As they had gone out on Saturday, the man decided not to go out again on Sunday and took the time to rest at home instead.
Most importantly, he found an interesting way to pass time at home, and this was to tease his robot.
He could not get sick of it.
Like now, for instance, she actually took his words seriously when he told her to wash his underwear in half-jest…
Using her own initiative, she even put on a pair of latex gloves as a waterproofing measure.
As he watched her carefully ruffling his undergarment with her full attention at the marble basin, an indescribable, peculiar feeling arose within him. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, yet at the same time, a little excited. Watching her flushed little face, he had an urge to give it a nibble for relief.
At this point, he suddenly recalled that she had been acting secretive with her phone since morning… And while she was browsing the phone, her face had shown an eclectic mix of expressions.
Looking around, he found her round sling bag laying on the sofa and reached out his arms to hook it over. Then he rumbled through its interior to find her phone.
He found it and turned it on. As she had not set a password lock, he was able to access the content easily. Soon, the screen was displaying the pages that she had viewed earlier…
Funny white liquid in the morning…
"…"
Cocking a brow, he glanced up to steal a look at her side profile. She was still working hard inside the bathroom so he lowered his head, looked at the phone again and clicked on the internet search record.
Pants were wet after the man got up in the morning.
Medical reasons that cause a man to wet the bed.
Is it normal for man to wet bed?
…
He chuckled to himself. Never had it occurred to him that she would search this topic…
It looked like Ruan Ruan had learned to arm herself with basic physiological knowledge through the Internet.
So she should know what the stuff is that she's washing now, right?
Somehow or rather, his mood was inexplicably uplifted on this particular Sunday.
He casually swiped the screen back to the main page where it contained various kinds of video and game apps that Lu Lu had downloaded for the robot. The man had no patience for the assortment of apps lined up on the screen and went straight for the message box instead. There were only two or three advertisements present inside. He closed the app and looked for the telephone directory next.
There were only four contacts inside the phone book in the following order: Lu Lu, Boss Master, Cheryl, Alan.
It took him a while to realize that the Boss Master indicated here was actually referring to him.
But, why am I second in the row?
He frowned.
And why is Lu Lu the first in the phone book?
His slender finger did a few simple taps on the screen to rearrange their order. Now, "Boss Master", i.e. him, was first in the list.
He was finally satisfied.
"It's done…" She stood shyly at the bathroom's door, with the undergarment, nicely wrung by now, in her hand. Her eyes gazed uneasily between Chen Yuheng and her phone that he was holding in his hand, and then she popped a question hesitatingly, "… Where do I hang these?"
He pointed to the balcony.
This was a meaningless question actually.
Obviously she knew where to hang the undergarment to dry. But looking at her handphone in his hand, she was too nervous to think properly…
Oh god…
Please don't look at QQ…
If he did, she would really need to make up a story about how she got an account, she could probably say that she had hacked…
But what if he asks me how do I know how to hack an account? How should I explain it?
Step by step, she walked toward the balcony with a heavy heart. After hanging the devil king's underwear to dry, she turned around to see that he had already put her phone aside, and was now surfing the TV channels with the remote control.
Phew…
She hastened her steps to take back her phone, aimed for the QQ icon on the screen and swiped to uninstall it in one quick move!
She could feel the burden lift from her shoulders the moment the screen flashed the message to announce the success of uninstallation.
Looking up, she caught him lying on the sofa with his head tilted, and looking at her with an inscrutable smile. Her heart turned anxious once more…
What is it…
What is he smil-smiling at…
What a bad man!
Her coy and bashful expression was too alluring for him to resist. Without realizing what he was going to do, he pulled her into his arms…
He was about to kiss her on impulse when he noticed her two ears with leopard prints. He resumed his rational behavior with a jerk and gave a light peck on her forehead instead.
There was the familiar heart-fluttering sensation again but this time, it was stronger than the last…
She lay in his arms, afraid to move.
He hugged her in quiet contemplation. His action baffled him. What am I doing? What happened to me? She is only a robot, Chen Yuheng, what do you think you are doing?
It is just a robot, a bunch of programming codes, a modern product of technology.
Perhaps I'm overthinking…
A normal person will also have a desire to hug and kiss an adorable puppy or kitten. This isn't a big deal.
This is normal…
He was trying to convince himself.
Ruan Ruan is so cute, so it is normal for me to react this way.
She gazed at him with quizzical eyes.
He let her go. Pretending that nothing was unusual, he patted her head and mentioned leisurely, "Let's watch TV."
"Alright."
…
That night, Gu Anbao was sitting on the sofa, charging her power supply as usual.
At first, he was concerned that she would be scared about being alone, just like last night, and wanted to ask her to sleep with him in the room again. But just as he opened his mouth, he started to worry.
This little thing has been tugging at his heartstrings recently. All she did this afternoon was to give him a shy look which drove him to hug her without restraint. What would happen at night if…
He could not understand his feelings toward her…
He thought that his liking for her was similar to the love and care of a pet, like a dog or a cat. Or perhaps, it was akin to doting a child. Still, he felt that something was wrong…
Or perhaps, it was time for him to put a stop to this.
Just as he had reasoned in the past, the act of injecting one's emotions on a lifeless robot was abnormal and pathological. The feelings developed for a machine were built on ungrounded fantasies and unreal. Liking a robot would be a mistake.
He, for one, was level-headed.
And he was more rational than any average folk.
Closing the door, he lay on the bed and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible.
…
After forcing himself to lie still on the bed for an hour, he sat up and walked to the door, calling out to his robot. "Ruan Ruan!"
"Yes…?" Inside the pitch-black living room, a small head with a pair of upright ears popped up from the sofa backrest. "What is it?"
Looking stern, he told her, "Come in here to charge your battery."
"…" Is there such a need…?
Still, she coiled up the charging cable and followed him obediently into the room.
He was instantly comforted by her actions.
What is the big deal about getting the robot into the room to charge her battery?
This was such a simple affair so why did he need to go through so much internal turmoil? Why was there a need to fill himself with so many reasons before he had allowed himself to call her in?
Really, is there such a need in the first place? Is there such a need?!
He lay on the bed, happy and comfortable, before he said to her, "You come to my room to charge your battery every night from now on."
She was dumbfounded, and then nodded her head in shy acquiescence.
…
The next day was a Monday, it was time to go back to work.
Gu Anbao did not know if she was imagining things but somehow, the man was acting differently from the past.
Specifically, it seemed that… he ruffled her ears more often than before. Or perhaps… yes, he pinched her face more often as well…
On the way to work, he seemed to pinch her face every time the car came to a stop at the traffic lights…
By then, she had turned red and was perturbed by his affectionate pinching. Following him into the RK office tower, she was muddle-headed as she trailed along to the CEO's elevator.
The employees who passed by him would greet and acknowledge their boss.
"Good morning, President Chen."
"… President Chen."
"President Chen."
"President Chen, good morning…"
…
One of the elevators opened and out came three men. Gu Anbao looked up unexpectedly to catch sight of the man leading the pack. It was Director Xu!
She was struck dumb on the spot. Is that him… Director Xu?!
The man also cast a firm look at her…