After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH129

Chapter 129

“Little Randy, why are you here?” Xie Xingchen asked in surprise.

Randy, who had been sitting bored on the sofa and swinging his short little legs, immediately looked up when he heard the familiar voice.

Then he stretched out his pale, chubby little paws toward Xie Xingchen, tilted his head, and unconsciously acted cute as he smiled in a milky baby voice: “Brother Xingchen, hug.”

That smile melted Xie Xingchen’s heart on the spot.

He picked up the milk-scented child and weighed him in his arms, unable to resist teasing, “You’ve gotten chubbier.”

Before little Randy could even react, Xie Xingchen pulled out a pack of milk cookies from his storage button and handed them over.

These milk cookies were an upgraded version of the previous ones—not only was the appearance improved, even the milk used to make them was now from a ranch’s supply.

Little Randy grabbed the cookies with his two chubby hands. After politely saying “Thank you,” he started nibbling with great enjoyment.

As he ate, he swayed his head side to side in bliss, making it obvious he was very satisfied with the taste.

Holding the child, Xie Xingchen looked around several times but didn’t see that familiar figure, so he couldn’t help lowering his head and asking, “Randy, where’s your brother?”

After finishing his cookie, Randy slowly answered, “Brother is at the hotel.”

Xie Xingchen raised an eyebrow. “The hotel?”

Then he asked, “Which hotel are you staying at?”

Randy tilted his head, thought for a moment, then said excitedly, “The Buggy-Bug Hotel!”

Buggy-Bug Hotel? He probably meant the Insectoid Hotel.

So they really did have fate—they were staying at the same hotel.

And thinking about it, it was pretty normal.

Although Ludwig had never acted arrogant in front of him, he was still a high-level leader of the Mechanical Civilization.

And the Mechanical Civilization had fairly good relations with the Insectoid Civilization, so it was only natural he’d be invited to stay at the Insectoid Hotel when visiting Insect Planet.

Little Randy pouted and frowned, sounding deeply disappointed. “Brother Xingchen, the Buggy-Bug Hotel doesn’t have any buggy-bugs.”

Clearly, the child not only thought the Insectoid Hotel was the “Buggy-Bug Hotel,” he even felt “deceived” because there were no actual buggy-bugs inside.

Xie Xingchen rubbed Randy’s head and couldn’t hold back anymore—he burst out laughing.

When Randy looked utterly confused, Xie Xingchen stopped laughing and casually mixed him a cup of formula.

The fruit tea on the table was made by employees and definitely had nothing it shouldn’t, but the kid was still small—if he could drink milk, then milk it was.

Kids Randy’s age were already quite prideful.

When alone with someone close, he was willing to drink milk from a bottle, but in a place full of strangers, he only wanted to drink from a cup.

Knowing that habit, Xie Xingchen smoothly picked a red little apple-shaped cup to pour the milk into.

The child held the cute cup with both hands and gulped it down—glug glug glug.

After finishing one cup, he obediently refilled it himself.

That well-behaved little look was so cute it made everyone around him melt.

There were many people attending Trading Day, but very few could actually enter Earth Trading Company’s booth.

Aside from the company’s few employees, only a small number of people who won an experience voucher could enter the booth to try things out.

And those “experience vouchers” existed thanks to the tech department’s military insectoids.

While providing technical support for Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction, they also built Xie Xingchen a random lottery program.

The content was simple—people logged into the lottery page using their Trading Day customer ID to draw for an experience voucher. Whoever won could enter Earth Trading Company’s booth, experience the beauty of its products up close, and receive a beautifully made small gift when leaving.

The moment the program launched, a crowd immediately rushed to make reservations.

But only 100 slots were released each day, so anyone who managed to get one was basically chosen by fate.

A hundred might sound small to outsiders, but for a booth, it was already a lot. And since people didn’t want to leave quickly once they got in, the booth had a constant stream of visitors coming and going.

Noticing how people’s gazes kept drifting toward little Randy’s milk, Xie Xingchen smiled helplessly.

After the child finished drinking, Xie Xingchen picked him up. Then he replenished some snacks in the lounge and left.

Before leaving, Xie Xingchen lowered his head and asked, “Randy, do you want to look around here?”

He assumed the child came because he was curious about Trading Day and wanted Ludwig to bring him.

But—

Randy glanced around and shook his head repeatedly.

Clearly, although he was lively, he still didn’t like places that were too crowded.

Xie Xingchen didn’t force him.

He asked if Randy wanted to go see the Mechanical Trading Company booth.

After getting a “don’t want to,” he simply carried the child away.

Back at the Insectoid Hotel, Xie Xingchen brought little Randy to his own top-floor hotel suite.

On the way back, he had already asked Randy and learned Ludwig was handling official business, so he just kept the child with him and sent Ludwig a message.

With the auction approaching, everyone at Earth Trading Company was busy, so in the suite there were no other people besides the two of them.

At first, they had a great time playing, but after a while they started feeling bored.

In the end, Xie Xingchen found an animated show Randy liked, and the one big and one small watched with relish.

After the cartoon, Xie Xingchen cooked Randy a serving of dumplings. After eating, he even washed the child. By the time they got into bed, Randy fell asleep—and Xie Xingchen was sleepy too.

Forcing himself to stay awake, Xie Xingchen yawned and sent Ludwig a message telling him to come pick the child up tomorrow. Then, hugging the milk-scented kid, he fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, he woke up and forgot there was a child in his bed—he nearly kicked the kid off while stretching.

By the time he scrambled to move little Randy back, Xie Xingchen’s heart was still pounding.

Xie Xingchen: Holy crap, that was way too close.

He almost kicked someone else’s kid off the bed!

That morning “near-disaster” completely wiped away what little sleepiness he had left.

Just then, the quietly sleeping Randy rubbed his eyes and suddenly struggled to climb up.

Seeing Xie Xingchen, the child, still half-asleep, tried to? toward him.

Clearly, the kid had absolutely no idea he had almost been booted onto the floor.

Randy’s eyes could barely open. Still dazed, he mumbled to Xie Xingchen, “Brother Xingchen… sleepy.”

Xie Xingchen gave a bitter smile and carried him into the bathroom to brush teeth and wash up.

One big and one small stood at the bathroom sinks—one tall, one low—brushing their teeth in the mirror.

The only difference was: the child brushed seriously while staring at the mirror, while Xie Xingchen brushed very absentmindedly, checking messages at the same time.

Then he saw a message—Ludwig would come soon to take little Randy away.

Xie Xingchen gargled and spat out water, then washed his face.

After washing his own face, he used a damp towel to gently wipe Randy’s face, then even applied a bit of baby cream.

He scooped out too much.

There was no way the child could use such a big dollop, so Xie Xingchen unbotheredly rubbed the leftover baby cream onto his own face.

After putting on the baby cream, he kissed the sweet-smelling child, then crouched down and asked with a bright smile, “Randy, do you want breakfast?”

Mechanical lifeforms weren’t like humans. Even if some looked human, they weren’t actually human—one difference being that they didn’t necessarily need to eat every day.

Randy had already eaten an entire box of cookies and drank two big jugs of milk yesterday. If he ate too much again today, it would easily lead to “indigestion.”

Randy opened his kitten-like eyes wide, blinking curiously. “Sure! What are we eating?”

Xie Xingchen thought for a moment, hesitating. “Scallion-oil noodles?”

There were plenty of breakfast options, but Xie Xingchen was worried Randy would eat too much, so he purposely chose something Randy didn’t like.

Sure enough, the moment he heard the word “scallion,” Randy pouted and shook his head.

Seeing that, Xie Xingchen quietly let out a breath of relief.

He made a small cup of milk for Randy, while he himself ate big mouthfuls of fragrant scallion-oil noodles.

Smelling the thick scallion aroma in the air, Randy tilted his head and looked at Xie Xingchen curiously.

Little Randy didn’t like strong scallion smell. He didn’t understand why someone could enjoy it so much.

But the child had excellent manners. Even if he didn’t get it, he didn’t make trouble. After finishing his milk, he quietly accompanied Xie Xingchen while he ate.

Ding-dong… You have a visitor.

Halfway through, the doorbell rang.

Knowing Ludwig had arrived, Xie Xingchen told Randy—who had finished his milk and was bored, playing with his toes—to go open the door.

Randy patted over to the door. As soon as he opened it and saw his brother, he excitedly pounced on him.

Ludwig held his clingy little brother with one arm and walked in.

Xie Xingchen looked up and greeted him warmly. “Lud, good morning! Want some breakfast?”

Smelling the food fragrance in the air, Ludwig’s lips lifted slightly. “Sure.”

Seeing that, Xie Xingchen couldn’t help smiling too. “What do you want to eat?”

Ludwig glanced at the scallion-oil noodles in front of Xie Xingchen and, as if enlightened, instantly understood why he’d chosen that breakfast. With perfect tacit understanding, he said, “Same as you.”

Now Xie Xingchen finally couldn’t hold back—he laughed.

He took out two bowls of scallion-oil noodles and handed them to Ludwig, suppressing laughter as he said, “Here. These are the last two bowls of scallion-oil noodles. Since little Randy doesn’t want it, you can eat his portion too.”

When Xie Xingchen said “little Randy doesn’t want it,” his tone was full of playful teasing.

That impish look made Ludwig laugh out loud as well.

And that laugh was dangerous.

Xie Xingchen’s eyes immediately lit up as he stared at him in amazement. “Damn, Lud—you can actually laugh?”

He said it like Ludwig was a robot.

Then again, it was the interstellar era—robots laughing wasn’t strange at all. Some could even cry!

Being stared at with those shining eyes, Ludwig felt slightly uncomfortable.

But as someone used to staying calm, he didn’t show that discomfort.

He only cast Xie Xingchen a casual glance.

That glance—his expression, and the calm indifference in his eyes—made it hard for anyone to keep laughing.

Well… maybe Xie Xingchen was just easily surprised.

Not knowing that Ludwig had never smiled in public, Xie Xingchen comforted himself like that.

After finishing that mental pep talk, he genuinely felt he’d been too easily shocked.

He couldn’t help complaining to Ludwig about himself.

But his complaining made Ludwig fall silent.

So… was he often this relaxed when facing this person?

Ludwig couldn’t answer.

He reflected on his attitude.

But someone who had never liked anyone before couldn’t reflect his way to a conclusion. In the end, he defined it as—

This was simply the joy of meeting a friend.

After “figuring it out,” Ludwig lowered his guard and stopped questioning his own strange reactions.

After breakfast, Ludwig—who had tasks to handle—left first, taking little Randy with him.

But he wasn’t bringing Randy along with him. He was sending Randy back to his room to attend class with their traveling tutor.

Since Randy had played all day yesterday, today was perfect for making up the lessons he’d missed.

Xie Xingchen was happy to see it happen.

One: he didn’t have time to babysit. Two: he had to give the child a complete, learning-filled childhood!

He was an adult! How could he deprive a child of the joyful life of learning!

doge.jpg

So just like that, Xie Xingchen gleefully sent little Randy off.

When he waved goodbye, his smile was so brilliant—so brilliant that it made Randy burst into tears with a “Waaah!”

May 4 quietly arrived.

Tonight at 22:00 was the official start time of Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction.

As the time drew closer, the reservation count on the star network kept soaring, eventually breaking what everyone thought was the “maximum of one billion,” and reaching the astronomical number of 1.1 billion.

19:00.

After being suppressed for a long time by Yu Cheng and the tianrong flower, Earth Trading Company’s trending topic surged back to the top with an overwhelming momentum. Netizens shifted their attention away from Yu Cheng and the tianrong flower and onto Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction.

20:00.

A video from the past—showing Xie Xingchen’s feud with Yu Cheng and him getting publicly humiliated—was deliberately reposted. At the same time, online water armies and haters mobilized together. They tried to “politely” smear him, but viewers who watched the video instead laughed like idiots.

The comments were filled with “hahahaha,” and the top comments were all things like: “So you have a dark history too,” “Holy crap I’m dying—so Boss Xie used to be the one getting slapped in the face,” “Your pose is wrong, redo it,” “TV dramas don’t lie—so those stereotypical extras really are based on real life,” and so on.

The haters and water armies expected people to join them in trashing Xie Xingchen after seeing the video. Their plan failed.

There was no trashing—if anything, people thanked them for providing premium comedic content for after tea.

Watching Xie Xingchen get embarrassed felt like watching a comedy movie. People almost laughed themselves into shrieking.

21:00.

Only one hour remained until Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction.

The hype doubled again. Many people who had been calm suddenly became excited.

At the same time, information on major planet lords was posted one after another on the star network, and many netizens even opened betting pools predicting who would be the biggest tycoon at this auction feast.

Now that was a problem.

Those planet lords “on the list” were basically put on display.

If they didn’t win at least one item, weren’t they destined to be mocked?

The planet lords were so furious they wanted to explode. They cursed the netizens for fighting dirty, claiming they were paid shills hired by Earth Trading Company!

But—

Who cared?

Complain all you want, curse all you want—no matter how unwilling they were, they still had to save face.

Some thin-skinned planet lords, forced into a corner, had no desire to buy anything and hadn’t even reserved tickets. Under pressure, they had to go online and reserve one ticket.

But what infuriated them was—

VIP and inner-ring seats were sold out. Even if they reserved, they could only take the system default seat, or pay a high price to buy the initial default seat of someone who had upgraded into VIP/inner ring.

Even worse, it was too late—many of the better default seats were gone. In the end, they were forced to sit in their own default seats, and some hot-tempered planet lords even decided on the spot that they wouldn’t participate in the auction later.

However—

Reality proved they would regret that very quickly.

21:30.

Entry for Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction began.

Everyone who had reserved received a message on their personal terminal containing a unique entry code and a jump link.

Many netizens who had already been watching the clock tapped the link immediately. After the page loaded, they entered the unique entry code.

The moment they finished entering it, everything brightened. Just as they thought they were about to arrive at the holographic auction, they realized they had appeared in an enormous room. In the center of the room stood an extremely ornate mirror inlaid with countless precious gems.

[Earth Trading Company Warm Reminder: To ensure player privacy, please choose whether to hide your real appearance.]

Hide real appearance?

What was that?

Ning Xian was shocked when he saw the prompt.

He didn’t understand it, but he loved trying new things, so he immediately selected—[Yes].

[Earth Trading Company Warm Reminder: Please choose items. After selecting, please press the Confirm button.]

A bold, enlarged line of prompt flashed, and then countless category boxes appeared before Ning Xian.

There were seven categories: [Free], [Outfits], [Accessories], [Clothing], [Shoes], [Makeup], [Special].

The pinned top category was [Free].

Ning Xian curiously tapped into [Free].

Then he saw a white mask and a simple black cloak with a loose hood.

He selected [Cloak] and [Mask].

In less than a second, his holographic avatar changed into those two cool pieces of gear.

Ning Xian’s eyes widened like bells: !

Holy crap—this is an isekai-style dress-up game!

And not only that—one-click outfit changes with wildly different styles, even including makeup?

Damn! This feature might look similar to changing clothes in a mall, but it was totally different.

One was a magical 3D fantasy game with many styles—the other was… just buying clothes.

Staring at the cool, mysterious boy in the magic mirror, the deeply hidden “edgy teen” soul inside Ning Xian was awakened.

At this moment, he was no longer satisfied with just the two basic free items.

His face flushed with excitement as he opened the other categories.

And just like that—the door to a new century slowly opened for him.

Ning Xian fell into the dress-up rabbit hole and couldn’t escape. This one looked good, that one looked good, that one looked even better!

Cool, ethereal, exquisite, ascetic…

Oh my god! Who is the ever-changing king in the mirror!

Is that mysterious person in the mirror really me?

This is way too cool!

Even when the system reminded him there were only ten minutes left until the auction started, Ning Xian still couldn’t tear himself away from the pleasure of dressing up.

And clearly, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

Many people were captivated by Earth Trading Company’s extremely magical/xianxia/fantasy-style outfit options.

Sigh—who didn’t play pretend as a kid?

Ancient times, modern times, or even the interstellar era.

Pretend play was always one of children’s favorite games.

It was full of imagination and childish wonder.

But after growing up, that wonder disappeared, and mature adults no longer played pretend.

But now—

That childish fun had returned.

So tell me—

WHO could possibly resist?

The dress-up function had originally been used in clothing stores across holographic malls.

Yet why had no one thought it could be combined with a game?

Fantasy styles, xianxia styles, fairy-tale styles… all kinds of outfits, all kinds of exquisite accessories… even perfect makeup—combining these successfully made an old holographic mall function feel trendy again.

Some younger teens, around fourteen or fifteen, had zero interest in auctions.

But when dress-up screenshots and videos were posted on the star network, they became interested instantly!

The quick-handed rushed in at the very last minute and entered Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction dress-up page to enjoy a taste of dress-up happiness.

Those who got the news a step too late cried.

Because the auction had already started, and the reservation page had closed—no new guests would be accepted.

[Qingqing Higher Academy: Wuwuwu why! Boss Xie, you have no heart! You have money but you won’t even earn it!]

[I’m just a kid from a lower academy: AAAAA I’m going to throw a tantrum, I really am—wuwuwu I also want to play the dress-up mini game! Let me play the dress-up mini game now!]

[Mouthy Level-1 King: Boss Xie, I advise you to be sensible—don’t force me to kneel and beg you! AAAAA please pity the child, open another entry link for us! If that’s too much, just open a dress-up mini game link for us!]

A bunch of “kids” who missed the time cried.

If it were normal days, their crying might have been mocked or comforted.

But today, StarBlog was quiet.

No choice—because the active users were all off at Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction, chasing the excitement.

People left, so of course it became quiet.

But unlike quiet StarBlog, Earth Trading Company’s holographic auction was like another world—a lively other world made up of many fantasy races.

Here, countless light screens floated above a massive, ultra-cool, high-tech venue.

Flowers, greenery, balloons, and various merch were scattered everywhere.

People in wildly different styles of clothing moved through the venue. Occasionally, flying machines selling tasting snacks glided past.

Some beauty lovers dressed themselves extravagantly—noble, cute, refined, dashing, magical…

Here, you could see every possible style.

At the same time, some mysterious people chose to cover themselves from head to toe.

They wore luxurious cloaks and low-key masks. They seemed out of place—yet strangely harmonious.

People sat quietly or noisily in row after row of seats. The blue sky above was crystal clear like it had been washed, and drifting white clouds matched their mood—relaxed, yet buzzing with indescribable excitement.

After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]