IBO -Chapter 139 Sour Little Joke

This novel contains sensitive and taboo content like R*pe, Mu**er etc. Read only if you are comfortable.

Interstellar Empire, Planet C, Nursery.

The evening sun bathed the nursery yard in a golden glow. Song Yiran returned once more to the familiar nursery.

The children were already hopping and skipping happily around the yard. Colorful little furballs gathered to play, leaving fur scattered everywhere.

The fluttering fur spread through the air. At that moment, a gust of wind blew, covering Song Yiran’s face with fur.

Xiao Zhong’er also got a face full of fur. Even worse, he hadn’t closed his mouth and ended up eating a mouthful of it.

“Ah, ptooey ptooey ptooey!” Xiao Zhong’er spat out the fur while complaining: “Why is there so much fur? Are they shedding?”

Song Yutu, seeing the little ones bouncing around the yard, knew a “battle” was about to start, so he closed his mouth in advance.

Sure enough, the little ones began roughhousing as soon as they entered the yard, leaving the ground covered in fur.

Fortunately, he was smart—otherwise, he would be spitting out fur like Xiao Zhong’er!

Song Yiran wiped the fur off his face: “I don’t think it’s shedding season yet.”

He was puzzled. Why were they losing so much fur?

If he collected all the shed fur, it might even be enough to make a sweater.

The children continued happily playing in the yard. As they moved, the fur in the air increased until it looked like a colorful snowstorm.

Song Yiran realized that if this kept up, the children might go bald, so he quickly went over to stop them.

“Hey, kids, do you want to help brother renovate the yard?”

The children were immediately intrigued. Song Buli asked curiously: “Renovate the yard? Brother, what does that mean?”

Song Yiran smiled and explained: “Don’t you think our yard looks a bit empty? I want to make some changes—plant some pretty flowers, some fruit trees, and maybe some vegetables too!”

“Yay! We want to help brother renovate the yard!”

The big yard renovation activity began. All tools and plants for this event were generously provided by Xiao Zhong’er.

Song Yiran, Xiao Zhong’er, and Song Yutu each held a large shovel, while Song Buli and the others had small children’s shovels.

They started with planting flowers. Song Yiran first planted small flowering plants.

He had acquired ever-blooming small flowers from Xiao Zhong’er.

Some of these plants could cause discomfort to humans, but the ones Xiao Zhong’er provided were all harmless, posing no threat to humans or animals.

Next, everyone dug in the yard, planting a large number of daffodils, hyacinths, lavender, violets, snapdragons, spider lilies, lilies of the valley, balsams, azaleas, peonies, paeonies, chrysanthemums, night-blooming cereus, marguerites, orchids, and more.

Then came planting trees. Trees required bigger, deeper holes. Adult-sized shovels could dig deep, but the children’s small shovels couldn’t.

The children worked hard with their little shovels, but could only manage shallow holes.

Song Fu glanced at the small shallow hole he had dug, then at the deep hole Song Yutu had dug.

If he relied on himself alone, he didn’t know how long it would take to dig a proper hole.

Song Fu’s eyes twinkled—he had a brilliant idea!

He gathered the little friends struggling with shallow holes and said solemnly: “If we only rely on ourselves, we can only dig small holes. But if we combine our strength, we can dig holes as deep as adults can!”

He suggested they all gather around the same hole, working together to make it deeper and larger.

The children agreed, huddling around a single small hole, digging together with their little shovels.

After much effort, they finally dug a big, deep hole!

And what was the cost?

After Song Yiran dug a few holes and caught his breath, he turned to see a group of filthy children covered in mud.

The children ran over to show off: “Brother! Brother! Look! We dug a big hole!”

Song Yiran didn’t scold them for getting dirty. Instead, he crouched down and patted each of their heads.

“Wow! Brother sees it! You’re amazing, digging such a big hole! Truly little hole-digging experts!”

Song Yiran smiled as he encouraged the children, showing no complaint about their dirty little selves.

Getting dirty was no big deal—just a matter of washing clothes and taking a bath. At worst, he’d wash a few extra items in the evening. As long as the children were happy, that was all that mattered!

Song Yutu had dug more than a dozen big holes on his own, while Xiao Zhong’er had dug several as well. Seeing this, they came over hoping for some praise.

Xiao Zhong’er put his hands on his hips: “I dug quite a few holes too! Shouldn’t I get some praise?”

“Brother, I dug lots of holes too!” Song Yutu looked at Song Yiran expectantly.

Song Yiran treated them all equally, patting their heads and adding praise: “I see it, you’re all amazing! Truly little digging experts! Everyone did a great job!”

After the praise session ended, it was time to plant.

Song Yiran got flowering trees from Xiao Zhong’er that were in full bloom—trees whose flowers were always at their peak no matter the season.

They planted begonia, gardenia, peach, magnolia, osmanthus, kapok, jasmine, lilac, plum, wisteria, silk tree, plum, apricot, and locust trees in the courtyard, among others.

All of these were ornamental trees and would not bear fruit.

Next came the fruit trees. Song Yiran obtained various fruit tree saplings from Xiao Zhong’er.

This time, he planted special saplings that would bear fruit within a year and would follow the seasonal cycle.

Xiao Zhong’er also had saplings that could bear fruit every month, but Song Yiran chose the ones following the natural seasonal rhythm.

They planted peach, plum, apricot, bayberry, orange, tangerine, pear, lychee, apple, pomegranate, grapefruit, and persimmon trees, among others.

Once planted, the courtyard looked vibrant and full of life.

Song Yiran wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a short break with everyone.

Xiao Zhong’er set out chairs in the yard, and everyone sat down to rest.

Song Yiran also brought some fruits of the same types they had just planted. He divided them into bowls and handed them out to everyone.

Holding his bowl of fruit, Song Yiran pointed out which trees bore which fruit:

“This is bayberry. When unripe, it’s very sour; when ripe, it’s sweet. This is the fruit that will come from that tree.” He held a bayberry and pointed to a tree.

Song Fu picked a bright red bayberry from his bowl, popped it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and then recommended it to Song Buli:

“Lili, the bayberry is delicious! You should try it!”

Song Buli took one from his bowl, chewed, and then nudged Song Xiuhu with his tail:

“HuHu, you should try the bayberry too!”

Song Xiuhu tasted a bayberry and then offered one to Song An.

Song An ate one and, pretending nothing happened, passed a bayberry to Song Chiyu.

Song Chiyu, unsuspecting, ate a bayberry, paused for a moment, then quietly took one from his bowl and handed it to Song Xianyue.

“Wow! This is for me? Thank you, Yuyu!” Song Xianyue happily ate the bayberry, his tail stiffened for a moment, then wagged again.

Song Xianyue offered one to Song Yinyun, who popped it into his mouth and immediately made a sour face.

“Wow! So sour!”

Song Yinyun felt like his teeth had been numbed by the sourness. He glared at his friends and saw everyone else making the same sour expressions.

Song Fu had been soured from the beginning, and he planned to let everyone else experience the bayberry’s power. So, pretending nothing had happened, he offered another to Song Buli.

Song Buli was soured and decided to let the rest of the kids experience the bayberry’s impact too.

Each child who ate the bayberry reacted to the sourness but hid it, passing it on to the next.

They had no idea how much effort it took to keep from making a face. Finally, the last child fell for it, and they no longer had to restrain their expressions.

Now, every child’s facial features were twisted in obvious sourness.

Xiao Zhong’er sat on a chair, happily eating his fruit while watching the children play.

He even whispered to Song Yiran, “Haha! These kids are hilarious! They go to such lengths just to trick their friends into eating sour bayberries! Hahaha!”

Song Yiran chuckled softly: “I guess that’s the fun of being a child.”

“This plum is really good and quite sweet. You should try it!” Song Yiran smiled, handing a plum to Xiao Zhong’er.

“Hehe! Then I won’t be polite!” Xiao Zhong’er happily bit into it, but the juice made him scrunch his face. “Wow! So sour!”

“Good for you! You deliberately gave me a sour plum!” Xiao Zhong’er pouted angrily. “Like father, like son! The kids must have learned this from you!”

Before Song Yiran could defend himself, Xiao Zhong’er swiftly shoved several bayberries into his mouth, blocking him with his hand.

Song Yiran could only chew obediently, his face twisted from the sourness.

Xiao Zhong’er looked proudly at Song Yiran’s sour expression and finally let go. “Hmph! That’s what you get for messing with me!”

Song Yiran silently shed tears: if he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have teased Xiao Zhong’er.

Song Yutu, quietly eating, seemed to escape—but maybe not, because he too was soured by the bayberries and plums.

Song Yiran continued explaining the fruits so everyone could understand what kind of fruit would grow from each tree.

While eating and listening, the children quickly gained a basic understanding of fruit and fruit trees.