43: I think Hein is more suitable, so he's the one.

"Tu Nan, Tu Nan."

Ji Yu's voice brought Tu Nan back.

"What's wrong? The sun is really too strong; washing now might sunburn your skin."

"Why don't we come back later?"

Tu Nan didn't answer.

She searched the messy crowd by the water for those two familiar figures.

None.

She didn't see either of them.

"Shall we set up a tea stall and boil some cooling tea for everyone?" she suggested.

"That's easy. Let Gaia and the others lend a hand; it'll be quick."

She smiled teasingly.

Tu Nan forced a smile. She needed a suitable reason to stay here, to find an opportunity, to find a way.

The simple tea stall was set up quickly, and the boiled water was infused with those fragrant plants.

The caravan leader, Zhuang Qi, also came over to sit for a while.

"Will this be too hard on you?" he asked Tu Nan politely.

Tu Nan smiled as she poured him tea.

"How could it be? I've already troubled you so much along the way. I also want to do what I can for everyone."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to rest easy."

Zhuang Qi smiled.

Although the caravan would rescue lost travelers for free, a nobleman's daughter who knew how to be tactful was naturally more pleasing.

"We'll reach Mata City in ten days. Do you still not intend to see your father?"

He had advised Tu Nan last time to soften her stance and not wander alone.

"I... my father is usually busy with military affairs. He has to worry about the defense of such a large planet, so he can't look after me."

Tu Nan still seemed a bit angry with her father and still didn't want to turn back.

"Besides, he actually dislikes me, doesn't he? He won't even let me live in the main house."

Tu Nan felt a bit lost.

"I am his stain. Except for those mute maids and guards, he won't let anyone know of my existence."

Planet defense... Zhuang Qi's brows twitched slightly, and he took another sip of tea.

He sighed in his heart.

Ever since he became a father, he could truly empathize with those parents. Now, he felt some sympathy for Tu Nan's father, McCoy.

Yes, through the snippets Tu Nan revealed, he already knew who this "father" was.

The garrison officer of Sand Star in Sand City, the colonel with short, curly black hair, McCoy.

If he didn't care about this daughter, why would he specially create a separate Eden? A group of mute people and a pile of guards... who would consider things so thoroughly for a child they didn't care about?

McCoy was probably afraid that if Tu Nan returned to the main house, she would be mocked by everyone. After all, Tu Nan's gene Rank was really very low.

He shook his head.

He became more determined to maintain a good relationship with Tu Nan, but he didn't intend to go to McCoy to gossip.

If McCoy found his daughter himself, he would naturally come to thank him.

But if it was because of other factors that prevented Tu Nan from returning, it wouldn't involve him, Zhuang Qi.

Merchants were very precise about risk management. He set down his teacup and smiled gently.

"I was just offering a word of advice. The decision is still yours, please don't feel pressured."

He looked at Ji Yu, who was kneeling behind Tu Nan, and frowned.

"You should also be more observant. Don't let the guest do so much work."

Ji Yu softly agreed. With her large belly, she bowed respectfully with both hands on the ground until Zhuang Qi walked away, at which point she struggled to stand up with Tu Nan's help.

"You're about to give birth..." Tu Nan couldn't bear to watch.

"That's why I'm just a Foster Mother," Ji Yu said, quite accustomed to it. "Even when I was pregnant with Little Bear, I only rested for 3 days. What's more, this fetus isn't even the leader's."

? What? This isn't Zhuang Qi's?

Ever since she learned that Little Bear was Zhuang Qi's child, Tu Nan had always assumed this pregnancy was also his.

"It's Ken's," Ji Yu said, surprised by Tu Nan's big reaction.

"Ken bought me from the leader during the last trade run. Fortunately, I got pregnant not long after, otherwise I would still have to live on the beetle at the back."

Ji Yu's eyes were smiling. "Then I wouldn't be able to meet you."

This is a Foster Mother...

Tu Nan was realizing her original fate more and more clearly.

The first impression she had on the transport ship was absolutely correct: a Foster Mother is just a slave, whether in an iron cage or not.

Being resold, being traded, constantly giving birth—this was their fate.

Tu Nan's eyes remained motionless, staring at the oasis, and she suddenly let out a cold laugh.

So, is she now re-selecting a slave owner for herself?

No.

She already had a new identity; she had jumped out of that mud pit.

She just needed to complete the System tasks quickly.

But, she had to hurry.

"Tu Nan..."

Ji Yu pulled her hair. "What's wrong with you today? What are you looking for?"

Tu Nan didn't answer her; her gaze was firmly fixed.

In the middle of the oasis, a person suddenly emerged from the water. He threw his long, wet black hair back, and the arc of water drew a rainbow on the lake surface.

The loose hair and water droplets on his forehead were wiped back by his hand, and his glowing, jade-like face appeared in Tu Nan's eyes.

This was the first time Tu Nan had seen him fully.

Unlike other soldiers in the water wearing only shorts, he was still wearing a white top and loose pants.

It was just that the water-soaked fabric clung to his body, outlining his slender, lean physique clearly.

Tu Nan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, mostly because of the ambition ignited by the scroll.

However, she admitted, a small part was also seduced by his male beauty.

Hain! He was there too?

It was the same nobleman who appeared beside Kong Jiamu, and also that creature in the underground River Valley crisis—the giant Orca.

"Hain!" A teasing male voice came from the shore. A man got out of a car holding a glass wine bottle and leaned against the car door.

"You've been soaking for half a day, haven't you had enough? If you ask me, you should go home quickly. What can this little bit of water here do for you?"

It was Kong Jiamu!

He really was here.

Hain walked on the water unhurriedly, completely ignoring gravity. He was enveloped in water vapor, and by the time he reached the shore, he was clean and refreshed.

He took the outer robe placed on the shore, wrapped himself, and came to his friend's side.

"Since there is water, I just soaked for a while. If you want me to go back, you might as well finish your business quickly."

"Don't be an accomplice, I'm telling you, I'm not going home to get married."

"That's your business. I just promised your sister to persuade you to go home. What happens after you go back is none of my business."

"...Tsk, you're really something. You can't stand any woman crying. You even believe my sister's words."

"Silence." Hain looked at his friend disapprovingly. "Maintain some respect for ladies."

"Fine... fine, I'll shut up." Kong Jiamu stopped talking and drank from the bottle on his own.

Hearing their words, Tu Nan changed her mind.

After roughly assessing in her mind, she reorganized her expression and earnestly held Ji Yu's hand.

"I need your help with something, maybe Little Bear will need to take action too. Can you?"

She had changed her mind.

She was going to start with Hain.

First, she would tackle this Orca.