Ruan Qiao quickly scrambled to her feet and turned around.
Then she saw, on the nearby soft mat where the big cat used to lie, a boy now lying on his side.
A boy who was still asleep, barely clothed!
Ruan Qiao snapped fully awake, her heart nearly stopping from fright.
She spun around and grabbed the towel draped over herself, tossing it haphazardly toward him.
The towel was small, but just barely managed to cover the parts of the boy that needed covering.
Only then did Ruan Qiao clumsily climb off the mat, forcing herself to suppress a scream, and pressed the button to call 001.
While waiting for 001, she silently took another careful look at the still-sleeping boy.
He looked young, at most barely an adult.
Perhaps startled in his dreams, he slept restlessly.
Curled up like a cat, his head pressed tightly against one arm, the other hand draped over his eyes.
It seemed only like this could make him feel secure.
The skin exposed outside the towel was pale, smooth, and firm like jade.
But across that fair skin were countless wounds, some fresh, some already healed.
They looked extremely striking and… familiar.
Just like the wounds she had treated on the big cat yesterday.
“Big Cat?!”
Ruan Qiao murmured, a sudden thought rising in her mind.
But before she could sort out her thoughts, 001 had already arrived beside her. “Master, is there something you wish to instruct?”
As soon as 001 spoke, his body jerked abruptly, obviously noticing the person in the room for the first time.
Without waiting for Ruan Qiao’s reply, he spun around sharply and let out a high-pitched cry: “I see! I see! Light! Eyes blinded!”
After speaking, he even “humanely” covered the screen with both forearms.
“…”
Ruan Qiao was so annoyed with 001 that she didn’t even have the energy to complain. She reached out and smacked him on the forehead.
“Can you find some clothes for him? And… can you identify who he is?” she asked.
“Big Cat from yesterday!” 001 answered immediately, without a second thought, his tone perfectly matter-of-fact.
Then he turned back and scanned the boy with his red light, sending out a puzzled inquiry: “Master, why did he suddenly change form?”
“You’re asking me?” Ruan Qiao rubbed her brow.
If she knew, why would she have called this guy over in the first place!
Exasperated, she waved him away. “Go find him some clothes, quickly.”
After saying that, she dialed Doctor Aisen’s number.
She turned on the video call and pointed the camera at the boy. Doctor Aisen looked at the screen, clearly puzzled. “An A class human who has already evolved?”
Ruan Qiao still couldn’t get used to classifying humans by levels, but she could only go along with local practice.
She nodded. “I think so. 001 says he’s the Big Cat from last night.”
Doctor Aisen had Ruan Qiao bring the camera closer, inspecting the boy carefully.
Then he sighed, a trace of embarrassment in his tone. “To be honest, I can’t say for sure about his condition. A class humans who successfully evolve on our planet are very rare. I’ve lived this long, and this is the first one I’ve ever seen.”
“Should we take him to the hospital?” Ruan Qiao asked, worried as she looked at the still-sleeping boy.
Doctor Aisen looked again and shook his head. “Not for now. From what I see, he doesn’t look unconscious, he just looks asleep. Maybe he’s exhausted… or perhaps his mental energy is overdrawn. Don’t move him for now; wait and see.”
Hearing this, Ruan Qiao felt slightly reassured. She decided that if he still didn’t wake up by the end of the day, she would take him to the hospital.
After hanging up, she adjusted the towel to cover him properly, then left the room.
Since he was fine for the moment, it was time to take care of her own matters.
She first went back to her room to check on the strawberry seeds she had been germinating on a tissue, spraying them with a bit more water.
Then she heard laughter and playful voices coming from outside.
Through the window, Ruan Qiao saw the children outside gathered in a circle, chattering excitedly. Each one looked thrilled, though she couldn’t tell what they were saying.
After quickly washing up, she went over, curious.
She realized that the hydroponic equipment and other tools she had ordered online late last night had arrived.
Since Ella probably didn’t shop online often, seeing the pile of delivery boxes stacked by 001 at the edge of the playground, the little ones’ eyes were full of wonder.
Sniffing with their noses and licking with their tongues had already become routine; little cat Xiao Wang even reached out and started clawing at the boxes.
But Ruan Qiao grabbed him in time.
She poked him on the forehead and scolded with a laugh, “You little rascal!”
Then she shooed all the little ones aside.
Although these were all items for growing vegetables, some of them were dangerous.
For example, there was a large bag of quicklime, definitely not something kids should handle.
After giving the little ones a lesson on safety, Ruan Qiao noticed that although they all pretended to behave and nodded along, their interest was clearly lacking.
Their eyes kept sneaking glances at the boxes.
Obviously, Ruan Qiao’s words went in one ear and out the other; they weren’t paying attention at all.
Ruan Qiao fell silent.
After thinking for a moment, she realized that showing by example would be more effective than lecturing.
These children were at the age of curiosity about everything, and simple admonitions wouldn’t move them.
In that case, she decided, let the facts speak for themselves.
She remembered what Doctor Aisen had said before: to let them walk, move around, run, climb mountains, and so on.
She cast a meaningful glance at the little ones, who were bored, pushing and twisting around each other, crowded together and playing roughly. She hummed softly—
If you have too much energy, then let’s put it to use!
Ruan Qiao went to the nearby storage room, picked up a small lawn mower and slung it on her back, then took a few small bamboo baskets used for storing miscellaneous items and grabbed a bundle of thin rope.
Back outside, she threaded the rope through the bamboo baskets and called over Xiao Wang and Huihui, hanging the baskets around their necks.
Then she patted their heads and said, “Come on, I’ll take you out to play.”
The little ones had obviously never experienced anything like this before, and no one had ever taken them out just to have fun. Hearing Ruan Qiao’s words, they were all completely stunned.
Xiao Wang and Huihui immediately puffed up with pride.
The two little ones even stood upright, chests pushed out high, as if afraid no one would notice the baskets hanging around their necks.
Jin Ge, Gungun, and Lin Shan, on the other hand, looked utterly shocked, as if abandoned and bewildered.
Jin Ge was the first to act!
He screeched and lunged forward, clamping his sharp beak onto the hem of Ruan Qiao’s clothes and tugging hard.
His round little eyes spun nervously. He wanted to chirp but didn’t want to let go, flapping his wings vigorously and kicking up clouds of dust.
Ruan Qiao, still tidying up the things, was dumbfounded. She had no idea what the little guy was doing.
She opened her mouth and asked, “What are you trying to do?”
Seeing her pretend to be clueless, Jin Ge grew even more anxious.
He released his grip, twisted his body from side to side as he waddled over, and picked up the bamboo basket.
He placed the basket at Ruan Qiao’s feet, then craned his neck upward, flapping his wings and screeching at her again.
Ruan Qiao finally understood.
She realized her previous words had been ambiguous, causing the little ones to misunderstand. She quickly explained, “Everyone’s going. All five of you are going. I didn’t mean to leave anyone out, everyone’s going together.”
Then she picked up the bamboo basket at her feet and negotiated with Jin Ge, “I’ll carry this for you for now. When we get there, I’ll give it back to you. Is that okay?”
Hearing her words, Lin Shan the squirrel and Gungun the hedgehog, who had been tensely poised to rush over, finally relaxed.
Jin Ge, however, was still dissatisfied.
He glanced at Xiao Wang and Huihui, who were proudly wearing their baskets, then looked at Ruan Qiao’s hands and let out another disgruntled “Gaa.”
The meaning was clear, if they can do it, so can I!
Ruan Qiao was both exasperated and amused. In her mental notebook, she added a note about Jin Ge: ambitious, competitive.
She decided to find an opportunity to make good use of that.
She didn’t say anything else. Instead, she took another piece of thin rope, threaded it through the bamboo basket, and secured it onto Jin Ge’s back.
The reason Ruan Qiao hadn’t given Jin Ge the basket earlier was that, for a golden eagle barely bigger than a hen, the basket was simply too large.
Especially since this golden eagle couldn’t fly yet, waddling and twisting as he walked, it would have been quite cumbersome.
But Jin Ge clearly didn’t mind. He strutted proudly alongside Xiao Wang and Huihui, his chest puffed out with pride.
Ruan Qiao carried Gungun in a basket, and Lin Shan voluntarily jumped onto her shoulder. Together, they walked out of the gate.
Their destination this time was a gentle slope at the foot of the mountain. Ruan Qiao planned to cut some wild grass here to use as substrate for growing oyster mushrooms.
Yesterday, she had specifically looked up information online and learned that although the soil on Planet 0813 was slow for plant growth due to pollution, the plants themselves were not toxic and could be safely consumed.
That was why she dared to come here to gather grass.
Speaking of slow plant growth, it was clearly visible on this mountain.
It was August, the season when trees should be lush and leafy, flowers fragrant, and fruits ripe.
But on this mountain, aside from a few large trees high up where few people ventured, most of the grass below was half-dead, some even yellowed and withered.
Even the wild saplings looked thin and weak, clearly malnourished.
As someone trained in agricultural and forestry science, seeing plants in such a state was deeply disheartening, an ache she couldn’t put into words.
But Ruan Qiao didn’t have the ability to change the situation.
All she could do was make the best use of the wild grass.
Arriving at a clearing with the little ones, she assigned them tasks.
She would cut the grass, while Jin Ge, Xiao Wang, and Huihui would carry it back to 001, who would spread it out on the playground to dry.
As for Gungun and Lin Shan?
Ruan Qiao didn’t have a clear plan, so she simply let them assist Jin Ge and the other two.
Fortunately, for the little ones, working was secondary, playing was the main thing. They all happily agreed right away.
She started the lawn mower and skillfully began working section by section.
After cutting a portion, she would stop, gather the cut grass into a pile, and tie it with a longer piece of dry grass.
Jin Ge would immediately pick it up and deliver it to Xiao Wang and Huihui.
Gungun and Lin Shan were small and couldn’t help much with the work, but that didn’t stop them from having busy little hearts.
The two little ones busily joined in, either scampering along with Jin Ge to deliver grass or jumping onto Xiao Wang and Huihui’s heads, cheering loudly as they ran.
How much work they actually got done was unclear, but they were having the time of their lives.