CHAPTER 8

After waking up, Aaron held a slender cigarette in his mouth, unlit, and pressed it between his lips.

The system said, "It's now three-thirty. You only slept for four hours."

Aaron said, "What's the point of sleeping? Let's get up and have some fun."

The system: "..." Oh no, not enough sleep, he must be crazy.

Aaron suggested, "How about watching a movie together?"

The system helplessly said, "It's time for sleep now."

Aaron jumped out of bed, "When I'm awake, it's already dawn."

The system: "..." Well, if you say it's dawn, then it's dawn.

Cheng gradually thought very thoughtfully for his younger brother.

This 200-square-meter apartment had all the necessary facilities and even included many thoughtful reminders.

For example, there was a note on the liquor cabinet: "Bringing friends to drink is allowed. You can freely drink the bottles in the bottom three rows. The bottles in the middle two rows, you can drink. The bottles in the top two rows are from my collection. Dare to drink them, and I'll break your legs."

Aaron chuckled, tore off all the notes, stacked them into a pile, opened his wallet, neatly arranged the notes, and stored them inside.

The system observed his actions and found Aaron's tender way of expressing himself somewhat touching.

Aaron fiddled with the large projector in the living room, then squeezed a cup of carrot juice and curled up on the sofa, manipulating the remote control while drinking.

He said, "It's been a long time since someone accompanied me to watch a movie."

061 hadn't spoken yet, and Aaron said, "Oh, you're not a person."

061: "..." That's true.

Aaron: "That's fine. What do you want to watch?"

061: "Up to you."

Aaron smiled, "Oh, quite considerate. It's like pampering a girlfriend. You should be quite popular among AIs."

061: "It's okay."

There's nothing wrong with what 061 said. He has a gentle personality and is often treated by other AIs as an emotional trash can for venting, and indeed, he is quite popular.

He said again, "But the overall system didn't set an intimate mode for AIs. There's only pure friendship between us AIs."

Aaron tapped the remote control buttons while saying, "That's not a pursuit. Without conditions, you can still create conditions. Don't you AIs have 0 and 1?"

061: "..."

He reacted for a moment and then felt that his ears and soul had been tainted.

Aaron chose a horror movie and casually dimmed the lights in the living room.

At the beginning, the system reminded him, "Lower the volume a bit. It's still bedtime now, don't disturb the neighbors."

"It's very soundproof here," Aaron didn't care, "Unless I move a diamond here now, no one will complain."

He spoke with full confidence, but as soon as the terrifying music started playing, Aaron immediately lowered the volume from 40 to 20.

After watching for two minutes, Aaron's teeth began to chatter.

061: "...Are you scared?"

Aaron: "Of course."

061: "...If you're scared, why are you still watching?"

Aaron used a cup to cover his eyes, "I can only watch if someone accompanies me."

The system sighed, not quite understanding the psychology of watching something more when scared.

But he still made subtle adjustments to the constant temperature system in Aaron's body, regulating the amount of cold sweat to prevent him from feeling uncomfortable.

For the next hour and a half, the system became Aaron's real-time commentator.

"The ghost hasn't appeared, relax, open your eyes. ...I'm not lying to you."

"At this pace, when the female lead turns around, nothing will happen. Close your eyes when she turns around again, the ghost is about to appear."

With Aaron opening and closing his eyes like this, he unexpectedly fell asleep on the sofa.

The system whispered, "Wake up, go back to bed; sleeping on the sofa can make you catch a cold."

Aaron let out a low hum, turned over, and pulled the thin blanket into a ball.

061: "...Sigh."

After a while, a dark figure emerged in front of the sofa.

The tall and slender young man in white and black bent down, picking up Aaron along with the blanket.

Aaron's body stiffened suddenly, and he quickly opened his eyes.

061 felt a bit awkward, but after Aaron looked at him for a while, he closed his eyes again.

Aaron thought he was dreaming again, but this time it was a good dream.

He couldn't let Lou find out that he discovered him, or he would leave again.

061 waited for a while, found that Aaron seemed to fall asleep again, and then slowly carried him into the bedroom.

While Aaron was living a comfortable life, Brain was quite troubled.

Returning home exhausted, there was no hot meal waiting for him, only an empty house. Brain felt increasingly unhappy.

Did he move directly to his friend's house? So eager? Didn't even have time to tell him?

Brain was very tired. He felt that his enthusiasm for Eric had gradually decreased recently, and even the affair in bed lacked interest. Often, he would feel exhausted while washing up, and he had no time to spend with him.

He was so busy for work, but Eric, the young master, never learned to understand people.

Brain didn't contact Eric.

According to his experience, Eric was usually the one who couldn't hold back and would soon call to make up with him.

However, his parents had already been here for three or four days, and he hadn't heard Eric's explanation.

When he took his parents out to eat, he spoke less, and his fingers kept rubbing the leather steering wheel.

His father and mother sat in the back seat, and his cousin Catherine sat in the front passenger seat.

After sitting for several days, the two elders were still not tired of the car. Brain's mother was studying the film on the car window: "Son, with this thing, you really can't see inside from the outside."

Brain returned to his senses and nodded, smiling, "Yes."

Catherine, with bright red nail polish, dressed stylishly, playing with Brain's phone because hers was out of battery.

Out of curiosity, she secretly opened Brain and Eric's chat log, scrolled through a few pages, and saw three songs that Eric sent a few days ago, marked as demo1, 2, 3.

Catherine occasionally composed some tunes herself, so she was naturally interested in Eric's works. She tapped on them and listened.

When the music suddenly echoed in the car without warning, Brain's scalp almost exploded.

He wanted to snatch the phone away, but he was driving and was afraid of attracting his parents' suspicion. He had no choice but to endure his anxiety, and cold sweat seeped from his palms.

On the other hand, Catherine listened with delight.

She could tell that these were not the final versions of the demos, just rough drafts. However, the melodies were creative, the techniques were skilled, and accompanied by the soft hum of Eric's voice, it was very enchanting.

Brain, with a stern face, said, "Don't randomly play music, it wastes data."

Catherine's eyes sparkled with an idea: "Did Xiao Cheng ge write this? Is it like before, not planning to sell it?"

Brain's face changed, and he signaled to Catherine with his eyes.

Catherine, with a bright look, pretended not to understand.

Brain silently cursed.

This question indeed caught the attention of Brain's parents.

Brain's father asked, "Xiao Cheng? Your friend?"

Catherine preemptively answered, "Yes, didn't Brother tell you? He's Brother's good friend, and he's into music."

Brain, with severe palm sweat, made it difficult to keep his grip on the steering wheel.

Hearing the three words "good friend," Brain's mother still had some expectations. But when she heard "into music," the corners of her mouth dropped, making a disdainful expression, similar to the one Catherine had just made.

"Son, listen to Mom's words. Don't hang out with people without proper jobs. You're different from these people. You are a university student who worked hard step by step to become a pride of heaven, a top student. These artistic pursuits are for those who have no way out, lacking prospects."

Brain didn't say anything. It was Catherine who spoke again, taking the initiative: "But Xiao Cheng ge's family is rich now. What's wrong with him learning these things?" She turned to Brain and acted cute, "Brother, right?"

Brain's mother felt embarrassed and looked at Brain.

Following his mother's lead, Brain continued, "He just writes and sings casually, without much income. Besides, he doesn't like associating music with money."

Now Brain's mother regained some face, "Humph," and turned to Catherine, "See, rich people can afford to play with these things."

Catherine pretended not to hear, playing with Brain's phone, more and more excited.

She tentatively asked Brain, "Did Xiao Cheng ge write this casually? Like before, not planning to sell it?"

Brain, eager to end the topic, pressed the horn forcefully and replied sternly, "His family is rich. There's no need to sell songs for income. Besides, he doesn't like associating music with money."

This reassured Catherine.

She secretly selected two out of the three demo songs, forwarded them to her WeChat, and quickly and silently deleted the forwarding record from Brain's phone.