In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 74: Movie Star Dad (12)

《Taking Dad on a Trip》 was absolutely the ultimate treat for Qi Sheng’s fans. Qi Sheng perfectly showcased the qualities a top-tier male idol should possess, single-handedly raising the standard for the word “idol” to a whole new level.

While the fans were busy swooning over his looks, they were also completely impressed by his powerful capabilities. When they arrived at the fourth destination, the ancient cultural capital, Qi Sheng once again proved with real skills that, “There’s nothing I can’t do, and even if there is, I can learn it faster than anyone else!”

In this episode, through five themed missions—music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and tea—the production team aimed to comprehensively showcase the most core elements of Huaguo’s (China’s) cultural heritage.

Of course, before planning this project, the team had specifically asked about the special skills and hobbies of the five family groups. Since they were all from the entertainment industry, all five dads responded that they had at least some level of expertise, which satisfied the production team. Excited, they proceeded according to the original plan—and even planned a few more twists.

While the five dads had varying degrees of experience, the situation among the kids was completely different. Among them, only Yu Fei had studied a little Chinese painting, and Qi Rui had learned some tea art from Qi Sheng. As for the other three, well… better not to mention it.

Upon learning about the kids’ circumstances, the production team smiled slyly and decided to have the kids complete the learning tasks independently.

Qi Rui’s “African luck” once again showed its formidable power. Holding the “calligraphy” card in his hand, Qi Rui felt like his future had gone pitch black.

“Why calligraphy! It’s not just copying a poem; there’s even a grading by the teacher!”

Qi Rui had studied piano and sketching, which were somewhat related to music and painting, but calligraphy? Sorry, he had never learned it. As for the limp, floppy brush—how was he supposed to write properly with it?!

“Dad, I feel like ever since I joined this show, my luck has barely been good even once!” “If only I had drawn ‘tea’! Even the other three would have been better…”

Qi Sheng simply smiled and encouraged him, “You haven’t tried it yet. Maybe after learning once, you’ll actually like calligraphy.”

Qi Rui wrinkled his nose, muttering internally, Yeah right, you’re totally kidding me!

While Qi Rui reluctantly went off to learn calligraphy, Qi Sheng proceeded to fulfill the dads’ assigned tasks.

Viewers watched Qi Sheng on screen completing tasks methodically, convinced that today’s ranking was basically secured. But once the camera shifted to Qi Rui, they couldn’t help but swoon and laugh.

[A 15-16-year-old jade-like young master, oh my god, I can’t take it!!!]

[“A gentleman like jade, unmatched in the world!”—this must have been said for Baby Rui! If only he had long hair too, it would be perfect.]

[The one above, first swap in some prettier handwriting!]

[Hahaha, as long as the camera doesn’t focus on the calligraphy, Baby Rui is still our top-tier male god!]

The production team, always excellent at setting the scene, had specially prepared period costumes for each guest based on the mission themes.

Thus, on screen, Qi Rui, dressed in flowing Hanfu robes, stood quietly before a writing desk, ink swirling gently in the air, against the backdrop of a classical study room. It was breathtakingly beautiful—

…as long as the camera didn’t pan down to the calligraphy on the table.

After learning some basic techniques from a teacher, Qi Rui began practicing alone.

Oh boy. Looking at the characters, which were even uglier than an elementary schooler’s handwriting, Qi Rui’s face darkened completely. If he got graded now, it would be an automatic fail!

At that moment, Qi Rui genuinely felt the brush had a will of its own. He just wanted to write simple, straight characters—but even such a small wish, the brush refused to grant!

After yet another page of atrocious handwriting, Qi Rui crumpled up the paper in frustration and prepared to start over.

His plan was going fine… until Zhao Shuo showed up.

Zhao Shuo: “How’s it going for you?”

Qi Rui (raising his head): “Why are you here?”

Zhao Shuo (grinning): “Hehe, I already passed!”

Qi Rui (shocked): “So fast?!”

Zhao Shuo: “It wasn’t too bad. Feifei even scored 70 points on his Chinese painting just now. I just came to check on you before going back to try and raise my score further.”

Qi Rui then realized that more than two hours had already passed since they started learning. Looking at the childish scrawl under his brush, Qi Rui’s heart sank further—at this rate, when would he ever improve?!

One after another, Zhang Yu and Xu Mingyan also managed to pass their tasks. Only poor Qi Rui was still struggling on the road toward a passing grade.

The viewers, watching his pitiful expression, comforted and joked in the comments:

[Baby Rui, who had smooth sailing till now, is about to crash!]

[Baby Rui: After facing countless hardships, I was about to become this season’s MVP—who knew I’d trip over calligraphy?!]

[Don’t cry Baby Rui, hang in there! Daddy Sheng is coming to the rescue!]

Originally, the audience was just teasing, but to their surprise, after completing his own task, Qi Sheng actually drew a support card!

Qi Sheng: “What’s this card for?”

Staff: “You can use it to assist Xiao Rui in completing his learning task. But the catch is: the helper must be you personally, and the final score will only be 80% of the original.”

Qi Sheng nodded and immediately set off toward his son’s location.

Meanwhile, Qi Rui, on the verge of a breakdown after being tortured by calligraphy, looked at the brush in his hand— wishing more than anything that some magic spell would make the poem automatically appear on the rice paper.

So, when Qi Sheng arrived, he found his son anxiously pulling at his hair, staring at the paper and ink, unable to make any progress.

Qi Sheng: …

Was he trying to write with his mind alone?

The more Qi Rui struggled, the more frustrated he became. But when he turned his head and saw his father, his mood improved a little. “Dad, did you finish your task?”

“Yeah, how about you?”

Qi Rui looked aggrieved, his face showing a bitter expression. “The teacher said I could score 70 for my poem title, but the four lines still don’t meet the mark.”

Despite his struggle, Qi Rui had some cleverness. He had prepared a submission paper and some draft paper. He practiced on the draft paper first and would copy the characters onto the submission paper when he thought they were good enough.

His plan was good, but unfortunately, the task required a full poem. Though it was a simple one—Quiet Night Thoughts—it included the title and author’s name, totaling 25 characters. Practicing each character one by one took time, and on top of that, he couldn’t even make each character pass the grade.

Actually, the production team had intentionally set up the task this way for later game segments, thinking that whoever drew this task card wouldn’t be able to finish it. However, they hadn’t anticipated that Qi Sheng would draw the support card.

Behind the scenes, the director watched as Qi Sheng arrived and asked the staff, “How’s Teacher Qi’s calligraphy?”

The staff replied, “Brother Sheng said he has some research in this area.”

Upon hearing this, the director felt reassured. “Some research” meant “not much,” after all. In the entertainment industry, people often admire the arts, but in such a superficial, fast-paced environment, how could anyone truly focus on in-depth study? Most people just dabble in it, showing off occasionally in front of fans. It was rare to see someone actually research and perfect an art form. When someone said they had “some research,” it was basically an admission that they understood the basics but weren’t experts.

The plan wouldn’t change, and the director wasn’t worried anymore. In fact, he even secretly anticipated that Qi Sheng would be the “unlucky one” in the game. But reality always had a way of slapping them in the face.

Qi Sheng looked at the five characters his son had written with great effort and felt that, considering everything, it was already impressive that he could write like this.

“What’s wrong? Can’t write anymore?”

Qi Rui sighed deeply, looking defeated. “There are still twenty more characters. How long will this take?! Xiao Shuo and the others already scored 80 points…”

Out of the five kids, only Qi Rui hadn’t scored yet. The others were doing well: Yu Fei had the highest score, with 85 points, followed by Zhao Shuo and Zhang Yu with 80 points each. Xu Mingyan, though scoring lower, still passed with 65 points. But Qi Rui… poor thing… was still struggling, failing to pass.

At this point, Qi Rui was just hoping to pass, but he realized it seemed impossible.

With half an hour left before the task deadline, Qi Rui sighed again and thought, Well, I’ll just finish writing whatever I can and take whatever score I get.

But when he thought about the five characters that were almost worth 70 points, Qi Rui felt it was a pity. That’s why he hesitated to continue writing.

Qi Sheng smiled lightly and walked over to his son’s right side. Standing behind him, he held his son’s hand and easily completed the poem section.

“Hmm? Hmm?”

Was the brush this obedient? Qi Rui’s first thought was that it couldn’t be. But after carefully looking at the rice paper on the desk and then glancing at the copybook, he felt a bit proud and thought to himself, My dad’s writing is so much better.

He didn’t understand calligraphy, so he couldn’t appreciate the nuances, but the calligraphy teacher, who was watching from the side, was absolutely stunned by Qi Sheng’s skill.

The teacher was mesmerized by Qi Sheng’s calligraphy, sighing in admiration. But when he looked at the entire poem again, he felt a pang of regret. He had forgotten to remind Mr. Qi to start a new page. The title and author’s name on the first two lines completely ruined the aesthetic of the whole work!

The director backstage was dumbfounded. Although he wasn’t an expert in calligraphy, he had enough appreciation to recognize that anything praised by calligraphy masters would undoubtedly be extraordinary.

The director was speechless. He felt that Qi Sheng was practically a “bug.” Every time they planned a game, if Qi Sheng participated, it would have to be changed on the spot.

But the director quickly let it go. After all, having guests show such impressive performances was something to be proud of for the production team. He was certain that after this episode aired, Qi Sheng would definitely make the trending list, and their show would get some extra shine from it!

As expected, after the episode aired, Qi Sheng once again amazed the audience. His fans were ecstatic, feeling like they were the luckiest group in the fan community. Overjoyed, they flocked to his Weibo to show their excitement and send cute messages, even though they knew the account was managed by his agent. Their enthusiasm didn’t wane.

Then, the passionate fans received the most “happy” Weibo post ever.

Qi Sheng announced on Weibo that he was temporarily retiring from the entertainment industry, with no fixed date for his return.

Fans: ???!!!

This account must have been hacked!!!

Not only were Qi Sheng’s millions of fans shocked, but many celebrities and actors in the entertainment industry were also left staring at this Weibo post, wondering if the account had been hacked.

It must have been!

That was the collective thought of everyone, even those few fans who had turned against Qi Sheng after he joined the reality show, now all thinking it was a hacked account.

[No, god, we didn’t agree with you joining the reality show, but we still love you in our hearts. As long as you film any movie, we’ll immediately switch back to being obsessed fans.]

Since Qi Sheng had joined the reality show, not everyone had accepted it. How could a king like him lower his status by doing something so casual? Some dedicated fans even formed a small group and posted daily on his Weibo, expressing their strong disapproval of the reality show.

[God, your goal is the stars and the sea, how can you let such a trivial reality show lower your status? The Oscars should be your final goal!]

They tried so hard to persuade him, afraid that their beloved idol would be influenced by these shallow variety shows. But who knew that not only would he not participate in the reality show anymore, but he also planned to retire from the entertainment industry!

How could they bear this?!

And to make matters worse, just when the fans were basking in the joy of Qi Sheng’s growing fanbase, they couldn’t stand it.

The post announcing his retirement stayed up without any deletion. The fans’ hearts grew colder and colder. Wasn’t it just a hacked account?

Without hesitation, they flocked to his manager Xu Yi’s Weibo, hoping for some clarification. But to their despair, Xu Yi responded to the retirement post!

The content of Xu Yi’s Weibo was a mixture of gratitude, regret, and mostly well-wishes.

Fans: ???

Well-wishing my foot! Did we agree to this!!!

They couldn’t understand why their idol suddenly announced his retirement. A year ago, at the awards ceremony, he had said he would dedicate his life to his acting career. What could have triggered this sudden decision?

The fans were bewildered, struggling to accept it. It wasn’t until the final episode of the show aired that they began to understand.

The post about Qi Sheng retiring mentioned wanting to spend more time with his family. At first, fans thought it was just an excuse, but it turned out to be his real intention.

Many fans suddenly recalled what Qi Sheng had said during the first episode’s interview.

[I’ve played many roles, and each time, I’ve given 100% effort to understand and portray them. But recently, I realized I haven’t handled some of the most important roles in my life well. Whether it’s as a father, a husband, or a son, I haven’t done it well. I think I need to stop for a while and think about this.]

The fans fell silent. They felt so distressed but couldn’t accept it right away.

For an entire week, the news of Qi Sheng’s retirement didn’t calm down. Even though Xu Yi repeatedly tried to remove the trending searches, fans still managed to push Qi Sheng’s name to the top of every platform.

Finally, a major fan compiled all of Qi Sheng’s efforts and achievements since he entered the industry, and that’s when they finally understood. Their idol had given them the best gift with all his might, but in doing so, he had forgotten himself and those closest to him.

The fans finally calmed down. Though still reluctant, they could only cry and send their blessings.

After the news of Qi Sheng’s retirement had completely settled, the fans finally found the mood to joke.

Looking at the scene where Qi Rui threw a tantrum in the final episode, fans rushed to Qi Sheng’s Weibo to leave comments.

The first comment made Qi Rui snort.

[When a kid throws a tantrum, just give him a good spanking. Or how about two spankings?]

Wasn’t I supposed to be your little darling?!

Qi Rui flipped through the comments on his phone, then sneakily glanced at his dad, who was sitting nearby reading. In the end, he walked over.

“Dad, you… you don’t need to sacrifice all your work for me. I just want you to spend some time with me occasionally. I didn’t mean to force you to retire from the industry.”

Qi Sheng smiled and reassured him again. “I told you before, I like to do everything well. Since I promised to spend time with you, I’ll make that my priority, and everything else can wait for now.”

Qi Rui wanted to say more, but then his dad spoke again. “You don’t need to feel pressured. I’m doing this for myself too. Besides, how can I not enjoy family life?”

“Well, you better not regret it later. Even if you do, you can only take it out on me…”

Qi Sheng laughed as he ruffled his son’s head. “Don’t worry, I won’t regret it. Teasing you is more fun than acting!”

Qi Rui snorted but didn’t argue as he usually would. He quietly sat next to Qi Sheng, reading along with him.

The fans slowly started to turn their grief into blessings, but half a year later, they began to stir things up again.

[At first, I thought it was the god-like father-son duo taking over the entertainment industry. Then I thought it was the perfect family conquering the fans. But now, I realize… damn, they didn’t leave anything for me!]

This comment received a lot of likes, as many fans had noticed that after Qi Sheng announced his retirement, Goddess Xia Li had also become less and less active.

You three are living your happy lives, but have you ever thought about us, your poor fans?!