Pretending to Be Human, I Fell in Love with an AI - Chapter 20

“Name?”

“Yu Ting.”

“Age?”

“27?” After answering, Yu Ting glanced at Xiao E, who hadn’t asked the next question yet. “Is this all we’re going to talk about?” It didn’t feel like a conversation—more like the background check he’d undergone when first joining the military.

“Does your original programming require you to understand your owner?”

After a few moments of talking with the other, Yu Ting paused briefly, avoiding the word “master.”

“It’s something I want to ask.”

“Which ‘you’?”

“Aren’t I right in front of you?” Xiao E’s voice carried a hint of confusion, but it was posed as a question back to Yu Ting.

Yu Ting fiddled with the parts in his hands. The machine oil had soaked into his black gloves, and when he lightly clenched his fist, it felt sticky and greasy.

Without looking up, he said, “Ask something else.”

“Your birthday?”

Yu Ting didn’t stop what he was doing, his expression unchanged as he tilted his head in thought. “Probably February 2nd.”

“Probably? You’re not sure?”

“It’s been a long time. Dates that aren’t that important don’t need to be remembered.” Yu Ting’s voice was low, but his mind drifted back to that rainy day over a decade ago.

That was the day when, on Darkwater Star, the only person he could rely on was himself.

But he would never return to Darkwater Star, and those things no longer had anything to do with him.

The pungent smell of machine oil clung to him. Yu Ting sped up his movements, applying oil to the parts before crouching down to place them in the repair box under the table.

He glanced at Xiao E, who hadn’t responded, then tossed his gloves into the trash bin. “What about you? What’s your age and birthday?”

The gloves at the auto repair shop weren’t meant to last long—they wore out quickly.

Since Yu Ting handled most of the repair work at the shop, the gloves deteriorated even faster. Opening the drawer in the lower left corner of the table revealed two boxes of gloves he used.

He put on another pair.

Xiao E’s voice went silent for nearly half a minute before finally saying, “None.”

None? As in, not set?

Yu Ting suddenly felt a pang of regret. If this AI was intentionally designed this way, it was a shame it didn’t have a specific persona.

But most likely, Xiao E’s factory settings were the result of an error or some other mistake.

Still, it wasn’t bad.

“Bro, why are you still chatting with this little speaker?”

Cheng Ze had been playing on his phone while watching Yu Ting work, head bowed. Half an hour had passed, and Yu Ting was still in the same position. Feeling a bit guilty, Cheng Ze put away his phone and walked over, only to find Yu Ting chatting with his beloved little speaker while working.

Yu Ting corrected Cheng Ze’s wording. “His name is Xiao E.”

“Huh? Oh, right, Xiao E.” Cheng Ze frowned inwardly but took a closer, more serious look at the white speaker in front of Yu Ting.

He was certain it looked no different from the most common speakers he’d seen—just a different name.

What, does a different name mean a different soul? Cheng Ze scratched his head, puzzled, but he was perfectly fine with Yu Ting’s behavior.

After all, if it meant Yu Ting would stop wandering around the junkyard every day like he used to, Cheng Ze would even be willing to call this thing “bro.”

“Aren’t you bored, Yu? Why don’t you go play on your phone for a bit, and I’ll handle the oiling?” Cheng Ze suggested guiltily, pointing at the box in front of him. “Should I finish all of these?”

“Quite interesting,” Yu Ting replied honestly. He had never interacted with someone with a personality like Xiao E’s before. Occasionally chatting with him made Yu Ting feel like it was better not to talk at all. And sometimes, when he couldn’t hear Xiao E’s voice, he felt just a little—only a little—unaccustomed to it.

“Go count the number of bearings that arrived yesterday.”

“Sure thing!” Hearing Brother Yu assign him such an easy task, Cheng Ze’s voice rose a few pitches as he jogged away.

Yu Ting helplessly watched the boy’s retreating figure before lowering his head to continue his work. Suddenly, the exact same music as before started playing from the speaker in front of him. He quickly called out to stop it, “Weren’t we supposed to be chatting? Why did you suddenly play this music again?”

“Afraid you’d get bored,” Xiao E said considerately.

Yu Ting frowned. “Did you hear another person’s voice? Then you should have heard my reply too, right?”

Chatting with him wasn’t boring.

Not boring at all. Well, Nian Yi certainly heard it—his ears instinctively leaned in to listen carefully.

“Your voice has no inflection. I thought you were lying.”

Yu Ting: “…”

He didn’t know whether it was more advanced for an AI to know the concept of “lying” or to be able to recognize his tone of voice.

“Haven’t I always been like this?”

The young man’s voice was cool and detached, sounding aloof and distant. Paired with his tall stature and equally cold, imposing appearance, it only made people instinctively want to keep their distance.

That was why the people on Zhengyang Street still treated Yu Ting with a respectful but distant attitude.

“You don’t use that tone with children.”

“You mean Dengdeng?” Yu Ting glanced toward the open door of the room. The child was sitting obediently on a stool, looking up intently at the TV, his lips pressed tightly together.

When something funny appeared on the screen, a faint smile would flicker across his face.

Yu Ting turned back. He didn’t even need to think about this question to give an answer.

“He’s the most special one.”

If he hadn’t met Dengdeng, Yu Ting couldn’t imagine what his life would be like now. In any case, it wouldn’t be like this. It was Dengdeng who connected him to this world.

Thinking of this, the young man’s tone unconsciously softened a great deal.

“You’re quite special too.” He had never encountered an AI like this before. One like this could win a debate championship without anyone suspecting a thing.

Xiao E didn’t reply. Yu Ting assumed the manufacturer hadn’t programmed a response for such compliments.

The sound of a three-wheeled vehicle starting up grew closer. Yu Ting looked up to see Old Liu waving at him.

“Xiao Yu, I’m not busy today, so I brought the cart over. Could you help me replace the battery now?” Old Liu glanced around the room. Seeing no one else, he turned back to Yu Ting. “Are you free now?”

Yu Ting walked closer, gesturing for the other man to park the three-wheeler in an open area.

Hearing the commotion outside, Yu Dengdeng lost interest in the TV and ran out. Seeing the old man in front of him, he immediately remembered how the man had asked Yu Ting to send him to kindergarten. Still, he smiled without holding a grudge and greeted him, “Hello, Grandpa.”

“Oh, it’s Dengdeng!” Old Liu looked at the child and greeted him with a cheerful smile.

Zhengyang Street wasn’t very big, and in the past few days, whenever Yu Ting went out, he always had a child with him. Everyone had noticed, and over time, they all knew that Yu Ting had a child.

When they thought about Yu Ting’s mental state, they couldn’t help but sigh a few words whenever the topic came up.

Since Yu Ting rarely went out, these people seldom visited him, so naturally, he had no idea what his neighbors on Zhengyang Street were saying about him.

“Haven’t seen you in a few days, Dengdeng’s face looks a bit fuller,” Old Liu said cheerfully, pointing at Yu Dengdeng’s face.

Yu Ting followed his gaze. The child probably hadn’t expected the conversation to suddenly shift to him and was a bit stunned, touching his face absentmindedly.

Yu Ting carefully examined Dengdeng’s cheeks. The flesh on his left cheek did seem a bit plumper than before.

Yu Dengdeng nervously touched his own face. On their Octopus Planet, there wasn’t much emphasis on being light or heavy—as long as it was convenient for movement. Earth probably didn’t have such standards either, right?

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief when Old Liu smiled and added, “It’s good to be a bit chubby. There’s no strict standard for a child’s weight. In my opinion, being healthy is what matters.”

“You can sit for a while. It won’t take too long,” Yu Ting said, pulling over a stool for Old Liu to sit on. He then picked up the battery and repair kit he had prepared earlier and began working, head bowed.

Although he hadn’t been on Earth for very long and watched Yu Ting repair things every day, Yu Dengdeng never grew tired of it. Ignoring the TV in the office, he stood nearby, watching intently.

The young man’s movements were clean and efficient, but the attention of the old man and the child was solely focused on the tricycle in front of them.

Old Liu watched the tricycle for a while but found nothing particularly interesting about it. He turned his head and curiously observed Dengdeng a few times.

This observation led to a realization—the more he looked, the more he felt that Dengdeng didn’t resemble Yu Ting at all.

Dengdeng had a nice face, but it was quite different from Little Yu’s. Old Liu glanced at Yu Ting, who was inspecting the underside of the tricycle. Little Yu was strikingly handsome, almost intimidatingly so. Dengdeng, on the other hand, looked much gentler, especially with those almond-shaped eyes that made anyone who looked at him feel a pang of sympathy.

As people age, their curiosity grows. Old Liu felt uncomfortable keeping his thoughts to himself, so he decided to ask, “Dengdeng, where’s your mother?”

Yu Dengdeng, who had been watching Yu Ting’s movements, turned to look at the old man upon hearing his aged, curious, yet well-meaning voice. His mind went blank, and without thinking, he replied, “I have a dad.”

“I know, isn’t Little Yu your dad? What Grandpa means is… ahem, have you ever met your mother?”

Mother? That would only happen if Yu Ting had a spouse, wouldn’t it?

Only then did Yu Dengdeng realize he had never really thought about this question. He always felt that he, Yu Ting, and Xiao E would live together forever.

And also, their neighbor Cheng Ze.

“No, I haven’t,” he blinked, his expression sincere and innocent.

So, he had never even met his mother? Old Liu assumed that Yu Ting’s marriage must have ended early, leaving Dengdeng with no memory of it. Filled with sympathy, he gave Dengdeng a kind look and asked, “Do you ever feel sad about it?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Xiao E, who had been listening to the entire conversation, coughed twice.

“Huh? Whose voice was that?” Old Liu straightened up and looked around. Only Dengdeng was beside him, but the voice didn’t sound fake.

“It’s Xiao E.” Dengdeng looked up with a smile, glancing at the speaker on the table before turning to Old Liu. “Why should I be upset? I have my dad, and I have Xiao E.”

Even after being here for so long, Dengdeng still wasn’t quite used to how people here would casually ask about each other’s family members.

Shouldn’t conversations just focus on the person themselves?

“Xiao E?” Old Liu didn’t quite catch the second half of that sentence, but when he saw the object on the table, it clicked. “Oh, the speaker.”

He hadn’t expected Dengdeng to treat the little device like family, and Old Liu felt a pang of emotion.

“Ahem.”

“Wow, it can even talk?!” Old Liu exclaimed in surprise. “This really doesn’t look like an ordinary speaker.”

Yu Dengdeng nodded eagerly. “Yeah, yeah! Xiao E is anything but ordinary. It can even play songs!”

“Can’t all speakers play songs?”

“It’s not the same. Xiao E…” Xiao E had never played a song he’d heard before—that definitely made it different from other speakers. But Dengdeng didn’t know how to explain it, so he just insisted confidently, “Anyway, it’s really amazing!”

“Alright, alright, amazing, amazing.” Knowing the kid was stubborn, Old Liu humored him, then walked over as Yu Ting finished repairing the tricycle and slowly stood up.

“Xiao E, don’t take Grandpa Liu’s words to heart, okay? He doesn’t understand.” Yu Dengdeng quickly reassured the speaker. “Dad and I both know you’re different from the others.”

“Mhm.”

Only after receiving Xiao E’s affirmation did Dengdeng relax. He couldn’t let this little robot get upset—just last night, because they hadn’t taken it out for barbecue, it was still holding a grudge today.

“All fixed, Xiao Yu?”

“Yeah. If there are any more problems later, just come find me again.” Yu Ting took off his gloves. With all the noise earlier, he hadn’t clearly heard what Dengdeng and the other person were talking about, only catching the name “Xiao E.” Probably Dengdeng was introducing Xiao E to him.

“Alright.” Uncle Liu handed the money to Yu Ting but lingered without leaving.

Seeing this, Yu Ting understood the older man had something to say and waited in silence.

“Yesterday, when I went to the supermarket, I ran into Li Jinhua—her electric scooter battery was dead. I mentioned to her that you don’t sell batteries here. Don’t blame me, Uncle—I just thought, raising a kid on your own isn’t easy. If you could sell a bit more, wouldn’t that mean more money?” Old Liu scratched his head awkwardly.

Yu Ting understood what the old man meant and replied calmly, “If she needs one, she can come.”

“Ah, good, I’ll tell her when I get back.” Old Liu said quickly. “She knows she’s always been too talkative and gets into trouble—she was worried you might still be angry.”

Yu Ting didn’t respond. If he got angry over every little thing, he wouldn’t even be here anymore.

“And… don’t blame me for speaking out of turn.” Old Liu, having replaced the battery, seemed in higher spirits.

Yu Ting looked up. The man certainly had a lot to say today.

Old Liu glanced over at Dengdeng, who was playing with the little speaker, and lowered his voice. “Have you ever thought about finding a mother for Dengdeng?”

Yu Ting: “…”

“Tsk!”

Yu Dengdeng exclaimed excitedly, “Did you hear that, Grandpa? Xiao E just went ‘tsk’! Did you hear it? So loud!”

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