In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 21: The Partial Dad (1)

Qi Sheng woke up again. After receiving all the memories of the storyline, he realized what point in time it was. He didn’t even bother to put on his shoes properly and rushed out the door in a panic.

His flustered back view left his eldest son, Qi Xiangdong, utterly confused. But Qi Xiangdong didn’t think much of it—he didn’t even lift his butt, continuing to sit on the bench under the jujube tree, cracking sunflower seeds with a loud ka-ka.

Meanwhile, Qi Sheng sprinted with all his might toward the location etched in his memory. When he finally spotted his younger son, he didn’t even stop to catch his breath and shouted anxiously, “Xiangnan, stop right there!”

Unfortunately, the boy didn’t seem to hear and kept walking forward with his head down. Seeing the approaching truck, Qi Sheng could no longer hesitate. He used the last of his strength to lunge forward and tackled the boy to the ground.

“Dad! Dad!”

Groaning, Qi Sheng ignored his younger son’s cries. He carefully moved his leg, which had gone numb from the pain, and reluctantly concluded—it was probably fractured.

His son’s anxious voice sounded in his ear again, but Qi Sheng didn’t want to respond. Now he’s scared, huh?

“Sir, are you okay?”

The truck driver ran over, visibly shaken when he saw Qi Sheng lying motionless, his voice trembling slightly.

Qi Sheng didn’t want to stay lying there either. Seeing someone approach, he forced himself to speak through the pain: “Could you please take me to the nearest hospital? I think my leg’s broken…” Hearing him speak clearly, the driver was visibly relieved. He hurried over and carefully helped him up.

After Qi Sheng’s right leg was put in a cast, he ignored the younger son who was nervously attending to him, pulled some money from the right pocket of his coat, and handed it to the driver to cover the medical fees.

“Really sorry about today. If this brat of mine knew how to walk properly, he wouldn’t have wasted your time like this.”

The driver, who had just been cursing internally over the hospital bills, suddenly felt awkward. “Uh… I did hit you after all. I should be paying for the medical fees. You’re being too kind, sir.”

“How can you say that? I already feel terrible for wasting your whole afternoon. You have to take this money.”

Although the driver had been going a bit fast, the real issue was his son walking so recklessly. Qi Sheng wasn’t the type to take advantage of others. Since the driver had been sincere, he couldn’t, in good conscience, let him bear the loss.

The driver had been irritated earlier about the money, but after hearing Qi Sheng’s words, he didn’t argue further.

“You’re an honest man. How about I give you a ride home?”

This was a rural area in the late 1980s—not like the future, where transport would be easy. Qi Sheng knew getting home would be troublesome, so he thickened his skin and asked the driver to take him back. He even wanted to give him some money for the ride, but the driver adamantly refused. All Qi Sheng could do was thank him repeatedly and watch him leave.

“Dad, what happened? Your leg—what happened to your leg? Who hit you?!”

Qi Xiangdong looked completely bewildered. His father had rushed out at noon just fine and now returned with a cast.

The tall, broad-shouldered eldest son shouted angrily, looking like he was about to hunt down the driver for a duel. Qi Sheng’s head throbbed from the yelling. “Why are you yelling? Go make dinner already! Are we eating or not?”

Qi Xiangdong blinked, baffled. “Dad, are you sure you’re talking to the right person? Me? Cook?”

Qi Sheng glared at him. “Yes, you! Hurry up and go!”

“I’ll go, Dad.”

Standing to the side, Qi Xiangnan looked at his father—who hadn’t spoken a word to him all this time—feeling nervous and unsure. He instinctively wanted to do something to make up for it.

Qi Sheng’s tone was harsh: “You stay right there. I’ve still got a score to settle with you!” Then he turned and glared at the elder son again. “Why are you still standing there?!”

Qi Xiangdong realized his father was in a foul mood and still didn’t know what had happened. He scratched his head and sulkily headed into the kitchen.

“Dad…” The younger boy stood off to the side, voice hoarse, eyes red with tears.

Qi Sheng wasn’t softened by the sight. He reached out, yanked the boy over by his shirt, and gave him several hard smacks on the butt.

“You didn’t hear me calling you?! Don’t you know to look when crossing a road?!” He kept hitting him as he scolded, sentence after sentence.

The boy didn’t dare dodge. He stood there quietly, taking the hits. When the slaps finally stopped, he still kept his head down, not saying a word, not even daring to wipe the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Qi Sheng looked at him and finally felt his anger subside. Seeing how pitiful the boy looked, he still didn’t let him off easily: “Remember this—if you ever walk like that again without watching the road, I’ll break your legs myself!”

Dinner at the Qi household was plain—steamed buns with pickled vegetables and a bowl of mung bean porridge. After the three of them finished eating, Qi Xiangnan instinctively reached out to gather the dishes and went out to wash them. Qi Sheng frowned when he saw it, but didn’t say anything.

Before bed, Qi Sheng had originally planned to scare his younger son a bit more with a stern face. But seeing how attentively the boy was tending to him, he couldn’t keep up the fierce act. Before the boy left the room with the basin of used foot water, Qi Sheng finally cracked a smile at him.

Lying in bed and gently fanning himself, Qi Sheng was finally able to relax. If he had been a minute later today, things would have been irreversible.

In the other room, Qi Xiangnan lay in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time. Recalling the events of the day, he laughed and cried at the same time.

He had thought his father didn’t care about him. He never expected that in such a critical moment, his father would risk his own life to save him. Qi Xiangnan broke down again. The years of pent-up resentment and the events of that morning all evaporated with his tears.

The next day, when Qi Sheng woke up, he saw that his younger son had already prepared breakfast. When he sat up, the boy hurried over, ready to help him get dressed.

“It’s just my leg that’s hurt, my hands are still working. I’ll dress myself. Go get me a basin of water to wash my face,” Qi Sheng said, ordering his son around with ease.

His younger son responded obediently and walked out to the well to pump water.

It was the end of July, the hottest time of the year. Qi Sheng put on a sleeveless undershirt that had yellowed a little from washing and a pair of oversized shorts. Just as he finished dressing, the boy came in with the washbasin.

Taking the towel from him, Qi Sheng felt a warm glow in his heart: Having such a filial son is really something.

But before he could finish savoring the moment, he heard his eldest son loudly yelling, “I’m starving!”

Qi Sheng: “…”

There’s always one who gives you a headache!

The dining table was right in the middle of the main room. Qi Sheng didn’t ask his son to bring the food over—his injured leg made it inconvenient to walk, but not to the point where he was bedridden.

With his younger son’s help, he sat at the table. Watching his eldest son eat heartily, Qi Sheng felt his blood pressure rising.

“From now on, your brother will cook, and you’ll wash the dishes. You’ll also be in charge of laundry.”

Qi Xiangdong looked at his father in disbelief. How could just one day pass and suddenly his dad was assigning him chores?

“Dad, isn’t that Xiangnan’s job? Why are you making me do it now?”

Qi Sheng frowned. “Why should it be your brother’s job? He’s two years younger than you! He’s been doing all the housework while you, the eldest, have been lazing around. If you really don’t want to help, fine—go work with Uncle Jianguo’s construction crew for a couple of months.”

The idea of working outside in this scorching heat made Qi Xiangdong grumble in protest. “Did you take the wrong meds or something? It’s always been Xiangnan doing it…”

Looking at his bear-sized son sitting around doing nothing while eating for free every day, Qi Sheng couldn’t suppress his anger.

“That was before. This is now. If you hadn’t bullied your brother so badly yesterday, I wouldn’t have gotten hit by a truck!”

Qi Xiangdong looked up in shock. How did this become my fault? He wanted to argue, but knew better than to go against his father. He shot a glare at Qi Xiangnan instead.

Unfortunately for him, this “medicated” version of Qi Sheng no longer favored him. Seeing him glare at his brother, Qi Sheng snapped again, “What are you glaring at him for? You’re twenty and still freeloading at home, not even lifting a finger to help out.”

Fuming, Qi Xiangdong slammed down his chopsticks. What’s going on today? His dad woke up just to scold him and take that brat’s side. But when he put his chopsticks down, Qi Sheng didn’t even try to stop him—instead, he added, “When you’re done eating, stay where you are. You’re washing the dishes after we’re finished.”

Qi Xiangdong: “…”

He definitely took the wrong medicine today!

He picked his chopsticks back up. If he had to wash the dishes anyway, he might as well eat his fill.

Although Qi Sheng had spoiled Qi Xiangdong over the years, his word was law in the house. Qi Xiangdong might have been a bully to Qi Xiangnan, but he was still afraid of his father’s temper.

On the other side of the table, Qi Xiangnan obediently ate his breakfast. Watching his suddenly-supportive father and the frustrated Qi Xiangdong, he couldn’t help feeling a little happy.

After the meal, Qi Xiangdong sulkily cleaned up the dishes. Qi Sheng ignored him and pulled his younger son over.

“Getting into Beijing Medical University is a big deal. I was just angry yesterday when you two were fighting—that’s why I said I wouldn’t let you go. I thought it over last night. Today, see if the admission notice can be patched up. If not, we’ll ask your teacher for another letter of recommendation. We’ll also get one from the county. That score is yours—if we have the documents, the school will definitely accept you.”

Qi Xiangnan was overjoyed. He looked at his father to confirm: “Dad, you’re really letting me go to college?!”

Qi Sheng smiled too. “Of course. Having a college student in the family is something people from ten villages around would envy. I’m not stupid—how could I not let you go?”

Then, as if catching himself, he frowned and scolded again, “And you—just because I said one angry thing, you ran off like that. If that truck had really hit you, forget college—even your health would be gone!”

Qi Xiangnan nodded rapidly, even happier than when he’d received the acceptance letter.

It felt like a dream—his father, who had always seemed indifferent, was suddenly on his side, thinking for him, protecting him, not letting Qi Xiangdong bully him…

Qi Sheng looked at his silly, grinning younger son and felt a subtle pang of guilt.