In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 70: Movie Star Dad (8)

Qi Rui was still youthful in mind. Although he was extremely unlucky, when he thought about his poor father who might not be able to earn any money, he immediately perked up. He refused to believe it—if he kept drawing more times, could he really be unlucky every single time?

Setting his sights on the “1.5 wage multiplier,” Qi Rui joined a new round of quiz competitions. On the third draw, he got another 20 yuan red envelope. Qi Rui wrinkled his nose in frustration. The fourth time was even worse—only a 5 yuan red envelope. Qi Rui glanced at his other companions: if they weren’t getting 50 yuan red envelopes, they were drawing the 1.5 wage multiplier; at worst, they still got 20 yuan red envelopes. He instantly felt guilty toward his old father.

However, Qi Rui possessed that diehard rookie spirit of someone who had been beaten to death in games countless times but still remained full of fighting spirit. He flipped his drawn card face-down and continued to fight in the quiz arena.

“Job Assistance 70%!”

Zhao Shuo came over to take a look and exclaimed, “I’ve always wanted to draw this one! It’s even better than the 1.5 wage multiplier.”

Qi Rui was stunned for a moment. Looking at the reward card in his hand, he finally realized—he had been so focused on drawing a 1.5 wage multiplier to offset the 0.8 one, he forgot to consider whether his father could even complete a task. With this Job Assistance card, maybe his dad could actually complete a whole basket!

Once Qi Rui did the math, he chuckled gleefully. Meanwhile, Qi Sheng quickly heard the good news about his son.

Qi Sheng raised his eyebrows. His unlucky son was finally having a change of fortune?

Qi Sheng had just finished making a basket. Originally, he thought he still had time to learn how to make kites. But now, with this reward card, there was no need to learn kite-making. It was still more than an hour until six o’clock. He only needed to complete 30% of the work to earn the pay for a whole basket again.

Turning back to Master Zhou, he explained the situation. Master Zhou got excited—finally, he could help openly! Working together, they finished a second basket before it was even 5:30 p.m. Feeling that he had earned enough for the day, Qi Sheng walked back with a light heart.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shuo had already drawn prizes seven times, and Qi Rui was fighting for his sixth draw. Unfortunately, even though he had worked hard to earn four points, the time hit six o’clock, and the quiz competition officially ended.

Yu Fei was also just one point short of getting another draw. Watching the opportunity slip away at the last second, she instantly lost it.

“Ahhhh! Just a tiny bit more!”

“Leader Liu, can’t we keep going?”

Unfortunately, Leader Liu was especially ruthless. Six o’clock meant six o’clock—no exceptions.

At this moment, Xu Mingyan was the happiest. She had only managed two prize draws after much struggle and had gotten a headache from the quizzes. Now that it was finally over, she was relieved.

“Feifei, come rest. Weren’t you tired answering all those questions?”

Already battered into a Zen-like state by the quizzes, Xu Mingyan pulled Yu Fei over to comfort her. The two sat together and started discussing their rewards.

Yu Fei said, “Your luck is amazing! You actually got 1.5 times the wage!”

Xu Mingyan giggled, “Hehehe, not bad. You’re not bad either—you got a 50 yuan red envelope!”

Yu Fei grumbled, “I feel like I’m stuck with the red envelopes. Every time it’s just red envelopes, can’t they switch it up?”

Xu Mingyan advised, “Better not wish for surprises. There’s still that 0.6 wage multiplier floating around. What if you step on a landmine?”

Hearing this, Yu Fei patted her chest in relief. Good thing she hadn’t drawn the worst one! Looking at the neat row of red envelopes she had won, she calculated that she had earned 90 yuan from four draws—not bad, it even covered their lunch costs!

Xu Mingyan, holding her shiny 1.5 wage card, was a little worried. “What if my dad can’t even complete one kite? Then this card would be less useful than a cash red envelope.”

As she spoke, Liu Jun walked over with a big smile and asked the five teenagers, “Guess how your dads are doing?”

Zhao Shuo was the first to complain, “I bet my dad can’t even make a kite properly. He’s terrible with his hands!”

Yu Fei added, “I’m not sure about my dad either. I’m worried he won’t even finish a Chinese knot.”

Thinking about her rough-and-tough dad and then imagining the delicate Chinese knots, Yu Fei instantly decided that red envelopes were a safer bet.

Xu Mingyan wasn’t worried about her father anymore, but she was curious. She asked, “Did Uncle Qi finish a basket?”

“With a 70% assistance card, he should be able to complete one, right?”

“Not necessarily. Weaving baskets is super hard. Even 30% of the work isn’t easy.”

Hearing their discussion, Qi Rui quietly did the math. He had drawn a total of 30 yuan in red envelopes. If his dad could, with the help of the assistance card, complete a full basket, they would have earned a total of 190 yuan that afternoon. Subtracting their lunch debt, they would only take home 50 yuan. Damn! So little! And that was if the basket was completed!

Zhao Shuo also did his calculations carefully. His red envelopes needed to subtract another 5 yuan. He had a 30% assistance card and a 1.2 times wage card. If his clumsy father managed to complete one kite, they would only make 115 yuan—and after paying back lunch debt, they would still owe 5 yuan!

That was just tragic.

Qi Rui and Zhao Shuo looked at their cards and then at each other, feeling the shared hardship of life.

At this moment, only Zhang Yu looked relaxed. He had an odd confidence in his father. As a homebody, his dad might have an edge when it came to handicrafts. Plus, Zhang Yu had two assistance cards—a 20% and a 50%. At the very least, completing one kite should be no problem.

Zhang Yu hadn’t considered that his father might just squat by the Chinese knot station without moving at all. Seeing the two distressed companions, he comforted them, “Don’t worry, come have dinner at my house tonight.”

Qi Rui looked at him with such envy, his gaze practically begging, making Liu Jun, who was listening nearby, almost burst out laughing.

Gradually, the five hard working fathers returned to the meeting point. Seeing their kids staring at them with wide, expectant eyes, some dads looked dejected, while others had a hint of pride.

Liu Jun first interviewed Zhao Jingyi, who looked absolutely devastated. “Teacher Zhao, do you have anything to say?”

Zhao Jingyi glanced at his eagerly waiting son, wiped his face, and said miserably, “I’ve failed my kid!”

Liu Jun continued interviewing Zhang Yunzhi: “Teacher Zhang, take a guess—what do you think Xiao Yu’s expectations of you are?”

Zhang Yunzhi was momentarily stunned. He looked at his son and said, “Hmm? Well… probably not too high?”

The lack of confidence in his reply made Zhang Yu, who had just been smiling, widen his eyes in disbelief. Dad, I just bragged about you to my friends!

Liu Jun then turned to Xu Congwen and Yu Yang: “You two seem to be in a good mood. Looks like today’s results aren’t bad?”

Xu Congwen said, “Not bad. Plus, my daughter had good luck, so we won’t have any trouble with dinner tonight.”

Yu Yang laughed, “Hehe, at least I didn’t drag my daughter down today.”

Yu Yang was feeling a little proud at the moment. He had made a kite and a Chinese knot. Counting the red envelopes his daughter had drawn, they had a sure income of 130 yuan today.

Finally, Liu Jun interviewed Qi Sheng: “Teacher Qi, let me ask you first—do you usually do handicrafts?”

Qi Sheng replied, “Occasionally, but not very often.”

Then Liu Jun asked Qi Rui, “Xiao Rui, what do you think your final ranking will be today?”

Qi Rui glanced at his seemingly calm father, then at his two crestfallen friends, and guessed, “Uh, could it be third place? Is it that good?”

Liu Jun laughed, “You’re too easily satisfied!”

Wait, could it be higher than third? Qi Rui’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at his father. Could it be Dad actually has a hidden talent for crafts?!

Seeing the kid’s shocked expression, Liu Jun stopped teasing and started announcing the final results: “First, our fifth-place team: Congratulations to Zhao Shuo and his father, who, after four hours of hard work, earned a total of 115 yuan—successfully owing the production team 5 yuan!”

Zhao Shuo let out a tragic wail, “It really ended up like that!”

“Next, the fourth-place team: Congratulations to our Buddha-like and single-minded Teacher Zhang, who, after an afternoon of effort, successfully completed five Chinese knots, earning 185 yuan in total. After deducting debts, they pocketed 25 yuan.”

Zhang Yu’s face fell when he heard this. Dad, just how deep is your love for Chinese knots?!

“Third place is…”

“Second place is…”

At this point, Qi Rui could hardly believe it—they actually ranked first?

Liu Jun smiled, “Xiao Rui, can you guess how much you earned?”

Did Dad finish the basket and even make a kite? Qi Rui’s brain was spinning at top speed as he frantically calculated. No, wait, if he made a kite, after debt deduction, it should be 130 yuan—same as Yu Fei’s family.

Could he have made a Chinese knot too? Or… two baskets?!

Seeing the boy’s wide eyes, Liu Jun finally announced the final result: “First place goes to our master crafter, Teacher Qi, who successfully completed two baskets, earning 350 yuan in total. After deducting debts, they pocketed 210 yuan!”

“Wow!”

All five kids were stunned. Wasn’t weaving baskets supposed to be the hardest?!

Qi Rui felt like happiness had come too suddenly. Hehehe, does that mean I can order whatever I want for dinner tonight?

The other four father-child teams were equally shocked. They had thought everyone was roughly on the same level—but Qi Sheng had secretly become a crafting master!

No matter how amazed everyone was, the winners had already firmly secured their place as the day’s big earners. Meanwhile, the families who still owed money could only look on enviously.

After announcing the results, Liu Jun continued: “Everyone worked hard today. We’ve prepared a special dinner cooked by a professional chef. Of course, as per the usual rules, you’ll have to pay for it. Considering how hard it was for you all to earn money, the production team has also prepared fresh ingredients. If anyone wants to save money, you can buy ingredients and cook for yourselves. But there’s one condition: Dinner must be cooked by the kids.”

Zhao Shuo and Zhang Yu immediately had headaches. The production team really can’t bear to see us have it easy!

Everyone gathered around the dining tables, looking at the clearly priced dinners and the neatly labeled fresh ingredients.

For the families in debt, even the much cheaper ingredients felt like a heavy burden. Suddenly, Zhao Shuo thought of something and exclaimed in surprise, “Dad! We have cured meat and sausages at home! We can just cook those—then we won’t need to spend money!”

Hearing this, Zhao Jingyi’s eyes lit up too. He nodded excitedly. This day has been such a roller coaster!

The other four families, unfortunately, had empty refrigerators and still had to spend money.

“Dad, can we buy the ready-made food instead?” Facing the cheap ingredients and the tempting cooked food, Qi Rui—who had zero cooking skills but a small fortune—naturally preferred buying ready-made meals.

“Of course you can.”

Without the pressure of having to cook, Qi Rui was immediately overjoyed. He happily ran over to the steaming hot dishes, looking left and right. But remembering the lesson from lunch, he decided not to pick anything too expensive this time.

Unfortunately, in front of delicious food, resolve is weak. Qi Rui stared longingly at the particularly tempting spicy boiled pork slices, gulping down his saliva, unwilling to leave.

Seeing him like this, Qi Sheng chuckled and said, “If you want it, take it.”

Qi Rui hesitated. “Maybe I shouldn’t. Who knows how the program will torture us tomorrow.”

Qi Sheng asked again, “Really not getting it? If not, we’re just having two bowls of noodles.”

Just one more little nudge from his dad, and Qi Rui immediately changed his mind. Fine, let’s splurge one more time!

Yu Fei and Xu Mingyan’s families each had a little over 100 yuan—not a lot, but definitely more than Zhang Yu’s. Neither of them had ever cooked before. After hesitating in front of the ingredients for a long time, they also gave up and went for the cooked dishes.

Only Zhang Yu, clutching his miserable 25 yuan, was left miserably picking out ingredients.

That night’s filming ended. Except for the chaotic cooking scenes from Zhang Yu and Zhao Shuo’s homes, the other three families were much more peaceful.

After dinner, Qi Rui savored the delicious flavor of the spicy pork slices, but quickly began to worry about tomorrow. “Dad, do you think they’ll make us work again tomorrow?”

Qi Sheng couldn’t figure out the production team’s plans either, but he reassured the child, “Don’t worry. You won’t starve.”

Qi Rui frowned and weakly complained, “This isn’t sightseeing at all—it’s basically rural re-education!”