Unlike family companion robots who lack distinct tactile sensation, Chi Xiaoxue held Jiang Yanyi’s fingers in her palm, then released them, intertwining their fingers instead.
After quietly sensing the contact for a moment, she let go of Jiang Yanyi’s hand.
“Just… so-so,” Chi Xiaoxue remarked flatly, gazing out at the green mountains from the cable car.
There was none of the heart-pounding sensation described in novels when holding someone’s hand.
Jiang Yanyi looked down at his own hand, unsure what she was disappointed about.
“Why does she sleep so much?” Chi Xiaoxue gently poked the child’s curly hair, looking puzzled.
Jiang Yanyi gazed at his daughter’s rosy, sleeping face and replied gently, “Children are like that. They’re growing, so they need more sleep.”
Chi Xiaoxue almost blurted out that she hadn’t needed so much sleep as a child, but caught herself just in time.
She nodded and didn’t say anything more.
Xiao Bai slept the entire car ride home. When Jiang Yanyi carried her out of the car, the child opened her dewy puppy-dog eyes.
“Daddy.”
“You’re awake?” Jiang Yanyi gently pinched the tip of her nose. “Go take a bath with Moji, then we’ll head to the Shell Restaurant for dinner.”
Recently, Chi Xiaoxue and Xiao Bai often bathed together.
They’d fill the bathtub with water and toss in a bubble bath ball meant for both humans and robots. The ball would spin in the water, releasing bubbles in circles. By the time it fully dissolved, the tub would be filled with dreamy foam.
The two could play in the bubbles for one or two hours.
When they first started bathing together, Xiao Bai was curious about Chi Xiaoxue’s body and innocently asked, “Why are your boobies so round?”
Chi Xiaoxue puffed out her chest proudly. “Mature women are all like this.”
“Will I be like this when I grow up?” Xiao Bai tilted her head, a blob of bubble foam shaped like poop sitting atop her hair.
“Depends on luck.”
Chi Xiaoxue continued piling more foam on the child’s head, then molded the foam-covered curls upward, transforming the poop-shaped blob into a tall, pyramid-like tower.
“Some unlucky people end up with boobies that sag down to their belly button, like two deflated bags.”
Chi Xiaoxue wasn’t making this up. When she was little, she had gone to a public bathhouse with her grandmother and had actually seen such “bag-like” breasts.
At the time, her young mind had been utterly shocked.
The night after that conversation, Xiao Bai lay on her back in bed wearing her nightcap. Chi Xiaoxue squeezed under the covers with her and told her stories.
The stories Chi Xiaoxue told were all from novels she had read before. Xiao Bai wasn’t interested in romance novels and would usually doze off as soon as the story began.
But that night, Xiao Bai not only didn’t fall asleep—she abruptly sat straight up, startling Chi Xiaoxue.
“What if my boobies grow into bags when I grow up?” Xiao Bai blinked her big eyes, her expression filled with lingering anxiety.
Chi Xiaoxue affectionately patted her head. “Child, if that really happens… well, there’s nothing we can do.”
Xiao Bai let out a frustrated sigh and flopped back onto the bed.
During their bath today, they didn’t discuss “bags” anymore. Instead, they started piling bubbles on each other’s heads.
Xiao Bai’s hair was short, making the bubbles easy to shape. Chi Xiaoxue molded her hair into two horns and bestowed a title: “Golden Horned King.”
Xiao Bai didn’t want to be any “Golden Horned King.” She huffed and puffed angrily, and with one breath, blew a bubble out of her nose.
Both of them paused, then burst into simultaneous giggles.
Jiang Yanyi knocked on the bathroom door. “You two, hurry up. Our restaurant reservation is coming up.”
It took three or four reminders before they reluctantly rinsed off and stepped out of the bathroom.
Chi Xiaoxue wore a nightgown, her long hair wrapped in a towel atop her head. She opened the bedroom door and called toward the bathroom, “What should I wear?”
Jiang Yanyi was blow-drying Xiao Bai’s hair. He paused the dryer and looked up. “What is it?”
“To the restaurant. What should I wear?” Chi Xiaoxue asked again.
Jiang Yanyi set the hairdryer aside, walked to the bedroom, and picked out a white cotton-linen long-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length shorts set from the wardrobe. “This will do.”
“I want to pair it with a necklace.” Chi Xiaoxue held up the pearl necklace she’d gotten for free a few days earlier.
Jiang Yanyi thought for a moment, hung the outfit back in the closet, and instead pulled out a black round-neck T-shirt. “Dark colors pair nicely with pearls.”
After another moment’s thought, he handed her a gray A-line skirt to match.
Once he’d chosen her clothes, Jiang Yanyi returned to the bathroom to continue drying Xiao Bai’s hair. Seeing Chi Xiaoxue changing clothes with her back turned toward them, he reached out and pulled the bathroom door shut.
In the car on the way to the Shell Restaurant, Chi Xiaoxue gazed out the window, admiring her pearl necklace from every angle in the glass reflection.
She thought she was being subtle, but Jiang Yanyi chuckled and asked, “Do you really like that necklace that much?”
The free pearl necklace wasn’t of particularly high quality. Although they were natural pearls, the beads were small and not very round.
But the robot’s face was youthful and radiant, and even an ordinary necklace stood out beautifully against her neck.
Chi Xiaoxue grinned and nodded. Being caught admiring herself didn’t embarrass her; she continued openly appreciating her reflection.
“But Moji, when changing clothes in the future, do it discreetly—in your own room with the door closed.”
Jiang Yanyi added this from behind her.
“Okay.”
Chi Xiaoxue nodded in agreement.
But as she looked at her reflection again, she felt a bit distracted. Something about this conversation felt strangely familiar, as if someone had told her the same thing before.
A middle-aged man’s voice echoed in her mind—deep and resonant.
She closed her eyes and thought. It wasn’t her father’s voice; her father’s voice was clearer and brighter.
What was going on?
Chi Xiaoxue clutched the small lambskin crossbody bag resting on her lap. Could she really have lost some memories?
If this happened to an ordinary person, they might spiral into overthinking and anxiety.
But the words “overthinking” didn’t exist in Chi Xiaoxue’s dictionary. She was someone who lived entirely in the present.
Entering the Shell Restaurant, Chi Xiaoxue saw the cylindrical deep-sea pool at the center of the dining area. A massive whale swam inside, its tail rising high, resembling a towering gray-blue column from a distance.
“Wow.” Chi Xiaoxue let out an amazed gasp, swung her bag, and trotted over, pressing her forehead against the highly transparent glass wall to peer inside.
“Is this real?”
Xiao Bai stood behind her, hands tucked into the pockets of her overalls, replying calmly, “Of course it’s real.”
“Are there whales this big?” Chi Xiaoxue questioned, still staring at the enormous creature.
This wasn’t the gentle, white-headed beluga whale she’d seen in aquariums before. This was a massive, fierce-looking blue whale.
Seeing such a colossal, awe-inspiring creature so clearly up close evoked a mix of fear and excitement.
Suddenly, the giant creature in the deep-sea pool blinked toward the outside. The crowd gathered by the glass, familiar with the routine, quietly stepped back a little.
But Chi Xiaoxue was completely unprepared. Her forehead remained pressed against the glass as she stared wide-eyed at the massive blue whale.
Then, the whale suddenly lunged forward, opening its enormous maw toward Chi Xiaoxue. A suffocating darkness loomed, as if it intended to swallow her whole.
This was a regular weekend blue whale performance. Even though some had seen it many times, the realistic and thrilling visual impact still drew gasps and screams from the crowd.
Only Chi Xiaoxue, pressed against the front, remained completely still—no scream, no fear. She calmly continued leaning against the glass.
“Aww, didn’t scare the robot,” Xiao Bai muttered, her prank unsuccessful as she puffed out her cheeks.
Jiang Yanyi flipped through the menu.
“From an evolutionary psychology perspective, humans’ fear of giant predators stems from primal memories of danger. But robots don’t possess such memories, so she wouldn’t feel afraid.”
Just as Jiang Yanyi finished speaking, a thud was heard. He looked over to see his own robot sitting on the floor, looking dazed.
Chi Xiaoxue lifted her arm toward him, her voice weak. “Help… help me up. My legs are jelly.”
Jiang Yanyi: “?”
Nowadays, most restaurants provide food options for robots.
Cheap fast-food joints usually offer bottled nutrient fluid kept in refrigerated cabinets. But high-end restaurants like the Shell Restaurant prepare the nutrient fluid into elegant pudding desserts.
The same substance, presented on a beautiful plate, could cost over ten times more.
Considering Chi Xiaoxue had just been frightened by the blue whale, she ended up eating three nutrient puddings in a row before her mood gradually settled.
As she was about to order a fourth, Jiang Yanyi, holding a steak knife, said in a stern tone, “Moji, if you eat any more, I’ll be the one getting a shock when the bill comes.”
Chi Xiaoxue reluctantly put the menu down.
Xiao Bai had a ring of cream around her puffed cheeks. She blinked her puppy-dog eyes, looking at her dad, then glanced sideways at the robot.
Then she set down her large spoon, reached into the pocket of her overalls, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, and slapped it on the table.
“Use it to buy nutrient stuff.”
After delivering that boss-like line, the child lowered her head again, wobbling her big spoon as she scooped up creamy mushroom soup.
“I won’t spend a child’s money.”
Chi Xiaoxue pushed the bill back and said sulkily,
“I’m full.”
Though she claimed she was full, she kept drinking the complimentary nutrient drinks one after another. With each sip, she sighed; with each sigh, she cast a resentful glance at Jiang Yanyi.
Amused, Jiang Yanyi watched her little performance. Once he’d seen enough, he ordered her another pudding.
On the way home, because Chi Xiaoxue had eaten so many puddings and drunk so much free nutrient fluid—and her body couldn’t retain that much liquid—she kept leaking tears in the car.
Worried the flavored water might stain the car interior, Jiang Yanyi found a small red bucket for her to hold, catching her tears.
By the time they got home, the bucket was about a quarter full. Chi Xiaoxue wanted to refrigerate the collected tears to drink the next day.
But as she opened the refrigerator door, Jiang Yanyi stopped her, explaining that the small bucket was what Xiao Bai used for playdough and might contain impurities, so the nutrient fluid inside it couldn’t be consumed anymore.
Watching Jiang Yanyi pour the nutrient fluid down the kitchen sink, Chi Xiaoxue leaned over nearby, propping her chin on her hand, sighing repeatedly.
“See for yourself—isn’t this wasteful?” Jiang Yanyi poured out the fluid, then rinsed the bucket clean under the tap.
Chi Xiaoxue said, “Next time we go to the Shell Restaurant, don’t order pudding. Just drink the free nutrient drinks.”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Yanyi asked.
“Add meals to spread out pancake.” Chi Xiaoxue replied.
Jiang Yanyi took a long moment to realize she probably meant “average down the cost.” He’d seen that phrase on holographic screens when checking stock information, but he had no idea when she’d picked it up.