Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The camera shook, but the chaotic scene the fans anticipated did not occur.

Yun Ge did indeed take a hard fall on the ground. After getting up, he was covered in dirt, his cute, round face was scratched and wrinkled in pain, making even the viewers wince.

However, the multi-jointed mechanical arm did not blow up the wall. The explosion sound rang out, but the wall was left unscathed. The mechanical arm was thrown back by the recoil, landing on the ground with one of its arms broken.

The loud noise made the whole house shake for a few seconds, yet the house remained unscathed.

[Although we should be more concerned about the kid right now, I’m really curious about what material the host’s house is made of?]

[Is the temporary lord’s mansion this sturdy?]

[It’s not the temporary lord’s mansion, is it? Did the host build the house with mecha materials?]

[I’m really confused. When I thought the host was rich, she didn’t even have basic living conditions. When I thought she was poor, she always seemed like the richest person in the galaxy.]

[What a weird host.]

Yun Ge didn’t have time to check the live chat. He hurriedly turned off the live stream, hid the streaming device, and ignored the scratches on his face and legs. With the four little ones in tow, he stealthily cracked the door open and peeked towards Yun Wan’s room.

Seeing that Yun Wan’s room was still closed, all five of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

“Phew, that’s good…”

“Good what?” Yun Wan crossed her arms, calmly looking at the five little ones lined up from tallest to shortest in the door crack.

She wanted to pretend she didn’t hear it, but the noise was just too loud. Even Professor Luo came over to ask about it. Moreover, there were indeed some things she needed to clarify with Yun Ge.

These days, she’s been so busy with the vegetable crisis and making vermicelli that she neglected Yun Ge and made him worry as well.

Yun Ge was a precocious child. Even if she didn’t say anything, he could pick up on her subtle mood changes and tell she was facing difficulties. Her recent busyness and fatigue seemed to him like “frowning” and “being sick,” and he even imagined the worst-case scenario—that she’d lost her ability to make money.

His approach was way more mature than other kids his age. He decided to step up and take on the responsibility of supporting the family.

Yun Wan didn’t know whether to feel proud or sad.

Yun Ge was way too mature for his age.

It’s true what they say—kids from poor families grow up fast.

But Yun Wan thought, she needed to tell Yun Ge that they’d never go back to those days of not having enough to eat or wear, or a stable place to live.

That’ll never happen again!

“Sister!” Yun Ge shot to his feet, his little hands clutching the dusty edge of his shirt.

“I… I… the mecha…” He tried to explain, but the panic of being caught left him stumbling over his words.

“Yun Ge, I saw it.” Yun Wan pulled up her smart device. The streaming device was synced to two devices, so her smart device was directly linked to Yun Ge’s live stream.

Hearing her words, Yun Ge lowered his head.

“I wanted to help… I’m sorry, sister…”

Yun Wan crouched down, gently looking into his eyes, and said, “Yun Ge, don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, I should thank you for working so hard to help me make money.”

“R-really? I helped?” Yun Ge looked up uncertainly.

Seeing Yun Wan nod in confirmation, he flashed a half-smile.

"But next time, don’t keep secrets from your sister and try to handle things on your own, okay?" Yun Wan changed the subject.

"Okay!"

Yun Ge’s voice perked up.

"And don’t bottle things up. You can always come to me, got it?" Yun Wan spoke earnestly. "These past few days, did you think we couldn’t make a living selling vegetables?"

After Yun Ge nodded, Yun Wan continued, "Silly, there’s no shortage of buyers for our veggies, but I’ve got other plans—that’s why I’m holding off! Remember that sour and spicy noodle dish? I’m going to turn it into a goldmine!"

"Do you trust me?"

Yun Ge nodded heavily, "I believe! Sister is the smartest!"

"Exactly, so stop worrying! You don’t need to carry such a heavy load—it’ll stunt your growth, got it?"

"Mm! I won’t earn money—I’ll help you earn it!"

"Hahaha, you’re already helping out! Don’t you water the peach tree every day?"

After sorting out Yun Ge’s worries, Yun Wan turned her attention to the four little ones trying to stay out of sight.

Under Yun Wan’s spotlight-like gaze, Miao Miao flicked her tail uncomfortably, pretending not to know the others, and slinked away. Ah Huang fluffed her wings, using her small size to her advantage, and tried to sneak back into the coop. Wang Wang, as usual, had his tongue out, and if you didn’t spot the Green Snake tucked under his fur, you’d think he was just a harmless big dog.

"Stop!" Yun Wan stood up, hands on her hips.

The four little ones froze in place, like robots obeying a command.

"Don’t you think you owe me some answers?"

Catching the hint in Yun Wan’s tone, Miao Miao, hoping it was just a passing comment, rubbed against her leg.

"Meow~"

Her tone was sweet and pleading.

Yun Wan wasn’t fooled.

She sat on the couch, the four little ones standing in a row before her.

"You can understand me, can’t you? Don’t bother denying it—I’m certain you’re not real animals!"

The four little ones stayed quiet, occasionally sneaking glances at her face.

Yun Wan put on a stern expression and asked, "What’s your game, disguising as animals and coming to Shennong Star?"

She expected it would take some coaxing to get them to talk, but Yellow Chick shot back:

"We’re not pretending! We were here first! We’ve been on Shennong Star for seven years!"

Yellow Chick’s voice was soft but firm, sounding youthful.

The other three, seeing her speak, grew anxious.

"Ah Huang!"

But their warnings didn’t stop Yellow Chick from talking to Yun Wan.

"Ah Huang? Is that really your name?" Yun Wan asked with a smile.

"Yep, because I’m yellow! Meet Miao Miao, Se Se, and Wang Wang."

Yun Wan noticed these little creatures—no, these sentient beings she called beastmen—had simple names, often based on their colors or animal forms.

"How did you... become aware?"

Silence followed Yun Wan’s question.

Noticing their silence, Yun Wan tried a different question.

"How old are you?"

"By human standards, we’re five, six, and seven years old!"

Yellow Chick’s answer likely covered the ages of all four.

Realizing they were just kids, Yun Wan’s heart softened, and her voice grew gentle.

"Relax, I just want to get to know you. How else can we live together?"

"So... we can really stay together?"

Miao Miao spoke up, her white whiskers twitching. Her voice, much like her meows, could shift from aloof to sweetly clingy.

"If you want to stay, you can," Yun Wan said. "As the lord of Shennong Star, I’ll take care of you. But when you’re older, you’ll need to contribute to the planet. Sound fair? Since you’re still young, talk it over with your guardians."

At the mention of guardians, the four fell silent once more.

"Wait, are you... off the grid?"

Yun Wan’s eyes widened in surprise.

In this age of interstellar travel, being undocumented is almost unheard of.

But given their unique situation, it made sense they’d be undocumented.

A quick search on Starnet revealed no records of beastmen—they were anomalies, unrecognized and without rights.

Yun Wan couldn’t help but wonder how they’d come into existence and what their lives had been like before meeting her.

The planet held more mysteries than she’d ever imagined.

*

The grand halls of the Kex Empire Palace.

The Empress’s birthday was celebrated with two banquets: one broadcast across the stars, and an exclusive one for the Four Great Families and royalty.

This was the private banquet, where guests brought lavish gifts, each announced with fanfare.

Unlike the earlier gifts, which were quietly stored away, these were publicly displayed—a matter of pride and prestige.

As guests settled in, the announcements of gifts filled the air.

"From the Qin family: a pair of luxury beauty creams and a top-tier mecha core!"

"The Yun family offers a bounty of sweet potatoes and a fleet of advanced combat mechas!"

Before the banquet even began, the guests started discussing the names of the gifts they had heard.

"Oh my, the Qin family sent anti-aging cream! It's so hard to get! Mrs. Qin, I’ve been trying to buy that cream for so long, but I never managed to get it. Could you give me some tips?"

"Is it really that hard to get? Not really, the anti-aging cream was developed by a friend of mine," Mrs. Qin said casually.

Her relaxed demeanor made the lady who had asked envious.

"As expected of the Qin family’s main branch! Your connections and resources are so vast!"

The flattery made Mrs. Qin feel very pleased.

However, the lady was soon distracted by something else.

"The Yun family sent yams? What are yams? As expected of the Yun family, always managing to get their hands on hard-to-find items!"

She praised the Yun family, and Mrs. Qin didn’t mind, after all, who wouldn’t envy the Yun family? Who wouldn’t want to be the Yun family!

But then she heard something! Yams! Weren’t those the subpar products with illegal additives that her rebellious daughter had grown?!

Mrs. Qin wasn’t sure, so she carefully asked Mrs. Yun, "These yams, they weren’t grown by someone named Yun Wan, were they?"

"Most likely, Shuangshuang bought them from her classmate, from a place called Shennong Star."

Yun Shuang was also present and confirmed the origin of the yams.

Mrs. Qin instantly found her moment.

She felt as if the heavens had handed her a perfect opportunity to shine in front of the royal family.

Of course, she wouldn’t speak ill of the lady of the Yun family, but she would regretfully blame Yun Shuang, "Oh dear! Mrs. Yun, your daughter is so naive! Haven’t you seen the news online? The vegetables from Shennong Star are contaminated! Many people have gotten sick from eating them!"

Many members of the Four Great Families hadn’t paid attention to a small planet, but some on the periphery knew about this, and some were even fans of Shennong Star.

Hearing Mrs. Qin say this, they wanted to refute her, but unfortunately, there was no place for small figures like them to speak.

However, they weren’t entirely powerless, and they decided never to support the Qin family’s business again!

Fortunately, even though they didn’t have a chance to speak, the Yun family defended Shennong Star.

"That’s not true, the yams are quite delicious, you must have it wrong."

"How could that be?! Everyone online is saying this! Mrs. Yun, you don’t have to feel embarrassed, it’s normal for things bought online to have issues, just don’t be so trusting next time."

The young aristocrats like Yun Shuang were originally seated at another table, but the commotion from the adults was too loud to ignore.

Seeing Yun Shuang’s upset expression, Qin Yan thought she was upset about giving a poor gift and, feeling quite smug, comforted her:

"Shuangshuang, it’s okay, just don’t trust Yun Wan next time. Our family even supported her financially, but she turned out to be ungrateful, always complaining that we didn’t give her enough. She’s just greedy, it’s no surprise she’d do something like this!"

"Really? We even donated things to her out of pity!"

"Just consider it throwing it to the dogs!"

As a result, Yun Shuang’s expression grew darker and darker.

"Has no one ever told you not to spread rumors or accuse others without knowing the facts?!"