Ch 122: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

He had never been the type to care about other people’s doubts.

For him, planting these gardenias was more about taking part than anything else. After all, on a planet this large, if every tree and flower had to be planted by his own hands…

Mu Xing did a serious calculation: with an average lifespan of more than two hundred years in this world, it still wouldn’t be enough.

Even if you added two more zeroes at the end, he wasn’t sure it would suffice.

After resting for a while, he explained to the audience: “This place is planned as a park. It’ll have many flowers and trees, and I’ll try to make sure that in every season of the year, flowers will be blooming.”

【Goodness, I feel like I just saw a cow flying across the sky.】

【Hearing something like this now doesn’t even make my heart stir anymore. If the streamer said tomorrow all these gardenias would bloom, I wouldn’t even be surprised. What wouldn’t you dare to say at this point?】

【Flowers blooming all year round? Hahaha, if you really manage that, I’ll support you in the next Ice Blue System election!】

Mu Xing didn’t look at the comments. He planted a small flower bed himself—just as his family usually did.

The robots, though, were much faster. In the same amount of time, they had already lined both sides of a several-kilometer-long stone path with gardenias.

Mu Xing exited the livestream.

The Mu family also logged out, glancing at him with some worry.

Mu Yue said anxiously, “Xingxing, after what you said on the stream, what if our gardenias don’t bloom?”

Mu Rongrong frowned. “Then they don’t. These netizens are asking far too much of Xingxing. Do they not understand what kind of place Red Moon is? There are only four of us. If we really tried to plant flowers the way they want, how many could we grow in a lifetime?”

Lan Xi’s tone was still as gentle as ever, but his words were full of protectiveness. “Xingxing, remember, you’re doing this because you like it—not because you promised these strangers anything. You don’t need to carry any burden.”

Mu Xing looked at the three of them, all so nervous, as if they were afraid he would be crushed by criticism.

If he were truly just an ordinary teenager, being praised by everyone one day and mocked by everyone a few days later, it might have broken him.

But he wasn’t.

Mu Xing smiled easily. “I know. I’m not sad, and I’m not afraid. The main thing is…”

His expression grew confident. “My gardenias will bloom very soon.”

The three family members exchanged glances. They didn’t know where his confidence came from, but since their son/brother was so optimistic, they wouldn’t dampen his spirits.

Mu Rongrong grinned. “Yes, yes, they’ll bloom, they’ll bloom.”

Mu Yue tousled her little brother’s curls and nodded seriously. “That’s right, little Xingxing, use your cuteness to win over those gardenias!”

Mu Xing thought for a moment, then corrected firmly, “Not because of cuteness. It’s because they like me.”

It sounded narcissistic, but he truly wasn’t bragging.

*

Right now, the busiest section of Mu Xing’s livestream was still the one showing the roses.

Besides viewers who loved flowers and dropped in every day, there were many others with different purposes.

Some students muted comments and used the stream as a quiet study place.

Some couples made it their new date spot—and honestly, confessing love surrounded by roses was far more romantic than anywhere else.

Of course, there were also those who sent private messages to Mu Xing every day but never got a reply—because he never even saw them. Unable to visit Red Moon in person, they could only linger in the livestream, carefully watching the roses for changes.

Fu Yunrong was one of them.

Before Mu Xing’s miraculous roses had appeared, she was the most famous floral master in the interstellar world.

That blue rose Mu Xing had once seen in the news—that was her work.

Fu Yunrong truly loved flowers. From the first day she saw his rose, she began contacting him, hoping to see it with her own eyes.

But after waiting many days, she never got a reply.

So she settled for second best, spending over a dozen hours each day glued to the livestream, observing each rose one by one.

It could be said that she might even know these tens of thousands of roses better than Mu Xing himself.

Her original intent was to see how Mu Xing cultivated flowers, what secrets he might have. But after so long, all she saw was him occasionally watering them, or sitting under the swing set nearby, drinking tea and enjoying the scenery.

No special methods at all.

She watched each bud unfurl into full bloom, their beauty astonishing, their flowering period unbelievably long.

Now and then, a few blossoms would fall overnight, and robots would sweep them away. Fu Yunrong could only stare longingly, desperately wanting to ask for some.

The longer she watched, the more she doubted herself.

Mu Xing’s way of tending flowers had nothing in common with her upbringing, her education, or all the knowledge she’d gathered.

This child had no reverence for flowers at all. To him, they were the most ordinary plants, tended in the most ordinary way.

If it were anyone else, Fu Yunrong would have said they were completely wrong.

But Mu Xing had grown such a rose.

Fu Yunrong thought: A flower I could never grow in my whole life.

Even with her family’s generations of knowledge, the truth was simple—no one in the Fu family could grow a flower like his.

What does this mean?

Was the Fu family wrong?

Or is it that Mu Xing possesses some strange ability unknown to others?

Fu Yunrong couldn’t figure it out.

But there was one thing she was certain of: in the past two days, many viewers had been scolding Mu Xing, saying he didn’t love flowers at all, that the rose bush was just an accident.

Fu Yunrong didn’t think so.

From this young boy’s eyes, she could see his love for flowers. It was just that his love wasn’t the same as what others wanted it to be.

Fu Yunrong watched the daytime broadcast.

She paid very close attention to those gardenias.

In her heart, she always had a strange feeling: when Mu Xing said the gardenias would bloom, his expression was calm, confident, and taken for granted.

As if, in his understanding, a flower being planted and then blooming was the most natural thing in the world.

Fu Yunrong faintly felt an anticipation: maybe what he said… could really happen?

*

“Xingxing! My goddess spoke up for you on the star net!” Mu Yue suddenly cried out.

Mu Xing raised his head in confusion and looked at his sister. “Your goddess? Who?”

“Fu Yunrong!” Mu Yue couldn’t help confirming twice. “She barely even posts once a year.”

She ran over to Mu Xing and showed him her light screen.

Mu Yue grinned. “She’s actually your fan. She even said she’s looking forward to the gardenias blooming.”

Mu Xing finally remembered who Fu Yunrong was.

He had first realized how valuable flowers were because of her—she had grown a rose that sold at auction for nearly ten million.

Fu Yunrong: Every day I squat in Iya livestream, hoping I can see the gardenias bloom soon.

Her post at this moment was clearly meant to support Mu Xing.

【??? Fu Yunrong, what are you doing?】
【A dream collaboration—Fu Yunrong and Mu Xing, I’m in love.】
【So the goddess is just like us ordinary people, squatting in the livestream every day?】
【Hahaha the word “squat” is so cute. I always thought she was like some untouchable fairy, turns out she’s so down-to-earth.】
【??? Goddess wake up! Why would you step in at this time? That Mu Xing is just a fame-hungry little liar! Honestly, I still don’t believe that rose was grown by him. Maybe he just got lucky and happened to stumble on a rose that bloomed.】

Mu Xing thought for a moment and replied:

【Thanks for your support. When the gardenias bloom, I’ll send you a pot.】

Fu Yunrong: !

She quickly left a comment: “Thank you. If it’s convenient, could you also send me a few rose blossoms? Just the wilted ones that fall would be fine.”

Mu Xing chuckled and agreed.

【??? These two are talking like it’s for real.】
【No way, no way, Fu Yunrong actually believes Mu Xing’s gardenias will bloom?】
【But Fu Yunrong wouldn’t risk her reputation for nothing, right? Could it be she really thinks Mu Xing can grow blooming gardenias?】
【I’m the one who said I’d eat a tree upside down if they bloomed. At this moment I’m suddenly a little nervous.】

Thanks to Fu Yunrong, Mu Xing was undoubtedly pulled back from a tide of doubt and ridicule. Though he himself didn’t care much, he still appreciated her goodwill.

That night.

The Mu family was already asleep. The robots continued working tirelessly.

The livestream stayed open. Many night owls and viewers whose time zones didn’t match Red Moon were still wandering the stream.

In a place invisible to both human eyes and electronic devices, two tiny figures glowing green flew out of Mu Xing’s bedroom.

The little ones, Mao Mao and Mai Mai, huddled together whispering:

“Those humans are so mean. I saw them scolding Xingxing.”

“They even said Xingxing’s gardenias wouldn’t bloom. Hmph! Any flower Xingxing wants, I can make it bloom.”

“Humans are still as annoying as ever, except Xingxing.”

“If only Xingxing were Iya… I’d marry him!”

“…”

The little ones whispered for a long while, then holding hands, walked toward the plot planted during the day.

They went straight to the little flowerbed Mu Xing had planted himself.

Mai Mai flew to a gardenia tree much taller than herself, tilted her head, and stretched out her tiny hand, biu—tapping it lightly.

She happily thought: This is Xingxing’s first gardenia tree. I was faster than Mao Mao this time.

Amid the green branches and leaves, a tender little bud slowly, slowly formed.

The two little Iya flitted through the flowerbed like oversized fireflies, from time to time stretching out their hands to tap.

Mao Mao rubbed his eyes. “So sleepy…”

Mai Mai also let out a small yawn. She grabbed a leaf and flew onto the first gardenia tree. Her small body turned into a streak of green light, merging into the branches and leaves.

Mao Mao picked a gardenia too, yawned, and closed his eyes.

Before they fell asleep, both were sweetly thinking: Tomorrow when Xingxing wakes up, the first thing he’ll see will be these little buds.

Would he like this little surprise?

In fact, the first person to discover the buds wasn’t Mu Xing.

It was the ever-watchful livestream audience.

At first, far away in the Huading system, “Annie’s Dad,” who didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, casually opened the livestream.

Still half-asleep, he stared blankly at the gardenia plot. Because he had been staring at the same spot for so long, when he came back to his senses, he noticed something off.

Huh? That little round dot at the tip of the branch—what is that?

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