Gu Yincheng hadn’t expected her to be so bold. Usually so easily flustered, she had suddenly turned the tables on him, leaving him momentarily stunned.
But when his eyes met her playful gaze, Gu Yincheng suddenly smiled—a smile as enchanting as a fully bloomed clematis flower, not ethereal but utterly bewitching, exuding a devilish charm.
His allure left Lin Huanyan dazed once again.
Before she realized it, a warm sensation brushed her lips, soft and refreshing, making her lose focus.
Her straight back was gently pressed down until she leaned against the cool workbench. It wasn’t until then that she came back to her senses.
The darkness in front of her faded, revealing the bright, clean light overhead. Gu Yincheng’s carefully applied lip tint was now smudged, blurring around his mouth and adding a touch of sensuality to his already striking face.
Yet he didn’t seem to mind at all. His pale, slender fingers suddenly produced a tissue from somewhere. Curling his index finger slightly, with his thumb extended, he lifted Lin Huanyan’s fair, delicate face and began wiping the lipstick off her lips.
Bit by bit, until every trace of the milk tea color was gone.
Lin Huanyan didn’t know how captivating she appeared in Gu Yincheng’s eyes at that moment. She couldn’t see herself; all she knew was that she might never look at the milk tea color the same way again.
It was supposed to be a gentle color—so how could it be this seductive?
Even the cold atmosphere of the laboratory seemed to melt, steeped in lingering ambiguity that dissipated only after a long while.
The earlier smugness on Lin Huanyan’s face had completely vanished. She was still a little stunned.
Gu Yincheng, thoroughly satisfied after stealing a kiss, ruffled Lin Huanyan’s fluffy hair and reminded her, “Yanyan, keep unboxing the packages.”
But Lin Huanyan was too dazed from the kiss to scold him. Instead, she obediently followed his instructions and continued unboxing.
Gu Yincheng sat nearby, smiling as he watched her open packages. Yet as she worked, her face grew increasingly red.
Amused, Gu Yincheng thought to himself, Ah, she’s realized it now—she’s embarrassed.
He wondered what she would do next. Would she lash out in frustration?
But this little quail didn’t move an inch. She just kept unboxing the packages with a calm facade, though the persistent blush on her ears betrayed her.
Lin Huanyan was indeed feeling a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. She had never been in a relationship, so technically, that was her first kiss.
However, at the end of the day, she had been the one to tease Gu Yincheng first. Knowing full well that he liked her, she had still provoked him—only to be turned around and teased back.
Moreover, reminiscing about it, the taste of that kiss was truly delightful. She had never known that a boy’s lips could be so soft.
The reproachful words she had prepared were swallowed back down.
The atmosphere gradually settled. If not for the indescribable tension between them, one might think nothing had happened just moments ago.
Lin Huanyan continued unboxing the packages, while Gu Yincheng kept watching her with a gentle smile.
The eighth package contained a pack of AD calcium milk, Lin Huanyan’s favorite.
But seeing the clearly marked production date and the high pollution levels revealed through testing, she knew it wasn’t something she could consume.
She had always been aware of how peculiar this black hole was—it constantly swallowed packages from Earth and spat them out into the galaxy.
But no one knew when these packages were taken, how long they drifted in space, or how they eventually ended up here.
The watermelon and stone flowers looked fresh, as if recently sent. Other items also appeared relatively new.
Yet Lin Huanyan knew this wasn’t reality. Galactic research on packages from the black hole had been ongoing for over a century, whereas Earth’s courier history spanned far fewer years. The unresolved mysteries in between remained baffling.
Using her keen eyesight and machine measurements, Lin Huanyan could discern that the watermelon was edible, and the stone flowers and bowl lotus were suitable for planting.
But this was limited to plants and animals. For processed snacks like AD calcium milk, she had no means to make a judgment.
Sighing at the missed treat, Lin Huanyan set the AD calcium milk aside and began unboxing the next package.
This one was a small, feather-light box. When Lin Huanyan opened it, she found a few balloons inside.
Uh… Was this even worth buying? The shipping fee was probably more expensive than the item itself.
She chuckled to herself and moved on to the next package.
This one was a flat rectangular box. Opening it, she discovered a DIY paint-by-numbers kit.
The painting depicted a European coastal scene, with a long, narrow blue shoreline. The coast was lined with staggered, exotic buildings, their pointed roofs emphasizing their unique style. Along the dimly lit streets, patrons dined at roadside cafés.
Perhaps due to the complexity of the artwork, the kit came with several rows of paint pots—easily thirty or forty colors.
A self-proclaimed “handicraft failure” who could turn a bear into a dog in a poking game, Lin Huanyan was nevertheless intrigued. This kit looked simple and user-friendly, and the artwork matched her interior design style perfectly.
She carefully put the DIY kit away, resolving to finish it when she had free time.
Only two packages remained, both similar in size. Lin Huanyan casually grabbed one and began unboxing.
Out popped a colorful box, with large, rounded fonts reminiscent of the toys sold outside her elementary school.
Lin Huanyan picked up the box and read the words carefully.
Magic Fish Eggs: A magical way to grow fish in soil. Place the magical soil at the bottom of the cultivation bottle, pour in an appropriate amount of water, and leave it in a suitable temperature environment for a few hours. Fish will magically appear from the soil.
Uh… This was definitely a children’s toy, designed to entertain kids.
“Fish from soil” was nothing more than fish eggs embedded in the soil.
However, fish eggs—this was the first time Lin Huanyan had encountered an animal package from Earth.
Eagerly, she opened the box and emptied its contents: a transparent plastic bottle (presumably the cultivation bottle), a bag of magical soil, a bag of juvenile fish feed, and an instruction sheet.
Naturally, Lin Huanyan wouldn’t use the flimsy-looking cultivation bottle. She retrieved a similarly sized bottle from her lab cabinet, filled it with water, and used lab equipment to verify its composition before proceeding.
On Earth, the required water would either be tap water left to sit for two or three days or bottled mineral water. Freshly piped tap water contains chlorine, which could harm fish eggs and shouldn’t be used directly.
Lin Huanyan didn’t know whether the interstellar tap water contained chlorine, but she could test it with her instruments. As expected, there was no issue, and it could be used directly.
Picking up the magical soil containing the fish eggs, she was about to pour it into the bottle when she noticed a line of text: “Wait a few days for the fish eggs to mature before adding water.”
Oh, she had overlooked that. But this wasn’t a problem for Lin Huanyan. She extended her mental energy, effortlessly enveloping the entire bag of soil.
She carefully sensed the fish eggs inside. Most were mature, yellow in color, while a few dead ones had turned black, and some immature ones remained white.
After a moment’s thought, Lin Huanyan used her mental energy to interact with the immature eggs, releasing the green vitality she had acquired previously. She instinctively felt it would work for animals as well.
Indeed, the fish eggs basking in the green vitality began to stretch and absorb it greedily. Within minutes, they appeared ready to mature.
Not daring to withdraw her power prematurely, Lin Huanyan continued providing the energy until all the white eggs turned yellow.
Before retracting her mental energy, she also took the opportunity to nourish the other eggs in the soil—they deserved equal treatment, after all.
Watching her closely the entire time, Gu Yincheng finally spoke. From the moment she activated her mental energy, he had sensed it, but he refrained from asking earlier to avoid disturbing her.
“Yanyan, what’s inside this thing? You’re being so careful,” Gu Yincheng asked.
Lin Huanyan glanced back at him. The earlier awkwardness had mostly faded, though she still felt a little uneasy.
“It’s soil with fish eggs in it. I checked, and their vitality is pretty good—they can hatch into fish,” she explained.
Hearing this, Gu Yincheng’s gaze shifted to the unremarkable bag of soil. “I remember you have biological abilities. Can you cultivate these fish to be pollution-free?”
“In theory, yes. I’ve already used my abilities to treat them,” Lin Huanyan replied.
“Then let’s start right away!” Gu Yincheng urged eagerly. He was very curious about these otherworldly things, and the prospect of pollution-free fish made him even more excited.
Lin Huanyan herself was also looking forward to the fish hatching.
She took out a cultivation bottle and started the process, which was quite simple.
First, she opened the cultivation bottle, poured the magical soil into it, then added a measured amount of water at a steady pace. Finally, she set it aside to let it sit.
The lab was already kept at a constant temperature, which was close enough to the optimal temperature for hatching fish eggs, so no additional adjustments were needed.
She carefully placed the cultivation bottle on the workstation in front of Gu Yincheng.
“All done. Now we just have to wait a few hours for the fish to hatch,” she said.
While waiting for the fish eggs to hatch, Lin Huanyan opened the last package she had received.
Inside was a small, overall-clad duck figurine—adorable and meticulously crafted, instantly capturing her girlish heart.
Her bedroom was still missing a few cute decorations, so Lin Huanyan immediately claimed it as her own.
With all her piled-up tasks now finished, only the fish eggs remained, but it would take several hours before any results.
Lin Huanyan decided to browse the StarNet. Gu Yincheng had always encouraged her to make her own decisions, and she understood the importance of doing so.
However, her understanding of this world was still limited, so she could only act based on her own guesses.
This was a good opportunity to look up more information about interstellar research labs and low-pollution biological studies to help her make better choices.
She also searched for how research lab results were handled in the interstellar domain.
After all, things like magic flowers, bowl lotuses, watermelons, and the soon-to-be-hatched magical fish technically depended on the lab, making them research results.
Discord
@dogfoodplease or @dogfoodplease#8837translation works:
ARTTEDSBGT (After Rebirth The True Eldest Daughter Starts Brewing Green Tea):
main story – completed translating
extras/side stories – i still dont have money and account to access this
ATISIUP:
ongoing
