On the verdant hilltop, Ye Jinghong sat cross-legged, holding a sketchbook in her hands, sketching and drawing in it.
In no time, a little girl's face appeared on the milky white paper.
The girl looked to be about five or six years old. She was very thin, with delicate features, big eyes, and a sweet smile.
Ye Jinghong seemed to have drawn it many times, and her speed was very fast, as if she was extremely familiar with it. However, when she was outlining the girl's shoulders and neck, her hand speed slowed down a lot, as if she was considering how to start the stroke, and finally she stopped drawing.
A child herding cattle in the distance ran over, stood behind her with his head down, and asked, "Teacher Ye, is this your daughter?"
He often saw Teacher Ye draw this little girl.
Ye Jinghong nodded, her fingers tracing the portrait. "Yes, she is my daughter."
"She is very beautiful."
The young boy praised it, then asked, "But what you drew today is a bit strange."
He didn't understand sketching, but he had seen Teacher Ye draw. In the past, Teacher Ye would outline the entire shape and then fill in the details.
But today the little girl drew the upper part of her neck and shoulders from the side, with only a few dotted lines below.
Ye Jinghong's gaze also fell on the white paper, and she said with a complicated expression, "I want to draw a picture of me holding my daughter, but... I've never held her..."
Don't you like her?
The young boy was very curious.
How could a mother never have held her own child?
Unless you don't like it!
But seeing that Teacher Ye draws children every day, she must like it, so she thought of a possibility: "You two aren't together, are you?"
Many people from their village go out to work, and because of the long distance, many of them don't come back for several years at a time.
Therefore, many children in their village have not seen their parents for several years.
Teacher Ye is from the city, so she shouldn't need to go out to work. There must be some other reason why they separated.
"Yes, we're not together."
"Why?"
The young boy sat down opposite her and asked curiously.
"Because I didn't know she was my child before. I only saw her once when she was little, and that time, I... I didn't hold her..."
Ye Jinghong's tone betrayed her disappointment and self-blame.
The boy became even more curious.
Did you lose her?
Otherwise, the mother would know all the children she raises.
Ye Jinghong nodded, "Yes, I lost her."
She was a soldier, and with her country in trouble, she had no choice but to fight. So she entrusted her child to her brother and sister-in-law.
Knowing all along that her brother and sister-in-law were greedy, she gave them many benefits, thinking that in return they would treat her daughter well.
She didn't want the child to stay with her brother and sister-in-law for too long. She originally planned to bring the child to live with her after the war ended.
She did just that.
But she underestimated her brother and sister-in-law's greed. They switched her child with theirs. The child she took to the army was not her daughter, but her brother and sister-in-law's child.
Ye Wantang was not close to her since childhood. If she wanted to hug her, she would be so scared that she would cry for a long time.
The servant said that it must be because she had been on the battlefield for a long time and had a strong aura of killing intent, which the delicate child could not withstand.
She dared not press the matter further, so much so that when she later saw Ye Zhen at the manor, she didn't dare to hug him.
Until her death, she sensed something was wrong and began to suspect that Ye Wantang was not her child.
But he was also afraid that his suspicions were wrong and that if he rashly asked someone to investigate, Ye Wantang might find out and be heartbroken.
After years of fighting, she felt guilty for not fulfilling her duties as a mother and dared not hurt her child again because of her suspicions.
He then thought that he would investigate in person after the war ended.
Before she could investigate, Ye Yunheng led her to the swamp. Watching Ye Yunheng run away without looking back, she knew that her suspicions were correct.
Ye Wantang's background is questionable!
Otherwise, Ye Yunheng would not have killed her.
The benefits she brought to Ye Yunheng while she was alive far outweighed the benefits she brought him after she died.
After returning to China, she spent countless days and nights reflecting on the past, becoming increasingly convinced that Ye Wantang was not her child.
If Ye Wantang isn't the one, then where did her child go?
She thought of Ye Zhen, that child whose temperament was similar to hers and whom she felt an instant connection with.
This makes sense; why would the elder brother and sister-in-law send Ye Zhen to the estate and abandon him?
Because Ye Zhen was her child, Ye Zhengqing and Ye Zhen were worried that leaving her in the capital would raise suspicions.
Unfortunately, she realized it too late.
After getting stuck in the swamp, she traveled back to China, but not to the era she fought for.
Of her former comrades who fought alongside her, only two remain, both nearing 100 years old.
When she was hit by a cannonball, her soul traveled to the Great Abyss. When she returned from the swamp, she brought with her the body from the Great Abyss.
Her appearance was different from before, and her former comrades could no longer recognize her. She also dared not reveal her identity.
I've become a lonely person here.
She wasn't afraid of being alone, but she missed her child terribly. However, she didn't even know what her child looked like now, so she could only draw the image of her child when she first met him again and again.
He couldn't even draw a portrait of himself holding his daughter, not because he couldn't imagine what the pose would look like, but because he didn't dare to even think about what it would look like to hold his daughter.
Ye Jinghong felt guilty and afraid, afraid that her daughter was suffering.
Seeing her long silence and sensing her sadness, the cowherd suddenly ran off, shouting as he ran, "Teacher Ye, please watch the cows for me, I'll be right back."
Ye Jinghong didn't think too much about it and nodded.
If the country is doing well, there's no need for her to fight with guns and swords; there's not much she can contribute.
In the first few years after his return, he secretly cooperated with the country to crack down on some dark forces, but he was almost discovered because this body did not belong to this world and his identity could not stand up to scrutiny.
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