After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]

Chapter 102

The “Forbidden City cats” were just too adorable!

Xie Xingchen and little Randy got completely hooked on watching cats and couldn’t pull themselves away.

Especially that timid orange tabby that looked just like Papa—its sneaky little “peeking out but not daring to come out” routine was so cute it made Xie Xingchen’s heart tremble.

He wanted to make cat food!

Xie Xingchen looked up, eyes sparkling, and said to Ludwig, “Ludwig—can you help me with something in a bit?”

Ludwig nodded, assuming it was going to be something important.

However—

After Xie Xingchen fiddled with his light-brain for a while, he called Ludwig over to a spot a little farther away… to help set up cookware.

Looking at the utensils in front of him, Ludwig was, for once, speechless.

Once the table was set, the cookware placed, and the spatulas pulled out—everything ready—Xie Xingchen immediately ran back to the palace wall, squatted down beside Randy with intense focus, and watched the cats with him again.

There were a lot of cats around the palace wall in Chang’an City—mostly orange tabbies and calicos. Xie Xingchen also spotted high-looks black cats, white cats, and fluffy lion cats that were ridiculously cute.

Most of the cats weren’t high-and-mighty like that black cat, habitually looking down on all living beings.

The cats were generally timid. At the slightest noise, they’d hide back in their cat holes, then poke their heads out to peer warily, terrified someone might hurt them.

After waiting about thirty minutes, a robot drove up in a hovercar carrying a small bucket.

Inside were small fish—cleaned and prepped!

Xie Xingchen took the bucket with a smile and went to the “mini kitchen” they’d set up.

He patted some of the small fish dry with absorbent paper and put them in the oven to dehydrate into dried fish. The rest he planned to pan-fry.

Cats could eat a small amount of pan-fried fish—even delicate-stomached breeds could handle a bit, and tough-stomached local cats even more so.

Seeing Randy staring at the cats without blinking, Xie Xingchen didn’t call either of them over. He just got to work quickly.

Soon, the air carried the faint fishy scent of drying fish and the rich aroma of fried fish.

That smell made the “royal cats” tucked in the wall holes unable to resist—they all quietly poked their heads out.

Xie Xingchen happened to look up and see it, and he nearly died laughing.

So this was what people meant by “cats growing out of the city wall”!

Hahahaha—honestly, it was so vivid.

Like mushrooms sprouting: the smooth wall “grew” a bunch of cat heads popping out like little bumps.

The cats stared cautiously at the three two-legged creatures—two big, one small. Once they realized these people really weren’t going to hurt them, the little cuties finally relaxed and slowly stepped out.

Step by step, more and more cats walked toward Xie Xingchen.

They formed a ring around him.

Surrounded by cats, Xie Xingchen’s eyes lit up.

“Cats—wait a bit, okay? I’m making dried fish for you.”

He desperately wanted to squat down and pet them, but reason stopped him.

Catching the jealous look from Randy beside him, Xie Xingchen childishly puffed out his chest—like he suddenly had even more motivation to cook cat food!

The cats were very well-behaved. Even though they were meowing from temptation, none of them tried to rush him or snatch the fish.

Xie Xingchen found it a little surprising—then decided it was probably normal.

Maybe these cats really were descendants of cats once kept by nobles in the palace. After generations of being raised, even their temperaments were gentler than stray cats outside.

Thinking that, Xie Xingchen’s whole heart melted. The way he looked at them turned unbelievably soft.

What does it feel like to be surrounded by a bunch of little cuties?

Xie Xingchen could answer right now: excited enough to fly into the sky!

But as time went on, the cats’ pitiful meowing made it hard to bear.

So Xie Xingchen called Ludwig and Randy over—both of whom had been watching and were even about to reach out and pet the cats.

He pulled out a stack of spare bowls from his space button and gave them a task: place a bowl in front of each cat.

Because Ludwig and Randy couldn’t really step through the cat ring, they had to glide over on hoverboards to take the bowls and instructions.

The royal cats squatting on the ground glanced curiously at the suddenly-flying two-legged creatures. Their curiosity immediately got derailed.

Aside from a few especially desperate-for-fish Forbidden City cats, the others couldn’t help chasing after the hoverboards.

Ludwig: “……”

Randy frowned, puffed out his cheeks, and turned to complain, “Brother Xingchen, the kitties are running!”

Meaning: if the cats ran, he couldn’t place bowls in front of them.

Xie Xingchen couldn’t help laughing. He called out loudly, “Don’t worry about the cats! Just find somewhere nearby and set the bowls in a circle. I’ll put the fried fish and dried fish into them.”

That wasn’t hard.

Randy seriously turned his little head, searching for the best spot. Ludwig, who could tell at a glance what was ideal, simply stayed silent and let Randy decide.

Randy passed several places, then finally looked back toward the palace wall.

He obediently stepped off the hoverboard and placed the small bowls one by one about two meters in front of the wall—near the cats’ “home.”

The kid was incredibly thoughtful. Since Xie Xingchen was feeding the cats, Randy worried they might fight, so he placed the bowls facing each hole—basically assigning each cat its own bowl.

Watching him work happily, smiling as he set bowls down, Ludwig quietly handed him the bowls he was holding too, just watching the child “labor joyfully” the whole time.

Before long, Xie Xingchen had fried enough fish for one feeding.

Carrying a basin filled with pan-fried fish, he stepped over the ring of cats and went to the palace wall.

Bending down, he used tongs to place two small fried fish into each bowl.

The cats were obedient and smart. Seeing him go bowl by bowl, they trotted neatly to the bowl in front of their own hole and waited for their share.

Cats that got their fish even gave him sweet, sticky little “meow~~” sounds.

It totally melted Xie Xingchen’s brain.

After distributing the fried fish, Xie Xingchen carried the pan back.

Then he sat down happily on a small stool, propped his chin in his hands with Randy, and watched the adorable little creatures eat with sparkling eyes.

“Ding~”

The dried fish was done.

Xie Xingchen got up, opened the oven, checked it, and—satisfied—took out the dried fish.

The dried fish—fragrant but still faintly fishy—made all the cats who had just eaten and were play-fighting snap their heads toward him in perfect unison.

Unintentional cuteness was deadly.

Xie Xingchen: Dried fish? Here, take it!

Two dried fish per cat. The rest he packed up, planning to have robots come feed them again at night.

With experience from the first round, the cats were even more impatient this time—but they still obediently squatted by their own bowls, waiting for the two-legged creatures to hand out dried fish.

After finishing, the cats scattered in little groups—flopping down to bask in the rare winter sunshine. Some squatted by the pond to drink water, while others dashed up onto the palace wall and lounged there grooming themselves.

Every cat had its own thing to do, but without exception—once they were full, they couldn’t be bothered with these two-legged creatures anymore.

Still, Xie Xingchen and the others had improved: at least the cats weren’t afraid of them now.

They played by the palace wall for over two hours, close to three, and by the time they headed back, it was already mealtime.

Everyone emerged from different courtyards and alleys across Chang’an City and returned to the Xie Residence in the Chang’an Workshop district for lunch.

After lunch, there was absolutely no more relaxing.

Because tonight was the big event of New Year’s Eve!

Just the dinner table alone would take Xie Xingchen half a day of work.

After lunch and a one-hour nap, everyone got busy.

Cooking dishes, mixing drinks, making desserts—Xie Xingchen even taught everyone how to roast sunflower seeds.

He didn’t have much of anything else, but he had sunflower heads in unlimited supply!

With that many seeds, you could roast five-spice, tea-fragrant, spicy, milky… any flavor you could imagine. There was no flavor sunflower seeds couldn’t pull off.

By the end, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help marveling at how “forgiving” sunflower seeds were—absolutely incredible.

Besides sunflower seeds, they also had to prep other ingredients for the night, though those didn’t need to be cooked yet—just prepared in advance and stir-fried a few hours before dinner.

It was a noisy, lively rush, and everyone was ridiculously happy.

For mechanical lifeforms, a scene full of laughter like this was extremely rare.

So when Xie Xingchen boiled a huge pot of herbal water for everyone to dilute and bathe with, everyone went very willingly.

Those who didn’t need to enter the kitchen bathed early and changed into new clothes (highly recommended by Xie Xingchen). Those who still had to cook set the herbal water aside and planned to bathe after finishing cooking and eating.

At 6 p.m., freshly bathed and smelling nice, Randy was bouncing around the yard with a grin. Meanwhile, Xie Xingchen, Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life, Aier, and a few others who were good at cooking were already busy in the kitchen.

Chicken, duck, fish were standard. Abalone and king crab were also on the table. Braised pig trotter, fried meatballs—plenty of everything…

They didn’t finish until 8 p.m.

Then Xie Xingchen turned on a projection of the Star Alliance’s liveliest program, treating it like a Spring Festival Gala.

With the projection playing, he called everyone to eat, smiling.

More than a dozen dishes completely filled the big round table. Once everyone sat down, they almost didn’t fit—only after squeezing did each person finally get a spot.

To Ludwig, this kind of “banquet” was modest. But strangely, this closeness—this distance-free holiday gathering—made him sincerely happy.

It was like… here, he was just Ludwig. Beyond that name, he had no other identity. And no one cared whether he was a Star Alliance powerhouse, or the leader of mechanical lifeforms. He was simply himself.

Ludwig’s literary vocabulary was average; he couldn’t find a more precise word for how he felt.

But one word came to mind:

Warmth.

Yes—warmth.

Xie Xingchen was the only one present who had celebrated Spring Festival before, and he felt proud to bring this holiday into the interstellar era.

So he naturally took on the role of “keeping the vibes up.”

Honestly, it was kind of a miracle.

Because Xie Xingchen wasn’t naturally a social butterfly. Compared to being the hype guy, he preferred to be the supportive “straight man” in a comedy duo.

But considering everyone here was even more silent than he was, he had no choice but to carry the vibe.

That said—

Sometimes you don’t need a vibe team at all.

Once the atmosphere reaches a certain point, people change on their own.

For example, right now: the not-very-talkative mechanical lifeforms finally grasped the true meaning of “bragging.”

A bite of food, a bite of meat, a sip of drink—after ten-plus minutes of eating and drinking, they unlocked “giggles,” “banter,” and “arms over shoulders.”

After dinner, once the table was cleared, they even instinctively sat around cracking sunflower seeds and chatting.

With the lively light-brain program on in the background, their topics ranged from complaining about bosses and coworkers to gossiping about colleagues’ news—so relaxed they completely forgot their biggest boss was sitting right beside them.

Listening, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help sweating on their behalf.

He even couldn’t resist sneaking glances at Ludwig, afraid Ludwig might lose his temper at his subordinates on a holiday.

Luckily, Ludwig’s temper was a hundred times better than Xie Xingchen expected.

Not only did he not get angry—he didn’t even show any emotional fluctuation at all. He actually listened seriously, like he was collecting feedback!

Xie Xingchen admired him more, and also understood more deeply what kind of man Ludwig truly was—his respect for him grew even stronger.

When it hit 10 p.m., Xie Xingchen shooed anyone who still hadn’t bathed off to go wash up.

At 11 p.m., everyone finished washing and gathered in the main hall.

Xie Xingchen came out of his bedroom carrying a small pouch.

Smiling, he pulled out big red envelopes decorated with the twelve zodiac animals. Starting with the youngest—Randy—he handed them out one by one.

He bent down, gently patted Randy’s head, and said happily, “Little sweetheart, I hope you’re joyful in the new year. Grow tall and fast, okay?”

Then he handed Randy the thickest envelope.

Randy’s chubby-cheeked baby face showed surprise. After taking it, he replied in a baby voice with a blessing of his own: “Brother Xingchen should be happy too!”

Then his little chubby hands couldn’t help squeezing the envelope curiously.

When he realized there was something round inside, he couldn’t resist opening it. Seeing a sizable stack of energy coins inside, his mouth turned into a perfect O.

Having never seen this “red envelope” tradition before, Randy pattered off to watch the others.

Blinking his big eyes, he asked curiously, “Brother Xingchen… why… give… this?”

Xie Xingchen rubbed his head and smiled. “Because this is New Year’s money. In Huaxia tradition, elders give younger ones New Year’s money during the New Year. ‘Year’ sounds like a word for ‘evil spirits,’ so it’s said to ‘press down the year’—meaning it brings the elder’s blessing, so you’ll be safe and sound in the new year.”

Then he winked teasingly. “You should put the New Year’s money under your pillow and sleep on it. Maybe you’ll have sweet dreams tonight.”

Hearing that New Year’s money was an elder’s blessing for the younger generation, everyone immediately felt embarrassed to accept it—they wanted to give all that blessing to Randy.

But Xie Xingchen stopped them.

Shaking his head with a laugh, he said, “Come on, it’s just a custom. It’s not like it must be ‘elder to younger.’ The meaning is good. And I’m not short on money—take it. It’s nice to grab a bit of good luck.”

With that, it was hard for anyone to refuse.

Only Ludwig—he studied Xie Xingchen for a while, then returned to his room, and only came back more than ten minutes later.

He called Xie Xingchen outside and handed him a red envelope made of red paper—one that wasn’t very pretty.

Seeing Xie Xingchen’s attention fix on the envelope, Ludwig—who had a very accurate understanding of his own crafting ability—actually had the tips of his ears turn slightly red.

“This is New Year’s money for you,” Ludwig said, offering the ugly red envelope.

Inside was a commemorative gold coin. His father had given it to him when he was young—one with deep meaning: a commemorative coin minted in the first year the mechanical civilization was founded.

The set had ten coins. Among them, this gear-shaped commemorative gold coin was Ludwig’s favorite.

Now, he was giving Xie Xingchen his favorite—and most meaningful—coin.

Xie Xingchen secretly pinched it and felt something round, the same shape as an energy coin.

He immediately assumed Ludwig had taken an energy coin out of the red envelope Xie Xingchen had given him and was gifting it back.

But he only felt a single coin, not a stack—so he didn’t refuse it. Instead, he happily accepted it, thinking Ludwig had really learned to be quick-witted!

How great—now everyone had New Year’s money!

Getting New Year’s money back made Xie Xingchen happier than he’d been in ages.

Without thinking, he grabbed Ludwig’s hand, leaned out the window, and called to the people chatting excitedly in the hall, “Everyone, come out! We’re setting off fireworks!”

Fireworks?

In the interstellar era there were no fireworks—only ceremonial salutes.

So everyone was curious what this “fireworks” thing was.

A group of more than ten followed Xie Xingchen to the open courtyard.

In the yard stood a huge, bright-red cylinder—about two meters in diameter and one meter tall. From its center extended a thick cord about three meters long, trailing down to the ground.

This was the New Year’s fireworks gift pack Xie Xingchen had bought earlier.

He hadn’t used it on New Year’s Day, but it was perfect for now.

To be honest, the size of this thing was a little scary even to Xie Xingchen.

But remembering the system said it could set off fireworks continuously for an hour, he could understand why it was so much bigger than normal fireworks.

He took out a lighter, told everyone to step back, and lit the fuse.

Once it caught, Xie Xingchen quickly retreated, blocking the curious crowd from moving closer.

After waiting about a minute, the three-meter fuse finally burned down.

Then—“thunk.”

The fireworks body visibly jolted.

A long trailing “whoooosh…” followed as a firework shot into the sky and burst into a beautiful peony.

Everyone stared up at that dazzling peony in the night sky, mouths slightly open.

But it wasn’t over—after peony came jasmine, osmanthus, rose, sunflower, peony (another variety), hydrangea… every flower Xie Xingchen recognized and didn’t recognize appeared!

The fireworks were so extravagant they left even Xie Xingchen stunned.

These really were “fireworks,” literally—fire “flowers”!

Now the entire sky was filled with blossoms made of light.

Xie Xingchen: The system’s fireworks are way too insane!

“Wow—so this is fireworks! It’s so beautiful. I love this thing called fireworks!”

“Boss Xie, no wonder you told us to come out and watch! These fireworks are incredible!”

“Hahaha, Boss Xie, you’re so creative! You can even come up with something this pretty. Seriously—if Boss Xie hadn’t invited us, we never would’ve imagined something this fun could exist!”

Everyone’s eyes went wide.

After the shock came pure admiration.

They weren’t flattering him on purpose—Xie Xingchen kept doing things no one else could!

Take these fireworks, for instance.

To them, the principle was actually simple—something you could build after seeing it once.

Which raised the question:

If it was so simple, why had no one in the interstellar era ever tried making fireworks?

This was a holiday atmosphere cheat code!

Forget what holiday it is—fire off a few fireworks and the festive mood is instantly there!

And yet somehow, nobody had ever thought to make such a simple thing.

Only Boss Xie—this man who kept innovating—had introduced something unprecedented again today.

However—

Xie Xingchen refused the “innovation master” label. He insisted this was just a Huaxia traditional custom: whenever there was a festival, Huaxia people set off fireworks!

Especially during certain periods of Spring Festival—government displays, ordinary citizens setting off fireworks too. At midnight on New Year’s, many people would sit by their windows watching a night sky filled with endless, never-fading fireworks.

That description captivated everyone.

They were only seeing one fireworks launcher, yet it already produced such brilliant spectacle—so what if there were a thousand? Ten thousand?

The scene was unimaginable.

They couldn’t imagine what kind of people Huaxia had been—or why such a people had vanished from the river of civilization.

Xie Xingchen could only answer with a bitter smile.

Seeing that, everyone tactfully shifted to other topics.

New Year’s Eve had the custom of staying up to “guard the year.” Once they learned that, everyone said they could all stay awake tonight.

But Xie Xingchen didn’t go so far as to make everyone just sit and chat. With the system’s help, he successfully “summoned” playing cards and mahjong.

Close to midnight, Xie Xingchen went to the courtyard and brought out the red firecrackers he’d custom-ordered from a weapons shop.

A long bright-red string of firecrackers lay coiled across the yard like a dragon.

Timing it with the New Year’s chime at 12 o’clock, the moment the new year officially arrived, Xie Xingchen lit the firecrackers.

Crackle-pop-pop-pop…

With the firecrackers, the old year passed away.

In the roar of firecrackers, Xie Xingchen turned back with a grin and shouted joyfully, “Happy New Year!”

Everyone startled by the sound snapped back to themselves and shouted too: “Happy New Year!”

After exchanging blessings, everyone covered their ears and waited for the firecrackers to finish.

Amid the smoky scent, bright red paper scraps covered the entire courtyard. At first glance, it looked like red snow had fallen—instantly bringing the festive New Year feeling right up to your face.

While the haze still drifted, Xie Xingchen led everyone back inside—reluctant but smiling.

Leaning by the doors and windows, they quietly admired the “firecracker red” outside and the brilliant fireworks blooming across the night sky.

After watching for a long time, they finally gathered in small groups at Xie Xingchen’s urging to play Fight the Landlord and mahjong.

Playing cards while watching fireworks still blossoming in the sky—this warm, earthy “human” atmosphere was exactly what the mechanical lifeforms loved.

Even more so once they learned Fight the Landlord and mahjong!

Mechanical lifeforms: Help—why are these things so fun?!

When they wracked their brains to beat someone, then plastered the loser’s face with red penalty strips, and watched the other person puff up and threaten revenge—hahahaha… it was genuinely addictive.