In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 5: The Playboy Dad (5)

Curiously glancing at his parents, Qi Wenfeng obediently headed toward the music room on the other side. He knew exactly what was going on. That music room had been renovated thanks to him pushing his dad to agree, all while bearing the brunt of his mom’s fury. He understood well—though his mom could coax his dad into doing most things her way, when his dad really made up his mind, his mom wouldn’t dare go against it!
The two of them went into the bedroom. Zhou Yan draped herself around Qi Sheng’s neck like she had no bones, expecting the usual passionate response—but this time, things didn’t go the way she expected.
Qi Sheng shoved her straight onto the bed, his expression cold as he said, “You gave that money to Xu Ning.”
His matter-of-fact statement made Zhou Yan tense up a little, but she quickly sat up and pretended not to understand. “Xu Ning? Who’s that? Honey, what are you talking about?”
Qi Sheng ignored her deflection, his face dark. “I’m giving you one last chance. If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t give you a single cent from now on.”
Zhou Yan started to feel nervous, but she reminded herself—she’d never shown her face in any of this. The people who handled the transactions had no idea who was behind it, and Xu Ning probably didn’t know either. Could it be that Qi Sheng was bluffing?
Clenching her teeth, Zhou Yan decided Qi Sheng must have been sent by the old master to test her. As long as there was no evidence, she wouldn’t admit to anything. And if she acted cute and pitiful, Qi Sheng would probably let it go like always.
She knew how much Qi Sheng hated Xu Ning. He might not have been especially fond of Qi Wenyan, but he definitely couldn’t tolerate being played behind his back—having his bloodline end up outside the family, abused and mistreated. Qi Sheng had been plotting ways to deal with Xu Ning for a while now. If he ever found out Zhou Yan had given that woman a sum of money, he’d never let her off the hook.
After all these years, she knew Qi Sheng well. People thought he was infatuated with her, since he’d been supporting her for so long, but the truth was far from it. If it weren’t for their son—and the fact that she always played the obedient, sweet partner—Qi Sheng would’ve dropped her ages ago.
No matter how well she maintained herself, she was nearing forty. Compared to the young women in their twenties constantly throwing themselves at Qi Sheng, her natural edge had long since faded. Not to mention, those girls were all stunning in their own right.
Zhou Yan’s eyes reddened with grievance. Biting her lip, she reached out to tug at the hem of Qi Sheng’s shirt and said softly, “Honey, you must’ve misunderstood. I really don’t know who Xu Ning is. Ask our son if you don’t believe me—I’ve been with him every day lately. Just the other day, Xiaofeng kept begging me to take him to Zhou Tianwang’s concert. I even went to Huashi with him especially. You know that!”
If Qi Sheng didn’t already know how the story was going to unfold, he might’ve actually believed her—her excuse was that solid.
If he didn’t know what would happen later, he probably really wouldn’t have been able to find any evidence linking her to it this time.
Zhou Yan had been very careful, and Qi Sheng hadn’t paid much attention to her spending habits over the years. He had given her a good amount of money, and she had gradually siphoned off some here and there to transfer it out.
“If you have money to give your cousin, then I guess you don’t need to ask me for money anymore,” Qi Sheng said coldly, turning and walking out of the bedroom, completely ignoring Zhou Yan’s shocked face.
Her cousin lived in the southern part of the city. On the surface, they hadn’t had any contact for years, so Qi Sheng shouldn’t have known about his existence. But unfortunately for Zhou Yan, this version of Qi Sheng was a walking cheat code.
Zhou Yan had managed to save up quite a bit of money over the years, and some of it wasn’t even in her name. If Qi Sheng hadn’t known what was coming, it really would’ve been difficult to track down her assets.
Back in the music room, their son was still fiddling with the new violin. Qi Sheng walked over and gave his head a little pat. “Come on, let’s go out for dinner.”
Qi Wenfeng was a bit confused that his dad had come out so quickly—he’d thought the two of them were off doing “adult stuff.” But it had been a while since he’d had dinner with his dad, and he was delighted. He carefully put away the violin and followed his father into the living room.
Qi Wenfeng put on the coat that was hanging on the rack, still curious about why his mom hadn’t come out. He turned around and saw his mom running out, crying.
Zhou Yan’s face was tear-streaked, looking pitiful as she gazed at Qi Sheng. Anyone who didn’t know would think Qi Sheng had done something wrong to her, but unfortunately, Qi Sheng’s heart was as hard as iron. He felt no pity for Zhou Yan’s display.
“Dad…” Though Qi Wenfeng often clashed with his mom, seeing her like this still made him feel heartbroken. He looked at Qi Sheng, unsure of what to do.
“Be good!” Qi Sheng comforted his son before turning to Zhou Yan, frowning. “Think about what you’ve done. I’m taking our son out to eat.”
With Qi Wenfeng there, Qi Sheng knew he couldn’t deal with Zhou Yan immediately, but he did want to warn her—don’t stretch your hands too far.
Taking his son to a nearby hotpot restaurant, Qi Sheng booked a private room. After ordering the food, he turned to his son, who still seemed a little lost.
“Wenfeng, you’re not a little kid anymore. There are some things I think you need to know…”
Before Qi Sheng could continue, Qi Wenfeng couldn’t help but interrupt. “Dad, do you not want me and mom anymore…?” His voice cracked, and his eyes reddened. This was the first time he’d seen his mom cry so sadly.
“Foolish child, you will always be my son. That won’t change. As for your mom…”
Qi Sheng knew that in order to prevent Qi Wenfeng from going down the wrong path, he had to reduce the influence Zhou Yan had on him. Zhou Yan was determined to make her son the future leader of the Qi family, and that obsession had even reached unhealthy levels, which gradually changed Qi Wenfeng’s mindset, leading him to make many wrong decisions.
Qi Sheng couldn’t just condemn the child for what would happen later on; while he still had the chance, he would try to guide him onto the right path.
“Xiaofeng, do you know your mom has a cousin?” Qi Sheng decided to bring up Zhou Yan’s cousin first.
“Mom’s cousin?” Qi Wenfeng frowned. He didn’t know about this.
His maternal grandparents had only had his mom when they were nearly forty, and they passed away before he was born. He had an aunt, but his mom and aunt weren’t very close, and they rarely kept in touch. So, from what he knew, his mom had almost no relatives. If his mom had a very close cousin, he should have remembered him.
“Over the years, your mom has secretly transferred some of the money I gave her into that cousin’s account. I had someone check recently, and it’s at least around twenty million. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s not insignificant either. Did you know about this?”
“That can’t be! Dad, you must’ve misunderstood. Mom wouldn’t do something like that!” Qi Wenfeng looked a little disbelieving. He knew his mom spent a lot of money, and his dad was generous with them, but he hadn’t really thought that his mom might secretly be moving money around.
Qi Sheng had already investigated this before coming, so he showed his son some evidence from his phone.
“This is what I’ve found in the past few days.” The phone displayed bank statements, information about Zhou Yan’s cousin, and some past interactions between Zhou Yan and him.