In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 174: The Cool Dad in the Apocalypse (4)

Qi Sheng thought about it for a moment and understood the old lady’s concerns, so he sincerely expressed his stance to her.

“Mom, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my relationship with Lei Lei. I was foolish before and wronged him. Now I’ve figured it out—Lei Lei is my son, and I’ll treat him well from now on. Whatever kind of fatherly love Hanghang gets, Lei Lei will get just as much—if not more!”

He spoke sincerely, but the old lady still looked skeptical. “Are you serious? You don’t hate Yang Ning anymore? Don’t try to fool me with nice words. Lei Lei’s not a three-year-old kid—you think you can patch things up just by saying a few sweet things?”

She looked at Qi Sheng, who had just finished washing the dishes, and walked out of the kitchen with him as she continued, “Don’t play games with me. Forget about fatherly love for now—think about whether you can give Lei Lei the same material things you give Hanghang. All the snacks, toys, clothes, and training costs—can you provide the same for Lei Lei?”

The old lady’s words hit the nail on the head. Fortunately, Qi Sheng wasn’t the original version of himself—he could take the heat.

“Of course I can. They’re both my sons. How could I shortchange him?”

Upon hearing this, the old lady rolled her eyes and bluntly said, “Fine, I believe you. Then give me all the money you owe Lei Lei over the years.”

Qi Sheng: …

Sigh, his parents were really seasoned pros. They saw through everything.

Qi Sheng replied, “Mom, I’m building the house now. I don’t have that much money on hand at the moment. But don’t worry—once things ease up, I’ll definitely make up everything I owe Lei Lei.” The old lady didn’t show much trust in his words, but that night before bed, she still repeated what Qi Sheng had said to the old man.

“Sigh, has he finally come to his senses? Back when he brought Lei Lei’s mom home, we warned him—she wasn’t the kind of woman who could settle down. But he wouldn’t listen, just liked her for her looks, and insisted on marrying her. In the end, she betrayed him, and he took it all out on Lei Lei…”

The old couple recalled the past, and couldn’t help but sigh at all the hardship Qi Lei had endured over the years.

The old lady huffed, “Whatever he says, until he meets my standards—no, until Lei Lei truly forgives him—I won’t let him take Lei Lei back!”

The old man agreed. “You’re right. Tian Yue is a good woman, but if the child’s own father doesn’t love him, we can’t expect others to. Lei Lei’s doing fine now. He doesn’t need that fake love.”

The old couple shared a clear dissatisfaction with their son. As for Qi Lei, he didn’t think much of Qi Sheng’s unusual behavior that day. He figured the guy was just putting on a show for Grandpa and Grandma.

The next day, when the village kids heard that Qi Lei was back, several came to play. A few of them gathered in his room to play games, while Qi Sheng stayed inside, continuing to refine the details of the house construction.

Before leaving in the afternoon, Qi Sheng went to Qi Dajun’s house again to go over some new details that had just occurred to him. Only after that did he take Qi Lei with him to leave.

On the road, Qi Sheng glanced at the kid, who had already put on a sleep mask and clearly intended to nap the whole way.

“Lei Lei, take off your sleep mask for a minute—let’s talk,” he said.

Qi Lei didn’t refuse. He removed the mask but kept looking straight ahead, not initiating any conversation.

“I told your grandma yesterday that I was wrong before—I wronged you.” Seeing no reaction, he continued, “Dad’s reflected a lot lately. What happened in the past was my fault, and I’ll do my best to make it up to you. From now on, I’ll treat you well.”

Qi Lei didn’t respond much. Only when he noticed Qi Sheng was waiting for a reply did he respond, very perfunctorily, “Oh. Got it.”

His expression was calm, clearly not taking Qi Sheng’s words to heart.

Qi Sheng wasn’t in a hurry. This was just the beginning—they’d have plenty of time together in the future.

At the school gate, Qi Sheng handed him some pocket money via mobile transfer.

“Study well. It’s hot now—don’t overindulge in cold drinks. If you need money, come to me. I’ll come pick you up next weekend, and we’ll go back to Grandpa’s place together.”

Qi Lei just gave a brief “Mm” and walked straight into school without another word.

When Qi Sheng got home, it was nearly 7 p.m. Tian Yue had just finished cooking. Seeing him return, she couldn’t help but ask, “So the house construction—is it confirmed?”

“It’s confirmed. I’ve already found the people for the job.”

“So soon!”

“Yeah, the weather’s been strange lately. The sooner we get the house done, the sooner we can stop worrying. Plus, it’ll save me a couple of extra trips,” Qi Sheng said.

Hearing this, Tian Yue felt it made sense, so she asked, “Did the construction crew give you an estimate? Roughly how much will it cost?”

“A little over 200,000 yuan.”

“Over 200,000? Are we talking about a major renovation or a complete rebuild?”

Tian Yue thought that sounded a bit high. After all, they only had a little over 200,000 in savings. Using all of it at once made her feel uneasy.

Based on Qi Sheng’s requirements, the total cost would definitely be more than 200,000, but telling Tian Yue the full amount would only stress her out. The house project was something that had to be done, and he didn’t want any unnecessary complications, so he kept a lot of the details to himself.

“Let’s call it a rebuild. Don’t worry—money’s meant to be spent. Once the house is done, I’ll take on extra tutoring sessions on the weekends to make up for it.”

They weren’t in a first-tier city, and school supervision wasn’t that strict. While there were rules banning teachers from tutoring outside of school, many still secretly held private lessons.

The school leadership turned a blind eye to it, and Qi Sheng wasn’t worried about getting caught. Besides, before long, society would be in chaos—no one would care about small stuff like this.

Of course, tutoring alone wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of a new house. It was just a surface-level excuse to keep his family reassured. If he wanted to make real money quickly, he’d have to do it discreetly.

Thinking about the house again, Qi Sheng glanced at his wife, who was serving the food, and said, “Hey, is your brother still planning to buy a house in the city soon? Tell him to hold off. One of my buddies in real estate said housing prices are going to drop in a couple of years.”

Tian Yue brought the dishes to the table and rolled her eyes when she heard that. “You believe that? They said prices would drop 20 years ago, and people who believed that are still regretting it. Even the experts have changed their tune—it’s best to buy early!”

“That was back then. My buddy knows the inside scoop from the industry. Trust me, in less than a year, prices will fall. Besides, Mingwei just started college. No one knows where he’ll be after graduation—why rush to buy a place now? If you ask me, it’d make more sense to use part of that money to fix up the old house back home.”

Tian Yue chuckled. “Who’s going to live in the old house if it gets fixed up? Our parents are used to living in the city now. As for the new place, let’s leave it to luck—my brother might not even get picked in the housing lottery this half-year.”

Qi Sheng silently disagreed. His brother-in-law hadn’t had much luck before, missing out on a lot of developments he liked. But right before the apocalypse began to show signs, the guy somehow “got lucky” and managed to win the lottery.

And, as if that weren’t enough, they went and paid the full price in one go, completely locking themselves in.

In the apocalypse, prices shifted dramatically. Food, vegetables, and fruit—once considered basic commodities—suddenly became precious and highly sought-after. Meanwhile, flashy, non-essential things became dirt cheap. Luxury brands, in particular, took the hardest hit.

Looking at his not-so-concerned wife, Qi Sheng made up his mind to have a serious talk with his brother-in-law in a few days. Better to hold on to the money now. Once everyone starts heading back to their hometowns to rebuild, they’d at least have some funds to work with.

At this point, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but reflect on how vast and resource-rich China was. Despite how glamorous many city dwellers looked, if you traced back a generation or two, most came from rural roots and still had land back home. Even those who didn’t were still within a controllable range thanks to national policies.

Unlike a certain neighboring country, which had a huge population and pathetically small land area—it was practically helpless in the face of natural disasters.

Qi Sheng couldn’t worry about such far-off problems. That night, he sat alone in the study, quietly making money online. Sure, the world would change, and money would become less valuable, but for now, it gave him time to prepare.

During this period, Qi Sheng also stayed in frequent contact with Qi Dajun via WeChat to discuss the construction project. Every weekend, he’d take Qi Lei back to the village for a couple of days. The new house was coming along quickly. Even though the crew usually worked only in the mornings or evenings, the progress was encouraging.

The only regret was that these repeated trips back home hadn’t helped improve his relationship with Qi Lei at all.

Qi Sheng knew the child had been deeply hurt by his past self, so this was expected.

In late October, as people were still complaining about the strangely hot weather, old doomsday theories began to resurface.

Most people didn’t take it seriously, but the stockpiling-loving Chinese began hauling bags of food, daily necessities, and meat back home by the sack.

Qi Sheng used most of the money he had earned during this time—after setting aside funds for the house—to stockpile a large amount of supplies.

At first, the old man complained that he was wasting money. But when others in the village also started stockpiling, it began to seem normal.

During this time, Qi Sheng also quietly spread the possibility of an upcoming apocalypse online, encouraging others to return to their hometowns and tidy up—just in case they needed a fallback refuge.

When November arrived and people were still discussing the strange, blazing sunshine, everyone who had been clinging to their air conditioners in their sleep was suddenly jolted awake by the cold.

“Holy crap! This is killing me!”

“This damn weather!”

“Could the apocalypse really be happening?”

…

Even though it was the middle of the night, a sudden blast of cold air swept across every corner of the world. At the same time, people everywhere looked up at the bizarre sky and cried out in dismay.

Many people, after a few exclamations, shivered as they turned up the air conditioning, took off the summer bamboo mats and thin blankets, and replaced them with winter fleece, thick mattresses, and heavy quilts.

At school, Qi Lei watched as his dorm mates got up shivering, and he followed suit, climbing down to grab his thick quilt.

“Damn, this weather is insane. It got cold all of a sudden. What am I even going to wear tomorrow?!”

Qi Lei paused while taking his quilt, staring at the winter clothes he had just hung in the wardrobe. He was momentarily dazed, remembering how insistent Qi Sheng had been about him bringing them.

After everyone finished redoing their bedding, they crawled under their covers, shivering as they stared at the temperature display on the air conditioner with despair on their faces.

“Is this air conditioner broken or something? Why does it only blow cold air? Not a bit of warmth!”

A student farther from the unit rolled his eyes. “You think yours isn’t warm? Mine feels like a freezer! Why the hell did we set the AC so low before bed?!”

“Dude, you were the one who wanted it that low!”

Too cold to sleep, the two kept bickering back and forth. When they noticed Qi Lei staying quiet, Wang Feng, who’d been the loudest just now, asked curiously, “Brother Lei, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen asleep?”

“No.”

“Then why are you so quiet?”

“I don’t want to hang out with a bunch of kindergarteners.”

“What did you say?!”

The other three all howled in protest at that. After a bit of noisy teasing, Wang Feng suddenly remembered tomorrow’s weather and wailed in despair.

“Ugh, my wardrobe’s full of summer clothes. How am I supposed to survive tomorrow?!”

“Same here!”

“Brother Lei, save us!”

Just a few days ago, they’d seen Qi Lei dragging a giant suitcase back and, upon discovering it was full of winter clothes, had mercilessly mocked his “lack of intelligence.” Now, only a few days later, they were regretting it hard.

Qi Lei responded coldly, “Hmph.”

Cue another round of wailing. Luckily, with all the boarding students on campus howling in distress, their dorm didn’t stand out too much.

“Brother Lei, please forgive us!”

“Brother Lei, love us again!”

“Brother Lei, give us one more chance!”

…

The three roommates acted all dramatic and over-the-top, giving Qi Lei, who had just been deep in thought, a headache.

“Shut up, all of you! Go to sleep!”

The next day, the four dorm mates were all wearing Qi Lei’s clothes—but when it was Wang Feng’s turn, things got a bit tricky.

“Why did you even buy clothes this tight?! You’re not some little girl!”

“You’re just too fat!”

The slightly chubby Wang Feng tried on everything but in the end could only squeeze into a T-shirt and shrink himself into a slightly loose down jacket. Looking at the sweatpants clinging to him like tights, he thought about all his body fat and couldn’t help but shed two crocodile tears.

Most of the boarding students didn’t have any warm clothes. They shivered as they jogged into the classrooms, trembling and miserable. When they saw the four from Qi Lei’s dorm wrapped up warmly, their eyes turned green with envy.

Boarding students generally lived far from home, so their parents hadn’t had time to rush over with warm clothes. But Qi Sheng had already arrived at the school gate.

“There’s black-bone chicken soup in the thermos. Share it with your roommates. I also brought some cold medicine—take some if you feel sick, just to be safe.”

Qi Lei stared blankly, not reaching out, so Qi Sheng had to take his hand and put the items in it.

“If you don’t feel well, call me. I’ll get you a leave note.”

Qi Lei still didn’t say anything. After repeating his instructions, Qi Sheng finally said goodbye.

“Head back now. Don’t forget to drink the soup. I’ll bring you some stewed lamb for lunch.”

“No need—”

“Go on now. I’m heading off.”

Qi Sheng got in the car, waved to the boy, and drove off after finishing his “favorability quest.”

Qi Lei, still standing there not fully recovered from the moment, looked down at the things in his hands, falling into silence.