Call Me Daddy

His father glanced at him, then took another cigarette from the pack and handed it to him. Su Tianyuan took it instinctively.

“You brat, you learn the bad things but not the good. Don’t you know smoking is bad for your health?”

Instead of a cigarette, he received a slap as big as a fan from his father’s hand. Su Tianyuan held the back of his head where he’d been hit, glaring angrily at the man.

This is entrapment!

However, Su Tianyuan did indeed smoke, learning it from his friends. He wasn’t heavily addicted, only smoking a few cigarettes when he was with those friends.

“Alright, to set an example for you, I’ll quit this thing from now on.”

With that, Su Aobai extinguished the lit cigarette in his hand, looking like he had made a great sacrifice.

Seeing his father’s reluctant and somewhat pained expression about quitting smoking, Su Tianyuan suddenly felt a bit happy.

His father was willing to quit smoking for him, showing that he cared.

Wait a minute! Did Dad smoke?

Su Tianyuan stared at his father beside him, feeling tricked again.

“If you’re so capable, why don’t you quit carbonated drinks!”

Su Tianyuan said grumpily, knowing it was his father’s daily favorite.

Su Aobai glanced away at his remark, avoiding the topic of quitting carbonated drinks.

“What I said to your grandparents at lunch, some of it was true, and some of it was just me fooling them.”

Father and son chuckled for a while, but Su Aobai’s expression suddenly became serious.

He turned his head, looking at his son’s profile with a deep gaze.

“When you were little, I hardly took care of you… At first, it was because I couldn’t accept your mother’s death, and later, I didn’t know how to get along with you…”

This was the first time he had talked to his son about the past.

In Su Tianyuan’s childhood, the original owner was undoubtedly neglectful. He hardly ever held this son in his arms. The first time Su Tianyuan spoke, he called for his grandmother. His first steps were also taken with the help of the elderly couple. His first time at kindergarten, his first time being called to the school by the teacher; none of these had the original owner’s involvement.

Part of the reason was his wife’s difficult childbirth and subsequent death, and another part was that the original owner hadn’t matured enough, subconsciously avoiding the responsibilities of being a father.

“When you were just born, you were so tiny. I held you in my arms and felt like your bones were all soft. It seemed like even a little pressure could break you. So whenever you cried, I was afraid I had hurt you and didn’t dare to hold you…” Su Aobai looked up at the starry sky, rambling about the past, unsure if he was speaking to Su Tianyuan or to himself.

“I didn’t know how to be a father, and I wasn’t a good father. So if you resent me, it’s deserved because I never took care of you.”

“But Xiao Yuan, I truly didn’t know how to play the role of a good father. It wasn’t because I didn’t love you. When I earned my first money, I wanted to buy you the most expensive toys, the most expensive clothes. But I was afraid that spoiling you like that would harm you in the end. Do you remember your Uncle Wang? He was raised too delicately from a young age, and when his family fell into decline, he couldn’t adjust and ended up committing suicide.”

Su Aobai mentioned an example from their surroundings. The family used to live in the urban village, but later became wealthy in the 1990s and moved away, often returning to flaunt their wealth to their old neighbors.

The child from that family was the same age as Su Aobai, and in most families having a motorcycle was already considered well-off. But that family had three cars, lived in a villa, and had several nannies.

That child was also raised very delicately, only drinking mineral water, eating in Western restaurants, and even being carried by nannies at the age of 7 or 8.

When that child wasn’t yet 30 years old, their family went bankrupt. Everything they owned was taken away to settle debts, leaving only the urban village house under the elderly grandmother’s name, and the family returned in embarrassment.

Most people in this area were friendly, even if they gossiped, they wouldn’t say it to their faces. But the son of the Wang family couldn’t cope with the disparity in his life and chose to jump off a building.

At that time, Su Tianyuan was only 6 or 7 years old, but he was already sensible.

The incident caused quite a stir. The mother of the person who committed suicide eventually became mentally unstable because of her son’s death. Occasionally, when her family didn’t watch her closely, she would run out and ask everyone if they had seen her son and if it was time for him to come home for dinner.

Su Tianyuan had once been mistaken for that crazy lady’s own son. When she hugged him, Su Tianyuan was so scared that he cried.

“So I didn’t dare to raise you too well because I wasn’t sure if I could afford such a good life for you for a lifetime. I hesitated and worried about this and that. After thinking it over, I figured it might be better to let you grow up like me, just average, which might not be unhappy.” Su Aobai continued.

“Just average again,” Su Tianyuan’s mouth twitched. He really wanted to shake his dad awake. Even so, it wasn’t normal!

It was clear his father was more idiotic in some ways than he was.

By this point, Su Tianyuan himself hadn’t realized it, his expression had relaxed a lot. Because in his father’s description, he seemed to see an image of a father who didn’t know how to be a good dad, who was nervous and uneasy. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about himself. On the contrary, he had once planned his life so carefully.

Actually, Su Tianyuan lacked love. The care and concern of his grandparents couldn’t replace his parents. Without his mother, the affection from his father was also very rare. This identity was even less significant than his playmates nearby.

Su Tianyuan still felt that his father had been neglectful in the past, but he was beginning to feel a bit more relieved.

“I always thought that when you grew a little more mature, I would tell you about these family assets. Who knew that I was hoping all along that you would grow up just like me, average. But you ended up inexplicably becoming a big fool.”

As he spoke, Su Aobai glanced at his son with a deep-seated resentment in his eyes.

“Just average again!” Su Tianyuan was about to ask him not to use that word anymore when he suddenly noticed the last sentence from his dad that was more irritating. How am I a big fool?

“Isn’t that right?”

Speaking of this matter, Su Aobai could feel justified.

“Can you dare say you weren’t fooled for a lot of money? When you talked about doing those live broadcasts, I knew you must have been fooled again. Who would think you’re suitable to be an internet celebrity and want to cultivate you but still demand a large sum of money from you? You didn’t do any research in advance, just based on someone else’s words, foolishly handed over the money. With you like this, if someone suddenly gives you a large sum of money, I’m afraid you’ll be cheated bit by bit, and you still think they’re doing it for your own good.”

Su Tianyuan felt guilty because he had indeed been deceived by Zhang Lang, not only Zhang Lang but also his other friends.

“Since then, I realized that although you’re my son, and although we were both raised by your grandparents, we’re two independent people. Even if we use the same approach, we’ll develop different personalities. I’m your father, and I’ve avoided my responsibility for over 20 years, but now, I can’t neglect your education anymore. I must find a way to help you see through those people around you.”

After that, Su Tianyuan understood everything.

His chest felt somewhat stifled. It turned out his father’s sudden change was all because of him!

In that instant, Su Tianyuan felt incredibly important.

Afterward, neither of them spoke again. They just sat quietly on the balcony for over 10 minutes.

Every time Su Tianyuan was about to express his emotions and say something, the sound of Su Aobai slapping mosquitoes would interrupt him.

“Smack, smack, smack.”

Another three consecutive hits. Su Tianyuan felt helpless. Indeed, Dad’s naturally humorous disposition wasn’t suited for this sentimental moment.

“Dad! You must promise to be a good father from now on, you know?” Su Tianyuan stood up. He didn’t want to feed mosquitoes anymore.

“Then you must also be a good and obedient son.” Su Aobai looked at the slowly rising goodwill and knew that his son’s knot had finally been untied.

***

Just as the two were about to leave the balcony and return to their respective rooms, Su Tianyuan suddenly stopped him.

“Dad, you haven’t kept anything from me this time, right? Our family… just those ten houses?”

Su Tianyuan thought about the speculations from netizens and felt his father might still have some hidden assets. It wasn’t that he coveted his father’s money; he was just curious.

“I don’t think so…”

Just as he said that, the goodwill slowly climbed from 73 to 79. Having crossed the threshold of 75, they were now just a step away from 80.

After the goodwill broke 75, another stack of red notebooks appeared in the space, this time for commercial properties.

“There should be… a little bit more.”

Su Aobai glanced at his son with a profound look in his eyes. How much of an inheritance there was depended on Su Tianyuan.

More!

Su Tianyuan held his little heart.

“Dad, don’t tell me yet. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back.”

With just the knowledge of these assets he had now, it was already a miracle he could stay honestly in the kitchen learning the craft. So, it was better not to tell him.

His father was indeed formidable. With nothing of his own, if he wanted to catch up with his father, he would have to put in even more effort.

Su Tianyuan silently cheered himself on. From now on, his dad would be the target he chased after.

The silly boy didn’t know that those red notebooks all came from him.

***

Back in his room, Su Tianyuan opened his phone and found many friend requests. Looking at the profile pictures, he realized they were from those people who had deleted him as a friend before.

They must have seen information about his family online and discovered he was wealthier than they had imagined, prompting them to want to re-add him as a friend.

Initially, Su Tianyuan didn’t want to bother. Could he just be added or deleted as a friend whenever they pleased?

But he couldn’t forget the frustration he had felt back then, so in the end, he chose to accept the requests.

That feeling of frustration couldn’t be endured by him alone.

The other person was probably waiting for him with their phone in hand, and at the very moment he re-added them as friends, they sent over a long pre-edited message.

It turned out their sudden request to re-add as friends wasn’t because of something online, but because his father had collectively sued these friends who had borrowed money from him but hadn’t repaid it.

Although there were no loan agreements, there were records of his card transactions, and those lawyers had some impressive skills; they even managed to obtain videos from when they were shopping together. The videos clearly showed the scene at the cashier, and the sound recording captured their conversation at the time.

When it came time to pay, his friends claimed they had forgotten their money or didn’t have enough on hand, so they took the initiative to use his first.

The word ‘first’ indicated it was only temporary and meant they were borrowing, not receiving as a gift.

While he couldn’t recover all the money he had lent them over the years, he could at least get back most of what was lent in recent months.

His friends realized he was serious when he took action, so they wanted to ask him for more time.

[Please, I can’t get past this without reading a 500-word essay. Not a single word less.]

Su Tianyuan arrogantly replied with just this message.

The other side quickly displayed that they were typing.

His plastic friends thought Su Tianyuan was still the same old fool as before. They figured as long as they wrote a few flattering paragraphs, this matter would blow over, and they racked their brains trying to organize their words on their phones.

After struggling to cobble together five hundred words, they sent them over, and a bright red exclamation mark appeared in the chat box.

[Verification of Friend Request Enabled. You are not yet their friend. Please send a friend request first, and once they accept, you can chat.]

Damn it!

Seeing those red exclamation marks one by one, his mind was buzzing.

Su Tianyuan threw his phone aside, imagining their current bewildered and infuriated expressions, which made him feel immensely satisfied. He was sure he would sleep well tonight.

***

Su Family Snack Shop became more and more popular. The prices of meals in the shop didn’t increase because everyone knew the owner wasn’t short of money; he opened the shop simply out of love for cooking.

The elderly couple truly retired, occasionally going out with old friends for leisure. Su Tianyuan, on the other hand, diligently learned cooking from his father.

Although he started late and didn’t have any external support, by the time Su Aobai retired, he had inherited about 70 to 80% of his father’s skills.

However, the difference was now negligible. Apart from discerning gourmands with sensitive palates, most people couldn’t taste the difference.

When Su Tianyuan turned 30, he got married to a frequent customer at the shop. She fell in love with the dishes Su Aobai made, and in turn, found Su Tianyuan, this silly but sweet guy, endearing. They had a daughter after marriage, who surprisingly inherited talents not inferior to Su Aobai’s and shared her mother’s love for eating. From a very young age, she immersed herself in the kitchen with her father, perfectly inheriting Su Aobai’s skills.

The year Su Aobai retired, Su Tianyuan still hadn’t successfully taken over as the head chef because he was overthrown by his own daughter.

Su Family Snack Shop remained just a small eatery. However, after the change in leadership, the owner occasionally closed shop to go on vacation because everyone knew the owner was wealthy and cooking was just a sideline.

Perhaps one day, a future generation would change hobbies, close this small shop, or expand it into a chain restaurant brand. The future was uncertain, but many in this generation would remember how this small eatery brought them so many delicious experiences.