Don't Pick Up Wild People on the Roadside (Twenty-Four)
Before the child could speak, Li Ming interrupted, "Well... I think ordinary is just right, otherwise the eyes would be two different colors... ugh!"
Following Jiang Yuanshi's eye signal, Jiang Tang and Z01 jumped onto the burly man's shoulders. One of them grabbed the other's mouth corner and pulled Li Ming's lips into a straight line.
Jiang Yuanshi: "Adults should stay out of children's business."
Li Ming: ...
Other gang members: ...
Probably because they received too much attention, the two children lowered their heads and just kept pulling at their clothes. Before Jiang Yuanshi got anxious, the children's father and others started to get anxious. Unfortunately, as soon as they tried to open their mouths, Jiang Yuanshi predicted it again and asked them to leave.
The gang members left, looking back every few steps. Jiang Yuanshi closed the door, and Jiang Tang and Z01 jumped back onto his shoulders.
There were only three humans left in the room, one big and two small. The two small ones were invited to sit on the sofa. Jiang Yuanshi knelt on one knee and asked patiently, "Do you have a favorite color? Anything is fine. I'll try my best. But you all heard that the eyes made can't see, so they can only be used as toys. So do you still want them?"
The two children nodded slowly but still didn't say anything. Jiang Yuanshi remembered what Hariri whispered to him before he left. He said that because of the infection in their mother's body, these two children not only had congenital eye infections, but also had some developmental delays. They didn't like to talk to people and didn't have any big emotions on weekdays.
Except today.
Jiang Yuanshi nodded at Jiang Tang, and Jiang Tang jumped onto the little boy's legs without any instruction, and bounced back and forth between the two children. Although the child lowered his head, judging from the amplitude of his head shaking, he had attracted his attention.
With Jiang Tang's strenuous performance, the children relaxed their guard a little and started to play with Jiang Tang in a small way. Jiang Yuanshi was sitting on a chair not far away, sitting sideways. The children seemed to be secretly looking over here, but Jiang Yuanshi pretended not to see anything and let them play by themselves.
But the child's gaze seemed to be getting more and more intense. The oval head was still standing on Jiang Yuanshi's shoulder. Jiang Yuanshi poked someone, and the oval head opened its eyes and blinked, revealing a puzzled yet calm look that said, "Can I have one too?"
Jiang Yuanshi said it’s up to you.
The oval head shook its legs, but did not leave. Instead, it extended two slender mechanical arms from its body and pointed them at Jiang Yuanshi.
What's this for? Want something?
Jiang Yuanshi was puzzled, but he rummaged in his pocket and found something that his oval head could lift, a ball of thin rope used to tie a gift box.
Z01 held the ball with an even more puzzled expression. After his eyes rolled around several times, he untied the rope with both hands and restored it to its original shape. His movements were quite quick.
Jiang Yuanshi took the rope, tied the two ends, and pushed it into a rectangle with his hands. His oval head remained there for a while, as if he had an epiphany. He reached out, took the rope, and changed the shape of the rope.
One person and one machine went back and forth, playing the fancy rope.
Jiang Yuanshi actually didn't know much, and Z01 was smarter than artificial intelligence. In the end, it evolved into Z01's step-by-step teaching, and he was able to continue playing the game. He even forgot the task and was only thinking about how to keep the rope from falling apart.
In the end, the ropes were intertwined into an almost impenetrable small net. Jiang Yuanshi tried to intervene, but the ropes had now become a woven net.
Z01 let go, and the net was still there.
Jiang Yuanshi picked it up and held it against the light bulb above his head. A faint light squeezed in from the gap: "It's really over now."
He placed the net over his oval head: "It's pretty good. I can even make a hat out of it after I'm done."
Z01, who was wearing a small square of cloth, said: "..."
"Wow--!"
A faint sigh attracted Jiang Yuanshi's attention. He turned his head and saw two small hands clinging to the edge of the table, observing from the side of the table in what he thought was a covert operation. There was no sign of Jiang Tang, so Jiang Yuanshi tried to find a time to meet the child's eyes.
The two children's original eyes are very black, and the beads in the other eye are also black and glassy. Both pairs of eyes are dark, giving them a sense of déjà vu like the dolls in horror movies, cute but a little weird.
Jiang Yuanshi didn't look away and asked quietly, "Um... do you know where Jiang Tang went?"
The child blinked and subconsciously stretched out his arm. There was a candy box lying on the sofa, its battery was too low and it was in standby mode.
Jiang Yuanshi: “…………” Taking care of children consumes a lot of electricity.
"Thank you." Jiang Yuanshi said.
The two children looked at the stranger, as if they had realized something, and suddenly lowered their heads in confusion, but then secretly glanced at Z01. The oval head with a hat on walked over under Jiang Yuanshi's gaze and took off his hat.
The child looked at the "hat" handed to him, and after carefully observing the attitudes of Jiang Yuanshi and Z01, he touched it carefully, fearing that the hat would fall apart.
After a long while, a tender child's voice was heard, and the girl said timidly, "This, this, I want to learn."
The boy nodded and said "hmm".
Jiang Yuanshi agreed, of course, but the two children were reluctant to destroy the hat, so Jiang Yuanshi said, "Why don't you ask your family if they have a rope? If they find one, I'll teach you."
The child nodded hesitantly. Seeing Jiang Yuanshi stand up, he looked up as well, but then put his hands up to cover his face. Jiang Yuanshi said, "Huh? I've already seen it. Even if you cover your face, I still know what you look like."
Jiang Yuanshi picked up Jiang Tang and placed him in his arms. The two children said, "No, it's not good. Look, it's a monster."
How could a kid who had always lived in a dangerous area and was surrounded by gang members use such words to describe himself? It was simply someone who said it in front of them. Jiang Yuanshi said, "Who said that? He must be jealous of you."
The two children glanced at Jiang Yuanshi through their fingers, puzzled. Jiang Yuanshi said matter-of-factly, "Look, everyone looks weird. Why should I criticize you? It's just because he's ugly. Who else doesn't look weird?"
The child silently pointed at Jiang Yuanshi, who then pointed at himself: "Me?"
The child nodded.
Jiang Yuanshi smiled: "See the necklace on my neck? It's a part of me. It's just that everyone has different parts of me. And what's wrong with monsters? Aren't monsters the most special?"
The child stared at the young man's neck, seemingly understanding. "Oh, you see, my neck is the only thing that's special about me. That's why I'm different from you guys. I'm considered a freak, right?"
The children looked at each other, then at Jiang Yuanshi, who gently coaxed them: "Don't tell me you want to be as special as me?"
This time the two little ones nodded quickly.
Jiang Yuanshi said, "That's easy. My neck is different, and your eyes are different. If you want to be more special, just get some nice-looking eyes, like red or yellow..."
Jiang Yuanshi counted the colors of the rainbow and asked Z01 to demonstrate. The black and red eyes switched to different expressions as Jiang Yuanshi spoke, just like a magic trick. The two children stared at them in amazement, with longing in their eyes.
"Do you have any favorites? Pick one? Or think of a special one yourself."
They didn't answer, and just when Jiang Yuanshi thought the child had fallen silent again, the little girl stared into Z01's eyes and said, "...blue."
Jiang Yuanshi asked, "Are you sure?"
The little girl turned around and nodded affirmatively for the first time.
"What about you?" Jiang Yuanshi asked the boy in black. The boy nodded and said, "Blue."
"Okay, no problem. So that's confirmed? No changes? No backup colors?"
When Jiang Yuanshi asked, the children shook their heads and said again, "Blue."
"Okay, that's settled then."
Jiang Yuanshi made a pinky sign to indicate that he was signing a contract. The two children followed suit and gently hooked their hands.
"The contract is signed! We'll have to wait a few days. I'll probably come over from time to time. If you ever find a rope, remember to come and learn from me." Jiang Yuanshi finished speaking. The child nodded, inexplicably a little dazed. Jiang Yuanshi suddenly remembered something and asked, "I almost forgot. There are many kinds of blue. What kind do you want? I'll ask Z01 to find a few colors later. You can choose?"
I thought they would nod again, but this time the children all gave specific answers:
"The blue of the sky."
"..." Jiang Yuanshi paused and said, "So you like sky blue."
The children's eyes were dark and deep, like the sky in the downtown area, and it was the first time they spoke without being asked.
The boy said, "My mother said the sky is blue."
The girl said, "I saw it on TV tonight. The sky was so blue and beautiful. I've never seen it before. I want to put it in my eyes."
Jiang Yuanshi smiled and said, "Put them in your eyes. That's great. If you have one blue and one black, then you can put the whole world in them, right?"
Jiang Yuanshi pointed to his own eyes, where the child's original eyes were.
The two children looked at each other closely, touched their eyelids curiously, and said, "The whole world?"
"Well, the upper town is blue, the lower town is black, and if you have one blue eye, it's the whole world, or the whole day, day and night."
"What is daytime?" Jiang Yuanshi's unintentional words made the children who had never seen daytime curious.
He knew he had said the wrong thing but still said, "It's the color of the sky. I think one day you will see it in your eyes."
Things were almost done, Jiang Yuanshi opened the door: "..."
There were people outside, each one stronger than the other, with red eyes, and tears streaming down the robot screen.
How can eavesdropping still make me feel drunk?
Jiang Yuanshi took the initiative to speak: "I have received the client's request. Now I would like to trouble you to provide some materials and data. Please do it as soon as possible. I am in a hurry. You don't want your child's hope to be disappointed."
The gang didn't say anything, just nodded frantically, turned around and scattered.
Only Li Ming with red eyes and Hariri wiping away non-existent tears were left.
Hariri thanked Jiang Yuanshi, went in to test the child, and submitted the precise data. Li Ming, who returned with a pile of supplies, was still muttering to himself, "I never knew... they liked blue so much."
Jiang Yuanshi: "Rather than liking you, it's more of a yearning."
Li Ming: "Yeah, at least we've seen it. They were born in the pitch-black Lower City. They know the sky exists but can't see it. I..."
Jiang Yuanshi interrupted the other person's self-reflection: "It has already happened. Instead of grieving, why not think about the next step?"
"Then please make their eyes. I will find a way to get you anything you need. As long as you..."
Jiang Yuanshi said casually, "Don't worry, I will definitely do what I promised them, but unfortunately, external things can only satisfy short-term fantasies."
Li Ming sighed, "Yeah, but what can I do?" Perhaps the conversation he overheard touched the father's heart, and he began to talk incessantly. "I tried to find a way to the company, but after a lot of effort, the price they asked was simply astronomical, hundreds of thousands of star coins per person. In the Upper City, hundreds of thousands of star coins are enough for ordinary people to earn for several years, not to mention a place like the Lower City. I'm a rough guy. I grew up in the slums in the Upper City. I picked up things that others didn't want all my life, and in the end, I was thrown down because I offended someone, and even my pregnant wife was thrown down with her. Although she saved her life after giving birth, she became a cyborg like me. I am a sinner. If it weren't for me..."
"If it weren't for you, the children wouldn't be born at all, right? But there are no ifs in reality. They have already been born, and you have done a good job." Jiang Yuanshi's words made Li Ming lower his head, and he said with a wry smile, "Really?"
"Yeah, at least they still have hope in their hearts, instead of being dead."
Hariri, who had been silent all the time, patted Li Ming, who was crying silently.
Hariri: "Mr. Jiang, regarding the artificial eye, how long will it take you to make it?"
Jiang Yuanshi: "I'm not sure, I can only say it will be as soon as possible. Don't worry, there are too many good things in the danger zone, and a greedy person like me won't let them go for nothing."
Hariri laughed. "Of course, we didn't suspect you were going to escape. After all, you are someone the leader trusts."
Speaking of the leader, Jiang Yuanshi thought of Jiang Tang inside his clothes. He reached in and fiddled around, pulling out a familiar power bank. Hariri said helplessly, "You're doing this again."
"I've hidden it so no one can see it. After all, I can't leave him without power. By the way, speaking of the leader, how did he become one? I thought you guys were just spoiling the kid."
Hariri: "This... To be honest, we cannot tell you. This is a ban."
"ban?"
"Yes, or rather, we can't say it because this is the leader's order, and it's already formed into a password in our data. I'm sorry, but to put it simply, Jiang Tang does have the ability to be a leader, even though he's just a child."
Jiang Yuanshi poked Jiang Tang: "I didn't expect you to be so capable."
While waiting, Jiang Yuanshi and Z01 walked around the area. They saw nothing but corroded iron buildings. Jiang Yuanshi asked, "Z01, how do you think that gas was released?"
Z01: "The sky above the Lower City is actually the underground of the Upper City. It's likely some device was used, but the details still require on-site observation."
Jiang Yuanshi: "So I have to take a day off to come and take a look when I'm free."
Z01: "You should know that I can't always follow you in this form."
The current oval head shape of Z01 is actually generated according to Jiang Yuanshi's requirements, otherwise he really would not be able to make it in a short time.
This time it is a system exchange. After the system appears in this world as a physical entity, the communication distance with the host is within 100 meters. Once it exceeds the range, communication will be lost.
But B33 ultimately made Jiang Yuanshi uneasy, and since Yun Qing was also clinging to B33, he simply proposed an exchange.
Now both parties are in the state of [Your host/system is out of service area], but this situation cannot happen more than three times, otherwise it will trigger the inspection of the superiors, and it will be difficult to deal with then.
Jiang Yuanshi naturally understood this logic as well. He said, "It's okay. I'm enough with Jiang Tang. If all else fails, I can just make up a lie and bring B33 along."
Z01 expressed dissatisfaction with this response: "You...are going too far."
Jiang Yuanshi: "Really? That's better than you calling me rebellious."
Z01: …
A new entry was added to Jiang Yuanshi’s observation manual today: This human being is particularly vindictive.
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