After soaking her feet and going upstairs, Ruan Shu came out of her bedroom again. With her small hands holding a gift for her second brother, she walked to his room in fluffy slippers. The door was slightly open, and she cautiously nudged it, causing it to open wider.
Standing at the doorway, the little snow-white dumpling, holding a small cat-themed felt gift, found herself staring wide-eyed at her second brother, who had previously insisted downstairs that he wouldn’t soak his feet. Now, however, he was sitting by the bed, doing exactly that.
Ruan Xinglan: “…”
Ruan Shu took a tiny step back under his gaze, then called out softly with hopeful eyes.
“S-second brother.”
Somehow, his expression seemed a little dark.
“I-I came to give you something.”
Ruan Shu whispered, lifting the gift in her hands.
“Come in.” After a moment, Ruan Xinglan finally spoke in a calm, unaffected tone, as if nothing had happened.
Though the atmosphere felt a little awkward, Ruan Shu still walked in and handed him the little cat-themed felt gift.
“It’s for you, Second Brother. I’ll be off now.”
After giving him the gift, Ruan Shu quickly scampered back to the door and even thoughtfully closed it for him.
She hadn’t asked or said anything—such a considerate little sweetheart!
But Second Brother is so shy. He could have just admitted he likes soaking his feet.
With a smile that made her eyes curve into cheerful crescents, Ruan Shu happily returned to her own room.
Once in bed, she curled up her little legs and took out the three energy stones and the gemstones Almer had given her, setting them in front of her.
She didn’t know if her tastes were influenced by the dragon clan, but she had developed a particular fondness for these shiny, pretty stones (^w^).
She polished each gemstone with a clean cloth until they were even shinier, then placed them back into her space bracelet.
At that moment, Ruan Shu spotted something: an egg.
It was the large snake egg she had picked up on Snowfall Star and had nearly forgotten about.
Taking it out, Ruan Shu tapped on the egg with her finger, tilting her head and pressing her ear against the shell. It was as hard as stone, a little cool to the touch, and she couldn’t hear any movement inside.
But the egg looked beautiful. It was the color of white jade. If her brothers hadn’t told her it was a snake egg, she would’ve thought it was just a stone.
As Ruan Shu observed the ostrich-sized egg, her pink little companion jumped up.
“Chirp-chirp!”
Ruan Shu blinked. “You like this?”
“Chirp-chirp!”
“Alright then, I’ll put a little cushion on it so it doesn’t get cold.”
The little pink mushroom planned to make the snake egg its new cushion.
Considering that it had been separated from the mother snake, whatever was inside probably wouldn’t hatch anyway, Ruan Shu thought as she placed a petal-shaped cushion on top of the egg. The tiny mushroom immediately hopped onto it, quite pleased with the new height.
Ruan Shu thought for a moment and then took out the luminous pearl Almer had gifted her, placing it beside the egg. The pearl emitted a warm, soothing glow—perfect for the little mushroom, who didn’t like complete darkness. Usually, Ruan Shu kept a mushroom-shaped night light on in her room.
“Mushroom, is this brightness okay?”
“Chirp-chirp!”
The pink mushroom happily bounced on the cushion—it loved it!
“Goodnight, Mushroom, and goodnight, Little Vine.”
With the snake egg and the luminous pearl by her bedside, Ruan Shu bid them all goodnight and soon drifted off to sleep. The gentle glow from the pearl was just right, not disturbing her sleep at all.
The next morning, as she looked at the mushroom’s new bed, Ruan Shu thought it looked a bit plain. Deciding to spice it up, she ordered some yarn-like materials online in various colors. She planned to try knitting… well, not exactly a sweater, but a cute little cover for the mushroom’s bed.
She had also finished a miniature white qilin-tiger felt for her father.
Carrying the little felt qilin-tiger, Ruan Shu ran off to give it to her dad.
Holding the tiny qilin-tiger, which was smaller than his palm, Ruan Xiao looked down, meeting the expectant gaze of the little one, clearly hoping for praise.
A smile lifted the corners of Ruan Xiao’s mouth as he ruffled her hair.
“You did a great job. I really like it.”
A huge, delighted smile immediately spread across Ruan Shu’s face.
In fact, she had also made felt cats, which were even smaller, and gave one to each family member, even sending some to her third brother and her two cousins.
After her dad left for work, Ruan Shu, as usual, checked the house and then went to look at the Edelweiss plants.
The rest of her time was spent studying and knitting.
What she didn’t know was that there was quite a commotion online related to her.
This commotion, unbeknownst to the general public, was due to the Ruan family suddenly handing over a significant amount of Edelweiss to the research institute for inhibitor production. Not only was the military surprised, but others who got wind of this news also began speculating.
Had the Third Legion sent troops to gather Edelweiss?
However, the sheer volume of Edelweiss—something that would take the Li family nearly half a year to cultivate—had been gathered by the Third Legion in just one month.
Moreover, no one had heard of any major operations from the Third Legion recently.
The Li family was the most reluctant to believe the news. Seeing the sheer quantity of Edelweiss the Ruan family had handed over, combined with their collaboration with the research institute, left them feeling utterly defeated. The Li family elder and head felt a mixture of anger and desperation.
Their near-monopoly on inhibitors was largely due to their exclusive ability to cultivate Edelweiss. This skill was unique to the Li family, as they had a wealth of skilled pharmacists.
Edelweiss was not only a finicky plant to feed but also had very specific environmental requirements for cultivation, and even harvesting it demanded precision. Only Edelweiss harvested while its cotton blooms still “resided” in their plant habitat could produce the highest-quality medicinal extract. Furthermore, Edelweiss blooms fiercely guarded their nests until they naturally abandoned them, making harvesting risky.
To date, only the Li family had succeeded in cultivating Edelweiss on a large scale; other attempts yielded just a few dozen plants at most. Even the most capable individuals couldn’t rely solely on luck to keep finding Edelweiss. Most skilled personnel were off serving in the military, fighting against the Zergs, with little time to spare for Edelweiss hunting.
So how exactly had the Ruan family managed to locate and harvest such a large quantity of Edelweiss?
At the research institute, Director Hao, who had a favorable impression of the Ruan family—especially due to his relationship with his protégé, Ruan Xinglan, and that pot of green pothos—was thoroughly impressed.
“The batch of Edelweiss you brought in is of the highest quality. I will personally ensure that the best pharmacists in the institute work on crafting the inhibitors for you.”
While the formula for creating inhibitors was publicly available, achieving the highest efficacy required pharmacists who were exceptionally skilled in precise extraction of medicinal compounds.