After Father Qi and Qi Shen came home, Qi Jiang and Mother Qi dramatically embellished the whole incident for Father Qi. No matter how Qi Tian tried to defend Qi Jun, it did no good. In the end, Mother Qi even slapped the little girl on the backside. Furious and aggrieved, she ran back to her room.
Qi Jun stood to the side, listening and watching while enduring accusations that made little sense. Gradually, he separated the original Qi Jun’s grief from his own emotions. Look at these people. What was there left to cling to? And the scar on his forehead was proof of the shameful transaction they had tried and failed to force him into.
And just like that, the matter was settled. Father Qi decided that from now on, he would pay none of Qi Jun’s living or educational expenses. Qi Jun also did not need to come back here. This was no longer his home. Of course, they were generous enough to let him move out tomorrow and spend tonight packing his own belongings.
What an understanding, considerate father. Father Qi’s expression and behavior reminded Qi Jun of his biological father in his previous life. Why had he been someone else’s illegitimate son in both lifetimes? Still, he was curious. How exactly had the original Qi Jun’s mother died? How had that person and Father Qi ended up conceiving Qi Jun?
So the next morning, before Qi Jun left this “home” carrying a large backpack and dragging two suitcases, he asked to speak with Father Qi alone.
“I don’t know whether it’s still appropriate, but I think I’ll keep calling you Dad. I want to know whose son I really am. Who was my mother? How did you and he get together? And… do you really believe I’m not his child with you?” Perhaps he was asking on behalf of the original Qi Jun, but as the words left his mouth, Qi Jun knew these were also the very questions he had most wanted to ask his biological father in his previous life.
Father Qi frowned. Looking at the youth whose features did, in fact, resemble his own somewhat, he finally sighed. “Your mother was a fairly delicate-looking pure-human male. Like you, he was also considered useless because his mental power wasn’t strong. But he had exceptionally skillful hands and could grow high-grade cultivated food. What happened between us was simply a drunken mistake. We had no so-called feelings for each other. And at the time, he already had a fiancé, so I could never be certain whether the child in his belly was mine. Your mother died a year after giving birth to you. Before he died, he asked his fiancé to entrust you to me. You probably are my child. Unless it involves a serious criminal case, the government doesn’t allow genetic testing. I think you can understand why the people in this family don’t like you. You also know that the laws of the beast world require people to be faithful to a single partner. Plenty of powerful beastmen in the upper classes keep several lovers in secret, but I’m only an ordinary sub-beastman. I couldn’t withstand the legal consequences. So your mom… the fact that she tolerated you all these years was already difficult for her. And if outsiders ever learned your true background, I could be sentenced, while your identity as an illegitimate child would make other people think very poorly of you.”
Qi Jun nodded. “I understand. I won’t come back and disturb any of you again. I only want to know where my mother is buried.” He was surprised that the original Qi Jun’s biological mother had actually been a man, but in this world… it was no longer especially strange. Father Qi clearly knew Qi Jun was probably his son, yet because of misplaced resentment and fear of legal punishment, he had allowed a pitiful child to grow up under years of emotional neglect. In the end, he had even tried to give that child away as a gift to be used by someone else for the sake of his eldest son’s job. Just thinking about a “father” and “family” like this made Qi Jun’s scalp crawl.
Father Qi nodded. He took out his phone and sent an address to Qi Jun’s device. “I’ll transfer one hundred thousand points into your account in a little while. If you truly can’t survive on your own, call me.”
Qi Jun had heard this sort of dialogue countless times in his previous life. Given this father-son relationship, he could be as indifferent as he pleased. “Thank you. I think it’s better if I don’t disturb you. Goodbye. I hope you remain in good health.”