Father Qi rolled his eyes, scoffing, "As if! You unfilial son deserves to be missed!"
Then, without hesitation, he grabbed ahold of Mingzhu.
Gently.
As if holding the world's most precious treasure.
And seeing her sleeping serene expression melted his old heart, bringing a smile on his wrinkled face.
While Qi Shou bitterly smiled as he felt a sting of loss inside his heart.
Why was his father so unfriendly to him yet so friendly to Mingzhu?
He truly wanted to ask, but seeing his parents trying to adore and hold Mingzhu over each other, he could only shake his head with a resigned sigh.
'Some people are just born to be loved and adored in this word, and I happen to be not one of them.'
Qi Shou mused before letting go.
"Father, Mother. I'll go bring Hanliu back," he declared resolutely, stunning both Father Qi and Mother Qi.
"You..." Father Qi blurted out but held back his voice, fearing that his precious granddaughter would wake up.
So Qi Shou bore the inquisitive gaze and chose to answer in one go.
"You gave Mingzhu her milk name, and left her official name to her mother, so I need her to be here for Mingzhu 1st year.
Also, Mingzhu is so adorable, surely Hanliu misses her just as much as Mingzhu missed her mother's familiar embrace."
With just these two sentences, he'd made his parents understand his firmness.
Father Qi nodded after a few contemplative "hmms" but Mother Qi didn't want to agree.
How could she let Hanliu bear such hardship?
But then again, she herself was a mother.
Who better than her understood the pain of separation?
As if sealing away some unforeseen memories, she nodded heavily, not daring to meet her son's gaze.
Qi Shou thought it to be her hesitation and didn't give it much thought before leaving the house.
However, he didn't immediately head to his wife's natal family's house.
He decided to first buy something for the elders as it would be considered impolite to go empty-handed.
Strolling across the familiar yet unfamiliar streets, he reached a small shop selling trinkets and wooden craft that children would like.
"What should I even buy?" He wondered seriously.
Picking one thing, then shaking his head before going forth and so on, he had no clue what would be polite yet not overbearing.
Ancient people were truly difficult to get alon with.
He needed to be respectful but not obsequious to his in-laws lest word spread that he came to bring his wife back only.
Finally, the heavens took pity on him as the shopkeeper asked, irritated, "Are you even going to buy something?"
After all, Qi Shou was snagging his attention since the shopkeeper didn't dare risk a thief for trying to earn a few copper coins.
"Uhm..." Qi Shou dawdled before it hit him.
He could just ask the shopkeeper!
"Uhm... I've to give it to my in-laws, but I don't know..."
As if on cue, he acted confused and in deep tension, his forehead creases furrowing, adding to his tense look.
"Ah," the shopkeeper clicked his tongue, "No wonder."
"Just buy some food or cloth," another patron of the small shop chimed in.
"Yeah, no need to spend too much or they'll drain you dry," an older man said, with a hind of worldly wisdom.
"Buy whatever you want! But don't disturb my buisness!" The shopkeeper scolded, shooing Qi Shou away.
Though it irked Qi Shou, he didn't linger and just moved on.
There were many shops, what's the use of fighting with one for something as small as this.
Good thing he didn't bother as he got to hear something interesting while dawdling around other shops.
"Brother, what were you saying? Someone saved the town?" Qi Shou asked, bewildered.
"Hah! Are you living under a rock or what!?"
"Everyone knows it was the Young Hero who saved the town..."
"Hmph! Let me tell you, all the sects and government officials failed to defend against the beasts. Only when the Young Hero and his companions arrived did the situation reverse..."
Meanwhile, Qi Shou was going through a major psychological struggle as he heard the passers-by continuation of the tale.
What Young Hero?
What companions?
What sects?
What beasts?
Qi Shou had thousands of questions pounding his mind before a wave of dizziness hit him and he felt something off about himself.
"Young Hero? Companions? Arriving right on time to turn tide in their favor?
Isn't that the classical protagonist script?!"
Qi Shou exclaimed, but his voice went unnoticed as others were busy bragging about catching sight of the Young Hero and their companions.
With descriptions ranging from 10 feet muscular men moving mountains and shaking the sky to fairies elegantly defending the town.
There was no truth to their words yet it inspired awe in everyone.
After all, cultivation was the lifelong pursuit of those who could and lifelong dream of those who couldn't.
However, this had nothing to do with Qi Shou who was having a splitting headache and one second and felt everything normal in the next second.
In that state, he could only leave and focus on his mind to calm down.
Thankfully, he had already bought a chicken, a tael of coarse fabric to bring to his in-laws.
It allowed him to head there straight while thinking about the strange things he heard.
At least the protagonist like tale allowed him to grasp the implication.
"This might as well be the world of 'that' novel," he sighed in exasperation.
His hand holding the fabric unconsciously reached his forehead to massage it.
Just the thought of it was unbearably painful.
"But I've got a golden finger, so it matters little!"
"System bearers always win against those unscrupulous sons and daughters of destinies!"
Cheering himself up, he tried his best to lighten his mood before meeting his wife and her family for the first time after regaining those memories.
"But... I am Qi Shou... he was a character that had only two lines across the ten thousand chapters across the novel."
Was he truly worth only two lines?
What about the quotes that eveyone was a protagonist of their own life? Could he live upto that?
Could he fulfill his goals and ambitions for his sweet little daughter?
With great self-doubt and multiple questions ringing in his head, he reached his wife's premarital house and stood outside for a while.
After a full ten minutes, he barely composed himself and restrained his nehative thoughts before going forward to knock on the door.
Yet what greeted him was a cry of pain.
"Ah!"