Chapter 69 - I Really am Not Sturdy…
Chapter 69: I Really am Not Sturdy…
Chapter 69 – I Really am Not Sturdy…
“Your dislocation is a little severe. Although I’ve reconnected your arm, you mustn’t be reckless with it.”
Inside Jinzhou City’s Second People’s Hospital, an orthopedic doctor put on a fracture sling for Chen Yu and asked, “How did you end up like this? Did you fight with someone?”
“I fought with a machine,” Chen Yu huffed, his anger yet to dissipate.
“I’ll prescribe two medicines for you. Take them on time and visit me for a review a week later.”
“Alright, thank you, doctor.”
“Go on,” the doctor said, shooing Chen Yu away. “Make sure to properly study. What’s the point of fighting?”
After exiting the hospital, Chen Yu pulled out his phone with a dark look on his face before sending a message to the Transdimensional Marketing Company’s staff member.
[Chen Yu: “Can you reclaim that simulation robot?”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “Mr. Chen, what are you trying to do? Artificial Intelligence is different from other advanced technologies. It cannot be recycled, but it can be replaced.”]
[Chen Yu: “Even if it’s replaced, it’ll still be Little Peach, right?”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “That’s for certain. While an AI’s accessories and body can be replaced, the AI itself cannot be replaced. Otherwise, you will be violating the Artificial Intelligence Rights Protection Law’s Chapter I, Article 19.”]
[Chen Yu: “But Little Peach is precisely the problem! It’s going to get me killed!”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “Mr. Chen, you can educate it. From the perspective of carbon-based organisms, Little Peach is no different than a newly-born infant. It can learn from you.”]
[Chen Yu: “Learn from me? Doesn’t that mean I’ll die even sooner?”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “Mr. Chen, you still have some good points.”]
[Chen Yu: “What good points?”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “Your self-awareness.”]
[Chen Yu: “…If I wish to file a complaint on you, how should I do so?”]
[Transdimensional Marketing: “Live until the year 4,552 when the Transdimensional Marketing Company is established. Afterward, forward your complaint to the company’s main branch located in the Kuiper Belt. My employee number is 23,333.”]
“Hah…”
Breathing out a deep sigh, Chen Yu felt his mood becoming even worse than before. Turning off his phone, he immediately started heading back home.
On his way back, Chen Yu’s invisible watch continuously reminded him that someone was following him. However, he paid the warning no mind as he was already used to it.
After arriving back home and opening the security door, what greeted Chen Yu first was a thick cloud of black smoke!
Chen Yu was immediately started by this situation. Thinking that his house had caught on fire, he hurriedly ducked down and crawled his way to the smoke source—the kitchen.
When Chen Yu arrived at the kitchen, he found Little Peach wielding a wok in her left hand and a spatula in her right hand. And using both these cooking utensils, the robot girl made a series of rattling sounds as she tried to stir-fry something in a frenzy. Her actions were so rough that even the metal spatula had become bent.
Approaching Little Peach, Chen Yu gave the robot girl a good look before asking, “Are you frying a land mine?”
“I’m making your favorite lunch box for you, Mr. Chen,” Little Peach said, smiling sweetly and happily as she lightly tugged at her charred bangs.
“I’d rather take another slap to the face,” Chen Yu said as he turned off the gas stove. He had very nearly broken into tears when he saw the mess Little Peach created. “God, spare me. You’ve basically torn down the entire kitchen. I’ll definitely die once my mom gets home.”
“It’s okay.” Hopping to the bathroom, Little Peach returned with a broom and assuringly said, “I’ll clean it up!”
After saying so, Little Peach started sweeping the glass fragments littering the kitchen floor, accidentally knocking over the glass thermos sitting on the kitchen counter in the process.
Clank.
Along with a loud noise, the thermos shattered, and the water inside flowed all over the place.
“Huh?” Turning her head around, Little Peach wondered, “Why is the mess increasing?”
His lips trembling, Chen Yu took in a deep breath to calm his emotions. “Little Peach, I think you should come out of the kitchen. Let’s both calm down and have a proper talk.”
“Are we talking about love?” Little Peach asked as she tossed aside the broom, and abashedly covered her face.
“We can talk about anything. Just come out first.”
“Ok!”
In a moment, one man and one robot arrived in the living room. Both of them seated on the sofa and looked at each other.
“This is the year 2020, not the future. Everything is fragile in this time period, including me,” Chen Yu said as he pointed at his dangling right arm. “In the future, you need to be gentler in your actions.”
“I understand!” Little Peach nodded.
“By the way, are you male or female?”
“Service-type AIs like myself are all gender-neutral. We are not categorized by sexuality, unlike carbon-based organisms.”
“Oh.” Rubbing his neck and hesitating for a short while, Chen Yu asked another question, “I heard that you can connect to the internet. Is that true? And do you do it wirelessly, or do you need a plug-in interface?”
“Mr. Chen, the lowest grade of internet I can connect to is the Future Network model. I am unable to connect to the ancient Internet Protocol Suite model. Our base systems aren’t compatible.”
“So, you can’t connect to the internet?”
“That is correct.”
“What do I need you for, then?”
Biting her lips, Little Peach said, “I am only a Romantic Partner Simulation Robot. I can bring romance to your life. Moreover, the standard of low-grade internet is limited. I can master it through learning.”
“Stop mentioning romance! There won’t be any romance between us in this lifetime! However, it would be great if you can become a programmer.” Chen Yu’s eyes glowed with excitement when he heard Little Peach’s words.
“Indeed, but I need to learn.”
“That won’t be a problem! In a moment, I’ll bring you out to search for a place where you can live alone. I’ll then buy you a few textbooks and a computer that can access the internet. You just need to focus on learning programming knowledge. Also, use the chance to learn how to live in ancient times.”
“No!” Little Peach rejected Chen Yu’s proposal without hesitation. “I don’t want to be apart from you.”
“It’s inconvenient for you to live here. I still have my parents and three little sisters. There are also people constantly watching my every action. I can’t let these people discover your existence,” Chen Yu bitterly reasoned.
“That won’t happen. I have an invisibility function that prevents others from seeing me.”
“Invisibility?”
“That is correct.” As Little Peach nodded, a flash of light appeared in her eyes, and her entire person instantly vanished…
Except for her clothing.
Pinching his forehead, Chen Yu said, “What about your clothing?”
Rip!
The one-piece garment covering Little Peach’s invisible body instantly got torn into pieces.
“It’s gone.”
Chen Yu: “…”
Three seconds later, Little Peach’s body reappeared before Chen Yu. Delightfully pinching her waist, she said, “This way, I won’t get discovered, right?”
“Mhm… Mhm…”
Noticing Chen Yu’s straight gaze, the chip in Little Peach’s brain performed some quick operations. In the next moment, Little Peach raised her hand and slapped Chen Yu to the ground.
“Pervert! What are you looking at?!”
…
“Chen Yu, what happened to your arm?”
When the Chen family was huddled around the dining table and having their dinner, Mother Chen posed this question to Chen Yu with a frown.
“It got dislocated when I was playing ball,” Chen Yu mumbled an answer while eating with his left hand.
“Did another student bump into you?”
“No, I dislocated it when doing a slam dunk.”
“A slam dunk?” Lifting his head in surprise, Father Chen said, “Not bad, son! You’re actually able to-”
Bang!
Before Father Chen could finish his words, Mother Chen slammed her chopsticks on his head, saying, “Not bad? Not bad?! Your son got injured to such an extent, yet you’re saying he’s not bad?!”
“It’s basketball. Getting some minor injuries is very normal.” Caressing his aching head, Father Chen looked at Chen Yu and continued, “Son, give me a show once you’re healed.”
“No problem.”
“To think you can slam dunk as well, your talent in sports really is quite good. You definitely follow after me.”
“Follow after you?” Disdainfully clicking her tongue, Mother Chen said, “I’ve seen you playing football when you were young. You look no different than a frail maiden when you start running. You also fall with the slightest push.”
“That’s called fake falling! What do you understand? It’s a football tactic!”
“Sure.” Taking a bite of her food, Mother Chen said, “If only the person that knocked you over wasn’t a cheerleader.”
Chen Yu: “…”
“Hahahaha…”
Suddenly, cheerful laughter filled the kitchen.
“Mom, why are you so clear about this?” Chen Yike curiously asked.
“Because I’m the cheerleader that knocked him over.”
“Hahahahahaha…”
Outside the kitchen, Little Peach, who was currently in her invisible mode, wore a look of confusion as she listened to the Chen family’s merry conversation.
In the future, with the presence of asexual reproduction, the substantial increase of the human lifespan, and the prevalence of celibacy, the concept of family affection had long since disappeared. One would never find a warm scene like in the Chen family…
“From ancient times to the future, just what have human beings been pursuing?”
At this moment, the chip inside Little Peach’s brain was rapidly operating.
