Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Stealing Someone Else’s Boyfriend?
Thanks to Chi Wan’s playful banter, Zhou Huaijin and Xiahou Yu were finally able to eat in peace, no longer fixated on the matter with He Lingfeng.
Secretly, however, Xiahou Yu had someone tailing He Lingfeng.
Meanwhile, Zhou Huaijin did something unprecedented: he asked his father about the He Family’s situation. This piqued his father’s curiosity—just who could make his research-obsessed son suddenly care about matters that had nothing to do with him?
But while He Lingfeng’s threats were loud, he hadn’t actually done anything out of line yet, so they had nothing on him.
Chi Wan, however, was quite unbothered, seemingly not giving He Lingfeng a second thought. This left Xiahou Yu and Zhou Huaijin unsure whether to be worried or impressed.
After the meal, Zhou Huaijin had to return to his lab for the afternoon, so he could only watch as Chi Wan and Xiahou Yu left.
Xiahou Yu showed none of the airs of a CEO. He not only helped Chi Wan pack the rest of her things from the dorm and move them to her new apartment, but he also assembled An An with practiced skill.
Once connected to a power source, the calf-high robot dog sprang to life, blinking its electronic eyes and gently nuzzling Chi Wan’s leg.
Chi Wan watched the dog’s remarkably lifelike actions with a delighted surprise. "Is it running on your company’s AI?"
Xiahou Yu nodded. When he spoke about a field he excelled in—or rather, was passionate about—an air of confidence and composure drew one’s gaze to him. "It’s running on the latest data model. Its conversational ability and independent thought processes far surpass the previous generation of AI."
"We initially designed it as a companion-type robot to help with the daily struggles of the disabled and elderly who live alone. Unfortunately, material constraints forced us to compromise, which is why we ended up with the robot dog design."
Hearing the regret in his voice, Chi Wan smiled. "But a puppy has its advantages. For many people in need of companionship, a pet-style robot might actually be more easily accepted."
At her words, Xiahou Yu looked over at Chi Wan, who was now trying to interact with the robot dog, and smiled faintly. "An An was just a working name we came up with. It’s yours now, so you can give it a new one."
As if hearing Xiahou Yu, the robot dog placed its two front paws gently on Chi Wan’s knees and offered its head to her. "Please press here to enter your preferred name, Master~"
A section of the robot dog’s smooth, seamless head retracted, revealing a small display screen. "Register your fingerprint and iris data, and I’ll be a puppy that belongs only to you, Master~"
A mischievous impulse struck Chi Wan as she looked at the blinking cursor. She typed in a name: "Lili."
After she confirmed with her fingerprint, the little dog circled around her, wagging its mechanical tail. "Lili loves Master the most~"
Chi Wan couldn’t help but grin at the thought of Li Xingye’s face when he saw her interacting with Lili.
Of course, Xiahou Yu had no idea what "Lili" meant; he just assumed Chi Wan liked pears.
"It might not be big, but it’s packed with features. It can control all the smart devices in your home, provide real-time surveillance, record video, assess its surroundings, and even alert the authorities on its own... For a woman living alone, it’s an added layer of security."
Then, a thought occurred to Xiahou Yu. "We also take privacy protection very seriously. The firewall and smart surveillance can only be controlled by your fingerprint and iris. The real-time recording function also requires your command to activate, so you don’t have to worry about your privacy being compromised."
After hearing Xiahou Yu’s explanation, Chi Wan found she was genuinely growing fond of the multi-functional little dog.
She sighed wistfully as she played with the puppy. "If you can find the right materials one day, then so many lonely people, and those with difficult lives, could have a robot companion to help them through their hardest times."
A gentle look flickered in Xiahou Yu’s eyes as he watched her. "Yes. At least it could help people feel a little more warmth before they go."
Chi Wan tilted her head. "Wow, I’m suddenly seeing a lot more of your human side, Mr. CEO."
Xiahou Yu gave a helpless sigh. "So, what kind of image did you have of me before, Wanwan?"
Chi Wan deadpanned, "’The weather is turning cold. It’s time for the so-and-so family to go bankrupt.’ Or, at three in the morning, you’d summon the family doctor and say coldly, ’If you can’t treat this two-centimeter scratch on her, you’ll all be buried with her!’ And the butler would be wiping away tears, saying, ’It’s been so long since I’ve seen the Young Master care so much for someone... *sob sob*...’"
Xiahou Yu burst out laughing. "You’re something else. If you’d studied law, I would’ve hired you for my company’s legal department on the spot, for a huge salary. You wouldn’t have to do anything all day but go and infuriate our competitors to death."
But Chi Wan held up a finger, wagging it with mock seriousness. "Haven’t you heard the saying? ’Persuade someone to study medicine, and you’ll be struck by lightning. Persuade someone to study law, and you’ll die by a thousand cuts.’ You can joke about it with me, but don’t you dare say that to anyone else."
Xiahou Yu had originally just seen Chi Wan as resilient and particularly captivating when she was focused on a task.
But after spending the day with her, he realized how little he actually knew about her.
But with some people, the more time you spend with them, the more you find yourself drawn to them, and the more curious you become.
In the end, things at Xiahou Yu’s company were far too busy. Sparing this much time for Chi Wan was already pushing his limits.
Therefore, after assembling Lili, he didn’t stay long before heading straight back to the office.
After Xiahou Yu left, Chi Wan contacted Zhou Huai’an to ask for his help in finding someone.
This was Zhou Huai’an’s specialty. Besides, he’d been feeling a little guilty about not being much help with the He Lingfeng situation, so when he heard Chi Wan’s request, he readily agreed to take care of everything.
With that matter settled, Chi Wan tidied up the apartment and put her things away, then collapsed onto the sofa, not wanting to move an inch.
Just as she was idly chatting with Lili, she received a message from Qi Youyou.
"Wanwan, are you back on campus?"
Chi Wan replied, "Yeah, school starts tomorrow, right? What’s up?"
Qi Youyou’s message bubble showed she was typing for a long time before a message finally came through: "Um, you should check the school forums. Someone made a post attacking you."
’Attacking me?’
Chi Wan frowned. ’Is this He Lingfeng’s doing again?’
After thanking Qi Youyou, Chi Wan grabbed her laptop and pulled up the school’s online forum.
A "hot" post, marked in red and pinned to the homepage, had been started using her full name in the title.
[Chi Wan, is it fun stringing along two rich catches while trying to steal someone else’s boyfriend?]
A flame-bait post calling someone out by name like this was bound to attract a crowd.
Especially since the original post included a photo, one taken during the confrontation between Chi Wan’s group of three and He Lingfeng earlier that day.
