“Go wash up by yourself; I’ll get the medicine.”
Ruan Shu nodded, “Okay!”
Once her big brother left, Ruan Shu smoothed down her messy hair, carefully brushing out the tangles.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth diligently, and just as she was tying up her hair, her big brother returned.
Her arms were still a bit short, so tying her hair was a challenge. When she tried to make a high ponytail, her little face would flush red with the effort.
“Leave your hair for now.”
Ruan Fengsi walked over, took her foot, and began to unwrap the bandage.
Aside from a slight redness, there wasn’t much else wrong with the injured area.
Ruan Fengsi pressed his calloused fingers lightly on her sprained ankle, “Does it still hurt?”
Ruan Shu pursed her lips, her cat-like round eyes looking pitifully at him, with a hint of tears if you looked closely.
“Big brother, press gently,” she whispered in a soft, plaintive voice.
With his level of pressure, it would hurt even if it were already healed.
Ruan Fengsi: …
He called her delicate, but for some reason, he felt a bit guilty.
“It’s not fully healed yet, so keep it wrapped.”
Ruan Shu tugged on his shirt with her small hand, asking in a gentle voice, “Big brother, my foot doesn’t hurt anymore. Can I walk now?”
“You can, but no running.”
Hearing this, Ruan Shu obediently nodded, “Okay.”
After breakfast, her big brother went to work, leaving Ruan Shu to rest at home by herself this time.
Thinking about her brother’s plans to renovate her room, Ruan Shu took Xiaomi with her to the balcony of her bedroom.
Several small plants she had been growing were there, but even after all this time, they hadn’t grown taller than her finger.
Still, they looked healthy, so Ruan Shu continued to care for them.
She brought them all downstairs and placed them in a small, unobtrusive corner.
“I’ll bring you back in once my room is redone,” she murmured to the little plants, talking to them softly.
She missed her father again. It was only about four days until he returned, right? She was so looking forward to it.
Slowly, she returned to her cozy little spot in the hanging basket. Hugging a soft pillow, she lay down, sinking almost entirely into the cushiony seat.
Xiaomi scurried back and forth, bringing out lots of snacks.
There were Ruan Shu’s favorite dried fish, the crispy coconut and biscuits from yesterday, and plenty of fruits too.
“Shushu, have some snacks.”
Ruan Shu was lying in the hanging basket, her little legs dangling, pondering what gift to prepare for Brother Yu Sheng and the others.
“Thank you, Xiaomi, you’re the best.”
She picked up Xiaomi for a cuddle and then slowly nibbled on a dried fish snack.
But her mind wandered a bit, sifting through memories from her previous life of craft projects she learned in school.
Paper folding, making wind chimes, and creating decorative knots.
Her memory was quite sharp, and with limited games to play, she’d become good at these crafts, often doing them alone. So, these crafts were among her few games.
She couldn’t manage complicated origami, but something too simple didn’t feel suitable as a gift.
For a wind chime, maybe she could find materials online.
Ruan Shu searched online earnestly and did find some materials she could use to make a wind chime.
Since Brother Yu Sheng and Brother Yu Huan were Sirens, she could use beautiful shells and pearls they’d given her.
She also found some pretty threads, perfect for making decorative knots.
The beautiful shells were quite affordable online, and everything together cost less than a hundred star coins.
Her terminal was linked to her dad’s secondary card, so she could pay directly.
After placing the order, she resumed eating her snacks and began searching for wind chimes and decorative knots in this world.
Huh… there was nothing?
There were plenty of beautiful crafts, but no small, delicate wind chimes—only large ones or something resembling wind chimes in the form of hanging lamps.
Maybe she was searching incorrectly?
Ruan Shu searched for a long time, finally giving up.
If there were no wind chimes, there was even less chance of finding decorative knots.
Even traditional Chinese knots, which held a lot of symbolic meaning, were nowhere to be found.
But… well, this was the interstellar era. Humanity had transformed into different species, and maybe those nations no longer existed.
The country she’d known in her past life seemed to have vanished—lost either in the long course of history or, perhaps, this world never had that blue planet at all.
Feeling a bit disheartened, Ruan Shu nibbled on her finger, thinking it over, and did a search online.
#Earth#
After searching for a while, she found planets with similar names, but none matched the familiar blue planet she’d seen in textbooks and on television.
After looking through everything, Ruan Shu felt deflated.
Forget it, she thought. She’d just focus on making the gift.
Still… not being able to find any trace of her past life’s world left a small pang of loss in her heart.
The materials she ordered arrived quickly. Ruan Shu laid everything out on the table, including the pearls Brother Yu Huan had given her.
The shells she bought were all small and delicate; larger ones wouldn’t look as nice on the finished piece.
Moreover, these shells didn’t look like the ones she knew. Not only were the shapes different, but the colors and textures resembled gemstones more than typical seashells.
But unlike gemstones, they were very lightweight.
She had bought six colors in total and sorted them, but then realized she needed a way to drill holes in the shells and pearls.
“Xiaomi, is there a machine that can drill holes in shells and pearls?”
Xiaomi quickly searched, “Yes, there is!”
It displayed a selection of machines suitable for kids.
After watching a few demo videos, Ruan Shu chose a small, user-friendly drill that looked like a little handheld gun.
While waiting for the drill to arrive, Ruan Shu started knotting the cords to make decorative knots.
She began with the simplest one: the peace knot.
The thickness of the cords was just right, and she concentrated hard, her head lowered as she worked. Sunlight streamed down, illuminating her like a little glutinous rice dumpling, her chubby, milk-white cheeks looking as soft as custard, irresistibly cute.
The day slipped by in a blur of online classes and crafting.
By the time she finished three beautiful shell wind chimes and a few snowflake-shaped knots and Chinese knots, four days had passed.
That afternoon, she was nestled comfortably in her cozy spot, humming “Insects Fly” softly as she carefully completed a delicate Chinese knot.
A pearl dangled from the top, with tassels flowing down from the bottom. When she picked it up and gave it a gentle shake, it looked lovely, filling her with a sense of accomplishment.
Ruan Shu smiled with joy, already deciding who to give each piece to.
The reddish-brown one would go to her big brother, the white snowflake knot to Brother Qingran, and this peace knot paired with the Chinese knot would be for her dad. She’d also make him a snowflake knot, as it was particularly beautiful.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over her. Ruan Shu looked up, still holding the Chinese knot.
“Dad!”
Ruan Shu was thrilled. Just a second ago, she had been thinking about her dad, and now he appeared right in front of her.
For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating. She rubbed her eyes, her whole body frozen in shock, then quickly rubbed her eyes again to make sure he was really there.