Chapter 12
Only after supervising the housekeeping robot until every corner of the living room had been cleaned spotless did Tang Rong go upstairs to take a bath.
Both the bathroom and the bedroom were bigger than the ones on the spaceship, and there were many more things inside. Some of them had been brought over from the spaceship—things Tang Rong was familiar with and had already used, such as those fluffy plush toys, and that little nest.
After changing into clean, comfortable pajamas and climbing into bed, Tang Rong tried using his optical brain to turn off the bedroom lights by himself, leaving only a little bedside lamp on.
He learned very quickly. Although he still could not read many words, he remembered icons fast. Basically, whatever the butler taught him once, he could remember. On top of that, he still had the system as a cheat, secretly guiding him.
The bedside lamp was an adorable mushroom shape, floating above the bedside cabinet. Besides the soft glow coming from the mushroom itself, there were also little sparkling things floating around it, like spores. But if one reached out a hand, they could not actually be touched.
Something this interesting was extremely novel for a little cub.
And aside from the mushroom lamp, there were many other fun things here too. If he had not spent the whole day traveling and gotten so tired, Tang Rong would really have wanted to explore every inch of this house, inside and out.
The butler sat by the bed, watching him curiously play with the mushroom lamp for a while before obediently curling back under the blanket. He planned to leave only after Tang Rong had fallen asleep.
The butler also had a house of his own here, but he did not feel comfortable being too far away from the young master, so for now he was staying in the room next door.
Actually, the best arrangement would have been to hire a few early childhood teachers and nannies to take care of Tang Rong’s daily needs. But because of the attack four years ago, the old master and sir could no longer easily trust outsiders, especially people who would have close contact with Tang Rong. Over the past four years, more than half the Tang family villa’s servants had already been dismissed. After much hesitation, they had finally decided to let the butler take care of him instead.
At four years old, Tang Rong had also reached the age for kindergarten. The study had already been equipped with a learning pod in advance, where he could receive preschool education through VR, attending virtual classes together with quality teachers and other little cubs, learning and playing with them.
Tang Rong turned over once in bed, then after a while turned back again. His closed eyes secretly opened into a little slit, but the moment he saw that butler Uncle was still sitting by his bedside, he hurriedly shut them again, his long curled lashes trembling lightly.
How strange. He clearly felt tired and sleepy, yet he just could not fall asleep…
Naturally, the butler had also noticed Tang Rong’s “insomnia.” Just as he was debating whether he should tell Tang Rong a bedtime story or let him watch a cartoon, Tang Rong suddenly spoke up in a tiny voice.
“Uncle… are they going to live in the hospital forever?”
The “they” naturally referred to his family.
Butler Uncle had said they were seriously ill and staying in the hospital, which was why they could not come and pick him up.
Tang Rong had never been to a hospital before. He had only seen them in cartoons. Before Grandma died, she had only bought some cheap medicine and had never gone to a hospital either.
The butler froze for a moment. He had not expected Tang Rong to suddenly ask about his family. Could it be that the reason he had not fallen asleep was because he had been thinking about this the whole time?
The butler nodded and answered vaguely, “Yes. They probably won’t be able to meet Rongrong in person anytime soon, but they can video call Rongrong through the optical brain.”
He had only just received the good news tonight that sir’s spiritual power had finally calmed down, allowing him to return to human form again. If not for Second Miss and Third Young Master visiting tonight, and if the young master had not already been exhausted from a whole day of travel, sir definitely would not have been able to resist gathering the whole family for a video call tonight.
As for coming to see Tang Rong in person—they still had to wait until they were completely sure his spiritual power had stabilized. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong.
Tang Rong felt both happy and nervous, and softly continued, “Then… can we video call tomorrow in the daytime?”
No orphan ever truly wanted to be without a home, and Tang Rong was no different. Although he now lived in a big house and had lots of delicious food and pretty clothes, the emptiness in family affection still made him long for it.
The butler could not help rubbing his little head. “Yes. Once Rongrong wakes up, we can make the video call.”
Tang Rong immediately shut his eyes. “Good night, Uncle. I’m going to fall asleep now.”
The butler could not help laughing softly.
…
About fifteen minutes later, Tang Rong’s breathing finally became even. The butler turned off the mushroom bedside lamp, quietly left the bedroom, and went into the room next door.
The moment he shut the door, sir’s video call came through.
Tang Zheng’en spoke impatiently the moment the call connected. “Help me order a few new formal outfits. I want to wear them when I video call Rongrong tomorrow. I looked through my whole wardrobe and couldn’t find a single thing fit to be seen in.”
Butler: “…”
The butler looked at the layers upon layers of clothes in the wardrobe behind him on the other side of the screen, adjusted his glasses, and reminded him, “I think perhaps what you need is a few sets of patient clothes. What do you think?”
Tang Zheng’en froze for a beat, then belatedly realized something and said awkwardly, “Ah, right, that works too. Then prepare a few hospital outfits like the old man’s.”
The butler gave an “Mm,” then changed the subject. “Using illness as an excuse to deceive Rongrong forever is not a long-term solution. He’s a good child. He may not necessarily be afraid of you all.”
Tang Zheng’en’s expression completely faded. After several seconds of silence, he said, “But he doesn’t even dare go near or touch ordinary small animals. If he finds out that the people in this family have unstable spiritual power and can turn into beasts far more terrifying than ordinary animals at any moment…”
In truth, before bringing Tang Rong back, they had imagined countless possible ways of getting along with him. Among them had been one option where they simply told him the truth directly. But after learning that Tang Rong was afraid of animals, they immediately rejected that choice.
—First impressions were very important.
What was more, many people on the Yun family’s side were also watching Tang Rong closely. If they seized an opening and found some way to trick Tang Rong into leaving them and keeping away from them, things would become even harder to handle.
After all, although the Yun family was disgusting, they were still Yun Jian’s natal family. If the current head of that family wanted to use his identity as Tang Rong’s maternal grandfather to demand a meeting with his grandson, if the matter became too big, they would have no easy way to refuse.
The butler sighed softly. “You can hide it for a while, but not forever. Once he’s older, he’ll learn about spirit forms sooner or later.”
Tang Zheng’en leaned back against the sofa behind him and said in complete defeat, “Then let’s hide it until he finds out on his own. Maybe things will improve during this time.”
Four years old, six years old, eight years old, ten years old, fourteen years old—the level of acceptance a child would have toward something was certainly not the same at each age.
Besides, once Tang Rong became familiar with all their spirit forms in juvenile state first, then later learned the truth, perhaps he would not be so afraid.
The butler nodded and said nothing more.
Although he personally felt that even if Tang Rong learned the truth now, he might not necessarily reject contact with his family out of fear, it was only what he felt—too subjective to be convincing.
Tang Zheng’en said, “I’m hanging up first. Qiuqiu is calling me. She seemed a little off today, so I’ll talk to her again.”
…
“I plan to go out tomorrow with Xiao Hu, buy some materials, and make a singing fox doll for little brother.” The moment the call connected, an AI electronic voice sounded. Clearly, Tang Qiu had set it up in advance. At the moment, she had a sheet mask on her face.
Tang Zheng’en shot up from the sofa in shock.
Had he heard correctly??
Qiuqiu had said she was going out shopping?!
“…Dad?” This time it was Tang Qiu’s own voice.
Tang Zheng’en hurriedly answered, “I’m here, I’m here. What time are you going out tomorrow? I was planning for the whole family to do a video call tomorrow and meet Rongrong.”
Tang Qiu replied through the AI, “We’re going out early in the morning. We should be back pretty soon. Let’s do the video call after we get back.”
Tang Zheng’en said, “Alright. Have fun. If you don’t have enough money, tell Dad.”
Tang Qiu could not help pursing her lips into a smile, though because of the face mask, she dared not let it spread too wide.
She was already twenty-five years old. Even though she did not have what people would call a “proper” job, she had long since earned a great deal of money through her craft. In the doll-collector circle, every time she released a new batch of handmade clothes, they were sold out instantly. Yet Dad still always treated her like a child.
Not long after hanging up, Tang Qiu received a transfer from Tang Zheng’en.
She peeled off the face mask and shifted her gaze slightly toward the empty birdcage beside her.
…
Perhaps because he had changed to a new environment, Tang Rong did not sleep very well that night.
He tossed and turned again and again, and dreamed many dreams.
He dreamed of Grandma, sick in bed. In the dream, he took Grandma to the hospital and video called her every day.
He dreamed of the little snow leopard doll. The little snow leopard doll had come to life and was running all over the house. At night, when he could not fall asleep, the little snow leopard would wrap its tail around his wrist on its own and sleep beside him.
…
By the time he woke up, the fragments of the dream quickly slipped away. The exhaustion in his body made Tang Rong feel a little sluggish.
He rubbed his eyes, slowly got out of bed, and slipped on his fluffy little tiger slippers.
A few seconds later, the butler knocked and came in, then brought him to the bathroom to wash up.
After washing up, the two of them went downstairs, where a lavish breakfast had already been laid out on the dining table.
Tang Rong clearly felt that his stomach was empty, yet at the same time he had no appetite at all. He assumed it was the same as that time on the spaceship after he had dreamed, so he picked up his little spoon and obediently began stuffing breakfast into his mouth.
Who would have thought that after only a few bites, he suddenly let out a “wah” and threw it all up.
![After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]](https://i1.wp.com/panda-translations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/20220822190944_300_420.jpg?resize=151,215 "After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar]")
