In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 6: The Playboy Dad (6)

Zhou Yan’s cousin, Liu Jing, was the son of Zhou Yan’s mother’s younger sister. When Zhou Yan was young, she stayed with them for a few years because it was more convenient for her schooling.
As the only child, Liu Jing was very fond of this pretty and lovely little sister. Zhou Yan, with her naturally obedient personality, got along well with her brother. Even though the two of them later went their separate ways for their studies and work, they still kept in touch frequently.
However, after Zhou Yan married Qi Sheng, Liu Jing began to think that Zhou Yan wasn’t valuing herself and gradually distanced himself from her. It wasn’t until Zhou Yan gave birth to Qi Wenfeng that they began to re-establish some contact.
At that time, Qi Sheng didn’t pay much attention, but when Zhou Yan began to think about transferring assets, she intentionally reduced their interactions.
Liu Jing was an ordinary office worker and currently worked in the southern city. Zhou Yan secretly met with him, using the excuse of traveling to the southern city.
Since Zhou Yan’s hometown wasn’t in the southern city, and the southern city was a popular tourist destination, Qi Sheng thought she was simply visiting the area for fun. Zhou Yan didn’t work and mostly stayed at home taking care of Qi Wenfeng, but she enjoyed traveling and often went to various cities. Qi Sheng never suspected that Zhou Yan was meeting with old acquaintances behind his back.
Looking back, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but admire Zhou Yan’s carefulness. If he hadn’t known about the subsequent developments, he never would have been able to figure it out.
After giving his son some time to process, Qi Sheng asked him, “Son, if one day you found out that your wife or girlfriend was secretly transferring your assets or scheming behind your back, what would you do?”
Qi Wenfeng, still struggling to process everything, found it hard to believe that his seemingly gentle mother could be involved in such secretive actions. He hadn’t even known about her close relationship with her cousin. But looking at the evidence on his dad’s phone, he angrily handed it back to him.
Glaring at Qi Sheng, he said, “This… this doesn’t prove anything. You know what people say about mom. She’s just insecure. She saved a little private money because she’s afraid one day you’ll abandon us!”
“Son, what I’m about to say might be hard for you to hear, but I think it’s better for you to know.”
Looking at his son, whose eyes were swollen from crying, Qi Sheng steeled himself.
“You should know a little about me. Even though I’ve been playful over the years, I’ve always been serious when it comes to having a child. When I was with your mom, it was just mutual—it was all about what we both wanted. We were together for a few months, and when that was over, I didn’t even know you existed. It wasn’t until you were one year old that your mom came to find me…”
“Stop! Please stop!” Qi Wenfeng cried out, looking at his dad with a hurt expression. Why was he saying these things now, when he’d always seemed to care about him?
“What I’m saying is, if you weren’t in the picture, if I found out that someone around me was plotting against me, even if I liked her, I would’ve gotten rid of her long ago!”
Qi Sheng walked over to his son and embraced him, who was crying uncontrollably. He waited until his son calmed down a bit before sitting back down.
Qi Wenfeng, eyes red, suppressed his tears as he looked at his dad. “So… so now that you know what mom’s done, you’re going to abandon her?”
Qi Sheng placed some ingredients into the hotpot, then slowly began to explain the situation with Qi Wenyu and Xu Ning.
At the beginning, Xu Ning had repeatedly sought money from Qi Wenyu. Their unusual behavior caught Zhou Yan’s attention, and she had someone watch over Qi Wenyu.
Though Zhou Yan was somewhat reluctant, she still hoped that Qi Wenyu would make some mistakes, so she could persuade him to let her son join the Qi family.
It could be said that “efforts don’t go unrewarded”—Xu Ning’s appearance made her feel like even fate was on her side. She had never imagined that the hardest problem, Qi Wenyu, wasn’t actually Qi family’s child. The excitement and joy she felt in that moment nearly made her lose her composure.
When Qi Wenyu first learned the truth, he couldn’t accept it at all. It was like a bolt from the blue for him. Raised by his grandfather since childhood, his goal had always been to take on the responsibility of the Qi family. But one day, someone told him that he wasn’t actually a Qi family member. Even worse, everything he had enjoyed up until then was the result of someone’s covert scheming against the Qi family. He had been living under someone else’s identity, enjoying what should have belonged to that person.
No matter how strong-willed he was, at that moment, he couldn’t bear it. He hesitated for a long time but never gathered the courage to tell his grandfather and parents the truth. He secretly went to visit Shen Yan, who, despite being in the most stressful year of high school, was working part-time every night. He found out that Shen Yan had been living in hardship for years, suffering a lot…
He became even more afraid. If he told the truth, he might never have a place in the Qi family again. During that time, he lived in torment, but when this matter was exposed, he actually felt a sense of relief…
If someone works hard enough at something, whether good or bad, the chances of success are high. Zhou Yan finally found a way to get dirt on Qi Wenyu, and of course, she wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by.
Over the years, Zhou Yan had learned a lot about the people in the Qi family, and the most difficult one to handle was Old Master Qi. After all, Qi Wenyu had been raised by him since childhood, and the bond between them was naturally deep. If Old Master Qi softened and said that the child was innocent, letting Qi Wenyu stay in the Qi family, that was something Zhou Yan didn’t want to see.
So, she asked her cousin for help in finding someone to contact Xu Ning, threatening and coercing her to tell the “truth” to the Qi family.
At that time, Xu Ning was in need of money. Unable to rely on Qi Wenyu, she was angry and desperate, so she impulsively agreed to Zhou Yan’s terms.
Over the years, Liu Jing had also benefited from this arrangement. Although he was just an ordinary office worker, his life had been quite comfortable. He increasingly supported his cousin’s goals, and he had made some influential connections over time. So, even though they were separated by a city, the developments proceeded as they had anticipated.
Qi Sheng was furious at Xu Ning’s plotting, and he despised Qi Wenyu, seeing him as a heartless, ungrateful person. The father-son bond they once shared had vanished, especially since after learning the truth, Qi Wenyu had stayed in the Qi family, “at ease,” and privately “supported” his birth mother, completely erasing any remnants of their relationship. No matter how much Old Master Qi tried to persuade him, Qi Sheng refused to accept Qi Wenyu again.
Qi Wenfeng hadn’t expected that his mother was the one pulling the strings behind all this, but he didn’t like Qi Wenyu and couldn’t help but argue, “But since Qi Wenyu doesn’t even have the Qi family name, and his mom caused Shen Yan to suffer so much, isn’t it right for Mom to find a way to get rid of him?”
He glanced at his father to see if he was angry, but when he saw that his father wasn’t upset, he continued, “Grandpa is so biased toward Qi Wenyu. If we don’t do this, are we supposed to let that guy stay in the Qi family? I’m your real son, Grandpa’s real grandson, and I’ve never even been to the Qi family!”
It was true that Old Master Qi was partial to Qi Wenyu. Even Qi Sheng, his own son, couldn’t compare to Qi Wenyu in his grandfather’s eyes. So, for all these years, Old Master Qi had never allowed Qi Wenfeng to enter the Qi family, even though he was part of the bloodline.
“Son, haven’t you realized that your mom has been comparing you to Qi Wenyu all these years? Do you really not understand her intentions?” Qi Sheng didn’t continue with the previous topic. His goal today wasn’t to keep discussing Zhou Yan’s actions, but rather to reduce her influence on his son and help him develop his own ideas and judgments.
Hearing his dad’s words, Qi Wenfeng felt a bit guilty. He lowered his head and silently ate his food, which made Qi Sheng find it amusing.
Qi Sheng added some of his son’s favorite dishes to his plate and sighed, “Son, avoiding the issue won’t solve anything!”