In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 71: Movie Star Dad (9)

Fortunately, the next morning, Liu Jun didn’t make things difficult for them. He provided a free breakfast and then organized a trip to a nearby mountain for some fun. Everyone thought the hard part was over after the first day, but to their surprise, another challenge awaited them at noon.

“No way, they really won’t let us off!”

As soon as the cooked dishes were brought to the table, before the five kids even had time to swallow their saliva, the staff started setting up price tags one by one.

The kids: ……

Enough already!

Looking at the especially expensive prices, Qi Rui did a quick calculation in his mind and couldn’t help but wail, “Why does it feel even more expensive than yesterday’s lunch?!”

The others also did the math and nodded in agreement. Yu Fei said helplessly, “The show crew is basically forcing us to cook ourselves.”

Sure enough, soon after, a new batch of fresh ingredients was displayed, much cheaper and even more plentiful than last night’s.

Qi Rui helplessly walked over to the ingredients, stared at the dazzling array of vegetables and meats, then turned to his dad and shyly asked, “Dad, how about we each have three boiled eggs for lunch?”

Qi Sheng saw the other boys already picking out ingredients and deliberately pulled a pitiful face, saying, “Son, can you really bear for your dad to only eat boiled eggs while everyone else is feasting on meat?” Unfortunately, this didn’t stir any guilt in Qi Rui. Instead, he looked rather smug and said, “Dad, maybe you’re overthinking it. They might not even get to eat a proper meal!”

Qi Sheng: ……

Qi Sheng suddenly felt that his son actually had a point — but he still didn’t want to eat so miserably.

Yu Fei, hearing Qi Rui’s idea, silently picked up five eggs, thinking that if worse came to worst, boiled eggs would be their backup. But just as he finished, Liu Jun walked over.

“Our mission today is for the children to cook a hearty and delicious lunch for their fathers, so the dishes need to show sincerity. No plain boiled eggs or steamed eggs allowed — those are too simple!”

Yu Fei looked silently at the basket of eggs, hesitated, and then asked, “Egg fried rice or scrambled eggs — are those allowed?”

Liu Jun nodded, approving those two options.

Qi Rui realized there was no shortcut to cooking, and could only miserably try to recall how his grandma cooked while silently picking ingredients. Eggs were still necessary — egg fried rice should be simple enough. Green onions were probably needed too. Maybe chili peppers, cabbage, potatoes… Qi Rui wanted to grab a little of everything, but still felt like something was missing.

Qi Sheng followed along and watched his son randomly grab ingredients without any clear idea. “Son, what are you planning to cook? Why didn’t you grab any meat?!”

The boy turned and silently stared back at him, his eyes full of pressure and anxiety. Qi Sheng found it funny but still helped guide him: “Forget the cabbage. Grab some beef instead. For lunch, you can make stir-fried beef with chili peppers, shredded potatoes, and egg fried rice. How about it?”

Qi Rui stared pitifully at the eggs in the basket and said in despair, “How about we just eat plain rice for lunch?”

Qi Sheng held back a laugh and played along, “Sure, whatever you say.”

Hearing this, Qi Rui happily put the eggs back — fewer dishes meant less work!

The other kids had more or less finished picking ingredients and went back to their respective kitchens. That’s when Qi Rui discovered a new problem.

“Dad, we have to start the fire manually!”

Qi Sheng followed him inside and sure enough saw a traditional mud-brick stove. “Starting a fire is pretty simple. I’ll teach you.”

Qi Rui finally relaxed but suddenly turned to his dad and said, “Dad, how do you know how to do everything?”

Qi Sheng reflexively replied, “You’re still young. When you reach my age, you’ll…”

“You’ll what?” The boy looked at him expectantly, thinking his dad was about to say he would grow up to be just as excellent. But after a long pause with no follow-up, Qi Rui couldn’t help but ask again.

“You’ll find it pretty tough.”

Qi Rui: ……

This annoying guy is getting worse and worse!

Seeing the boy’s dissatisfied look, Qi Sheng finally properly reassured him, “You’re still young. If you want to learn something, just arrange your time and study it well. The more you learn, the more you’ll understand.”

Qi Rui pouted. Hearing the familiar lecture again, he took out his phone and started looking up cooking tutorials.

Setting the phone screen to stay on, Qi Rui began washing vegetables one by one.

Qi Sheng watched his son’s reasonably skilled washing technique and thought back to when he was younger and used to help the grandparents with chores. Back then, the old lady had even called to praise him. The original Qi Sheng had been very happy to hear it, but he had been too busy filming to even say a few words to his son afterward…

Later, the old lady called again — this time to scold him, furious that he only cared about work and never had time for his child. Remembering this, Qi Sheng felt a twinge of heartache. He shook his head, sat down on a small bench, and said, “After you finish washing the vegetables, scrub the pot. I’ll teach you how to start the fire.”

Qi Rui cut the beef into strips according to the tutorial, but soon got a headache when he saw instructions like “a little,” “a spoonful,” and “an appropriate amount.” The piece of beef he had didn’t match the tutorial’s quantities — how was he supposed to measure the seasoning?

“Dad, do you know how much cooking wine to use?”

Qi Sheng saw how the vague terms were confusing his beginner cook son and smiled before beginning to guide him.

Compared to the other four families, their cooking scene was much calmer. With Qi Sheng’s guidance, there was no dramatic situation like filling the whole kitchen with smoke.

The staff couldn’t help but interject and ask, “Teacher Qi, you can cook too?”

Qi Sheng tossed a stick of firewood into the stove and nodded, “Sometimes, when I have time off, I’ll cook a little for myself.”

The staff were speechless — it felt like Mr. Qi could do anything.

After a lot of fuss, Qi Rui finally finished bringing out all the dishes he had prepared. After scooping the rice into bowls, he slumped down and said weakly, “How is this a vacation? It’s clearly exile!”

Qi Sheng comforted him, “Even if it’s exile, at least you have me with you.”

Qi Rui didn’t want to bother with the annoying guy anymore. He was impatient to taste the dishes he had cooked for the first time. Unfortunately, although the two stir-fried dishes didn’t look too bad, the taste was very mediocre.

“I clearly followed the tutorial step-by-step, so why does it taste so different from what we usually eat?!”

Qi Sheng and the others also took a few bites, then got up to grab a bag of salt. After sprinkling a bit more salt into both dishes, he said, “It’s fine, just a little bland. It’s already quite good now.”

While they enjoyed their simple, cozy meal, the other four families were pulling out all sorts of stunts, which ended up giving the production team a wealth of hilarious material.

The production team wasn’t aiming to transform the guests or anything, so although the tasks in the following days were varied and bizarre, they were more fun than difficult. Qi Rui gradually began to realize that traveling was actually pretty nice.

They stayed in that area for about ten days, then moved on to a vast grassland, then a seaside city, and finally spent over ten days in an ancient cultural capital. Qi Rui, sticking close to his old man, went from playing at a farmstay to riding horses, splashing in the water, and then soaking up culture — he nearly played himself into a frenzy.

On the last day, during the staff interviews, he was still a bit dazed and didn’t quite want to believe it was over.

After the interview, Qi Rui returned to his room in low spirits. Seeing the annoying guy sitting on the sofa making a phone call, he faintly caught the voice of Xu Yi on the other end. Qi Rui pouted — working again!

When Qi Sheng finally hung up, he turned to find the kid sitting beside him, face dark.

Puzzled, Qi Sheng asked, “What’s wrong?” Hadn’t he been fine just now?

But Qi Rui, feeling uncomfortable, didn’t answer. His expression practically shouted “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow and tried to think if he had offended him somehow, but came up empty. Out of habit, he reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair — but the kid dodged swiftly, as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

Seeing this attitude, Qi Sheng didn’t need to guess to know it had something to do with him.

So, tapping into his acting skills, Qi Sheng furrowed his brows, put on a stern face, and said in a deep voice, “What’s going on? Speak!”

The kid, who had just been sulking, stiffened upon hearing that. He sneaked a few timid glances at Qi Sheng and, seeing his stern expression, his earlier irritation turned into guilt.

“N-nothing… Why are you getting mad…”

Qi Sheng thought to himself, I should be the one asking you that, but he maintained his stern act and pressed on, “Why were you suddenly throwing a tantrum just now?”

Unfortunately, Qi Sheng’s acting was a bit too convincing, scaring the boy. Now standing to the side looking wronged, Qi Rui refused to speak.

Qi Sheng softened his voice helplessly: “If you have a problem with me, just say it. That way Dad can know what to fix.”

Qi Rui stayed silent, head down, staring at his toes, grumbling internally — Say it? Say what? Say that once we’re back, you’ll just dive into work again? Would you even change?

His heart was full of dissatisfaction, but Qi Sheng couldn’t read minds. Seeing that the kid still didn’t respond, Qi Sheng deliberately said, “If you won’t talk, then keep standing there!”

Instead of getting the comforting he hoped for, Qi Rui got a punishment — standing there feeling miserable, he glared at Qi Sheng and blurted, “When we go back, are you leaving again?”

As soon as he said it, Qi Rui’s eyes grew hot. He let out a small humph and lowered his head, cursing himself for being so useless. Haven’t I asked this question enough times as a kid? Every time, this guy would coax him for a bit and then sneak off to work anyway. And now that I’m so much older, would this annoying guy really give up work just for me?

Thinking that, Qi Rui felt even worse. He kept his head down, determined not to let Qi Sheng see him crying.

Qi Sheng was stunned for a moment, finally understanding why the kid had been upset ever since they entered the room. He softened his voice and asked, “Then when do you want me to leave?”

Qi Rui, seeing that not only was he not reluctant but even smiling a little, got even angrier. With eyes turning red, he glared at Qi Sheng: “I want you to stay! Can you?!”

“I can.”

Qi Sheng answered without hesitation.

But the kid didn’t believe him at all. He pouted, turned his head — and happened to spot the still-running camera. With a wicked grin, he turned back and said, “Don’t make promises so easily. That thing is recording. If you can’t keep your word, your idol image will collapse!”

Qi Sheng glanced at the camera and nodded, “I know it’s recording. And I’ll definitely keep my word.”

Still, Qi Rui didn’t believe him. He suddenly thought of something and widened his eyes: “You’re not going to find the director later and have them delete this part, are you?!”

Feeling that his guess was spot-on, Qi Rui let out a couple of humphs, mood sinking even further.

Qi Sheng chuckled at his suspicions, forcibly pulled him to sit down beside him, and said, “When have I ever gone back on my word in the past six months? I said I’ll stay with you, and I will. If you don’t believe me, you can go ask the director for the footage — you can post it however you like.”

Qi Rui still looked skeptical, but Qi Sheng didn’t give him any time to stew. “Stop overthinking. Go wash up.”

While Qi Rui went to shower, Qi Sheng’s phone rang again. Puzzled, he picked it up and saw it was Director Liu from the production team.

When Qi Sheng and Qi Rui had been quarreling, the staff monitoring the screens had immediately called Director Liu over. Upon seeing the scene, Liu’s first instinct had been to cut the footage. Not because he was some saint who didn’t want to milk drama — but because Qi Sheng was a top-tier celebrity with major influence. Liu didn’t dare use him for clout recklessly. A clip like that could spell disaster if leaked.

However, it was rare to see King Qi so helpless. Many staff had crowded around, initially thinking it was just a little father-son spat. But the more they watched, the more shocked they became. Some even turned to Director Liu with wide eyes.

Annoyed, Liu waved them off: “What are you looking at?! Get back to work! And forget everything you just saw and heard. If anyone dares leak a word, I’ll deal with them myself!”

Unfortunately, curiosity outweighed fear of the boss. Someone timidly asked, “Director Liu, was Mr. Qi serious just now? Is he… really planning to retire?”

“How could that be possible? Don’t be ridiculous! He was just coaxing the kid! Go back to work already!”

After snapping at the crowd, Director Liu left the room — but even he couldn’t help feeling uneasy. Thinking about what Qi Sheng had said to the boy, he decided he needed to confirm it personally.

“Mr. Qi, the staff just informed me there was a little situation here. If little Rui comes asking for the video later, what should I do?”

“Give it to him.”

Seeing the director still looking confused, Qi Sheng added, “It’s fine if that footage gets broadcast.”

Director Liu stared at him in disbelief. But faced with Qi Sheng’s firm attitude, he stumbled away, dazed. Even when he got back to his own room, he still hadn’t processed it fully —

Was King Qi really planning to retire?!