Chapter 23: Dad is Back 

Xu Mingyang couldn’t keep secrets. After one day of spreading the word, all the kids at the kindergarten knew he was drinking milk powder. They also learned that drinking milk powder could help them grow tall and fat. Who told him to challenge Dongdong?

As the saying goes, a child who doesn’t want to grow tall isn’t a good child. Growing tall is every child’s dream. So, the compound was swept up in a milk powder craze.

All the spoiled children at home started clamoring for milk.

Because of this, many adults suffered in silence. Milk powder wasn’t easy to buy. When only one or two families needed it, they could exchange milk powder coupons in the compound. But now that so many needed them, no one was willing to trade anymore. This made it difficult for families who genuinely needed milk powder coupons, such as the Xu family.

Mother Xu didn’t have breast milk and fed her younger son with milk powder. But now the older son had stirred things up. She truly felt love and frustration at once. Without milk powder coupons, they couldn’t buy it. Without milk powder and no breast milk, what would they do? In the end, only rice porridge would be left.

Xu Mingyang had no idea that his milk powder supply was about to run out. He was still dreaming about becoming taller and fatter than Dongdong.

…

Qin Zhan’s leave was approved quickly. There were no current missions. Plus, he hadn’t taken family leave for years. This time, they had to approve it no matter what.

Once it was approved, Qin Zhan packed up to return to the capital. In the past, he would only bring a change of clothes. But after thinking about Mother Qin’s phone call, he felt guilty towards Dongdong, so he decided to bring some gifts.

Not knowing what kids at that age liked, he went to ask his comrades with kids. The first one he asked was Instructor Chen Zhengming.

Although Qin Zhan was now a deputy regimental commander and usually interacted with the political commissar, Instructor Chen had been his partner since he first joined the army. They had a good relationship.

In the army, instructors handle company-level cadre matters. As deputy regimental commander, Qin Zhan was associated more with the political commissar.

“What brings you here? Didn’t you just apply for leave?” The Chen family had just finished dinner when Qin Zhan arrived. Chen Zhengming was curious. “You’re late. We’ve already eaten.” He couldn’t help joking.

Qin Zhan knew it was a joke but responded seriously, “My leave was approved. I wanted to bring something for Dongdong, but I don’t know what four-year-olds like. You’re experienced, so I came to ask you.”

Pfft—

The term “experienced” made Chen Zhengming laugh. The youngest of his kids was already eight. Four and eight were four years apart. He had long forgotten what his kids liked at four.

He shouted into the house at his daughter doing homework, “Niuniu, come out for a second.”

“Coming.” Chen Niuniu ran out. “Dad, what is it?”

Chen Zhengming said, “Tell Uncle Qin what you liked when you were little.”

“I liked pretty clothes the most.” Chen Niuniu smiled.

Qin Zhan: “…Dongdong is a boy. You’ll have to ask your eldest or second child.”

“Well, you didn’t say that clearly. My eldest and second-oldest are out playing. Niuniu, go ask your brothers what they liked when they were little.”

“Got it.” Chen Niuniu ran out.

Chen Zhengming suddenly remembered something. “The Dongdong you mentioned—is he Aihua’s kid?”

Qin Zhan nodded.

Chen Zhengming couldn’t help asking, “How is that child doing?”

Having not returned in three years, Qin Zhan didn’t know how to answer. His guilt deepened. “I’ll go see this time. He started kindergarten in September.”

Chen Zhengming didn’t dwell on it. “Time really flies. What about Aihua’s wife? Any news?”

Qin Zhan shook his head. “Same as before.” No news meant things remained the same.

Sigh… Chen Zhengming sighed. “Same as before is still good. At least she’s alive. There’s still hope she wakes up.”

Qin Zhan agreed. As long as one is alive, there’s hope for everything else.

The two chatted for a while longer. Then Chen Niuniu came back alone. “Dad, Uncle Qin, my brothers said what they liked back then is different from now. Back then, just having enough to eat was good. Now, kids like slingshots, marbles, and paper airplanes.”

Chen Zhengming and Qin Zhan both felt that it made sense.

Chen Zhengming’s second son was 12 this year. His eldest was 14. When they were four, that was six years ago, back in 1956. Just after the founding of the country, there weren’t many toys back then.

Chen Zhengming suggested, “Why don’t you go to the department store and take a look? Just buy whatever catches your eye.”

Qin Zhan took the advice. “Got it.”

In the compound

Today was Dongdong’s birthday. Aunt Zhang got up early and bought a chicken from the market. Mother Qin had said Dongdong’s birthday must be well celebrated.

At this time, those who needed to work or attend school had already left. Only Aunt Zhang was in the courtyard plucking the chicken feathers. Suddenly, she heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice at the gate. “Aunt Zhang.”

Aunt Zhang turned around, and her eyes lit up. She stood up excitedly. “Zhan Zhan, you’re back.” Although Sister Qi had said Zhan Zhan promised to return, she hadn’t expected it to be this soon. “Oh my, you came back just in time. Today is Dongdong’s birthday. I just bought a chicken. We’ll make braised chicken pieces tonight.”

Qin Zhan raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t expected his return to coincide with Dongdong’s birthday. But it really was today—he had waited at the hospital for Dongdong’s birth back in 1960. Time really did fly.

Strictly speaking, Dongdong was just turning three today. The minimum age for kindergarten was three. He got in because he was only a few days short. Otherwise, he would’ve had to wait until next year.

“What a coincidence,” Qin Zhan thought. Luckily, he had bought some things along the way. If he’d come back on Dongdong’s birthday empty-handed, he wouldn’t have even had a proper gift.

“It really is a coincidence. Or did you plan to come back today on purpose?” Aunt Zhang asked curiously.

“No, it’s just a coincidence,” Qin Zhan explained. He set his luggage aside and walked over. “Aunt Zhang, tell me about Dongdong’s growth these past years.”

“Then you’re asking the right person. I raised Dongdong myself.” Aunt Zhang was very proud. Although the Qin family paid the money, she put in the effort. In her heart, Dongdong was like a real grandson. “Dongdong is the most well-behaved child in the whole compound. He…”

Once she started talking about Dongdong, Aunt Zhang couldn’t stop.

Qin Zhan listened attentively. Since he owed Dongdong, he should take it seriously. Based on Aunt Zhang’s words, he formed an image of Dongdong in his mind—a clever little boy. When he heard about Dongdong fighting with Xu Mingyang, he felt even more distressed.

“Right…” Aunt Zhang suddenly thought of something. “It’s almost time for the children to come home from school at noon. Normally, Dongdong and Jiadong come back on their own. If you’re free later, you can go pick them up. If Dongdong sees you picking him up, he’ll definitely be happy.”

Dongdong talks about his dad every day. If his dad goes to pick him up from school, he would be overjoyed.

Qin Zhan thought about it and felt it was okay, “I don’t know what Dongdong looks like.”

“There are photos at home. I’ll go get them for you.” Aunt Zhang wiped her hands on her apron and then got up to get the photos.

Mother Qin would regularly send photos of Dongdong to Widow Ji to reassure her, so there were quite a lot of Dongdong’s photos. Basically, several would be taken every half year.

Qin Zhan picked up his luggage and followed her into the house.

Aunt Zhang took out a photo album from the drawer in the main hall. “Take a look. There are photos of Dongdong from when he was small until now. We take them twice a year, four or five photos each time, and there are more than 40 photos now. By the way, you have to take a shower when you go to pick up Dongdong later, otherwise you will stink and embarrass Dongdong.” After giving the photo album to Qin Zhan, Aunt Zhang went to pluck the chicken feathers in a hurry.

Qin Zhan: “…” He was actually disliked by Aunt Zhang.

Holding the album, he was in no rush to go back to the room and sat in the hall to look through it. Watching the once tiny little thing grow taller into a chubby kid, he couldn’t help but smile.

The little guy looked full of spirit. In every photo, he was smiling brightly. His eyes were especially clear and bright, clearly a child growing up in a honey jar.

Looking at such a Dongdong, Qin Zhan felt much more at ease. Even though he knew his mother wouldn’t treat Dongdong poorly, seeing Dongdong’s innocent and pure expression still made him very grateful to his mother.

Among these more than forty photos, some were solo shots of Dongdong, and some were group photos with Mother Qin and Aunt Zhang. Towards the end, there were also photos with other little boys and girls.

Qin Zhan didn’t know that Qin Shun had already been transferred back, so he didn’t know that the boy in the photo was Qin Jiadong and the girl was Qin Wenjing. He just assumed they were Dongdong’s friends.

After looking through the photos, Qin Zhan returned the album to its original place, carried his luggage upstairs, and went to take a shower.

By the time Qin Zhan came downstairs after his bath, Aunt Zhang had already finished plucking the chicken feathers and was cooking lunch. Qin Zhan went over and greeted her, “Aunt Zhang, I’m going to pick them up now.”

“It’s still early. You need to wait another half an hour.” Aunt Zhang said.

“It’s fine, I’ll go get familiar with the place.” Qin Zhan said as he strode out.

It was lunchtime, so Qin Zhan didn’t run into any acquaintances on the way. He headed directly to the gate of the nursery school, moving about like he was very familiar with the place.

The nursery school looked the same as he remembered. Although he had never studied there, since the compound was built when he was already grown up, he had explored it when they first moved in to get familiar with the new environment.

There was an old lady guarding the gate of the nursery school, a family member from the compound. She saw Qin Zhan standing there for a while and noticed he was a new face, so she started chatting. “Young man, are you here to pick up a child?”

Anyone standing at the gate of this nursery school must be here to pick up a child. And seeing him in military training uniform, he definitely didn’t look like a bad guy.

Qin Zhan nodded. “Mm.”

The old lady had seen many adults coming to pick up kids but had never seen Qin Zhan before, so she asked again, “Which child are you picking up?”

Qin Zhan cooperatively replied, “Ji Dong.”

The old lady’s eyes lit up upon hearing that. “You’re Dongdong’s dad, the one who keeps sending him milk powder?”

Qin Zhan: “…” What kind of description is that? “Mm.” After thinking about it, Qin Zhan explained, “He was born premature, and the birth was difficult. Plus, his mom got sick, so he was fed milk powder. His body wasn’t as strong as full-term babies, so I asked Auntie to please look after him more.” He didn’t want others gossiping behind their backs.

The old lady: “…” Do you have some misunderstanding about premature babies? In her eyes, among all the children in the nursery, Dongdong looked the least like a premature baby. But upon hearing Qin Zhan’s words, she felt a bit more sympathy for Dongdong. As someone in a grandmother’s position, she couldn’t bear hearing about premature births. Who doesn’t wish for a child to be born safe and sound? “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

To raise a premature baby into such a lively chubby kid, it showed the Qin family really treated him well.

Everyone in the compound knew that Ji Dong was the adopted son of the Qin family, except for the younger children who didn’t understand things. Seeing how well the Qin family raised their adopted child, the old lady also developed a sense of fondness toward them.

“Thank you.” Qin Zhan politely expressed his thanks.

The old lady was the chatty type, so she continued, “You don’t know, because of your milk powder, now in our compound, any family that can afford it wants their kids to drink milk powder. You can’t even find people to trade milk powder coupons anymore.”

Qin Zhan raised an eyebrow. “What does this have to do with me sending milk powder?”

How come it feels like he was only gone for three years, yet it seemed like he’d been away for thirty? The general atmosphere of the compound felt so different.

“Because Dongdong said drinking milk powder makes you grow taller. And he’s fatter and taller than kids his age. So all the children think it’s the milk powder’s magic. They all want to grow taller and fatter than him, so they clamor to drink milk powder.” The old lady explained helplessly.

Now, the first thing kids said to each other every morning in the compound was: Did you drink milk this morning?

They were all proud to drink milk powder in the morning.

Speaking of this, the old lady leaned in mysteriously and asked, “So does drinking milk powder really make you grow taller? Did Dongdong really get tall because of it?”

If it really helps, she also wanted to give it to her kids so they could grow taller and look better.

Qin Zhan didn’t know whether milk powder really made you taller. “Nutritious food is always good for the body, so it probably helps with growing taller too.”

“That’s true… Oh right, let me tell you something. One family ran out of milk powder coupons and couldn’t buy milk powder. Coincidentally, one of the daughters-in-law just had a baby and had lots of milk. So they pumped her milk and used it to make formula for the older kids. Isn’t that strange?” The old lady eagerly shared the gossip from the compound with this never-before-seen father of Dongdong.

Or rather, being able to talk to a stranger allowed the old lady to enjoy the delight of letting it all out. After all, everyone else in the compound already knew about it, and she had no one left to tell.

Qin Zhan: “…” He didn’t know how to respond. The old lady’s stories were too vivid, and the topic made him want to walk away.

But before he could leave, a few other adults arrived, all waiting at the gate.

The old lady still wanted to talk more, but the school bell rang.

“Aiya, it’s dismissal time. Your family’s Dongdong is about to come out.” The old lady had to stop gossiping and turned to look toward the classroom door.

Soon after a teacher came out, several children ran out from inside. They wore little backpacks. They didn’t run fast, but each was nimble.

Qin Zhan searched the crowd for Dongdong. He was easy to find — the fair-skinned, chubby one.

He saw Dongdong walking alongside the little boy from the photo, hurrying toward the gate.

The kids were focused on going home and didn’t notice a stranger standing at the gate. All they could think about was lunch.

Qin Zhan had no choice but to take a few steps forward. As Dongdong ran over, he called out, “Dongdong…”

As soon as he spoke, all the children stopped and curiously looked at him.

Dongdong also stopped. His bright eyes looked at the man in front of him, confused. He looked familiar, but Dongdong couldn’t remember where. After all, he only knew Qin Zhan’s teenage photo. Even if it turned to ashes, he’d still recognize it. But this was 26-year-old Qin Zhan, ten years older than the photo. Dongdong couldn’t recognize him.

So, Dongdong asked with a childlike voice, “Who are you?”

It was the first time Qin Zhan heard his voice. Unlike the coos and hums from three years ago, now it was a clear babyish voice.

Qin Zhan squatted down to meet the little radish-head Dongdong at eye level. His eyes held a hint of a smile, and his usually deep voice softened with warmth. “Dongdong, I’m your dad.”

Dongdong froze. His big eyes looked at Qin Zhan, and slowly, the man in front of him merged with the person in the photos. His expression shifted from confusion to shock, then to a blank stare. He stupidly asked, “Did you finish beating the bad guys?”

Perhaps it was because he missed his dad so much, or because he had grown to trust over the years from looking at the photos, he didn’t doubt Qin Zhan’s words.

Qin Zhan reached out and gently patted his fluffy little head. “Mm, I’ve beaten the bad guys for now. I came back to see you.”

“Oh.” Dongdong responded. He had been looking up at him, but slowly lowered his head.

Qin Zhan felt a bit awkward. The child’s reaction was rather flat. He wasn’t the proactive type. So he… Qin Zhan didn’t know how to interact with Dongdong. Then he heard the faint sound of sobbing coming from the child, followed by a choked little voice asking softly, “Why did you only come back now?”

After asking that, his crying suddenly grew louder. “Why did you only come back now? Wuwuwu… Wuwuwu…”

His cries got louder and louder, like he was about to lift the nursery school’s roof. The louder he cried, the more wronged he felt.

Qin Zhan hurriedly hugged him, flustered. “I’m sorry, Dongdong. Dad came back late. I’m sorry…” It was his first time facing a crying child, and he didn’t know what to do. He could only keep apologizing while holding him tightly. Although they were practically strangers and not familiar with each other, at that moment, hugging the child made him feel a strange sense of familiarity.

Maybe it was because he had watched this child be born, or maybe the child’s aggrieved crying had dissolved the sense of unfamiliarity.

“I… I don’t blame you…” Dongdong said between sobs in his dad’s arms, understanding beyond his years. He missed his dad so much. He wished his dad would come back every day, but since his dad had to fight bad guys, he knew it wasn’t his dad’s fault. It was the bad guys’ fault. When he grows up, he’ll fight the bad guys too, so dad doesn’t have to anymore and can come back every day.

Young Dongdong didn’t know that if he were the one to fight the bad guys, then the one who couldn’t come home every day would be him. By then, he still wouldn’t be able to see his dad every day.

When he heard Dongdong say, “I don’t blame you,” Qin Zhan’s lips curved up slightly, and then he suddenly picked him up.

Dongdong was startled and quickly wrapped his arms around his father’s neck. His chubby face, covered in tears, looked at his father.

Qin Zhan smiled at him. Although he rarely smiled, when he did, his sharp features instantly softened.

Seeing his father smile at him, Dongdong’s face turned red. Shyly, he buried his face into his father’s chest. His heart was thumping wildly. This was the first time he had been held by his father. It felt completely different from being held by his grandparents. He greedily absorbed the warmth coming from his father’s embrace.

Qin Zhan held Dongdong tightly. Looking at the group of children below who were watching them, he thought about what Aunt Zhang had said about Dongdong fighting with his classmates. His voice sank slightly as he said, “You are all Dongdong’s classmates, right? I’m Dongdong’s father. The reason I haven’t been home is that I went to fight bad people. Dongdong’s mom didn’t run away. She’s sick and is in the hospital getting treatment. Our Dongdong is a child who has a dad and a mom.”

After he finished speaking, Qin Zhan felt that something didn’t sound right, but he couldn’t say exactly what, so he didn’t pay it much attention.

The kids were also seeing Dongdong’s dad for the first time. Now they believed Dongdong’s words. He really did have a dad. His dad wasn’t dead. He had gone to fight bad people.

“Uncle, I’m Dongdong’s good friend.” Ping’an was the first to step forward and say.

“Uncle, I’m also Dongdong’s good friend.” Lu Min followed.

Although they were a bit scared of this tall-looking uncle, they also trusted people who wore this kind of uniform. And since he was Dongdong’s dad, they knew they should be polite.

Qin Zhan nodded to them and said seriously, “Hello. Thank you for being friends with Dongdong.”

It was the first time they had been thanked so earnestly by an adult. The two kids immediately felt proud and said in unison, “Uncle, no need to thank us. We are good friends with Dongdong.”

Qin Zhan’s eyes then turned to Qin Jiadong. Just now, when he came forward, this child had grabbed Dongdong’s clothes. That instinctive protective action had not gone unnoticed by Qin Zhan. “You’re also Dongdong’s friend, right? I’ve seen a photo of you and Dongdong together.” Qin Zhan wanted to be a good father and make up for the past three years of neglect, so he took the initiative to greet Qin Jiadong.

But…

Qin Jiadong was dumbfounded.

Dongdong, who was shyly nestled in his father’s arms, also stared at him, dumbfounded.

The two little ones looked at Qin Zhan with eyes full of disbelief.