In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 82: The Runaway Dad (7)

After enduring the long and naked phase, the little ones finally learned to crawl, and Qi Sheng had submitted his resignation the day before.

“Brother Sheng, you still have five little ones to support. What are your plans for the future?”

This was a question from Jiang Mingyang, who had been tasked by his older brother to get closer to Qi Sheng.

Although Jiang Mingyang was good at nothing, and his title as vice president was just for show, he had one advantage: he was harmlessly naive. So, even though his face clearly indicated he had ulterior motives, Qi Sheng still became friends with him.

“I’m going to start a company.”

“Which direction are you planning to go in?”

“Smart brain.”

As soon as Qi Sheng finished speaking, Jiang Mingyang’s eyes widened. “Brother Sheng, you’re really talking big! Although your tech is impressive, do you really think a smart brain can be just started like that? It’s not like writing a novel!”

Jiang Mingyang had originally planned to invest no matter what Qi Sheng said, but now he hesitated. Maybe he should go back and discuss it with his brother.

Qi Sheng had already anticipated this reaction and didn’t mind. He had long wanted to develop a smart brain, but in many of his previous worlds, there had been no conditions to do so. This lifetime, he finally had the identity of a programmer, so it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. And besides, he had five sons to raise, which made him different from ordinary people.

It would take a few more days to transfer his work, so Qi Sheng stayed in the office. Just as he was about to head upstairs for some errands, Jiang Mingyang hurriedly came downstairs again.

“Brother Sheng, my brother wants to talk to you properly.”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. It seemed like the Jiang family was still considering an investment. He wasn’t opposed to Jiang Mingye’s idea; after all, it would be much easier to secure funding with the Jiang family’s strong backing than to raise capital for his own investment.

So, the next step was a negotiation between two professionals, with both trying to outwit each other, leaving Jiang Mingyang, who was just there to listen, dizzy and confused.

Eventually, the cooperation intention was agreed upon. Jiang Mingyang stared blankly at Qi Sheng as he left, then turned to look at his brother, who remained calm.

“Bro, you agreed to such a big investment just like that? He doesn’t even have a project proposal!”

Jiang Mingye replied, “A proposal is just a blueprint. He has real-world cases. That’s more important than a proposal.”

“What real-world cases? I’ve never seen any!”

Jiang Mingye was impressed by his brother’s foolishness: “Don’t you think our core system has been upgraded several levels?”

“Uh, yeah, it seems to have been upgraded. So, the smart brain might actually succeed?”

Jiang Mingye paused, not entirely sure. “It’s hard to say, but I believe the operating system he creates will be much better than the ones available on the market. Just that alone is enough.”

Jiang Mingyang made an “oh” sound and decided not to ask further. After all, his brother was in charge of business matters. He was about to leave to rest his brain when he heard his brother speak again.

“You still have that empty villa, right? Get someone to clean it up these days and give it to Qi Sheng.”

“Huh? Oh.”

So, when the Qi family found out that their husband/son/father had quit his high-paying job, they hadn’t even had time to feel the pain, only to learn that they were moving—and moving to a villa!

Everyone was shocked. The old lady was the first to speak, her hands trembling slightly. “Sheng Zi, how did you get a villa? Why are they giving it to you?”

Qi Sheng replied, “We’re business partners. This is their friendly sponsorship.”

The old lady didn’t quite understand, so she just nodded. However, Yang Ting was very curious. “Hubby, if you’re starting a business, what kind of project do you plan to work on? Isn’t this villa a bit too much? This is a villa in a first-tier city!”

Qi Sheng responded, “The current plan is to first develop a computer system. If it’s really successful, then the villa won’t be a big deal. But if it fails, we might have to return it to them.”

After hearing this, the three people around him finally understood. What he meant was that they could temporarily live here? With this thought, they all felt at ease.

Meanwhile, Qi Yuxi, who was happily crawling around in the living room, overheard their conversation and continued crawling with a blank expression. So, what exactly am I reborn for? To experience being a rich second generation?

Qi Sheng had already prepared his startup plan in advance. He had the technical team ready, so things were going relatively smoothly with work. As for the Qi family, they had successfully moved into the villa.

The old man and old lady had never imagined they would live in a villa in their lifetime. They were extremely proud and curious, walking around the house to check each room.

“Sheng, this house is so big. It’ll take a lot of effort to clean it in the future.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit big.”

They half-heartedly complained with smiles, clearly not really bothered.

The first floor of the living room had already been covered with a thick, soft carpet, giving the five little ones a larger space to play. Qi Yuxi led his brothers, crawling in all directions while also contemplating life.

I thought I was following the script of a male protagonist’s rise to power, but turns out, I’m just the son of the male protagonist?!

Feeling discouraged by his impressive father, Qi Yuxi lay helplessly on the carpet. I think I’ll just continue being a baby…

As soon as he stopped, the other little ones, who were crawling nearby, happily joined him. They gathered around, laughing and playfully biting each other.

Looking at his third brother on top of him, Qi Yuxi lazily moved his finger but couldn’t be bothered to push him away. Ah, if only the four of them could be reborn together, then they could enjoy the good fortune as well. Sadly, this wish would never come true.

Since moving into the villa, the five little ones had felt like they had entered paradise. With strong support for their crawling learning, they had already started slowly learning how to walk.

By the time they turned one year old, all the little ones had learned to walk.

“Dad… ah…”

The little ones’ pronunciations of “dad” and “mom” were now quite clear, so every day after work, Qi Sheng was greeted by a grand welcome ceremony. The five chubby little ones, with their tiny legs, would waddle over, arms outstretched, calling for hugs. Qi Sheng couldn’t resist.

Ever since the first time Qi Sheng couldn’t hold back from hugging them, this little routine had become a daily must-do.

Of course, due to practical reasons, Qi Sheng could only sit on the carpet at the door, hugging each of them one by one.

After such a hug, he was unable to get up and needed someone to help him.

So, Yang Ting came over to help with the hugs. As she casually picked up the eldest, Qi Sheng suddenly thought of something.

“Wife, don’t our sons still not have their full names?”

Yang Ting paused, then realized, “Uh, it seems so.”

Qi Yuxi, who was being held, silently sighed. You two are really something. How could you forget this?!

Thus, the naming ceremony for the five babies officially began.

Old Qi: “I had planned to use the word ‘Yu’ for one of them, but I didn’t expect five of them. One word just won’t be enough.”

The old lady: “That’s easy. We’ll use ‘Yu’ as the middle name. I just thought of it—how about East, West, South, North, and Center?”

Yang Ting: “Qi Yudong, Qi Yuxi, Qi Yunan… It sounds pretty good!”

And so, the names of the five little ones were decided like this. Qi Yuxi, who was now supposed to be called Qi Yudong, stared at the adults, speechless. So, our names were decided in one minute like this? Can you take this more seriously?!

Fortunately, he was somewhat satisfied with the names. Otherwise, he would’ve had to represent his brothers and protest.

Even though they now had their official names, the adults still preferred to call them by their nicknames. Every day, it was Big Treasure, Second Treasure, Third Treasure, Fourth Treasure, and Fifth Treasure. Only Qi Yudong occasionally had some objections, while the other four babies clearly preferred their nicknames.

Qi Yudong silently looked at his several silly younger brothers, chuckling twice. “You’ll regret this later!”

Since learning to walk, no matter how spacious the villa was, it could no longer contain them. If they didn’t leave their footprints in every nook and cranny, they felt uncomfortable.

Moreover, Qi Sheng was a doting parent. Not only did he build small amusement facilities and a swimming pool for them, but he also prepared many toys. As a result, even though there were two nannies in the villa, it was still a mess every day.

Yang Ting looked at the toys scattered everywhere and began directing the little ones. “Big Treasure, here’s a basket. Take your brothers and pick up the toys one by one, and put them away like this.” She even demonstrated it for him.

Qi Yudong glanced at the chaotic living room, feeling a bit embarrassed. Influenced by these four childish little ones, he almost forgot that he was reborn.

Qi Yudong was relatively obedient. He immediately took his brothers and started organizing the toys. At first, it went smoothly, but after a while, the attention of the four little ones shifted. They suddenly found the toys in their hands incredibly attractive, and what started as picking up toys turned into playing with them. The toys that had just been placed in the basket were once again pulled out to be played with…

Yang Ting: …

At times like this, she could either transform into a fire-breathing dragon or just accept her fate. So, Yang Ting was slowly worn down, becoming more laid-back. “As long as you’re happy, it’s fine.”

At that moment, the old lady woke up from her nap, and Yang Ting excitedly handed over the task to her. She happily and swiftly moved upstairs.

Every day was chaotic until the little ones turned three. They were finally able to go to kindergarten, and the whole family was eagerly anticipating it.

“Honey, are we going with this kindergarten?”

“Yeah, let’s go with this one. Mingyang helped find it. He said all of his friends’ kids go there, and the environment is good, plus the teachers are professionally trained.”

Yang Ting nodded happily, flipping through the kindergarten brochure and imagining their wonderful future life.

On the first day, Qi Sheng and Yang Ting took them to the kindergarten. The five little ones had all been spoiled into fearless children. With Qi Yudong, who was reborn, leading the way, the process of dropping them off went smoothly.

But unfortunately, the smoothness didn’t last long. Before Yang Ting even got back home, the teacher’s phone call came.

Here’s what happened: The five good-looking, identical little ones swaggered into the classroom, instantly becoming the focus of the class.

Other children, seeing five new classmates who looked exactly the same, couldn’t help but swallow, then silently began observing them.

Qi Yudong glanced at the little boy beside him, who was sneakily peeking at him, and gave a mischievous smile. When the boy looked at him again, Qi Yudong suddenly turned his head and made a funny face. The boy was so shocked that he froze. That wasn’t all. The other four little ones, seeing their older brother making funny faces, didn’t understand what was going on, but since they were a team, they all simultaneously started making funny faces too.

As a result, the little boy, who had already been shocked once, was now forced to endure a whole set of “terrifying” funny faces, and then he started crying.

Of course, at this point, there was no need to call the parents because the teachers were professionals, and calming one child was fine. But calming a bunch of them was a bit tricky.

Curious and bold children crowded around Qi Yudong and his brothers. “Are you… the same?”

Qi Yudong: “Not the same. Look at the clothes.”

The curious child seriously looked at their clothes and nodded in agreement, “The clothes are different.”

Then, he tilted his head and continued looking at Qi Yudong, a bit confused, “Why are there so many of you?”

Qi Yudong: “Well, my parents were afraid I’d be lonely, so they copied and pasted four more. Look at me, I get to wear five new outfits a day, eat five snacks, and change five hairstyles. Isn’t that awesome?”

The curious child was not like Qi Yudong, who was reborn. After hearing this long explanation, the little one remembered the five outfits and five snacks, then sucked on his finger and kept looking back and forth. Suddenly, he ran off.

Qi Yudong thought he hadn’t managed to entertain the child and felt a bit disappointed, but then he noticed that the curious child had already grabbed his little backpack and was heading outside.

He was planning to continue watching the fun, but was surrounded by a little girl. The girl asked curiously, “Five new outfits? How much is that?”

Qi Yudong pointed at himself and his brothers and said, “All of this.”

The little girl’s eyes widened, as if she had discovered a new continent. She looked at Qi Yudong with admiration. “Then… why do you have so many?”

Qi Yudong continued to play along: “Just tell your parents at home, and they’ll make them for you. If they can’t make them, it means they don’t like you!”

The little girl seemed to understand, so she happily started running off, wanting to make her own.

The little babies, who had been eavesdropping, also remembered. When they saw two of them leaving, they wanted to leave too. They had to hurry back to ask their parents for the same, or they might miss out.

Just as the teacher had managed to calm the crying child, she suddenly noticed that each of the little ones was starting to walk out. Some were carrying their little backpacks, while others were just walking out.

Teacher: What just happened?