In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 76: The Runaway Dad (1)

Qi Sheng was woken up by loud banging on the door. Rubbing his head, he looked at his wife, who was also disturbed, and reassured her, “You keep sleeping, I’ll go check it out.”

Qi Sheng had already received the storyline, so he could naturally guess who was at the door.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, he saw his mother, beaming with joy, asking, “Shengzi, is it true that Tingzi is pregnant? And with twins?!”

Qi Sheng let her in and nodded. “That’s what the checkup report says.”

Seeing how elated his mother was, Qi Sheng added silently in his heart, It’s only two months; the babies are still too small to tell anything. Wait a couple more months — you’ll be even more ‘surprised.’

Hearing his confirmation, the old lady was overjoyed and rushed straight into their bedroom, fussing over Yang Ting.

“Oh, Tingzi, no need to get up! Mom just wanted to see you. Lie down, lie down.”

“Tingzi, you must take extra care during these first three months. If you crave anything, just say the word — Mom will make it for you.”

“You are the great contributor to the Qi family! We’ve had only single children for three generations, and now, unexpectedly, you’re carrying twins! Shengzi’s father was thrilled when he heard the news. If it weren’t for the fact that he had to harvest the crops, he would have come with me today.”

“Oh right, Tingzi, have you been feeling uncomfortable lately? Craving sour or spicy food?” The old lady sat down and kept talking non-stop, her face blooming like a chrysanthemum, making Yang Ting feel quite awkward.

After all, when someone who usually treated you coldly suddenly turned so warm and enthusiastic, anyone would feel uneasy.

When Yang Ting heard “three generations of only children,” she almost rolled her eyes. By the time the old lady finished speaking, she barely kept a straight face. Is there a royal throne to inherit or something? Always “grandson this, grandson that”!

Still, knowing it was rare for the old lady to be in such a good mood, Yang Ting suppressed her irritation. If she lost her temper now, it would only lead to another argument with Qi Sheng. Calming herself, she smiled and replied, “More towards sour things.”

The old lady, hearing this, immediately grinned even wider.

“Tingzi, you haven’t eaten yet, right? You stay in bed — I’ll go make you breakfast.”

Without waiting for Yang Ting’s reply, she happily trotted off to the kitchen, a stark contrast to the proud old woman who once demanded to be served by her daughter-in-law.

Yang Ting watched Qi Sheng close the bedroom door, flopped back onto the bed, and couldn’t resist kicking him lightly. “I told you we should have waited a bit longer to tell them. Now look, Mom’s here already — planning to stay for good?”

She had caught sight of the luggage in the living room earlier: a large woven bag. It must have been tough for the old lady to bring it by herself.

“I’ll ask Mom about it later. Isn’t it good to have someone taking care of you? It’s not every day that our mom offers to cook,” Qi Sheng said.

Yang Ting finally rolled her eyes for real and muttered, “I can’t handle this.” Then she glared at Qi Sheng and added, “We agreed: no matter if it’s girls or boys, this is the only pregnancy. Even if it’s two daughters, I won’t have another child. If your parents want more, you can deal with them yourself.”

Seeing Qi Sheng stay silent, Yang Ting softened her tone. “Honey, we agreed before, you can’t back out now!”

Qi Sheng nodded and reassured her, “Don’t worry, we’re only having this one.”

Hearing her man still standing on her side, Yang Ting happily snuggled into his arms and began daydreaming. “Honey, two daughters would actually be great — daughters take after their dads. Two pretty little sweethearts… just think how sweet your life will be.”

Her husband was so handsome; two little girls who looked like him would surely melt everyone’s hearts. But then she thought about her parents-in-law’s stern faces and sighed. “Forget it, maybe two sons would be better — that way, I could have some peace and quiet,” she muttered, imagining her in-laws nitpicking over everything.

“Hey, if it’s a boy and a girl, a dragon-phoenix pair, that would be perfect. Right, honey?”

Qi Sheng: …

You’re dreaming too much!

“Honey, why aren’t you saying anything? No, I have to go to the temple in a few days and pray for a dragon-phoenix pair!”

Qi Sheng was about to laugh. Even if you pray, the babies in your belly aren’t going to switch genders. But he still comforted her: “Don’t worry, I actually prefer daughters too. If both are girls, even better.”

Qi Sheng said this completely sincerely. After all, anyone would know raising five daughters and raising five sons were two entirely different lives.

Thinking about the five boys that would be born in just a few months, even a worldly man like Qi Sheng felt a little overwhelmed. Life would definitely be as lively as a kindergarten.

But that was a problem for the future. Right now, the priority was to ensure the pregnancy went smoothly. With five babies, even the slightest complication could be dangerous for both mother and children.

Even though, according to the original storyline, all five would be born safely, the youngest was said to be frail and often sick. This time, he was determined to prevent that.

Scanning the bedroom, Qi Sheng realized there was a lot to do. At the very least, he had to improve their living conditions.

Currently, they were renting a one-bedroom apartment outside the Third Ring Road — fine for just the two of them, but in a few months, there wouldn’t even be room to move.

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but for now, the most important thing was taking care of his wife, their key “protected subject.”

“You’ve been saying your job is exhausting and too much of a hassle. How about you take this opportunity to resign?” he suggested.

Yang Ting looked at her husband in surprise. “But resigning now would be a big loss. If I hang in there for a few more months, I can still get three months of maternity leave. And formula milk isn’t cheap — if we don’t save more now, we won’t be able to afford raising these two little ones.”

Qi Sheng said, “Didn’t I tell you some time ago that I was planning to switch jobs? The current salary is too low. I had sent out a few résumés before, and two companies are willing to offer me a 50k salary—”

“50k! Are you serious?!”

Before Qi Sheng could finish speaking, Yang Ting screamed. Her husband’s current monthly salary was just over 10k, and now it would jump three or four times?!

“Yeah, that’s how it stands for now. I plan to send out a few more applications to see if I can find an even better offer.”

Yang Ting swallowed hard, finding it a bit unbelievable. “How could you not have mentioned something this big before?”

“I was too excited when I found out you were pregnant and completely forgot,” he said with a smile.

“You actually forgot something like this…”

Of course, that wasn’t the real reason. It wasn’t that he forgot — the opportunity simply hadn’t existed before.

The original Qi Sheng had been a programmer, but even among programmers, there are different levels. Some earn hundreds of thousands a year, even millions, but some only make just over 10k a month. Qi Sheng belonged to the latter group.

Programming is a field that constantly demands learning new skills. You need genuine passion for coding and algorithms to excel. Otherwise, you’re just a more polished code monkey.

After entering the workforce, the original Qi Sheng’s passion for learning had plummeted. After three or four years, he hadn’t learned many new technologies, but he had mastered the art of slacking off.

Being a programmer is, in many ways, a young person’s game. If it weren’t for the fact that the original Qi Sheng was good-looking and had a sweet tongue that often pleased the female project leader, even that 10k salary might not have lasted.

But the current Qi Sheng was different. He had truly advanced skills. Finding a better-paying job was just a matter of time. Still, he couldn’t make too big of a change too quickly — otherwise, it would seem suspicious.

Yang Ting sighed, “Programmers really do earn a lot. Just changing jobs and you can triple or quadruple your salary. No wonder so many people want to become programmers.”

Qi Sheng chuckled and said, “You don’t need to worry about money. What you should worry about is yourself. With all the overtime and stress, you might as well just quit. Better than exhausting yourself and hurting the babies.”

Yang Ting glanced at her husband and raised an eyebrow. “You really support me quitting? Don’t end up complaining later that you married a broke housewife!”

“What are you saying? You’re my precious wife. If you really want to work again, you can think about it after you recover from postpartum confinement.”

Yang Ting was tempted. Her current job didn’t pay much and often left her physically and mentally drained. It might be a good opportunity to rest — who knew when she’d get another chance like this.

“Alright then, I’ll resign next week. I’ll take this time to rest and maybe even study. If I can pass the CPA exam, I won’t have to worry about jobs in the future.”

Hearing this, Qi Sheng felt relieved. He could handle the financial part, but taking care of a pregnant woman’s health wasn’t something he could easily fix if it went wrong. His job now was to take good care of both her physical and emotional well-being.

At breakfast, Qi Sheng’s mother made it clear she wanted to stay to help take care of them. She even said she could move the coffee table aside and sleep on the floor in the living room to avoid kicking her son out of bed.

“Mom, the pregnancy is still early. Tingting can take care of herself. Plus, with Dad alone at home and no one to cook for him, I’m worried.”

The old lady was a bit torn. She wasn’t comfortable leaving her husband alone, but she was also worried about the precious twins.

“You two are so busy with work. I could at least cook for you.”

“I’m planning for Tingting to resign next week, so she can focus on her pregnancy.”

Keeping a pregnant woman happy was critical, and Qi Sheng knew very well that his mother-in-law relationship was rocky. His mother treated her son like an emperor and believed that a daughter-in-law’s job was to serve him.

With that attitude, after seeing her daughter-in-law’s mediocre cooking skills and the young couple often ordering takeout, she immediately deemed Yang Ting unfit.

Add to that the horror of seeing her precious son mopping the floor a few times — she completely blew up. How could you let my son do housework?!

Despite the original Qi Sheng trying to mediate, and Yang Ting explaining she had a full-time job too, it didn’t help much. Their relationship just kept getting worse.

Qi Sheng didn’t trust the two women to live under one roof without fighting, especially in their tiny apartment. He also couldn’t bear to see his mother sleeping on the floor every night.

The old lady’s face darkened for a moment when she heard Yang Ting would be quitting, but thinking about the two grandchildren-to-be, she managed to swallow her displeasure.

Since her daughter-in-law wouldn’t be bringing in money anymore, it seemed only fair that she would cook herself. So she couldn’t help but nag: “I’ll stay for a couple of days and then leave. You two, stop ordering so much takeout — that stuff’s dirty. It’s not good for pregnant women, or even for regular people.”

Yang Ting, still in a good mood from the salary raise and her plan to quit next week, didn’t care about the old lady’s changing expressions. She obediently nodded and agreed.