Chapter 60 Progress

"This is..." Shao Diandian stood at the threshold, glancing at the three little ones before looking over at Shao Kang.

Shao Kang sighed and said, "I've been waiting for you all day, and they refused to eat dinner."

That's probably because whatever you cooked tasted absolutely terrible...

Shao Diandian hadn't expected to return so late. She had only left lunch prepared in the kitchen, which meant tonight's meal fell to Shao Kang and his culinary disasters.

Thinking of her own childhood, Shao Diandian remembered how she used to wait just like this, peering anxiously downstairs for Ms. Li.

Ms. Li, her mother from her past life.

Yet she never waited long enough, and even when she did, Ms. Li would barely stay ten minutes at home before hurrying off again.

She would raise her little head, watching Ms. Li spin around like an endless top.

She had once thrown tantrums, locking herself in her room in hopes that Ms. Li would come to coax her. But when she finally opened the door and stepped out, Ms. Li had long since left, leaving only her and the nanny at home.

Shao Diandian walked behind the three little ones, using her chubby index finger to poke each of their small shoulders in turn.

"Dahu, Erhuhu, Xiaohu, I'm back."

None of the three moved.

Shao Diandian smiled. "What's wrong? Is it because I came back too late?"

The three remained silent.

Shao Diandian turned them around one by one.

Their little bodies were facing her, but their little heads were stubbornly turned to the side, their expressions full of poignant grievance.

If Ms. Li had ever pushed open that unlocked bedroom door back then, would she have seen herself looking just like this?

"Are you mad at your mother? Tell Mother about it, okay?"

Although she had accepted that they called her mother, referring to herself as such still felt somewhat unfamiliar.

Dahu said gloomily, "So sad."

"Erhuhu is sad too," Erhuhu said aggrievedly.

Xiaohu clutched his chest and said with utmost heartbreak, "Xiao Hu... is the saddest!"

Oh my goodness, you actually know how to use the word "sad." Such little kids, where on earth did they pick up that vocabulary?

Shao Diandian said, "It was my fault today. I should have come back earlier."

The more she said, the more aggrieved the three of them became, their eye rims turning red.

It really was different.

In her past life, she never cried; no matter how sad she felt, there were never any tears.

Shao Diandian bent down and kissed each of their little cheeks one by one.

"Stop being angry, okay? Tomorrow I'll take you to town to play."

The moment they received their kisses, the three little ones' faces flushed bright red instantly. No matter how hard they tried to maintain their cool, aggrieved facade, they simply couldn't hold it together anymore.

Overwhelmed with shyness, the three stumbled clumsily into one another, tumbling every which way onto the floor, before covering their blushing little faces and scrambling back up.

They had to go show off to Niudan!

Watching the three little figures trotting away with their pattering footsteps, Shao Diandian burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent room, Wei Ting watched the three little rascals whose behavior was growing increasingly absurd, and furrowed his brow deeply.

***

No one had eaten their fill at dinner, mainly because Shao Kang's cooking was simply too awful.

Shao Diandian used cured pork to boil a pot of dough-drop soup, chopped up some fresh greens, and the family ate until they couldn't stop. The three little ones even licked their bowls clean.

Shao Erdan went to wash the dishes, while Shao Diandian set about making peanut butter.

There was no hand-grinding mill at home, but Old Man Li's family had one.

Shao Diandian intended to go borrow it herself, but Shao Kang doted on his daughter and couldn't bear the thought of her lugging a heavy millstone back late at night, so he had to bite the bullet and go himself.

Recently, Shao Kang had frequently gone to town to waylay Zhang Dao, neglecting his farming lessons. Mrs. Qian had enjoyed a peaceful spell and was quite content, only to open her door and see the local bully Shao once again.

"There are no fields for you to farm!"

She slammed the door shut with a bang!

Shao Kang, left standing with a face full of dust: "..."

Resigned to his fate, Shao Kang knocked on the door again. "I've come to borrow the millstone. I'll return it to you as soon as I'm done."

Behind the door, absolute silence.

Was she refusing to lend it?

Shao Kang rubbed the bridge of his nose ruefully. If he had known, he would have applied himself better to farming.

Suddenly, the door flew open!

A millstone was hurled straight out!

Thud! The door slammed shut once more!

Shao Kang: "..."

Old Man Li's household possessed two grinding mills—a large one and a small one. The large mill had already been borrowed by someone else, leaving only the small mill for Shao Kang. It wasn't overly heavy, and Shao Kang could manage it even with his left hand.

Yet, in a display of sheer foolish habit, Shao Kang... used his right hand.

Huh?

His right hand... didn't hurt anymore.

The last time he fought Zhang Dao, his hand injury had flared up again. The slightest exertion caused tremors, accompanied by bone-deep pain at night.

He hadn't cared. To him, the pain was just something he had grown accustomed to over time.

But... from which day onwards... had it stopped hurting?

Could it be that bottle of medicine his daughter gave him?

Filled with a bellyful of doubt, Shao Kang carried the small mill borrowed from Old Man Li back home.

Shao Diandian, Shao Erdan, and Wei Ting were sitting in the backyard shelling peanuts. Wei Ting had been conscripted into labor by her.

"Daughter, come over here!"

Shao Kang put down the millstone and called out to Shao Diandian.

"Oh, coming." Shao Diandian stood up and glared at Wei Ting. "Shell them properly, no slacking off!"

Wei Ting scoffed, "Hah."

A pair of hands meant for the battlefield, reduced to shelling peanuts.

"Dad, what is it?" Shao Diandian walked over to Shao Kang's room.

Shao Kang shook his right hand and said happily, "Look at this!"

"Look at... what?" Shao Diandian looked bewildered.

Shao Kang exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Dad's wrist doesn't hurt anymore!"

"Huh?" Startled, Shao Diandian quickly cupped Shao Kang's right wrist and gently pressed it at various points. "It really doesn't hurt? How about here?"

"No pain!"

"And here?"

"No pain either!"

Shao Diandian pressed every spot in turn. Aside from a slight tingling and prickling sensation when pressing the Lieque and Taiyuan acupuncture points, it was nothing like how it used to feel!

She hadn't even begun formal treatment for Old Man Shao yet; he had merely consumed a single bottle of bone-strengthening granules.

Could it be... that the bone-strengthening granules developed by the base didn't just have the effects of supplementing calcium and strengthening bones? Could they also repair nerve damage?

This was undoubtedly a massive surprise and a huge discovery!

Shao Diandian turned serious. "Dad, I'm going to test the strength in your wrist. Don't force yourself—if it hurts or feels uncomfortable, tell me to stop immediately."

Shao Kang replied, "Alright!"

Shao Diandian gently held Old Man Shao's wrist, gradually increasing the pressure bit by bit.

"You must speak up if it hurts!"

"I will."

His daughter actually knew how to care for him now; his old heart felt deeply comforted.

When Shao Diandian increased the pressure for the fourth time, Old Man Shao furrowed his brow slightly.

"Does it hurt?" Shao Diandian immediately stopped.

"It feels a bit numb," Old Man Shao said.

"Then we'll stop here for now." Shao Diandian withdrew her hand.

The result of this test far exceeded her expectations. She had originally assumed Old Man Shao's injury would require a series of complex treatments before even the slightest improvement could be seen.

Yet a single bottle of bone-strengthening granules had given her hope.

His damaged nerve tissue was gradually recovering. If she previously had a fifty-percent certainty of curing him, now she had eighty percent!

There was a reason the pharmacy was so stingy; the conventional prescription drugs she had taken probably couldn't compare in value to even a single bottle of black-tech bone-strengthening granules.

She had really sheared some wool off the system, absolutely fleeced it!

"Hehe."

Shao Diandian felt like she had struck gold.

Watching his chubby daughter giggle foolishly, Shao Kang couldn't help shivering. "Da Ya, don't scare your dad."

What if his hand got better, only for his big chubby daughter to be giggling herself into a simpleton...

Shao Diandian looked at Old Man Shao and said with full hope, "Dad, your hand will definitely, absolutely recover!"

With eighty percent certainty, she would risk her all for the remaining twenty!