"Then find some other place for it to adapt. I think Boss Yan's place looks pretty good."
"But you're more popular, aren't you?"
"Ah, is it wrong to be popular?"
"Don't worry too much, once it becomes self-sufficient, it will leave you," Pigeon said.
"Don't lie to me, it's a game cartridge, when will it be able to take care of itself? And there's no position in my store suitable for it."
"It can help you with cashiering, bookkeeping, creating an electronic menu, decoration, calculating employee salaries, automatically paying for utilities… In short, you can use it as a smart assistant."
"Hmm? Isn't it just a twisted little producer that only knows how to play games and drags people into playing by force?"
"Simulation management games are also games," Pigeon said, "The cartridge species are somewhat special life forms. They need to extract nutrients from the behavior of gaming, just like humans consume food.
"This is why I hope you can take it in. That way, both of you could benefit from each other."
Ma Lu stroked his chin, "Smart assistant, huh? Sounds somewhat useful, but will this guy really not cause trouble later on? I don't want my customers to be suddenly locked in a room mid-meal and start hurling insults at each other."
"It won't," Pigeon said, "Since I've found its main body, it can't escape anymore. If it causes trouble in the future, you can just tell me. According to the agreement we made, I'll expel it immediately."
"I see. Then I'll give it a trial period," Ma Lu picked up the game cartridge from the cat nest again, "But how do I get it to work?"
"Just plug it into a game console."
Ma Lu returned to the car and found Yi Xiaxia had done nothing but sit vacantly in the passenger seat, her gaze blank.
It wasn't until Ma Lu started the car that she came back to her senses a bit, "Brother Ji, oh no, Brother Ma, you've returned."
"Yeah, I'm done. Buckle up, we're going back."
"Oh, okay."
Throughout the ride back, Yi Xiaxia remained very quiet, not saying a word, only turning her head to look at the dark street scene outside the window.
Perhaps because it was already late, there weren't many cars on the road, and it took Ma Lu just over half an hour to drive back to the restaurant.
He parked the car, unlocked the outside door of the restaurant, and turned on the lights.
Turning to Yi Xiaxia behind him, he said, "Find a seat for yourself. I'll heat up some food for you."
"Okay," Yi Xiaxia said.
Ma Lu took the remaining Gastrodia Elata stewed camel meat out of the refrigerator, poured it into the pot, figured out how to light the stove, and then added half a bowl of water.
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After heating it up, he poured it into a clean empty bowl and placed it in front of Yi Xiaxia, "Eat it while it's hot, and your mood should stabilize after you're done."
"Thank you, Brother Ma," Yi Xiaxia said but did not pick up her chopsticks.
After a moment, she spoke again, "I've actually been puzzled by a question before."
"What question?"
"Why I was kidnapped to participate in that game. I think I've always been quite civilized in my online comments, oh, I'm not accusing you guys…"
"It's fine, I am a troll," Ma Lu said, "Half the time I spend online is arguing and cursing with stupid netizens. Go on."
"Well, I don't really understand why I was chosen, until I heard what you said—that even if every person puts only a little pressure on her in the gentlest way, when many do it, it accumulates into thousands of points of pressure in the end."
"Then I looked back at my previous comments and found that a popular singer I once liked passed away.
"He had released his last album saying he didn't want to sing pop songs to hit the charts anymore; he wanted to transition into making music he truly loved. But when the new songs were out, the reaction wasn't great, especially disappointing some fans who had always supported him.
"Everyone said he betrayed his own music, and some said he became arrogant after making enough money. I also commented that his new music was a bit boring… After that, he seemed to disappear and didn't release any new songs.
"At that time, everyone thought he had just retired, but recently his wife revealed the truth in an interview—that he had been suffering from severe depression. This gave him some inspiration in his creations, but it also caused him great pain. After releasing that last song, he told his wife that music only brought him despair now.
"For the next two years, he stopped all music-related activities and was in treatment, but still died of depression two years later. Looking back, I realize that I was indeed one of the killers who ended his life with my comments."
Yi Xiaxia said this all at once, her tone very heavy and her mood low.
Ma Lu listened to her, then said, "Ah, I think you misunderstood me. What I said wasn't to blame anyone; I was merely stating a fact—that the words we speak online can indeed hurt others, just like in real life.
"But pointing fingers and assessing others is human nature. Different nationalities, identities, genders, backgrounds, and levels of education all lead to completely different opinions about the same thing.
"For example, a novel, movie, or game you like might be complete rubbish to someone else. If you see them disparaging something you love, it's hard not to argue with them.
"And then there's the news, which now often artificially creates points of conflict to attract attention, exaggerate some aspects, and hide others. News that doesn't do this often doesn't get read because people always prefer dramatic stories, don't they?
"Moreover, most people don't really care about the news; they just want to vent some emotion through it. If you're a gender advocate or a fan of a certain brand,
"you would especially love to read negative news about another gender or brand, even if some of it is made up, but it indeed brings you joy. If, after reading, you can attack them in the comments, it doubles your mood value.
"In a way, the little game that self-proclaimed Gold Medal Producer played tonight was quite true to life. Looks like that guy must have spent some time on the internet too.
"But can't we all just get along?" Yi Xiaxia asked, "When you attack others, you must be attacked by others too, right? So doesn't that meant that no one ends up happy and everyone is left upset?" Explore more adventures at Freewebnovel