In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 137: The Villain Boss’s Prodigal Father (1)

Qi Sheng was jolted awake by the sound of a child softly sobbing. He opened his eyes and looked toward the noise, and sure enough, he saw a little boy around three or four years old sitting on the bed, crying. When the child saw Qi Sheng wake up, he immediately crawled over, tugged at his clothes, and cried, “Daddy, I’m hungry.”
Qi Sheng couldn’t bear to see a child looking so pitiful. He suddenly sat up, wanting to go to the kitchen to make something for the little one to eat. Unfortunately, his original body had drunk too much alcohol, and the sudden movement made his head spin with dizziness.
Qi Sheng rested on the bed for a while, and the little one who had just been crying had already crawled into his arms.
“Daddy…”
Qi Sheng gently rubbed the child’s head to comfort him. “Be good, An’an. Daddy will make you food right away.”
He pulled himself together and got out of bed. Relying on the original body’s memory, he walked into the kitchen. He had planned to make a simple porridge, but unfortunately, the kitchen was even emptier than his wallet.
Qi Sheng turned around and went back to the main room. The little one had already climbed down from the bed and looked up at him with eyes full of disappointment when he saw that Qi Sheng came back empty-handed.
He reached out his arms for Qi Sheng to hold him and muttered with teary eyes, “Daddy, hungry…”
Qi Sheng picked him up, gently pinched his cheek, and coaxed, “Good baby, wait a little bit. Daddy is thinking of a way.”
He freed one hand to rummage through his pockets. Unfortunately, they were so empty it made him frown. Unwilling to give up, Qi Sheng placed the child on the bed and began searching each piece of clothing one by one. Finally—thank the heavens—he found fifty cents in a pants pocket!
Qi Sheng estimated the cost of food in this era and was finally satisfied. Fifty cents should be enough to get the two of them a full meal.
While he had been searching through the clothes, the little one had been sitting on the bed watching him the whole time. He didn’t cry again, just stared with round eyes, following Qi Sheng’s every move. It wasn’t until Qi Sheng pulled out the coin that hope lit up in the child’s eyes.
“Let’s go, An’an. Daddy’s taking you out to eat!”
As soon as he heard this, the little one broke into a smile. Qi Sheng didn’t bother tidying up. He picked the child up and headed straight out.
Once they stepped out of the courtyard, Qi Sheng looked around. The quadrangle courtyard was still decently clean, and he sighed. If he hadn’t come, the original body—the prodigal son—would’ve sold the entire place in a couple of days.
The father and son walked to a small restaurant at the end of the alley. Qi Sheng ordered a flatbread and two bowls of porridge, carefully put away the remaining thirty cents, and brought the little one to a table.
The little one’s eyes had already locked onto the flatbread. Qi Sheng remembered the child had only eaten once the day before, so he quickly stopped the tiny hand reaching for the bread and scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew it cool, and fed it to him.
The little one kept staring at the flatbread. He swallowed the spoonful of porridge without really tasting it, then looked sadly at the bread again, eyes filling with tears.
Seeing this, Qi Sheng realized the child had misunderstood. He hurried to explain, “I’m not saying you can’t have the bread—just drink some porridge to warm your tummy first. We’ll eat the bread right after!”
The little one looked at him half-trusting, half-doubtful, and drank the porridge spoon by spoon. Still, his eyes kept sneaking glances at the bread, his big round eyes practically asking,
When can I eat it?
Qi Sheng was amused by how adorable he was. Once the porridge was nearly halfway done, he broke the flatbread into smaller pieces under the child’s eager gaze.
“Finish this piece first. There’s more after.”
Finally getting to eat the bread, the little one was satisfied. Maybe the porridge had taken the edge off his hunger, so he didn’t eat too fast. The two of them finished the flatbread together. Qi Sheng was only about 70% full, and with his pocket now empty, he began to worry. There were still thirty cents left for lunch, but what about dinner?
Thinking about their future livelihood made Qi Sheng even more anxious. Sitting on a quadrangle courtyard worth over a hundred million in the heart of Beijing, yet he and his son couldn’t even afford a full day’s meals!
After they left the small restaurant, Qi Sheng strolled slowly with the little one through the nostalgic alleyway. He hadn’t even had a chance to appreciate the weight of history in these buildings when someone came up to greet him.
“Qi Sheng, are you still selling your house? Someone just asked me to check for them.”
Qi Sheng shook his head. “Not selling.”
The man looked surprised by the outright refusal and quickly leaned in, lowering his voice. “They’re offering fifty thousand yuan. You sure you want to say no?”
The man thought that revealing the price would surely tempt Qi Sheng, but unfortunately for him, the Qi Sheng who now inhabited this body didn’t flinch in the slightest. “Even if it’s more, I’m not selling. A few days ago, I did think about selling the place, but then every night I started dreaming of my old man and mom calling me a prodigal son. I thought it over—better not. I’ve got to leave this courtyard for An’an to pass down someday.”
The man, Li Jianwei, instantly panicked. He stood to gain quite a bit by acting as the middleman here. If Qi Sheng wasn’t selling anymore, where was he going to get his cut?
“Bro, don’t be foolish! What can’t you do with fifty thousand yuan? Why are you clinging to this broken-down courtyard? With that money, forget about inheritance—you could find a young, pretty stepmom for An’an right now. Sound good? Any interest?”
“Nope. Don’t bother trying to convince me. I’m not selling. If someone wants to buy a place, tell them to look elsewhere.”
Seeing that Qi Sheng wasn’t budging no matter what, the man quickly pulled him aside and discreetly raised a pinky finger as a hand signal. “If you’re willing to sell, I’ll help you negotiate. The buyer really wants a courtyard like this. I bet I could get them to offer at least this much more!”
Qi Sheng still shook his head. “Doesn’t matter how much. I’m not selling. That’s enough now—stop pestering me. I need to head back and get a little more sleep.”
With that, he scooped up the child who’d been following him, waved his hand without hesitation, and headed straight home.
Back home, Qi Sheng didn’t actually get back to sleep. Instead, he sat in the carved wooden armchair, frowning and deep in thought, worrying about how to earn a living for him and the child. An’an, full and content, wasn’t making any fuss. He clung to Qi Sheng’s leg, staring up at him with wide curious eyes.
“What is it, An’an?”
“Daddy, you really won’t sell the house?”
“Nope. If I sell it, where would we live?”
After answering the child’s question, he pulled him into his lap. If he guessed right, the little one was already five years old this year. But living with the original body—sometimes eating, sometimes going hungry—he was small and thin, clearly malnourished.
Qi Sheng gently pinched the child’s cheeks and asked, “Do you
want
Daddy to sell the house?”
An’an shook his head. “No.”
Qi Sheng smiled. The kid was so soft and huggable that he couldn’t resist pinching his cheeks a few more times. The little one clearly noticed he was being teased and tried to wriggle free, but despite using all his strength, he remained trapped in Qi Sheng’s arms. The two of them began to play and giggle, but their fun was interrupted by a knock at the door and someone calling out.
“Qi Sheng! Qi Sheng! It’s Hua Dong—open up!”
Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. Thinking of Xu Huadong, the drinking buddy of the original body, he set An’an down and stepped outside to open the door.
“Hua Dong, what brings you here?”
Xu Huadong grinned proudly. “Come on! That little convenience store down south just started a few rounds of dice games. Let’s go have some fun—just us guys!”
Qi Sheng frowned at the mention of gambling and turned his head away. “Not today. Maybe another time.”
“Another time? Come on! This is a great setup—we don’t get chances like this every day. Stop dragging your feet!”
Qi Sheng sighed as Xu Huadong tugged on him. “I really can’t today.”
“What do you mean can’t? Oh—I get it. You’re broke again, huh?”
Qi Sheng gave him a sheepish look, like someone embarrassed to be called out. Xu Huadong immediately offered with bravado, “So what? As long as you’re having fun, I’ll cover you!”
Qi Sheng waved his hand. “How could I let you pay? That’d be too embarrassing.”
Xu Huadong had never really intended to spend his own money. Even if he might benefit from getting Qi Sheng to gamble, he didn’t want to foot the bill. So he quickly backed down. “I know you have your pride. How about this—I’ll
lend
you ten yuan. You can pay me back when you win.”
“Now
that
works!” With some capital in hand, Qi Sheng was ready to go win a bit of living money for his son. But then he remembered the little one and said, “Wait a sec, I need to tell An’an first.”
This time, Xu Huadong didn’t stop him. But when Qi Sheng told An’an he was heading out, the little one wasn’t happy.
“Daddy, I don’t want you to go.”
“Be good. Daddy’s going to earn money for us, not to play. Just this once, and I won’t go again.”
“I don’t want you to earn money…” And just like that, the little one burst into tears. There was none of that future villain boss’s cold-heartedness—just a pure, heartbroken child. Qi Sheng’s heart softened as he heard the sobs. He made promise after promise. “Just for today, okay? An’an, be good. Daddy swears—after today, no matter where I go, I’ll always take you with me!”
He meant it sincerely, but the problem was, the original body had a habit of disappearing for an entire day once he went out. The child was terrified Daddy would leave him behind again, and tears streamed down his face.
Normally, Qi Sheng would’ve caved and taken him along. But this time, since he was going gambling, he didn’t want to bring a child into such a messy, smoky place.
“How about this—Daddy will take you to Grandma Wang’s next door. I’ll come pick you up before dinner, okay?”
But An’an still didn’t want to go. Crying, he said, “No… I want Daddy to stay home with me.”
Qi Sheng picked him up and, locking the door behind them, coaxed the sobbing little boy in his arms. “Just today, okay? Don’t you love playing with the little boy at Grandma Wang’s house? You can play with him for a while, and Daddy will be back soon.”
After much coaxing, Qi Sheng finally managed to drop the child off at Old Lady Wang’s next door. He handed over the last thirty cents in his pocket. “Please help me look after An’an. I’ll come get him before dinner.”
It was the first time the old lady had received any money from Qi Sheng for babysitting, and she was a little surprised. This rascal usually dumped the kid at her place to go fool around. Was the sun rising from the west today? He actually thought to pay?
She felt sorry for An’an, this poor motherless child, so she didn’t usually mind if Qi Sheng paid or not. But this time she accepted the money anyway—if she didn’t, the kid’s father would probably just waste it. At least she could use it to buy An’an a candied hawthorn stick.
Taking advantage of the moment when An’an was distracted by Old Lady Wang’s grandson, Qi Sheng quickly slipped out. Outside, Xu Huadong saw him dawdling and couldn’t help mocking him.
“You weren’t this slow before. With money to win, how come you’re not more eager? I did the math today—we’re guaranteed to win!”
Qi Sheng smiled. “Thanks for the good luck!”
The two arrived at the small convenience store. Xu Huadong, trying to act generous, bought a bottle of sorghum liquor and raised his eyebrows at Qi Sheng. “Let’s drink before we start—good luck and big winnings!”
Qi Sheng nodded approvingly. “You’re right. Here, I’ll take the first sip.”
He took a big swig, then passed the bottle to Xu Huadong, who only took a symbolic sip.
Qi Sheng frowned. “Why’d you drink so little?”
“I’m saving it. You just chugged like crazy—how will we celebrate when we win?”
Qi Sheng laughed heartily and patted Xu Huadong on the shoulder. “You’re a real bro. Hand over the money—I’ll pay you back after I win.”
Xu Huadong didn’t hesitate today. He quickly handed over ten yuan. Qi Sheng took it and turned to the store owner, Boss Song. “Boss Song, please be our witness. I’m borrowing ten yuan from Xu Huadong, and no matter if I win or lose, I’ll pay it back in full—not a cent more or less!”
Boss Song, a respected figure in the area, smiled and agreed. “Sure, Qi Sheng. Good to see you taking responsibility. Don’t worry—I’ll be your witness today. Not a cent more, not a cent less.”
That reassured Qi Sheng—he didn’t want to win and not be able to take the money home!
In the store’s backyard, a few empty tables were set up. Locals often used the space to secretly play cards or dice. When Qi Sheng got there, he saw a couple of unfamiliar faces among the regulars.
He immediately figured out who they were—just pawns trying to scam him into losing big and selling his house.
But Qi Sheng kept a straight face, perfectly playing the part of a gambler dreaming of a big win. He slapped the ten yuan on the table, full of bravado. “My old man came to me in a dream last night—told me I’d win big today!”
Everyone laughed at his nonsense. Seeing how hyped he was, someone who had already played enough gave up their seat.
In the first couple rounds, Qi Sheng won easily. His face flushed with excitement as he stared at the dice cup with shining eyes.
“This time I’m betting five yuan—it’s going to be big again!”
Sure enough, the dice revealed a big number, and Qi Sheng won another five yuan. His exaggerated excitement made the two strangers share a knowing glance.
Qi Sheng ignored their scheming. Boss Song’s dice weren’t rigged. The most these guys had going was skill—they’d deliberately played “big” a few times to bait him. Now they were planning to clean him out.
But Qi Sheng chuckled to himself—like he didn’t know how to play? Let’s see who wins today!
In the first three rounds, he won every time. Xu Huadong chimed in with praise right on cue. In the fourth round, Qi Sheng could tell the outcome was “big” again, but pretended to be cautious and only bet fifty cents. When the result came out, he slapped his face in fake regret.
Xu Huadong: “Come on, Qi Sheng, that was a golden opportunity! And you missed it!”
“Sigh, my fault, my fault. I got cold feet. Looks like I really am on a lucky streak today!”
When it came to playing mind games, Qi Sheng—an old soul in disguise—knew exactly what he was doing. One minute he was a reckless gambler, the next a timid miser afraid to bet.
Every time he won, he’d habitually stash some cash in his pocket, leaving just enough on the table to keep playing. They kept going until the sun began to set. The backyard, stirred up by these few skilled players, became more and more intense.
But then Qi Sheng glanced at the sky and suddenly said, “Nope, I gotta stop—I have to pick up my son.”
The room went silent. The two strangers, who were clearly there for a purpose, started panicking. They couldn’t exactly stop him, but they didn’t want to let him leave either. Unlike Xu Huadong, who was now fully immersed in the gambling, the two strangers had long realized something was off—their money was nearly gone!
Qi Sheng didn’t care. Everyone around here knew each other. These two could only rely on skill, and now that even that wasn’t working, they were basically here to hand over their money!
In front of Boss Song, Qi Sheng returned the ten yuan to Xu Huadong. Before anyone could react, he grabbed a pack of peanuts and vanished from the shop.
Hmm, time to go home and do the math—looks like he and his son had their living expenses sorted for now!