114: Even a little bit of remedy

Tu Nan froze.

What did Hain's words mean?

Had her momentary hesitation pushed all this into an unpredictable abyss?

If he wanted to know everything about Tu Nan's current situation, he could ask anyone on the flight, including Wei Yang or his friend Kong Jiamu.

And as long as Kong Jiamu connected the names Pearl and Tu Nan, he would immediately realize something was wrong. That small courtyard had been arranged for her by Kong Jiamu's subordinates.

And if Hain also wanted to know about Tu Nan's past... that would be even worse.

In Mata City, her identity should have already been exposed.

Then Hain would know she was just a liar. A Foster Mother who used him to escape.

Tu Nan never dared to think seriously about these things, but... it turned out her lies were built on such a flimsy foundation.

It could stand, of course, because of her planning, but the core was Hain's kindness toward her, or rather... his feelings for her.

Tu Nan sank blankly into the sofa, feeling that this road was about to reach its end.

Her guilt toward Hain, or that trace of heartbeat, was truly a luxury in her current situation.

So luxurious that she might need to trade her life for it.

Maybe Hain didn't care about any of it?

No! She was starting to imagine these ethereal but deadly things again.

The reality was that Hain might be talking to Kong Jiamu right now, verifying her information and preparing to catch her.

Sand Star, Foster Mother, Li... deception, murder, and impersonating a noble. These were things she had almost forgotten along the way.

A nightmare struck.

Would she be immediately thrown into a cage by the enraged Male Beasts?

They said there was no way out for a runaway Foster Mother; perhaps they would throw her back to Li to deal with?

Tu Nan rushed into the bedroom and hugged the Two Children.

Could she really no longer stay with them? Not even five and a half years? Was what awaited her after the flight docked a complete end?

【Mama...】

Miao Miao rolled over in a daze and hugged her, her fluffy hair brushing against Tu Nan's cheek.

No, she couldn't just give up like this.

She had to find a way to try and remedy it; even if there was only a sliver of possibility, she would never give up... Besides waiting, what else could she do?

***

Kong Jiamu received a message from Tu Nan early in the morning.

"I want to take a walk in the Botanical Garden, help me skip the line, I want to go today. Didn't you say you'd teach me to focus on my own feelings? I want to show off what happened at the Botanical Garden that day to my sisters. No problem, right?"

Kong Jiamu rolled over in bed and chuckled.

Not bad, this Female Beast. She took it for granted that she could order him around.

Would he be angry? Of course not. Kong Jiamu directly used his authority—the management authority of the Young Master of the Hongtu Group—to book a Botanical Garden tour for Tu Nan in the System for two hours later.

Then he sent a message to Tu Nan.

"It seems this is a girls' outing, no room for me. No problem, the Botanical Garden awaits the arrival of you two ladies in two hours. As for poor me, it looks like I'll have to find something else to do."

Tu Nan received this message, and her tense emotions relaxed slightly.

First, the way Kong Jiamu replied was normal; he didn't seem like he already knew her secret.

Second, she could immediately go call Lance to prepare and search for those two medicinal ingredients in the Botanical Garden.

Last night, Tu Nan was guessing how capable the base Lance belonged to was; it sounded very friendly to Foster Mothers.

Could she ask for help through Lance?

But they were all in space right now.

If things blew up now, dragging Lance into it would only put Lance—who was also once a Foster Mother—at risk.

It was pointless... After thinking it over, what she could do was a small thing—advance the plan to make the potion as much as possible.

Her serial number was scraped off, and if she removed her scent, she might be able to deny everything to the death when things blew up.

She wasn't sure what use this would be; could it tip the scales in her favor by one percent?

But regardless, she couldn't do nothing.

If she could still successfully muddle through this crisis? Then after this, she would definitely remember to be... cautious.

She shouldn't have been reluctant to lie to Hain just because of his gentleness and kindness.

She could have put in more effort to coax Hain.

She had been negligent.

This crisis was the price.

***

Lance, eyes bleary with sleep, was dragged to the Botanical Garden by Tu Nan.

She rarely woke up before lunch; research-oriented talents probably didn't have many normal schedules.

"I feel so sleepy I won't be able to recognize the plants."

Lance muttered, but still forced herself to perk up.

"What do they look like? I'll help look too," Tu Nan asked.

Lance pulled a piece of paper from her pocket with two types of plants drawn on it.

One was a flower with five petals, two of which were thicker and three were longer. The note read: Blue petals, the two thicker petals are darker in color and are actually sepals.

The other had no distinct features; it was a long, thin leaf that looked like an orchid leaf, with only a note: Silver-ish petiole, each leaf has two branching veins.

Tu Nan shook Lance, who still seemed dazed.

"Wake up, this is really important to me, you know? You look over there, I'll look over here. My life depends on you."

Lance was speechless.

Before yesterday, Pearl didn't seem to care much about this. How did she wake up wanting to soak in the medicinal bath immediately?

But forget it, the sooner the better indeed.

Lance slapped her cheeks to wake up, shook her head, and walked to one side.

Tu Nan went the other way, constantly bending over to carefully search the bushes at her feet.

Unfortunately, no matter how careful she was, two hours later, she had searched the entire area.

Unfortunately, she found nothing.

Leaning against a large tree with vacant eyes, Tu Nan panted. Having been bent over for so long, she began to feel uncomfortable.

Lance appeared from a distance. Seeing Tu Nan, she giggled and held up a bunch of flowers.

"Good luck, I found the Blue Jacaranda."

It seemed there were quite a few. Tu Nan sighed and said dejectedly, "I didn't find anything, so we're still missing one. It's no good."

But she saw Lance looking at her with a strange expression.

"Huh? You weren't waiting for me here on purpose?" Lance asked, puzzled.

Tu Nan didn't know what she was talking about. She saw Lance's gaze slowly move up the trunk she was leaning against, gesturing with her chin toward the top of Tu Nan's head.

"There. Weren't you standing under the Star-line Grass on purpose to wait for me?"

Tu Nan turned around abruptly and looked up at the tree.

She saw some moist roots tangled halfway up the tree, with a large patch of long, thin leaves hanging down.

It turned out this grass was actually a parasitic plant... What a coincidence that Tu Nan, without asking about the plant's growth environment and constantly looking at the ground, actually managed to choose this tree.

Perhaps this predicted a glimmer of hope for her future?

Tu Nan showed a slight smile.

As expected, one must never give up at any time.

Lance was taller than her; she jumped up to collect the material, happily patted the dust off herself, and said to Tu Nan.

"Let's go, we'll process it back home and you can soak in it right away. Luckily, the bathtub here has enough functions." She chuckled.

"High temperature, soaking, a bit like boiling soup. Just bear with it." She walked cheerfully toward the exit.

High temperature... soaking... Tu Nan hesitated slightly.

She suddenly thought of a question.

"Lance."

Realizing this couldn't be said lightly, she ran to Lance's side.

Leaning close to Lance's ear, she whispered, "If I just got pregnant, would this medicine hurt the child..."

Lance was stunned.