In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 57: The Weak Dad (3)

After they finished breakfast, Qi Jin impatiently dragged Qi Sheng to a nearby internet café.

Seeing how familiar his son was with the place, Qi Sheng teased him on purpose, “You seem pretty familiar with this place.”

“Hehe!” Qi Jin knew his father was teasing him and responded with a flattering smile.

After skillfully booting up the computer and logging into the game, Qi Jin turned his head and began explaining the rules of the game to Qi Sheng.

“Dad, this is my favorite game. Here, players take on the role of a summoner and can summon different heroes to participate in battles. These heroes are divided into warriors, mages, assassins, tanks, marksmen, and supports. Based on battle positions, they are classified into top lane, jungle, mid lane, ADC, and support. I like playing top lane the most, and sometimes I play jungle too. Let me show you my best top lane hero!” After explaining the basic rules, Qi Jin started introducing the heroes he owned and gave a brief description of each hero’s main traits.

Qi Jin spoke confidently and clearly, and Qi Sheng nodded along cooperatively. Having once been a game streamer in another world during a mission, Qi Sheng adapted to games quickly.

“Dad, I’m already at the Top King rank — that’s the highest rank in the game’s competitive ladder!” Qi Jin proudly shared his current achievement with Qi Sheng. He had reached this during the summer by sneaking out to play, otherwise, he could have achieved it even earlier. Although he had recently dropped a few ranks due to lack of playtime, Qi Jin didn’t mind — given enough time, he was confident he could break into the top fifty of his server.

And that top fifty was no small feat. The server he chose was highly competitive, filled with professional players. When he had quickly climbed to Diamond rank before, some teams had even reached out to recruit him. But knowing he didn’t have much free time, he declined. Recently, he had gotten to know a few top players who had the idea of forming a team together. After much hesitation, Qi Jin had declined as he knew his parents would strongly oppose it.

If he hadn’t overheard his parents discussing sending him to a special school, he wouldn’t have secretly bought a ticket to Haishi. After getting familiar with these players, they had exchanged personal information. Three of them were currently in Haishi. Feeling desperate at the time, Qi Jin thought about leaving home to join them and start a team, hoping that if he succeeded, maybe his parents wouldn’t be so disappointed in him.

Qi Sheng carefully checked the leaderboard. His son was ranked around 100, and many IDs above him clearly belonged to professional teams. Qi Sheng was surprised — he always knew his son was talented at gaming but hadn’t expected him to be this outstanding, especially considering he had achieved all this secretly. Unable to resist, he ruffled his son’s hair. “Play a few matches for me to see.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Jin quickly entered the matchmaking queue. He chose a warrior — his best hero. Because the high-tier player pool was small, he even recognized a few familiar IDs, but he didn’t mind. Today, the priority was to perform well for his dad.

Qi Sheng watched his son skillfully farm, showcasing flashy moves and fast hand speed, accompanied by playful commentary. He couldn’t help but want to laugh. Qi Jin was really giving it his all today to impress him. But Qi Sheng was greatly reassured — his son’s mechanical skills were excellent, his reactions sharp, and he clearly understood the heroes’ abilities. From his experience, Qi Jin’s current ability was already good enough to compete in tournaments.

After the match ended, the screen displayed a flashy Victory banner, and Qi Jin’s ID “Jin Zhao” shone brightly with a high score. Qi Jin turned eagerly toward his father, full of expectation.

“Play a few more matches. Besides warriors, are you good at any other roles?” Though Qi Sheng had already made up his mind to support his son’s professional path, he was enjoying watching his live performances — especially the way Qi Jin cheekily played around. It was actually pretty cute.

Determined to conquer his father completely, Qi Jin immediately queued for another match, this time picking an assassin — another of his specialties.

The entire morning passed with Qi Jin putting on a show of skillful gameplay and playful commentary. Thanks to his high-level matches and detailed explanations, they even attracted a small crowd of spectators in the internet café.

Hearing the gasps of amazement from behind him, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but feel proud. His son being admired and praised by others gave his heart immense satisfaction.

At noon, they left the internet café and went to a nearby restaurant. After randomly ordering two dishes, Qi Jin anxiously looked at Qi Sheng, afraid he would suddenly change his mind.

“Dad saw your performance just now. It was impressive. Don’t worry, Dad will support you in continuing with gaming,” Qi Sheng said, smiling at his son’s sparkling eyes. He thought that if he waited a moment longer to speak, his son would probably be too nervous to eat.

“Really! Long live Dad!” After a whole morning of hard work, Qi Jin was finally reassured by his father’s confirmation. Relieved, he ran to Qi Sheng’s side, gave him a big hug, and even planted a big kiss on his cheek, causing the other diners to glance over. But Qi Jin, already giddy with happiness, didn’t notice any of it. Returning to his seat, he began to enthusiastically fawn over his dad.

“Dad, have some tea!” His sycophantic behavior made Qi Sheng laugh heartily.

When the dishes arrived, Qi Jin continued being especially filial, calling him “Dad” with every sentence, diligently serving him food, making Qi Sheng feel extremely pampered.

Back at the hotel after lunch, Qi Sheng took a nap. When he woke up, he saw Qi Jin hugging his phone, grinning foolishly. Qi Sheng had to remind him, “Don’t stare at the screen for too long. If you get nearsighted, you won’t look handsome anymore.”

“Dad, you’re awake! I’ll go get you a glass of water!” Qi Jin, unusually attentive today, made Qi Sheng feel even more delighted under his son’s careful service.

“I met a few top players while playing ranked before. We talked about forming a team, and just now I agreed to join them,” Qi Jin said excitedly.

After returning to the hotel, he had immediately shared the news with the group. The others, knowing his situation with his parents opposing gaming, were surprised when he suddenly agreed. His closest buddy, Song Zhang, even specially messaged him to ask what had happened.

Back when Qi Jin wanted to go to Haishi, he had contacted Song Zhang. Although Song Zhang didn’t know the full truth, he could more or less guess that Qi Jin was trying to run away from home. Song Zhang had tried to persuade him at first, but seeing how determined Qi Jin was, he figured something serious must have happened.

They had persuaded Qi Jin many times before to join the team. The team captain had even said he would personally talk to Qi Jin’s parents, but Qi Jin had refused. Now that he had suddenly run away from home, it naturally worried Song Zhang. Later, when he received a text from Qi Jin saying it was just an impulsive decision, he hadn’t thought too much about it. But now, hearing that Qi Jin had agreed to join the team, Song Zhang was very surprised. He had a vague feeling that a lot must have happened to Qi Jin during this time.

“My dad has agreed to support me playing games and participating in competitions!” Qi Jin wrote in the text. He didn’t mention much about what happened at home—not because he didn’t trust Song Zhang, but because family scandals shouldn’t be aired outside. Even though his mother had treated him that way, now that the family had fallen apart, he didn’t want to bring up the past anymore. He hated his mother’s stubbornness at the time. No matter how much she had disliked, mocked, or vented her anger on him over the years, he had never held a grudge. But this time, he couldn’t forgive her actions. As a son, he wouldn’t deliberately tell others and invite judgment on his mother, but from now on, he would no longer feel any obligation toward her.

“What’s your team’s name? How many members do you have now? Do you know their information?” Qi Sheng started asking about his son’s teammates. After all, his son was still young, and he needed to make sure everything was safe before feeling at ease.

Qi Jin knew his father was worried, so he carefully introduced the others on the team. “Our team is called Whirlwind Squad. Cool name, right? There are six of us right now. The captain is Xu Jingzhou. Then there’s Song Zhang, Wang Heng, Luo Qingwen, and Zhang Ye. The captain is twenty years old, a sophomore in college, and also a rich second-generation kid. He was the one who first proposed building the team, and he’s funded most of our expenses. His skills are great too—he’s best at and loves playing the jungler role. I’m closest to Song Zhang; he mainly plays mid lane. We cooperate best together. He’s twenty-one and in his junior year. Wang Heng mainly plays support, though he sometimes likes to play jungler too. He just finished the college entrance exams this year, so he’ll be a freshman soon. As for Luo Qingwen and Zhang Ye, they both usually play ADC and are also in college. They’re all really easy to get along with. Knowing that I’m the youngest, they often look out for me.”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow, feeling reassured by how well his son knew his teammates. “When you go to competitions in the future, Dad will go with you. It’ll be a good chance to meet them too.”

“Dad, you’ll accompany me to competitions?” Qi Jin was amazed. He felt that his father had become better and better these past few days. Although his father had always been gentle before, whenever there was a conflict between him and his mother, his father would outwardly side with his mother and hadn’t really supported him playing games. But lately, his father had completely transformed into a perfect dad, and Qi Jin was both unused to and overjoyed by this.

“Of course I’ll go with you. You’re still young. I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you travel far alone.” Seeing his son’s surprised and happy face, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but say a bit more.

“Hehe, my dad is the best!” Qi Jin said joyfully as he threw himself into his father’s arms.

“Later, we’ll go out together and look at some nearby houses. Uncle Li sent me a listing. If everything checks out, we’ll move in as soon as possible.”

That afternoon, the father and son looked at several properties but eventually decided to rent the one recommended by Li Jun. Although it was a little pricier than the others, the place was newly renovated, had new furniture, and had great lighting with a north-south layout. Qi Sheng had already made up his mind after seeing it, but it was Qi Jin who hesitated and persuaded him to look at a few more.

“Don’t worry, Dad can still afford to support you,” Qi Sheng reassured him, understanding his son’s worries.

“Dad, I’m easy to take care of! I can even do paid game leveling to make money. I won’t be a burden!” Qi Jin said seriously. He knew they only had a few tens of thousands left in savings. Plus, because of his situation, there would probably be a hefty sponsorship fee when school started. After hearing about the rent price, Qi Jin had already started planning ways to make money on their way home.

But when Qi Sheng heard this, his face turned serious. “Son, come here. We need to have a serious talk about your studies.”

Seeing his father suddenly get stern, Qi Jin became a bit nervous. He stood obediently in front of him, not knowing what to expect.

Qi Sheng kept a stern face, deliberately not soothing him. Instead, he continued in a serious tone, “Dad agrees that you can keep playing games and even join the team to compete. But that doesn’t mean you can neglect your studies. Even if you have your hobbies, you still have to study. What, are you planning to grow up illiterate?”

Though calling him “illiterate” sounded harsh, no matter what, Qi Jin still had to take the college entrance exam like any other student. If he could get into a good university, even better.

Seeing that Qi Jin didn’t respond, Qi Sheng went on, “We’ll set some rules now. From now on, no skipping school to go to internet cafes. If you have to leave during school for a special reason, you must tell Dad first. If it’s important, Dad will consider it and may excuse you. But if you secretly skip school to play games and I catch you doing it three times, I’ll forbid you from playing games altogether!”

He loved his son dearly, but there had to be rules. Otherwise, the boy might take advantage and run wild, playing games every day.

“Then Dad, when can I play games?” Qi Jin asked anxiously. If he couldn’t play during the day, what about at night? Based on what his father said, if he couldn’t slack off on schoolwork, given his mediocre academic skills, he’d be drowning in homework all day.

“After dinner until ten o’clock, you can manage your time freely. As for homework, Dad will personally pick and assign it for you,” Qi Sheng said. He knew the current education system buried kids under mountains of homework, but with his help, he could lighten his son’s load appropriately.

Seeing his father’s serious face, Qi Jin didn’t dare bargain. He did a quick calculation: school ended at 5:30 PM, he’d be home, finish dinner, do some homework—at worst, by 8 PM, or even 7 PM if he worked fast. That would leave him 2–3 hours a day for games, which was way better than secretly sneaking out like before. But Qi Jin still wanted to bargain a little more.

“Dad, I’ll listen to you during school days. But what about weekends and holidays?”

“On weekends, you’ll need to spend at least six hours reviewing and doing homework each day. As for winter and summer breaks, I’ll make you a study schedule. But I’ll guarantee you at least three hours of gaming time each day. Of course, during tournaments, you can focus fully on gaming. As long as you perform well and your grades improve, Dad will be very reasonable.”

Setting an academic goal would also help reduce his resistance toward studying.

“As for making money, that’s not something you should worry about. You won’t be doing any paid game leveling either. Dad said he can support you—don’t you trust Dad’s abilities?” Qi Sheng asked with a deliberate smile.

“I trust you, Dad! I’ll listen to you in everything!” Qi Jin quickly said, afraid that his dad might get annoyed and give him even more homework.