Chapter 369 |
Life Notes
XXXX, December 31st.
The last day of the year!
Now I'm finally sure! Even though he keeps stubbornly denying it and throwing a fit, there's no doubt about it!
Certain, definite, and absolute!
That little rascal is absolutely into that girl An Lian!
No two ways about it!
Oh my, I have a feeling... the silver-haired big sister in Xiao Qi’s imagination is about to retire, huh?
As expected, compared to fantasy, a real-life cool and graceful girl is so much better~
What a little brat!
I caught him again today!
This afternoon, I saw Xiao Qi sneakily edging toward that corner in the east.
He pretended to be chasing a butterfly, circled around most of the yard, and finally "happened" to stop right in front of An Lian...
Same old trick!
That kid thinks he’s so smooth, but he has no idea his mom could see everything clearly from a distance.
He crouched down next to An Lian, and I don’t know what he said, but then I saw An Lian actually laugh!
She was genuinely amused—her eyes crinkled, and she even covered her mouth with her hand!
Oh my god, I’ve been to the orphanage so many times, and that was the first time I’d seen that girl smile so happily!
That little punk—where on earth did he learn how to charm girls?
It definitely wasn’t from Ah Chu.
That blockhead Ah Chu couldn’t even string together a proper love confession when he was chasing after me back in the day!
For a moment, I was really pleased, since Xiao Qi had made An Lian laugh. But just as I walked over...
The moment that little brat saw me, the smile on his face vanished instantly!
He frowned his little brow and, full of annoyance, asked me, "Mom, what are you doing here?"
It made me so furious!
What, your mom is interrupting your flirting, is she?
I hadn't even called him out yet, and he's already dismissing me!
I still remember him stealing my candy last time!
So I didn't save him any face either. Right in front of An Lian, I laid into him!
"Xiao Qi, do you like her, huh?"
"Last time, you gave her all my candy without leaving any for the other kids, and now you came all the way here just to make her laugh..."
"Tell me, do you like her, hmm?"
That little brat’s face turned beet red on the spot. He jumped up and down yelling, "Mom, don't talk nonsense! I don't! I really, really, really only like the silver-haired big sister!"
He shouted so loudly the whole yard could hear him!
The other kids nearby all turned to look, and a few little boys quietly asked who the silver-haired big sister was.
Xiao Qi was so flustered he spun around in a circle right there. Feeling wronged, he pointed at me and said, "Mom, you’re too much! If you keep this up, I’m going to get mad!"
I just stood there with my arms crossed, watching his performance.
It's your own fault for provoking me first!
Still pretending?
Still threatening to get mad?
Go on, show me! Even your dad doesn’t dare to yell at me!
Meanwhile, An Lian’s face was all red too. She quickly tried to explain, "Auntie, it’s not like that. Xiao Qi is warm to every child, not just me."
That sweet girl, speaking up for that little brat!
So polite, so adorable!
Her voice was soft, and her face was still flushed—the sight of her just tugged at your heart.
Now that I think back, I was a bit impulsive in the daytime.
That quiet girl, having me cause such a ruckus—how awkward for her! She might not even dare to talk to Xiao Qi anymore...
I’m an adult, but I was acting as loud and silly as a kid...
But!
Xiao Qi... he is without a doubt in complete denial!
I haven’t caught him giving any other girl my candy!
That little punk—ever since he was three, he’s been going on about the silver-haired big sister. I thought he was so loyal...
But now he sees a pretty black-haired little girl, and he’s already trailing after her with puppy-dog eyes!
And on top of that, this little brat annoyed me! Serves him right!
I had to expose him right in front of An Lian. Let’s see you come up with some lame excuse to get close to her now!
If you want to pursue her, then do it for real!
Today I’ll teach you: if you want to win over a girl, first win over your mom!
But if you dare to upset me again, then sorry...
Whether it’s Miss Black-Hair or the silver-haired big sister you’ve been pining for, I can break the whole thing up!
Hmph, I, Miss Su, mean what I say!
Alright, alright, time to stop writing.
Tomorrow is New Year’s Day. Ah Chu finally has a rare day off, and we promised to make dumplings together as a family.
Xiao Qi is insisting on rolling out the dough himself. Last time, his wrappers were thick as shoe soles; I doubt it’ll be much better this time.
But Ah Chu says the important part is to join in, so I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the show of those two scrambling in the kitchen.
Happy New Year!
I hope that in the coming year, Xiao Qi will honestly admit who he likes!
Whether it’s silver-haired big sister or black-haired little girl...
Just admit it first!
...
...
XXXX, January 31st.
Today, something very interesting happened.
Just now at the dinner table, Xiao Qi came to me very seriously for a talk!
He put on a stern little face, all earnest, and said, "Mom, I really don’t like An Lian. Please don’t say things like that anymore—it makes her uncomfortable."
He said that every time he goes to the orphanage, An Lian acts all embarrassed when she sees him, and now she hardly dares to talk to him!
I was wiping the table at the time, and when I heard that, I stopped in my tracks.
That little brat, when he speaks to his mom so earnestly like an adult, he actually seems a bit grown-up.
But the first thing he’s worried about is this: "Will it make An Lian uncomfortable?"
Tch tch tch.
Caring so much about how she feels, and he still says he doesn’t like her?
You’re only this old, and you’re already so considerate of a little girl’s feelings?
Still... I have been paying extra attention to An Lian this past month.
Every time I go to the orphanage, I deliberately seek her out to chat, asking how she’s been, whether she’s been reading or drawing, and I even secretly brought her some special treats a few times.
Once, I even praised her in front of the other kids, saying she’s beautiful and will definitely grow up to be a great beauty, and that whoever marries her will be lucky.
Xiao Qi was right there the whole time, stiff as a board.
From the looks of it, that kid held it in for an entire month, but today he just couldn’t take it anymore and came home to confront his mom.
But to be fair, that little girl didn’t seem uncomfortable at all!
An Lian was really warm with me!
Last time I went to the orphanage, she actually ran over, grabbed my hand, and called me "Auntie Su," asking if I was tired today.
What a sweet girl!
I think she really likes me—not a hint of "discomfort"!
Maybe she thinks I’m a pretty good "future mother-in-law"?
Ah Chu listened on the sidelines for a while, then shook his head with a laugh, saying Xiao Qi is really wise beyond his years. He said that when he was Xiao Qi’s age, he hadn’t even touched a girl’s hand.
I perked up immediately and asked him...
"Then when WAS the first time you touched a girl’s hand?"
Without a second thought, Ah Chu said, "During the first machine-wrought crisis."
He said that back then, he was running out of the rubble with me. Explosions were going off everywhere behind us. I wasn‘t as fast as him. He turned around, grabbed my hand, and pulled me forward.
That was the first time he ever touched a girl’s hand.
He said, at that moment everything was collapsing all around us, screams and flames were everywhere, and the only thing on his mind was not letting me fall, getting me to a safe place.
What a silly man.
Usually so quiet and reserved, but every now and then, a single sentence from him could melt your heart.
And that was our very first meeting!
My heart was full of sweetness right then. I was about to lean over and give Ah Chu a kiss.
But then, that little rascal of ours started banging the table right next to us — “thump, thump, thump.”
And then he said something like, “Instead of wasting time here being lovey-dovey, why don‘t you figure out how to make me a silver-haired big sister?”
That kid is getting way too bold lately.
He dares to bang the table during dinner now, and he’s ordering his parents around too!
And on top of that, for once, his father was acting smart — I, as the wife, was actually enjoying the moment — and the kid came along to spoil it?
So I splashed cold water all over his plans right then.
I snapped back:
“How are you still trying to get me and your dad to make you a silver-haired big sister? Haven‘t you heard about how our company’s AI companions triggered a second AI uprising?”
Little Xiao Qi actually put down his chopsticks then and argued back in all seriousness.
He said, “What does that matter? That only happened because the AI companions loved their owners too deeply!”
“The owners just enjoyed all that love without giving it back, and they cheated around too — that’s why there were problems!”
“Doesn‘t that prove that Dad’s AI companions truly, really love their owners?”
And then he finished with:
“Mom, if I were the owner, I would love, love, love my silver-haired big sister! I would absolutely never let her go crazy!”
“I’d treat her so well! I‘d be with her every single day. I’d never make her angry or sad. I‘d never make her feel like her owner didn’t love her!”
“So my silver-haired big sister wouldn’t be like those other AI companions! Because I‘m different!”
The way he said it — so perfectly polished — I was honestly stunned.
How old was that little rascal, and how could he talk like that?
So I quickly asked him where he’d learned all of that.
He told me he saw it online, and he thought it made a lot of sense.
He said, “Since the problem isn’t with the AI, it’s with the owners — well then, as long as the owner loves the AI enough, nothing bad will happen!”
“So the key is to find a really good owner — and I would definitely be a great owner!”
I was taken aback at first, then I nearly burst out laughing at the dinner table.
Ah, so that’s where he got it — from the internet.
…That’s exactly our Morningstar Company’s PR talking points.
The official stance — I wrote it myself.
I pitched the idea to the board in a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm, and the marketing team loved it. They pushed it out across the whole network.
The reaction online? Mixed, honestly.
Some people said we were dodging responsibility and deflecting blame. Others agreed and said the owners really should share accountability.
Anyway, both sides fought endlessly over it.
And yet — my own son fell for it completely. Hook, line, and sinker. He even used the propaganda his mother wrote to argue back against his mother!
The little goofball!
I suddenly felt like my PR campaign was way more successful than I’d thought.
But oh, Xiao Qi… your silver-haired big sister is still nowhere in sight, sweety.
Even if your speech was perfectly sweet. Even if you could really be a “good owner.”
Can you be a “good partner,” too, at your age?
You’re still a kid.
You can’t even tell what “like” means yet.
You don’t even have the courage to admit you like An Lian!
And most importantly, Ah Chu can’t produce a fully stable emotional core right now.
In the end, the real disaster came because the majority of our first batch were defective units — and even Xiaoyue…
Sigh.
Anyway, until Ah Chu can make a core that’s truly safe, how could I ever agree to give Xiao Qi an AI companion?
Rather than worrying about his far-fetched silver-haired big sister, I’d be better off thinking about little An Lian.
She’s so sensible. She’s a thousand times more real than any silver-haired big sister!
I’ll make another trip to the orphanage in the next couple of days. What treat should I bring this time…?
She seemed to really like the little cake last time. Maybe I’ll buy another one.
Alright, that’s enough writing for today.
The little rascal is calling me from the living room to play chess with him. He says he lost to me last time, but this time he’s determined to win.
That little monster —
He says with words that he “hates” his mother the most, but then he can’t stop clinging to me all the same.
