Attention is life force (the Dao)

The same went for people.

When we focused our attention on ourselves, we felt full of strength.

When we focused our attention on boring short videos, we felt empty and exhausted.

When we focused our attention on tangible objects, we felt grounded in reality.

When we focused our attention on vague, insubstantial ideas, we felt trapped in a nightmare.

Gula had fallen into just such a waking nightmare. Everything she said was right, but people couldn't live in a vacuum.

The problem itself was the answer. If she had too little connection with the world, she simply needed to connect with it more.

Basking in the sunshine and experiencing this real world could give rise to an understanding that words couldn't express.

Only by experiencing it firsthand could we truly know.

It was like the scent of gardenias: unless you smelled it yourself, no amount of flowery language could convey that sweet, pure fragrance with its hint of stubbornness.

Gula walked slowly ahead of me, growing calmer with every step. Beside the little garden at the corner, she stopped, seemingly so captivated by the lovely view that she couldn't bear to leave.

I followed quietly behind her the whole time. When she walked, I walked; when she stopped, I stopped.

With all our stops along the way, more than half an hour had passed by the time we returned to her front door.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"The world is so beautiful!" She broke into a smile as beautiful as the world itself.

"Not bad. You're quick to grasp things!" I praised her freely.

"Right? I've always thought I was a little fairy, a genius brimming with spiritual insight."

"Yes, there's a fine line between genius and madness," I teased. "A dimwit certainly wouldn't investigate where the air they breathed had been expelled from."

"You!" Gula glared at me, her cheeks puffed out. "Hmph! You ruined such a lovely moment!"

It looked as though she no longer felt like throwing up.

"How did it go?" President Chen and his wife asked, standing up at the same time.

"Little fairy, care to give your verdict?" I looked at Gula with a smile.

"So-so." She shot me a sidelong, challenging look.

"Well, if you say it didn't work, I won't continue," I said, shaking my head. "That's about all I can do. If it doesn't help, I'm out of ideas."

You little brat. Think I can't handle you?

"What? It didn't work?" Mrs. Chen asked anxiously.

Gula reluctantly pouted and said, "It was... all right, I suppose!"

"Really?! Are you feeling a little better?" President Chen eagerly awaited her answer, looking delighted.

"You've got a little skill..." she conceded grudgingly. "But not much..."

"Heh!" I laughed. "Getting approval from our genius little fairy really isn't easy. Actually, you've already learned how to deal with it. You just need to practice regularly on your own. If necessary, I can guide you for another couple of days to reinforce it."

"You think you can just take me for one stroll and call it a day? You're not getting off that easily! You have to keep coming until this princess is completely better!" Gula said, not quite meaning her words.

"Completely better? Do I really have what it takes to cure you?" I asked with a smile.

"You?! Hmph! Whether you do or not, you have to come!" Gula ran back to her bedroom, refusing to listen to reason.

"Remember to keep your bedroom curtains open and air the room out more often. Look up at the scenery outside your window whenever you can. It'll be good for you," I called after her.

She shut the door without a word.

"I've spoiled her. Please bear with her, Mr. Sanhe," President Chen said politely.

"It's fine. She's just a child."

There was no point taking offense at a child.

Mrs. Chen asked anxiously, "Mr. Sanhe, may I ask what's causing Gula's condition? Is it because our home's feng shui is bad? Is that why you had to go outside just now?"