Chapter 67: Bargaining for the Recording

Shen Zheming pulled out two tissues to wipe his hands. Sensing a faint glance in his direction, he turned his head.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Shi quickly cleared his mind of all those thoughts. “Nothing.”

What did it matter to him whether Shen Zheming was any good? Why was he even thinking about this?

Lu Shi scratched the tip of his nose lightly, then remembered something.

“Shen Ge, can I buy something from you?”

Shen Zheming leaned back in his chair. “What?”

The blackout curtains in the bedroom were very effective. Since Lu Shi had just woken up, Shen Zheming had only turned on the bedside lamp with its eye-protecting light.

Under the warm yellow glow, Lu Shi wore his usual set of pajamas. His hair was messy from sleep, with a tuft sticking up at the back.

From his angle, Shen Zheming could faintly see a red mark on the gland at the back of his neck.

Lu Shi licked his lips awkwardly. “Can I buy the recording from your phone last night? I’ll write a new guarantee, or record a disclaimer video right now.”

Now that he was sober and had time to think, he realized how embarrassing the things he’d said last night were. He had actually asked Shen Zheming for a kiss, and let him touch him…

Sigh. Maybe his mindset had changed too much after being reborn. His skin had gotten thicker. If the eighteen-year-old version of himself from his past life knew, with his strong sense of pride back then, he’d probably want to beat his current self to death with a stick.

Lu Shi really couldn’t accept that such a recording existed on someone else’s phone. He thought the solution he was proposing now was more reasonable and binding. Shen Zheming would definitely agree…

“Not for sale.”

Lu Shi thought he’d misheard.

“Wh-Why?”

The reason Shen Zheming gave was irrefutable. “I don’t need the money.”

He paused for two seconds, as if feeling that he’d been too abrupt. He looked calmly at Lu Shi and said something that Lu Shi thought was worse than paying: “Or you call me ‘big brother,’ and I’ll think about it.”

Shen Zheming was really something. Every time, he could say something improper with a straight face.

Lu Shi hadn’t expected that after so long, Shen Zheming still remembered him calling him ‘big brother’ at the resort.

In the past, Lu Shi might have called out twice without caring, just to get the video back. In his mind, the title ‘big brother’ wasn’t as important as the video. But now, hearing Shen Zheming make that request, he wanted to say it, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Lu Shi twitched the corner of his mouth, half-joking. “Shen Ge, still trying to take advantage of me at a time like this?”

Shen Zheming raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like you didn’t call me that last night.”

Lu Shi: “…”

He didn’t remember anything from later last night. In that chaotic state, it was possible he’d been talking nonsense.

Seeing Lu Shi’s expression tightening and his ears reddening, Shen Zheming reached out.

“If you have a fever, stop being a smart mouth.”

Of course he hadn’t called last night. He was just teasing. If he had actually called, he wouldn’t be so eager to hear it now.

His palm brushed aside the stray hairs on Lu Shi’s forehead and rested on his slightly warm skin. Shen Zheming smoothly changed the subject. “Lie down first. I’ll have Er Bai Wu bring a fever patch.”

The matter of the recording was thus diverted. When Lu Shi heard that Er Bai Wu was coming in, he stiffly pulled up the blanket. Although Er Bai Wu probably didn’t understand anything, if it saw the mark on his neck, Lu Shi felt like he would be corrupting an innocent underage little robot.

As he slid down into the blanket, Lu Shi bent his leg.

“Ssh.”

Shen Zheming: “Where does it hurt?”

“Nothing…”

Lu Shi buried his chin in the blanket.

His leg hurt, especially the inner thigh near the groin. There was a slight burning sensation, like needles pricking when the fabric touched it.

Lu Shi couldn’t remember last night, and he didn’t dare think about it carefully, afraid of recalling something so embarrassing it would make him want to die.

Shen Zheming picked up his phone and tapped it. Er Bai Wu received the instruction and slid in carrying something.

It was happy to see Lu Shi again. It helped him apply the fever patch, scanned his face with its screen, and then suddenly focused on the corner of his mouth.

“How did your mouth get cut? It’s a bit swollen. Did you get internal heat? I can make you a tea to clear your heart and reduce heat.”

“No need.” Lu Shi quickly stopped Er Bai Wu, who was about to act immediately. “My upper and lower lips were fighting, and the lower lip lost.”

Er Bai Wu blinked twice. It was the first time it had heard that human lips could fight each other.

Seeing that Er Bai Wu really believed it.

Shen Zheming stood up from the side and threw out a line: “As expected of something manufactured in the Year of the Pig.”

Although Er Bai Wu didn’t understand what the year of manufacture had to do with it, it was very familiar with Shen Zheming’s tone. It knew he wasn’t saying something nice.

Its flat head’s mouth pursed into a thin line.

Seeing that Shen Zheming didn’t seem to be dwelling on the issue of responsibility anymore, Lu Shi breathed a sigh of relief. He watched Er Bai Wu’s subtle expression changes and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Shen Ge, it’s just a kind and simple little robot. Aren’t you being too strict with it?”

Kind, simple… All good words!

Er Bai Wu looked at Lu Shi, and a line of text appeared on its screen: [Affection increased, 100% achievement unlocked!]

Then its eyes turned into star shapes. As a full-service household robot, it only needed to complete given commands. It would imitate human speech patterns during daily interactions, but human complex emotions were not within its learning scope. However, it knew what humans said to people they liked. So it imitated humans and awkwardly expressed: “Like, Lu Shi.”

Lu Shi smiled. The affection had increased quickly. He really didn’t know how Shen Zheming had managed to keep it at 20% after all these years.

Just then, Shen Zheming got up and left the bedroom.

Lu Shi asked Er Bai Wu, “Why don’t you like Shen Zheming? Because he’s a capitalist who often exploits you?”

Er Bai Wu felt very close to people with 100% affection. It glanced at the door to make sure Shen Zheming wouldn’t return immediately.

“Not entirely.”

Er Bai Wu shook its head mechanically. “He always dislikes me, says I’m stupid. Every time, he thinks he’s so smart.”

“?”

Lu Shi was stunned for two seconds before he understood.

Once, Shen Zheming said Er Bai Wu was ‘kaizhi’ (becoming intelligent). Er Bai Wu asked what that meant. To avoid hurting its young heart, Lu Shi told it that kaizhi meant praising it for being smart. Unexpectedly, Er Bai Wu had automatically equated kaizhi with smart in its dictionary.

Just then, the bedroom door suddenly swung open. Shen Zheming was holding a moxa hot compress for Lu Shi’s lower back. He raised his hand and tossed the empty box. The empty box flew precisely over the bed and hit Er Bai Wu on the head. Er Bai Wu closed its eyes from the impact. Then it remembered. Oh no, it had forgotten to disconnect from Shen Zheming’s phone. Whenever it spoke, a notification and text would automatically pop up on his phone.

The first time it gossiped about Shen Zheming behind his back, it got caught. A bead of electronic sweat appeared on its screen.

Er Bai Wu thought Shen Zheming was angry because he was unhappy with its evaluation of him.

“I’m sorry. I take back my shallow evaluation just now.”

Er Bai Wu placed its two mechanical claws in front of its body and bent its upper body slightly, making an apologetic bow.

“You are the most kaizhi.”

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