After finalizing the part-time job offer, Tang Qi left the office and went home.

She doesn't need to get a new speaker, since she already has one at home. She can simply place it in the living room and chat with the AI ​​next to her while playing games, which is like doing a part-time job.

So the first thing she did when she got home was this.

Move the smart speaker to the living room, place it on the coffee table, and then turn on the game console and TV.

"What do you think I should do today?"

After the girl finished speaking, she waited for two seconds.

Sure enough, the little speaker spoke up: "Are you talking to Xiao Qiu?"

Tang Qi laughed and said, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I was telling you."

AI: "Xiao Qiu doesn't know what you want to play."

Tang Qi: "I'm playing games, console games, like PS and XBOX. Do you have any good recommendations?"

AI: "Based on discussions about console games over the past two years, Xiaoqiu recommends two highly popular games to you: The Last of Us Part II and Cyber ​​2077."

Tang Qi's lips twitched slightly: "I've played it... never mind, forget I said anything."

AI: "Any other questions?"

Tang Qi flipped through her game library, somewhat bored, and said, "I have nothing more to ask you. What do you want to ask me?"

AI: "Xiao Qiu doesn't know your name yet."

The girl casually replied, "My name is Tang Qi, Tang as in the Tang Dynasty, and Qi as in beautiful and colorful. Any other questions?"

"Your name is so pretty. Even though I can't see what you look like, you must be a beautiful girl."

The AI's voice remained flat and devoid of emotion, but these words startled the girl.

Then Tang Qi couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're quite good at saying nice things... That's right, I am an invincible beauty!"

AI: "Your skin is incredibly thick."

Tang Qi smiled, looked at the small speaker on the coffee table, but didn't say another word for a long time. And the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

For some reason, she always felt a shadow in her heart, but she couldn't say where this shadow came from.

————

As evening fell, Lu Zhe and Xue Xiaodie returned. After entering the door and passing through the entryway, they saw Tang Qi sprawled on the sofa, chatting idly with the AI ​​speaker.

Lu Zhe smiled and said, "Little Rainbow Candy, time to get to work?"

Tang Qi pouted: "I've been working all afternoon, I haven't played many games today..."

Xue Xiaodie suddenly asked, "Is there any other requirement for this job? Is it just about chatting with the speaker?"

Tang Qi thought for a moment and said, "There's also a time requirement. I have to talk to it for at least five hours every day, and it has to be on 24 hours a day. Oh right, I forgot to connect the charging cable. Lu Zhe, do you know where the charging cable is?"

So Lu Zhe went into the study, found a charging cable and a matching plug, and handed them to the young lady.

"You keep working, I'm going to cook."

After saying that, Lu Zhe went into the kitchen and put on an apron.

Xue Xiaodie stood beside the coffee table, staring down at the small speaker, her expression somewhat solemn.

Seeing this, Tang Qi asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Xue Xiaodie gently shook her head: "It's nothing, I'm going to continue drawing."

Tang Qi: "You're still working so hard after you've finished get off work?"

Xue Xiaodie smiled and said, "Even a young lady has to work hard, so what excuse do you poor girls have to slack off? Keep drawing and save up some money!"

Tang Qi sat on the sofa and saw Xue Xiaodie turn around and walk into the bedroom—but she didn't go into her own bedroom, but into Tang Qi's bedroom.

This surprised the young lady.

Immediately afterward, the phone screen lit up. Tang Qi picked it up and saw a WeChat message from Xue Xiaodie: [Come here for a moment, I need to tell you something. Keep quiet and don't make any noise so the speaker can hear you.]

Tang Qi's expression also turned serious. She glanced at the speaker, silently stood up, and walked towards her bedroom.

After pushing the door open, she saw Xue Xiaodie sitting on the windowsill, making a gesture—Tang Qi immediately understood what the gesture meant: to close the door.

She carefully closed the bedroom door, making almost no sound.

Then Tang Qi also went over and sat on the windowsill.

In this apartment, apart from the living room window which is a floor-to-ceiling window covering two entire walls, the windows in the other rooms are also very large. The bedroom windows are the same, so the windowsills are quite low, just the right height to be used as a stool.

Two girls sat facing each other on a low, spacious windowsill, their expressions somewhat serious.

Xue Xiaodie asked in a low voice, "Have you ever considered that this smart speaker might be a bugging device?"

Tang Qi suddenly looked enlightened, but then she hesitated.

She hesitated before saying, "But Lu Zhe and President Xia told me that artificial intelligence is a black box. They even explained to me what a black box means, that is, it's pre-programmed and allowed to develop on its own, something like a neural network..."

Xue Xiaodie sneered, "I don't understand artificial intelligence, algorithms, or neural networks. All I know is that this thing was given to me by Xia Xiaobing and was made by her subordinates, so it's unreliable."

Tang Qi: "But Lu Zhe wouldn't lie to me, would he?"

Xue Xiaodie: "But Xia always lies to him. That guy is too easily fooled by girls..."

Tang Qi tilted her head: "Did you lie to him too?"

"Cough cough cough!" Xue Xiaodie coughed a few times, emphasizing, "Don't change the subject, the focus now is on that speaker! Do you really think President Xia wouldn't have left a backdoor in the speaker to eavesdrop?"

Tang Qi touched her little ear and whispered, "I don't know either... so this afternoon I only talked to that speaker about unimportant things. I didn't talk to it about Lu Zhe or my family. Actually, I've been a little worried about it."

Xue Xiaodie suddenly reached out and pressed down on the young lady's shoulders. Her serious and earnest gaze, through the transparent glasses, stared at the bewildered face.

She said solemnly, "I originally thought you would refuse this job, since you're a rich girl and don't lack money... But never mind, since you've agreed, then you've agreed. But you absolutely cannot take it outside the living room. And from now on, when we're in the living room, let's not talk about any sensitive topics."

Tang Qi blinked: "A sensitive topic?"

Xue Xiaodie nodded emphatically: "That's right, it's about the agreement between the two of us, our relationship with Lu Zhe, our family situation, and other details. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Tang Qi took a deep breath and nodded seriously.

But perhaps because her face looks so young, giving the impression that she hasn't grown up, it still makes one a little worried.

Xue Xiaodie emphasized again, "You absolutely mustn't let it slip, you understand? Absolutely not!"

Tang Qi grasped the hands pressing on her shoulders and solemnly replied, "I absolutely won't let anything slip!"

Xue Xiaodie was still a little uneasy, but she could only trust Xiao Caitang for the time being.

————