Chapter 386 - Wei Ziqi, Did Your Son Come With The Package When You Top Up Your Phone Charges? (2/2)

Qi Chenglin pouted. “My son is saving up to marry his wife. A child who knows how to earn money like my son won’t let his wife down in the future. Ziqi, am I right?”

Qi Youxuan quickly nodded in agreement before Wei Ziqi could answer. “That’s right, that’s right!”

“…” Wei Ziqi was so disgusted until he planned not to pay a New Year call to the Qi family in the future.

It was Yan Beicheng who took the lead to cause trouble to Qi Chenglin; why did he even aim Wei Ziqi?

Wei Ziqi rolled his eyes in response to Qi Chenglin’s question petulantly and answered coldly, “Ha ha. My maiden daughter caught a gun during the one-year-old-catch 1, and she even told me that she wanted to learn martial arts. I initially thought that it was unwise for a lady to play with these sorts of activities which involved punching and beating around, but come to think of it, at least she won’t receive any unjust treatment from his future husband. I’ll have to research it further when I get home.”

“…” Qi Chenglin was dumbfounded.

Ruan Danchen felt hilarious watching the arguments between the duo. It would be hectic when the two children grew up and truly marry each other, but the duo remained persistent in their bickering.

She could even imagine the duo remained vindictive and their expressions of not yielding to each other when these two families sit together in the future.

Qi Youxuan was the litigant in this issue but he was not bothered at all. Instead, he brought Little Muran away from the bickering, followed by Little Muche who acted like he was their tail.

They could even hear Qi Youxuan’s voice from afar. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you angry in the future and certainly won’t retaliate if you scold or even hit me. You don’t need to learn martial arts, I’ll be your punching bag.”

Qi Chenglin smiled. “My son is fully aware of his situation now.”

Wei Ziqi nodded with great satisfaction too. “You’re fully conscious too to raise your son as a punching bag for other family’s maiden daughter.”

Ruan Danchen did not take this to heart since they were just joking. On the other hand, Wei Ran looked at her apologetically, which Ruan Danchen smiled and shook her head to indicate that she did not mind at all. Then, Song Yu and her pulled Wei Ran to one side and started chatting.

“Mom! Mom!” Qi Youxuan ran out after a while.

Ruan Danchen felt that he would show off publicly regarding the fact that he finally had a mother now based on his style. Well, here he came.

“There’s a box of Potato Farm chips[3] in the cabinet. Can I share it with Muran and Muche?” Qi Youxuan asked. It was obvious that it was just an excuse and he was just finding a chance to show off that he had a mother now.

Ruan Danchen did not expose his intentions and instead, she stood up happily and grabbed his little hand. “Come, I’ll take it for you.”

Ruan Danchen went to the kitchen and took the Japan Three Brothers French Fries down from the cabinet. Then, she found a small but beautiful plate and put some sweets and desserts for the kids. Qi Youxuan walked away happily after that.

Ruan Danchen saw Qi Chenglin waving towards her when she returned to the living room. She guessed that it was because Qi Youxuan referred her as his mother, so she walked towards him obediently and slipped her hand in his habitually.

Then, she noticed the gang winking at her. Wei Ziqi was married so he remained calm and steady. The other older bachelors were calm and steady too when they were working outside, but when they were gathered with their friends, they would lose their calmness and started to behave playfully.

“Good, he already referred her as his mother now. When’s your wedding dinner?” Han Zhuoli asked with a smile on his face.

“Wedding dinner will be held soon, but Danchen is his actual mother. Biological mother,” Qi Chenglin answered.

Ruan Danchen did not bother about his first statement anymore. Qi Chenglin was not one who knew nothing about romance and they had reached a consensus that they would get married together in the future. She just felt slightly annoyed at his confidence and without proposing officially.

She fought the urge to stomp on his foot and asked, “Who will you marry soon?”

However, it was obvious that Yan Beicheng and the rest were shocked by Qi Chenglin’s last statement. Their eyes widened as they stared at Ruan Danchen, which embarrassed her.

“Aiyoh, what in the world happened? You’re really cunning!” said Han Zhuoli.

“This is between the two of us so don’t need to inquire further. Just know that Danchen is Youxuan’s biological mother and that’s it.” Qi Chenglin did not plan on explaining the past incident to them. Even though they were like his brothers, it would still be embarrassing for them to know the truth, so only the Qi family knew what had actually happened.

Yan Beicheng and the gang did not mind too and stopped their inquiries.

“Since this is a huge joyous matter, how about we gather at the Red Roof? Tonight’s on me,” Yan Beicheng suggested. It was boring recently and besides, they had not had a gathering for such a long time.

Qi Chenglin remained silent and turned his head to Ruan Danchen instead to ask for her permission.

“Damn! You’re not married yet but acting like a hen-pecked husband now!” Gui Zhiqian mentioned it like he was watching a show while eating sunflower seeds.

Qi Chenglin ignored him straight away but Ruan Danchen felt embarrassed after listening to his statement. Qi Chenglin was the head of the family and no matter what happened, she had to protect his reputation whenever they were outside. “I’m fine with it. Since we have nothing to do, I’ll follow your decision.”

Qi Chenglin then agreed to his suggestion. Since Qi Chengzhi and his family were free too, they agreed to join the party tonight.

“Oh, that’s right, I nearly forgot about the true intentions of my visit. I’m going to share a video link in the group. Go ahead and have a look,” Yan Beicheng said and took out his phone.

Grandmother Qi and the rest of the family were listening to their conversation while munching through the sunflower seeds. Yan Beicheng’s statement raised their curiosities and Grandmother Qi asked immediately, “What link?”

“Granny, I’ll send it to you too, don’t worry,” Yan Beicheng said while his fingers kept poking on his phone’s screen repeatedly.

All the elders in their families followed the trend and knew how to use WeChat so Yan Beicheng and the gang registered these elders as friends. After a while, Grandfather Qi and Grandmother Qi, Qi Zhongliang and Xia Wenna, and Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya received the video sent by Yan Beicheng.

They saw a Mercedes-Benz shaking while being surrounded by cars in front of the traffic light in the video. Grandmother Qi criticized, “Young men nowadays are really outrageous. They can’t contain themselves even when they’re waiting for the traffic light to turn green. This brings such a bad impression on them.”

Ruan Danchen glanced at Qi Chenglin amid the embarrassment.

Grandmother Qi put on her spectacles with presbyopia lenses to take a clearer view of the number plate, which was quite familiar to her. “Chenglin, is this your car?”

Yan Beicheng grinned at Qi Chenglin, whose expression paled with anger, and said, “This video was shared like crazy in my friends’ list. They said the people in this car were bold and untrammeled. They couldn’t even contain themselves when the traffic light turned red. Then, I noticed that the number plate was quite familiar so I took a closer look. Yo, wasn’t that your car?”

Han Zhuoli stared at Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen ambiguously. Ruan Danchen’s face went as red as a beetroot now and the elders in the Qi family were still sitting together with them. It would be disastrous if they misunderstood the situation.

“Youxuan and I were playing around in the back of the car last night, that was the reason why the car was so…” Ruan Danchen was unable to mutter the word “bouncy” anyhow.

“Lao Chu, what are you doing?” Yan Beicheng took a glance at Chu Zhaoyang who was sitting beside him quietly, but his fingers were busy poking at his phone.

“Downloading the video, perhaps it may come in handy when they’re getting married,” Chu Zhaoyang said lightly.

“…” Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen were dumbfounded.

“All of you came here together just for this?” Qi Chenglin felt especially speechless as he thought they were too silly.

Gui Zhiqian gave him a magnanimous nod. “It’s hectic during the New Year festival, and you should be honored that we paid you a visit.”

It was afternoon after they were done messing around with him, so Grandmother Qi made them stay for lunch in the old mansion.

Then, the Qi family realized that Yan Beicheng and the gang came here straight after their assemblage and had not paid other families a New Year call yet. Thus, Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chenglin brought their wives and children and followed them to pay a visit to each family.

They had decided to visit the Han family manor first since it was the nearest to the Qi family manor.

Wei Ziqi carried Little Muran in his embosom after the women served lunch and started eating and feeding Little Muran at the same time, ignoring his son completely.

Ruan Danchen served a small bowl of noodles to Wei Ran, who was carrying Little Muche, so that she could feed her daughter.

Wei Ziqi was extremely patient in taking care of Little Muran meticulously.

Little Muran took a bite of the food she disliked and spat it out, and Wei Ziqi then ate it without feeling disgusted even though there was some unknown object in the meat he just ate.

Little Muran felt bored after eating for quite some time, so she started misbehaving and did not want to continue her lunch in peace. Wei Ziqi then coaxed her with a good temper. “Alright, alright. Come and have a bite again. We’ll stop eating after ten bites, alright? I’ll count for you.”

Little Muran finally started eating again after endless coaxing, but she held the food in her mouth instead of chewing it. Wei Ziqi then grabbed a piece of stewed beef and said, “Look at how I chew. One, Two, Three… That’s right.”

The other bachelors were on the brink of vomiting at the sight of Wei Ziqi tolerating his daughter’s wilfulness. Wei Ziqi would not have such a good temper before he had a daughter. If anyone dared to act capricious towards him, he would kick the person’s buttocks without hesitation, and even the person’s death would not be able to resolve his anger.

Little Muche, who was sitting beside them, misbehaved too. He did not want to eat the noodles Wei Ran fed, and he would turn his head away when the spoon was near his mouth. When Wei Ran found a good opportunity after cajoling him for a while and forced a spoonful of noodles into his mouth, he would spit it out without hesitation.

Wei Ziqi noticed it from the corner of his eye and glared at Little Muche with a stern gaze.

Little Muche went stiff and made a crying expression, looking especially pitiful. Wei Ziqi then raised his eyebrows and gave him a condescending sneer.

Little Muche was about to cry initially, but after noticing his father’s gaze, he pursed his lips and widened his teary eyes, trying desperately to hold the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. He thus kept the tears and snot at bay before eating the noodles Wei Ran fed obediently, peeking at him from time to time vigilantly.

Wei Ziqi continued cajoling his daughter to eat her lunch patiently.

“Wei Ziqi, did your son come with the package when you top up your phone charges?” Yan Beicheng shifted his gaze between Little Muche and Little Muran, noticing a huge difference between their treatment.

“What are you talking about? He’s a product of me and my wife’s hard work.” Wei Ziqi glared Yan Beicheng with a little annoyance from being misunderstood.

“…” Wei Ran was dumbfounded.

Wei Ziqi’s sleeves were being encumbrances so Wei Ran helped him to roll up his sleeves, which revealed a washable tattoo of SpongeBob SquarePants on his arm.

“Yo, Wei Ziqi, are you still childish?” Han Zhuoli laughed at the sight of the SpongeBob SquarePants tattoo on Wei Ziqi’s arm; he was an adult man but with a cartoon tattoo on him.

“Muran liked it and insisted on sticking it on him,” Wei Ran explained with a smile on her face.

She recalled Little Muran was chewing bubble gum when she came back from kindergarten on one day. There was a washable tattoo sticker inside the packet so she insisted on sticking it on Wei Ziqi’s back of the hand.

It was unwise for his subordinates and clients to notice the cartoon tattoo during his work, but he could not bear the sight of his daughter’s disappointed expression. Nonetheless, Little Muran was persistent in her demand on sticking the tattoo on a conspicuous location.

Feeling helpless, Wei Ziqi persuaded Little Muran to place the tattoo on his arm. However, it was still noticeable if he did not hide it carefully.

“The status difference between your son and daughter is huge, don’t you think so?” Gui Zhiqian winked and took a closer look at Little Muche again. Even though his eyes, nose, and mouth were the absolute spitting images of Wei Ziqi and Wei Ran, Wei Ziqi treated him as if he was picked up from the roadside.

Wei Ziqi rolled his eyes and said, “A daughter has to be doted delicately, whereas a son must be treated harshly so that he won’t suffer in the future.”

Little Muran was full after Wei Ziqi finished his sentence, and her father then advised before putting her down on the ground, “My daughter, if there’s any man who tries to court you in the future, don’t promise him if he didn’t treat you better than I did. Don’t marry if that happens. Stay home and I’ll take care of you.”

Xiao Muran nodded prudently before going to play with the others.

Footnotes:

Ch 386 Footnote 1

[1] Lucky money is prepared for children by adults and the elderly and given after the reunion dinner. There are no clear literary sources from which to trace the origin of the red envelope tradition. In China, during the Qin Dynasty, the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was called yasui qian (yā suì qián 压岁钱) meaning “money warding off evil spirits”, and was believed to protect the elderly from sickness and death. The lucky money was replaced by red envelopes when printing presses became more common and is now found written using the homophone for suì that means ‘old age’ instead of ‘evil spirits’. In folk culture, the children will live safe and sound for the whole year if they get lucky money. This custom still remains and the amount of money is increasing. Children use their money to buy books or other school supplies. Some families also save money for future use or use it to help cultivate in their children the habit of saving.

Ch 386 Footnote 2

[2] One-Year-Old Catch (zhuā zhōu 抓周) is a tradition with a long history in China. It was recorded even when it was in the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo 宋朝). One-Year-Old Catch is usually held before eating the long-life noodles when it is on the day when a baby is one year old. The family will lay out sutras, brush pens, ink sticks, paper, ink slabs, abacus, copper coins, account books, pieces of jewelry, flowers, rouge, foods, toys, etc. For girls, scoops, scissors, rulers, thread, scissor-cut will be added. Then the parents put the baby in front of these articles and make it sit up. Nobody will give any instruction or cue to the baby so that it is left free to choose. Watching the baby catch the articles it likes, the family can then make predictions about its potential interests, future career and development.