I Became the Eye Candy: Four Bigshots Claimed to be My Dad?-Chapter 33: The General Bawls His Eyes Out
"Yes," the butler replied. He cast a discreet glance at Ye Qianning before leaving.
Xiang Minghou carried Ye Qianning into the main hall and sat in the host’s seat, not once letting the chubby child out of his arms.
"Father, am I heavy?" Ye Qianning asked, looking up.
"Not at all. I can wield a greatsword that weighs over a hundred pounds. You’re just a little thing! If anything, I think you’re too thin." As he spoke, Xiang Minghou tossed her into the air a couple of times.
Hearing this, Ye Qianning’s eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Of course. If you don’t believe me, tomorrow I’ll perform a set of the Xiang family’s greatsword forms for you. My greatsword weighs over a hundred pounds." Xiang Minghou wasn’t just boasting. The ancestors of the Xiang family were all greatsword wielders. On the battlefield, even if a swing missed its mark, the force alone could smash a man to a pulp.
Ye Qianning looked at his well-defined muscles. The large hands holding her were covered in calluses and scars. There was even a long scar hidden beneath the full beard on his face.
’These are the marks of a warrior. This must be what they mean by a battle-hardened hero.’
After boasting for a moment, Xiang Minghou noticed the child in his arms had fallen into a thoughtful silence. His smile faded, and his tone grew heavy. "My daughter, how have you managed all these years?"
"With Fourth Granny. Fourth Granny was wonderful to me. She always saved the best food for me," Ye Qianning said.
"Fourth Granny?" Xiang Minghou asked, puzzled. He then changed the subject. "What about your mother?"
Ye Qianning thought for a moment. In her memories, her mother had rarely visited her. For as long as she could remember, there had only ever been Fourth Granny. Her mother would only visit at the end of each month, and she could only ever stay for about fifteen minutes.
She was a very beautiful woman. Every time she visited, although she dressed discreetly, her clothes were always made of the finest materials. She also wore the most fashionable rouge and powders of the time.
Fourth Granny had said her mother was a Piano Master for a wealthy family in town. ’But now that I think about it, that couldn’t have been true.’
’The village she had lived in was relatively poor. To put it bluntly, the only way a woman could afford to dress like that was by working at Baixiang Square—a place in town where men went for entertainment...’
"My mother was very busy. She had to earn money to support me." Ye Qianning lowered her head slightly, her small, childlike voice turning somber. "It’s because I ate too much. Mother worked so hard that she fell ill and passed away. It’s all my fault..."
Hearing her words, Xiang Minghou’s heart shattered. He tightened his hold on the chubby child, tears welling in his eyes. "I’m the one who failed you and your mother." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
He finished speaking in a voice thick with emotion, and then, unable to hold back, he began to weep.
He knew exactly what the situation in Nanyuan had been like back then. There had been a great drought for several years, and food was scarce. One could only imagine how difficult it must have been to raise a child in those conditions.
When he returned to the Capital City all those years ago, he had sent men to Nanyuan to search for Ye Qian. But his men had returned with a report saying she was dead. If only he had gone to investigate himself, he wouldn’t have let them suffer so much hardship.
’She never expected that this battle-hardened man, the great War God of Beili, would be crying with muffled sobs right in front of her.’ A warmth spread through her heart, like ripples on a pond.
"Father, don’t cry."
She raised her small hand to wipe his cheek. His skin was rough and scratchy.
Xiang Minghou froze for a second, then hugged the child and cried even harder.
Ye Qianning was quite chubby, and being squeezed so tightly made it hard for her to breathe. "COUGH, COUGH... Father, you’re hugging too tight."
The sound of her coughing snapped Xiang Minghou back to his senses. He quickly loosened his hold, wiping his face with his sleeve. "It’s my fault. I don’t know my own strength. Are you hurt?"
Ye Qianning shook her head, finding him a little amusing. "Father, you’re a grown man, yet you still cry like a little kid. Aren’t you afraid people will laugh?"
