CH 40

Good News (The bastard who forced your son to call him the boss...)

In just a few short days, President Kang seemed to have become an elite member of the Workers' Association.

He signed labor contracts, demanded reduced working hours and increased benefits, and even organized operations such as vaccine distribution, all with an air of professionalism. The only thing he lacked was shouting slogans to fight for the interests of the workers.

Teacher Liu couldn't help but ask, "Kangkang, where on earth did you learn all of this knowledge?"

It's not unusual for children to speak their minds without inhibition. What's truly surprising, however, is the origin of their ideas.

President Kang let out a deep sigh, his face etched with a world-weary expression as he pulled out a lollipop from his mouth. "It all comes from experience," he said.

Teacher Liu stared at the little kid who pulled out a lollipop with an air of familiarity, almost as though it were a solitary cigarette. What experience could a 4-year-old child have?

Teacher Liu told the young couple about this incident.

"Experience?" The young couple pondered over this word. What experience could he have?

Yue Qin was the first to sense the so-called experience, feeling that his son had a very strong ability to capture information from the world.

"When I was fired before, I took him to the labor union and even to labor arbitration. Maybe he overheard some of the conversations between us and remembered it."

This is what they call experience!

All of a sudden, everyone understood that he learned all this from those places. But Yue Qin realized a problem - if his son still remembered the first time they went to the union, did that mean he also remembered what happened?

The more Yue Qin thought about it, the more he felt that it was the case. His son started talking and his personality changed after that incident.

Yue Qin was determined to talk to his son at the first opportunity. He didn't want that incident to cast a shadow over his son's future.

"Did you have any fun experiences at school today?"

As he spoke, Yue Qin reached up to the cupboard above and pulled out a pristine white casserole. Xia Sheng was working overtime today and hadn't come back yet, so Yue Qin picked up his son and decided to treat him to a hotpot of mandarin duck.

Kang looked at the casserole, his brow furrowed in thought. As far as he could recall, they previously used a black iron pot for cooking, and there were specialized pots for stir-frying, stewing soup, and frying fish.

Now there was a brand new pot. Where did all these pots come from?

"Daddy's talking to you, baby."

"There wasn't anything fun at school."

"Did you have any interesting experiences with your classmates or teachers today?"

"No, it was all boring."

Actually, there had been a few amusing incidents that day. One of the children in his class had accidentally called the teacher "mom," much to everyone's delight. And Kang had to admit, the Parrot teacher had been rather impressive, receiving top-notch treatment for the class's beloved feathered friend.

But he couldn't say anything. He wasn't one of those kids who told their parents everything that happened at school as soon as they got home.

He wasn't even this family's child.

Yue Qin didn't push his son to talk any further. He took a moment to look at the little figure standing beside him, then picked up a vegetable basin and brought the child's stool to the kitchen.

"Alright son, peel off the cabbage and give it a good rinse," said the burly dad.

Yue Qin looked at the little one, dressed in a red sweater with a big black heart on it, looking just like a typical child.

He thought of the teacher's words at the kindergarten: the child had great leadership skills and was like a member of the labor union, even an elite.

Yue Qin couldn't help but wonder how such a small child could become a union elite, fighting for the labor rights of the school's animal teacher. He just couldn't imagine that scene.

The child looked at the vegetable basin for a moment: a small Chinese cabbage, seven or eight shiitake mushrooms, and two bunches of enoki mushrooms.

He lifted his head and asked, "Will I get paid?"

Yue Qin raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "Well, now I don't have to imagine."

"Will you pay for the hotpot we'll be having later?" Yue Qin said.

The child experienced his first failure in asking for a wage, and responded with an "Oh" before sitting down on the small stool.

With his little hands, he split the cabbage in half, but he refused to accept this failure. After all, this was the silly, sweet, burly dad. He couldn't lose to him. He planned to struggle a bit more: "Dad, I'm only 4 years old this year, you can't ask me for money because you have an obligation to raise me."

Yue Qin turned his head and looked at the child. "Did the kids in your kindergarten teach you that too?"

"The kids in your kindergarten are really knowledgeable," Yue Qin couldn't help but sigh. There were kids who could swindle people, and there were kids who knew about Nezha.

"Can I get paid, Dad? You don't have to give me a lot, just a basic salary of one or two thousand will do."

"One or two thousand?"

"I can help you wash vegetables every night," said President Kang, who decided he needed to earn some money for himself when he asked for the salary for the Little Parrot teacher.

"What do you call the place where you, mommy, and daddy belong, baby?"

President Kang carefully stacked the cabbage leaves one by one.

Satisfied with the neatly arranged cabbage leaves, Kang began washing the fragrant mushrooms one by one.

He didn't want to answer the question, but he spoke up anyway, "Home."

"Then mommy and daddy and baby are all members of the same family. Daddy doesn't get paid for cooking, mommy doesn't get paid for cooking, so why should baby get paid for washing vegetables?"

President Kang fell into the trap and looked frustrated.

Well, equal pay for equal work.

Was this the same big dad with a simple mind and a righteous approach?

Yue Qin listened to Ms. Liu’s recount of how his son tricked the kindergarten principal, so he borrowed a page from his son's book and employed a similar trick of his own.

President Kang was unaware that his own reasoning had led to the invalidation of his own point.

"Okay, then I won't take the salary," President Kang gave up.

"Baby, can Daddy ask you a question?"

"Sure, I will answer if I can."

"Do you remember Daddy's former boss?" Yue Qin asked, "The one that everyone was addressing as 'Mr. Kang' and wanted you to say 'Boss' to him."

President Kang was startled, he didn't really remember much of that night. He had been drunk and all he could recall was firing the head of the security department. Of course, the main reason was that the person wasn't under his control.

"Baby?" Yue Qin saw the child getting nervous and called out.

"I don't remember," President Kang didn't want to think about that night and couldn't help but try to avoid the topic. "Daddy, can we not talk about that night anymore?"

"Okay, Daddy won't bring it up. But if the baby wants to talk to Daddy about that night, Daddy is always here."

President Kang's mood, however, became low, and he washed the mushrooms twice again.

After finishing washing all the vegetables in the basin, he received a complimenting look from his big, burly dad.

Kang didn't know how fathers and sons in other families got along, but he was sure it wasn't with one cooking and the other washing vegetables.

The kitchen was tidy and clean, and the white marble emitted a warm glow. The flames on the gas stove were whistling, setting the pace for a cozy life.

At this moment, Kang felt so acutely that none of this belonged to him. He didn't know why he ended up in this child's body.

But he knew that none of this belonged to him.

The big, burly dad was slicing beef rolls one by one, and the thin slices were piled up on a white plate nearby.

"Baby, you seem a little distracted today. Do you miss your mommy? She's working late, but she'll be back soon."

Kang made a sound of acknowledgment, glanced at the big, burly dad, wiped his hands, and headed outside. He suddenly didn't want to stay there anymore.

"Dad, I'm going to play outside."

"Sure, go ahead."

His burly dad cut another piece of mutton. The mutton was probably frozen and not completely defrosted yet, making a rustling sound when cut.

There was a rustling sound in Kang's heart too, and as he took a few steps, he saw his burly dad look up at him.

His burly dad's eyes were full of flowing love, gentle and not intense, as if it wouldn't hurt anyone.

He suddenly understood the first time he sneaked out, and his burly dad took him to be a taxi driver. He remembered the girl who had been scared when they picked her up in the middle of the night, but upon seeing his dad's gentle gaze, she immediately relaxed.

He really loved his child so much.

The young couple loved their child very much.

They would be very sad if they found out that their child was missing.

Kang sighed and put aside his plan to figure out a way to get back into his own body. He had to find their real son first.

First, would the real little Kang be sleeping inside this body right now? Like a split personality?

Kang sighed and started searching the room. He planned to look for some of the child's old things and see if he could awaken the other person.

In the study, there was a wall full of photos, from teenagers in blue and white school uniforms to men and women in wedding dresses and suits, to the family of three holding the child as they grew up.

The young couple had always been by his side. Looking at the photos, Mr. Kang tapped his head and whispered, "Hey, are you in there?"

No response! It seemed that the photos weren't enough. What kind of stimulation was needed to determine if there was a dormant soul in this body?

Mr. Kang had never thought he would one day contemplate such a metaphysical question.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."

Big Daddy's phone rang next to him.

"Dad, your phone is ringing."

"Can you answer it for me and tell them I'll call them back in a bit?" Yue Qin was frying crispy meat and couldn't get away.

Mr. Kang picked up the phone and saw the caller ID—

Old Liu.

As soon as he answered, he heard the joyful voice on the other end, "Brother Yue, I've got some good news for you. Feiyue Group is going to hold a board meeting to elect a new CEO, and that bastard who forced your son to call him boss won't be the boss for long."