115: Botanical Garden Harvest

Even though they had found the plant they needed, the atmosphere between the two of them showed no signs of easing.

They returned to the room in silence, and as soon as the door closed, the composure Lance had maintained on the way dissipated. With a loud wail, she threw herself onto the sofa and pounded the cushions in frustration.

This summoned the two Children who had been watching cartoons in the bedroom.

"It's nothing, could you two go back to your room? Otherwise, Lance will feel embarrassed." Tu Nan negotiated with the Children.

The two nodded solemnly, and not only returned to their room but also considerately closed the door.

Tu Nan's cloudy mood cleared up briefly.

Looking at the person sitting cross-legged on the sofa and still pulling at her hair, Tu Nan already anticipated the answer to that question.

"It will affect the Children, won't it?" She voiced her conclusion.

Lance looked up at the ceiling.

"It's hard to say, as no experiments have been done in this area. However, some of the reagents are quite stimulating, and the risks are indeed very high."

She suggested to Tu Nan without much hope, "It's not certain that you're pregnant, and the S-rank Gene Lock might not have truly been broken, right?"

Tu Nan slowly shook her head.

"But it's also possible that I already am, right?" She gently stroked her lower abdomen, her smile soft and light. "What if the Children are already here?"

She understood Lance's confusion. Lance only felt that Tu Nan was playing a highly challenging game, so she wouldn't understand why Tu Nan would have feelings for a tiny embryo that might have only just come into existence.

Before she had Miao Miao and Ao Ao, she wouldn't have understood her current self either.

If she had faced this choice back then, she might still have made the same decision, but it would have been purely out of a need for survival.

Because they were the antidote the System threw out to allow her to prolong her life; they were her mission.

But now, making this choice is because the Children are her hope. Just thinking about the slightest possibility that they might be in her belly makes her unable to bear the thought of them suffering any harm.

"I won't soak in it. Let's wait until we get off the ship and take a pregnancy test before deciding." Tu Nan was resolute.

Lance clearly disapproved.

"You need to think this through. I really suggest you resolve this issue now."

"It's fine on Hongtu Aviation; everyone here is a noble or a top-tier billionaire." She thought of herself and immediately added, "My case is an exception."

She warned Tu Nan: "But it will be different once we reach the spaceport on Xiuyin Star. It's a planet with a long history near Capital Star, and the scenery is beautiful. Many research institutes from Capital Star choose it as a vacation spot. The probability of running into a Nursery researcher there is not low."

Tu Nan did not change her mind.

The risks after getting off the ship meant nothing to her now; it was hard to say if she would even be able to disembark smoothly. When you have too many lice, you don't feel the itch anymore; so be it.

"If I really run into trouble once we're on land…" Tu Nan asked Lance, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "You won't help me?"

Lance pretended to be heartbroken and clutched her chest.

"Heartless, how could you ask such a thing? Didn't I say you're my partner? Forget it, if there's really a problem, I'll find someone to fish you out. Remember, buy as much time as you can."

Lance pointed at her own chest, carefree.

"We should help each other; without parents, yes, so we are all sisters~"

That was enough. A warmth spread through Tu Nan's heart.

Since getting off that "slave ship," the only two Foster Mothers she had encountered were both pure and sincere people.

Ji Yu was already gone, and she didn't want Lance to take unnecessary risks for her.

Grabbing Lance's fingers, Tu Nan solemnly urged her: "What I'm doing is quite risky. If I get exposed while on the ship, you must remember to stay away from me."

Lance wanted to speak reluctantly, but Tu Nan covered her mouth and said with a smile: "My brain works better than yours, so listen to me. If something happens to me on the ship, you must disembark safely, then go back and ask your 'Mother.' If she agrees, then come help me."

"Okay?" Tu Nan tilted her head. "I'll only let go if you promise me."

Lance rolled her eyes and nodded. Only then did Tu Nan let her go.

"To put it bluntly, you're just afraid I'll mess things up. What could happen? It's just stealing Kong Jiamu's seeds." She said huffily, "That's just me thinking highly of him, afraid that if he keeps playing like this, he'll end up with no descendants."

Tu Nan couldn't tell Lance just how much trouble she was actually in.

Anyway, it would be fine as long as Lance didn't act rashly if something happened on the ship. As for her going back to ask the 'Mother' at the base?

To be able to let a Foster Mother with Lance's status, abilities, and personality live such a carefree life, that person must not be simple.

Whether it would be appropriate for that person to step in and pull Tu Nan out of trouble, that would be for that person to judge when the time came.

"It's a pity we picked these for nothing; what a waste. That process earlier really had a hint of an oracle, you know."

Lance knew that once Tu Nan made a decision, she wouldn't change it, but she still felt it was a pity.

"Actually, these leaves are quite rare outside; I didn't have much hope. Who would have thought you could find them just by picking a random tree." She grabbed a leaf, crushed a bit of it, smelled it, and sighed.

"Smell this, can you tell? Actually, the main ingredient in the potion used to soak Foster Mothers is this. You smell pretty much the same."

Prompted by Lance, Tu Nan curiously leaned over to smell it.

It was a very faint, subtle fragrance. With the comparison, Tu Nan indeed discovered that this was a familiar scent... So, this was the scent on her body.

Looking at these leaves, Tu Nan had another idea.

"Is it easy to buy this after we get off the ship?" She asked.

Lance looked at her strangely.

"Of course. We grow quite a bit ourselves, and there are plenty of plantations for this stuff. It's just that there isn't much of it in the wild anymore."

That was true; at the very least, Foster Mothers needed quite a lot of it.

"Then... help me order some, and we'll go pick it up after we get off the ship. As for these, I have some other ideas." Tu Nan asked Lance.

"Does smelling this too much have any harmful effects on pregnant women?"

"Huh? No." Lance didn't know what Tu Nan was thinking about again.

Tu Nan asked Lance: "Genius Pharmacist, bring over your portable tools and reagent station; I'm requisitioning them!"

Lance was completely confused.

***

Kong Jiamu had thought that Tu Nan would come to find him after visiting the Botanical Garden, but until after lunch, the Female Beast was nowhere to be found.

Fearing that the direction of his course had deviated, he decided to go and calibrate it himself.

He had no choice but to tidy himself up and go knock on Tu Nan's door.

As a result, when Tu Nan opened the door, a strong, intense fragrance rushed toward him. This precious bird instantly lost its composure, turned its head, and sneezed several times.

Tu Nan apologetically closed the door and asked worriedly: "Are you alright? I didn't expect your sense of smell to be so sensitive."

Kong Jiamu waved his hands repeatedly but still pulled Tu Nan quite a distance away before asking with lingering fear: "What happened? Did a perfume bottle break?"

Tu Nan looked at him innocently and suddenly brought out the hand she had been holding behind her back.

In her palm was a small reagent bottle with a little less than half a bottle of liquid inside.

"My usual perfume ran out, so I concocted a little bit temporarily."

Kong Jiamu suddenly realized; he had been wondering why the scent was a little bit vaguely familiar—it turned out to be the scent of the perfume on Tu Nan.

"You concocted it yourself..." The peacock looked at Tu Nan with newfound respect. "You have this skill too."

"I don't really like other scents. The top note of this one smells a bit like burning grass and leaves, but the stable middle and base notes have a particularly long-lasting, subtle fragrance. It's very neutral and unique."

Kong Jiamu carefully identified it and exclaimed in admiration.

"Indeed. What is its name?"

Tu Nan smiled and placed the perfume into Kong Jiamu's palm.

"It's the harvest from the Botanical Garden thanks to you, so I'll share half with you. Consider it hush money." She tapped the peacock's palm and tilted her head.

"I use it myself, so I didn't give it a name."

"How about... you give it one?" Her smile was full of warmth.

The peacock.

He suddenly wanted to fan his tail feathers.