Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off-Chapter 388: Husband Material in Progress

Su Qinglan’s heart gave a sympathetic tug. Watching the chubby toddler cling so desperately to An Mo made her laugh softly.

"She really does love you, doesn’t she?"

An Mo looked down at the girl, his expression softening into one of weary but practiced affection.

"She is... persistent," he said, shifting his weight to balance both a snake cub and a human toddler.

"I have raised her from the moment she was born. When she first arrived, she couldn’t even open her eyes. She was no bigger than a kitten."

Su Qinglan’s smile faltered, replaced by a look of deep concern. "Raised her? But... what about her family? Her parents?"

An Mo let out a long sigh. He looked toward the cave ceiling as if recounting a tragic legend.

"Ah, it is a truly sorrowful tale, Lan Lan. Her father... he passed away shortly after bringing her home. It was only a few days after she was born."

Su Qinglan gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh, no! That’s terrible. And her mother?"

An Mo’s gaze dropped to the floor, his voice becoming a low, somber murmur.

"This little girl and her father were abandoned by the female. She left them for another... it was a cold, cruel rejection. Since then, it has just been me and this little bun."

Inside the System space, Xuyu was choking on his popcorn.

[Abandoned?!] Xuyu shrieked.

[This man is a professional liar! The little girl’s father is probably currently losing his mind in an upper domain, wondering where his friend took his daughter!]

But Su Qinglan couldn’t hear Xuyu. She was looking at An Mo with shocked eyes.

Now, looking at him, she realized that the young man was not only gentle, but he also had a good character. He had sacrificed his youth to raise an abandoned orphan.

"You... you’ve done so much for her," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

However, there was one person in the cave who did understand some of the words being said. Duo Duo, despite being a toddler, recognized the word "Father."

She stopped her fake sniffing and looked up at An Mo, her face full of confusion.

Father is dead? Why had no one told her?

But she had just seen her father in the morning. He had given her a sweet fruit before this "Golden Uncle" carried her away for a "fun adventure."

"Go! Go see father!" Duo Duo chirped, tugging on An Mo’s collar. She wanted to tell him that her father was very much alive and probably had more fruit.

An Mo’s smile turned slightly stiff. He didn’t miss a beat, though. He tightened his grip on her and looked at her with a face full of "tragic" pity.

"Duo Duo, don’t fuss. I told you... your father has... gone to a very far place. He probably won’t come back for a long, long time."

Duo Duo blinked. She didn’t understand the concept of death, but she understood "won’t come back." Her bottom lip began to tremble. Her eyes filled with giant, fat tears that rolled down her chubby cheeks like pearls.

"No come back?" she whispered.

"No, little bun," An Mo said, leaning into his act as the savior uncle. "But don’t worry, you have your Uncle An Mo."

That was the breaking point. Duo Duo let out a wail so loud it probably echoed all the way to the Mermaid palace. It wasn’t just a cry. It was a full blown, heartbroken toddler meltdown.

She began to kick her legs and thrash in his arms, her face turning a bright, angry red.

"FATHER! WAAAAAAH! FATHER!"

An Mo was instantly stunned. He was a high level power, a man who could flatten a mountain with a wave of his hand, but he had no idea how to stop a screaming toddler who actually believed her father was gone forever.

He tried to jiggle her, then tried to shush her, but his "refined" mask was slipping fast.

"Duo Duo, please! Shh! It was just a... joke!" he hissed, looking around frantically.

Xiao San, sensing the chaos, ducked back under An Mo’s sleeve to hide from the noise.

Su Qinglan couldn’t stand it anymore. Seeing the girl’s genuine distress made her motherly instincts explode. She stepped forward and reached out, taking the screaming Duo Duo from An Mo’s clumsy, panicked arms.

"Give her to me," Su Qinglan said firmly.

As soon as Duo Duo hit Su Qinglan’s chest, she buried her face in the soft fabric and sobbed. Su Qinglan began to rock her back and forth, rubbing her back and humming a low, soothing melody.

"It’s okay, baby. It’s okay," Su Qinglan whispered, casting a sharp, slightly accusing look at An Mo. "You shouldn’t tell a child such things so bluntly. You’ve scared her half to death!"

An Mo stood there, his arms empty and his "angelic" hair slightly ruffled. He felt a genuine flush of embarrassment.

He had played the "tragic uncle" role a little too well, and now he was being scolded by the very female he was trying to impress.

[Xuyu laughed so hard he fell off his virtual chair: Oh, this is gold! The Great An Mo, defeated by a three year old’s tears and a mother’s glare. Truly a Level 10 disaster!]

An Mo folded his arms and stared at the fussing girl with a serious expression.

Wasn’t this his entire plan from the very beginning?

Bring Duo Duo here, act like a gentle, warm, loving male, and slowly convince the female that he is perfect husband material.

After all, what did females like?

Powerful?

He had that. Check.

Handsome?

Obviously. Big check.

Caring?

...Well. That part could be negotiated.

Gentle?

An Mo’s expression twitched.

If An Mo was anything other than gentle, even he knew it would be a miracle. The words "gentle" and "An Mo" in the same sentence felt like some kind of cruel joke played by fate.

But weakness was weakness. And weakness was something Xuan Long might use against him in the future.

So what was the solution?

Simple.

Eliminate the weakness.

Not by becoming gentle, because that sounded exhausting, but by pretending to be gentle.

Yes. A super caring, child-loving, warm-hearted uncle.

He glanced down at Duo Duo, who was hiccupping in Su Qinglan’s arms.

"...I can tolerate this," he muttered.

If he could take good care of children, the female would definitely think, Ah, he will be a good father too.

And once she thought that...Husband material unlocked. He lifted his chin proudly.

Powerful? Check.

Handsome? Check.

Caring? In progress.

Gentle? ... Under construction.

Then another thought hit him.

If Xuan Long could win her affection, why couldn’t he? Was he worse than that man? An Mo scoffed.

"Impossible," he muttered to himself. "I’m clearly superior."