In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 95: The Abusive Dad (1)

When Qi Sheng woke up again, his first sensation was a splitting headache. But remembering the plot he had just received, he ignored the pain, hurriedly got out of bed, and went into the living room.

The lights in the living room were still on. The floor was littered with a shattered teacup, spilled water, and a belt. Qi Sheng’s eyes landed on the glaringly conspicuous belt as he carefully walked over to the sofa.

Lying on the sofa was a little boy, about ten years old, named Qi Yang—this body’s son.

Qi Sheng gently reached out to touch Qi Yang. Just as he was about to lift the boy’s shirt to check for injuries, the child lying on the sofa let out a groan. Seeing someone approach, he shrank back in fear and pleaded in a tearful voice, “Daddy, please… please don’t hit me anymore. I really can’t take it.”

That one sentence brought tears to Qi Sheng’s eyes, a man who had weathered countless storms. Looking at the child cowering from him in fear, he forced down the fury he felt toward the original owner of this body, crouched gently beside the sofa, and softly coaxed, “Yangyang, it’s okay. Daddy’s not going to hit you anymore. Daddy just wants to look at your injuries.”

The child clearly didn’t believe him and kept shrinking deeper into the sofa. Unfortunately, the sofa was only so big—there was nowhere left to retreat, and he could only watch helplessly as Qi Sheng approached.

“Daddy, sob… I was wrong, please don’t hit me.”

Hearing the boy’s pitiful pleading broke Qi Sheng’s heart. He knew the child was terrified of him, but checking the injuries had to come first.

He continued coaxing softly while carefully lifting the child into his lap. As he reached to lift the boy’s T-shirt, he could feel the fragile little body trembling uncontrollably under his hands.

Qi Sheng gently stroked the boy’s head before lifting his shirt. The tender, fair skin was crisscrossed with purple welts about the width of a finger. Qi Sheng’s eyes burned with pain at the sight. Seeing how severe the injuries were, he wished he could drag out the original owner of this body and beat him to death a hundred times over.

The child was still sobbing. Worried, Qi Sheng gently removed the boy’s sweatpants and underwear.

Dark purple swelling covered the boy’s buttocks and thighs—it looked even worse than his back. The child’s body was also feverish to the touch. Qi Sheng couldn’t worry about anything else. He quickly dressed the boy, carefully picked him up, grabbed the house keys and phone from the bedroom, and rushed downstairs at full speed.

This body had recently consumed alcohol—Qi Sheng couldn’t drive. He had no choice but to wait for a taxi by the roadside.

The boy in his arms was still crying. Qi Sheng kept soothing him patiently, again and again. “Yangyang, be good. Once we get to the hospital, it won’t hurt anymore.”

Fortunately, they lived in the city. Though it was already 1 a.m., it didn’t take long for a taxi to arrive. Qi Sheng got in, letting the boy lie on his chest, and told the driver to head to the nearest top-tier hospital. He then gently ran his fingers through the child’s soft hair.

The driver, perhaps trying to stay awake on the late shift, struck up a conversation. Seeing Qi Sheng’s anxious face and the crying child in his arms, he assumed the boy was sick and tried to offer comfort: “No need to worry. It’s normal for kids this age to catch colds or have a fever. Just let him drink more warm water, sweat it out, and maybe he won’t even need medicine.”

Qi Sheng’s mind was completely consumed by the injuries on the child’s body. He didn’t have the energy to chat and simply gave a brief reply before lowering his head to kiss the child gently on the forehead.

Qi Sheng was burning with fury. He couldn’t understand how such a scum of a person like the original owner could exist. It was bad enough that he had violent tendencies—but after beating his wife into leaving, he used his only son as a punching bag.

Tonight’s beating had been entirely due to the original owner’s cruel and abusive nature. After drinking some alcohol, he came home and ordered the child to fetch him some water.

Qi Yang was terrified of his drunk father. When he saw the man stumble in, he grew panicked and frightened. He obediently got the water, but was so nervous that he forgot to say “Dad” while handing it over. That one tiny omission, so insignificant to most, triggered the original owner’s violent outburst.

Qi Sheng recalled how the original owner had slapped the boy to the ground—and only now remembered the child’s face might also be injured. Because of the angle earlier, he had almost missed it.

He gently lifted the boy and turned his small face toward him. Seeing the deep five-finger mark on the child’s tender cheek made Qi Sheng’s heart ache unbearably.

The child looked at him timidly and called out in a trembling voice, “Daddy.”

“Yangyang, be good. We’re almost at the hospital. Once we’re there, it won’t hurt anymore.”

Perhaps sensing Qi Sheng’s urgency, the driver sped up, and before long, they arrived at the hospital entrance.

Qi Sheng paid and thanked the driver, then rushed toward the hospital. The driver, who had caught a glimpse of the boy’s injured face while taking the payment, looked at Qi Sheng’s retreating figure in disbelief.

Was that a handprint on the kid’s face?

Who could be so heartless as to beat a child like that?

Qi Sheng entered the hospital lobby and approached the nurse on duty. “Please help me find a doctor. My child has a fever and some injuries that need treatment.”

Seeing how anxious he was—and that there were still available beds—the nurse quickly led him to a room.

“Sir, you can lay the child on the bed. I’ll go call Dr. Xu right away,” she said before turning and hurrying off.

Qi Sheng gently laid the child on the bed, positioning him face down. Seeing the boy had stopped crying and was now secretly peeking at him with bright black eyes, he sat down beside the bed and gently coaxed him.

“Yangyang, be good. When the doctor comes, make sure you tell them where it hurts, okay? Once you’re all better, Daddy will take you to the amusement park. How does that sound?”

Qi Yang nodded obediently, saying yes, and stared blankly at Qi Sheng’s gentle smile before slowly turning his face to the side.

Dr. Xu arrived quickly. When he saw little Qi Yang lying face down on the bed, he found it a bit strange. Walking to the other side of the bed, he habitually reached out to touch the child’s forehead. But as soon as his hand got close, he was stunned by the bruised handprint on the boy’s tender cheek.

Realizing something was wrong, he immediately lifted the boy’s T-shirt from the back.

“Ah!”

The accompanying nurse let out a startled cry at the sight of the boy’s injuries, then quickly covered her mouth. She exchanged a glance with Dr. Xu and discreetly gave Qi Sheng a once-over.

Dr. Xu’s expression darkened. Without a word to Qi Sheng, he proceeded to remove the boy’s pants and underwear.

This time, the nurse couldn’t even make a sound. She stared wide-eyed at the injuries on Qi Yang’s lower body, her eyes turning red with tears.

What kind of person could do something so cruel to a child?

Dr. Xu’s face was as black as ink. He looked at Qi Sheng and asked coldly, “Are you the guardian? What’s going on with this child?”

Qi Sheng didn’t know how to respond, so he could only plead, “Please, can you check his injuries first? He also seems to have a fever.”

Dr. Xu, seeing that Qi Sheng wasn’t offering an explanation, looked at him suspiciously. His voice was frosty. “Guardian, please step outside.”

Forced out of the hospital room, Qi Sheng sat on a bench in the hallway. Thinking of the injuries on the child’s back, he felt both anguish and fury.

He had no way to vent his rage at the original owner of this body and could only bitterly blame the entire system.

This world is strange. Parents are arguably the most important role in the development of society, yet it’s the one job that doesn’t require any sort of certification.

No screening process, no evaluation—whether a moral exemplar or the scum of the earth, everyone has the same right to become a parent. The opportunity is unfairly equal!

Just thinking of the original scumbag who inhabited this body made Qi Sheng grit his teeth. He waited anxiously outside, cursing the original owner non-stop in his mind, while inside the ward, Dr. Xu and the nurse were cursing him just as hard.

Earlier, the nurse had asked Qi Yang gently who had hurt him. The boy stayed silent. The nurse pressed on, “Was it your father? Did he do this to you?”

Qi Yang still didn’t answer, but his body flinched at the question—a reaction that made everything clear to both Dr. Xu and the nurse.

The nurse had recently gotten married and was in the middle of discussing starting a family. Her maternal instincts were in full bloom. Seeing such an obedient and beautiful boy beaten like this, she nearly lost control and stormed out to scold Qi Sheng. How could any human do such a thing?

Both she and Dr. Xu were heartbroken. They quickly took the boy’s temperature and did a full physical examination.

Thankfully, the results brought some relief. The injuries were only superficial—no broken bones or internal damage.

Dr. Xu wrote out a prescription and handed it to the nurse, then sat by the bed.

“Little one, don’t be afraid. After you take your medicine and get a shot, it won’t hurt as much tomorrow morning.”

Qi Yang nodded silently, still lying quietly on the bed without a word.

Seeing the boy so calm and tearless, Dr. Xu sighed and stayed to sit with him.

Outside, the nurse resisted her disgust toward Qi Sheng but couldn’t hide her disdain. Her voice was cold and unfriendly. “Here’s the treatment sheet. Go pay at the cashier.”

Before Qi Sheng could even ask about the details, she turned and walked away, cursing under her breath, “Scum!”

Qi Sheng didn’t mind her attitude. If the original owner were still around, he’d make sure the man didn’t live to see another sunrise. Thinking of the boy in the room, he practically ran to the cashier to pay the fees.

By the time he returned, Dr. Xu and the nurse were applying medicine to the boy.

Dr. Xu, worried that the child would struggle during the treatment, didn’t administer a shot immediately despite the fever. Instead, he applied a cooling patch to the boy’s forehead.

As they gently applied the medicine and comforted the trembling boy, even the tough thirty-year-old Dr. Xu had red-rimmed eyes. Damn it—he wanted to punch the guardian!

For Qi Yang, the treatment was like going through the pain all over again. He tried to endure at first but eventually began to sob softly. Watching him, Qi Sheng wished he could take on the pain in his place.

Once the medication was applied and an IV was started, Dr. Xu completely ignored Qi Sheng and told the nurse, “Stay here with him tonight. If his fever gets worse, call me immediately.”

The nurse nodded silently. Neither she nor Dr. Xu even looked at Qi Sheng again. What kind of man hits a child like that—could he even be trusted to stay and watch him?

Seeing their attitude, Qi Sheng had to speak up. “No need to trouble the nurse. I’ll stay with him tonight. Thank you both for everything.”

But they had no intention of speaking to him. Not even a glance.

Qi Sheng didn’t take it to heart. He simply sat on the other side of the hospital bed and quietly kept watch over the child.

The nurse gave him a few sidelong glances, then curled her lip with a snort of contempt. He’s putting on a real good show, isn’t he? Pretending to be human now.