Father-in-Law 04

He pulled out a handful of lollipops from behind his back like a magician. Chen Xiaoqun's face instantly cleared up, and he darted over to Fang Zhiyi, snatching the candy.

"Grandpa is the best!"

This scene left Fang Yunyun and her husband somewhat stunned. Were they seeing things? That old man who advocated a healthy lifestyle bought candy for his grandson?

Fang Zhiyi seemed to know their question and waved a hand. "I didn't buy them. A friend of mine bought them and asked me to give them to Xiaoqun. I couldn't refuse his kindness."

That made sense.

Fang Yunyun nodded, but watching her son's happy expression, a pang of bitterness struck her heart. When she was a child, her father never let her eat candy and had even scolded her once. So it wasn't that he didn't know how to be affectionate with children...

Fang Zhiyi never expected that this simple act of his would make Fang Yunyun resent him from yet another bizarre angle.

The next day, Fang Zhiyi went out early again, this time without even waking Chen Xiaoqun.

It was Fang Yunyun who noticed her son hadn't gotten up and hurried to wake him. Chen Xiaoqun got up unhappily, his face dark. Fang Yunyun didn't pay it much mind, just kept complaining, "This grandfather of yours, at his age, still running around everywhere. Does he think he's still young? And he doesn't even take care of you!"

Previously, it was always Fang Zhiyi who picked up and dropped off the child. Suddenly having to do it herself, she was flustered and, naturally, was late.

"Hello, Teacher Deng..."

"Is Xiaoqun still not feeling well?"

Fang Yunyun glanced at Chen Xiaoqun, who was eating slowly, and answered without hesitation, "A little. He might be one class late."

The teacher didn't say anything.

Because she took her son, Fang Yunyun was also late for work. Fortunately, she was usually a bit casual, so no one at the company said anything, but she knew her monthly bonus was gone.

Immediately, she blamed this on Fang Zhiyi, completely forgetting about her husband who slept until noon.

Fang Zhiyi spent the day again visiting relatives and friends according to his list. He suddenly felt the original host was actually quite a decent person, which had allowed him to reap quite a few benefits. Wherever he went, he could get a meal.

It was dark again when Fang Zhiyi returned home. As soon as he entered, he saw his daughter's dark expression. His son-in-law and grandson beside her seemed completely indifferent to Fang Yunyun's bad mood, playing and roughhousing.

"Dad! Where have you been?" Fang Yunyun began interrogating Fang Zhiyi as soon as she saw him.

Fang Zhiyi raised an eyebrow. "Where have I been? Visiting people."

"Visiting people every single day? Do you know, because you didn't wake Xiaoqun this morning, you made me late!" Fang Yunyun was getting angry.

Fang Zhiyi looked puzzled. "I did call him. Xiaoqun wasn't awake yet, and I thought I'd let him sleep a bit more. You know, lack of sleep is bad for children."

Fang Yunyun was stumped. Her next words were all blocked. He was using my lines!

However, Fang Zhiyi's words found an echo.

"Exactly, what's the big deal about being late? Don't be so tense. Dad, I give you a thumbs up!" Chen Cai gave Fang Zhiyi a thumbs-up. He'd been living quite comfortably these past couple of days, with no one bothering him at home.

Fang Zhiyi returned a thumbs-up. "Chen Cai, if it feels awkward, just call me 'old bro.' We can each use our own terms."

Chen Cai practically jumped up. "Oh my god! Dad... no, old bro, you, you... did you meet some enlightened master these past couple of days? To have such an awakening!"

Fang Zhiyi smiled with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, I've heard a lot of wisdom lately. Listen to advice, and you'll eat well."

"Ah, that's more like it." Chen Cai nodded repeatedly.

Fang Yunyun couldn't get a word in. Seeing her beloved husband siding with her father, she felt aggrieved. "But today when I went to pick up Xiaoqun, his teacher held me back and talked for a long time. She said he didn't do his homework either. Dad, how are you supervising the child..."

Fang Zhiyi's eyebrows shot up. "That's not right. Good schools shouldn't assign homework. I've seen foreign news; they finish school at noon there, no homework, and they still produce talented people, don't they?"

"Good point!" Chen Cai applauded, immediately leaning to Fang Zhiyi's side. "Yunyun, look at you. What's the problem with that homework? Will he be shot for not doing it?"

Fang Yunyun lowered her head and took two deep breaths. Even so... it felt weird, okay?

Fang Zhiyi noticed they had eaten takeout again today. He just smiled and went back to his room.

Every day after that, Fang Zhiyi maintained his routine of leaving early and returning late. Fang Yunyun had no choice but to resign herself to picking up and dropping off the child. This undoubtedly placed a shackle on her free and sweet life, depressing her somewhat. But when she told her husband these thoughts, he advised, "Do you want to go back to how it was before, watching the old man scold our son?"

Fang Yunyun immediately thought of her own childhood and shook her head repeatedly.

"Exactly. He's changing now. After this period passes, I'll talk to him and ask him to help with the child's transportation." Chen Cai patted his chest, a blissful smile on his face.

Fang Yunyun could only nod.

Trouble came swiftly. Without Fang Zhiyi's supervision, Chen Xiaoqun deteriorated rapidly. Because his mother was working overtime, his father was sleeping, and his grandfather was out and hadn't returned, he went downstairs to play by himself during the holiday. Seeing other children playing with a new model toy car, he felt envious. But they weren't familiar with him and didn't want to lend it to him. Chen Xiaoqun got angry. During a shoving match, he grabbed the toy car and smashed it on the other child's head. Once wasn't enough to vent his anger, so he did it again, until the child ran away crying. Only then did Chen Xiaoqun, feeling guilty, throw down the toy car and run back home.

Sure enough, the doorbell soon rang. The other child's parents had come to their door.

"How do you discipline your child? Look at how he hit my son!" The child's mother was furious.

Chen Cai, who hadn't been awake long, frowned. "Kids roughhouse, and you, an adult, make such a big deal out of it? You really lack perspective."

"Perspective?" The woman nearly laughed in anger. "Right now, it's your child who hit mine. As a parent, not only do you not apologize, but you say I lack perspective?"

Chen Cai looked at his frightened son, reached out to pat his head, and stubbornly started arguing with the woman.

It also happened that the woman was civilized. She couldn't win against Chen Cai's twisted logic and was nearly reduced to tears.

"Go ahead and do what you want! Otherwise, check the surveillance or call the police!" Chen Cai knew there were no cameras in the public area downstairs.

The woman left in a huff. Going downstairs, she bumped into Fang Zhiyi, who was strolling home leisurely.

Fang Zhiyi asked knowingly. The woman, having been aggrieved for a while, poured out everything that had just happened. Fang Zhiyi frowned, looking apologetic, and pulled a few hundred yuan from his pocket, stuffing it into the woman's hand.

The woman was a bit stunned.

"Ah, it's all my fault. I'm old. I can't control my daughter and son-in-law, and I can't control that grandson either." Fang Zhiyi said with a bitter smile.