In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 140: The Villain Boss’s Prodigal Father (4)

No matter how much Boss Song tried to persuade him, Qi Sheng refused to start work a few days earlier. This made Boss Song, who had already pre-sold the wine, regret it. Qi Sheng’s lazy attitude angered him so much that he felt a stomachache coming on. He downed another glass of wine in frustration, and only after feeling like he’d gained a huge bargain did he hand over the money from the sales to Qi Sheng.
After sending Boss Song off, Qi Sheng handed a one-yuan bill to his son and said, “This is your share—your reward for mentally supporting Daddy in his winemaking.”
It was the little guy’s first time having pocket money, and it was a whole yuan—enough to buy several skewers of candied hawthorn. The feeling of suddenly gaining a fortune made him grin from ear to ear. Qi Sheng, seeing his son’s money-loving expression, couldn’t help but laugh along.
That night, before going to bed, little An’an, now the proud owner of a “fortune,” was busily looking for a box to store it in. Seeing how serious he was, Qi Sheng helped him search and eventually found an old rosewood jewelry box that the late Mrs. Qi used to use.
An’an looked at his freshly chosen piggy bank and carefully placed the one yuan inside. Qi Sheng smiled and said, “Daddy will give you more in the future. You can spend some and save some.”
But An’an shook his head and grinned at his piggy bank. He wanted to save it all. That way, he’d never have to worry about going hungry again!
Seeing how much his son treasured the money, Qi Sheng didn’t say much more. Entertainment options were scarce these days, and Qi Sheng planned to visit a bookstore tomorrow. It was a good time to start An’an’s early education, especially since in a few months he would be old enough to enter primary school. Other kids his age had already started kindergarten, but the original owner of this body had been so negligent he could barely take care of himself, let alone think of sending his child to school.
Thankfully, current elementary school enrollment requirements weren’t as strict as they would be later on. Even if his son hadn’t gone to kindergarten, it wouldn’t be a problem.
When An’an heard that his dad was going to buy him books tomorrow, his drowsiness instantly vanished. Qi Sheng almost regretted mentioning it now.
“Sleep tight now. After breakfast tomorrow, we’ll go look for a bookstore.”
“Daddy, can I go to school too in the future?”
“Of course you can.” Qi Sheng looked at his curious little boy and asked, “Do you like school? If you do, Daddy can go inquire at the kindergarten tomorrow. Maybe in a few days, you can go to class with other kids.”
An’an was excited at first, but then his expression changed and he frowned. “Daddy, I don’t want to go to kindergarten. I heard from Zhou Zhou that their teacher makes them dance. I don’t want to dance!”
Qi Sheng chuckled, “Do you even know what dancing is?”
“I do! You have to wear a skirt like a little girl, and they even put two red spots on your cheeks—it’s super ugly. I don’t want that!” An’an had once seen Zhou Zhou being forced to dance at Granny Wang’s house. Those two big red “butt cheeks” on his face were oddly adored by Granny Wang, but An’an was completely put off. From that moment on, he no longer dreamed of going to kindergarten.
He had even comforted Zhou Zhou several times over it. Deep down, he now believed kindergarten was the scariest place—like a nightmare!
Qi Sheng was amused by his son’s serious expression. His child was just too cute. Unable to resist, he pulled the boy into his arms and gave him a big kiss. Seeing his son shy but secretly pleased, he changed the topic. “Then An’an can stay with Daddy to make wine. During our free time, Daddy will teach you how to read. By September, we’ll go straight to primary school.”
This plan made An’an very happy. He squirmed around a bit more before finally falling asleep, unable to resist the pull of fatigue.
Over the next few months, Qi Sheng stayed home diligently—either brewing wine or teaching An’an how to read. During this period, Qi Sheng’s wine earned a great reputation. It wasn’t just beloved in their neighborhood; it even started gaining popularity in various parts of Beijing.
Thanks to Boss Song’s relentless persuasion, Qi Sheng eventually brewed a bit more wine. But even that “more” was pitiful in Boss Song’s eyes—only increasing from three vats to six. With so many people clamoring for it, it was still far from enough!
So, even though Qi Sheng believed himself to be a hardworking, self-improving young man who was also a responsible father, that wasn’t how others saw him.
Every time someone came to Boss Song’s store for wine and found it sold out, they couldn’t help but mutter to themselves, “That wastrel from the Qi family still hasn’t changed. No motivation at all. What a waste of talent gifted by the heavens!”
Completely unaware of the lazy image he held in the public eye, Qi Sheng was just going about his daily life. One day, Boss Song came to pick up wine and was surprised to find Qi Sheng with a packed bag, seemingly ready to go out.
“Qi Sheng, are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah, Uncle Song. I’m taking An’an out for a trip. Not sure when we’ll be back. If it’s more than ten days, please just wait a bit longer.”
Boss Song was surprised he’d be gone so long. Thinking of the customers who’d come looking for wine in the meantime, he felt a headache coming on. He reluctantly asked, “If you’re gone that long, will you at least make up for this batch when you get back?”
Qi Sheng smiled sheepishly. “Let’s forget about that. Uncle Song, I can only manage about six vats on my own—any more and I’ll collapse. Take this opportunity to rest too. It’s exhausting to sell wine every day.”
Boss Song rolled his eyes hard after hearing what Qi Sheng said. This brat—he sure had a way with words when it came to slacking off. Such a great opportunity to make money, and this kid didn’t care one bit. Even if they added ten or twenty more vats per batch, he’d still be able to sell them all. Unfortunately, the guy in front of him just didn’t have the drive.
Boss Song sighed deeply in his heart—young people these days were hopeless. They hadn’t even started struggling, and already they were thinking about enjoying life. Looking at Qi Sheng’s lazy and unambitious appearance, Boss Song made a firm decision: when he got home, he’d give his own sons a good talking-to. If any of them dared to be as lazy as Qi Sheng, he’d beat the laziness out of them!
Qi Sheng, unaware that he had unintentionally plunged Boss Song’s sons into a strict new regime, saw him off and locked up all the doors and windows. Then, taking his son with him, he set off toward the nearby countryside.
Over the past few months, Qi Sheng had made more than a thousand yuan net profit from selling his liquor. Now that he had money, aside from setting aside some for the next batch of ingredients, he had no plans to save the rest. He wasn’t planning on starting a business or putting it in the bank where it would slowly depreciate. While he did hope to see his son grow up to build a fortune from scratch and enjoy life like an old master, the kid was just too lovable—Qi Sheng decided to earn some startup capital for him instead.
So, Qi Sheng planned to go treasure hunting in the countryside. In this era, a lot of valuable things were still scattered around, partly in the hands of scrap collectors and partly in rural homes. Qi Sheng wanted to try his luck—and take his son on a “vacation” while he was at it.
It was An’an’s first time riding a long-distance bus, and he had no idea what his father was really up to. He stared wide-eyed out the window, fascinated by the swiftly passing trees and people, bursting with excitement.
There was still a long way to go after getting off the bus before they reached the village, and Qi Sheng didn’t plan on walking. Luckily, the stop was at a major road intersection, and nearby were donkey carts waiting to take passengers or goods. Qi Sheng hired one, and the father-son duo continued their journey, this time enjoying the open-air ride of a donkey cart.
An’an was even more excited about the donkey cart than he had been about the bus. He whispered, “Daddy, why is this donkey so obedient?”
Qi Sheng laughed at the question and pointed to the corn hanging in front of the donkey. “See that corn? The food is leading him.”
As the cart ambled along, the two chatted and laughed. It was already mid-August, and the countryside was full of crops and trees. The breeze was pleasantly cool. Along the way, Qi Sheng played the role of a walking encyclopedia, teaching An’an to recognize various crops, leaving the wide-eyed child utterly amazed.
Qi Sheng felt he had successfully established himself as a great figure in his son’s heart through action. What he didn’t realize was that An’an wasn’t even paying attention to how knowledgeable he was—he was too busy marveling at the flowers and grass along the road, completely in love with the rural scenery.
At the first village they arrived at, they found a household to eat with, then wandered around and struck up conversations with the locals.
Their luck was good—the village hadn’t been picked clean yet. Qi Sheng managed to acquire quite a few nice items, the best being a Jun porcelain incense burner from the Qianlong period.
Within just a few days, Qi Sheng had spent nearly all of the 1,000 yuan, in exchange for several porcelain bowls and dishes. An’an watched this happen with a frown.
He didn’t yet understand the value of these items. All he saw was his dad spending money hand over fist, which made his heart ache. Lately, he had been learning with Qi Sheng. Apart from recognizing his own name, he had learned numbers. He could now identify money accurately and, by comparing prices of things like candied hawthorns and yogurt, grasp the value behind those numbers. Thinking about his lonely little stash of ten yuan, An’an felt the sting of financial pain.
Ugh, Daddy is such a spendthrift!
Qi Sheng didn’t try explaining the value of antiques to his son on the road. On the return donkey cart ride, he secretly pulled out some ordinary bowls and dishes he’d prepared earlier and placed them in the bag, hiding the real treasures back into his spatial storage.
The little guy was still lecturing him, “Daddy, next time you should save money like me!”
Qi Sheng chuckled, “And what are you planning to do with that ten yuan you saved? Planning to give it to Daddy?”
To his surprise, An’an became instantly alert, “Daddy, that money is very important. You can’t touch it!”
Qi Sheng was once again amused by his son’s serious little face. He asked curiously, “What’s so important about it? Can An’an tell Daddy?”
An’an hadn’t intended to say, but seeing how genuinely curious his dad was, he reluctantly answered, “You spend money like crazy, so I have to save some and stash it away!”
Qi Sheng laughed, “An’an even knows the phrase ‘spend money like crazy.’ Truly worthy of being my son. So clever!”
An’an frowned at his still-laughing father. “Daddy, be serious. I’m talking about a very important issue!”
Qi Sheng quickly stopped laughing and nodded earnestly. “My son really is thoughtful. That means Daddy doesn’t need to worry about spending money anymore!”
An’an hadn’t expected that reply. Looking at his father’s serious face, he let out a long sigh. Granny Wang was totally wrong—he hadn’t steered Daddy onto the right path. If anything, he might’ve encouraged his bad habits!
An’an had learned a few big words from Granny Wang, and though he didn’t fully understand their meanings yet, he instinctively knew they fit his dad perfectly. After all, Granny Wang always sighed after saying them—just like he had now!
When they got home, Qi Sheng pretended to pull out the items he had “brought back” from his backpack and laid them all out on the table. He started teaching An’an about each one, whether the boy understood or not.
At first, An’an was completely confused, but Qi Sheng didn’t expect him to remember anything right away. He just wanted to give his son a bit of early exposure to antiques—let the knowledge soak in slowly over the years.
But seeing that his son didn’t look too interested, Qi Sheng ended with, “Remember what I said today—these will all be your pocket money in the future.”
That part, An’an understood. Everything else flew over his head, but this one sentence made him instantly alert. He nodded solemnly and repeated to himself: Remember, these are pocket money!