After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH98

Chapter 98

Celebrate the New Year Joyfully?

He’d only wanted to prepare for the New Year—who would’ve thought it would trigger a hidden quest, and that the rewards would be exactly the products he urgently needed?

Xie Xingchen suddenly stopped what he was doing.

“Get-Rich, Prosperity, Long-Life—stop for now. We’ll start preparing tomorrow.”

Since he wanted the quest rewards, there was no way he wouldn’t accept the quest.

And once he accepted it, with Xie Xingchen’s personality, he would absolutely squeeze the maximum benefit out of it.

So he needed to plan the livestream content properly—aiming to make everyone fall in love with “Spring Festival,” the holiday he used to love most.

Besides, the important tools wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow anyway. Might as well slow down by one day and give himself a wider range of options.

That night, Xie Xingchen received a call from Ludwig.

They were already close to Earth.

Xie Xingchen asked for their spaceship model, set its access permissions in the system, then ran to the spaceport to welcome the good friends he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Ludwig’s spaceship was huge—it filled Xie Xingchen’s small spaceport to the brim.

Two good-looking figures—one tall, one small—walked down from the ship. The tall one still looked fairly reserved, but the little one, the moment he saw Xie Xingchen, immediately broke free from his brother’s hand, beamed brightly, and charged at Xie Xingchen like a little cannonball.

Xie Xingchen bent down and caught little Randy in his arms. He kissed Randy’s milky-sweet cheeks, weighed him in his hands, and teased, “Randy, you’ve gotten heavier.”

Randy subtly puffed out his tiny chest. A smug little smile appeared on his childish face as he said in a baby voice, “Because I got taller! I grew three centimeters!”

Xie Xingchen put on an exaggeratedly amazed expression, playing the perfect hype-man: “Wow! Randy is that awesome?”

Hearing that, Randy’s pale cheeks turned slightly pink. He buried his face into Xie Xingchen’s chest and mumbled shyly, “J-just so-so…”

Good. Randy was still the same optimistic, cheerful kid—proud, and inexplicably easy to embarrass.

It was kind of magical, too: he only got shy around people he knew well and liked. With strangers, he was basically his brother’s clone—he might look soft and babyish, but he loved fooling people with a serious, deadpan attitude.

Xie Xingchen affectionately pinched the child’s high nose bridge. Then he looked up, holding the child with one arm while extending the other hand to Ludwig.

Ludwig’s reserved lips lifted slightly. He naturally took Xie Xingchen’s hand.

Xie Xingchen’s long-fingered hand wasn’t soft like a woman’s, but it had a special suppleness and warmth—like one of the Star Alliance’s most precious kinds of jade.

The handshake lasted only a few seconds, yet the feel of Xie Xingchen’s hand oddly distracted Ludwig.

Xie Xingchen: “Ludwig?”

Ludwig snapped back and responded, “Mm.”

Xie Xingchen sighed.

Ludwig was really quiet.

He’d said so much over such a short walk, and Ludwig only gave him a single “mm.”

He seemed even quieter tonight, but Xie Xingchen was used to it.

As if it were nothing unusual, Xie Xingchen continued, “Where do you want to stay?”

Ludwig hadn’t actually heard what Xie Xingchen asked, but he didn’t panic at all.

He calmly glanced at little Randy, who was clinging to Xie Xingchen. Then he tossed the choice over. “Randy, you pick.”

Hearing his brother give him the decision, the kid’s eyes lit up.

He blurted eagerly, “I want to go to Chang’an Workshop! I—I want to sleep with Brother Xingchen!”

Ludwig: ?

Ludwig frowned at Randy.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Xie Xingchen answered first: “Sure! That’s a great idea. Then Randy will sleep with me tonight. Ludwig, can you sleep next door to us?”

Next door?

Ludwig, who was about to refuse, suddenly swallowed the refusal back down.

He kept a straight face, nodded with restrained coolness, and said, “Okay.”

Xie Xingchen flashed Ludwig a brilliant smile. Ludwig saw it and, privately, nodded to himself.

So this is what a best friend is.

Ludwig marveled internally.

No wonder everyone likes spending time with close friends.

Being with a close friend could be this relaxed and pleasant.

Ludwig seemed to understand—but in reality, his understanding had drifted wildly off course.

They got into a mini hovercar. Xie Xingchen set it to autopilot, then couldn’t help asking, “Are the others on the spaceship leaving soon?”

Ludwig nodded. “Yes.”

Xie Xingchen sounded regretful: “That’s such a shame. I originally wanted them to experience the joy of the New Year with us!”

The New Year should be lively.

The more people, the happier Xie Xingchen was.

Hearing the strong regret in Xie Xingchen’s voice, Ludwig looked at him seriously and asked, “Do you want them to stay?”

Xie Xingchen smiled and shrugged. “It’s fine either way. More people is livelier, but fewer people has its own way of celebrating.”

Then he added with emotion, “Honestly, it’s already great now. At least you and Randy came to spend the New Year with me. Otherwise I’d have to celebrate alone.”

Celebrating the New Year alone—just imagining it felt lonely.

Ludwig suddenly said, “Actually, they can stay for the New Year too.”

Xie Xingchen first went, “Really?”

Then he gave a wry smile. “Ah, if it’s not possible, forget it. Don’t force them to stay.”

The people Ludwig brought weren’t ordinary.

For all he knew, they were here on some secret mission they couldn’t talk about.

If he delayed them and messed up their mission, that would be beyond disastrous.

The consequences would be way beyond what he could afford.

But Ludwig said, “They don’t have a mission. They only didn’t plan to stay because they were worried you’d have to go out of your way to host them—worried they’d trouble you.”

The personal guard team, silently furious but daring not to speak: No, that’s absolutely not it. It’s because our lord was afraid Boss Xie would have to worry, so he didn’t want us to stay!

Xie Xingchen relaxed, his tone bright and light: “Oh, your guard team is pretty polite. What’s there for me to fuss over? It’s just normal hosting. We’re all familiar—just stay and celebrate together.”

He was about to contact Prosperity to drive the larger hovercar to the spaceport to pick people up, but Ludwig stopped him.

Ludwig: “There are several hovercars on my spaceship. Give me the coordinates, and I’ll have them drive one over themselves.”

Since they could handle their own transportation, Xie Xingchen obviously didn’t refuse.

He sent Ludwig the coordinates for Chang’an City. After watching Ludwig contact the guard team members smoothly, Xie Xingchen said without thinking, “Then should we arrange them to stay next to you?”

The Xie Residence in Chang’an Workshop was enormous—many courtyards, many guest rooms.

Xie Xingchen had originally planned to place Ludwig in Tingzhu Pavilion, next to the main courtyard. That area alone had over a dozen large guest rooms—more than enough for the whole group.

But Ludwig didn’t know Xie Xingchen had already assigned him an entire neighboring courtyard. When he heard “arrange the guard team next to you,” he thought Xie Xingchen meant putting the guards right next to his bedroom, so he quietly refused: “That might not be convenient.”

Unfortunately, Xie Xingchen clearly didn’t catch the subtext. He waved a hand grandly, his handsome face full of casual confidence. “It’s fine. You rarely come—of course I have to make sure you have a great time. Don’t worry, the place I’m giving you is the prettiest place here besides where I live.”

Great. Xie Xingchen’s warmth completely blocked Ludwig’s refusal.

In the end, this tall, handsome man with exquisitely refined features didn’t know how to refuse. He could only accept, rather reluctantly.

So that “okay” somehow sounded a little stifled.

But Xie Xingchen just assumed he was overthinking.

Stifled? How could Ludwig be stifled? He was the one who made other people feel stifled.

The mini hovercar drove through the night.

It was slow—so slow that the guards who left later caught up not long after.

When Xie Xingchen saw the guards had caught up, he increased speed a little. Five minutes later, they arrived outside Chang’an City.

From far away, looking down from above, everyone saw a blazing Tang-era city that never slept.

It was an ancient city glowing with lights.

Even with no residents, countless lanterns still hung beneath the eaves throughout the city.

This lantern-lit city made the mechanical lifeforms seeing Chang’an for the first time fall into a stunned daze.

“Rich colors seem to divide the earth from afar; myriad lights hang like ornaments in the distant sky.”¹

In the silent depths of winter, with snowflakes drifting down sparsely, the city’s brilliant colors looked, from far away, as if they separated the land itself—and the countless lights under the eaves flickered like stars, dotting the night sky.

This ancient city was asleep.

Yet in its gentleness, it still left rows of lamps for those returning home at night.

Everyone present had seen the Chang’an postcard that had gone viral on StarNet; the lucky ones even owned the full “Chang’an: Impressions” set.

But art and reality were never the same.

Before reality, a picture was just—at best—a little brother.

For a long while, two hovercars hovered neatly in the air above the city.

In the end, it was the innocent child who broke the spell—the entranced silence where even breathing seemed careful.

“Brother Xingchen, it’s so pretty here… can we really live here?”

Randy’s catlike eyes were full of starlight. Happy and nervous, he asked Xie Xingchen in a baby voice.

Xie Xingchen ruffled Randy’s soft hair, deliberately turning it into a messy bird’s nest before breaking into a bright smile. “Of course we can. Come on—I’ll take you in right now.”

Then he led everyone past the airspace above the city gates, using the enormous ginkgo tree as a “landmark” to guide their descent.

He parked both hovercars in other unoccupied courtyards, then brought them to the largest residence in the workshop district—the Xie Residence.

You’ll never believe why I moved to… Ho Chi Minh City

With the smart steward system installed, the Xie Residence was perfectly comfortable. Even in deep winter, it maintained the humid warmth of spring.

Xie Xingchen’s home was a compound with three successive courtyards. Within all of Chang’an City, it was only medium-sized, but in Chang’an Workshop, it was the largest courtyard estate.

The residence was divided into two parts: the front courtyard and the back courtyard.

Xie Xingchen had remodeled the front courtyard into an office area, while the back courtyard was where he lived.

Compared to the front, the back felt vast. It consisted of several courtyards. The largest was Songbai Court, where Xie Xingchen currently lived. The second largest, close to Songbai Court, was Tingzhu Pavilion—so he assigned Tingzhu Pavilion to Ludwig’s group.

Just walking from the front courtyard to the back stunned these “country bumpkins” from the mechanical civilization.

The distinctive white walls and dark tiles. The elegant, restrained screen walls. The corridor craftsmanship so seamless you couldn’t see any joints. The vivid, intricate wood carvings along the corridor.

Everything looked understated, but anyone with real knowledge could tell from the details: this place was wealthy in a way that was anything but ordinary.

Beyond the corridor, the garden separating front and back courtyards was bursting with flowers. Bright blossoms competed in brilliance; delicate, refined blooms stood apart like recluses, sending out rich fragrance. Both poured out their charm without restraint, as if campaigning to be crowned flower king…

They were so dazzled they nearly forgot how to walk—yet even all of that paled compared to the shock of Tingzhu Pavilion.

Just from the name, you could tell Tingzhu Pavilion would be tranquil—and it truly was.

It was surrounded by elegant bamboo, giving the whole place the air of a courteous gentleman.

At the same time, it wasn’t only bamboo. Every inch of land was packed with different flowers and rare grasses wherever anything could take root.

A riot of blossoms, luxuriant plants—standing there felt like standing inside a refined “immortal realm.”

And it wasn’t only an “immortal realm” because of the quiet environment, but because the plants composing that environment were rich with dense “green matter,” creating a kind of “cultivation paradise.”

Everyone knew mechanical lifeforms also had mental power. But in mechanical civilization, most mechanical lifeforms had weak mental-power perception—only mutants could reach the top tier.

It was a species with obvious polarization in mental power—almost no middle tier existed. So the reason mechanical lifeforms became one of the Star Alliance’s five great civilizations wasn’t mental power, but bodies and technology.

Their strength lay in physique, technology, weapons—even medicine.

But here, after the guard team entered Tingzhu Pavilion, they discovered their internal mental-power growth rate nearly doubled.

They were instantly stunned.

However—

Looking at the dense greenery around them, they suppressed the shock and instead looked at Xie Xingchen with the eyes you’d use for a major patron.

Confirmed: this was a person so rich he was practically dripping with oil.

Oh my god.

How could such an insanely wealthy person exist in this world?

So many plants containing ultra-high levels of green matter—and he just planted them casually around this “Xie Residence” with not even a protective barrier?

They admitted the place was beautiful—but once they realized it was essentially a “money fortress” built from mountains of wealth and plants so rare you couldn’t buy them even with money, their emotions became extremely complicated.

Xie Xingchen had no idea what they were thinking. He seriously assigned rooms to everyone, then said, “During the New Year, you’ll stay here. If you need anything, ask the smart steward—or any other robots. You can also come to me, as long as you don’t wake me up when I’m asleep.”

Then, holding little Randy, he waved. “If you didn’t bring daily necessities, ask the smart steward—there’s everything. Don’t be polite. Treat this like your home. Also, Randy is sleeping with me tonight. I’m taking him over now. Good night—sweet dreams.”

With that, Xie Xingchen held the child, smiling warmly, and turned to leave.

When they saw Xie Xingchen go, Ludwig silently followed.

The guards wanted to speak but didn’t.

Xie Xingchen didn’t notice at all—he let Ludwig follow for quite a while.

By the time he realized, they were almost at Songbai Court.

Turning around, Xie Xingchen was startled badly by Ludwig.

Xie Xingchen, still shaken: “Ludwig, you nearly scared me to death. Why are your footsteps silent?”

Ludwig—pale skin, black hair, tall—didn’t speak. But seeing his innocent expression, Xie Xingchen understood this was probably just his normal state (?). So he felt awkward complaining further and cleared his throat twice.

Xie Xingchen: “Ahem… so, are you walking me back?”

Ludwig shook his head and said bluntly, “No. I’m going to sleep next to you.”

Xie Xingchen: ?

For a moment, Xie Xingchen didn’t react. Then, after a while, he finally came up with a reasonable explanation.

Once he understood, he couldn’t help laughing.

He knew mechanical lifeforms were strict about words, but he never expected them to be this strict.

Yes, he’d said Ludwig could sleep “next door,” but what he meant by “next door” was Tingzhu Pavilion.

However, Ludwig clearly had his own interpretation of “next door”—he didn’t think Tingzhu Pavilion counted.

Thinking he’d figured out Ludwig’s logic, Xie Xingchen explained. But after explaining, he didn’t send Ludwig away. Instead, he actually let him stay next door.

Songbai Court was different from the other courtyards. Though it was the main and largest courtyard, it was designed for the owner’s comfort—multiple smaller courtyards were merged into a vast living space. That meant there were very few separate rooms available for guests.

Of course, there were still rooms—but the remaining ones were too small, almost like the servants’ quarters in ancient times. Using them for a guest felt inappropriate.

Still, Songbai Court wasn’t completely without options. If he truly needed to host someone, there was one place left—

Right beside Xie Xingchen’s bedroom.

Its comfort level was no less than his own bedroom, but it was a study, complete with a desk and bookshelves, so Xie Xingchen hadn’t initially considered it as a guest bedroom.

After all—asking a guest to sleep in a study?

If the house had no rooms, fine. But with so many guest rooms elsewhere, putting a guest in the study would be hard to justify.

But since Ludwig was already here, Xie Xingchen could only lead him to the study connected to Xie Xingchen’s bedroom.

Under the study’s eaves, Xie Xingchen set little Randy down, opened the study door, rubbed his slightly sore arm, and said to Ludwig, “Ludwig, in Songbai Court, besides my bedroom, the only place left that can be slept in is this study. There’s a bed inside. If you don’t mind, you can sleep here—but I’ll be honest: the bed here definitely won’t be as comfortable as the one in Tingzhu Pavilion.”

Ludwig was quite satisfied with the arrangement and didn’t care about the bed.

Seeing that, Xie Xingchen didn’t push him further. After a couple reminders, he held Randy’s hand and returned to the bedroom next door.

They called it “next door,” but there was a short corridor between them.

Even so, compared to faraway Tingzhu Pavilion, this was incredibly close—close enough that Ludwig could faintly hear Xie Xingchen and Randy talking next door.

Both the bedroom and the study had antique-style yet discreet washrooms. In different places, the two of them did the same things. After washing up, Xie Xingchen climbed into the soft covers, hugging the little Randy-shaped warm heater.

Worried the child might be afraid in a new environment, Xie Xingchen didn’t turn off the lights. He adjusted them into a dim sleep mode, kissed the child’s milk-sweet cheek, and coaxed softly, “Good boy. It’s time to sleep.”

It was late. After being excited for so long, Randy was already sleepy.

He rubbed his eyes with his soft little fist curled into a ball, yawned drowsily, and finally, under Xie Xingchen’s gentle lull, slowly closed his eyes.

Within seconds, the child fell asleep.

Seeing him asleep, Xie Xingchen yawned silently too—and soon fell asleep as well.

The next morning, Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life—three lifelike robots—got up early and prepared a huge breakfast spread in the small kitchen.

The guard team members who woke early, guided by the smart steward’s reminders, arrived at Songbai Court’s main hall with excited expressions.

When they arrived, the large table in the center was piled high with delicious energy fluid.

The coconut-flavored and mango-flavored energy fluids that mechanical lifeforms couldn’t resist were stacked into a small mountain, and the observant guards even spotted lychee-flavored energy fluid among them.

A brand-new flavor they’d never tasted!

But everyone was a well-mannered mechanical lifeform. Before the host arrived, they didn’t dare “dig in” first.

Seeing Get-Rich, Prosperity, and Long-Life shuttling between the kitchen and the main hall, the guards hurried over to help.

After they carried all the food out and set it on the table, Xie Xingchen, Ludwig, and little Randy finally appeared.

They came out chatting and laughing, and the scene somehow gave people the feeling of a family of three.

The moment Xie Xingchen saw the guests working, he rushed over. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it. You sit—just find somewhere to sit comfortably.”

Everyone: “……”

With their lord present, how could they possibly let Xie Xingchen do the serving?

So they kept turning away and dodging him.

After several tries, Xie Xingchen realized he was just getting in the way, so he stopped trying to grab dishes.

There were a lot of guards—twelve of them in total.

With so many people, they could carry everything in one trip.

Once breakfast was fully served, the entire table was filled.

Looking at the wide variety—fried dough sticks, soy milk, buns, porridge, siu mai, and over a dozen other breakfast items—the impression of Boss Xie as “someone from a wealthy household” deepened even more.

They even couldn’t help suspecting in the future, after their lord ended up with Boss Xie, whether their lord was secretly short on money—so he was trying every possible way to be with Boss Xie.

Cough. It really wasn’t their fault for suspecting. Future Boss Xie was just too rich—so rich that any living being would be willing to shout, “I can!” and “I’m willing!”

Xie Xingchen urged them, “Come on, don’t be shy. If you want food, eat food. If you don’t, you can drink energy fluid.”

As he spoke, he first picked a soup dumpling for Randy, then began eating himself. Only after he started did everyone else begin.

There was a lot of breakfast, but the portions weren’t actually huge.

Besides Xie Xingchen, only Ludwig and Randy didn’t touch the mountain of energy fluid. Everyone else, after finishing breakfast, still drank several bottles of lychee-flavored energy fluid, looking satisfied.

After drinking, they stared at Ludwig with shining eyes, hoping their lord would sense their desperation and immediately signal Boss Xie about purchasing the patent for the new energy-fluid flavors!

But Ludwig didn’t catch their hints at all. After setting down his utensils, he didn’t say another word.

Instead, after breakfast, Xie Xingchen awkwardly said to Ludwig, “Ludwig… um… I might be livestreaming for the next few days. Your identity isn’t really suitable to appear on camera. So when I livestream, can you take them to hang out in Tingzhu Pavilion?”

When Ludwig didn’t respond for a long time, Xie Xingchen thought for a moment and, as if he’d realized something, tested the waters: “Or… do you want to livestream with me? But with your faces pixelated?”

That did it.

Ludwig, who’d been silent, acted like nothing happened and simply said, “Okay.”

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