Pampered by Short-Lived Bigshot

Qi Family

A girl came downstairs. It was the first chill of autumn; she wore a thin white sweater and dark denim pants, her slightly wavy hair falling to her waist, like autumn sunshine—warm and bright, pretty and pleasing.

”Bro, look at my shoes, how are they? Do they look good?”

The little girl was wearing a pair of white sneakers.

The curly-haired teenage boy sitting on the sofa tilted his head and glanced over. ”Pretty good.”

”Thanks, bro.”

The shoes were a gift from Qi Lie; the brother and sister were wearing the same style in different colors.

”When are we going over to great?grandma’s? Are we picking Sister Xiaoruan up on the way?” The girl went to find a mirror, lowered her head and checked out her new shoes again.

”Your Sister Xiaoruan’s busy. We’re going by ourselves.”

”Bro, can Sister Xiaoruan actually become my sister?in?law or not?”

”What’s with you, girl? You’re wearing my shoes and still have the nerve to tease me.” Qi Lie picked up the throw pillow beside him and pretended to throw it at her, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Qi Zeyan coming downstairs, so he resentfully stayed his hand.

”What are you up to now? Bullying your sister?” Qi Zeyan frowned.

”No, we’re just having a heartfelt exchange.” Qi Lie arched a brow, then lowered his head and went back to his phone.

”Zhiyi?” Qi Zeyan looked at his daughter.

Qi Zhiyi smiled. ”My brother didn’t bully me. Look, he even bought me a pair of shoes. They go with everything.”

Qi Zeyan’s little girl was named Qi Zhiyi. He and Ruan Mengxi chose the name together, taking it from the same line of poetry that her name came from:

[The south wind knows my heart, and blows my dreams to the Western Isle.]

It also carries the meaning:

Knowing each other’s feelings.

After Qi Lie grew up, he had quite a few complaints about the origin of this name.

From his sister’s name you could sense how loving their parents were, but his own name... it felt like a burden of expectations, like he was supposed to be the ”clear stream” of the family.

”You’ve stayed in Nanjiang quite a while this time...” Qi Zeyan sat down on the single armchair and sized up his son. ”How’ve you been getting along with Ruan Ruan?”

Qi Zeyan knew all too well how much Jiang Chengsi doted on that daughter of his; he’d watched the little girl grow up since she was small, and he genuinely liked her. He kept thinking it’d be a shame to let such a good little cabbage be eaten by outsiders.

He was secretly plotting if he could somehow trick her into marrying in.

He’d actually gone through multiple rounds of comparison.

Jiang Xiaowu’s family didn’t have a daughter. Jiang Yanting’s daughter was a bit older; they all respected her as an older sister, but there were no sparks. As for Jiang Shiyi’s daughter... well, that little girl was too solemn.

The old Huo Family’s...

Didn’t dare make a move!

Just sneaking a couple extra glances, he was afraid someone would glare him to death. More importantly, that little lass was too formidable. When she was little she’d been a gorgeous little pink dumpling, soft and powdery, and Jiang Xiaowu had had his eye on her more than once.

She’d loved planes and tanks from early on, tagging after Huo Zheng and Huo Qinqi, soaking it all up. Every ”My Dream” essay she wrote as a kid was about becoming a pilot.

The teacher said she had ideals and ambition, and even praised and encouraged her in front of the whole class.

The result...

She actually went and did it!

The whole Huo Family supported and agreed, except for Huo Qinqi, who was against it. Supposedly the Huo Family even called a special little meeting just for him, to give him a good ideological talking?to.

The man had a stubborn temper to begin with, fixated once he decided on something. In the end it was his daughter who asked him one question:

”Dad, when you enlisted, have you ever regretted it?”

”If it was my own choice, I don’t think I’d regret it.”

”You’ve been telling me since I was little to do what I believe is right. So why aren’t you supporting me this time?”

Huo Qinqi was left speechless by his daughter’s retort and could only agree.