When Qi Yuancheng returned ho, Qi Sheng had already left more than half an hour ago.
Seeing the little breakfast note left on the dining table when he got up, Qi Sheng was a bit surprised—his eldest son had actually prepared congee and eggs for him before leaving?
He served himself a bowl of congee and took two eggs that were still soaking in warm water, then began to properly enjoy the loving breakfast prepared by his son.
It was then that Zhong Jin ca out of the bedroom. She glanced at the food on the table, then turned toward the bathroom to wash up. When she ca out again, she began complaining about the breakfast: “Just plain eggs? Nothing else?”
Qi Sheng shook his head, inwardly rolling his eyes, but still maintained a smile toward Zhong Jin. “This breakfast was prepared by our son. He left early—if he made fried eggs, they would’ve already gone cold. If you don’t want the eggs, just have more congee.”
Zhong Jin had originally wanted Qi Sheng to go fry her so ham, but hearing him ntion their son, she suddenly felt guilty and didn’t dare make any more demands. She hadn’t had dinner last night, and her two sons hadn’t cared whether she was hungry or not. In the end, she had no choice but to fill up with bread and snacks by herself.
Thinking about how indifferent her sons were toward her, Zhong Jin started calculating. Although she had promised Qi Yuancheng last night that she wouldn’t cause trouble, who knew how those two boys—who only had eyes for their father—would treat her in the future?
They hadn’t even cared that she was hungry last night. Zhong Jin felt that she couldn’t rely on those two for her future at all.
So, looking at Qi Sheng, who was eating breakfast, she began to act coy: “Honey, I’ve been eyeing a diamond necklace lately. I realized it goes with all my outfits. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up—why don’t you give it to
as a holiday gift?”
Qi Sheng glanced at her and asked, “A diamond necklace? Is it expensive? Did you check the price?”
Zhong Jin looked a bit embarrassed. “I did… It’s a bit pricey, about 800,000 yuan… But honey, it’s really beautiful. I promise you, if you buy
this, I won’t buy another necklace for the next three years!”
Qi Sheng frowned. “That’s really quite expensive. Didn’t you promise
before that you’d cut back on luxury items? We agreed to start saving money for our two sons. They’ll have plenty of expenses in the future. We should be more frugal now.”
Seeing that Zhong Jin was unwilling, Qi Sheng spoke again before she could object: “You always say this. That 300,000 yuan necklace from last ti—you also said it was beautiful and matched all your clothes. Isn’t that one enough? You have more than one necklace already. Why spend so much more money on just a rock?”
Zhong Jin grumbled, “That was three years ago. You haven’t given
a necklace in ages.”
Qi Sheng thought about the pile of clothes and bags in her dressing room and countered, “But in those three years, haven’t you still bought tons of clothes and bags? Let’s skip the necklace. I’ve invested most of our savings. How about this—we take the kids on a trip as a family during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Zhong Jin, still unwilling, feigned being wronged and pressed, “Then what about my gift?”
Qi Sheng replied, “A gift? How about I cook you a full imperial banquet? If you really want sothing, wait until our anniversary in December. I promise I’ll prepare sothing special for you then, okay?”
Of course Zhong Jin wasn’t happy about that. She had promised Qi Sheng a few years ago not to buy luxury goods so recklessly. But who knew what might happen by December? Naturally, she was feeling anxious.
“Honey, I really love that necklace. Just say yes this ti, please?”
Qi Sheng continued to stall, “Even if I wanted to say yes, I can’t pay that all at once. Didn’t I tell you earlier? I used our savings for investnts. Right now, we only have about 500,000 yuan in liquid funds. I can’t use all of that just to buy jewelry.”
Hearing this, Zhong Jin imdiately changed her tune: “Then… I also saw one that’s a bit cheaper, just over 200,000. Why don’t you buy that one for
instead?”
Qi Sheng glanced at his watch, stood up, and said to her, “Be good, don’t fuss. This is all the money we have right now. If you spend half of it in one go and sothing urgent cos up, what will we do? Don’t worry—by our anniversary, I’ll definitely prepare a big gift for you. Enough talking, I’ll be late for work if I don’t leave now.”
With that, without caring whether Zhong Jin was happy or not, Qi Sheng grabbed his phone and car keys and left.
While driving, Qi Sheng felt a headache coming on. The reason he had pretended not to know anything was to give the kids so ti—not to keep acting like a loving couple with Zhong Jin. Thinking about how she had just asked for a gift again, he shook his head. Was she already trying to stash away so funds for her future life?
Qi Sheng chuckled. When the truth ca out, the original version of him had gone from loving Zhong Jin to hating her just as intensely. So much so that he’d rather destroy every valuable item in the house than let her have any of it—jewelry, designer bags, na-brand clothes… anything with value.
The original version had gone out in a blaze. Qi Sheng knew he couldn’t go to such extres, but there was also no reason to keep indulging her. Just a bit longer—he figured the Kang family wouldn’t be able to wait much longer either.
When Qi Yuancheng returned ho, he was puzzled to find Zhong Jin sitting on the sofa in the living room sulking. Seeing the dishes still on the dining table, his brows furrowed.
Dad usually cleaned up before leaving—why didn’t he this ti? Looking at Zhong Jin, who was surprised to see him return but pretended to be composed, Qi Yuancheng narrowed his eyes. “Did you just ask Dad for money?”
This situation had occurred in their family before. Sotis when his mom’s requests were too much, his dad would leave in a hurry, using work as an excuse. Judging by her expression just now, it was hard not to suspect sothing.
Zhong Jin didn’t expect her eldest son to suddenly return. She exclaid, “Why are you back? Shouldn’t you be at school right now?”
Qi Yuancheng sat down opposite her and sneered, “Thanks to you, I almost lost my ho. What’s the point of going to school anymore?”
“Did you just ask Dad for money?” he asked again.
Zhong Jin’s eyes widened. “No, don’t overthink. I already promised you last night that I wouldn’t cause trouble. Why are you back now? Skipping school again? Aren’t you afraid of making your dad angry?”
Qi Yuancheng, seeing that she wasn’t telling the truth and trying to change the subject, warned her again, “Say what you want, but I’m reminding Dad again tonight.”
Ignoring Zhong Jin’s darkened expression, Qi Yuancheng continued, “I ca back to ask you sothing. Who is the person I’m biologically related to?”
He got straight to the point. But he really didn’t like referring to a stranger—whom he didn’t even like—as his biological father. In his eyes, Qi Sheng was his only father.
Zhong Jin frowned. “Why do you want to know about him? You don’t think the person who sent that report has sothing to do with him, do you?”
Right after speaking, her frown disappeared, and she suddenly sat up excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she looked at her eldest son.
She had been so worried about Qi Sheng kicking them out after learning the truth, she completely forgot—what if the biological father of her son stepped in?
If it was him who sent that report, did that an he wanted to acknowledge his son?
The re possibility thrilled Zhong Jin. If her son returned to the Kang family, what would that an for her?
Qi Yuancheng saw Zhong Jin’s reaction and felt uneasy. Anything that made her this excited had to involve money.
Could the person he was related to by blood be from a powerful family?
Qi Yuancheng pressed further. “Who is he? I need his information.”
Zhong Jin didn’t answer right away. Instead, she asked, “Xiaochen, did you find sothing out?”
Qi Yuancheng didn’t reply, just continued staring at her, waiting for an answer.
Zhong Jin wasn’t annoyed by his attitude. In fact, she was overwheld by a strange sense of superiority. She looked at her son, chuckling to herself. If he really joined the Kang family one day and experienced the life of a real elite family, he’d thank her for it.
She didn’t plan to keep the truth from him. Letting him look into the Kang family would help him abandon his current immature thoughts. Zhong Jin felt pleased with her plan, her face full of smiles.
“Kang Hongxian. Your biological father. The head of Yin Kong International.”
Zhong Jin smiled smugly. “Son, you should thank . I’ve given you such a great background. Stop worrying about Qi Sheng’s attitude. What you need to do now is figure out how to get noticed by the Kang family!”
Qi Yuancheng shot Zhong Jin a cold look and sneered. “You were desperate and helpless even when you were pregnant with . Now you think you can waltz into high society?”
He stood up without another word and returned to his bedroom. He needed to investigate everything about the Kang family imdiately. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be simple.
In the living room, Zhong Jin was suddenly jolted by his remark. Eighteen years ago, she had been wildly ambitious, believing that with her looks, she deserved the best in the world.
Back then, she was enchanted by the glitz and glamour of Hong Kong City and went there alone, using her looks to get a job as a sales assistant at a luxury brand store.
Even then, she had her sights set on marrying into a wealthy family. She scrutinized every successful man who walked into the store—until her eyes landed on Kang Hongxian, who ca to inspect the shopping district.
Powerful, wealthy, high status, and handso—Kang Hongxian was everything Zhong Jin dread of. One glance, and she had made up her mind: she had to get involved with him.
Then she began to orchestrate “accidental” etings, got to know him, got close to him, and eventually slept with him. Everything went according to her plan—until she got a cold, heartless sentence from Kang Hongxian that shattered her expectations.
“I’ve seen too many won like you—every bit of scheming and greed written all over your face. Stupid and still unaware of it!”
Recalling the humiliation she once suffered, Zhong Jin grew resentful again at the thought of Kang Hongxian. But her desire for everything the Kang family had was too strong. Now that there was a possibility they might discover Qi Yuancheng’s identity, she began actively digging for information about the Kang family.
Out of the four family mbers, three were now investigating the Kang family. Zhong Jin hadn’t found anything useful yet, but both Qi Yuancheng and Qi Sheng had already uncovered quite a bit. However, they were keeping what they knew to themselves—Qi Sheng planned to wait a bit longer, while Qi Yuancheng was still figuring out how to deal with it all.
Around 4 p.m., Qi Yuancheng set aside his investigation, grabbed his keys and phone, and headed to the supermarket near their neighborhood.
He had just downloaded a cooking app and picked out a few dishes to try that evening. He followed the ingredient list carefully and bought everything he needed.
When he got ho and started preparing the food in the kitchen, the clattering noise attracted Zhong Jin, who had been in her bedroom.
“Xiao Chen, what are you doing? Are you making dinner?”
Qi Yuancheng wasn’t particularly interested in talking to her unless necessary. He glanced at her, then turned away and continued with what he was doing. This was his first ti actually stir-frying—his past experience only extended to making instant noodles.
Still, he had helped his dad in the kitchen a few tis, and now he had tutorial videos to follow. The first dish didn’t go smoothly, but he managed to get it done.
The presentation and flavor left much to be desired, but at least it was fully cooked. That alone gave Qi Yuancheng a bit of confidence, so he pressed on and started making a second dish.
Zhong Jin stood by watching the whole ti, getting increasingly annoyed by his focus and effort. She eventually scoffed.
“You’re not seriously trying to curry favor with your dad by doing this, are you? Xiao Chen, aren’t you focusing on the wrong thing? The Kang family is your real goal!”
Qi Yuancheng hadn’t planned to respond, but her complete lack of reason got to him. He couldn’t help but retort, “Since your heart is set on the Kang family, then from now on, stay away from Dad. Don’t even think about spending a single cent of his money, and stop trying to take advantage of him.”
Zhong Jin was left speechless by his words. She glared at her stubborn son, rolled her eyes, and stord back to her room, thinking bitterly to herself: One day, you’ll regret wasting your ti here like this.
Qi Sheng didn’t work overti today. Once he clocked out, he leisurely drove ho. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by his younger son.
“Dad, you’re back!”
The younger son sweetly took his briefcase and thoughtfully placed his slippers by his feet. The VIP treatnt caught Qi Sheng a little off guard.
After changing into his slippers and walking into the living room, Qi Sheng saw four dishes and a soup already laid out on the dining table.
He walked around the table, leaned down, and sniffed the food. It slled… pretty good?
Just then, Qi Yuancheng ca out of the kitchen, now tidy, and approached his father with a proud expression.
“Dad, I made your favorite dishes especially for you. Try them.”
Qi Sheng nodded eagerly, excited to try his son’s cooking. After taking a bite, he was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. As he praised his son, he casually asked, “Where’s your mom? Call her out to eat.”
Qi Yuancheng replied, “She said she’s on a diet and doesn’t want to eat. Let’s eat, Dad.”
Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. “On a diet again? Alright then, the three of us will eat.”
And so, the father and two sons sat down for dinner together.
anwhile, Zhong Jin—who had just woken up from a nap and was about to eat—was left fuming: That brat Qi Yuancheng!
Qi Sheng had no idea what his two sons were planning. As he watched them behave especially well today and enjoyed the al prepared with such care, he couldn’t help but feel curious and puzzled.
Is this a trap, or has my status at ho suddenly gone up?
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