Chapter 3
Because of the butler’s firm answer, Tang Rong’s face immediately filled with eager anticipation.
The little child was dirty all over, but his eyes were clean and bright. He gazed at him so earnestly that a certain fox’s heart completely melted.
That fox surrendered very quickly and cautiously let out a little “ying.”
In his juvenile form, he could only make this kind of soft and coquettish sound. As a fierce man already sixteen years old, every time he turned back into his beast form, he would deliberately avoid making any noise at all.
But now, for the sake of his little brother—he was going all out.
“Ying ying, ying ying, ying ying ying, ying ying, ying ying, ying ying ying…”
Tang Rong’s eyes grew even brighter.
He had long heard the people on the junk planet say that their planet was the most backward of all, and that other planets had countless strange and wonderful things that they did not have here.
But tickets to ships traveling to other planets were far too expensive. Most people on the junk planet would never leave this place in their entire lives.
He had never imagined that he would leave the junk planet, board such a beautiful ship, and meet a little fox that could sing.
He was a child nobody wanted. Just filling his stomach was already a problem. His greatest dream for the future had only ever been to have enough food and warm clothes.
Until the people on this ship found him.
Butler Uncle had told him that he had family, that he had been accidentally lost at birth, and that his family had been looking for him all this time and had finally found him. Because their health was poor, they had sent the butler to pick him up instead. Once he returned to the main planet, he would be well taken care of.
The system knew many things. The system had said Butler Uncle was not lying to him, and that was why he agreed to board this ship.
But the system had also told him to stay on guard against everyone around him. Even if some people were telling the truth, that did not necessarily mean they had no ill intent toward him. So he had kept acting timid and cautious, like a little beast observing everything around him, not daring to touch, not daring to explore.
In truth, he wanted to ask.
Did he also have a father and mother? What did they look like? Would he be able to meet them once he returned to the main planet? Their health was poor—would they also, like Grandma, be unable to stay with him for long before dying?
…
Grandma had taught him how to speak. He could talk.
Later, after Grandma died, he would go to the still somewhat lively marketplace and listen to the people there talking. Sometimes he would meet a few kind-hearted people who would chat with him, tell him stories, or let him watch videos on their optical brains with them… and he learned many things that way.
No matter what kind of lifeform they were, children were born curious about everything in the world. Exploration was their instinct.
Being looked at like this by the little child, a certain fox sang even more enthusiastically.
He actually loved singing—when he was in human form.
And honestly, it showed. Even when all he could do in fox form was let out Xiao Humming yings, the tune still sounded very pleasant.
He tried humming a few nursery rhymes and bits of music from cartoons. After noticing that the little child reacted to the melody of one particular song, he skillfully hummed the entire thing.
It was the opening song of the cartoon Fluffy Big Family, and also a song often sung by one of the little fox cubs in it. By sheer coincidence, it was a song he himself had sung when he was little.
In the cartoon, the fox cub’s mother was a famous singer, and under her influence, the cub had loved music from a young age.
In reality, his own mother was completely tone-deaf and had no talent in music whatsoever. But she had always supported him in learning music and had even specially built him a little music room at home.
The butler took in all of this, lifted a hand to adjust his thin-rimmed glasses, and a faint, indescribable heaviness surfaced in his eyes.
Third Young Master was sixteen this year. Four years ago, Madam had passed away, and less than a year after her death, Third Young Master had left the main planet. At that time, he had only just turned twelve.
Before that, Madam would personally take Third Young Master to the music hall every day to study music.
Later, when Madam was attacked, it happened precisely on the road while she was taking Third Young Master to the music hall, giving others the chance to strike.
Third Young Master himself had not suffered much injury, but that attack had affected his spiritual power, causing it to spiral out of control for quite some time before it finally settled down.
By the time he was able to control himself well enough to return to his juvenile form and human form, Madam had already passed away, and Little Young Master had already gone missing.
After that, Third Young Master never went back to that music hall again. Not long later, he left the main planet and went to live on the planet where his little uncle was.
That little uncle was Madam’s biological younger brother, and also a highly capable healer. He had never married and was always traveling through different star systems, using his abilities to help lifeforms in need.
At the time, the Tang family was in chaos. On top of that, Third Young Master was still young, and his spiritual power was highly unstable, requiring the comfort of a healer. In the past, Madam had personally looked after him, but after her death, being able to live by his little uncle’s side was not a bad choice, so no one stopped him from leaving the main planet.
What no one expected was that only one year after leaving, Third Young Master started “causing trouble.”
His little uncle had once helped some people who had lost their identities—some had been kidnapped by star pirates when they were young and raised into little star pirates. When they grew up and learned the truth of their origins, they destroyed the star pirate base, only to later find that all of their relatives had already been killed by the pirates. Their identities could be restored, but to them, those identities had already become something optional, with or without. Besides, during the years they had been raised as star pirates, they had also been forced to act alongside them, so they were not exactly innocent either. So they banded together on their own, continued disguising themselves as star pirates, and roamed among the star systems using their own way to punish evil and do good, while also taking in some pitiful people who had lost their identities for unavoidable reasons.
Naturally, clashing with star pirates meant injuries were inevitable. Minor wounds they could handle on their own; only severe injuries they could not deal with would send them to seek out the little uncle.
One time, Third Young Master happened to run into them. He secretly boarded their pirate ship, and when the little uncle found out and chased after him overnight, Third Young Master begged to stay aboard the ship.
The reason he used was—through the hidden network of star pirates, perhaps they might find clues about his younger brother’s whereabouts.
The little uncle was successfully persuaded and accompanied him and that group of star pirates as they traveled around together.
While Madam had been alive, she had been closest to her youngest brother, and he had always cared most about his eldest sister. Naturally, he also wanted to find the child his eldest sister had lost.
That journey lasted more than three years. Now Third Young Master had already turned sixteen and was capable of standing on his own.
The reason the little uncle was not here this time was because an old ailment of a friend on another planet had flared up, and he had been asked to go there to treat them, so he had temporarily left for a few days.
Who would have thought that not long after his departure, one of their ships would be ambushed?
The butler had not taken the initiative to contact the little uncle’s side. He planned to wait until they reached the main planet before reporting that they were safe.
As he kept saying—the most important thing right now was to deliver Little Young Master safely to the main planet.
Third Young Master’s sudden appearance… who knew what kind of accident it would turn into.
The butler steadied himself, crouched down on one knee, and said to Tang Rong, “Its name is Xiao Hu. It’s older than you, so you can call it Big Brother Xiao Hu.”
Having someone call an animal “big brother” was undoubtedly a little absurd, but in a small child’s fairy-tale world, it was perfectly reasonable.
Tang Rong blinked, looked at the butler, then at the fluffy little fox not far away, and obediently called out, “Big Brother Xiao Hu.”
Grandma had taught him that children had to be polite if they wanted people to like them.
She had also said that since he was good-looking, if he made his mouth a little sweeter, maybe some kind person would be willing to adopt him. If he got adopted, he would not have to go hungry anymore.
The little fox’s ears instantly shot upright. It proudly lifted its little head and wagged its nine fluffy tails behind it at him.
Little brother called it big brother!
The very first one to do so!
This ambush had been worth it!
If not for the chains restraining it, it would have wanted to pounce over right away and cuddle with its little brother.
The butler pressed on, “Would you like to try petting it?”
Among the early childhood education materials he had saved, it said that for children, touch was the best way to close the distance between one another—especially when touching the soft fluff of a beast form.
The little fox also wagged its tail even more happily in anticipation.
But Tang Rong quickly shook his head and instinctively took a step back, full of resistance.
That reaction was a bit unexpected.
Logically speaking, Little Young Master had come over on his own to see the little fox, listened to it sing, and even called it big brother. That should have meant he no longer resisted it. Why would he be unwilling to touch it? Could it be because he had been chased around just now and was still a little scared?
But no matter what, if Tang Rong did not want to, they definitely could not force him.
The butler immediately raised a hand and gently smoothed his back, coaxing him, “It’s alright. If you don’t want to pet it, then you don’t have to. Do you want to go back and watch cartoons?”
It seemed that the mention of touching the fox had frightened him. Tang Rong nodded quickly and was carried back to the children’s room by the butler.
On the soft mat, a certain fox looked at the backs of the two leaving figures and drooped its ears and tails lifelessly.
—Little brother actually refused to pet it!
It had nine tails. They were obviously so nice to touch!
It could even use its tails to braid all kinds of shapes. When it was little, the teacher had taught shadow play, using light to cast hand shadows on the wall to form different shapes. He had taken one example and applied it broadly, secretly learning “tail shadows,” using his flexible tails to make all kinds of shapes. Back then, Mother had praised him for it for a very long time.
Thinking of Mother, and combining it with the image of being rejected—“disliked”—by little brother, the little fox felt a wave of misery it had nowhere to vent. It extended its hooked claws and, in a fit of frustration, shredded the cushion beneath it to pieces.
The subordinate beside it: “…”
…
After settling Tang Rong back in his room, the butler gently closed the door before returning to Third Young Master’s room.
Unexpectedly, from a distance he saw that one of the subordinates was replacing a nest bed that had been clawed to shreds, cleaning up the debris on the floor, and preparing to put down a brand-new one.
Meanwhile, a certain fox had not yet retracted its claw hooks and was absentmindedly scratching at the floor.
Butler: “…”
The butler’s voice dropped slightly. “Tang Hu.”
The little fox’s tail instinctively shrank, and its little paws curled back in too.
Butler Uncle rarely called them by name. Every time he did, it was because they had made a mistake.
The butler pushed up his glasses. Between closing and opening his eyes, he had already returned to his usual gentle expression. He strode forward, crouched down, smoothed the fur on the little fox’s tail, and placed it onto the new nest bed, saying as he did, “This time the ship isn’t carrying that many supplies. Little Young Master may need them during the journey. We should save what we can.”
The little fox obediently curled up on the new nest bed and let out a little ying in response.
But inwardly, it could not help grumbling: What use would a human child have for this kind of nest bed?
Right after that, the butler used his fingertip to rub the spot the fox’s claws had just scraped. A few faint claw marks had already been left there.
“Do not damage the ship.”
“Ying.”
The little fox quickly tucked its paws beneath itself.
Once it got back to the main planet, it was going to buy several new scratching boards for foxes and sharpen its claws to its heart’s content.
After lecturing the little fox, the butler asked again, “How did you recover so quickly this time?”
A virtual light screen instantly appeared in front of the little fox, and a line of text slowly popped up across it: [I don’t know either. Maybe it’s because of the healing rune Little Uncle left behind?]
After typing that, the little fox raised its small head to show him the tiny charm bag hanging around its neck. Its fur was too long, so it was not easy to notice.
Inside the charm bag was a healing rune condensed from spiritual power.
Little Uncle almost never left him behind alone. Even when he did leave, he would prepare many healing runes in advance. Over the years, not a single accident had happened. This was the first time.
The butler nodded noncommittally. “Since you’re returning to the main planet this time, stay a while longer.”
The little fox curled back up again, resting its head on its tails. On the light screen, a single word slowly popped out: [Mm.]
In truth, it did not want to go back to the main planet.
But now that little brother had been found, no matter what, it had to go back and stay there for a while.
To prevent anyone from bullying its little brother.
…
After watching cartoons for a while, Tang Rong fell asleep again.
Children this age loved sleeping, and with his stomach nice and full, it became even easier to get drowsy.
Seeing that the clean, tidy little bed had already been smeared with a lot of dirt from him, Tang Rong thought about it and decided not to sleep on the bed anymore. Instead, he nestled into a corner again and closed his eyes.
Sleeping like that might not be comfortable for an ordinary child, but for Tang Rong, it was already very good—far better than sleeping in the broken, drafty, filthy crumbling buildings back on the junk planet.
The butler watched all of this through the monitor, but could not quite understand why Tang Rong no longer wanted to sleep on the bed, so he began discussing it with his subordinates.
Subordinate A said, “Maybe the bed is too big, so he doesn’t feel safe. Just now, when the ships bumped, Little Young Master woke up frightened while lying on the bed.”
Subordinate B said, “Maybe Little Young Master likes sleeping on the floor? My nephew hates sleeping on beds and always likes sprawling on the floor. We should have prepared a tatami earlier…”
Subordinate C glanced at a certain little fox’s curled-up nest bed and hesitantly suggested, “How about giving Little Young Master a cotton nest bed and seeing whether he likes it?”
The cotton nest bed was not small. It was big enough for little animals, and just the right size for a tiny human child too.
On the stellar internet, there were even adults who bought oversized dog beds for themselves. That fully wrapped, soft feeling was just too comfortable.
The butler nodded and decided to adopt Subordinate C’s suggestion.
Subordinate C immediately went to take care of it.
But very quickly, he returned empty-handed and said softly, “There are only two cotton nest beds on the ship. There aren’t any others.”
Before coming here, they had already heard that Little Young Master was very likely an ordinary person without a spirit form. Although they could not be one hundred percent certain, they had still focused most of their attention on arranging the children’s room, and had not prepared too many things suited to beast-form spirit bodies. They had only brought one or two as a matter of routine, just in case.
The butler somewhat regretfully adjusted his glasses. His gaze wandered around and finally landed on a certain little fox.
Their eyes met.
The little fox suddenly had a very bad feeling.
The butler strode over, picked up the little fox, and took away the brand-new nest bed it had not even had time to warm up yet.
The little fox, deprived of its nest bed: “…”
On the nest bed, the few strands of white fox fur clinging to it gradually dissolved into sparkling traces of spiritual power as the owner moved farther away, like tiny twinkling stars.
…
In the end, as compensation, the butler shared the surveillance feed of the children’s room with the little fox and carried it to the small sofa in another room.
The little fox’s mood improved a little. Resting its head on its tail, it stared without blinking at the little dirty dumpling on the virtual screen.
Little brother was so cute.
It did not mind sharing its nest bed with little brother at all. Besides, this nest bed had originally been prepared for little brother in the first place.
And from a beast’s perspective, now that it was stained with its own warmth and scent, it was actually quite happy to see little brother using the nest bed and getting covered all over with its smell.
…
Tang Rong was sleeping soundly, and the butler deliberately lightened his footsteps so as not to wake him.
The system possessed a short-range all-seeing perspective centered on its host, so it immediately noticed the butler’s approach.
Seeing that he was carrying a cotton nest bed, though not the very same one the little fox had been lying on earlier, it guessed that he thought sleeping on the floor would be uncomfortable for the host and wanted to place this thing on the ground for him to lie on, so it did not wake the host.
The butler carefully picked Tang Rong up, placed the cotton nest bed on the floor, and then gently set him down on it.
The child was so light that he could easily be supported with one hand. He was warm and dirty, like a little roasted sweet potato that had been charred on the outside.
There was still a trace of warmth left behind by the little fox on the cushion. After being set on it, the little one instinctively found a comfortable position in his sleep, curling up slightly and sleeping even more sweetly.
No allergic reaction appeared at all.
![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]")
