IBO -Chapter 98 The Argument

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

Every pair of earrings they picked was beautiful, and for a moment, Song Yiran couldn’t make a decision.

He only had two ears. Even if he bought all of these earrings, there was no way he could wear that many.

Even if he wore a different pair each day, it would still take over a month to cycle through them all.

But soon, a good idea occurred to him—he could buy a few pairs for everyone.

“Brother can’t wear so many earrings by himself. Take a look and see if there are any you like—Brother will buy them for you!”

“Thank you, Brother!” The children’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

Children always liked to imitate adults’ clothing and style. They liked Song Yiran very much, so they also wanted to copy his fashion sense.

Among these children, aside from Song Chiyu, all the others had short hair, so they couldn’t braid their hair like Song Yiran.

But earrings? That was no problem at all!

Although none of them had pierced ears, many of the earrings Suer had brought out were clip-on styles.

At the top of the clip-on earring was a small clasp that could fasten onto the ear, and the part that touched the skin had a soft cushion, making it very friendly for people without ear piercings.

Xiao Zhong’er also started making a fuss about wanting earrings.
“Ahhh! Song Yiran, I want some too, I want some too! You can’t treat people differently!”

Song Yiran shook his head helplessly. Of course he wanted to buy some for Xiao Zhong’er as well, but—

“But you don’t have outer ears. If I buy them, how would you wear them?”

Xiao Zhong’er’s overall form was oval-shaped, and recently his body had become increasingly round, gradually moving toward a chubby, ball-like shape.

Moreover, Xiao Zhong’er didn’t have outer ears at all—he didn’t even have ear holes like birds did.

“I don’t care, I don’t care! You can’t play favorites! I want them, I want them, I want them!”

Xiao Zhong’er pounced onto Song Yiran’s head and began throwing a tantrum, rolling around like a classic spoiled kid.

Song Yutu couldn’t stand watching anymore. He directly grabbed Xiao Zhong’er and hauled him down, then dragged him off to the side.

With an unfriendly expression, he warned him, “Stop making trouble for no reason!”

Xiao Zhong’er was instantly frightened by Song Yutu’s vicious glare and wished he could curl himself into a ball and play dead.

But very quickly, he became righteously indignant again. Song Yiran hadn’t said anything—what right did Song Yutu have to scold him?

“You! You! Watch your words! By seniority, I’m your older brother. Is that how you talk to your brother?”

Hearing Xiao Zhong’er’s sophistry, Song Yutu snorted directly, as if he had just heard a joke.

“What kind of older brother behaves like you? You’re already this grown, yet you’re still throwing tantrums in front of Brother. Are you a child?”

Song Yutu said these words with a smiling face, but his tone was filled with cold hostility.

He had originally thought this chubby fellow might have some awareness of social cues, but he hadn’t expected his emotional intelligence to be this low.

Throwing a public tantrum in front of everyone like this—it was simply outrageous.

This was outright embarrassing Brother!

Something like this would only drag Brother down. It’d be better to just throw it away.

Song Yutu’s gaze grew increasingly gloomy, the look he gave Xiao Zhong’er turning colder and colder.

That gaze didn’t look like he was staring at a living being—it was more like he was looking at an inanimate object.

Xiao Zhong’er suddenly felt a chill run through him. From Song Yutu’s eyes, he sensed naked malice.

No, he couldn’t give in!

“What are you looking at? What does how I act have to do with you? Song Yiran didn’t say anything—what right do you have to discipline me for him?”

Xiao Zhong’er shot back harshly at Song Yutu.

“Heh! You’re just relying on Brother’s soft heart to bully him again and again.”

“Wow, that’s a huge accusation! You’re really good at putting labels on people! When did I ever bully him? Which eye of yours saw me bully him?”

“I saw it with both my eyes. If you want to buy something, can’t you buy it yourself? Why do you have to make Brother buy it for you?”

Xiao Zhong’er was so angry he was about to spit fire. “Mind your own business! What does it have to do with you? I didn’t ask you to buy it for me!”

“Heh! You don’t even have ears and you still want to buy earrings? When Brother doesn’t buy them for you, you throw a tantrum in public. You’re clearly bullying Brother!”

The more Song Yutu looked at this chubby thing, the more he felt it was truly insidious.

“What do you know? This is just how he and I get along. He didn’t say anything—what right do you have to criticize me?”

“That’s because Brother is soft-hearted and doesn’t want to scold you. And you keep taking advantage of his soft heart to bully him again and again.”

Xiao Zhong’er was about to explode with anger. “You’re talking nonsense! I never did that!”

“Heh! Whether you did it or not, you know it in your own heart,” Song Yutu sneered.

The children who had been immersed in joy were now completely stunned, staring wide-eyed at the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere between Song Yutu and Xiao Zhong’er.

Song Xianyue quietly scooted over to Song Chiyu. “Do you think… they’re arguing?”

Song Chiyu frowned. “Looks like they are.”

Song Fu, never one to mind chaos, leaned toward Song Buli and asked, “Lili, do you think they’ll start fighting later?”

Song Buli glanced at Song Yiran’s expression and then sighed. “Let’s move farther away. Looks like Brother is about to discipline them.”

At this moment, Song Yiran’s expression was extremely ugly, his face dark as the bottom of a pot.

Suer, being very perceptive, stepped back several paces, leaving Song Yiran a sufficiently large stage.

Looks like there’s going to be a good show!

Song Yiran rolled up his sleeves and told the children to step back a few more steps.

Then, brimming with momentum, he walked straight toward Xiao Zhong’er and Song Yutu.

“Brother, don’t worry. I’ll deal with this guy who only knows how to bully you right away.”

Song Yutu thought Song Yiran’s anger was directed at Xiao Zhong’er, so he confidently assured Song Yiran that he would handle it properly.

Then, in the very next second, his head was rewarded with a solid flick.

Song Yutu looked at Song Yiran with watery eyes. “Brother… why did you hit me…”

Song Yiran’s tone was icy. “I’m hitting you.”

“I don’t understand…” Song Yutu felt incredibly wronged.

Song Yiran was unmoved. “Apologize to 555.”

“Why?”

“You kept slandering him just now. He didn’t bully me. On the contrary, he’s always taken good care of me.”

“He’s my good friend and a member of our family. When have I ever taught you that you can talk to family in that kind of tone?”

“Do you remember what I taught you before? Never slander family. Never hurt family.”

Song Yiran sighed. “What you just said has deeply hurt him. Apologize.”

“…” Song Yutu felt he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Song Yiran said coldly, “Apologize.”

“…” Song Yutu stubbornly refused to budge.

Song Yiran’s voice grew even colder. “Apologize to him.”

Song Yutu finally couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t understand why Brother always sided with 555.

“…Does he even count as family? He isn’t even the same species as us. He doesn’t even have a human form—does that really count as family?”

The moment these words were spoken, Xiao Zhong’er’s body stiffened completely.

That’s right—he was a system, Song Yiran was human. They weren’t even the same species. How could they be considered family?

Not just him— even the children who had been watching the drama froze as well.

They didn’t have human forms either. Before adulthood, they could only live in this world in beast form.

According to Song Yutu’s logic, they were also of a different species from Song Yiran.

The one who reacted most strongly to Song Yutu’s words was Song Buli. He had always felt uneasy about the physical differences between himself and Song Yiran.

Now that Song Yutu had pierced straight to the heart of the issue—although those words were aimed at Xiao Zhong’er—Song Buli felt like he had been hit as well.

Song Yiran clenched his fists tightly, repeatedly telling himself: Don’t act impulsively. Don’t act impulsively. He’s just being rebellious for a moment—he can be taught.

“Song Yutu, how could you say something like that?”

The moment Song Yutu said it out loud, he immediately realized how inappropriate his words were.

He saw the hurt in Xiao Zhong’er’s eyes, the sadness in the little cubs’ gazes.

And also… the pain in Brother’s eyes.

“I… I…” Song Yutu wanted to apologize, but it felt as if a stone was lodged in his throat—no matter what, he couldn’t say the words.

Song Yiran sighed. He needed to have a proper talk with Song Yutu.

But this wasn’t the right place for a heart-to-heart conversation.

Suer sensed Song Yiran’s unspoken need and immediately said, “I can create a soundproof barrier for you. No one will be able to hear your conversation.”

“Only 30 credit points per use! And since you’ve already booked the luxury travel package, I can charge you just 10 credit points this time!”

“Alright, let’s do it once. Thank you!” Song Yiran paid without hesitation.

Sul immediately began chanting a spell. The very next second, Song Yiran and Song Yutu were enveloped in a pale green soundproof barrier.

This soundproof barrier was two-way—no sound from inside could be heard outside, and no sound from outside could reach the inside.

At last, Song Yiran could properly have a heart-to-heart talk with his younger brother, who seemed to be going through a rebellious phase.

Outside the barrier, Xiao Zhong’er was so upset that he didn’t even want to fly anymore. He landed straight on the ground and burst into tears.

“Waaah, he’s really too much! I hate him!”

Xiao Zhong’er covered his face and cried loudly. Song Yutu had gone way too far—how could he say something like that to him?

The other children quickly gathered around to comfort Xiao Zhong’er. Song Buli reached out with his little claws to wipe away his tears.

Song Xianyue generously shared his warm fluffy fur, letting Xiao Zhong’er lean against it to rest.

“Fifth Brother, don’t cry, don’t cry—we won’t listen to him!”

“What does he even know? He must be talking nonsense!”

“That’s right, what he said isn’t right at all!”

“Fifth Brother, don’t cry anymore. We won’t talk to him in the future!”

“Yeah! We won’t play with him anymore!”

“But… he doesn’t seem to play with us anyway…”

“Hmph! Then we don’t even want to play with him! Anyway, from now on we won’t take him along!”

Song Yutu had successfully aroused the collective outrage of the children, becoming the most hated person in their hearts.

Xiao Zhong’er was deeply moved. “Waaah… you’re still the ones who treat me best… sob sob…”

Seizing the opportunity, Sul took out a bottle of iced drink and handed it to Xiao Zhong’er.

“Would you like something sweet? This is a specialty drink from our Karen Empire. They say that once you drink it, you can taste happiness!”

“Sniff… thank you!” Xiao Zhong’er immediately reached out with his short little hands and took the bottle.

The drink was icy cold, but his heart felt warm.

This tour guide was actually pretty nice. They hadn’t known each other for long, yet she cared about him so much.

Way better than that Song Yutu!