Side story (5)
Dumpling’s “level of intelligence” had far exceeded the expectations of He Jin and Qin Yang. In addition to observing and examining the situation, it also had a super high learning ability.
Fortunately, its function was limited to the a.s.sistance of the living area, otherwise, He Jin would be scared that this little thing’s intelligence would surpa.s.s that of his and Qin Yang’s!
A month later, Lantern, which had the same version as Dumpling, was also created. Each of these special custom-shaped babies costed more than two million yuan. He Jin said that the price was too high, ordinary people couldn’t afford it normally.
Qin Yang, “Leisure Cloud’s career has greatly developed, he wouldn’t care about this amount of money.”
“That’s why I said, ‘ordinary people’ can’t afford it!” He Jin highlighted his main point.
Qin Yang said again, “two million yuan is already a reasonable price. Let’s calculate how much one should have when raising a child. With two million yuan, I’m afraid one will spend it all even before school starts. However, once you have an intelligent baby, you just need to pay for the electricity. There is even free upgrade of firmware for life!”
He Jin, “but a kid grows up and the generation continues, Dumpling is just like a pet, like a cat or a dog.”
“Is procreation that really important to us? Although this is necessary for human beings, your concept is still too traditional for me.” Qin Yang shrugged, “in fact, many people now raise kids for companionship. And there is an essential difference between Dumpling and pets, which is the fact that it’s ‘smart’. It can understand us and communicate with us. Aside from the fact that it doesn’t grow up, there is no rebellious stage or issues with adolescence. There’re almost no shortcomings…Oh yes, you can even have grandchildren with technology. You can create one yourself, as long as you build a relationship with your new baby. ”
He Jin couldn’t argue anymore, “ok, you’ve won…”
Qin Yang had a sudden thought, “don’t Leisure Cloud and Wild Crane want Dumpling and Lantern to be together? We can take Lantern back to our place and let it get along with Dumpling for some time, so that this kid won’t bother us anymore when we’re doing it. I even start to doubt that it’s doing it on purpose!”
He Jin, “it doesn’t seem to be very appropriate. I think they want to be the first ones to meet their baby.”
Qin Yang, “well, they can communicate with Lantern in the game, as all the memories will be synchronized.”
He Jin, “…”
“Okay, okay! I’ll call them first, if they don’t like the idea, I’ll call it off.” Qin Yang took out his mobile phone and dialed the number of Leisure Cloud. He first told them that Lantern was ready to be picked up, then told them how he thought.
Leisure Cloud smiled, “sure, why not? Wild Crane and I are both busy working, it’d be great if someone that we trust is taking care of it. You can pick up Lantern first, and we’ll come over for a visit this weekend. We’ll also visit you and He Jin and learn how to take care of smart babies from you two.”
After hanging up, Qin Yang shook his phone, “did you hear that?”
He Jin had nothing else to say. He could only follow Qin Yang’s suggestion.
That night, the two brought the Lantern home. When they got home, He Jin called Dumpling and said to it nicely, “baby, this is brother Lantern, the baby of Leisure Cloud and Wild Crane. It will stay with us for a few days. You have to take care of it these few days and be friends with it. Okay?”
He would never say something like “don’t bully it” to Dumpling, but at this time, He Jin felt that it was still necessary.
In addition to the character data in the game system, there were also certain characteristics of human children. For example, they would occasionally make troubles, do pranks, and so on.
Dumpling was very vigilant when he first saw Lantern. Its pupils became narrow and its wings also flapped fast. It immediately acted like there’s a “compet.i.tor”, and it was ready to face its enemy. Dumpling could only relax after He Jin explained to him. Then, it said childishly, “baby understands now.”
Then, Qin Yang took Lantern out of the anti-shock box and pressed the start b.u.t.ton.
After half a second, the eyelashes of the Lantern flickered, it slowly opening its eyes, it had white clothes and a pair of white wings. It also had a pair of amber eyes, just like a big-eyed cute angel!
Although this baby was the same size as Dumpling, the actual age was less than six months. It’s more inferior both in combat experience and outdoor game experience than Dumpling, let alone its experience in dealing with human beings.
The little guy looked at everyone in front of it and its eyes suddenly became watery. It’s almost crying.
“Ah, that’s bad!” He Jin hugged it. “Do you want to cry because you can’t see Mum and Dad?”
“Why are you crying? Uncle will kiss you!” Qin Yang took Lantern from He Jin’s hands and kissed it in his arms.
But he forgot that robot babies had no human aesthetic ability at all, and it wouldn’t treat him nice just because of his looks. Instead, it seemed like it’s been bullied and immediately burst into tears while flapping its wings.
“Uh.” Qin Yang released it awkwardly, and the little guy flew straight into the gap between the sofa and the wall and started hiding itself.
The two persuaded it for a long time but Lantern wouldn’t come out.
“Ah~~~What can we do?” Qin Yang clenched his head, feeling helpless.
“I told you that it’s not a good idea to bring it back. Leisure Cloud is such an easy-going person, I’m sure he accepted your request just because he didn’t want to reject you.” He Jin was hopeless, “I think you’d better call Leisure Cloud and ask him to go online with Wild Crane, so that they can have Lantern mentally prepared. Then, they should come and pick it up as soon as possible.”
“Wait a minute,” Qin Yang turned to Dumpling, “baby, go and look for brother Lantern.”
Dumpling nodded earnestly, it looked like that it’s saying, “don’t worry, all is on me.” Then, it quickly got to the gap behind the sofa.
The two heard only the mechanical communication sound coming from the back of the sofa. After a while, Dumpling pushed Lantern out, and He Jin and Qin Yang both looked surprised. Their mouth formed an “O” shape.
Qin Yang, “baby is so amazing!”
He Jin grabbed Lantern which still had tears in its eyes, gently patted the dust on it and asked Dumpling, “baby, what did you say to Lantern?”
Dumpling waved its little fist and showed off in front of his father, “baby said that if Lantern still didn’t come out, then I’ll beat it up.”
He Jin, “…”
Qin Yang, “…”
Lantern pouted and started to hide. It looked like it’s going to cry again.
He Jin scolded Dumpling, “baby! You can’t threaten him! You’ll scare Lantern!”
Dumpling was sad, “what does it mean by ‘threaten’?”
He Jin explained, “it means using force to make the other party agree.”
Dumpling seemed to understand, he used his Internet to look for the meaning of this word. Then, he said slowly, “but this method is the fastest and the most efficient.”
He Jin was out of words, he said anxiously, “that’s bad, if Leisure Cloud and Wild Crane knew that Dumpling treated his son like that, they will kill us!”
Qin Yang, “no way, it can’t be that serious.”
Dumpling also felt that it was not a big deal. It also made a demonstration and launched a high-intensity signal directly at Lantern, Lantern immediately rolled its eyes and went into standby mode.
“Baba, see, if he doesn’t obey, I can do it like this. Then, he will be very obedient.”
Dumpling was very excited.
He Jin, “…” h.e.l.l, who said that physical smart babies have no fighting system?!
That night, He Jin reminded Dumpling again and kept educating it. Lantern was woken up again.
Playing games with smart babies can improve the relationship with them. He Jin was playing little games like word-guessing puzzles the whole night with Lantern. Finally, Lantern was willing to speak to him and even called him “Uncle”.
Dumpling was feeling envious and kept flying around He Jin. It was calling “baba” from time to time. While it was asking for He Jin’s attention, it was also reminding Lantern that the human in front of them belonged to it alone.
When he slept at night, in order to prevent Dumpling from bullying Lantern again, He jin deliberately set them both into standby mode. After seeing both babies falling asleep together, He Jin was finally at ease. Then, he returned to the bedroom.
The next morning, He Jin found it hard to adapt as Dumpling didn’t wake him up.
Qin Yang found it exceptionally quiet and seduced He Jin again…
While He Jin was taking a shower, Qin Yang walked to the babies’ room and woke Dumpling up first. Dumpling opened his eyes and called “daddy” sadly. Ever since it came to this house, He Jin and Qin Yang have always allowed it to move freely. They had even let it charge itself. And it had never been forced to enter standby mode. This mode could only be unlocked by external intervention, which means that it’s like confinement for smart babies.
Qin Yang kissed its head and whispered, “baby, you can’t make Ah Jin angry again. You must be nice to brother Lantern, as it’ll be your wife in the future.”
Dumpling blinked twice, “wife?”
Qin Yang smiled badly, patted its b.u.t.t and said, “go search it online.”
Before going out to work, He Jin still felt a bit uneasy about letting the two babies alone at home. Qin Yang kept pushing him out, “my G.o.d, you’re really worrying for nothing. They’ll at most be using signals to attack each other, they won’t hurt each other.”
Well, Qin Yang was right. Even if there were any mental damages, they just needed to restore it with a high-level system.
After living with Dumpling for a while, He Jin could no longer see smart babies as pure robots. He felt that it’s just like his own baby, that’s why he’s trying to be as careful as he could. He’s sure that it’s the same for Leisure Cloud and Wild Crane, so he’s extra cautious.
After being restless for a whole day, He Jin returned home early that day. Just when he wanted to call Dumpling and Lantern, he saw them both welcoming him at the door already.
“Baba~~~” Every time it saw He Jin returning from work, Dumpling was very excited.
To He Jin’s surprise, Lantern also timidly followed Dumpling, and there’s no sign of fear and anxiety on its face.
He Jin touched the two babies’ heads and asked them, “Lantern, how’s your day? Dumpling, you didn’t bully your little brother today. Right?”
Lantern glanced at Dumpling and it looked a bit shy.
“Baba!” Dumpling took Lantern’s hand and corrected He Jin, “Lantern is not my brother, it’s my fiancé!”
“Well…” He Jin almost spat out blood, he felt like something inside him had collapsed.