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Chapter 28: Swing
The main point is that your father doesn’t have time to find a partner at the moment.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
The first time getting beaten, it was a mix of novelty, grievance, and fear.
The little one saw that even when he looked at his dad, he didn’t help him, too scared to cry out loud, clenching his small fists to wipe away his tears.
Gu Wuyi saw his eyes were red and couldn’t help but regret it.
The child was only four, and hadn’t seen wheat before in the temple. It looked odd, hopping a few times, but what was there to make a big deal of?
Qin Feng looked down and saw his eldest son’s guilty expression. “You did the right thing, Wuyi. If you hadn’t rushed to pull him out, he would have definitely fallen.”
The little one couldn’t help but look at him.
Qin Feng: “I’m talking about you.”
The child turned his head and silently cried on his shoulder.
Qin Feng almost wanted to laugh. “Being spoiled? This time, it’s fine, but if you dare to jump around next time and hurt yourself, your daddy, big brother, and, oh, your second brother—we three will beat you.”
The child suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief.
Qin Feng: “If you don’t listen, you’ll get a beating. Do you remember your uncle?”
The child had a poor memory. Wang Genbao hadn’t bothered Qin Feng for a while, and the child fell into deep thought.
Qin Feng thought for a moment: “What about your aunt? The man she’s with. Your dad beat him because he didn’t listen.”
The child’s mouth dropped open in shock, then he struggled to get down.
Qin Feng, confused, let him go.
The child ran toward the room with small steps.
Qin Feng was stunned.
Gu Wuyi quickly realized and laughed, “Afraid your daddy will hit you? Slow down!” He hurried after him. “Daddy meant in the future, not just this time.”
He stopped the little one right at the doorframe.
Gu Wuyi pulled him back. “Tell Dad, you won’t dare again.”
The child pursed his lips, looking at him with a pitiful and timid gaze.
Qin Feng walked over, squatted down, and asked, "What do you want to say?"
The child hesitated for a long time, then weakly said, "I won't dare anymore..."
Qin Feng graciously nodded slightly, signaling that he forgave him.
The child tried to stretch out his small, slender arm.
Qin Feng picked him up and wiped his tears away.
Gu Wuyi noticed the child's nose running and handed him a wet towel.
Qin Feng cleaned him up, and the child happily rubbed his little face against his, showing his joy.
Gu Xiao'er, helping the elderly couple hold the bags, glanced over this way and couldn't help but comment, "What a spoiled brat!"
Madam Zhou's hand shook, almost dropping the wooden stick, feeling speechless but amused. "You sure know how to talk. 'Spoiled brat'—I can’t believe you came up with that."
Gu Xiao'er dared not say more, afraid he might accidentally let slip something that could reveal his identity.
Even if his dad didn't know now, with the development of time, ten or even twenty years later, he'd realize something was off.
Gu Xiao'er quickly tried to cover it up, "Of course! He uses his age to his advantage, always asking Dad to carry him."
Qin Feng: "Jealous? Let your brother hold the bags."
"What do you mean?"
Gu Wuyi: "Dad will carry you."
Gu Xiao'er's face instantly turned red, and he glared fiercely at his brother.
Madam Zhou laughed out loud, "Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Grandma!" Gu Xiao'er, in a panic, raised his voice. "If you keep this up, I won’t help you hold the bags."
Madam Zhou had no intention of having him help.
Their family only had four acres of land. This year’s harvest was good, and even with half of the grain brought over, it was only about a thousand or so pounds in a dozen bags.
The grain wasn’t dried enough and could easily spoil, so when they went to pay their taxes, it might be rejected. They still needed to dry it for two more days. It wasn’t urgent to bring it back today; they could just leave it under the eaves.
Moreover, the wheat contains wheat awns, and after filling the bags with grain, one would need to take a bath. Otherwise, the itching would be unbearable, and if you scratched, it would leave patches of red swelling.
Madam Zhou felt sorry for the child and didn’t want him to end up covered in dust and wheat awns. But when he came over and grabbed the bags, the elderly couple could only comply with him.
Old Qin, hearing this, casually suggested, "Then go play with your brother."
Gu Xiao’er was shocked, his mouth open. This wasn’t what he expected.
Madam Zhou smiled, "What’s wrong?"
Gu Xiao’er closed his mouth and grumbled, "Hurry up. Once it's done, let's cook. I'm hungry."
Madam Zhou shook her head and smiled. "How old are you, still shy?"
Qin Feng noticed there were still a few wheat husks in the grains and couldn't help but ask, "Why don’t we sift it?"
Madam Zhou replied, "I’ll sift it later when we bring it home. Look around—every household has clothes and shoes drying in their yards. If we sift it here, the wheat awns will fly everywhere, and people will definitely come after you for it."
Qin Feng momentarily forgot that although this place was near the village, it wasn't the village.
"Just leave the grain here for now. The house doesn’t have rats, and it’ll prevent any thieves from being interested."
Madam Zhou had planned this. "Later, we’ll store it here."
There were two empty rooms on the first floor. They could just pick one to store the grain in. Once the door was locked, they wouldn’t need to check it for months.
Madam Zhou suddenly remembered something. "I heard from someone in the village this afternoon. They said seafood is cheap recently. Should I go to the city tomorrow and buy a few pounds?"
Qin Feng: "Seafood is cheap?"
"Why wouldn’t it be? I won’t buy big shrimp or squid, just small seafood like clams."
Gu Wuyi, curious, asked, "Isn’t that still not cheap?"
Madam Zhou shook her head. "It’s cheap. Those are picked off the beach. I heard that if we can go there, we can pick them ourselves. Xiao Feng, is there a bus to the seaside?"
Qin Feng thought for a moment. "There is, but you still have to walk two more miles after getting off the bus."
"Then I’ll go take a look tomorrow."
Qin Feng glanced at the fiery red western sky and said, "On such a hot day? Don’t make trouble for me. We’ll talk about it after the hottest days of summer are over."
Old Qin hadn’t thought much of walking over ten miles before, but after walking to Zhou’s house, he suddenly realized that the weather was unsuitable for going out. "Xiao Feng is right. If you're so idle, tidy up Xiao Feng’s old room for your brother to stay in."
Qin Feng was curious.
Gu Wuyi saw the opportunity and told him what had happened today.
When Qin Feng heard "renting a house," he immediately said, "That’s a good idea."
Old Qin nodded at Gu Wuyi and smirked, "It was Da Xiaozi’s idea. Pretty clever, right?"
Qin Feng directly ruffled the child’s head.
He noticed that every time he touched him, the child would get embarrassed, almost like a completely different person, as if a heroic figure turned into a refined lady.
"It’s clever, but don’t forget that you’re still a student," Qin Feng warned, worried he might get too focused on money and rush into business after primary school.
Gu Wuyi shook his head. "No, Dad, have you been to the seaside?"
Qin Feng chuckled softly.
Gu Wuyi was confused by his laugh.
Qin Feng said, "Stop testing me. If you want to go, wait until after the hottest days of summer. Grandma and I will take you to the seaside."
Gu Xiao’er suddenly looked at him in shock.
Qin Feng added, "Is it so unbelievable? If the temperature drops in a few days and it happens to be the weekend, I’ll take you to the park."
Gu Xiao’er couldn’t help but swallow, "Dad, you’ve said a lot of things recently, but it seems like none of them have happened."
"I haven’t forgotten."
Gu Xiao’er didn’t believe him.
Qin Feng didn’t feel like arguing with him.
A few days later, during the weekend, he was supposed to go to the city to buy shoes and a football for them. But thinking that his parents would worry about him spending too much, and that he would probably be lectured at the market, he decided instead to find a few tree trunks in the village and had the village carpenter make a simple bench for him.
In the afternoon, he dug a few holes in the empty space by the wall and placed the wood inside.
At first, Gu Wuyi and his brother didn’t understand what he was doing. When the wooden frame was set up, they couldn’t believe it—it was actually a swing. It was big enough for two people to sit on.
Seeing the disbelief on their faces, Qin Feng asked, "Do you think I forgot?"
The brothers shyly nodded.
Qin Feng grabbed a cloth and wiped the bench, "Go ahead and try it out."
The brothers both wanted to try but were too shy, glancing at each other.
"Both of you get on, I’ll hold onto you and see if it works."
The brothers immediately climbed on.
Qin Feng pulled the ropes on both sides, testing their sturdiness. After confirming they were secure, he warned, "I’ve made it for you, but don’t swing too hard. If you break your arms or legs, don’t expect me to feed you or help you get dressed."
Gu Wuyi instinctively said, "Don’t worry, I’m not a child." As soon as he said that, his expression changed, filled with worry.
But Qin Feng, who couldn’t see this, ruffled his hair from behind. "Ten years old and not a child? Get down, let Miaomiao try."
Gu Wuyi got down.
The swing swayed, and Gu Xiao’er hurriedly grabbed the ropes in fear.
Qin Feng laughed, "Is that all the courage you have?"
Gu Xiao’er, embarrassed and angry, retorted, "I’ve never sat on one before!"
Qin Feng nodded, "Alright, alright, you didn’t know." He then placed the eagerly waiting little one beside him, watching as the child curiously asked, "Is it fun?"
Gu Wuyi gently pushed the swing, and it started swinging. The little one, frightened at first, clung to his second brother. Realizing he wasn’t flying off, he happily nodded vigorously and shouted, "Daddy!"
Qin Feng smiled, "This is for kids, dads can’t sit on it."
Gu Xiao’er, curious, asked, "Can’t a grown-up sit on it?"
Qin Feng answered, "For now, it’s fine. But if a grown-up sits on it too long, it’ll shorten its lifespan." He waved at the kids who were watching from the iron fence.
Then, he let Gu Xiao’er get down, and one by one, the kids climbed up to give it a try.
Gu Xiao’er, puffing up with frustration, pouted.
Qin Feng smiled when he saw this and didn’t respond to him. When the sky darkened and the children had all left, he said, “I’m helping you make friends.”
“I don’t need friends,” the boy huffed, saying it with a dismissive sound.
Qin Feng responded, “Who doesn’t need friends? The more friends, the more opportunities. Take me for example: most of my classmates are in the capital. A few days ago, I went there for a business trip, and during my free time, I didn’t spend a penny. This friend treated me to dinner, that friend took me out to play. If I didn’t have friends, I’d be walking around the streets alone like an idiot. How awkward would that be?”
Gu Wuyi, curious, asked, “What about that Shao Tian’er?”
Qin Feng didn’t expect him to ask like that, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to answer. “What about her?”
“Has she gotten married?”
Qin Feng laughed. “Even if she hasn’t married, she wouldn’t be interested in you. She doesn’t like kids.”
Gu Wuyi didn’t believe it.
Qin Feng said, “She’s told me—either she doesn’t want kids, or she’ll have them only when she really wants to. But of course, she needs to be able to have them. If she passes the age of childbirth, then it’s a no-go.”
“Does her family agree?” Gu Wuyi still didn’t believe it.
Qin Feng answered, “She has three sisters, and her parents aren’t counting on her to carry on the family line. Besides, her boyfriend goes along with her.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that she had a boyfriend?” Gu Wuyi said, disappointed.
Qin Feng chuckled. “You’re missing the point. The important thing is that I, your father, don’t have time to look for a partner right now.”
Gu Wuyi thought for a moment and asked, "Grandma says you don’t even have someone to talk to at night. Aren’t you lonely?"
If this were before, when life had felt empty, then yes, loneliness would have been a given.
But now, Qin Feng just fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. “I have to take care of all of you. When would I have time to be sad or nostalgic?” He paused for a moment, then added, “Don’t ever bring this up again. I’m not considering it until I’m thirty.”
Gu Wuyi admired him. “Your willpower is really strong.”
That’s because Qin Feng had gone through too much in his past life, and money or beauty couldn’t tempt him. Otherwise, he would have betrayed his country and people and stayed in a capitalist nation long ago.
Qin Feng said, “Let’s go, we’re going back to the village for dinner.”
Miaomiao extended his hand.
Qin Feng picked him up and crossed the street, then let him walk with his two older sons.
The weather today wasn’t great, and tomorrow it might rain. Regardless of whether it rained or not, popsicles weren’t selling well, so Uncle Zhou went home today.
When Qin Feng arrived home and saw the two ice cream freezers, he was surprised. "Did Uncle Zhou buy another one?"
Madam Zhou came out from the kitchen. "Yes. He said he couldn’t always use the ones from the kids. He can’t handle the big stuff, but he cares about these little things."
Qin Feng smiled and didn’t respond, after all, he was the elder. "How’s the business going?"
Madam Zhou replied, "It’s much better than when he was going to the beach to pick up things to sell. I heard him say that he could make enough money for a bicycle just this summer."
"Well, that’s good. Don’t let him overwork himself."
Madam Zhou had also reminded her brother, since he was almost sixty years old.
Uncle Zhou knew that he could only work so hard for a few years, so he planned to train his son to take over once he got the hang of things.
Old Qin came out of the kitchen, brushing the grass off his clothes. "Wash your hands. Tomorrow, you two cook, and your mom and I will go to pay the public grain tax."
Qin Feng replied, "If you can’t make it back by noon, have someone from the village help you and go to Qin Ying’s house to eat."
Madam Zhou waved her hand. "We’ll just make some steamed buns and boil two eggs. It’ll be fine. I’d be grateful if they didn’t find out your uncle is selling popsicles, and that it was your idea."
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