Lin Jiu did not expect Jiang Fei to come looking for him.
In fact, he never imagined that any human would come to save him.
However, when he saw the woman appearing in the doorway against the light, he clearly felt his steel-forged heart begin to beat gently, one beat at a time, connected by a single wire, interacting with excruciating pain in his body, which was now completely dismembered.
It's a very strange feeling.
Meanwhile, the display connected to his body sounded an alarm for "data anomaly," indicating that "the data has undergone uncontrollable changes."
However, the entire research lab was thrown into chaos by Jiang Fei's arrival, and no one noticed the faint alarm sounds.
Lin Jiu watched as Jiang Fei seemed to be surrounded by light, dodging all the attacks from everyone around her and using skillful force to knock them down, walking step by step towards her.
It's like a ray of redemption.
Jiang Fei was completely unaware of the attack that came from his left by a bodyguard in a black suit wielding a stun gun.
Lin Jiu, whose voice was locked, clenched his fist. He knew that her left eye was blind and she couldn't see anything, so she wouldn't notice the bodyguards approaching silently. He opened his mouth, but suddenly felt anxious and squeezed out an unpleasant electronic voice from deep in his throat: "Left side!"
At the same time, Jiang Fei glanced at him, and without any hesitation, she leaned back to avoid the stun gun, which just grazed her nose and slammed down hard. She then retaliated by knocking the bodyguard to the ground.
Lin Jiu stared blankly at her swift movements, not because he was surprised by her punches and kicks, but because... she trusted him completely without any doubt about what he had just said.
He had always trusted humans, even though they always gave him superior commands and dismemberment, and even inflicted temporary pain as punishment.
Rather than humans trusting him.
"How are you?" Jiang Fei's soft breathing came from beside him as someone grabbed his hand.
Lin Jiu stared at her, unsure of what to say. The blue light above her head surrounded her, making her seem... dazzling and captivating.
But the next second, Lin Jiu suddenly thought of something. He was now lying there, dismembered, with every part of his body clearly visible, and every part trembling in pain.
Jiang Fei saw his appearance at that moment.
Lin Jiu struggled violently, trying to break free from Jiang Fei's hand, her body curled up.
Just then, Jiang Fei suddenly grabbed a white cloth from the side and covered his lower body, saying softly, "It's alright..."
Lin Jiu stopped struggling.
He never imagined that any human being would believe that he, too, possessed dignity.
"They'll find out someone broke in soon. I'll take you away first!" Jiang Fei didn't wait for Lin Jiu's reply. He glanced at the mess of wires beside him and pulled apart the two wires connected to him.
A burst of magnetic blue light emanated from the dismembered parts of Lin Jiu, which then came back together.
Jiang Fei helped him walk outside.
It was already night outside, and the sky was overcast with a thick layer of gloom, which made it easier for the two of them to hide.
Lin Jiu felt himself being supported as he walked forward step by step, leaving the hellish research lab far behind. The lingering pain in his body continued to torment him.
After an unknown amount of time, a metallic sound rang out, and Lin Jiu's body staggered violently, about to fall to the side.
"Lin Jiu!" Jiang Fei called out softly, then helped him up. "You..." But her voice trailed off when she saw his legs.
Lin Jiu looked down. Her legs were still broken, her ankles rubbing against the ground at a twisted angle, and even her hands seemed paralyzed, hanging limply at her sides.
He glanced at Jiang Fei's self-reproachful eyes and said without thinking, "It's nothing."
The pain is gradually subsiding.
Jiang Fei looked up anxiously, "How could this happen? Didn't it just catch?"
Lin Jiu looked into her eyes and paused: "The main circuit has been disconnected to prevent me from causing stress-induced harm to the humans who are punishing me."
"How can we fix this?" Jiang Fei asked hurriedly, "By connecting to the main line?"
"……yes."
"How do I answer?" Jiang Fei asked almost immediately.
Lin Jiu was still looking at her: "My manufacturer has sophisticated insulation equipment."
However, if they go back, they might face an even longer punishment.
“If you go back, they’ll tear you apart.” Jiang Fei hadn’t expected this.
Even if it's not connected for two hours, it will still be completely unusable.
Lin Jiu kept this a secret.
When he develops self-esteem, he can no longer live as a "pet" as a robot.
It's better to scrap it.
However, Jiang Fei, looking at the crack in his chest, suddenly looked up at him and said, "If I directly connect your lines..."
"High-intensity electrical stimulation will cause you unbearable pain," Lin Jiu said calmly. He had never had a concept of pain before, but after enduring several days and nights of suffering, he finally knew how unbearable it was.
As for Jiang Fei, there's no need for her to suffer for him.
Jiang Fei seemed to be thinking about it seriously as well.
As the lingering pain in her body completely disappeared, Lin Jiu tried to stand up, dragging her broken ankle, but her whole body felt like it was falling apart, and she collapsed to the ground powerless.
As the main power line was severed, his energy gradually depleted, and his eyelids closed weakly.
But at that moment, a soft hand touched his chest.
Lin Jiu, clinging to her last ounce of strength, opened her eyes: "Miss Jiang..."
Before he could finish speaking, that slender hand had already slipped into his chest, parting the complex lines and slowly moving towards the main line at the very center.
Lin Jiu stared at her blankly: "...Why?" He was puzzled.
For the sake of increasing your favorability.
Jiang Fei gave a low hum, naturally not saying it aloud. So, she pursed her lips without saying a word, smiled gently at him, and reached out to grab the main line.
In that instant, Lin Jiu clearly saw Jiang Fei's face turn pale and his body tremble uncontrollably, as if he were enduring great pain.
He knew exactly what it was.
"Let go!" he suddenly said, a sense of anxiety rising within him that he couldn't quite define.
But Jiang Fei didn't let go. She still held onto the complicated main line and slowly merged the two broken ends together. There were more than fifty connection points on the cross-section of the line, and she connected them one by one.
Apart from the occasional low moan of unbearable pain, she made no sound.
Lin Jiu stared blankly for a long time before the last connection point was established. He immediately felt an energy spread throughout his body, and his severed limbs gradually rejoined under the influence of magnetism, except for a small scratch on the bionic skin near his heart.
It was left behind by Jiang Fei when he withdrew his hand.
"All done?" Jiang Fei murmured softly.
Lin Jiu looked at her and nodded.
Jiang Fei tugged at the corners of her lips, but before she could even smile, she had already fallen to the side.
Lin Jiu quickly helped her up, looked at her for a long time, then picked her up and carried her towards the tin shack.
Lin Jiu's favorability: 50.
...
Jiang Fei woke up again the next afternoon.
The room was completely silent.
She had barely moved her body when Lin Jiu immediately appeared at the door of the cubicle.
Jiang Fei pondered for a moment, raised her eyebrows, and then looked up with joy in her eyes: "Ji..." Her voice gradually lowered when she saw Lin Jiu clearly, and a hint of sadness appeared in her eyes, but she still forced a smile, "Lin Jiu."
Lin Jiu stood frozen at the doorway, her eyes somewhat dazed. The indescribable joy rising in her chest seemed to solidify, turning into a bittersweet emotion.
He knew the name she hadn't finished saying: Ji Wei.
The person she wanted to see was Ji Wei.
But he didn't understand what his emotions were at that moment.
After a long silence, Lin Jiu said in a deep voice, "Miss Jiang, you're awake."
Jiang Fei nodded slightly, then remembered something and asked, "By the way, are you alright?"
Lin Jiu shook her head: "It's all over now." Her expression was much calmer than when she had just appeared at the door with "joy."
Jiang Fei glanced at the fluctuating favorability rating above his head and was about to say something when Lin Jiu turned around and said, "Miss Jiang hasn't eaten since last night. I'll go prepare something."
Jiang Fei chuckled as she watched his back, which was clearly more flustered than his calm tone.
A robot capable of self-evolution is quite interesting.
Jiang Fei slowly got up and walked to the sofa to sit down.
Perhaps because she had just "mistakenly" called Ji Wei's name, Lin Jiu remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Jiang Fei narrowed her eyes, walked to the door, and leaned against the door frame, watching his busy figure.
Lin Jiu, however, seemed completely oblivious to her gaze and continued with his busy work.
Less than half an hour later, he came out carrying a meal and placed it on the table: "Miss Jiang..."
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Fei had already stepped forward, taken his hand, and led him towards the door.
When Lin Jiu's wrist first touched the softness of her palm, the sensitive bionic skin almost instantly transmitted an unusual sensation to the sensor, but this sensation was different from ordinary touch.
"Miss Jiang needs to..."
“I’ll register your fingerprint into the door lock,” Jiang Fei glanced at him, “so that you won’t be unable to find your way back after you go out, and get caught and torn to pieces…” Her voice grew softer and softer.
Lin Jiu was taken aback, noticing her unusual behavior. Following her gaze, she saw that the display screen on the door lock showed "Delete Ji Wei's fingerprint?"
His hands unconsciously tightened.
He saw her affection for Ji Wei; how could she bear to delete it?
However, the next second, Jiang Fei hesitated for a long time before finally placing her hand on "Yes".
As Lin Jiu watched her movements and her body, a sense of sorrow slowly rose within him.
She must be heartbroken to completely remove someone who was willing to give up his left eye to protect him.
But... a feeling called "secret joy" seemed to be growing in his heart.
Jiang Fei took his hand and entered the unique fingerprint drawn on the bionic skin. Hearing the electronic voice saying "Entry successful," Lin Jiu looked up at the simple tin shack, as if... he finally belonged here.
"Alright, let's go back to eat!" Jiang Fei turned and smiled at him, then went back inside, looked at the food on the table, and glanced at the kitchen. "One serving?"
Lin Jiu nodded.
Jiang Fei casually poured half of her food from one bowl into another empty bowl and said very naturally, "Let's eat."
After saying that, he took the lead and sat down at the dining table, eating his own portion: "After you finish eating, tidy up the sofa, and you can rest there from now on."
Lin Jiu paused slightly as he looked at her overly matter-of-fact manner. It was as if she hadn't seen how he had been disassembled into pathetic parts and left completely naked yesterday, and treated him as a... normal human being.
Lin Jiu finally sat down opposite Jiang Fei and quietly ate her meal.
For quite some time afterward, the two of them stayed together in this tin shack.
Lin Jiu was responsible for three meals a day. Even though she didn't need to eat, she would still sit down and eat with Jiang Fei every day.
Every two days, the two of them would go to a nearby supermarket to buy groceries.
In the evenings, sometimes I would listen to the rain outside, and sometimes I would sit on the sofa and listen to the sounds from the black and white television.
His appearance and body movements are no different from those of humans. Sometimes when the two of them go out together, people even mistake them for a newlywed couple.
Whenever this happened, Jiang Fei would wave her hands in denial, and Lin Jiu would obediently follow behind her like a proper robot, without saying a word.
Only once did someone say to Jiang Fei, "Your younger brother is so cute, and you two siblings have such a good relationship."
That time, Jiang Fei didn't refute, but just smiled and left with Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu inexplicably stopped and looked at the person calmly, saying, "We're not siblings."
Jiang Fei looked at him, puzzled.
Lin Jiu panicked and instinctively said, "I can't lie."
But the moment he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that he had been lying.
—Because his reason for saying that wasn't "not lying," but he didn't know the specific reason.
Lin Jiu's favorability rating also rose to 60 during this period.
The passing grade for relationships.
Until this day, the metropolis, which had been gloomy all year, finally saw a ray of sunshine, though it only lasted for an hour. Jiang Fei was overjoyed. Even though he was only staying here to complete a mission, the daily rainy weather was enough to make him irritable.
The slivers of sunlight peeking through seemed especially rare: "I wonder if there will be any stars tonight," she remarked casually.
After all, those twinkling little things are annoying when you see them too often, but you still miss them when you don't see them for a long time.
These words were meant for the system, but before the system could respond, the boy's mechanical voice came: "You like looking at the stars?"
Jiang Fei looked at Lin Jiu and nodded.
But in his heart he was thinking that he should be careful with his words, since this robot seemed to be able to detect even the faintest sounds.
Lin Jiu didn't say anything more.
That night, as usual, the sky began to darken at dusk, and as night fell, a light drizzle gradually began to fall.
There are no stars in the sky, of course.
After dinner, when Jiang Fei was about to rest, Lin Jiu called her back. Then she looked up at the light bulb above her head. The light bulb flickered twice and then went out, plunging the room into darkness.
At that moment, the room was bathed in a deep blue light, and the space was filled with twinkling stars—a starry sky illuminated the entire room.
Jiang Fei stared in amazement at the ceiling for a long while before sitting down on the sofa and asking, "How did you do that?"
Lin Jiu turned to look at her. Her left eye seemed to be filled with stars and the sea, clear and blue, from which a beam of light shot out and shone straight onto the roof.
He used the circuitry within his body to connect the room, and his eyes became a complete holographic projection.
"So beautiful..." Jiang Fei murmured, reaching out to gently catch a starlight, knowing it was fake, but still clenching her palm tightly.
Lin Jiu turned his head and looked intently at her profile. If it weren't for the fact that headquarters would copy his data and send it back every few days, Lin Jiu would really feel that he was probably meant to live here, instead of... monitoring her.
Jiang Fei suddenly turned her head to meet his gaze.
Lin Jiu panicked and instinctively wanted to avoid her, but before he could move, Jiang Fei stepped forward and gently hugged him: "Thank you, Lin Jiu!"
Lin Jiu sat there, and her usually cold heart began to beat strangely again.
This time, the light bulbs in the room started flickering, as if the circuit was malfunctioning. The black and white television also flickered twice and turned on by itself.
On the television, the anchor's calm voice came through: "Ji Yuntian, the president of the Ji family, was driven out of the Ji family by Ji Wei and the former president's former subordinates. Ji Wei has taken power..."
Jiang Fei quickly looked at the TV, which was showing Ji Wei's photos.
Her eyebrows and eyes are as exquisite as ever.
Lin Jiu looked at her, her panic instantly freezing, the light bulb and television returned to normal, and the starry sky slowly dissipated.
He looked at Ji Wei's face on the TV.
I feel very uncomfortable.
...
The Ji family's house, top floor.
Ji Wei stood quietly in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city.
Two months.
Two whole months.
He has finally returned here.
The piano music he used to listen to was playing in his ears, and outside the window were rows of tall buildings, and he had everything under his feet.
No longer are the days of being bullied and humiliated, and no longer do we have to live in a simple tin shack.
Ji Wei paused, the tin-roofed house...
That was clearly a disgrace to him, yet it kept appearing in his dreams.
And this eye.
The prosthetic eye is like a change to the original eye; although it is somewhat similar to the original, it is sometimes quite different.
The eye that Jiang Fei brought.
Ji Wei couldn't help but clench her fists. What was she doing now? Still living with Lin Jiu?
still……
Ji Wei suddenly snapped back to reality.
What is he thinking? Didn't he already make his choice back in the hospital?
Ranran is still trapped next to Gu Xi, and she is waiting for me to come and pick her up.
The video feed started playing from the side.
Ji Wei forced himself to concentrate, walked back to the conference table, answered the holographic communication call, and a staff member in a suit appeared in front of him.
"Mr. Ji, the expert you are looking for has been found."
"Memory can be reversed at any time."
Ji Wei nodded in agreement.
Once her memories return, Ranran will realize that they are actually engaged.
As for Jiang Fei... he will give her a sum of money, enough for her to live a comfortable life.
As for him, going to see the person who will undergo memory replacement shouldn't be too much to ask, right?
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