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Chapter 2: Eldest Grandson
With the family planning policy so strict now, who would be willing to abandon their son?
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
Qin Feng felt a blockage in his chest, a feeling as if tears were about to burst out.
A dignified engineer at the Northern Railway Factory, a 26-year-old grown man, crying because of a child's words... How embarrassing.
Qin Feng blinked hard, forcing the uncooperative tears back, and couldn't help but hold the child tighter.
This child was born to be my undoing, wasn't it?
Doesn't he know that he’s the type who responds better to gentle approaches than harsh ones?
“Daddy—”
Qin Feng let go. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m hungry.” The child patted his little belly, looking at him apologetically. “It’s not listening, it screamed.”
Qin Feng couldn't help but say, “Let me listen.”
A rumbling sound came, and Qin Feng was startled. “It really screamed?”
The child nodded, gazing at him expectantly.
Qin Feng’s heart softened under the gaze, and in a burst of enthusiasm, he said, “Wait, Daddy will cook for you.”
As he put the child down and stood up, Qin Feng suddenly felt embarrassed.
— I don’t know how to cook.
In his previous life, he had always had a nanny, and by the time he was 24, he’d never even washed a bowl.
In this life, his family was poor, so he had to do everything himself—raising pigs, feeding cattle, harvesting wheat—he could do it all. But he rarely entered the kitchen and didn’t know how to fry, stir-fry, or cook.
The main reason was that his mother was afraid he'd waste food, salt and oil.
“Daddy, what’s wrong?” The child curiously grabbed his hand.
Qin Feng cleared his throat. “...Daddy forgot, we don’t cook lunch or dinner at home.”
“We go to Grandpa's house to eat?”
Qin Feng: "You even know Grandpa?"
The child nodded.
— Of course.
Qin Feng was curious about what the old monk had told him, so he sat down. “What else do you know? Who else is in Daddy's family?”
“Grandma, Auntie, and Sister.”
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow. “No Uncle?”
“What Uncle?”
Qin Feng chuckled and picked him up. “Good son, it’s better there’s no Uncle.”
The child was very confused. Why was Daddy so happy?
“Come on, Daddy will take you to Grandpa’s house.”
“No need, Grandpa is here.”
A sarcastic voice came from outside the door. Qin Feng subconsciously put the child on the sofa, stood up, and blocked him.
The room darkened, and three people appeared at the doorway: two kids and one adult.
The two kids, aged ten and nine, were his newly adopted sons from a month ago—Gu Wuyi and Gu Qingkuang. Between them stood a small, wiry man in his fifties—his biological father, who looked nothing like him.
His father had always said Qin Feng didn’t resemble him. Qin Feng had inherited his mother’s height and his looks came from his grandfather, who hadn’t survived the hardships of the 1960s.
“What are you doing here?” Qin Feng asked, surprised. His father usually found him at the factory at noon, rarely ever visiting the staff quarters.
Old Qin replied, “What do you think?”
“Called me home to eat ah,” Qin Feng said.
The old man was choked up and looked around.
The two kids on either side each grabbed one of his arms and, in unison, said, “Grandpa, calm down, let’s talk this through!”
“Talk about what?” Old Qin pointed at his son, “You adopted Da xiaozi and Er xiaozi—”
〚 Da xiaozi [大小子] The eldest boy/son ; Er xiaozi [二小子] The second boy/son 〛
“Grandpa, we have names,” the eldest, Gu Wuyi, couldn’t help but interject.
The old man turned to him. “Did I tell you to speak?”
The young boy instinctively shut up.
“If you won’t speak, then I won’t talk about you. A name like Wuyi and Qingkuang—what kind of ridiculous names are those? If you ask me, they’re not even as nice as Gu Laoda or Gu Lao’er.”
〚 Wuyi [無益] means “useless” 〛
〚 Qingkuang [清狂] means “reckless”〛
〚 Gu Laoda [顧老大] means Gu Surname Eldest〛
〚 Gu Lao’er [顧老二] means Gu Surname Second〛
“Cough!” Qin Feng quickly covered his mouth.
Old Qin pointed at him: “You still have the face to laugh? I— I won’t talk about this nonsense with you. The reason you managed to get into college was all thanks to Engineer Gu tutoring you. You should be taking care of Da xiaozi and Er xiaozi.”
“But I also remember, you can’t hold a grudge against me for making you take care of them, and then deliberately go against me, bringing kids home whenever you feel like it. How long has it been and you've already forgotten everything? If one comes today, another comes tomorrow, and another the day after—what are you going to do?”
Qin Feng couldn’t help but say, “With the family planning policy so strict now, who would be willing to abandon their son?”
Old Qin thought for a moment and agreed.
Then he thought it over and realized something was wrong. “What if it’s a daughter?”
“Well, then I’ll spread the word that I’m biased toward sons, only like sons and not daughters. Is that okay?”
The old man was about to nod when he realized his son had turned it around, “No! What about that child? Call him out, I’ll send him back.”
Qin Feng instantly felt the back of his shirt being tugged.
“Do you even know where to send him back to?”
Without thinking, Old Qin said, “I’ll send him to an orphanage. This place isn’t an orphanage, why would I send him here?”
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow: “Are you sure?”
“Sure.”
“Are you willing?”
Old Qin blurted out: “What’s there to be unwilling about—”
Qin Feng shifted to the side, and a little head popped up beside him.
The old man and the two kids stared in shock, mouths agape in an “O” shape.
The child nervously raised his head to look at his father.
Qin Feng couldn’t help but think of the letter from the old monk. If the child had been abandoned on the roadside and it wasn’t for the old monk finding him in time, he would have already passed away.
The old monk also mentioned in the letter that he flund thechild was at most three months old, or perhaps just a month old.
If the child had any physical disabilities, Qin Feng could understand, after all, family planning was strict, and every household wasn’t wealthy.
But such a good child.
How could his parents be so heartless?
Qin Feng bent down to pick him up. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Daddy's here."
The child tightly hugged his neck.
Suddenly, Old Qin came to his senses, pointing at Qin Feng, his finger trembling, with a face full of disbelief.
“Are you still sending him away?” Qin Feng asked with a smile.
Old Qin picked up the broom and quickly approached.
The two young brothers instinctively tried to stop him. When they saw the little monk’s appearance, they realized what this unreasonable adoptive father had done in the past. They suddenly stopped and, in unison, said, "Grandpa, be gentle, don't break him."
Old Qin paused, and Qin Feng realized what was happening. He immediately ran out.
“Da xiaozi, Er xiaozi, block this beast for me!”
The two brothers blocked the door.
Qin Feng stopped and was hit in the back.
The little monk was so frightened that he started crying loudly, “Don’t hit my daddy, don’t hit my daddy…” He stretched out his arm and waved his little fists at Old Qin.
He could not lift his broom any more.
“Don’t hit, don’t hit, my good grandson, don’t cry.” Old Qin saw the tears on the child’s face and hurriedly dropped the broom. “Grandpa is just venting for you. If it weren’t for your scoundrel of a father, you... you wouldn’t have ended up as a monk. Look at the clothes you're wearing; they’re even worse than the clothes Grandpa wore in the 60s.”
“My daddy didn’t know!” The child, with tears in his eyes, stared and said loudly.
Old Qin understood his implied meaning and realized the child was thinking, Why blame my daddy? Why hit my daddy?
“Your daddy didn’t know—wait, your dad didn’t know?” The old man turned to Qin Feng.
Qin Feng turned around. “He’s four years old this year.”
Old Qin nodded, indicating that he understood, but then suddenly realized something was wrong.
Four or five years ago, his son was abroad.
“Alright, Qin Feng. The country paid for you to study abroad, and instead of studying properly, you wasted the country’s and the people’s money. Let’s see if I don’t beat you to death!” The old man picked up the broom and swung it.
Qin Feng quickly dodged. “Again? Why don’t you think about the fact that someone borrowed the seed to have a child and later regretted it, so they threw him in the temple?”
“You?!” Old Qin was so angry he laughed.
Gu Laoda weakly said, “It’s not impossible. Look at Uncle’s face.”
Old Qin stopped and, for the first time, seriously looked at his son.
A typical baby face.
Yet this face also had a pair of peach blossom eyes, which, whether smiling or not, made him look like a charming flirt.
Clearly a rural man, but even fairer than city folks.
He looked just like the unpopular little white-faced actor in show business.
Old Qin, “So you didn’t know?”
“If I knew, then when you kept pushing me to go on blind dates last year and this year, I would have found him. Now I don't have time for blind dates, busy testing new trains, so I brought back a child instead?"
Old Qin thought about it and realized there was some truth in what he said.
The new train to be tested was made by Engineer Gu and his team. If it weren’t for the blood, sweat, and tears poured into the new train, Engineer Gu wouldn’t have passed away suddenly.
Not to mention that Qin Feng got into university thanks to the extra tutoring from Engineer Gu. Even without this connection, Qin Feng wouldn’t have the time to worry about anything else at such a crucial moment with the test run.
“So where did this child come from?”
Qin Feng: “His master is over seventy years old, and while he has the heart, he doesn’t have the strength. But he didn’t know if I liked children, so he didn’t dare to tell me.” He glanced at the two adopted sons. “With them, the master was sure I could accept children, so he dared to send him over.”
The two boys couldn’t help but ask, “Was it still because of us?”
Qin Feng smiled at them.
The two brothers couldn’t help but lower their heads.
Actually, the rumors were wrong.
It wasn’t that Engineer Gu didn’t trust his daughter but trusted Qin Feng. In fact, the two little ones would rather stay with Qin Feng, who was loyal, loving, and dutiful to the country and his parents, than go to their aunt’s house.
Engineer Gu trusted Qin Feng’s character, but he didn’t trust Qin Feng’s future wife. He firmly believed that it would be safer for his grandsons to stay with his daughter.
Qin Feng was also unwilling to bring two little villains home, so his attitude toward them was indifferent. The little brothers went to find Old Qin to persuade him to do ideological work on their behalf, convincing both their grandfather and Qin Feng.
Old Qin believed that without Engineer Gu, Qin Feng wouldn’t be where he was today. One shouldn't forget their benefactor; otherwise, they would be struck by lightning.
Thus, he had previously suggested that Qin Feng adopt the two little brothers of the Gu family.
The old man moved in front of the two children, blocking Qin Feng’s view. “Where is he?”
“The master? Gone.”
“You—” Old Qin gritted his teeth.
This damn fool, I really want to beat him to death.
“After he raised your child for a few years, you… at the very least should invite him out for a meal, right?”
Qin Feng: “Little monk, your master—”
“What little monk?!” Old Qin interrupted him.
Qin Feng was stunned for a moment and obediently asked, “Miaomiao, when your master sent you here, did he say he had something to do and couldn’t take care of you anymore?”
The child nodded. “Daddy, we’ve troubled Master for a long time.”
“Dad knows.” Qin Feng looked at his father. “Did you hear that?”
Old Qin heard it. "Which 'Miao' are you talking about?"
“‘Miao’ as in tiny. Master said that Miaomiao was very small before, just like a little kitten.”
Old Qin imagined it for a moment and couldn’t bear it. “My little grandson—” He reached out to hug him.
Qin Feng dodged.
“What are you doing?!” Old Qin missed, nearly falling over.
The two brothers quickly helped him.
The old man shook off the boys' hands and grabbed the broom again.
With no one at the door to block him, Qin Feng ran out with the child in his arms.
“Stop!” Old Qin shouted as he chased after them.
The neighbors, who had been secretly watching and waiting by the door, quickly stepped aside to make way.
Gu Lao’er hurriedly asked his older brother, “What should we do?”
“Chase him.” Gu Laoda hurriedly closed the door and quickly followed. "Grandpa says every day that filial children come from the stick. With such a big matter, he should beat Uncle half to death."
Gu Lao’er shivered.
If Uncle were half dead and unable to take care of them, their closest relative would be their aunt.
He didn’t want to return to that human purgatory of his previous life.
“Grandpa, let’s talk this through.” Gu Er quickly caught up. “Beating won’t solve anything. Uncle, slow down, don’t make Miaomiao fall.”
〚Gu Da [顧大] means eldest Gu ; Gu Er [顧二] means second Gu〛
The old man dared not chase recklessly anymore, afraid that his son would recklessly run and fall with his precious new grandson.
The two brothers caught up and quickly grabbed his arm.
“At this point, even if you beat Uncle to death, it’s no use.” Gu Da tried to persuade him.
Gu Er continued, “Yeah. This really isn’t Dad’s fault.”
Old Qin: “If it’s not his fault, whose fault is it? If he could control his lower half, would there be so many problems?”
The two brothers were speechless and couldn’t help but let go.
Old Qin waved his hand, sighed helplessly, and his expression became one of loss and sorrow.
The two boys called out in concern, “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”
Old Qin turned to the two boys and saw that they seemed a bit uneasy. He dropped the broom and put an arm around each of them. “Grandpa isn’t angry with you. We all agreed before that once your Uncle Qin got married, you two would stay with us, old couple.”
The little brothers nodded. They hadn’t forgotten.
“Everyone knows about this, so no one thinks you two are a burden. But now with this Miaomiao, and with the country’s strict family planning policies, your Uncle Qin can only have one child. Which woman would dare to marry him in the future?” Thinking of this made the old man feel distressed, and he lost the energy to continue chasing his son.
The two boys sighed in relief.
They had thought something serious had happened.
Gu Er tugged at his arm. “You want Uncle Qin to get married, don’t you? Isn’t it so he can have a child and you can hold your biological grandson?”
“I… that’s one reason. The other is to find someone to take care of him.”
Gu Da said, "There are you now, and there will be us in the future.”
“What about when you grow up?”
Gu Er thought for a moment. “Can you guarantee that Uncle Qin will never get divorced?”
The old man thought about his son’s character—lazy except when it came to studying.
Now that he had money from his work, he didn’t even wash his clothes anymore, using the washing machine instead. It drove him crazy, not knowing who he was anymore.
A person like this could only marry someone who needed him to support them.
Anyone with any ability would have a hard time staying with him.
“I’m overthinking it.” The old man said helplessly.
The two brothers felt relieved.
“Let’s go home quickly then. If Grandma suddenly sees a new grandson, she might faint from the shock.”
Old Qin thought about his wife, who had been hoping for years for their son to marry and have children. Now that she realized that not only was there no wife but the child might as well buy soy sauce. He couldn’t help but worry about how she would react and be scared to death.
〚buy soy sauce [打醬油] (dǎ jiàngyóu) = be a substitute (literally: "buy soy sauce," meaning to play a minor role or fill in)〛
“Right, let’s go home quickly.”
At the doorstep, both grandparent and grandchildren couldn’t believe it, rubbing their eyes in unison.
It wasn’t that they were seeing things, the living room indeed looked very harmonious.
The old woman sat on one side, the young man sat on the other, and the bald little monk sat in the middle. They were facing north, with the main seat still at the head, and he was holding a spoon, shoveling food into his mouth.
On either side, a man and a woman were leaning over, watching him, urging him to eat more slowly.
The old man looked at his grandchildren on both his sides.
—What’s going on here?
The two boys were equally confused.
The old lady accepted it way too quickly, didn't she?
Gu Er couldn’t hold back, and as soon as he entered, he couldn’t help but ask, “Grandma, do you know who this is?" pointing at the bald little monk.
Madam Zhou didn’t think twice and asked, “You don’t know? I just asked you. Your Uncle Qin said you were right behind. Haven’t you met Miaomiao?”
The old man asked, “Old wife, don’t you have anything you want to ask?”
Madam Zhou replied, “What’s there to ask?” She glanced at her son. “With him like this, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had three or five of them. Only you would believe that he hasn’t had a partner after so many years outside.”
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