The living room fell into a strange silence for a moment. Gu Bai wanted to speak only to see Father Qi pushing the man in his arms away. His expression was solemn. “Xiao Bai, have you been cheated by him? Don't you believe in your uncle? Your aunt and I have had a good relationship for so many years. I have never cheated on her and I have never donated my sperm. There's no way I have an illegitimate child.”
Qi Le wasn't bothered by the fact that he had been pushed away by his father. He wiped away the tears and choked with sobs. That sentence of his seemed to mean that their family had always been harmonious and warm.
Gu Bai threw his wife a helpless look and patiently explained, “Uncle, that's not what's going on.”
“Then, what's the reason…” Father Qi paused slightly. Perceiving the gaze from nearby, he turned and saw a certain someone staring at him unblinkingly. His beautiful eyes were red, teary and pitiful. The child was about the same age as Xiao Le. Especially with him standing in this apartment. he suddenly felt a tenderness inside and touched Qi Le's head. “I see, it's a charity event organized by college students. Do you want me to fulfill this child's dream of having a father? Alright, I'll help you. Son, have you eaten yet? I’ll take you to get something to eat.”
Gu Bai, “…”
After such a long separation, after life and death, Qi Le was once again touched by his father. Suddenly, he was even more affected by his emotions. The tears that had finally stopped came running down his face again. He ran over to hug his father and cried, “Dad, you're still so silly!”
Perhaps it was because he had heard too much of this phrase, Father Qi froze. “Why did you… Who did you learn this from?”
“What?” Qi Le looked up, sniffled and choked.
Gu Bai felt that there would be no end to this conversation if he allowed this father and son to continue talking, so he stepped forward to separate them. With a headache, he told his wife, “Sit still and don’t move.” He took Qi Le's father aside and said, “Uncle, come in for a chat with me.”
Father Qi turned to look back at the youth, then at Gu Bai and finally followed him in bewilderment.
Qi Le wiped away his tears and paced back and forth anxiously in the living room. Xiaoquan was nestling on the window sill, basking in the sun. Seeing Qi Le circling back and forth in front of it, it jumped down and pulled at his pants. Qi Le looked down, picked it up and rubbed it. “Son, do you think he will believe it?”
Xiaoquan pawed his shoulder and rubbed against his neck. “Meow.”
“If he doesn’t believe me, what can I do?”
Xiaoquan continued to rub against him. “Meow.”
The first thing Father Qi saw coming out of Gu Bai’s room was that the difficult cat rubbing against Qi Le. This scene was too familiar. His eyes grew red as he watched a certain someone closely. Qi Le looked up when he heard the sound and saw his dad looking at himself. He looked at him stiffly, waiting for his sentence to fall. Gu Bai stood by and looked at him. He had already said what he should say and now he wanted to see if his uncle would believe it. Father Qi took a deep breath to calm himself down, but in fact, his voice sounded a little hoarse when he spoke. “Are you really Xiao Le?”
“Mmm!” Qi Le looked at him tearfully, “Do you believe it?”
Father Qi was silent for a while. This matter was too inconceivable, and also came all of a sudden. He looked at them and mumbled, “Are you kids really not ganging up to lie to me? I’ve always had a good temper but if you're lying about this matter, I’ll definitely turn my back on you.”
“We're really not ah,” Qi Le choked. “Do you remember when my mother gave birth to my brother, an aunt came to visit and you gave me a few hundred yuan worth of hush money?”
“…” Father Qi thought this sounded too ambiguous and immediately said, “She was my high school classmate. There's nothing between us.”
“Nothing between you two? She said that you guys had history,” Qi Le accused. “Besides, both of you served each other food while we were eating. You were both chatting nonstop. If it weren’t for her speaking to me, I think you would have forgotten that you have a son beside you!”
“Nonsense.” Father Qi explained, “We didn’t see each other for decades. Of course, we had a lot to talk about. Besides, children should focus on their food and not interrupt when the adults are talking. If I had really forgotten about you, I wouldn’t have brought you with me.”
“Bullshit, it was auntie who told you to take me along.” Qi Le glared at him. “I was obediently eating at the time. When a plate of hairy crabs was served and I couldn’t reach it, it was auntie who gave served me some. You didn’t even care about me.”
“More nonsense! Laozi dotes on you so much. How can I bear to ignore you?” Father Qi felt that his fatherly image had been seriously damaged and patiently explained, “I wanted to serve some to you as well but I was half a step late.”
“I won’t believe you. The fact is that you didn’t serve me food, your girlfriend and ignored me.” Qi Le put down Xiaoquan, wiped his tears and silently walked away. “You don’t love me anymore. I’m going to send my mom an anonymous text and ask her to make you kneel on the washboard and then quietly disappear. Anyway, you think I'm dead. I’ll find a place to dig a hole and bury myself.”
Gu Bai, “…”
Father Qi started to panic. He dashed up and pulled him into his arms. “Did Laozi give you the hush money for nothing?”
Gu Bai, “…”
Qi Le sensed the familiar touch and was silent for a moment. He could no longer restrain his emotions. He quickly turned around and hugged him. “Wuwuwu, Dad!”
Being pounced on by Qi Le like that, Father Qi felt his heart tremble. His eyes turned red instantly as he patted him on the back “Ai, ai.“
Qi Le looked at him. “Do you believe me?”
Father Qi touched his head. “I believe most of it. This whole thing is really mysterious.”
“What do you mean by 'most of it'?” Qi Le became furious, then thought for a moment. “I still have proof. Let's start from childhood. When I was six, I had my first heart surgery. The doctor said that there was a risk. You held me in your arms and watched me sleep. You thought I was asleep but in fact I wasn’t. I knew you were crying because your tears fell on my face.”
Father Qi was surprised. “You weren't asleep?”
~~~
P.S. Just wanted to say thanks for the continuous support. Glad you guys are still reading this ❤️