Chapter 26: Cute Panda

Qiu Yinuo suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Fifteen years old!

At fifteen, Qiu Chongwen was still hiding behind her, enjoying her protection. She bore all the hardships, taking all the arrows—both visible and hidden—while he never dared to stand before others.

But at fifteen, Shao Xingchen already understood how to read others’ faces and navigate the world. Life was unfair in this way.

“Go play by yourself. I’m going to find two books to read.”

She intended to let both Dabao and Erbao down, but today, Erbao seemed unusually clingy.

His chubby little hand kept holding onto her clothes, and his eyes blinked as he stared at the bookshelf in front of him.

It was rare for Erbao to be so attached to her, so Qiu Yinuo didn’t put him down. Instead, she asked thoughtfully, “Do you want to pick a book with mommy?”

[He can’t understand. You might as well ask me.]

“So, what kind of book do you want to read?”

[Something like the book you read, The ’70s Darling Wife in His Arms, Never Straightened Her Back Again.]

Qiu Yinuo pressed her lips together, clearly embarrassed by her son’s teasing. “…”

Also, it wasn’t that her back was so tired that it wouldn’t straighten—it was that it never straightened again.

But she didn’t want to explain.

She didn’t even know how to handle this troublesome kid.

“Just lie down quietly.” She casually pulled a book about business off the shelf and returned to the soft couch.

Dabao, taking advantage of his natural abilities, quickly climbed to her side. He glanced at the book title: The Bottom-Line Logic of Business, and immediately turned up his nose, disinterested.

Erbao, nestled in her arms, was surprisingly calm, acting as if he were truly focused on the book. If he hadn’t started pawing at the pages to flip them, Qiu Yinuo might’ve really believed he was an obedient baby.

“Erbao, stop that. Mommy hasn’t finished this page yet.”

But Erbao didn’t care. He pretended to look at the page for a few seconds, then swiftly turned to the next one.

Unfortunately, his little hands tired quickly. Not long after, he flopped back into her arms, spacing out quietly like the most well-behaved child in the world.

Ever since learning the truth about Dabao’s identity, Qiu Yinuo couldn’t bring herself to breastfeed him anymore. She reserved the formula milk for Dabao, and breastfed Erbao instead.

The three of them stayed inside the space for most of the day, but when they came out, only two or three hours had passed in the outside world.

After lunch, she shoved the two kids back into the study room and warned them not to go wandering.

“Dabao, keep an eye on your brother. Be careful of the panda outside. Remember, that panda isn’t like the ones you’ve seen being fed in videos on your phone. It’s still wild and very dangerous. If anything happens, take Erbao and come out immediately.”

Dabao responded with a dismissive nod. [Got it.]

Qiu Yinuo gently tapped Dabao’s little face. “I’ll be back after I buy some seeds.”

With the space, not planting crops would be a waste.

After all, she wanted to slack off for a few years and save money.

Qiu Yinuo hadn’t accounted for the cold weather; many seeds weren’t available this season.

She only managed to buy cucumber, bean, and eggplant seeds.

Potatoes were usually saved from the family’s harvest, and at this time of year, seed shops didn’t sell them.

But having something was better than nothing.

Still, the type of land was a problem that troubled her.

The kids were still too young to handle such a complex task.

Asking her to do it was absolutely impossible.

She was so frustrated. Other people’s spaces were automated, so why was hers so basic?

She thought about it all the way home but couldn’t come up with a good solution.

After locking the door, she quickly entered the space.

When she didn’t see the two little ones in the library, her heart skipped a beat.

Was it possible that the twins had been snatched away by the panda?

At that moment, her mind was filled with all sorts of bloody scenarios. She rushed out of the library pavilion, and when she saw the scene before her, she almost screamed in shock.

If it hadn’t been for Dabao riding on the panda’s back and even tugging on its ear, she might have actually thought her son had become the “delicious meal” in the iron-eating beast’s mouth.

Dabao spotted his mother and immediately waved excitedly. [Mom, look! It’s so friendly, not fierce at all!]

Qiu Yinuo looked at the panda, which was desperately “pleasing” Dabao. Its face was all smiles, and if she wasn’t seeing things, then this world had definitely gone mad.

Erbao flipped over and lay on the grass, continuously practicing lifting his head.

Unfortunately, at just under four months old, his little bones weren’t strong enough.

[Mom, come here! The giant panda we saw is a spirit pet! Its ID is 3224.]

The panda, 3224, sat down on the ground, hugging Dabao in its arms.

For a brief moment, Qiu Yinuo considered trading her child for some milk formula.

3224 raised its free hand and waved at Qiu Yinuo, looking casually content, a bit like a future top-tier female celebrity, Hua Hua.

“Hello, I’m System No. 3224. Shao Xingchen, would you like to bind with this system?”

Dabao seemed especially excited. “What system?”

“It’s the ‘Study to Strengthen the Nation’ system.”

Dabao’s face immediately dropped. “I don’t want it.”

3224 looked utterly confused—each one of them was harder to deal with than the last!

Qiu Yinuo couldn’t help but laugh. Now that’s a good system!

3224 turned its hopeful gaze toward her next, asking eagerly, “Alternatively, host, you can bind with the Female Supporting Character Counterattack system.”

“…Not interested.”

She’d rather sleep a bit longer than mess with that.

3224 looked visibly anxious—seeing neither of them take the bait had it in full-on panic mode.

Back then, it had acted recklessly and bound itself to the so-called “Chosen One” without even asking for consent. Who knew humans could be so sinister?

Five years had passed without a shred of progress, and now it was trapped in the endless loop of minor worlds.

Seeing that the giant panda didn’t seem hostile, Qiu Yinuo grew curious. She’d always wondered what panda fur felt like.

While 3224 was distracted, she sneakily reached out and gave it a stroke.

Hmm… Not as soft as she imagined. Actually kind of stiff. Not great to the touch.

Dabao looked up at her. [Mom, I like Menglan. Let’s call it Menglan!]

Qiu Yinuo shook her head disapprovingly. “I like Huahua. Doesn’t ‘Huahua’ sound so much prettier?”

3224: “…” Wasn’t anyone going to ask for its opinion?

[How about this, we call it Menghua.]

“That sounds fine,” Qiu Yinuo agreed.

3224 protested, “You guys don’t want to bind with me, but you’re giving me such a silly name. Menghua is so tacky.”

Qiu Yinuo thought for a moment. “Is there a system for slacking off?”

Dabao seriously considered it. “Or, I could bind with a heartthrob system.”

3224: “…”

It had followed that rotten “Chosen One” for five years without a single result. No matter what happened today, it had to seal the deal with someone.

With a wave of its paw, rows and rows of shimmering system cards appeared in midair—each listing a different system category. “You two pick whatever you want!”

At this point, it didn’t care who did the binding. It just wanted out of this dead-end world and a new chance to find a real, competent host.

Its once-glorious career—thousands of years of top performance—was now in ruins. The thought of returning to the main system to face the ridicule sent shivers down its spine.

Qiu Yinuo picked Dabao up, and the three of them stared at the dazzling selection of systems hovering before them—unable to choose a single one they liked.

[Ugh, mission-based systems are the worst. You get punished if you don’t complete the tasks. Skip!]

[What’s this skill-based system? Why are there so many? Cooking, medicine, sewing … do I really have to learn all of them? Isn’t there something simpler?]