Tian Sangsang knew that the reason her essential oils worked so well was entirely due to the soil and spring water from the space. If the whitening effect of a flower was only onefold, cultivating it in the space’s soil would amplify the effect tenfold, as if it had been injected with hormones. However, when the company grew larger and there were more people involved, it would be impossible to perfectly safeguard her secret. To establish a reputation, this alone wouldn’t suffice; there had to be a special formula. Soday, it would also serve as a shield.
Tian Sangsang decided to later go to the study in the space and flip through the books to find ancient formulas for whitening.
ng Shuyan’s leg was treated with dication daily, and Tian Sangsang also took care of her whole body every day. As a result, when ng Shuyan’s leg finally healed, Tian Sangsang’s body had also turned fair.
Standing in front of the mirror, Tian Sangsang looked left and right, tilted her head, and squinted her eyes. Her facial expression was indifferent.
She stared at herself but couldn’t really see much of a difference.
It was rely that the dark Tian Sangsang had beco the fair Tian Sangsang. To use a taphor, she was like a brown sugar bun that had suddenly turned into a white bun. Yet its essence remained a bun; the only difference was that this bun seed slightly lighter in weight.
**
"Yanyan," Tian Sangsang restrained the excitent in her heart, "So, have you really decided to stand on your feet? Does your leg still hurt?"
"Not anymore, Mom." ng Shuyan blinked his large eyes, pitifully pleading. He truly had recovered and was desperate to stomp firmly on the ground.
"Alright then." Tian Sangsang softened under his gaze, slipped her hands under his armpits, and gently lifted his little body. She muttered to herself, "Wait a minute, Yanyan, why do you seem a bit lighter now?"
The weight felt different, and the texture lacked the plumpness it had before. Could it be due to taking too much dication or applying too many treatnts? When people get sick, two common outcos occur. One involves sudden weight loss to the point of looking like skin and bones. The other turns even a handso man into a bloated figure from overnutrition during recovery. Tian Sangsang vividly rembered a boy from her high school—a tall, athletic, and wealthy young man known for his upright posture and good looks. In his second year, he injured his leg and couldn’t pursue his specialty for college. After staying ho to recover, he returned having shifted his focus to academics. The boy was still the sa, but he had changed. He had gained a layer of puffy fat.
ng Shuyan’s little heart suddenly clenched, and his eyes darted around.
"It’s alright; you can eat more next ti," Tian Sangsang quickly dismissed the thought.
ng Shuyan’s body lifted off the wheelchair, hanging suspended in mid-air.
"Mom will gently set you down. If you feel any discomfort, just let know."
"Mhm, mhm!" ng Shuyan nodded eagerly, his little legs already kicking.
Closer, closer, even closer.
Oh yeah!
Finally, ng Shuyan’s feet touched the ground, but he couldn’t exert much force as Tian Sangsang carefully controlled the pressure, allowing his soles to barely skim the floor.
"Mom," he said in a slightly aggrieved tone.
Tian Sangsang released him fully, letting him truly stand on the ground. "How’s it feel? Is everything okay?"
ng Shuyan stood still, his expression calm—an overwhelming joy suppressed into silence.
"Take a step forward and see."
ng Shuyan took a step forward.
"Take two steps now."
Obediently, he took two steps forward.
"Try making a big stride."
ng Shuyan lifted his small legs and took a big step forward, ending with his legs spread front and back.
"Now try jumping once."
ng Shuyan bent his legs and jumped lightly, landing steadily.
"Try jumping twice."
"Huh?" ng Shuyan furrowed his small brows in confusion. "Mom, isn’t jumping and bouncing the sa thing?"
"Uh..." Tian Sangsang brushed off so sweat. "The nature is the sa, but the quantity is different."
"Mom, I can walk now!" ng Shuyan said with a beaming smile, his crescent-shaped eyes shining. Puffing out his chest like a victorious soldier, he strode forward confidently and proudly. He walked to the wall, turned around, and walked back to Tian Sangsang, then turned around and walked away again.
Back and forth, over and over. He walked dozens of tis, and Tian Sangsang’s head was starting to spin. She wondered how her son could walk so much.
"Son, isn’t this a bit much?"
"Oh." ng Shuyan finally realized, then picked up his pace, breaking into a run around the walls.
Tian Sangsang was stunned. "Don’t run, Yanyan, you’ll overuse your legs! You’ve just healed!"
"No, Mom, I feel full of energy!" ng Shuyan declared, his eyes shining brightly.
Tian Sangsang stood in the middle of the room, her worried eyes following him constantly. In the end, nothing happened to ng Shuyan, but Tian Sangsang found herself seeing stars once again.
"Yanyan, co here. Mom thought of a ga to teach you," she teased in a cheerful tone.
"Mom!" Like a little bird, he flew into her arms and embraced her tightly.
Tian Sangsang crouched down, hugged him, and explained gently, "This ga is called ’Hopscotch.’ First, we draw a plane shape on the ground with squares connected together—nine squares in total."
She took out a golden chalk and drew nine squares on the ground, writing numbers from one to nine on them. "Then, we take a bean bag and place it on the first square..."
ng Shuyan nodded excitedly—this was his chance to use his legs.
Before he could try, a small creature was already hopping eagerly within the squares. When Little Milk Tea stepped onto the seventh and eighth squares, she turned around, leaned her cat body halfway back, and pawed at the bean bag. Though she couldn’t pick it up, she managed to touch it without stepping out of line.
"She won," ng Shuyan softly clapped.
"Drag her away," Tian Sangsang comnted with disdain. "She’s not just beco sentient; she’s downright extraordinary now." She still rembered the scene from when Little Milk Tea pawed at ng Shuyan—that was clearly the act of a foolish cat.
**
That morning, the military family compound erupted into chaos, bombarded by the noise of won’s discussions and screams.
Because it was just the right ti, the working military wives were heading to their jobs. The non-working ones were either busy in the vegetable gardens, drying clothes under the rods upstairs, walking to buy groceries, or taking their children to school. Others lingered at the stairwells chatting idly, such as Qin Lan and her group.
"Really, I saw her the other day. Her eyes were red; she might have been crying. Poor thing, she hasn’t been out for days now. I’m worried she’s struggling..." Qin Lan shook her head, her face full of sympathy.
"Oh dear. What can we do?" soone gasped nervously. "Captain Jiang isn’t ho either. If sothing happens... This should be reported to Director Wang. There’s still a child to think of. No matter what happens, we have to care for the child!"
"That’s true, but we need to confirm first... We should go check on her at her ho... Oh!" Qin Lan’s eyes suddenly widened, as though she’d seen a monster!
The crowd couldn’t help but turn their gazes in unison, following her line of sight.
"Who, who is she?"
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