Beat, Smash, and Rob
At eight o'clock in the morning, as usual, a beep could be heard from the living room.
That was when the household robot, Nono, began to work.
Gu Anbao followed closely behind Nono and watched it make a simple egg sandwich, intending to learn to make it.
The sounds of activity outside the kitchen got her looking past her shoulders to see Chen Yuheng walking out from his bedroom and looking half-awake with several untamed strands of hair sticking out of his bedhead.
How cute…
She thought.
The man supported his neck with a hand as he twisted it, then when he saw her in the kitchen, he beckoned to her twice.
She hastily scurried over to him.
He first eyed her from head to toe, then went on holding up her two hands to check them. "It's oily and smoky in the kitchen. Don't get your new skin dirty."
She did her best to ignore the slightly numbing sensation on her hands as she softly replied, "hm," with a blush.
The man, however, frowned as he put down her hands, placed his hands over her cheeks instead, and muttered, "You're forever blushing. I don't know if this is anything concerning…"
Her head was forced to look up, her whole body was tense, and her eyes were darting as she dared not look at him.
Fortunately, it only lasted for a while. He soon released his hands and turned around to go wash his face and rinse his mouth.
Only then did Gu Anbao feel herself coming back to life again…
She silently held her cheeks in an attempt to quickly lower her facial temperature.
When Chen Yuheng came out from the bathroom after washing himself, he appeared a lot more refreshed than he had been before. That uninhibited indolence had vanished as he turned into the CEO of a corporation, who was a meticulous and serious perfectionist.
Sitting at the dining table, he realized that his new robot was beginning to follow Nono around again like a lackey. Right now, she was focused on watching Nono operate the washing machine, and it got him thinking, Is she feeling bored again?
"Should I get you a cellphone?" A hint of surprise flashed across his face as he spoke. Never did he expect himself harboring such a thought, but soon, he realized that it was a good idea indeed. "You can look up jokes online with a phone. Plus, it'd be easy to contact you if you have one, and it's much lighter to carry around than a laptop."
At least, she can make a phone call in advance should she be running out of battery, and avoid a repeat of that last incident.
The more he thought about it, the better he found that idea.
She was shocked to hear that, however, and looked at him with a slightly pale face. "Why is there a need for us to contact each other? Aren't we… usually always together…?"
Is he loaning me out again? At the thought of this, she could not help but appear somewhat distressed and terrified.
The man failed to notice the change in her expression. Picking up a sandwich, he blandly answered, "I'll often be traveling to faraway places." It was inconvenient to take the robot with him on business trips. Not to mention, the check-in process for robots needed to be done a week in advance, which was very troublesome.
He polished off his sandwich in just several bites.
Although it was not to the extent of wolfing his food down, he ate rather speedily. It seemed as though he had no regard for the taste of the food and that it was enough as long as the food could fill his stomach and replenish his energy.
He drank a few mouthfuls of milk, then placed the cup down to get up to reach for the napkin on the table that was placed rather far away from him. Gu Anbao timely pulled out a sheet for him right then.
He took it from her and wiped the corners of his lips while checking the time on his wristwatch.
They were right on time.
"Let's go, Ruan Ruan."
And the obedient robot followed him.
That was how it was every day; charging her battery while on standby mode at night, waiting for the break of dawn in a daze, and learning how to do the household chores from Nono at 8 AM. The man usually woke up around half-past eight, and when he was done with his breakfast, she would then follow him to work.
The journey, without any traffic jams, was very smooth today.
While sitting in the car, Gu Anbao thought about the cellphone matter. After ascertaining that she would not be loaned out again, she started to look forward to owning one…
With a phone, she could secretly contact her older sister, and who knew, the latter might acknowledge her as a god-sister on a whim once they got in touch more often! That way, even if she was a robot, she could still hang out with her family…
It might be a rather silly and naive idea, still, she could not help but look forward to that day… The corners of her lips arched up slightly at the thought of it.
The car slowed down before gradually coming to a stop at the side of the road.
She looked to her right and left in bewilderment, then said, "We haven't reached the company…"
"No, not yet," responded Chen Yuheng as he dipped his head to unfasten his seat belt, then opened the door and stepped out of the car.
… Eh?
She turned her head to look at him. What is he… doing?
He headed toward the back of the car to another car parked nearby to them. She saw him stopping by the side of that car and lightly rapping on the car's window panel.
Did he chance upon someone he knew?
The window slowly lowered and the person inside seemed to be talking to him, though she could not hear a word of their conversation. She found this sightly strange and suddenly, she saw him resorting to violence! With one grab, he forcibly pulled the man out of the car!
The strength used was tremendous! The other party was clearly not of a small build, but still, his body got pulled out halfway through the window!
"!!!"
W-What's going on…?! W-Why is he getting into a fight?!
The man's legs were still stuck in the car as his upper body dangled outside with his hands flailing around in a struggle to prop his body up. Alas, before he could exert any strength to his arms, Chen Yuheng suddenly let go and that person's face went smacking right into the car door…!
That looks… awfully painful...
The door to the passenger seat opened right then, and out came a man in sunglasses with some sort of tool in hand. He went around the front of the car and charged toward Chen Yuheng—
Gu Anbao panicked as her hands hastily fumbled around to unfasten her seatbelt and alight the car to help him, lest the other person wanted to hit him.
Even though she was terrified, she reckoned… that even though she did not know how to fight, she could take the beating on his behalf since she was a robot after all…
Yes, getting hit a few times should be fine! I won't be able to feel the pain, anyway.
With that thought in mind, she mustered up her courage to alight the car. When she looked up, though, she found him unceremoniously flinging a punch to the face of the man in sunglasses…
Honestly speaking, she could not be sure if he really did throw out that punch…
It happened so quickly and before she could even see clearly, the man in glasses had already collapsed…
"…"
It's wrong to hit people at will…
Chen Yuheng remained poker face as he used his foot to poke the item in the other man's hand. He could tell that it was a piece of professional equipment used for secretly taking snapshots, and so, he immediately stamped his foot on it several times!
Crack, crack, it went.
She walked over in fear. Those two men were already almost half beaten to death…
He then bent over and searched their bodies, digging out a pile of pinhole cameras, recording pens, and location trackers… He threw them to the ground, and upon sighting his robot idling around, he beckoned her over. "Come, step on them."
"… Okay…"
It's wrong to smash someone's stuff…
Even though she felt rather uncomfortable with his instructions, she obediently did what he said…
The man later found another two cameras and several name cards in their car.
He threw the cameras at her feet and motioned for her to step on them before he pulled out his phone and aimed it at the name cards to take photos of them. He scoffed cynically, "So, they're not reporters…"
She could not help but freeze at that.
… Not a reporter…? So… he beat up the wrong people?
Finished taking pictures of the cards, he tossed the cards away and looked at the pile of broken equipment on the ground that had been stepped on by her. Only then did he satisfactorily put his arm over her shoulders and walk back.
She became all tensed up. "What if… they call the police…"
It's the first time I've been… involved in beating people, smashing of others' items, and robbing people.
He burst out laughing at what he heard. Pointing to the roadside surveillance camera in front of them, he assured her, "It's fine. It's the camera's blind spot here."
"…"