In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 14: The Playboy Dad (14)

“Dad…” Just as Qi Wenfeng was fine, upon seeing Qi Sheng return, he immediately ran into his arms and started crying. His crying made Qi Wenyu and Qi Wenyan frown in disbelief.
“What happened?!”
“Woo… that bastard Bai Chengfei brought four people to beat me up, and he called me an illegitimate child who can’t even make it to the stage! The five of them beat me up all together…” He continued to cry in Qi Sheng’s arms, feeling wronged.
Qi Wenyan couldn’t help but widen his eyes. This guy was so big now, and yet he still acted like this and threw a tantrum!!
This was also the first time Qi Wenyu had seen this side of him, and his face involuntarily turned cold.
Qi Sheng pushed the child in his arms away, and upon seeing the bruise on his left cheek, he couldn’t help but feel a bit heartbroken. “I told you to play with your brothers, and you ended up getting bullied, huh…”
Qi Wenfeng quickly stood up and couldn’t stop complaining, “I was playing with them, what brothers? They watched me get beaten up and didn’t do anything. Hmph, to them, Bai Chengfei is their real brother, woo…”
Qi Sheng frowned. He knew his three sons didn’t have much of a bond, but for them to not even stop someone from beating up their younger brother… He turned to Qi Wenyu, “What’s going on, Xiaoyu?”
“I… I went to the restroom,” Qi Wenyu stood up, feeling a chill as he saw Qi Sheng’s angry expression.
“And you, Xiaoyan?” Qi Sheng turned to Qi Wenyan, his expression not much better.
“I tried to stop him, but Chengfei wouldn’t listen…” Qi Wenyan started to speak, but was interrupted by Qi Wenfeng muttering, “He just didn’t want to help…”
Qi Sheng felt a headache coming on. Though he didn’t expect the three of them to be close, at the very least, they shouldn’t just stand by and watch when one of them was being beaten. Sighing, he realized his task of raising them properly was far from done. But for now, he needed to comfort the child in his arms.
“You two go back and reflect on what happened tonight!” Qi Sheng’s tone was a bit more serious at the last part, causing the two standing opposite him to feel a chill.
Qi Wenfeng, realizing his father was siding with him, happily threw himself into his arms and started acting cute, “Dad, I want to sleep with you tonight!” He then smugly glanced at Qi Wenyan, who had turned and walked off.
Qi Sheng knew his son had a rough night and let him get away with his antics, “Go wash up first, and I’ll put some medicine on you later.”
The next two days were relatively calm, except that Qi Wenfeng occasionally came over to act cute, while the other two became quieter and showed little interest in the resort.
Qi Sheng found it amusing. He brought them here to relax, but it seemed like they thought they were here for military training.
Around 3 PM, with the sun not being too strong, Qi Sheng took the three of them to a mulberry orchard. “Since you don’t want to play, let’s go pick some mulberries for me.”
This resort had a large piece of farmland, managed by professionals, and they specifically grew seasonal fruits and vegetables for the Qi family to use. These fresh, organic products were also perfect when visiting relatives. Qi Sheng remembered that it was the perfect season for mulberries, and besides eating them fresh, they also made great wine. Plus, they had free labor available.
The three children had never worked in a field, so they were intrigued at first. With the guidance of a farm manager, they quickly got the hang of it. Qi Sheng sat in a nearby pavilion, leisurely eating fresh mulberries and cherries while watching his youngest son constantly provoke the other two.
At first, the other two ignored him, likely because Qi Wenfeng was too arrogant. But when he wasn’t paying attention, Qi Wenyu snuck some mulberries from his basket into his, which amused Qi Sheng. His eldest son had this side to him.
The silly boy hadn’t noticed and was about to retaliate when Qi Wenyan stepped on his foot. The little one exploded in anger and was about to argue, but Qi Wenyan, with one careless word, shut him down.
Qi Sheng watched them fooling around, occasionally chuckling. Once he had finished eating, he slowly walked over to “inspect.”
“Xiaofeng, are you slacking off? Why have you picked so few?” Qi Sheng asked deliberately.
Qi Wenfeng looked at the fruits in his basket, then compared them to the others, finally realizing, “They’re so bad, they deliberately took the mulberries from my basket…”
Qi Sheng found it amusing: “Serves you right, always provoking your two brothers, and this time, you provoked both at once. Learned your lesson, huh?”
The other two couldn’t help but laugh at Qi Sheng’s words, and the earlier unhappiness was forgotten.
Qi Sheng looked at the three children working hard: “When I finish brewing the mulberry wine, I’ll let you guys have a taste.”
Qi Wenfeng, having never seen his father brew wine, couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Dad, you can brew wine?”
“Of course! What can’t I do?” Qi Sheng replied proudly, with a self-satisfied expression.
The three children: “…”
They didn’t hear the evil wind just now!
Days passed, and Qi Sheng kept the three children busy and having fun. At first, they were a bit unwilling, but after spending more time together, they slowly got used to it. At least, they no longer hated each other.
After about ten days at the resort, the old man decided it was time to go back. There was an important decision at the company that needed his input. Qi Sheng also didn’t plan to stay any longer, so he arranged for the harvest of the past few days to be packed and brought back to the Qi family. A lot of it was picked by the three children, so it was quite meaningful.
Qi Wenfeng’s belongings had already been sent over, but there were no empty rooms on the second floor, so he was arranged to stay in the right room on the third floor.
The days passed with the three children stumbling through life. Qi Wenfeng, always good at acting cute, had now become more open not only with Qi Sheng but also with the old man, often making him laugh heartily.
However, this behavior directly led to Qi Wenyu and Qi Wenyan secretly feeling jealous of him. The two of them started teaming up to tease him, and thus a good revolutionary friendship was formed.
The hardest part of the entire summer break was for Qi Wenyan, who had a lot to learn. Except for the trip he arranged for the three of them to travel together later, the rest of the time was spent studying. Fortunately, he didn’t mind and wasn’t dissatisfied with the heavy workload.
A few days before school started, Qi Wenyan, as usual, was studying with his tutor, but a sudden phone call brought him back to reality.
“Brother, is that you? It’s Shen Yao. Do you have time today? I haven’t seen you in so long. Let’s meet up…”
In just over half a year, Qi Wenyan felt as if it had been a lifetime. The eighteen years he lived with the Shen family seemed like a dream. Qi Wenyan furrowed his brows. He and this “brother” were never close. Perhaps when they were younger, when his “brother” was still babbling, their relationship was somewhat close, but as Shen Yao grew up, influenced by his adoptive parents, he gradually became distant. Later, when Qi Wenyan realized he wasn’t his father’s child, Shen Yao became more and more arrogant in front of him. Qi Wenyan couldn’t help but think of the past and shook his head. Those days were gone; he was now Qi Wenyan!
“Is there something you need?” His voice was cold.
Shen Yao couldn’t help but curse inwardly. As expected, he was a heartless, ungrateful person. But when he spoke into the phone, his tone was sincere: “Brother, I want to see you. Is it really necessary to have something important? We were brothers for over ten years. I heard your dad has an illegitimate child, and I’m worried you might be bullied at the Qi family!”
Qi Wenyan couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. He had been bullied many times in the past, and his “brother” never showed any concern. Oh right, among those who bullied him, wasn’t this so-called “brother” one of them?
Qi Wenyan didn’t want to pretend to have a true sibling bond. He grew impatient and said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.”
“There is, there is! Brother, don’t hang up yet. Here’s the thing: I recently started dating a girl, and her birthday is coming up. She’s always wanted to visit ‘Mingcheng,’ and I accidentally let it slip that you’re a member there. So, brother, could you take me there…?”
Before Shen Yao could finish, Qi Wenyan interrupted: “No, I don’t have time to go out.”
‘Mingcheng’ was a famous luxury club in Haishi, where many people were curious about what went on inside. To enter, you needed a membership, which could only be obtained by spending a certain amount of money. The Qi family didn’t need to do that; not long ago, Qi Wenyu took him and Qi Wenfeng there, and each of them got a gold card. However, he hadn’t gone back since. From his perspective, it was just a place for the idle upper class to throw money around. He wasn’t interested. He didn’t expect his “brother” would be so keen on it!
“Could you lend me your membership card for a while? I promise I’ll return it in a few days. Please, brother!” Shen Yao begged, speaking with such sincerity that it seemed like they had a close relationship.
Qi Wenyan couldn’t help but twitch his mouth. How did he never realize his “brother” was so good at begging? When they were in the Shen family, if he had refused his request, this person would have probably cursed him and then gone to complain to his foster mother. When he returned home, he wouldn’t have any food and would be forced to clean their leftover dishes. Ha!
Qi Wenyan didn’t want to say any more. The more he spoke, the more he feared he’d recall the pain from the past. “No. Don’t call me about things like this again.” With that, he hung up the phone. As he looked at the phone ringing persistently, he felt an inexplicable sense of relief…
On the other end of the line, Shen Yao glared at the rejected calls, almost throwing his new phone out of frustration. Damn, ungrateful bastard. He swore to himself that one day… Feeling the anger, he kicked the bedside table a few times.