In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 139: The Villain Boss’s Prodigal Father (3)

After retrieving the two valuable relics in their original form, Qi Sheng sent them directly into his space. Then, carrying his son in one arm, he found a clean wine bottle and headed to the backyard. The jars of old wine had been aged for at least over twenty years—Qi Sheng had just taken a sniff and could tell.
Craving a taste, Qi Sheng scooped out a bit to have as a small drink after meals.
An’an curiously leaned over while Qi Sheng was pouring the wine and sniffed it. The unique aroma tempted him too. “Daddy, is this delicious?”
“It is, but you’re still too young—you can’t drink it.”
Upon hearing that, An’an wrinkled his nose. Another thing he couldn’t have!
Seeing his son’s pitiful look, Qi Sheng thought of how he had just satisfied his craving while the boy could only watch longingly. So he coaxed, “In a few days, Daddy will order a bottle of yogurt for you every day. I guarantee it’ll taste even better than this!”
An’an had tasted yogurt before, but only a few rare times at Granny Wang’s house. Children naturally love that tangy and sweet flavor, and An’an was no exception. He had long yearned for it. The moment he heard his father say he’d buy it for him, the tempting aroma of the wine instantly lost all its appeal.
“Daddy, you really mean it?”
“Of course! Once I start brewing the wine and make the first sale, I’ll begin ordering it for you.”
“Then when are you going to start brewing it?” An’an was now completely fixated on the yogurt and wished his father could start making the wine right this second.
Looking at his son’s eager face, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but laugh. He had originally planned to begin in a couple of days, but wanting to fulfill his son’s wish sooner, he decided to start preparing the tools and ingredients today.
Their home already had plenty of jars, and most of the brewing tools could be cobbled together. For the one or two items he lacked, Qi Sheng planned to buy them now, along with all the materials he needed for brewing.
When An’an heard he was going out, he immediately clung to him, wanting to go too. Since Qi Sheng had already promised to take him along wherever he went, he didn’t refuse. The father and son locked up the house and stepped out. They hadn’t gone far when they saw Li Jianwei squatting at the entrance of their alley—the same man who kept urging Qi Sheng to sell his house.
Pretending not to see him, Qi Sheng led An’an to walk past on the side. But Li Jianwei wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip by. He had gone as far as hiring two seasoned dice players yesterday to help persuade Qi Sheng into selling. For a commission of at least a thousand yuan, Li Jianwei had really invested—paying those two alone cost him fifty yuan. Who would have thought they failed to get the job done and even asked him to cover their losses?
Gamblers were not easy people to deal with, so Li Jianwei had to grit his teeth and pay them. This time, he had taken a heavy loss. If Qi Sheng still refused to sell, who was he going to cry to?
Li Jianwei was fuming. This damn Qi Sheng—he’d been so eager to sell before, so why the sudden change of heart?
“Qi Sheng, where are you headed? I heard your luck was pretty good yesterday?”
Qi Sheng stopped and waved his hand casually. “It was alright. Mostly just luck. I owe it to Xu Huadong. Anyway, I’ve got things to do, so I’ll be off.”
Li Jianwei quickly blocked his path. “Don’t rush off! What business could you have? We haven’t had a drink together in days. Let me treat you today!”
Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow and gave him a look, then chuckled, “Old Li, did the sun rise in the west today? You, the stingiest man around, are actually offering to treat someone? Out with it—what do you really want? Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on my house?”
He looked at him curiously and asked, “Come on, tell me honestly—what kind of deal are they offering you that you’re working so hard for this?”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Li Jianwei rubbed his hands and tried to bluff, “Not much. Just a hundred yuan. Barely enough for a few months’ worth of food.”
“That’s not much? No wonder you’re pestering me so hard!” Qi Sheng didn’t believe him for a second but played along and said, “Brother, if I really wanted to sell, I’d let you earn that commission. But too bad—I’ve decided not to sell anymore. You’d better look for someone else.”
Li Jianwei rolled his eyes in his mind. If anyone else in the neighborhood were selling, why would he go to all this trouble with Qi Sheng? The families who owned these courtyard houses had all been well-off once, and unlike Qi Sheng, most knew how to manage their affairs. Besides the monetary value of these old houses, many were unwilling to part with ancestral homes. As a broker, he rarely came across such a generous buyer, so he naturally wanted to make the deal happen.
“Brother, I’ll be straight with you. After you backed out yesterday, I told the buyer the truth. He thought maybe you weren’t happy with the price. Without even letting me negotiate, he raised the offer by another thirty thousand—eighty thousand yuan for your old house! That’s a fantastic deal. Sure, I make commission in this business, but I’m also thinking of you. Opportunities like this don’t come twice!”
Li Jianwei even revealed the buyer’s bottom line, confident that the price would move Qi Sheng. Who knew that the man, once a greedy wastrel, would now be acting so out of character!
“Eighty thousand? Still not selling. What do I need that much money for? Besides, holding that much cash just makes me anxious!”
Li Jianwei was about to explode from Qi Sheng’s miserly attitude. He held back and kept persuading, “Who would ever say no to more money? Just think about it—what couldn’t you do with that sum? I wasn’t lucky enough to inherit a big ancestral house. If it were mine, I’d sell it in a heartbeat. I’ve heard the South is booming these days. Once I save enough, I’m going to start a business down there. The profits are sky-high—not like you, sitting on an old house all day.”
But Qi Sheng remained unmoved, even a bit disdainful. “I wouldn’t go to the South even if you paid me. It’s so far—just the train ride takes days. All that back-and-forth travel would be exhausting! Besides, doing business is stressful. I can’t be bothered.”
“Who says you have to take the train? You’ve got so much money now—just fly there. A few hours and you’re there!”
Qi Sheng still shook his head. “Even then, it’s still a hassle. One word: tiring!”
Li Jianwei was about to blow a fuse. He hadn’t realized Qi Sheng wasn’t just useless—he was this lazy too!
“I heard the South is way more developed than here—bars, dance halls, and fashionable women everywhere!” Li Jianwei raised an eyebrow and tempted, “You’re really not interested in that glamorous life? Come on, we’re men—shouldn’t we get out and explore the world? Who knows, maybe you’ll find a beautiful and trendy wife down there!”
Qi Sheng didn’t take it seriously—in fact, he looked a little disgusted. “Forget it. The prettier a woman is, the more money she spends. I don’t even have enough money for myself—why would I let them waste it too? You make it sound so nice, like you’ve actually been there.”
After speaking, Qi Sheng carried his son and left. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with Li Jianwei. That guy was just a cunning businessman-in-training. Even if he didn’t sell to him, the worst Li could do was use a few dirty tricks to try to take advantage of him. But now, Qi Sheng had no desires and no weaknesses—not like the original host who squandered money like water. He wasn’t going to fall for it.
The little one in his arms didn’t say a word the whole time. Qi Sheng planned to stop by the convenience store first. On the way, the child who was hanging onto his neck looked at him curiously and asked, “Daddy, is the south really as good as Uncle Li said? What’s a bar? What’s a dance hall?”
The boy’s curiosity was strong, so Qi Sheng explained patiently, “A bar is a place where people go to drink. Do you want Daddy to go out and drink?”
The little one immediately shook his head like a rattle drum. “No!”
“Then, a dance hall… that’s where a bunch of demons and monsters howl and screech.” Qi Sheng saw the child didn’t quite understand, so he explained further, “It’s a place where men and women drink, dance, and mess around. If Daddy goes there, he might even get pestered by some young girls. Son, do you want Daddy to find you a stepmom?”
That one line made the little guy shake his head even harder. Although An’an was still young, he knew what a stepmother was. At that moment, he made a mental note: the south wasn’t a good place, and Uncle Li wasn’t a good person—he was actually encouraging his daddy to go to that kind of place!
Qi Sheng took his son around a few stores nearby. Aside from the main ingredients—sorghum, rice, and glutinous rice—which needed to be carefully selected, he also bought the missing tools required for brewing. He didn’t buy anything else. Brewing liquor wasn’t something that could be done in a few days—especially good baijiu (white liquor). Without at least a year of aging in a cellar, the flavor wouldn’t develop properly.
So, Qi Sheng planned to brew different types of liquor. Rice wine and glutinous rice wine had shorter fermentation periods and could be drunk by elderly and women. They were ideal as a current source of income. Baijiu, on the other hand, was the main product he planned to brew, but the fermentation cycle was too long. That’s why he didn’t buy too much sorghum yet. He would wait until money wasn’t a problem before brewing baijiu in large quantities.
After confirming the weight of his purchases, the load was too heavy for him to carry alone. He had to ask someone from the grain store to help deliver it to his home, while he led his son back with the tools.
The grain store owner knew Qi Sheng as well. Old Master Qi used to frequently buy grain there to brew his own liquor. Unfortunately, the old man passed away too soon, and the store owner never got to taste that unique brew again. When he suddenly heard that Qi Sheng was going to brew liquor, he was shocked. That troublemaker? He’s probably just messing around again!
Many people saw Qi Sheng buying so much grain, but most didn’t believe he could brew alcohol. They thought he was going to waste it all.
Many doubted him—until a few days later, Qi Sheng came to the convenience store with bottles of rice wine and glutinous rice wine.
“Boss Song, try this.”
Boss Song was in his forties. When he was younger, he’d tasted the liquor brewed by Qi Sheng’s father. But he’d never seen Qi Sheng make any. Besides, he wasn’t interested in low-alcohol rice wines. He waved him off. “Don’t mess with me. You know what kind of liquor I like!”
Qi Sheng wasn’t in a rush. He simply twisted open the bottle caps and held them in front of Boss Song. “Just smell it?”
The rich aroma hit his nose before he could finish refusing. The intoxicating scent piqued his curiosity. He poured a small cup, took a careful sip, and even smacked his lips afterward. That was the rice wine. Still curious, he opened the glutinous rice wine and tried that too. During the whole process, Qi Sheng said nothing and even had the leisure to sit on a small bench in the shop and rest.
Seeing Qi Sheng’s confident demeanor, Boss Song smiled. “Alright, Qi Sheng, you’ve got some real skills. If I’d known you could brew this well, I wouldn’t have bothered sourcing liquor from elsewhere! Tell me, how much of each type did you brew?”
“Two vats of rice wine, one vat of glutinous rice wine. I’m too lazy to sell them one by one—how about I leave them all with you?”
“Sure. You name the price. How much per bottle?”
Qi Sheng had already worked out the pricing at home. One vat could fill about thirty of those small bottles. After deducting the cost of ingredients, he aimed to make at least 0.5 yuan profit per bottle of rice wine, and 0.8 yuan per bottle of glutinous rice wine, since glutinous rice was rarer. Based on costs and the cut Boss Song would take, Qi Sheng decided to price them at 1 yuan per bottle of rice wine and 2 yuan per bottle of glutinous rice wine.
Boss Song frowned a little when he heard the price. The taste was better than anything he’d had before, but… wasn’t the price a bit high?
Looking at Qi Sheng’s proud expression, Boss Song didn’t try to talk him down. Instead, he said, “Alright, I’ll give it a try. If I can sell them, we’ll do an 80-20 split. Sound good?”
Qi Sheng nodded in agreement. That split was within his expectations, and he knew Boss Song had good connections. Selling it shouldn’t be a problem. After finalizing the deal, Qi Sheng bought a pack of peanuts and went home.
That night, after dinner, Qi Sheng poured the peanuts into a plate and paired them with some of his father’s aged liquor to relax. An’an mimicked him, sipping on the milk his dad had bought him earlier. He’d take a peanut, then a sip of milk, finishing with a look of pure satisfaction.
Qi Sheng burst into laughter at his son’s adorable performance. Such a cute kid—so small and precious—he had to snuggle and smother him in cuddles to get rid of his stress.
The father and son were messing around when Boss Song suddenly came to the door.
“Qi Sheng, I sold all your wine this afternoon. Can you give me another batch tomorrow?”
Qi Sheng was surprised. “Boss Song, that’s fast! I thought it’d take at least five or six days to sell.”
Boss Song didn’t answer right away. The moment he entered, he caught the scent of the aged liquor. Craving a drink, he sat down without hesitation and poured himself a glass from the pot.
He didn’t drink it immediately. First, he brought it to his nose and savored the rich aroma. “You really know how to enjoy life. Hiding this kind of good stuff and not sharing.”
Qi Sheng laughed. “That’s all Dad left behind—I wouldn’t dare waste it. So how’d the wine sell so fast? You didn’t say.”
“It was a coincidence. This afternoon, a few shop owners from nearby districts came by to talk business. They saw your wine on display and got curious, tried it, and ended up taking it all.” Boss Song then asked, “Can you give me another batch tomorrow? Aunt Shen from the front street bought a bottle this afternoon, and she just came back asking for more. I told her you’d have it ready tomorrow.”
Qi Sheng didn’t expect Boss Song to be this enthusiastic about selling. He hesitated. “I’m afraid not. I haven’t even prepared the raw ingredients yet. How about this—I’ll give you another batch in ten days.”
Boss Song frowned. “I’ve never brewed liquor, but I’ve heard a bit—rice wine and glutinous rice wine don’t need that long, do they? Even with prep time, five days should be enough.”
Qi Sheng replied, “Yeah, that’s enough. But I also need to rest, right? Can’t be working nonstop!”
Boss Song had thought the excellent flavor came from a long, secret brewing method. He didn’t expect Qi Sheng to just be slacking off. He was speechless—he thought this brat had finally gotten serious, but it turns out he’s still goofing off half the time!