Ruan Xiao looked down at the cat lying belly-up in his arms, her soft white stomach exposed as she seemed to surrender herself entirely. He lowered his gaze and chuckled softly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to keep you safe.”
Ruan Shu nuzzled her small head against her father’s hand, signaling her trust in him.
But she didn’t want to be a burden on her family, either, so she’d do her best to stay out of trouble!
After some thought, Ruan Xiao placed Shushu on his shoulder, then went outside, bringing the four potted plants along.
Surprisingly, the four plants offered no resistance, looking quite cooperative.
Ruan Xiao found it strange. Could it be that his daughter’s plants had inherited her easygoing nature?
The four pots were placed in the main hall, where, except for Ruan Fengsi, who was at work, the rest of the family gathered to observe.
“Did they really mutate?”
Ruan Ling’an was skeptical; to him, they looked like ordinary plants.
He reached out to pluck a kumquat, and he had to admit, the tiny orange fruit looked rather cute.
But before he could pick it, a branch swatted his hand away, and a kumquat flew off, aiming straight for his forehead.
Ruan Ling’an reacted quickly, catching the little kumquat mid-air.
It was fresh, with a hint of bitterness, though not unpleasant.
The kumquat tree itself was small and delicate-looking, almost as if it could be bullied.
To be honest, they’d never seen a tree this tiny.
“They really did mutate; these are all… plants.”
Excited, Ruan Ling’an popped the kumquat into his mouth, only to immediately spit it out; the intense bitterness made it utterly inedible.
“Bleh! This thing is impossible to eat.”
The kumquat tree began to tremble, its leaves rustling—not out of fear but indignation.
Then, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
Several more tiny kumquats launched themselves at him, though their “attack” was feeble compared to the other mutated plants he’d seen.
It reminded him of his little sister’s harmless swat when she got mad—barely enough to scratch him.
The kumquat tree bore only a handful of fruits, but in its frustration, it threw them all. None hit their target, and now every single fruit was gone.
The tree seemed to sink into despair, drooping its leaves as if to play dead.
Ruan Ling’an found it amusing, teasing the tree by flicking its leaves.
The kumquat tree: How I hate star beasts with no respect for boundaries!
With the kumquat tree’s display, everyone realized these four plants had indeed mutated—though… rather oddly.
Were mutated plants supposed to have such low attack power?
Ruan Xiao said, “These four mutated plants seem to be connected to Shushu. Let’s have Qingran take a look and see if he can find anything.”
Meanwhile, Ruan Xinglan was poking at one of the orchid’s buds, his fingers pressing down on it playfully. Just as he was about to poke it again, the orchid’s leaves pushed his finger away, almost in a huffy manner—much like the way the cat would gently push him away when it didn’t want to be petted.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ruan Xinglan grabbed the orchid leaf and gave it a gentle squeeze, like he was teasing a small pet.
Orchid: This star beast is a pervert!
“What do we need him for? I’m right here,” he said lazily. Around family, he dropped his usual gentlemanly act.
“I’m a pharmacist, after all. I could even pluck this bud and see if it can be made into a useful potion.”
It seemed the orchid understood his words; it paused briefly, then quickly curled its leaves around its bud to protect it.
Pervert! Pervert!
Ruan Shu gave a little meow, her fluffy cheeks puffed up in a show of defiance. She glared at her second brother, as if to say, “Stop bullying the little orchid!”
Her mutated plants were all so well-behaved; why was her brother teasing them? And her third brother too—he’d plucked all the kumquats off the poor kumquat tree.
Ruan Shu waved her little paws and meowed insistently, urging her brother to pick up the kumquats since they could be used to brew tea.
However, Ruan Xinglan wasn’t exaggerating. He was not only skilled in mecha studies but also a master-level pharmacist. In fact, his unique abilities and deceptively gentle appearance had made him the school heartthrob during his academic days, even surpassing the popularity of the top combat students.
“You should take a kumquat first and see what you can make out of it.”
As for the orchid, it only had a single bud—how could he even think of plucking it?
Ruan Xinglan shrugged, not objecting, and took a kumquat before heading off.
A short time later, Ruan Qingran arrived. When he saw the four mutated plants, he paused in surprise.
How many little surprises did his young cousin still have up her sleeve?
But there was a problem: as a doctor, he was used to examining people—how exactly was he supposed to check a plant?
Ruan Xiao suggested, “Test their contamination levels.”
Typically, vegetables harvested from mutated plants had to be tested by certified agencies to ensure their contamination levels didn’t exceed the safety limit before they could be sold. Currently, the standard contamination level for vegetable products was set at 2 units. If a product exceeded this level, it would be specially processed and turned into nutrient agents.
The others quickly caught on and fetched a small scanner, running it over one of the kumquats with a mix of anxious expressions.
With three pairs of eyes focused on the screen, the results finally appeared.
[Testing complete. Contamination level: 0]
For a moment, the kitchen was plunged into an eerie silence, with all three pairs of eyes glued to that zero on the screen.
“How is this possible?!”
Ruan Shu, who had been listening intently with her ears perked up, had her eyes widened in astonishment, her fluffy little face mirroring everyone else’s shock.
She knew that vegetables—and even drinking water—usually had some contamination level, and in some cases, even meat with excessive contamination levels had become toxic.
This was because the air itself carried contamination, so no matter how carefully food was handled, it would inevitably contain traces of pollutants. Mutated fruits, although somewhat safer, were still not exempt.
Regular vegetables were typically grown in specially treated soil and in indoor greenhouses to minimize exposure to the polluted air. Even then, they had to be processed further to reduce contamination to acceptable levels before being sold.
This made vegetables and fruits highly expensive, often unaffordable for those with modest incomes, who had to rely on nutrient solutions. However, even nutrient solutions weren’t entirely safe.
With current medical technology, pollutants in plants could be partially removed, but contamination in the Jingshen remained an insurmountable challenge.
Ruan Qingran, the family doctor, ran the test four or five more times, switching to different kumquats each time, yet the results remained the same.
Contamination level: 0. This was unprecedented; they had never encountered or even imagined such a result.
They then tested the other plants as well, and each produced the same outcome as the kumquat tree.
This miraculous result, this zero contamination level—until now, it was something they’d only ever seen with Ruan Shu.