Chapter 28
After sending Tong Qiuxia away, peace finally returned to the house.
Xiong Yingjun looked thoroughly pleased with himself. “So? This old bear’s acting wasn’t bad, right?”
The little cub was very supportive and clapped enthusiastically. [Absolutely amazing! When we get back, have Brother Snake give you extra food!]
Si Youlin laughed helplessly. “Fine, fine. Three extra bowls of meat.”
He Yinghong stroked the little cub’s head. “Thank you, all of you.”
Although neither Xiong Yingjun nor Lin An’an had said it outright, He Yinghong could naturally tell that the two of them had put on that whole act in order to vent some anger on his behalf.
[No need to thank me, Grandpa He.] Lin An’an typed seriously, his little tentacles striking the light screen with a kind of righteous indignation. [I just don’t like him. I just wanted to target him!]
At the side, Bai Yue suddenly sneezed.
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw that at some point the little kitten had gone over beside the cloth bag. The sneeze had apparently been caused by the smell irritating her nose.
Bai Yang quickly caught his sister by the scruff and carried her away from the choking herbal smell.
Lin An’an bounced over. The moment he untied the cloth bag, he immediately turned his head away. “A-puh—”
The smell was truly rather choking. Part of it was because there were too many kinds of herbs all mixed together, but another reason was that these herbs had obviously not been stored properly. Mixed in with the clean bitterness of medicinal herbs were the sharp smells of dust and moldy dirt.
It was simply a criminal waste of good things!
Lin An’an closed the cloth bag again and huffed as he tried to drag it to a quieter corner to sort through the herbs. But after only a couple of steps, the bag—which was rather heavy for him—was lifted by someone else.
The little cub looked up and, just as expected, saw Brother Wolf’s handsome back.
After spending so much time together, Feng Wu could now more or less guess what the little cub meant. Without needing any explanation, he carried the bag into the empty living room, spread a tablecloth, and dumped all the herbs out onto it.
The pungent moldy dust smell spread instantly. Lin An’an followed behind Feng Wu, but before the musty dust could reach him, a pair of large hands scooped him up securely and carried him away from the living room.
Feng Wu quickly opened the windows and used his mental power to sweep the choking smell out of the room.
The little cub hid safely in Feng Wu’s palm, not getting so much as a trace of the moldy dust on him.
He Yinghong’s expression was not very good. “Not a single thing I taught him stuck. He even forgot the most basic fundamentals of storing herbs…”
Lin An’an thought to himself that it probably wasn’t a matter of forgetting at all—more like he had never cared.
Even a complete outsider, upon seeing rare greenery, ought to think first of storing it in a freshness-preserving pouch, not in some lousy cloth bag.
Although a freshness pouch was not the best possible storage method either, it was still infinitely better than this ragged bag.
He Yinghong might say aloud that he looked down on “defective goods,” but seeing medicinal herbs treated this way still made his chest feel tight. He crouched down and slowly began sorting through them.
Lin An’an noticed that He Yinghong’s hands had started trembling again.
It was the kind of fine trembling with only a small range of motion, but if one were doing delicate work, it would greatly increase the difficulty.
—Was that bubble-headed idiot talking about this when he said Grandpa He had lost his ability to make medicine?
The little cub climbed out of Feng Wu’s palm and bounced over to He Yinghong’s side.
As for seizing Tong Qiuxia’s herbs, Lin An’an felt not even the slightest bit guilty. In fact, he felt completely justified.
How could this possibly count as robbing? These scraps still weren’t enough to count as compensation for Grandpa He’s emotional damages!
“They’re all things with no great use,” He Yinghong said as he picked through them. He had long since been mentally prepared for this. “This bag was prepared for an old man like me—just a pile of scraps. The better-quality herbs are probably all on him.”
Lin An’an felt rather regretful.
If he had known, he would have had Brother Bear snatch the terminal too and thoroughly loot that bubble-headed idiot’s terminal space. There definitely would have been plenty of good things hidden in there.
The little cub grumbled inwardly while helping He Yinghong sort through the messy herb pile.
Herbs useless to humans but capable of knocking out aberrant beasts; herbs that some herbivorous aberrant beasts liked to eat because they replenished trace elements; herbs with a very strange taste that could somewhat drive away aberrant beasts…
One glance over the pile and there was not a single thing actually meant for human use.
The little cub was dumbstruck. He thought to himself that that bubble-headed guy had even fewer principles than he had imagined.
He Yinghong, however, seemed in a decent mood. “At least he didn’t just give me a pile of wild weeds.”
He continued sorting the herbs into categories: those that might be usable in one pile, and those that were completely useless in another.
Lin An’an sorted alongside him. As he worked, he suddenly noticed one herb with little fruits on it being thrown into the useless pile.
…It looked a little familiar?
The little cub fished the herb back out and stared at it for quite a while with his bead-black eyes.
He Yinghong noticed his hesitation. “What’s wrong, Baby An?”
Lin An’an said nothing. He was still trying hard to identify what exactly the thing was.
“That one’s for aberrant beasts,” He Yinghong explained, assuming the cub didn’t recognize it. “These little fruits help regulate their digestion. Two fruits if they’ve got diarrhea, bloating, or constipation.”
There was a ninety-nine percent chance they would never use this herb. Not a single person present kept an aberrant beast as a pet.
But the little cub’s eyes suddenly lit up.
So that was why it had looked familiar! The roots of this herb were a top-grade amplifying medicinal material. Back in the day, he had even called it an “amplification miracle herb”!
The herb in front of them had been cut cleanly across the middle, and the root portion he was most familiar with was completely missing. That was why Lin An’an had failed to recognize it at first glance.
But that wasn’t a big problem. These fruits could be used to extract seeds. And as long as there were seeds, why would he need to worry about the most important root portion?
He Yinghong was a bit puzzled. He didn’t understand why the little cub was staring at an aberrant beast “anti-diarrhea herb” with shining eyes. “Baby An?”
Seeing his reaction, Lin An’an naturally understood that He Yinghong knew nothing about the roots.
After hearing the cub’s explanation, He Yinghong’s eyes widened with shock. “It actually has that kind of effect too?”
He quickly pulled out the encyclopedia of medicinal materials he had collected and found the entry for this herb, which was called Iron-Whisker Grass. But nowhere in the notes was there any mention of the roots.
Lin An’an leaned in to look as well and thought to himself that the ancient pharmaceutical knowledge of this world was honestly not very impressive. Even an “amplification miracle herb” had no proper place in the records.
Although the book didn’t mention it, He Yinghong did not doubt Lin An’an’s words.
He watched the little cub carefully set aside the Iron-Whisker Grass and continue sorting the remaining herbs with practiced ease. A sudden wave of feeling rose in his heart.
Back when they had first met, he had actually entertained the thought of taking Baby An as a disciple. Looking at things now, perhaps it would make more sense for Baby An to be his teacher instead.
He Yinghong did not know where the little cub had learned all this, but the universe was vast—there was always someone better, always a higher sky beyond the sky. Perhaps some unknown little planet had preserved ancient pharmaceutical techniques in a remarkably complete form.
That was precisely the sort of thing He Yinghong loved to see. He wished with all his heart that the entire interstellar world would value ancient pharmaceutical techniques and keep passing down this ancient, wondrous, and deeply fascinating field.
The unexpected surprise put Lin An’an in an excellent mood.
After they finished sorting the herbs, He Yinghong packed up the useful ones and handed them over to the little cub.
Lin An’an accepted them and said, [After I extract the seeds and grow new plants, I’ll transplant them into Grandpa He’s yard.]
He Yinghong nodded with a smile, and the gloom in his heart caused by Tong Qiuxia’s appearance was swept away in an instant.
Everyone went up together to the sky terrace. After planting the little daisy seeds Lin An’an had brought, the sky had turned completely dark.
It was time to go home and rest. But before that…
The little cub suddenly bounced up onto He Yinghong’s head. Before the old man could react, the little cub’s soft little tentacle smacked down and pressed firmly against his forehead.
He Yinghong froze. It was only when a flash of green light flickered before his eyes that he realized the little cub was examining his body.
Instinctively, he wanted to dodge away, but the little cub made a very serious sound. “Yingji!”
Most of the sternness in that serious tone was washed away by the baby-soft voice. He Yinghong found it a little funny, and in the end he did not dodge.
A moment later, Lin An’an withdrew his hand and asked, [Grandpa He, is your Alpha symptom ability stagnation?]
He Yinghong admitted it frankly. “Yes.”
The little cub nodded in understanding. That explained why Tong Qiuxia had said he had “lost the ability to make medicine,” and why Grandpa He had not denied it.
Ability stagnation was a form of ability dysfunction. It differed from Shi Xiaoxing’s gradual weakening and disappearance of ability: in ability stagnation, the user’s power did not disappear or weaken, but the ability-user could no longer release it.
In simpler terms, one still had a body full of ability—but couldn’t use it.
And He Yinghong’s current condition was exactly that. Too much ability had built up inside him, to the point that it was pressing on the nerves in his hands. When his emotions were calm, things were more or less manageable; but the moment he got even a little agitated, the uncontrollable trembling would begin.
In the end, it all still came down to Alpha.
Immediately, Lin An’an pulled out a whole box of healing fruits and vegetables. [Eat!]
He Yinghong laughed helplessly. “My Alpha symptom isn’t that serious. You’d better save these for Xiao Si and Xiao Feng.”
The little cub was immensely rich in spirit and completely brooked no refusal. [Eat! And when they’re gone, there’ll be more! As much as you want!]
Seeing the little cub’s determined black eyes, He Yinghong’s heart warmed. He did not refuse again, but a trace of bitter sighing rose in him all the same.
The child he had poured his energy and time into raising for half his life still did not compare to a cub he had only known for a short while.
Thinking about it that way made the whole of his life feel…
For a moment, He Yinghong couldn’t find the right word to describe it. After quietly musing over it for a bit, he softly said to Lin An’an, “From now on, if there’s ever anything you need help with, as long as this old man can still move, come to me.”
The little cub patted him with a tentacle and chirped happily, “Yingji!”
In the end, Tong Qiuxia still didn’t go to the inn He Yinghong had mentioned.
Not because he didn’t want to, but because by the time he got there, the last room in the place had just been taken.
This wretched place didn’t even have a navigation system. Tong Qiuxia could only stop strangers to ask for directions, and he wandered around until late at night before finally finding a shabby inn to stay in.
There was no temperature regulator, the soundproofing was terrible, and the insect chirping outside was so loud he tossed and turned without being able to sleep.
After dawn the next day, Tong Qiuxia received a message from He Yuanwang.
He Yuanwang: [Did you see him?]
Tong Qiuxia: [I saw him. He threw me out.]
He Yuanwang: [Heh. Just as expected.]
He Yuanwang: [You can play around on Sin Star if you want. Do whatever you like. Just don’t forget the mission.]
Tong Qiuxia: [Don’t worry. I won’t forget.]
Tong Qiuxia: [I’m already looking forward to that day. [sharpening knife jpg]]
After packing up his things, Tong Qiuxia prepared to head for the inner city.
On the public hover bus in the outer city, he overheard two people in the front seats discussing something.
“…livestream, so cute…”
“Baby An’s tomatoes… I absolutely have to grab some this afternoon!”
Tong Qiuxia had not been paying attention to their topic at first, but then one of them raised their terminal screen—and from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the enlarged little black dumpling on the screen.
—Wasn’t that the damn brat from yesterday, the one who splashed him with a balloon, soaked him from head to toe, and stole his whole bag of herbs?!
Even though those herbs had all been scraps, being snatched for no reason still left Tong Qiuxia boiling with anger.
He adjusted his facial expression, then lightly patted one of them on the shoulder. “Excuse me, I just heard you mention tomatoes… may I ask where tomatoes are being sold?”
The other person had been talking excitedly and felt a flash of annoyance at being interrupted—but the moment he turned around and saw the round-faced young man’s delicate features, that trace of irritation vanished at once.
With one highly deceptive smile, Tong Qiuxia successfully extracted all the information he wanted about “Baby An.”
A Sin Star livestream… was it?
Interesting.
In the blink of an eye, several more days passed. Zhuang Yi sent a message saying that the first modified farming mech was already finished.
Feng Wu immediately took the little cub to the secondhand repair shop.
There were no customers in the shop, only Zhuang Yi sitting on the floor by himself. A blueprint covered in draft lines was spread out on the ground before him.
When he saw them arrive, he pointed toward the room behind him. “It’s inside. As soon as you enter, you’ll see it.”
From the outside, the mech in the room did not look all that different from the base-model mech Feng Wu had provided.
Zhuang Yi came over holding the blueprints, gave them a verbal explanation of the modifications, then had Feng Wu put on the mech, saying he would demonstrate it for them in the farm fields.
The modified farming mech fit the little cub’s tastes almost perfectly. It looked like an ordinary mech at first glance, but it contained almost every function imaginable.
Even in the more agriculturally advanced worlds Lin An’an had been to in the past, he had never seen such an all-in-one farming mech.
That inevitably made the little cub feel rather strange.
After Zhuang Yi finished demonstrating the mech’s functions, he jumped down from the cockpit. His body unconsciously tilted to one side, but he quickly steadied himself again.
The side he tilted toward was precisely the side with the mechanical prosthetic leg.
Zhuang Yi asked, “Well?”
The little cub clapped enthusiastically. [Satisfied! Extremely satisfied!]
“Good,” Zhuang Yi said. “At the moment only one has been finished. The rest will be delivered to you in batches.”
Feng Wu nodded. “Alright.”
Zhuang Yi said, “Will you be home tomorrow? I need to use the treatment pod.”
“You can use it right now,” Feng Wu said. “We brought the treatment pod with us.”
The little cub perched on his shoulder unconsciously puffed out his chest. It had been his idea to bring it along. The most thoughtful little cub in the entire galaxy was indeed him!
Zhuang Yi thanked them. “Then now is fine.”
Since it was inconvenient to use the treatment pod out in the field, Feng Wu led him to the small villa built within the farm.
“Still full-body treatment mode?” he asked.
Zhuang Yi nodded and lay down in the treatment pod with practiced ease. As the hatch closed, it accidentally caught the slightly loose leg of his work pants and tugged it up just a little.
Feng Wu and Lin An’an both froze.
It was indeed a mechanical prosthetic, but it was not quite like the common kinds.
Feng Wu couldn’t quite explain what felt off about it, but Lin An’an had dealt with many mechanical prosthetics before and immediately saw the problem.
The material of Zhuang Yi’s prosthetic was strange.
Professional instinct made Lin An’an subconsciously want a better look. He wanted to study what sort of material it actually was. But in the very next second, Zhuang Yi moved his leg and the pant leg slipped back down over his ankle.
…This was bad. He had been caught peeking.
The little cub was so embarrassed he immediately typed out an apology.
Zhuang Yi shook his head to indicate it was fine, but he made no move to explain anything and simply closed his eyes inside the treatment pod.
Seeing that, no matter how curious Lin An’an was, he could only suppress the urge to look further into it.
Everyone had their own secrets. If he wanted to be friends, then it was better not to pry too deeply.
On the second day after obtaining the farming mech, Lin An’an called Shi Xiaoxing back from her long vacation.
This time, as the farm owner, Lin An’an actually got up early for once and managed to arrive at the farm before Shi Xiaoxing.
Though only by a few minutes.
When Shi Xiaoxing walked into the farm, she opened both her arms as if to embrace the place. “After waiting so long, I’m finally back!”
The little cub typed: [Can you come a little later in the future?]
Shi Xiaoxing looked puzzled. “Why?”
The little cub replied: [Because the way you act makes me, the boss, look way too lazy!]
Shi Xiaoxing covered her mouth and laughed. There was no way to hide the light in her eyes. “Can’t help it. I really love this place. And in a couple of days, I’ll be moving into the farm to live here. So even if you come earlier, you still won’t beat me.”
Lin An’an: “……”
Right.
He had almost forgotten about that.
Lin An’an sighed and decided that from now on, he would simply skip over this subject and continue slacking off as a wonderfully lazy boss.
The livestream began.
[Ahhhhhh, Xingxing and Baby An are finally streaming together again!]
[Xingxing’s been on break for so long, I was starting to think Baby An had fired her. [hahaha jpg]]
[It’d be great if she got fired. Once Xingxing leaves, I’m going to apply for a job at the farm. [doge jpg]]
[That’s a bit too much, isn’t it? At least take me with you. [cat peeking jpg]]
[It’s the long-awaited farm! Is Happy Farm finally about to officially open?! [rubbing hands excitedly jpg]]
[Apples! Apples!! Apples!!!]
Lin An’an typed: [That’s right! We’re about to start turning the soil and planting seeds!]
The farm had already been fitted with an external constant-temperature system. No matter how hot the weather got, once the system was turned on, the entire farm would automatically regulate the temperature. Anyone within the system’s range would always feel the temperature most suitable for the human body.
Lin An’an took the farming mech out of his terminal space. [Today’s task is to teach you how to use this!]
Shi Xiaoxing froze. “A-a mech?”
The little cub puffed out his chest proudly. [That’s right!]
For people who farmed, this mech was absolutely one of the greatest inventions of the century. Everyone who used it gave it glowing reviews!
Shi Xiaoxing’s expression turned a little strange. “Baby An, do people who farm really also need to learn how to pilot a mech?”
[Hahaha I’m really going to die laughing. Xingxing’s expression is too funny. [Xingxing confused jpg]]
[Seriously though, where did this mech even come from, hhhhh]
[Farmers these days are so intense. Not only do they need to know how to farm, they also need to know how to pilot mechs. [pupil earthquake jpg]]
[Just from the outside, isn’t this only the most basic type of mech? What’s the point of learning this?]
Lin An’an wore a solemn face. [This is no ordinary mech. This is a modified farming mech.]
The little cub launched into a long, enthusiastic explanation, but seeing that Shi Xiaoxing still looked baffled, he simply had her sit inside the cockpit and started demonstrating personally.
The hatch closed. Neither of their virtual cameras managed to follow in time; both cameras slammed against the door with two loud thunks and were bounced off by the defensive system on the hatch.
The virtual cameras drifted away wobbling. Unable to find their target, they simply selected the nearest available subject and started filming that instead.
[Baby An! You forgot us! [wronged jpg]]
[Virtual camera: Let me in! Let me in!!! [thunk thunk banging on door gif]]
In the footage, the giant metal figure that had been standing silently in place suddenly moved.
Both mechanical arms of the mech transformed rapidly. The chest, belly, and back sections also opened up, revealing their inner configurations.
Automatic tillers, automatic seeders, automatic harvesters—everything one could want was there.
The person seated inside the mech only needed to move a finger. And if they didn’t even want to move that much, they could connect directly to the mental-power sensor and issue commands to the mech with mental instructions alone, easily completing the entire farming process.
Inside the cockpit, Shi Xiaoxing was utterly dumbfounded. “Th-this is way too incredible, isn’t it?!”
The little cub happily typed: [All-in-one farming mech—you deserve to have one!]
After the mech finished its performance, the people in the livestream were also left stunned.
[Holy shit, what kind of insane thing is this? [pupil earthquake jpg]]
[T-this is the fusion of mechs and farming?! This is way too magical!!!]
[Quiet question: can this thing be mass-produced? It looks so convenient!]
[Mass production wouldn’t help anyway. Not everyone can make seeds sprout effortlessly like Baby An. [shrug jpg]]
[Whether I farm or not doesn’t matter. I just want a mech exactly like Baby An’s. [hehe jpg]]
[A mech that knows how to farm—saying that out loud would be insanely impressive. [Baby An proudly puffing out chest jpg]]
Shi Xiaoxing had never piloted a mech before, so she picked it up rather slowly. Fortunately, Zhuang Yi had simplified the operating mode of the mech to an extreme degree. After a full day of practice, Shi Xiaoxing’s movements already looked quite convincing.
When the day’s livestream ended, Lin An’an—who was currently soaking in a small wooden tub—received a message from Ying Youyou.
Lin An’an typed: [Rising Star Showcase?]
Ying Youyou replied: [That’s right. Any streamer who signed within the last three months can participate. The one who takes first place in the end will receive generous rewards.]
Lin An’an immediately became interested.
Ying Youyou explained that the early elimination rounds of the Rising Star Showcase only required the participants to stream normally during the designated competition period. The system would automatically eliminate or promote people based on comprehensive data such as livestream popularity.
The elimination stage would last for three days. Three days later, the five streamers with the highest popularity would move on to the final round.
The final round was also quite simple. The five finalists would each choose their own theme and go live at the same time, and the final ranking would be determined by each livestream’s popularity at the end.
The top three would receive rewards. Fourth and fifth place would unfortunately be eliminated with nothing.
The whole competition did not take much time and required no extra effort. If he managed to break into the top three, he would even get a reward. Faced with such a good deal, Lin An’an naturally would not miss it, and immediately asked Ying Youyou to sign him up.
Ying Youyou replied with an ok, then added: [By the way, Changfeng signed a new streamer over the past two days. That streamer’s popularity is rising very fast. If you have time, you might want to keep an eye on him.]
Lin An’an typed: [Okay.]
Then: [What kind of streamer is he?]
Ying Youyou replied: [An entertainment streamer. But his style of entertainment is quite novel—it has something to do with ancient pharmaceutical arts.]
Ancient pharmaceutical arts?
Lin An’an’s eyelid twitched.
Ying Youyou added: [The streamer’s name is Tong Qiuxia.]
Lin An’an: “……”
Ah.
So this was what they called enemies meeting on a narrow road?
Seeing the name alone was enough to make him mad. The little cub smacked one tentacle down hard—but forgot that he was currently bathing. His other tentacle slipped, and the whole cub went splash straight into the tub.
Lin An’an panicked. His little tentacles flailed wildly as he tried to grab the edge of the wooden tub, but because he was too flustered, he failed to catch anything at all.
Outside the bathroom, Feng Wu heard the loud splash and frowned, knocking on the door. “Baby An?”
Inside the tub, the little cub struggled. “Glub glub ah-puh-puh… glub-lulu!!!”
Feng Wu pushed the door open and instantly spotted the little black dumpling struggling in the small water tub that wasn’t even half the height of a human.
He froze for one second, then gave a light cough and stepped forward to scoop the drowned little cub up into his hands. But there was simply no hiding the laughter in his golden eyes.
The little cub caught the smile at the corners of Feng Wu’s mouth: “……”
He curled up his little tentacles and buried himself deeply—very deeply—into Feng Wu’s palm.
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