IBO – Chapter 25 The Fourth Little Cub Moves into the Nursery

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

[Normal Timeline] (Interstellar Little Cubs Nursery)

Song Fu stayed in the nursery, and to welcome him, Song Yiran gave him a dumbbell bell that made no sound to hang around his neck.

Seeing the little tiger so happy made Song Yiran happy as well. But for some reason, he suddenly felt a chill down his back, as if someone was watching him.

He looked back, but there was nothing—only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

It must be his imagination, Song Yiran thought nervously, rubbing his nose. Yet he sneezed, “Achoo!” No way… could someone be cursing him?

Song Yiran seriously suspected that someone might be scolding him.

But in the end, it was all just speculation. He decided to focus on the present.

To keep up with everyone else’s learning progress, Song Yiran decided to give Song Fu some extra lessons, so he wouldn’t fall behind. He really worried about these little cubs—truly, he was a devoted headmaster.

For the next forty-five minutes, Song Fu immersed himself in the sea of knowledge. Song Buli and Song Xiuhu joined in too—they didn’t want Song Fu to feel lonely taking lessons alone.

Anyone who saw this scene would be moved.

This touching brotherly bond warmed Song Yiran’s heart. Although they had only been together a short while, they had already learned to help one another—truly comforting.

Thinking of this, Song Yiran couldn’t help but smile. He could already envision future moments of brotherly friendship among these little cubs—it was amusing to imagine.

A few little cubs, soft and fluffy like cotton candy, not yet fully literate, spent their days playing together, helping each other, like a collective of enchanted cotton candy—absolutely adorable.

In Song Yiran’s eyes, these cotton-candy-like cubs were now earnestly copying words from the blackboard. Each of them held their little paws around a pen, writing diligently—their serious expressions were simply priceless.

But what Song Yiran was more curious about was what Song Buli and Song Xiuhu were writing. They shouldn’t need to copy anything again, after all, they had already copied it before.

Driven by strong curiosity, Song Yiran walked over to their desks. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they weren’t copying words at all.

Song Buli was doing today’s homework, and Song Xiuhu was also working on today’s homework. Song Yiran thought back to his own childhood—he often secretly did homework during music class.

Feeling sympathetic, Song Yiran glanced at Song Fu. “Little one, looks like today you’ll have to do your homework alone.”

At the end of class, Song Yiran assigned Song Fu the same homework: copy each word 20 times.

Song Yiran gave Song Fu a quick tour of the dorm and assigned him a top bunk. The bed was right next to Song Buli and the others’, just enough for the little ones to get familiar with each other.

The little ones quickly began chattering and interacting, and Song Yiran quietly stepped outside, leaving the space for them.

Woohoo—another little one added! At this rate, it wouldn’t take long before he could gather all the children of the orphanage again.

As long as nothing went wrong this time, he could stay here, raise the little ones, accompany them as they grew up, and watch them become people responsible for their own actions.

Perhaps the little ones would grow up to be outstanding, or maybe just ordinary. No matter what they became, as long as he could see it, it would be enough.

The thing Song Yiran regretted most was that he couldn’t see what the little ones would become. If the timeline hadn’t collapsed, he should have been able to witness their future in person, rather than guessing from here.

But there’s no “if.”

Suddenly, Song Yiran realized something—he hadn’t “served the water” fairly!

Master of fairness, Song Yiran! He suddenly remembered that he had only given Song Fu a meeting gift. He hadn’t balanced it with even a single bowl of water. For someone who prided himself on being fair, this was unacceptable. He had to fix this.

After some careful consideration, Song Yiran finally chose two necklaces: one with a small coin pendant, and one with a small carrot pendant. The coin necklace was for Song Buli, the carrot one for Song Xiuhu.

Perfect.

Song Yiran hurried to the dorm and put the necklaces on Song Buli and Song Xiuhu, giving them no time to react.

“These are gifts for you! You two should get along well. Brother’s leaving now, bye-bye!” After saying that, he ran off as if a demon were chasing him.

By the time Song Buli and Song Xiuhu realized what had happened, Song Yiran was already far away. Song Buli carefully touched the necklace with his little paws, his tail wagging happily.

Song Xiuhu studied the necklace with his eyes. He didn’t react much outwardly, but his reddening ears betrayed his feelings.

Song Yiran had originally planned to prepare dinner, but he suddenly felt as if someone were calling him. He looked around, but there was no one.

Song Yiran: “Xiao Zhong’er, did you hear someone calling me?”

Xiao Zhong’er: “No.”

Probably just his imagination. Song Yiran continued toward the kitchen, but again he felt someone calling him. Was it just a trick of his mind?

One hour earlier.

An injured young male white ferret collapsed on the other side of the road in front of the orphanage. He hadn’t eaten for five days and was near death.

Normally, he wouldn’t have been in such a dire situation. Even if he only rummaged through the trash every two days, he wouldn’t starve.

But he painfully turned his head and looked at his bloodied left leg with despair.

An accident had severely injured his left leg, leaving him unable to rummage through the distant city trash bins near his small nest.

Even if he somehow managed to crawl there, he couldn’t reach the trash bins. Forget bringing anything back to eat. If his left leg didn’t heal, he would lose his ability to survive.

The white ferret had rested in his little nest in the grass for five days, hoping his leg would recover quickly.

But things didn’t go as planned. His injury was worse than he thought. The left leg only had a thin scab; the bone wasn’t healed.

He could no longer get food on his own. He only had one option left—beg on the roadside.

Looking at his claws and nearly crippled left leg, the white ferret mocked himself. Who would show mercy to a beastman like him?

Even if he begged, no one would spare him a second glance.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and clenched his paws. There was no turning back. Even if he had to beg, he had to survive. He would survive.

Shaking off the dew and dirt, he slowly crawled toward the nearest road.

Because of his left leg, he had to slow down. But it was no use—the grass was too harsh. The blades cut his face painfully, and his left leg hurt even more.

He lost track of how long he had crawled. The scab on his left leg had been torn by sharp grass blades, old wounds reopened, and countless new scratches appeared.

At first, he felt pain, but now he barely felt anything. Sweat blurred his eyes, and his consciousness began to fade.

He only knew that reaching the road might give him a chance—a chance to survive. He didn’t want to die.

Gradually, the white ferret’s strength ran out. Honestly, crawling so far on an empty stomach for five days with an injured leg was purely willpower keeping him going.

Through his blurred eyes, he saw the edge of the road. “Huff… huff… almost there… just a little more.”

He tried his best to crawl to the roadside, not knowing if he could successfully beg. If he failed, he would starve there.

He was gambling, hoping someone would save him.

When he finally crawled to the roadside, the ferret was filthy, covered in mud and blood. But he didn’t give up. If he got food today, he could survive.

But reality dealt a cruel blow. He tried begging with his loudest voice: “Please, kind people, give me something to eat…”

Before he could finish, a middle-aged man kicked him away.

“You little brat, don’t block the road,” the man said impatiently.

The white ferret hadn’t even reacted before being kicked back into the grass. He wanted to cry. He had crawled up with such effort, only to be kicked back.

But it wasn’t time to cry. He encouraged himself and crawled back up.

Yet as he did, he saw the man again. He wanted to retreat into the grass.

But the man was faster, grabbing his right leg directly. Smiling, the man asked, “Little friend, what were you trying to do just now?”

The ferret didn’t answer; he felt the man had ill intentions.

Seeing him remain silent, the man slowly squeezed the ferret’s right leg. In pain, the ferret could only say, “I… I wanted to beg for food. I haven’t eaten in five days.”

“Really? That’s too pitiful. But getting something for nothing is bad behavior. Why not rummage through trash bins?” the man said with a dark grin.

The ferret was scared by the man’s smile. “M-My leg… it’s injured… so… I can only beg for food.”

The man’s face suddenly twisted. “Is it this leg that’s injured?” As he spoke, he squeezed harder.

Pain exploded. The ferret struggled desperately: “Let go of me! Not this one! The other one! Let go!”

“This leg is injured, you’re mistaken,” the man said, pressing harder and breaking the ferret’s right leg.

The white ferret fainted from the pain. Finding the lack of response boring, the man casually threw the unconscious ferret back into the grass and walked away.

After some unknown time, the ferret woke up from the pain. “Someone… save me…”

“Anyone… just anyone…” His voice was barely audible. No one could hear him.

He could only feel his life slowly draining away.

“Why… do this to me…” The ferret began crying. He hadn’t done anything, so why was he abandoned?

Why must he live like this? Why doesn’t he have a home? What did he do wrong?

Was he born a mistake? Was he born with original sin? What did he do wrong? Even begging gets him bullied—why?

If he was a mistake at birth, why was he born? He didn’t understand.

This world seemed broken.

Weakly closing his eyes, in this life-or-death gamble, he had lost. No one would come to save him.

So be it. He would die here. If there was a next life, he wouldn’t want to come back.

The ferret vaguely felt gentle hands lifting him. “I finally found you. I’ll take you home. Brother will take you home. We’re going home.” The person seemed to be crying.

He felt that the person was holding not just his body but also his wounded heart.

He tried to open his eyes to see the person, but could only see a chin. From his perspective, that was all he could see.

Exhausted, he closed his eyes again. He had won the gamble.