“Xiao Dong has been missing for exactly three years now. With today’s search technology, if someone isn’t found after three months of being missing, they can essentially be declared deceased.”
Shi Lan spoke slowly. Her voice carried a desolation that didn’t match her splendid appearance, making Chi Xiaoxue feel a bit uneasy. It sounded like a coarse brush sweeping over a rough surface.
Jiang Yanyi didn’t speak, his eyes slightly lowered.
Chi Xiaoxue saw his hand resting on the sofa armrest, his fingertips curled slightly.
Seeing Jiang Yanyi’s silence, Shi Lan looked back at the man who had remained quiet.
The man’s features looked a bit fierce, and his build was tall and robust. Just sitting there without speaking gave off an imposing, intimidating aura.
“Yanyi.”
He called out first, waiting for Jiang Yanyi to look up before continuing:
“You were suspended for two years to search for Xiao Dong.Later, you wanted to customize a bionic human in Xiao Dong’s likeness. I allowed all of that. We are Xiao Dong’s parents; our heartache and longing for her are no less than yours.”
He fixed his old but still sharp eyes on Jiang Yanyi:
“It has been four years since Xiao Dong went missing.The country used the most advanced search technology to look for her for three years. As your mother said, if she were still alive and in this world, she would have been found long ago.”
“Based on surveillance footage analysis, Xiao Dong last appeared at Xiao Ling’s seaside. She left a final message before leaving, telling us not to look for her, that her departure had nothing to do with anyone.”
As Shi Lan spoke about this, tears welled up in her eyes again:
“Yanyi,all signs indicate that Xiao Dong committed suicide. She is gone.”
The knuckles of Jiang Yanyi’s hand pressing on the sofa armrest whitened from the force. After listening for so long, he finally spoke softly: “With her personality… she wouldn’t have committed suicide.”
“That’s just your wishful thinking.If you say she didn’t commit suicide, then show us your evidence.”
The man suddenly slapped the sofa armrest, his voice rising sharply, startling Chi Xiaoxue, who had been engrossed in listening to their conversation.
After shouting in anger, the man lowered his voice again:
“There’s an old saying in our culture:’to rest in peace.’ Your mother and I both feel very uneasy about Xiao Dong’s current situation. So, today we also wanted to discuss with you. We plan to purchase a burial plot, build a cenotaph for Xiao Dong. If souls truly exist, it would give her spirit a place to return to.”
Jiang Yanyi blinked rapidly a few times, his eyelashes resting on the thin skin beneath his eyes. In this moment, he looked somewhat fragile.
The man waited for his response, but he remained silent.
After a long while, he finally said, “I’ll handle it. The matter of the… burial plot. I am her husband. Such matters should be handled by me.”
The man who looked quite fierce stared at Jiang Yanyi for a moment, then let out a long sigh and waved his hand. “As you wish. But, Yanyi, you still have Zhi Bai. Life must always move forward.”
With that sigh, Chi Xiaoxue felt as if the formidable man suddenly aged a bit, his previously straight posture slumping slightly.
After the discussion, everyone’s mood was somewhat somber. Shi Lan invited them to stay for dinner, but Jiang Yanyi declined.
Beautiful evening clouds had appeared in the sky at some point, layered and stacked over the green mountain peaks. Jiang Yanyi carried Xiao Bai out of the villa gate and walked into the overwhelming expanse of twilight glow.
It was a brilliantly splendid and picturesque scene, yet Chi Xiaoxue felt an inexplicable sense of melancholy.
From listening to their conversation, Chi Xiaoxue seemed to understand some things. It appeared she had transmigrated into a replacement-themed novel.
In replacement novels, the male lead usually has a deeply beloved white moonlight. Then, a replacement who looks very similar to the white moonlight appears. The replacement gradually heals the male lead, and in the end, the male lead overcomes his grief and falls completely in love with the replacement.
She might be that replacement.
This was a type of novel Chi Xiaoxue found hard to understand.
Her favorite stories were those of sweet, perfect love. In these replacement stories, the male lead loves both the white moonlight and the replacement, even though they share very similar faces. That made the love impure.
Did the male lead truly fall completely in love with the replacement, or did he love her because she resembled the white moonlight? Perhaps even the male lead himself couldn’t say for sure.
Although the situation seemed quite complex, Chi Xiaoxue was not one to dwell on internal conflicts. Since she couldn’t figure it out, she didn’t continue pondering the issue.
They had dinner at a restaurant outside. That restaurant offered free nutritional fluid for customers who brought robots.
At first, the staff didn’t recognize Chi Xiaoxue was a robot. It was only when Chi Xiaoxue saw other robots getting it that she went to the counter herself to ask for a cup of nutritional fluid.
After finishing the meal and returning home, Chi Xiaoxue, fearing Jiang Yanyi might ask about her daytime studying, hid in her room as soon as they got back.
Shortly after she closed the door, there were two knocks from outside, followed by Jiang Yanyi’s voice: “Moji, are you in there?”
Chi Xiaoxue was sprawled on the bed, staring into space. Hearing the noise, she immediately flipped over and sat up, thinking, It’s over, it’s over. It’s finally happening.
“Moji?” Jiang Yanyi called again from outside.
Chi Xiaoxue had no choice but to brace herself and answer, “Here.”
“Come help Zhi Bai take a bath.”
“Co…coming.”Chi Xiaoxue’s voice sounded noticeably lighter.
After Jiang Zhibai turned three, Jiang Yanyi no longer bathed her. Usually, her aunt helped her bathe, and recently, her aunt had been teaching her to wash herself, though she hadn’t fully mastered it yet.
A while ago, they let the child wash herself once. The next day, she happened to get caught in the rain, and Jiang Yanyi personally saw a few little bubbles drift out of her hair.
So, today, after some thought, he decided to let the robot help.
Chi Xiaoxue opened the bedroom door. Jiang Yanyi, not entirely at ease, had her first demonstrate how to use the showerhead and clearly told her which bottles were shampoo and body wash before leaving the bathroom.
Jiang Yanyi really underestimated her, Chi Xiaoxue thought.
He had taught her once yesterday—how to use the shower and all that. Did he think she would turn Xiao Bai into a boiled red shrimp too?
On second thought, Xiao Bai wasn’t a robot. If she got scalded, that would be a huge problem.
Chi Xiaoxue first turned on the water and reached out her hand to test the temperature. She felt nothing, then remembered robots couldn’t perceive temperature.
She cupped some water in her palm and had Xiao Bai test if it was too hot.
Xiao Bai looked at the water in her hand, then glanced up at the digital display for the temperature. Seeing it was 42°C, she nodded. “It’s okay.”
Based on Xiao Bai’s observations, everyone at home had a different preferred shower temperature. She found 42°C most comfortable, her aunt liked 45°C, and Daddy only used 37°C.
Moji bathed at 67°C but would turn red.
Their small bathroom had a bathtub, but they usually didn’t use it for quick showers. Chi Xiaoxue rolled up her pant legs high, sat barefoot on the step in front of the bathtub, had the child stand in front of her, and began to scrub her.
Just like how her mom used to bathe her when she was little, scrubbing left and right, scrubbing the back, scrubbing the belly.
The child’s little belly was round and protruding. Patting it with her hand, it felt springy like jelly.
Chi Xiaoxue patted it a few more times. Xiao Bai then said with a serious expression:
“Children have small bodies but need to accommodate the same number of internal organs as adults.So, with all the organs crammed inside, the belly becomes bulgy.”
After saying that, the child emphasized, “I am not fat.”
Chi Xiaoxue nodded in deep agreement. “You know so… so much.”
After praising the child, she didn’t forget to compliment herself too. “I am also very knowledgeable.”
When washing hair, Xiao Bai requested that Chi Xiaoxue not let the shampoo rinse into her eyes. She was very scared of that.
Chi Xiaoxue was stumped again. When she showered standing up, water would get into her eyes. It seemed hard to avoid.
But soon, Chi Xiaoxue remembered something. When she was a vegetative patient, her parents would move her to the edge of the bed to wash her hair. Her neck would rest on the bed’s edge, her head suspended over a basin below. The water would flow from her forehead to the back of her head, so it wouldn’t get into her eyes.
Chi Xiaoxue first used the showerhead to rinse the step in front of the bathtub clean. Then, she had Xiao Bai lie on the step with the back of her head suspended over the edge. She squatted on the side near Xiao Bai’s head, adjusted the showerhead to its gentlest setting, and rinsed from the top of her head backwards.
“Not in… eyes… right?” Chi Xiaoxue asked.
Xiao Bai shook her head, her large puppy-dog eyes wide open. “Not a single drop.”
“I…am very smart. Hehe.” Chi Xiaoxue felt rather proud.
After washing the hair, Chi Xiaoxue had Xiao Bai stand up and rinsed her body with clean water. Subconsciously, she leaned closer to the child’s head to smell it. She couldn’t detect any scent, so she closed her eyes and imagined the sweet, fragrant smell of the body wash.
A sweet-smelling, chubby child was such a wonderful thing.
With damp curly hair, Xiao Bai walked out of the bathroom wearing matching checkered pajamas, intending to find Jiang Yanyi to blow-dry her hair.
Jiang Yanyi was sitting at the dining table working. Seeing Xiao Bai, he called her over to smell her, making sure all the body wash and shampoo were rinsed off.
“How was Moji’s bath for you?” He took the towel from Xiao Bai’s hand and gently absorbed the excess water from her hair.
“It was okay, just a bit uncomfortable.” Xiao Bai closed her eyes, letting her father rub the towel over her head.
“Why would it be uncomfortable during a bath?”
After a couple more questions from Jiang Yanyi, Xiao Bai became a bit impatient. She glanced sideways and said, “Daddy, stop asking. Moji has her own methods.”
The old father was momentarily speechless. The child then added, “As long as I’m clean, the goal is achieved, right?”
“Alright then.”Jiang Yanyi ruffled her hair a few times.
Jiang Yanyi seemed to have forgotten to check on Chi Xiaoxue’s studies. The next morning, he went to work as usual.
After he left, Xiao Bai started watching cartoons. Chi Xiaoxue had the learning computer in front of her, but her eyes were glued to the holographic screen showing the cartoons.
When Xiao Bai noticed she was secretly watching the cartoons, she didn’t turn off the screen like yesterday. Instead, she tacitly allowed her to watch alongside. When funny parts came on, the two of them laughed together.
Their laughter was identical, both sounding like “Gah gah gah.”
When her aunt arrived today, she had brought groceries. Seeing the two of them watching cartoons, she didn’t say anything, just told Xiao Bai they were having dumplings for lunch and then carried the groceries into the kitchen.
Soon, the sound of chopping dumpling filling came from the kitchen.
Hearing the steady thud of the kitchen knife on the cutting board and looking up at the comical cartoon characters on the screen, Chi Xiaoxue felt like she had returned to her childhood.
When she wasn’t a vegetative patient yet, on weekend mornings, she would get up and immediately start watching cartoons.
Wearing a rainbow-striped nightgown, with messy, tousled hair, watching cartoons while listening to the various sounds of her mom cooking in the kitchen, felt incredibly comforting.
When the cartoon ended, her aunt poked her head out of the kitchen: “Moji, go to the neighborhood supermarket and buy a bottle of vinegar.”
“Okay.”Chi Xiaoxue stood up from the floor.
Even the errand-running plot was exactly like her childhood.
Chi Xiaoxue’s robot body wasn’t linked to a payment account yet. Her aunt rummaged in her purse and handed her a 10-yuan banknote:
“Buy aromatic vinegar,the kind for dipping dumplings. If you’re not sure, ask the robot assistant at the supermarket.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Bai sat cross-legged on the carpet, her body leaning forward, hands grabbing her little feet, turning her head to look at them.
Seeing the robot take the money and head out, the little curly-top immediately scrambled up from the floor and trotted after her on her short legs.
While the robot was changing shoes, Xiao Bai stood on tiptoe, grabbed the leash hanging on the rack, and with her arm pulling her body down, yanked the leash off.
Xiao Bai put the little yellow vest on herself and handed the other end of the leash to the robot.
“You… want to go too?” Chi Xiaoxue asked.
Xiao Bai kept the leash extended towards her, looking up with clear puppy-dog eyes and nodding. She even managed a rare, friendly smile.
Chi Xiaoxue glanced toward the kitchen, her expression somewhat troubled. “But… I… you’re small… not reassured.”
What she actually wanted to say was that Xiao Bai was too young, she had no experience taking a child out, and she was afraid the adults wouldn’t feel at ease.
But even after being awake for two or three days, Chi Xiaoxue still wasn’t speaking very smoothly.
Xiao Bai didn’t fully understand her jumbled words, but the child grasped one thing: the robot didn’t want to take her out.
So, the smile on Xiao Bai’s face gradually faded. She withdrew the hand holding out the leash, turned around, squatted down, and left Chi Xiaoxue with a sorrowful view of the back of her head.