In metropolises, the dilapidated streets nestled among skyscrapers are always dark and damp, much like the shadows cast by those glamorous centers of power.
Jiang Fei followed Lin Jiu through the noisy and bustling street. The cheap red and blue neon billboards on both sides were messy and disorderly. Children ran by in the dirty rainwater, and adults did business along the street.
The colorful exterior cannot conceal the cold interior.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Jiu stopped at the entrance of a simple and dirty alley. There was only a rusty gate in the alley.
Jiang Fei simply raised an eyebrow.
Lin Jiu said that he knew someone who was willing to treat Ji Wei's eyes, but he never expected that the person would bring him to such a place.
This place looks like a... warehouse.
"Here?" Jiang Fei turned to look at Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu nodded, walked into the alley, and knocked on the only door.
The rust on the door fell off in a rustling sound.
After a long while, footsteps finally came from inside, accompanied by an impatient voice: "Who is it?"
The door opened, and an old man with a full head of white hair, wearing a white coat, stood in the doorway. There were bloodstains and oil stains on the white coat, and his white hair was extremely messy.
Upon hearing their purpose, the old man glanced at Jiang Fei, then at Lin Jiu, smiled knowingly, and stepped aside to let them in.
When Jiang Fei went inside, he found that it was indeed a large warehouse, with various bottles, jars and mechanical tools scattered around, but it didn't have the chaotic mess outside. Instead, it had a sense of technology.
“This is an underground laboratory,” Lin Jiu explained beside him. “Given Ji Wei’s identity, no one would be willing to provide him with any help.”
Jiang Fei nodded.
The old man led the two into a room, which was much emptier than the outside room, with nothing but two sofas.
"Miss, please have a seat," the old man said to Jiang Fei with a smile.
“Jiang Fei,” Jiang Fei said simply.
“Miss Jiang,” the old man looked at her, “if I heard correctly, the person you wanted me to save was someone who had worn a prosthetic eye, but that prosthetic eye was destroyed in their eye?”
“Yes,” Jiang Fei replied.
“In this case, this eye is basically useless,” the old man said casually, then added, “Not really. If it’s a beautiful eye, it can stay in its socket as a useless decoration.”
Jiang Fei's eyes narrowed: "Old sir, is there no other way?"
The old man gave Lin Jiu a meaningful look.
Lin Jiu calmly looked back at him, but inexplicably felt that the old man's eyes held a deeper meaning.
"Old sir?"
"Yes, there is," the old man chuckled casually. "Since it's broken, we can just cut it out and replace it with a good one."
Lin Jiu slightly raised his eyes, and a danger signal rose within his body.
Jiang Fei hurriedly asked, "Could you please explain in more detail, sir?"
The old man was still looking at Lin Jiu: "It's possible, but this gentleman needs to go out for a moment."
Jiang Fei looked at Lin Jiu with a puzzled expression.
Lin Jiu met her gaze, paused for a moment, and without saying anything, turned and walked outside.
Only Jiang Fei and the old man remained in the room.
"Why?" Jiang Fei looked at the old man, puzzled.
The old man walked over and sat down: "When slaughtering livestock, the people at the slaughterhouse always stun them first, let alone a robot."
“You know Lin Jiu…” Jiang Fei was surprised that the old man recognized Lin Jiu at a glance, even though Lin Jiu’s appearance was almost indistinguishable from a human.
The old man pointed to his nose: "Robots don't have a smell." Even though they have human warmth, use human things, and mingle with humans, they don't have that human scent.
Jiang Fei nodded gently: "Then about the eyes..."
The old man chuckled casually: "While I am interested in human organs, I must say that if we use robotic eyes, I fear it might cause severe rejection reactions later on..."
Jiang Fei interrupted him, puzzled: "What did you mean by the eyes of a robot?"
The old man glanced at the doorway: "Didn't you want that robot by the door to transplant the left eye of the person you like?"
After all, since humans began developing robots, their existence has been to serve humans, and one of their functions is to serve as backup organs for humans.
Although there may be rejection reactions, and the subsequent damage is still unknown.
Furthermore, what normal human being would willingly give away their entire eye to someone else?
Jiang Fei glanced at the doorway as well, increasingly puzzled: "Why send Lin Jiu?"
At the doorway, Lin Jiu, who was standing there calmly, slightly raised her head.
He was also puzzled, not understanding why Jiang Fei asked that question.
From the very beginning, he knew his mission. When the old man looked at him and triggered the danger signal, his creator must have received the alarm as well. The reason they didn't stop him was simply because... it was just one of his eyes. A robot whose entire body had been disassembled was not as important as the mission of monitoring Jiang Fei.
Inside the room, Jiang Fei's voice came: "I have no right to decide other people's lives."
Lin Jiu paused for a moment, and after a long while, slowly reached out his hand towards the human heart.
There, all the electrical circuits of the body are now like they're leaking electricity, causing a tingling and numb sensation.
Life?
He was created by humans, so there's no question of him having a life.
Moreover, humans are actually capable of determining their...so-called life.
"What does Miss Jiang mean?" The old man's tone became more serious.
Jiang Fei laughed: "But I can decide my own life."
Lin Jiu stood frozen at the doorway, not moving an inch.
After an unknown amount of time, the room door was opened from the outside, and Lin Jiu looked up abruptly.
Jiang Fei seemed surprised to see Lin Jiu standing at the door, and then smiled with her eyes crinkling: "Why are you standing here?"
Lin Jiu simply looked at her quietly, pursing her lips and remaining silent.
"Hmm?" Jiang Fei looked up in confusion, reaching out to touch his forehead, and teased, "Is it short-circuited?"
Lin Jiu was startled and hurriedly hid behind her.
Jiang Fei's hand froze in mid-air, her face slightly stiff.
Lin Jiu's favorability rating fluctuated very slightly before quickly returning to zero.
A robot has developed human emotions.
Jiang Fei raised her eyebrows slightly; the slight movement was a good sign.
After a while, she lowered her hand and said softly, "I'm sorry."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the warehouse door.
The old man who followed her out looked at her retreating figure, shook his head and sighed softly, then turned to look at Lin Jiu: "You're lucky to have such a master."
Lin Jiu glanced at the old man, then at Jiang Fei's direction, and followed him, but that unfamiliar feeling still enveloped him—he wouldn't reject a human's harmless touch.
But just now, when Jiang Fei touched him, his first reaction was to frantically try to avoid her.
In the end, Lin Jiu pursed her lips and said nothing more.
It was already evening when we got back to the tin shack.
Perhaps because of the excruciating pain in her eyes, Ji Wei was still in a deep sleep, but her sleep was not peaceful, and her eyes were still bleeding.
Jiang Fei walked to the bedside, wiped the blood from his eyes, and gently took his hand.
The door to the cubicle was open, and Lin Jiu stood outside, watching her figure. After a long while, he heard her whisper, "It will be alright soon..." Her voice was very gentle.
Lin Jiu's gaze fell on the hand she was holding Ji Wei's, her eyes looking somewhat blank.
He knew what she meant by "it will be alright soon".
She knew it when she told the old man that she was "able to decide her own life."
What she wanted to replace was her own eyes.
But he didn't know why she did that.
Ji Wei treated her very badly, didn't she?
Humans treated him badly, yet they also held the power to control him, so he obeyed.
But she's not a robot, so why should she be nice to someone who treats her so badly?
The night deepened.
When Jiang Fei came out of the cubicle, Lin Jiu was sitting upright on the sofa, his eyes empty and calm. Hearing the voice, he finally reacted: "Miss Jiang, do you want to rest?" As he spoke, he stood up and was about to give up his seat.
“No need,” Jiang Fei stopped him, and after a moment of silence, “Lin Jiu, can you do me a favor?”
Lin Jiu looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Tomorrow, could you please take Ji Wei to the old gentleman's place for me?" Jiang Fei asked earnestly.
Lin Jiu looked at her for a while before nodding slightly.
Jiang Fei smiled with delight and sat down beside him. The narrow window next to them was open; the tall buildings blocked the wind, but not the damp rain.
Jiang Fei gazed quietly out the window, and after a long while murmured, "Perfect, it's been raining all day, I'm tired of it."
Lin Jiu gazed at her profile.
He said he was tired of looking at it, but his gaze towards the outside was full of longing.
"Why..." Lin Jiu murmured unconsciously.
"Hmm?" Jiang Fei turned her head and asked in confusion.
Lin Jiu looked into her eyes and felt that there seemed to be a slight leakage of electricity in the area where the circuits were concentrated: "Why is this happening?" she finally asked.
Jiang Fei seemed taken aback by his question, then chuckled softly: "Because I like it."
Lin Jiu continued to stare at her.
"Liking someone means feeling happy when you see them, missing them when you can't see them, feeling more pain than they do when you see them hurt, and being happy when they are happy, even if that happiness has nothing to do with you."
Lin Jiu's eyes remained blank.
Is this what liking someone is?
He had once looked forward to seeing Lin Ran and wanted to protect her, but...
"What's wrong?" Jiang Fei looked at him in confusion.
Lin Jiu's eyes flickered slightly: "The staff said that there was just a problem with the data."
"Hmm?" Jiang Fei hesitated for a few seconds, then stood up and moved closer to Lin Jiu: "How about this?"
After saying that, she reached out and gently placed her hand on Lin Jiu's heart: "When someone you like gets close, this heart beats very fast."
Lin Jiu looked down at her hand, then at her eyes, and felt that electric current surge back.
The next second he suddenly realized what was happening and quickly dodged backward.
Jiang Fei laughed and teased, "Do robots get shy too?"
Lin Jiu's movements were somewhat flustered. After a while, she hurriedly lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before whispering, "No."
Lin Jiu's favorability: 5.
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