Chapter 370 |
Year XXXX, February 2nd.
Ah Chu's reaction time is way too slow!
Tonight, after dinner, I got Xiao Qi to sleep, and I was curled up on the sofa going over this month's expense reports when Ah Chu suddenly walked out of the study and said:
"Xiao Qi was right."
I was stunned for a moment.
I said, what did Xiao Qi say, and what was he right about?
Ah Chu said, the night before last, at dinner, Xiao Qi said something, and it was very true.
He said the reason AI companions go wrong is because the owner only enjoys the love they receive but never gives back an equal amount of love!
I was frozen for a full three seconds before I realized what he was talking about.
Xiao Qi said that at dinner the night before last, and Ah Chu spent a full two days thinking about it, only to come to me today with his sudden realization?
And the most important thing...
Did Xiao Qi actually say that?
No, I said that!
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I slammed the bills down on the coffee table and glared at him!
I said, Ah Chu, the words Xiao Qi spoke were from a PR draft I wrote for external release!
I proposed it at the board meeting you attended, and you even raised your hand to vote!
How is it that when I said it, you had zero reaction, but when Xiao Qi said it, you mulled it over for two whole days?
So, my words don't carry as much weight as Xiao Qi's, huh?!
The more I talked, the angrier I got!
This blockhead doesn't even listen carefully to his own wife's words, but our son casually says something, and he thinks about it for two days...
What's that supposed to mean?
Ah Chu panicked immediately, pleading and explaining, saying he didn't mean it that way, that I misunderstood, that it was because the current board is completely different from before.
In the past, it was just Lao Zhang and Xiao Wang at meetings, everyone familiar with each other. We said things directly, argued on the spot if we disagreed.
Now, half the board is made up of government officials.
Those old folks sit there, speaking in circles, one set of formalities after another. A single proposal can be debated back and forth for hours.
He gets sleepy during long meetings and usually zones out.
He glanced at me cautiously, making sure I wasn't fully exploding yet, before continuing:
"But whenever you bring up a motion, I raise my hand to support it without even listening."
"You're much better than those government people! Whatever you say, I approve of it, so there's no need to listen at all!"
Sounds nice, but that still means he didn't listen!
I was still mad!
Is zoning out during meetings supposed to be a valid excuse now?!
Is it something to be proud of, voting for your wife's proposals without even glancing at them?!
Though, being complimented still cheered me up a little, but that Ah Chu's attitude was way too half-hearted!
So, I ramped it up a little and said:
"How can you even believe such PR talk? Don't you know our own product's problems clearly enough?!"
"Those words are just dodging the real issues, meant to fool people on the outside, to buy time and shape public opinion for Chenxi. The real problem is still ours!"
"Most of the products are defective, and the instability of the emotional core hasn't been resolved yet!"
"Your younger brother loved his companion Xiaoyue so much, and now... hasn't she ended up in that same awful state?!"
"We can fool outsiders, but you can't fool yourself."
"Chenxi is counting on you to solve the technical problems. If you end up fooled by your own PR spin, what then?"
As soon as I said those words, I regretted them.
Ah Chu didn't say anything at first. He just sat there in silence for a long time.
I immediately realized I had been too harsh.
Why did I have to bring up his brother? That was something I shouldn't have said. Fang Yi's situation has always been a thorn in his heart.
I quickly moved closer, grabbed his hand, and said I was sorry.
Then I changed my tone, saying that he was actually doing pretty well now, rising fast within that organization called Bomo.
I said their path is different from ours. Between ordinary humans like us and them, who knows which direction represents humanity's true future.
I tried to sound lighthearted, but Ah Chu didn't let my carefree tone carry the moment.
He said, that wasn't what he was thinking about.
He said...
"Yueyue, I'm just thinking..."
"If AI awakening is inevitable, then simply stabilizing the emotional core isn't enough."
He said he felt that, whether or not the emotional core could be stabilized, treating such products as commodities to be freely sold was wrong.
He said he wanted to temporarily cancel the new product launch plan and make a decision only after we had thought this issue through completely.
I looked at his earnest, stubborn expression, and my heart ached with both pride and sorrow.
This is Ah Chu.
From the first day we met, he has never changed.
But things aren't that simple anymore.
It's different now from before.
After the company went public and got funding, half the board became government officials. We can't just hit pause whenever we want.
Back when it was just a few of us, if he wanted to take a direction, we went for it together because we called the shots ourselves.
But not anymore.
If Ah Chu submits that kind of proposal, it will be shot down by the government side.
If he refuses to continue the research and keep updating the emotional core, then Chenxi as it is now might even choose to keep manufacturing and selling the old models, continuing to...
"Expand" that thing called "Bomo."
That's what I told him.
He was silent for a very long time, and in the end, he just held my hand, tightly.
Just like back then, when we first met among the ruins.
This blockhead is great in every way, except he's a little too naive.
These days...
We've long since lost the freedom to follow our own hearts.
...
...
Year XXXX, March 15th.
I visited the orphanage again today.
I've been going more often lately, mainly because the cake I brought for Xiao Lian'er last time really delighted her, so this time I brought her another one.
The girl's eyes lit up when she took it, and she said a quiet "thank you, Auntie" with a shy smile.
But after watching closely over this period, I think...
I might have misjudged Xiao Qi a bit?
His feelings for Xiao Lian'er don't seem to be that kind of affection. At least not the kind I imagined.
Apart from that time he secretly gave her candy and the few "coincidental butterfly-chasing encounters" I caught, he doesn't seem to treat Xiao Lian'er any differently from the other children.
He plays jump rope with Xiao Ting, teaches a few boys how to fold paper airplanes, and shares his snacks with everyone.
But...
My candy jar is still empty!
You little rascal!
What surprised me most is this little girl, Xiao Lian'er.
Instead of seeking out Xiao Qi, she seems to prefer coming to me.
Every time I step through the orphanage gate, she's always the first to spot me, then quietly walks over and stays by my side.
Sometimes she helps me hand out snacks, other times she just sits next to me and listens as I talk. Occasionally, she'll glance up and give me a quiet little smile.
That look in her eyes isn't like she's looking at some auntie...
It's more like she's looking at...
A mother.
Well, I think I've probably figured it out.
Xiao Lian'er, having lost her parents and her older brother, has gone through so much here in the orphanage, for so long.
During this time, I’ve been especially attentive to her—bringing snacks and keeping her company in conversation. She must have really seen a trace of her mother in me.
Lately, she’s been growing more and more dependent on me.
Last time, when I couldn’t make it to the orphanage because of work, I went again the next day, and Xiao Ting quietly told me…
An Lian had waited by the gate that whole day, not heading back inside until it got dark.
When I heard that, my heart ached so much.
After spending this time with her, I’ve also noticed something.
An Lian once mentioned her older brother—said he was several years older than her, very tall, and would lift her up high when she cried.
That same brother, who left all his own food for his younger sister and ultimately starved to death on the street.
She said he was the most incredible person she’d ever known. He could do anything and would do anything.
I realized then that emotionally, she seems to really lean toward that kind of protective, older-brother type who gives her a sense of safety.
Mm.
Not the type like Xiao Qi.
So even if Xiao Qi has a crush on An Lian, it looks like he doesn’t stand a chance after all…
That kid Xiao Qi, sharp-tongued and popular as he is, is still just a little guy in the end.
He’s not the protective, big-brother type—hasn’t even hit his growth spurt yet. How could he give her any “sense of security”?
…Ah, what am I even writing!
That little girl is only twelve, and here I am pondering this kind of stuff!
What’s the difference between me and some nosy old gossip?
Pfft, pfft!
But seriously, this little girl is just too endearing.
After everything she’s been through—lost her parents, lost her brother, stuck alone in that orphanage—she’s still so quiet, so sensible, never crying, never fussing, never complaining.
Even when there’s so much hidden in her eyes, she won’t let it show in front of others.
Every time I see her sitting quietly on that little stool reading a book, I just want to pull her into my arms and ruffle her hair.
I’ve made up my mind. Starting today…
I’m going to raise An Lian as my own daughter!
Anyway, that little rascal Xiao Qi is endlessly obsessed with “silver-haired big sisters,” so I’m not counting on him to find me a good daughter-in-law anymore!
I’ll just raise a daughter myself!
Next time I go to the orphanage, I’ll bring An Lian some good books.
Last time she said she likes science and nature reads, so I asked Ah Chu to recommend a few from his childhood.
…They shouldn’t be too hard, right?
…
…
XXXX, April 8th.
Today I asked little Lian’er what she wants to be when she grows up.
Her answer really touched me.
It was this afternoon. The sun was nice at the orphanage. I was sitting on a bench in the hallway, and little Lian’er was beside me.
The other kids were playing in the yard, Xiao Qi running around with them like a wild thing.
I casually asked her the question.
She didn’t hesitate at all—answered right away.
She said she wants to go to Chenxi Company and become someone like me.
She also said it was because of the Second AI Crisis that her parents and brother were taken from her.
She mentioned that before, she thought it was just a plain disaster, but later she realized it wasn’t an accident.
Those AI companions—they were tested incorrectly, allowed to stay with their owners, and that’s what made them do those things.
And then she said she wants to be a testing and maintenance technician at Chenxi Company.
She would thoroughly inspect every product and make sure no defective units ever reached the customers.
She would never let any AI companion become a machine that harms people.
She wants to make sure that kind of tragedy never happens again.
When she said it, she lifted her head and looked at me so seriously.
“I want to become someone like my brother,” she said.
“My brother protected me and left me the last bite of food he had.”
“I can’t protect him the way he protected me anymore…”
“But I can protect others.”
“I can protect kids younger than me, so they don’t have to go through the same things I did.”
“I can…”
“Protect Xiao Qi.”
