In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 22: The Partial Dad (2)

The original owner, Qi Sheng, was the third child in the family, with two older brothers above him. In the 1960s, every household was dirt poor. Their family had three sons, each one with a big appetite. On top of that, the eldest and second sons were already married. With such a large family living together, it was hard to have anything left over.
In rural areas, it had always been customary for the eldest son to take care of the parents in their old age, so the old couple naturally favored their firstborn even more. Still, they weren’t completely unfair to the other two sons. After marrying off the second son, they began saving money to help the youngest—Qi Sheng—get a wife.
The plan was decent, but before Qi Sheng could get married, both his parents passed away, one after the other.
The eldest brother and his wife took hold of the possessions the parents left behind. After discussing it with the second brother, they all quietly dropped the idea of helping Qi Sheng get married.
But Qi Sheng wasn’t someone who could be brushed off so easily. Over the years, he had contributed all his work points and food rations to the collective household. Now, there was no way he’d let them take everything without a fight.
In the end, things got ugly between Qi Sheng and his brothers. He only managed to get a small room and two sacks of grain after a heated dispute. Once the assets were divided, the brotherly relationship was completely severed.
Qi Sheng didn’t care. He was on his own, but he was a strong and able young man—not someone who couldn’t take care of himself. Besides working in the fields to earn work points, he smartly volunteered to help out for free at a state-owned restaurant’s kitchen. He wasn’t after anything else—just wanted to learn some skills from the chef. With more skills, he’d have more options in life. He worked hard like this for two years, saved up some grain, and the chef, seeing how diligent he was, eventually began teaching him real cooking techniques.
Qi Sheng’s life gradually improved. Women interested in marrying him began to appear. But at that time, Qi Sheng didn’t have any elders to guide him and ended up falling for a female educated youth who had come to the countryside. She was indeed beautiful, and although she wasn’t great at physical work, she completely stole Qi Sheng’s heart.
Her life had been hard—her father died during a political struggle, and her mother was sent to another village for re-education. With no one to rely on, Qi Sheng, being an honest and sturdy man, naturally became someone she leaned on. The two ended up together.
Villagers at the time mocked Qi Sheng for letting lust cloud his judgment. He had already broken ties with his family, and now he was marrying a woman from outside the area with no roots. If any trouble came up, who would help him?
But Qi Sheng was still young and headstrong then. He believed he could build a good life with his own two hands.
The first two years of marriage were indeed good. His wife was pretty and kept the house clean. Even though she didn’t earn many work points, the home was always neat. Less than a year after their marriage, she gave birth to a chubby baby boy. Their home was happy and fulfilling. Work-wise, Qi Sheng had no problem handling field labor and could still earn a little extra helping at the restaurant.
Thanks to his honest and diligent nature, the family of three managed to not only avoid hunger in those hard times but even enjoy meat once in a while.
Unfortunately, the good days didn’t last. His wife died of childbirth complications while giving birth to their second son. Before he could even recover from the grief, the chef he had been working under was arrested for stealing from the restaurant. Though Qi Sheng had no part in it, his close association with the chef got him blacklisted by the restaurant.
One misfortune after another hit the household. Looking at the baby still swaddled in cloth, Qi Sheng could feel no joy.
During the day, he worked in the fields. The two children were left in the care of a neighbor. But every time he came home, not only was there no hot meal waiting, he still had to take care of every aspect of raising the boys.
Thankfully, he was still strong and capable in field labor. Young girls looked down on him, but widows struggling through life or women with some flaws were willing to marry him.
Eventually, he couldn’t bear the endless juggling of responsibilities alone. Through an introduction, he married Zhang Fen, a young widow from the neighboring village.
Zhang Fen had a tough life, too. Her first husband was lazy and abusive. She had miscarried twice due to beatings and was left infertile. If not for the fact that Qi Sheng already had two sons and didn’t mind her infertility, Zhang Fen wouldn’t have found someone with better conditions than him.
Qi Sheng was fairly satisfied with Zhang Fen. Though she wasn’t as beautiful as his first wife, she was pleasant-looking, hardworking, and diligent. Knowing she couldn’t have children, she treated his two sons very well.
The couple worked together and slowly improved their lives again.
Everything went well until the youngest son turned eight. One day, he and Zhang Fen went to town to attend a market fair. In a tragic accident, Zhang Fen was hit and killed instantly by a passing tractor.
By the time Qi Sheng arrived, all he found was his young son sitting blankly beside her corpse, surrounded by onlookers.
The tractor was long gone. Unable to track down the culprit, Qi Sheng could only bury his second wife hastily.
At first, he just thought he was cursed with bad luck. But rumors began to spread in the village, saying that his youngest son had a “fate that brought misfortune to those around him.” People spoke with eerie certainty—how Zhang Fen had been walking right beside the boy and was struck dead while he was unharmed, or how his first wife had died despite it being a second childbirth, which should have been easier…
Already feeling like fate had played him badly, Qi Sheng started to believe the gossip. He became even more biased toward his eldest son and grew increasingly indifferent to the youngest.
Because of the rumors, no woman was willing to marry him anymore. Disheartened, Qi Sheng resigned himself to raising his two sons as best he could.
Due to his father’s favoritism, almost all the household chores fell to the younger son, Qi Xiangnan. Although still a child, he became sensitive and self-conscious due to the rumors. He quietly obeyed everything Qi Sheng asked of him. His older brother followed his father’s example and often bossed him around, but Qi Xiangnan never complained.
Luckily, Qi Sheng still acknowledged him as his biological son. Apart from the favoritism, he didn’t let the boy go hungry or cold and didn’t stop him from going to school when he expressed interest.
Qi Xiangdong dropped out of school in his second year of high school and returned home. He learned some cooking skills from Qi Sheng and occasionally went out to work odd jobs, but never stuck with anything for long. Compared to his younger brother who was hardworking and resilient, he was much more lazy and carefree.
Qi Xiangdong enjoyed his leisurely, half-dependent lifestyle—until one day, he suddenly heard that his younger brother had been accepted into university. People said he was a golden phoenix that had flown out of a chicken coop.
As he walked through the village, Qi Xiangdong felt annoyed by the villagers’ gossip. What did they mean by “a golden phoenix flying out of a chicken coop”? If his brother was a golden phoenix, then what was he? Just a plain chicken in the coop?
Unhappy and brooding, Qi Xiangdong stomped home, only to hear his usually obedient younger brother ask bluntly without even calling him “brother”: “Where’s Dad?”
Qi Xiangnan had just received his university acceptance letter and was overjoyed. He wanted to tell his father the good news right away. Knowing how competitive and proud his father was, he thought this would finally make his father proud of him—maybe even make him like him more.
The brothers never had a close relationship, and Qi Xiangdong often bullied him. Qi Xiangnan hadn’t called him “brother” in a long time, so this time, out of habit, he skipped the formality.
Before, neither of them would have thought much of it, but this time Qi Xiangdong, still bitter about the “golden phoenix” comment, felt slighted. His pettiness flared up, and thinking his brother was looking down on him, he kicked Qi Xiangnan.
Qi Xiangnan, still holding his acceptance letter, stumbled back from the blow and got angry. Although he didn’t hit back right away, he couldn’t hold back his irritation and shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you in broad daylight?!”
Unfortunately, Qi Xiangdong, now “possessed” by his temper, didn’t back down. Instead, he became even more enraged that his little brother dared to talk back.
Seeing the letter in Qi Xiangnan’s hand, Qi Xiangdong scoffed, “What? Just because you got into college, you think you can disrespect me?”
And with that, he snatched the thin piece of paper and ripped it in half without a second word.
Qi Xiangnan hadn’t expected his brother to go that far. He carefully picked up the torn notice and tucked it away. Then, seizing a moment when Qi Xiangdong wasn’t looking, he landed a punch.
The two brothers quickly got into a scuffle. Don’t be fooled by Qi Xiangdong’s sturdier build—he didn’t get the upper hand. Both of them were over 1.8 meters tall, and though Qi Xiangnan looked thinner, he had plenty of strength.
This time, Qi Xiangnan fought with everything he had. Qi Xiangdong ended up with bruises and a swollen face.
When Qi Sheng got home, the fight still hadn’t ended. Seeing his eldest son pinned to the ground, Qi Sheng instinctively sided with him.
Qi Xiangdong, skilled at playing the victim, twisted the story dramatically. No matter how Qi Xiangnan tried to explain, Qi Sheng believed that his youngest son had become arrogant and unruly after his success.
Looking at the “unrepentant” younger son, Qi Sheng was furious and snapped, “No need for you to go to school anymore! You haven’t even grown your wings yet and you already think you can do whatever you want!”
Qi Xiangnan had endured countless grievances over the years without complaint, but this time was different. His father, despite seeing the torn letter, still sided with Qi Xiangdong.
He couldn’t take it anymore. Instead of apologizing like he usually did, he tucked the acceptance letter into his shirt and ran out of the house, his head filled with memories of all the injustice he had endured. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the truck coming down the road—and was hit head-on.
When Qi Xiangnan woke up again, he had lost all feeling below the waist…
From heaven to hell—it was as simple as that. Now paralyzed and bedridden, Qi Xiangnan had become a cripple. At first, Qi Sheng was filled with regret, but over time, having to care for a paralyzed son wore away his patience. Eventually, he began to resent the boy, blaming him for being reckless and immature.
Coincidentally, the driver had paid a hefty sum in compensation. Qi Sheng, not wanting to stay home looking after a half-dead person, took the money and some of his early savings and decided to go do business elsewhere, leaving the elder son to care for the younger one.
Qi Sheng left without a second thought, completely ignoring the strained relationship between his sons and how difficult life would be for a paralyzed boy without a devoted caregiver.
About half a year after Qi Sheng left home, he received news from his elder son—but it was the younger son’s obituary.
Qi Sheng stared at the news in silence for a long time. He said little, went home quietly to bury his youngest son, and then left the village with his elder son…
Now, as Qi Sheng recalled the story he had received, he looked at the child smiling foolishly in front of him. The only comfort in his heart was knowing that from now on, he would be there to protect this child—and never let him suffer again.