“Go freshen up yourself, I’ll get the medicine.”
Ruan Shu nodded, “Okay.”
After her big brother left, Ruan Shu began to comb her somewhat frizzy hair, trying to smooth it out.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth diligently. As she was tying her hair, her big brother returned.
Her arms were a bit short, making it hard to tie her hair into a high ponytail. She would get so frustrated that her little face turned red.
“Stop fussing with your hair for now.”
Ruan Feng Si walked over and began to unwrap the bandage on her foot.
The injured area looked red but otherwise seemed fine.
Ruan Feng Si pressed gently on her sprained ankle with his calloused fingers, “Does it still hurt?”
Ruan Shu pouted, her eyes, round like a kitten’s, looked at him with a hint of tears, “Big brother, be gentle.”
His strength made even an uninjured spot feel sore.
Ruan Feng Si was silent…
Though he teased her for being delicate, he felt a bit guilty.
“It’s not fully healed yet, keep it wrapped.”
Ruan Shu tugged at his shirt with her small hand, asking softly, “Brother, my foot doesn’t hurt anymore, can I walk now?”
“Yes, but no running.”
Hearing this, Ruan Shu obediently nodded, “Okay.”
After breakfast, her big brother went to work, and Ruan Shu stayed home to rest.
Thinking about the renovations her brother mentioned for her room, she went with her pet Xiaomi to the balcony of her bedroom.
There, her small potted plants, which hadn’t grown much taller than her finger, seemed to be thriving under her care.
She moved them downstairs to a corner where they wouldn’t be in the way.
“I’ll bring you back after the bedroom is refurbished.”
She chatted idly in front of the small potted plants.
She missed her father again, realizing it was less than four days before his return. She was so looking forward to it.
Slowly returning to her cozy nook, Ruan Shu lay there with a soft pillow, almost sinking into the soft cushion.
Xiaomi ran back and forth, bringing out lots of snacks.
Her favorite dried fish, the coconut crisps and cookies she brought home yesterday, and several fruits.
“Shu Shu, eat some snacks.”
Ruan Shu was pondering with her little legs propped up in a hammock, thinking about what gift to give to Brother Yu Sheng and others.
“Okay, Xiaomi, you’re so nice.”
After hugging Xiaomi and rubbing against it, Ruan Shu started to slowly nibble on the dried fish.
But her thoughts were somewhat vacant, as she was recalling the handicrafts she had learned in school in her previous life.
Paper folding, making wind chimes, and knotting.
Her memory was quite good, and since there were few games she could play, she could do these crafts taught by her teacher alone, making them one of her few entertainments.
She couldn’t make the more complex paper crafts, and the simpler ones didn’t seem nice enough to give as gifts.
For wind chimes, she thought to look online for materials.
Ruan Shu seriously searched online and indeed found some materials for making wind chimes.
Brother Yu Sheng and Brother Yu Huan were sea spirits, so she could use beautiful shells and the pearls they had given her.
She also found some pretty threads, perfect for knotting.
Many beautiful shells online were very cheap, and all the materials together cost less than a hundred star coins.
Her terminal was linked to her father’s supplementary card, so she could pay directly.
After placing the order, she earnestly ate her snacks and casually searched for wind chimes and knots in this world.
Huh… there were none?
There were more and prettier crafts, but not the small, delicate wind chimes, only large ones, like chandelier-type wind chimes.
Was she searching incorrectly?
Ruan Shu searched for a long time and finally gave up.
There were no wind chimes, let alone knots.
Even the symbolically significant Chinese knots were absent.
But… now in the interstellar era, where humans had become animals, it seemed there was no such country anymore.
The country she knew in her previous life seemed to have disappeared, either lost in the course of historical evolution, or perhaps this world never had that blue water planet.
Ruan Shu, biting her finger, was troubled but still searched online.
#Earth#
After a long search, she only found planets with similar names, but none were the familiar planet she knew from textbooks and TV.
After searching and searching, Ruan Shu felt deflated.
She decided to think about what gift to make instead.
But… the planet that existed in her previous life was completely untraceable, leaving her feeling a bit lost.
The materials she ordered online arrived quickly, and Ruan Shu arranged them on the table, including the pearls given by Brother Yu Huan.
The shells she bought were all rather small; too large ones would not look good when made.
Moreover, these shells were different from the ones she knew. Not to mention the shape, the color and appearance looked more like gems.
However, they were not as heavy as gems, quite light.
She bought six colors of shells in total and classified them, then worried about how to drill holes in these things.
“Xiaomi, is there a machine that can drill holes in shells and pearls?”
Xiaomi quickly searched and said, “Yes.”
Then she showed the machines suitable for children.
After watching a few demonstration videos, Ruan Shu chose a drilling machine that looked like a handgun and was easy to operate.
While waiting for the machine, Ruan Shu started to make knots with those ropes.
Starting with the simplest peace knot.
The thickness of the rope was just right. She knitted earnestly, her head bowed down, the sunlight shining on her, her snow-white glutinous rice dumpling-like body seemed to glow, and her chubby, milk-jelly like face was so cute it made people want to bite it.
The day ended with online classes and crafts.
It was four days later when she made three beautiful shell wind chimes, several snowflake-shaped knots, and Chinese knots.
That noon, as usual, she leaned in her soft nest, humming “The Insects Fly,” skillfully making a delicate Chinese knot.
A pearl hung at the top, and tassels dangled at the bottom. It looked especially beautiful when shaken and gave her a great sense of achievement.
Ruan Shu smiled with curved eyes, already thinking about whom to give it to.
The brown-red one for big brother, the white snowflake knot for Qingran brother, and this peace knot and Chinese knot combination for dad. She also wanted to make a snowflake knot for dad; it was very pretty.
Suddenly, a shadow fell, and Ruan Shu, holding the Chinese knot, looked up.
“Dad!”
Ruan Shu was pleasantly surprised. Just a second ago, she was thinking of her dad, and the next, he appeared in front of her.
She even suspected she was hallucinating and was stunned, then quickly rubbed her eyes.