28 Days of Scavenging
The little robot has been in this new world for five days.
The return-to-home procedure did not accurately pinpoint his original spacetime, a fact the little robot was mentally prepared for. After all, this was a positioning technology from a different universe and spacetime; let alone him being just a trash can, even the highest academy of sciences in his original interstellar space had not yet cracked the mysteries of spacetime.
But the little robot was not discouraged at all.
He figured that since he didn't have a lifespan like humans, he would eventually have a chance to return to his own world by returning again and again.
At most, the body parts will rot and wear out, but his data package contains instructions on how to maintain himself, which won't be difficult for the little robot.
With this long-term goal in mind, and having learned from the experience of being betrayed by humans in the previous world, the little robot finally realized that it needed to hide itself from humans a little.
That's why when Mi Xia, a human, saw the robot picking up trash during the day, the little robot didn't put the trash directly into the recycling bin. Instead, it wrapped it in its pocket and put it into the recycling bin only after it was out of the human's sight.
For the past five days since arriving in the new world, the little robot has been picking up trash in the sparsely populated mountains and forests, while also quietly observing and absorbing information about the new world.
Don't assume that there's no trash in these sparsely populated mountain villages or in the mountains themselves. In fact, there might be even more trash in the wild than in cities.
There are no trash cans or designated garbage collection points; most villagers just throw their trash on the roadside.
There are also large piles of garbage that have accumulated over time on some hillsides and in ditches.
Cardboard, various plastics, bottles and jars, discarded wires, scrap metal, fruit peels, farm waste, and many other items.
Besides human waste, rotting leaves in the mountains and forests, ripe wild fruits, and animal excrement are all reusable waste.
The little robot does this job. It doesn't mind that the garbage is smelly and plentiful. It has been cleaning up little by little over the past five days. Since there are no humans around, it doesn't even need to pretend to sleep at night. It works 24 hours a day and has now cleared more than a hill.
The little robot doesn't just stuff all the trash into the recycling bin.
He will first store various types of man-made waste, such as plastics, in the recycling bin according to their categories. As for waste that can be disposed of naturally, such as fruits and rotten leaves, he will use local materials to bury it or compost it.
The robot doesn't interfere too much with the natural waste that the forest can handle. It only collects the excess and disposes of it separately when there are too many rotting leaves or fruits in a certain area, exceeding the soil's capacity to absorb them.
Take rotting wild fruit as an example. If too much fruit rots in a certain place, the seeds are too densely packed, and the soil cannot provide enough nutrients. Naturally, many seeds will not be able to germinate, or they will not grow after germination.
Even the vegetation in the entire area was growing crookedly and malnourished.
This is where the small robot comes in.
He would carefully peel out the excess seeds, put the pulp back into the soil to continue to form fertilizer, and store the seeds in a recycling bin.
There will always be a place where these seeds will be used in the future.
In short, the little robot has been incredibly busy and diligent these past five days.
However, he wasn't solely focused on picking up trash.
The little robot also secretly observed the people of Anjia Village and could see from their daily lives that the technology of this new era had developed to a certain extent.
At least televisions, telephones, computers, and all sorts of household appliances and farm tools are very common.
The little robot also rummaged through the garbage dump and found some discarded appliances, metal parts and circuit boards, but there weren't many of these things. Most humans are used to sending these to human-designated garbage recycling centers, where they can be sold for some money.
The little robot has no regrets about this.
Instead, they tried leaving the mountains and heading to towns, hoping to connect with human waste disposal sites.
However, his attempt failed halfway through.
Once out of the mountains and into towns and cities inhabited by humans, the little robot discovered that to move freely in the human world, it needed something very important—
Identification documents.
The little robot certainly couldn't have an identity card like humans in this world; it only had its own machine code.
However, without an ID card, the little robot cannot buy tickets for transportation. And when it tries to reach its destination on foot, it is always stopped by someone.
Humans assumed he had run away from home and would always call law enforcement for him.
However, this good intention left the little robot at a loss.
He dared not enter the police station of the human JSG; he couldn't withstand a search!
After a bumpy and difficult journey, we finally arrived in town, by which time it was already completely dark.
The robot without an identity cannot stay in a hotel.
He didn't plan to stay there; he wanted to wait for dawn by the roadside, in a park, or under a bridge, but...
I almost got sent to the police station again.
Even after he escaped, those human police officers diligently reviewed surveillance footage to find him!
The town was full of surveillance cameras, but the little robot eventually escaped questioning by running into a mountain path.
In short, the little robot, who was trying to explore the new world on its own, couldn't even find a human recycling station and had to return to Anjia Village.
The little robot felt that it might have to stay in the mountains until it had enough energy to return, then leave this world and enter the next, without having the chance to see the more prosperous human cities with more types of garbage.
After returning from its chaotic day trip to the human town, the little robot thought for a moment, found a relatively flat and deserted spot, and released the warehouse.
in case.
Now is the perfect time to put it to good use.
Mi Xia was determined to get the little robot home before she felt at ease. As the robot led the humans toward the warehouse, it immersed itself in half of the program, remotely adjusting the warehouse layout.
The little robot knows that, in the eyes of humans, a home should at least have a bed, a table and a chair, and some pots, pans and other furniture.
He didn't want this kind human to worry.
Once it felt it had almost finished setting things up, the little robot quickened its pace slightly.
Mi Xia was initially worried that it was unsafe for the white-haired boy to be picking up trash so late at night, but she found that the more she followed the boy home, the further off-center he became, and they even walked along a long stretch of hillside without a proper path!
Mi Xia became increasingly worried.
Looking back, Mi Xia saw the cameraman diligently carrying the camera behind her, and even the lighting technician who was shooting at night was shining a wireless light bulb. With two grown men there, Mi Xia felt a little relieved.
"Do you live this far away? How much longer until we get there?"
The journey was quiet; one could even hear rustling sounds from the wild grass. Mi Xia couldn't help but take the initiative to start a conversation.
As soon as she asked the question, the boy who had led the way pointed ahead and said, "We're here."
Mi Xia, the cameraman, and the lighting technician who were following behind all looked up.
That sloping open space, the ground of which should be a whole piece of bare rock, had a... container placed on it.
Mi Xia was taken aback, and then looked at it more carefully.
Although she couldn't see the details of the building in front of her under the moonlight, it was enough for her to tell that it was indeed a shipping container.
Does this child live in a shipping container? Doesn't he even have a proper house?
Mi Xia couldn't imagine how anyone could live in a shipping container. This metal box, which offered no warmth in winter, no protection from the wind in summer, and made a tremendous racket when it was windy and rainy—was it a place where one could live long-term?
Moreover, the child seemed to be sick.
However, no matter how unbelievable it seemed to Mi Xia, she did not show any disgust in front of the little robot.
She knew her limits; she was a stranger she had only met twice, and even if she really wanted to go in and see the child's living environment, it wasn't appropriate to bring it up so late at night.
She thought she should find time to come over tomorrow during the day, and if the situation was really bad, she could see if there was anything she could do to help.
This wasn't Mi Xia trying to create a kind persona for the show's audience. She didn't think she had the ability to pity everyone she met; she just happened to run into this boy.
Moreover, Mi Xia didn't know what was wrong with her; she just felt a strong liking for this boy. It wasn't romantic liking, but rather a feeling of wanting to care for and look after him.
It can only be said that the connections between people are inexplicable.
In short, Mi Xia, who was prepared to come back tomorrow, has now delivered the little robot to her doorstep and feels much more at ease.
She waved to the little robot: "Okay, I'll watch you go inside before I leave. Don't linger outside so late, be careful. Go home and get some rest."
With that in mind, she planned to take two more steps forward, watch the snow-haired boy enter the house, and then leave.
However, Mi Xia never expected that in just two steps, she would suddenly collapse with a thud!
"ah!--"
Mi Xia wasn't paying attention and tripped over a stone, falling heavily to the ground.
"Hiss—" Mi Xia felt a dense, throbbing pain in her knees, so painful that tears almost welled up in her eyes!
The little robot, which had already walked ahead, heard the noise behind it and immediately turned around.
The darkness did not affect the little robot's eyesight.
He quickly scanned the human knee and immediately discerned: "It's a cut and bleeding."
He glanced at the human in front of him, whose eyes were brimming with tears, trying hard not to let them fall. Then he looked at the two motionless human men behind the human, and then calculated the complicated situation on the way back.
The little robot makes the best choice at this moment: "Come in and disinfect yourself before you leave."
He invited humans into his recycling bins.
"Huh? Ouch..." Mi Xia tried to stand up and take a few steps, but the friction between the scraped part of her knee and her pants made the pain more and more obvious. Obviously, if she didn't treat it, it would be difficult to walk back on the mountain path at night.
"Thank you for your help."
Mi Xia accepted the invitation with some embarrassment.
The little robot opened the warehouse door and let three humans in.
"Please sit down first, I'll go get the medicine."
The little robot pointed to a few chairs placed in the corner, then walked towards the back of the warehouse.
He had already slightly modified the layout of the entire recycling bin during the initial setup.
The area at the very front of the open gate was his "home," designed to mislead humans. Areas with excessive technology that made the scene seem unrealistic were all moved to the back, separated by partitions to prevent humans from discovering them.
The anti-inflammatory medicine and alcohol needed to treat the wound at this moment are naturally not in stock in the little robot's recycling bin, since it doesn't need such things.
However, this simple thing was no challenge for him at all.
The little robot quickly and efficiently selected the parts it needed from the sorted trash in the recycling bin and processed them.
With the help of various instruments and acceleration zones, he came out with the medicine in just a few minutes.
"I can do it myself." Mi Xia couldn't bear to let the child apply the medicine to her; her knee was injured, not her hand.
The little robot didn't argue with the humans over the potion. After handing it to Mi Xia and explaining how to use it, it remembered that it hadn't poured tea for the humans, so it went to the warehouse at the back to get some.
Although he has never been a guest in a human's home in this world, in his previous world, whenever he was invited by a human, someone would pour him water and serve him snacks as soon as he sat down.
The way we treat guests shouldn't be too different, right?
The little robot didn't know what humans outside liked to eat. Although there were still many kinds of untouched snacks in his time-stop zone, he thought about it and decided not to take them out yet.
I only took the teapot and a few cups.
Just as the little robot came out, Mi Xia had finished applying the medicine.
Upon seeing the white-haired boy bring tea, she quickly accepted it.
"Hey, these teapots and teacups are really nice! Where did you buy them? I'd like to buy a set for my home too."
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