only intended to release five of the one-year-aged batch.

“Boss Song, you know the saying—the older the liquor, the better it gets. Give it another year, and I can give you a few jars of the two-year-aged stuff.” Boss Song knew that made sense, but he still felt it was too little. These jars looked bigger than the ones used for rice wine, but even then, five jars would only yield about 200 bottles at most—not nearly enough to distribute!

But he also couldn’t make decisions for Qi Sheng. As he was mentally calculating how to allocate them, he heard Qi Sheng say, “From now on, I’ll only release two batches of rice wine and glutinous rice wine each month—three jars of rice wine and two of glutinous rice wine per batch.”

Boss Song was still lamenting the small white liquor batch when he heard this drastic reduction in rice wine production. He exploded.

“Qi Sheng, you—you… Not only are you cutting a batch, you’re reducing the amount in each batch too! That’s outrageous!”

“You’re working half a month and resting the other half—isn’t that enough? Why are you slacking off again?”

Qi Sheng gave an awkward laugh but tried to keep a straight face. “Boss Song, that’s not fair. I have to set aside time to help An’an with his studies—I’m pretty busy.”

Boss Song rolled his eyes ungraciously. Who’d believe that excuse? That An’an kid is smart as a whip—he doesn’t need your help. And you only went to school for a few years yourself! What can you teach?

Boss Song knew Qi Sheng was lazy, so he could only sigh and say, “Either cut one batch and keep the usual amount, or keep the batches and reduce the amount a little. Now that An’an’s in school, shouldn’t you be saving more money for him?”

Qi Sheng smiled. “This is more than enough to support the two of us. An’an has no complaints.”

And so Boss Song, still unable to persuade him, felt the words choke in his throat. He looked at Qi Sheng, who was taking laziness to a new level, and secretly thought: This won’t do. I’ll have to rally the neighbors to find this lazy brat a wife. If no one keeps him in check, look how he’s wasting away!

Unaware he had just offended Boss Song, Qi Sheng agreed on the price per bottle of white liquor, watched them haul away the jars, then laid back in his courtyard’s rocking chair with a lollipop in his mouth, sunbathing. When An’an came home from school, this was the scene he found—his father lounging leisurely in the courtyard.

An’an sighed again, dropped his backpack in the bedroom, and started poking a blade of grass near Qi Sheng’s nose. But Qi Sheng, who had known his son was back, wasn’t fooled. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled the mischievous boy into a hug.

“Hahaha! Daddy, you were awake!”

“Didn’t have to be awake to know it was you, kid.”

“Daddy, are we going out for dinner?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

The kitchen at the Qi household was barely used except for boiling water now and then—Qi Sheng was too lazy to cook. He dragged his son to eat out every day. The two ate with ease and comfort, but the neighbors couldn’t bear to watch. This wasn’t how you live a proper life!

Seeing father and son eating out every day, the local residents all silently agreed: Qi Sheng needs a woman to keep him in line!

So, without Qi Sheng realizing it, his lazy image had drawn the scorn of everyone within a three-mile radius.

The villagers began paying attention and looking for a match for him. One morning, just after sending his son off to school and settling down under the grape arbor with a book, he was startled by a knock at the door.

Qi Sheng couldn’t imagine who would come visit at this hour. When he opened the door and saw Aunt Liu from the end of the alley, he was puzzled.

“Aunt Liu, what brings you here?”

Aunt Liu didn’t reply right away. She looked him up and down with increasing satisfaction, then rudely brushed past him into the yard, sat on the stone stool under the jujube tree, and beamed at him. “Qi Sheng, come here—Auntie has some good news for you!”

Qi Sheng frowned. He couldn’t think what “good news” could possibly involve him, but he walked over curiously and sat across from her, confused by her excitement.

Luckily, Aunt Liu wasn’t the type to keep people guessing. She pursed her lips in a smile, raised her eyebrows, and gestured at Qi Sheng. “I’m setting you up with a girl—what do you think?” Then she happily continued, caught up in her own matchmaking enthusiasm. “The girl’s from the nearby street, Old Chen’s daughter. She’s hardworking, pretty, even went to high school, and now she’s a sales clerk at the department store. Not bad, huh? When do you want to meet her?”

Qi Sheng hadn’t expected someone to come and arrange a marriage for him. Since when had he ever planned to get married? His current life was perfect—he was the boss at home, occasionally bullied his soft and cute son, brewed some liquor when bored, and spent his days reading, sipping tea, and listening to music. Life was so comfortable that he had absolutely no intention of finding someone to control him.

So Qi Sheng refused, saying, “Aunt Liu, why are you suddenly trying to set me up? I already promised An’an I wouldn’t find him a stepmother before he becomes an adult.”

Aunt Liu thought he was just embarrassed and tried to persuade him: “Hey now, you can’t say that. An’an is still young. He needs a woman who knows how to care for him. You’re a rough man—you don’t even understand what kids really need!”

Qi Sheng smiled. “I know my son. I can raise him just fine by myself. An’an isn’t a pampered child.”

Aunt Liu laughed. “That’s even better! An’an’s a sensible boy. When your new wife gives you another son, An’an can help take care of him. With a yard this big, it’d be much livelier with a couple more people around.”

But Qi Sheng still shook his head. “Aunt Liu, I really appreciate the kind thought, but I truly don’t plan on finding a partner.” He didn’t mince words and began walking her out, despite how enthusiastic she was.

After seeing her off, Qi Sheng sighed, shut the door, and rubbed his temples. What was with these idle grannies making him their next mission?

What he didn’t know was that this was just the beginning. Over the next few days, he couldn’t get a moment of peace. All sorts of enthusiastic aunties came knocking at his door. Qi Sheng was so spooked he didn’t even dare step outside. He even had food delivered to avoid being ambushed.

An’an was frightened by all the commotion, too. He said, a bit downcast, “Daddy, are you going to marry a new auntie?”

“Nope. Don’t overthink it. Didn’t Daddy promise not to find you a stepmom?”

An’an nodded, but he still didn’t feel much better. Just yesterday, when he went next door to play with little Zhou Zhou, Grandma Wang had tried to convince him to talk his dad into finding a new mom. An’an had been pretty upset. He didn’t want a new mom—life with just him and his dad was great. No one was there to steal his dad away!

“But… everyone says if you don’t find a wife, people will look down on you…”

Qi Sheng looked at his downcast son and got a bit angry. What kind of things were these people saying in front of a child? He picked An’an up and asked, “Do you think people look down on Daddy?”

“Don’t they?” An’an looked up at his dad, confused by the serious look in his eyes. But then he remembered all the people who regularly came to their home to buy his dad’s liquor—and how his dad always refused to sell it by the bottle. Those people seemed desperate to get a taste, and none of them looked like they looked down on his dad.

Realizing this, An’an got mad. “Daddy, they tricked me on purpose?!”

Qi Sheng chuckled. “They were just trying to manipulate you with words. Ignore them. I don’t agree to anything I don’t want to—nobody can force me.”

Once he had comforted his son, Qi Sheng came up with an idea: “You’re going on summer break soon. Want to go to the countryside for a few days with me?”

An’an had gone with him once during winter break, and hearing there was another trip made him excited. After they planned it out, Qi Sheng didn’t even bother preparing the next batch of liquor. He packed up, and on the first day of An’an’s vacation, they quietly left town.

So when Boss Song and all the matchmaking aunties came knocking again, they were met with a tightly locked door. Qi Sheng, that scoundrel—now who knew when they’d get to drink his liquor again!

Qi Sheng couldn’t care less about his neighbors’ complaints. He and An’an were out spending money freely and enjoying their freedom. When they came back from the countryside, there were ten days left before An’an’s school started again, and the kid hadn’t even touched his homework. Qi Sheng used this as another excuse to hole up at home and avoid people.

Maybe it was because his hasty departure last time finally got the message across, or maybe the month-long liquor drought finally made the townsfolk realize Qi Sheng wasn’t someone to mess with—but in any case, once he returned, no one brought up matchmaking to him again.

Qi Sheng quietly celebrated his victory. In the first two days after coming back, he and An’an caught up on sleep. Their laziness was so extreme that they didn’t even feel like going out for meals.

So every mealtime, Boss Li from the small restaurant would prep food in advance and deliver it to their home. Years ahead of his time, Boss Li had basically invented food delivery service—but deep down, he was crying. That rascal Qi Sheng was living way too comfortably. He even needed his food brought to the door!

Frustrated as he was, Boss Li didn’t dare refuse. After all, he’d secretly accepted a bottle of Qi Sheng’s white liquor. Just thinking about the taste of that liquor calmed him down a little… although every time he saw Qi Sheng’s face, he felt himself about to snap.

“Old Li, can’t your menu use some innovation?”

“Innovation? What’s that?”

“Just… come up with some new recipes. An’an and I are tired of eating the same stuff every day.”

Boss Li couldn’t believe Qi Sheng was this shameless. He was already delivering food—now Qi Sheng wanted to place custom orders?! Looking at that grinning face, Boss Li wanted nothing more than to throw the lunchbox at him. He ran a private little restaurant, yet thanks to Qi Sheng, he had to show up more regularly than a factory worker. He even had to ask for time off if he had something to do! And this guy had the nerve to make demands?

Boss Li’s face darkened, but Qi Sheng just slid a bottle of glutinous rice wine across the table. “I heard your wife likes this kind of wine? It’s been aged for a year. Let her try it.”

Boss Li, who had just been about to blow up and walk away, licked his lips as he stared at the wine. He looked at Qi Sheng’s smiling face, then at the tempting bottle on the table… and decided the wine deserved some respect. He forced a smile and said, “I’ll talk to my wife. I’ll bring you something new tomorrow.”

Qi Sheng smiled cheerfully and saw him out, then turned to his son and bragged, “See? Isn’t Daddy amazing?”

An’an, constantly worried his dad was going to get beaten up: “…”

Daddy is the worst!