Chapter 265: Universal Planting System (4)

"Mommy?"

Perhaps seeing Xie Yang frowning and not looking happy, Xie Ting pulled back his small hands and timidly took half a step back.

Was Mommy angry with him?

"Mommy, Zai Zai will go stand in the corner right now."

Xie Yang pulled him into her arms and stroked his furry head: "Stand in the corner for what? From now on, there is no such thing as standing in the corner in our home. It was Mommy who was wrong before; Mommy apologizes to Zai Zai."

"Huh?"

The little beast cub opened his eyes wide, his ignorant little expression amusing Xie Yang.

She pinched his nose: "Alright, drink up quickly. Mommy already drank some while Zai Zai was sleeping; this cup is Zai Zai's."

"It's all Zai Zai's?"

"Yes! It's all for my precious Zai Zai."

The little guy stared at her blankly, then at the cup, and only after a long while did he lift the cup to continue drinking the delicious Nutrient Solution he had never tasted before in big gulps.

As he drank, he would look up at Xie Yang from time to time, seemingly wanting to discern her current mood from her expression.

Seeing that she was happy, he also happily curved his brows and eyes, and wagged his tail.

After he finished drinking, Xie Yang said: "Zai Zai, Mommy wants to go take a look at the dump. Are you staying home or..."

"Zai Zai will go with Mommy!"

Before Xie Yang could finish, the little guy slid down from Xie Yang's arms, stretched his limbs, and shook his fur: "Mommy, I'm ready!"

Xie Yang couldn't help but chuckle: "Alright! Then let's set off!"

"Set off!"

The little guy walked in front with his two short legs, looking spirited and proud.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, he had plenty of energy!

Xie Yang put on the cheap, heavy Anti-Radiation Suit that belonged to the original owner.

Xie Ting did not need to wear one. After being injected with the Gene Modification Potion, his blood contained genes that resisted radiation, so he did not need protection and did not have to worry about radiation issues.

This was perhaps the only thing that the failed-evolution Half-Beasts could feel comforted by.

Once prepared, the mother and son walked out of the house.

After walking about five hundred meters, they saw a shelter slightly larger than the Xie Family's.

"Xiya!"

"Xiya!"

Excited, the little cub put his hands on the ground and ran on all fours like a little beast, calling his friend's name as he ran.

"Tingting!"

Hearing the commotion, Xiya, a canine-type Half-Beast cub of the same age as Xie Ting, dashed out from the house:

"Tingting, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the dump with Mommy." The little guy held his head high, his childish voice filled with smugness, "Xiya, did you drink Nutrient Solution today? I did! Mommy mixed a whole cup for me; it's sweet and sour, and it's so delicious!"

Xiya's mouth watered upon hearing this: "Sweet and sour Nutrient Solution? What does that taste like?"

He had only ever drunk strange-tasting Nutrient Solution in his life.

The little cub couldn't answer that; he had only heard his mommy say it was called sweet and sour flavor.

So, he changed the subject: "Xiya, Mommy called me 'precious' today!"

However, Xiya's attention was still on the sweet and sour Nutrient Solution; what could being called something be more important than Nutrient Solution?

He shouted at the top of his lungs, turning his head toward his mother: "Mommy, Mommy! I want to drink sweet and sour Nutrient Solution too!"

"..."

Xie Yang silently covered her forehead.

She hadn't expected the little cub to show off just from drinking a cup of Nutrient Solution.

Hearing the commotion, Xiya Ma walked out of the house wearing a protective suit, and was very surprised to see Xie Yang.

According to her son, Tingting Ma had been very bad to Tingting recently, and she could roughly guess the reason.

When she first arrived at Garbage Star, she had also tried every method to return, even going so far as to sell the only valuable things she had to give her two sons the Gene Modification Potion; after it failed, she had once been so discouraged that she wanted to commit suicide.

So she could more or less understand how Tingting Ma felt, but Tingting Ma shouldn't have taken her frustration out on a young cub.

What fault did they have? The ones at fault were clearly adults like them who were anxious to change their difficult situation and return to a Habitable Star!

Seeing Tingting Ma walk out of the shelter today and take up her responsibilities as a mother again, Xiya Ma was happy for her and stepped forward to say:

"Tingting Ma, are you taking Tingting to the dump? That's a coincidence, I was planning to go too; why don't we go together? I'll go drive the Flying Vehicle to save some time."

Her family had an old light-energy Flying Vehicle of unknown ownership that they had scavenged from the dump; it could still be used after some repairs, so they hadn't sold it to the Recycling Station.

It was just that light-energy Flying Vehicles were better suited for planets with abundant light and superior air quality; while they could be used on Garbage Star, which was covered in wind and sand all year round, they were prone to breaking down.

Especially once the energy accumulator became less sensitive, it was common for it to fail to start.

However, as Xiya Ma had said, the weather was nice today, and she successfully started the Flying Vehicle.

The two little cubs were so happy that their furry tails wagged like little motors:

"Ooh! We get to ride the Flying Vehicle!"

"That's awesome!"

The original owner had often ridden Xiya's family's Flying Vehicle in previous years, but in the last year, she had been so devastated by the pain of not being able to return to Yilan Star that she had been filled with despair for life and hadn't been to the dump for a long time.

The Nutrient Solution had been obtained by the little cub scavenging through the dump and digging through the Waste Mining Area for scrap to trade.

It could be said that in the last year, Xie Ting, a little beast cub, had run to the dump more often than the original owner.

Seeing Xiya Ma drive out the Flying Vehicle he often rode in, the little guy wagged his tail frantically in excitement: "Mommy, this is the first time Zai Zai has ridden a Flying Vehicle with Mommy."

Xie Yang rubbed his head.

In fact, the original owner had taken him for a ride before the evolution failed, but he had forgotten.

She gently picked him up and stroked his fur: "Are you that happy? Then when Mommy has saved up enough Star Coins, I will also buy a Flying Vehicle, and then Mommy will take Zai Zai to play anywhere you want to go, okay?"

The little fellow suddenly widened his eyes, and the next second he shook his head sensibly: "No! Saving Star Coins is very hard work, Zai Zai doesn't want Mommy to be tired."

"Your little cub is truly sensible!"

When Xiya Ma parked the Flying Vehicle steadily and opened the cabin door to invite them up, she praised Xie Ting:

"The day before yesterday, he saw that I couldn't drag the scrap metal by myself, so he helped me carry it to the Recycling Station trip after trip. It was already dark when he came out. I wanted to invite him to my house to drink a Nutrient Solution before leaving, but the little fellow was worried you would be concerned, so no matter what I said, he wouldn't go. If it were my own cub, he wouldn't care whether his mother was worried or not."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yang flipped through the original owner's memories, and indeed, such a thing had happened.

That day, the little fellow arrived home late, and his hands were empty; he hadn't brought back any Star Coins or Nutrient Solution, so the original owner dragged him in front of the stove to stand as punishment.

The original owner finished her own Nutrient Solution and went to sleep.

The little fellow wasn't sure how long Mommy wanted him to stand, so he simply stood for the whole night, and even though his fur was almost scorched by the heat of the stove, he didn't step back.

The prolonged exposure to high-temperature roasting caused his physical strength to drain even faster, and without any Nutrient Solution to replenish it, he was so hungry the next morning that he saw stars.

Then, because the original owner found him an eyesore, she ordered him to get out...

As the memory reached this point, Xie Yang turned her head to look at her beast-cub son, who was sitting obediently by her side, her eyes filled with pity.

This silly boy, it turns out he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for two days.

No wonder he drank the Nutrient Solution so eagerly when she gave it to him earlier, even choking on a few mouthfuls.

Yet, even though he had been hungry for two days, he was still willing to share more than half of it for her to drink.

They say that children from poor families grow up early, but isn't this just a portrait of the hardships of life?