Chapter 152: Awakening of Consciousness (9)
Jin Xiangdong’s lips circled up. “You’ve done a good job explaining. However, boudoir pleasures are private. Next time you see us like this, remember to excuse yourself!”
Ake nodded. “Duly noted!”
“Otherwise, Professor Lu will blush from shyness.” Jin Xiangdong joked.
Ake nodded in a hurry. “Understood. Next time, I will excuse myself!”
Because of those words, Lu Jia’er turned rosier and rosier. She gave Jin Xiangdong’s arm another pinch.
Though she did not put much strength into it, Jin Xiangdong acted in an exaggerated way. His handsome eyebrows were knitted together.
Lu Jia’er was puzzled. She grabbed his hand at once to check. “I didn’t pinch you too hard, did I?”
Jin Xiangdong laughed. Having realized that she was fooled, Lu Jia’er thumped him.
Ake blinked, wondering, “Is this also a form of boudoir pleasures?”
Jin Xiangdong grinned. “Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. This is a form of needing a spanking.” Lu Jia’er corrected him.
Ake looked at Lu Jia’er and blinked again. “Does master need a spanking?”
Lu Jia’er threw a look to Jin Xiangdong who was standing next to her and agreed. “Yes.”
Jin Xiangdong took her hand and explained to Ake. “This is not needing a spanking. Beating shows affection and scolding shows love. That is what this is.”
Ake cast a glance to Jin Xiangdong and then Lu Jia’er, which was followed by a sigh. “I shall go back to the study. I don’t want to be the third wheel here!” With that said, Ake turned around and headed toward the study.
Jin Xiangdong did not stop Ake. He took Lu Jia’er to the dining room, holding her hand.
The dishes Ake prepared catered to Lu Jia’er’s taste. She could not help but think of Amy in her apartment. At home, she treated Amy like her own family. Therefore, she had a little advice for Jin Xiangdong. “Don’t you dine with Ake usually?”
Jin Xiangdong gazed at Lu Jia’er with a grin. “But you may get shy!”
“What is there to be shy about when eating?” Lu Jia’er wondered.
Jin Xiangdong’s grin grew wider. “Since you are not shy, then take a seat on my lap!”
Lu Jia’er was startled. She blinked in surprise. “What is it now?”
“Come on and sit on my lap!” Jin Xiangdong smiled and repeated.
Lu Jia’er found this unbelievable, which was expressed with her eyes. Unconscious, her cheeks turned rosy again. She whispered, “Were we this tacky before?”
Looking at her blushed face, Jin Xiangdong’s lips curled up. It was always a pleasure to amuse her thusly, in the old days or at the present day. He nodded. “Yes!”
Lu Jia’er gave him a glance of suspicion. “You are lying to me, aren’t you?”
“When did I ever lie to you?” Jin Xiangdong protested, gazing at her.
Clearly, this answer was flawed. Lu Jia’er retorted directly, “When you tricked me into going to Liu Qiming for hypnosis!”
But Jin Xiangdong denied that allegation. “You signed the contract first and then I took you there.”
Jin Xiangdong asserted so eloquently. Lu Jia’er squinted. “Did anyone ever tell you that you are a scoundrel?”
Hearing this, Jin Xiangdong nodded without shame, “Of course someone did.”
“So, I see that someone has a keen grasp on your nature, just like me!” Lu Jia’er said.
Jin Xiangdong put some food on Lu Jia’er’s plate and at the same time replied with a grin, “You are the only one that used the word scoundrel on me. If so, I will take this as an intimate nickname you have come up for me, so to speak!”
Lu Jia’er cleared her throat and corrected herself. “This is not a nickname, but a definition!”
Jin Xiangdong smiled. “I will only be a scoundrel to you!” he said, in his charming and deep voice.
Nobody could remain sober at such sugared words. Lu Jia’er’s lips puckered in a smile. “Did you use to say those fine-sounding words to me often?” She asked.
Jin Xiangdong shook his head gently. “In the old days, you are the one speaking all those sugared words to me!”
Lu Jia’er felt struck. She remembered some sweet moments, only not with Jin Xiangdong, but with Ian. But the fact was the fact. Between Jin Xiangdong and her, she was the initiator.
Her memory was replaced. How did that happen?
Lu Jia’er could not help but go off into wild flights of thoughts. That sweet atmosphere disappeared instantly. “Ace, after we have lunch, go with me to Liu Qiming!”
Jin Xiangdong threw her a look. “Do you still think that your memory is replaced via hypnosis?”
Lu Jia’er nodded. “By the looks of it, this is the mostly likely way, i.e. using hypnosis to twist memory.”
Hypnosis is an ancient and mysterious technique in psychological recovery. Provided that the subject being hypnotized was willing, he or she would be induced into an altered state of mind or trance through visual, auditory and tactile stimulation. Different technologies could trigger a level of awareness different from the ordinary state of consciousness, leaving the subjects to show an increased response to suggestions. In this state, subconsciously, the subjects were suggested, and would provide corresponding reactions in their control, memory, and perception. During the process of hypnosis, the hypnotized subjects’ independent judgment and voluntary action would be compromised or disrupted, and the senses and perception would be distorted or lost.
Jin Xiangdong once had this conviction as well. But as of now, he could not tell her the truth while knowing. Eventually, he asked, keeping his countenance, “Does Liu Qiming not have enough credibility in his hypnosis technique in this industry?”
Lu Jia’er misinterpreted this as Jin Xiangdong was misunderstanding her. She denied it. “No! He studied under Professor Fang Yu, the most well-known master in hypnosis in the country. He excels in his technique. That day, I would be hypnotized by his varied methods even if I did not drink that questionable water you gave me that day!”
Now that Lu Jia’er had mentioned this incident, Jin Xiangdong said apologetically, “I am sorry. I had no other option that day!”
Lu Jia’er smiled. “The method was despicable. But indirectly, it implied that you care about me.”
Jin Xiangdong had always been the receiver of affection. However, as Lu Jia’er said so, he nodded readily, “There are only two women that I care about in this world and you are one of them!”
Hearing this, Lu Jia’er threw a glance of doubt to Jin Xiangdong. “One of them?”
Jin Xiangdong nodded with a smile. “Why not the one you care most about?” She asked.
“I have a sister!” Jin Xiangdong said.
“You have a sister?” Lu Jia’er frowned.
Her memory was replaced but as she remembered her time with Ian, there was no such person as his sister.
Judging by Lu Jia’er’s looks, Jin Xiangdong seemed to have arrived at some conclusion. The majority of her memory was replaced and a small part might have been deleted directly.
For the moment, Lu Jia’er could not remember anything. Jin Xiangdong changed the subject, “Let’s have lunch now. The food is getting cold!”
Lu Jia’er looked at Jin Xiangdong and then said, “I remember that a professor in psychology once noted that: there are happy memories and those that are not. But no matter how bad that memory is, for many people, it is still as important as life itself!”
Jin Xiangdong agreed to this point of view. “Yes. Memory is there to witness our growth!”
“You are right!” Lu Jia’er agreed. “Therefore, I must find out the real reason that I am like this!”
Jin Xiangdong gazed at her and his eyes spoke volumes. He had grown more interested in the team behind her. In fact, as far as artificial intelligence systems are concerned, they are based on so-called neural networks to solve problems. In the past few years, AIs had learned to play Go, poker, and Mahjong. Those skills were acquired after countless rounds of training and mistake-making. But such skills could actually coexist. For example, if an AI learned to play Go, then it must erase knowledge about playing Mahjong or poker. Researchers at the time named it the “catastrophic forgetting”.
At that time, this problem was unsolvable. However, with the development of technological breakthroughs, AI had reached a new stage in the learning mode of intimating humans and animals. That being said, there was still a distance before AI could be as intelligent as human beings.
But Lu Jia’er’s model of memory was so flawless, and human-like. If she could achieve another breakthrough herself and complete awakening of consciousness, then that would simply be the pinnacle of technology.
“It is strange that you are looking at me like this!” Noticing Jin Xiangdong’s gaze on her, she said.
Jin Xiangdong came back to her senses. “I will be with you along the way!”
Lu Jia’er felt a spread of warmth in her heart. “I already feel content to hear this from you!”
Jin Xiangdong smiled. “Dig in. It has been a long time since you’ve visited. Cooking has been pointless for us for a long time. Ake is getting bored out of his mind!”
Jia’er looked at Jin Xiangdong’s face. “You haven’t been cooking! You’re not eating regularly lately, are you? No wonder I think you have lost some weight!”
Jin Xiangdong smiled. “I find my gown too large, but I will not regret;
It’s worthwhile growing languid for my coquette. That is the right way to put it.”
Hearing this poem, Lu Jia’er felt her heart ached. “I am sorry that I have treated you like that!”
Jin Xiangdong smiled. “What we lose in hake we shall have in herring.”
Lu Jia’er knew that Jin Xiangdong excelled in ancient poetry but she found this saying confusing. “What?”
“I mean, I have made unexpected gains!” Jin Xiangdong explained.
“Gains?” Lu Jia’er was puzzled.
Jin Xiangdong grinned. “I found a different side of you, a cold and detached beauty! You have a part of you that is a sexy, wild kitty!”
Sexy, wild kitty!
Lu Jia’er felt a bit embarrassed. She argued, “That is a legitimate defense!”
Jin Xiangdong’s grin grew wider. “As a matter of fact, there is nothing wrong with being a sexy pussycat doll!”
Lu Jia’er flushed at those words. “Are all man into stuff this hardcore?”
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