novelraw Chapter 83: The Runaway Dad (8)
Chapter 83: The Runaway Dad (8)
During the day, the teacher managed to calm them down one by one, but the little ones still had things on their minds. So, in the evening, it was the parents’ turn to be overwhelmed.
Parents: “What do you mean, five of them?”
The little ones: “It’s… it’s five of me!”
The parents were left with confused looks. What do you mean, five of you? They couldn’t understand, but noticing how agitated and anxious their child was, they quickly turned to the parent group for help.
And so, the story of the Qi family’s quintuplets spread through the parent group.
At first, they didn’t get what their child was on about, but they were stunned by the quintuplets. “Wait, they’re all boys? These parents must be amazing!”
The other parents hadn’t even met yet but were already full of curiosity and admiration for Qi Sheng and Yang Ting. How have they not gone crazy yet?
Then, they went crazy themselves.
At this moment, the little ones were incredibly clever, as they had naturally figured out how to apply what they’d learned. They had remembered five, so whatever they thought of, they wanted five of it.
“Mom, Dad, I want… I want five of me!” “Five new outfits!”
“Five snacks!”
“Five dolls!”
…
Parents: …
The little ones were so excited, as though their wishes would be granted in the next second. Their eyes were squinted in happiness: “Dad, Mom, hurry up!”
Parents: What are we hurrying for?!
They had no choice but to helplessly start listing facts, reasoning, and trying to divert their attention. Unfortunately, the temptation they’d seen today was too great, and it wasn’t easy to deal with.
“That little friend has five of them. He said… he said you turned into five, and I saw it, really!”
The little ones weren’t so easily tricked. They had seen it with their own eyes!
Parents: I feel like we might die here tonight…
Qi Yudong, who had stirred up a storm in kindergarten on the first day, returned home feeling accomplished. He put his hands behind his back and started thinking about how to cause more trouble tomorrow.
This lucky reborn child had already pushed his goal of becoming a life winner several years into the future. He planned to continue his life as the class troublemaker, starting from kindergarten!
Yang Ting was struggling, flipping through the parent group messages filled with complaints, feeling guilty and awkward. Looking at Big Treasure, who was almost swaggering around, she couldn’t help but twitch her mouth. This little rascal…
The most enjoyable part of kindergarten life for Qi Yudong was playing tricks on others, teasing this one and scaring that one. He had successfully become the king of mischief in kindergarten, and he strutted around every day with no shame.
The kindergarten teachers didn’t fail to report his behavior, and Qi Sheng, seeing the little one acting cute and playing obediently in front of him, was speechless. You, a reborn child, are dominating in kindergarten and even feeling proud about it?
Of course, apart from reporting Qi Yudong’s naughty behavior, the teachers also expressed concerns about his academic performance and weren’t very optimistic. However, Qi Sheng ignored this. He believed the little one was just hiding his true abilities, so he didn’t pay any attention to it. And his belief was soon blatantly disproven.
“This… What’s going on here?”
This was a rare moment when Qi Sheng’s voice was unsteady. Looking at the report card in his hand, he felt like his unlucky son had just taught him a lesson about life.
“You actually didn’t pass the exam!”
Qi Sheng was extremely shocked. Didn’t the system say this kid was reborn at the age of seventeen? How could he not even pass elementary school?!
The five Qi siblings all applied to a well-known local bilingual international school, and the other four passed easily. Only Qi Yudong—only he failed!
At this moment, Qi Sheng was fuming. He looked at the little one in front of him, who was shrinking into a smaller and smaller figure, and felt like his life might be ruined by this child.
“Come on, tell me, why didn’t you pass?”
Qi Yudong glanced at the report card, then hung his head in dejection. It was over. His first black mark in life had appeared out of nowhere. He secretly glanced at his father, whose face had turned dark, and slowly took two steps back.
Qi Sheng was so irritated by his small movements that he laughed in spite of himself. He tapped his forehead and asked, “Have you figured out an excuse yet?”
Qi Yudong hesitated and then spoke up: “English… is a bit difficult?”
Qi Sheng: …
Even if you were a bad student before, after a few years in kindergarten, you should have picked up something faster than the other kids, right?
Unfortunately, reality slapped him in the face. Qi Sheng took another look at the Chinese and math scores and began to doubt whether these grades were still the result of this little rascal’s nine years of compulsory education.
Qi Yudong lowered his head, not daring to speak, because he also felt a little embarrassed. He silently thanked his lucky stars that no one knew he was reborn (not really), or else it would be even more embarrassing.
But he was still a little unconvinced. How was it that getting into elementary school was not only difficult but actually this hard? He never felt this way when he was entering junior high!
Influenced by his past experiences with relaxed local entrance exams, Qi Yudong never expected that this simple kindergarten-to-elementary school transition would turn out to be the biggest failure of his life, up until now. He felt so sorry for his parents, for himself, and for all the glorious lives of the reincarnated predecessors he had admired.
Father and son exchanged a silent look, and then Qi Sheng stood up, ready to take the little one upstairs to have a “chat.” But before he could take two steps, he was stopped by the grandmother, who was watching the scene.
“Shengzi, what are you doing? Ah, Big Treasure is still young. Don’t hit him out of anger…”
“Mom, I’m not going to hit him. I just want to set some rules for him.”
But the grandmother didn’t believe him. With that dark expression on his face, she knew he might act on impulse. So, she said, “If you have something to say, say it here. We’re not stopping you. No need to go upstairs.”
Qi Sheng glanced at the grandmother, who was protecting her little cub, and then at Qi Yudong, who was acting pitiful in his hands. In the end, he put him down and looked at the little one, who was trying to step back while covering his bottom. With a stern face, he asked, “So, what are we going to do now?”
Qi Yudong, being the little delinquent he was, genuinely didn’t like studying. After graduating from middle school, he went to work and had forgotten the little bit of knowledge he’d learned. In the past three years, he had done everything mischievous, except study.
Then, for some reason, he gained the courage to ask Qi Sheng, with a dark expression on his face: “Dad, can I not go to school? I don’t like studying. Isn’t there a saying, ‘teaching according to the student’s aptitude’? I think you could help me develop my other strengths!”
Qi Sheng: “Not go to school? Then what do you want to do?”
“I want to learn how to make money. I also want to learn how to fight… I mean, boxing…”
Once Qi Yudong started talking about things he liked, he couldn’t stop. Then he saw his dad’s face growing darker and darker and felt like his bottom might not be safe today…
He quickly stopped talking, not wanting to sever the father-son bond. Qi Yudong obediently gave in: “Actually, I really like studying…”
“What?”
“I… I love studying!”
Qi Yudong had just tried to stutter his way through, but his father’s authority was too overwhelming. In the end, he could only say it through gritted teeth, feeling a little like he wanted to cry. Why had it come to this?
Finally, Qi Sheng heard the answer he was satisfied with. His face softened, and he picked up the little one. He turned to his mother and said, “Mom, I’ll take him to the study room to learn English. I won’t hit him.”
The grandmother believed him this time and did not stop him.
Qi Sheng went upstairs but didn’t go to the study room right away. Instead, he carried the little one into the study, placed him on the desk, and began to intimidate him.
“Let’s set a basic goal. For the first exam of first grade, you must score no less than 80 in every subject. Otherwise, I’ll take your pants off in front of your brothers and spank you. Got it?”
Qi Yudong’s eyes widened. He wasn’t afraid of being punished. He could just bear it. But to be spanked in front of his younger brothers? What would happen to his dignity as the older brother?!
“Dad, can we talk about this—”
“No, this is just the basic goal. If you can’t make it into the top ten of your class by the end of the first semester, the same punishment will apply!”
Qi Yudong was shocked. Dad, isn’t your expectation a little too high? The father and son seemed to connect through their brainwaves at that moment.
Qi Sheng: It’s not too high. You’re practically 20 years old, and you can’t even make it into the top ten of first grade? If I don’t punish you, who should I punish?
Qi Sheng teased him: “Son, if you really don’t want to study, there’s no need to force yourself. Just let your brothers beat you a few more times, and you’ll get used to it.”
Qi Yudong: …
Qi Yudong didn’t feel like talking at that moment. He leaned against his dad, and with a drooping head, he was carried into the study.
In the study, the second and third brothers were reading, while the fourth and fifth brothers were drawing. Qi Sheng put Qi Yudong down, patted his head, and said, “Figure out a way to improve your grades. If you need a tutor, just let me know. I only care about the results.”
After saying that, he coldly ignored him and went over to the second and third brothers, picking them up and sitting with them as they read.
Qi Yudong looked at his dad’s cold profile, feeling the coldness of this world. Remembering the rules just set, he could only brace himself and start studying.
Although Qi Sheng had been busy with work these past years, he always made time to spend with his kids. Compared to Qi Yudong’s mischievousness, the other four kids were much more obedient, with the second and third being especially well-behaved and sensible. However, Qi Sheng didn’t neglect them because of that. Whenever he had free time, he liked to sit with them, read together, and help them with their studies.
Sitting there, struggling to learn English, Qi Yudong glanced over at the perfect father-son trio, once again doubting life. Genes were really a strange thing. The second and third brothers were geniuses in his past life too. Back then, he also had the fourth brother, who was a poor student, to accompany him. But now, he was the only one, pitifully struggling to study hard.
Wait a second. The fourth brother may have passed the exam, but his grades were only average. Why didn’t Dad hold him to such strict standards?
With the idea of “brothers sticking together,” Qi Yudong slowly moved closer to his father.
“Dad, I think we should set a study goal for the fourth brother too. His grades are only a little better than mine!”
The fourth brother, who was drawing, turned and gave Qi Yudong a glance, looking at him with the gaze of a genius looking at a poor student. With a snort, he turned his head away.
Qi Yudong: …
You’re only a little better than me. What’s all the attitude about?
Qi Sheng glanced at his fidgeting son and asked, “How much have you learned in drawing? Can you read music for the violin yet? The fourth brother is doing well in both of those.”
Qi Yudong was stunned by his father’s soul-searching question. He suddenly realized that all his brothers were no simple matter.
The second and third brothers were definitely academic geniuses. They had already finished the first-grade curriculum and had read many extra books. The fourth brother, although average in academics, was better than him. He was also very interested in art and music, and he was learning well. The fifth brother was the most peculiar one. His personality could be described as “still as a virgin, swift as a rabbit”—he loved sleeping, eating, and playing, and his idea of fun was playing around crazily. Yet, despite this, he was ranked third in their group in terms of academic performance, and he could also draw and play an instrument…
Qi Yudong thought for a moment and suddenly felt immense pressure. Oh my god, if he realized this any later, he might lose his position as the eldest! Why were the kids these days so amazing?!
Feeling like he had been taught a lesson by his younger brothers, Qi Yudong no longer dared to slack off. He slunk back to his spot and continued studying. After a painful hour of studying vocabulary, he stared blankly at his notebook, tears welling up inside. So, I was reborn to study?! This is nothing like what I imagined!!!