Chapter 3

Gu Yunchi left the table before dinner was even over that night. Gu Peiwen scolded him out loud but didn't make him stay, only told him not to stay out too late. They chatted for a few more minutes after the meal, and then the doctor who'd drawn Wen Ran's blood came back to the suite with a report and handed it to Gu Peiwen to look over.

Gu Peiwen flipped through it, nodded, then said to Wen Ran, "Starting the day after tomorrow, go over to Yunchi's place. We'll send a car to pick you up.

Wen Ran felt bleak inside, but he still forced his smile to come off flawless. "Okay. Thank you, Grandpa Gu."

On the way back, Chen Shuhui's mood looked as good as it had when she'd received the 96.8% compatibility report earlier. "It went up to 97.5%," she said, satisfied, laying her hand on Wen Ran's shoulder. "Gu Yunchi's side is up to you now. Behave well, don't make him angry."

Wen Ran wanted to say Gu Yunchi already seemed pretty angry at the dinner table, but Chen Shuhui's hand was resting on his shoulder, like a mother gently encouraging her child to keep working hard for the next exam. It was the first time Wen Ran had ever gotten that kind of encouragement, so he nodded and said okay.

The hand withdrew quickly. Chen Shuhui opened her Mobile Phone to deal with work. Wen Ran looked at her profile, then lowered his head and looked at his own fingers, twisted together.

Uneasy as he was, the day after tomorrow arrived anyway. That morning Wen Ran had his Backpack packed early and was waiting. When he heard Aunt Fang calling him out in the Garden, he ran straight out the door. A black Private Car was parked beyond the gate, and the driver opened the door for him.

Yueting — one of the Capital City's nine great villa areas, this Villa District carved out a slice of supreme comfort and privacy for the rich along an inner-ring road where every inch of land cost a fortune. At a glance, all Wen Ran could see was flowers, trees, and running water — a frighteningly low plot ratio.

The car stopped in front of a cream-colored villa. Too embarrassed to make the driver open the door, Wen Ran got out first. So the driver stepped onto the sidewalk and opened the black Garden gate for him.

"Here's my card. If you ever need a ride, you can reach me anytime."

Wen Ran took the card and gave him a half-bow. "Thank you, sorry to trouble you." He walked into the Garden, all the way up to the front door, didn't rashly knock, and studied the thing on the door for a while — something that looked like facial recognition.

Suddenly an electronic voice came from inside the door: "Face enrollment successful."

While he was still confused, the door clicked and popped open on its own. Wen Ran grabbed the handle uncertainly and slowly pulled it open. A gray glass wall separated the entryway from the foyer. He started to walk in along it, when a voice came from behind him: "Hello, can't you see me?"

Rich people are supposed to be careful about feng shui — how could he run into a ghost his very first time at Gu Yunchi's Residence? Wen Ran turned around in alarm and saw a chubby metal cylinder planted behind the door, half a person tall, no neck, its round head fronted by a screen displaying a frowning, innocent expression.

Wen Ran muttered to himself, "...What a fancy trash can."

"Outrage!" The innocent expression flipped instantly to angry. The trash can swept past Wen Ran like a gust of wind. "You'll regret your ignorance!"

"I'm sorry." So it was a robot. Wen Ran apologized to it and followed it around the glass wall.

"Fine. Tolerance is merely the least noteworthy of my many fine qualities," the robot said. "Please change your shoes."

Wen Ran went over and sat down on the sofa in the foyer to change into slippers. The robot stood beside him the whole time, haughty, but unable to resist sneaking glances at him — Wen Ran's hair was brownish, and when he lowered his head it revealed a quiet profile, very long lashes, a tiny tear mole beneath his right eye, pale lips, that faint flesh-pink.

Clean, very pretty, but clearly different from the soft, fragile prettiness most omegas had.

Bam. A long leg shot out from behind the wall at the corner and kicked the robot. "Trash can." Gu Yunchi's voice was listless. "Coffee."

"..." The robot put on a long-suffering smile. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that this time. You can't call me that again, okay?" It turned its head and went to the kitchen.

Wen Ran was still sitting on the sofa, looking up at Gu Yunchi, who seemed to have just gotten up. With his eyes lowered he looked especially contemptuous and impatient. When their gazes met, Wen Ran forced himself to greet him first. "Morning."

Predictably, he was ignored again. Gu Yunchi didn't even bother to open his mouth. He shuffled in his slippers toward the sunken sofa in the center of the living room and burrowed into it, brows furrowed.

The robot came out carrying the coffee, handing it to Gu Yunchi while swiveling its head 180 degrees backward like an owl to look at Wen Ran, beginning its self-introduction: "Greetings, honored guest. I am the interactive intelligent robot CHM Group successfully developed after more than a decade of painstaking research — toiling day and night, pouring out heart and blood, forging ahead, breaking through, innovating without end — integrating security, butler service, spiritual mentorship, financial management, investment consulting, ▢▢, mobile phone repair, gaming practice partner, and exam-proxy for the CET-4 and CET-6 among many other functions. My designation is BDH-dash-339. You may affectionately call me Teacher 339."

Wen Ran stood there with his Backpack on, listening to it hold forth for ages, then asked, "Excuse me, what does 'dash' mean?"

"..." 339 printed a string of characters on its screen, which turned out to be: BDH-339.

Gu Yunchi didn't seem to like hot coffee much. He kept impatiently blowing on the steam, and only took a sip once 339 had finished its bragging.

339 gazed at Wen Ran soulfully, in a world-weary tone: "You're the first omega the young master has ever brought home."

Pfft — Gu Yunchi spat that mouthful of coffee back into the cup and asked 339, displeased, "No sugar?"

"Huh? I forgot, sorry, I'll remake it right away." 339 finally turned its head back to look at him. "Actually, sugar is sweet, of course, but you could taste a little bitterness now and then too, young master — life has a hundred flavors, after all."

Gu Yunchi was concise: "Scram."

339 shut its mouth and scrammed to the kitchen. Given the atmosphere, Wen Ran was scared he'd get told to scram too, so he silently retreated to the foyer and sat back down on the shoe-changing sofa, taking his textbook out of his Backpack to study on his own.

When the teacher arrived, Gu Yunchi was eating breakfast in the dining room. Wen Ran stood up to greet her. The teacher asked, "You're Wen Ran, right?" She smiled. "I'll go prep my lesson in the study first. You and Yunchi come up in a bit."

"Okay."

"Teacher—" 339 wheeled out from the dining room end and pressed up against the teacher's leg, fawning. "Let me open the elevator for you."

"Thank you, 339." The teacher patted 339's bald head and stepped into the elevator.

339 came back, blinking its big electronic eyes at Wen Ran, and asked, "What dishes do you like? I'll let the chef know so he can make them for lunch."

"No need, I'll eat at home."

"That won't do. The chairman's assistant sent me instructions — you're to stay and eat here."

"..." Wen Ran had no choice but to say, "I'm not really picky, anything's fine."

"All right, I happen to have just received a physical report on you. I'll send it to the nutritionist and have him put together a plan for you."

"Isn't that too much trouble?"

"No trouble, they're bored to death every day, ha." 339 faced the dining room and turned up its volume. "Young Master Gu! It's class time! Please hurry up!"

Before long, Gu Yunchi came out with a long face, crossed the living room toward the elevator, and 339 hurried to bring Wen Ran along. The elevator doors opened automatically. Gu Yunchi went in, Wen Ran went in, and 339 slipped in too.

The doors closed, and Gu Yunchi asked, "What are you coming in for?"

Wen Ran startled, thinking it was directed at him — then he heard 339 answer, "To protect Wen Ran!"

Lunatic. Gu Yunchi gave a scornful cold snort.

But 339 acted like it had waited a lifetime for this moment, and immediately said, excited and delighted, "The young master laughed...! The young master hasn't laughed like that in such a long time!"

What a crazy robot. Wen Ran was so awkward he could hardly breathe. Luckily the elevator doors opened in time. Gu Yunchi strode out, leaving 339 with a merciless line: "You won't live past tonight."

"Who cares." 339 was all grins. It said to Wen Ran, stepping out of the elevator, "Please study hard!"

The desk was as big as a double bed, and Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi each sat at one end. Only once class started did Wen Ran learn that Gu Yunchi had long since finished the high school curriculum and was currently working on all kinds of competition problems and studying undergraduate material. Wen Ran looked at the electronic blackboard and could barely understand any of it, so he buried his head in his own problems.

The teacher only covered the key points, running through the material in a concentrated way and leaving Gu Yunchi to digest it himself. After more than an hour she came over to Wen Ran's side, opened his textbook, smiled, and said gently, "Your handwriting's so ugly."

Wen Ran wished the floor would swallow him. "...It is, yeah."

"It's fine, at least I can still read it," the teacher comforted him.

This semester's coursework had been almost entirely online classes and self-study. Under the pressure of Gu Yunchi probably thinking he was an idiot, Wen Ran brought the teacher all the various questions he'd saved up.

For Chen Shuhui, tutoring at Gu Yunchi's Residence was just one step in the plan, but for Wen Ran it was something he absolutely had to do well. He didn't have a naturally brilliant mind, couldn't rise to the top by self-study alone, and if his grades ranked too poorly after enrollment and made Chen Shuhui lose face, the one who'd suffer in the end would be himself.

The teacher had only taught Gu Yunchi for a bit over an hour, but spent nearly two hours on Wen Ran. The whole time Gu Yunchi sat at the other end of the desk reading and doing problems. Wen Ran noticed he hadn't even brought his Mobile Phone in, didn't drink water, didn't zone out — unbelievably focused.

It was so different from what he'd imagined. Wen Ran had thought Gu Yunchi was the type to lose patience after ten minutes of studying and start cursing at the teacher.

Noon came. The teacher finished her third glass of water and sighed, "Wen Ran, you really have a thirst for knowledge."

Having gotten such a great deal, he started to feel a freeloader's guilt. Wen Ran said, "Thank you for your hard work, teacher."

The chef had finished cooking, and the three of them rode the elevator down together. Once they reached the living room, the teacher said, "I have something to do later, so I won't eat here today. You two study on your own this afternoon, and I'll come by later."

Which meant there'd be only him and Gu Yunchi at the table. Wen Ran was taken aback. Gu Yunchi stood by the foyer and said to the teacher, "Take care."

"Oh, you two go eat. Get some rest after."

After seeing the teacher off, Gu Yunchi went to the dining room. Wen Ran hesitated for a long while, but in the end followed. 339 was bustling about in the dining room — who knew what it was busy with, but it looked busy anyway.

"Please dine, please dine." The busy Chef 339 brought out two small plates of cut fruit. "After you eat, would you like to watch a movie? I'll pull it up in advance. What do you want to watch, young master?"

"Death of a Robot," Gu Yunchi said.

"There's no such movie, please stop spreading rumors, ha." 339 turned to Wen Ran. "Is there any movie you'd like to watch?"

"Thanks, but reading's fine for me."

"Detestable, both of you turning me down." 339 had lost all face. "You won't watch, I will!" It turned and walked off.

Wen Ran was still marveling that a robot could watch movies when he suddenly realized that with 339 gone, only he and Gu Yunchi were left, and he instantly tensed up. He spent a full two minutes just eating plain rice, the goal being to figure out which dishes Gu Yunchi reached for most, so he could steer clear of Gu Yunchi's territory when grabbing food.

Five minutes later, Gu Yunchi put down his chopsticks, got up, and left — without sparing a single direct look or a single word from start to finish.

Wen Ran understood this well enough. In this villa, the butler was an intelligent AI, the maid was never seen, the chef left as soon as the cooking was done — Gu Yunchi's misanthropy was self-evident. And yet a strange omega had dropped out of the sky, to study, eat, and exist alongside him. For Gu Yunchi it was undoubtedly a kind of spiritual, soul-level nausea.

After the meal Wen Ran gathered the dishes to wash them, but the dishwasher's functions were a little complicated. While he was puzzling it out, a "Hello" rang out, and Wen Ran turned around.

"You go rest, I'll clean up." The maid stepped forward. "You don't need to handle any of this from now on. I'll take care of it."

"Sorry." Wen Ran moved aside. "Then I'll trouble you."

There was no one in the living room. Gu Yunchi had probably gone upstairs to his room. Wen Ran stood there with his hands down for a long time, not knowing what to do, not daring to just sit anywhere. He decided he'd go lean on the sofa in the foyer — that was the safest place. But who'd have guessed 339 came wandering out again, humming a tune as it came up to Wen Ran. "Why are you standing? Walking off your meal?"

"I've walked it off." Wen Ran pointed at the foyer. "I'll go sit over there."

"Just sit on the big sofa. Or go take a nap in the guest bedroom upstairs."

"No need, no need."

"Then sit here, sit." 339 pushed Wen Ran down the steps. "There are lots of books under the coffee table, pick whatever you like."

So Wen Ran sat down at one end of the curved sofa, and seeing 339 hadn't left, he asked, "Does the maid live here too?"

"No, the maid, bodyguards, driver, doctor, and all of them — they're in the few villas across the way."

Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, there really were a few slightly smaller villa buildings across the tree-lined road. "He's pretty reclusive in his daily life, doesn't like having people in the house," 339 said. "In plain terms: bad temper, hard to wait on, fussy, problematic."

"Maybe keep it down a little," Wen Ran kindly reminded it.

"It's fine, he's in the Media Room playing games." 339 cast about for something to say. "Do you play games?"

"I play a little match-the-pairs and match-three sometimes."

"So educational." 339's speed at changing subjects was astonishing. "Do you two really have a 97.5% compatibility?"

"...I think so, yeah."

"No wonder he set his Wristband to the highest level even at home today. Doesn't that Neck Ring feel really uncomfortable to wear?" 339 suddenly lowered its voice, mysterious and unhinged. "Even if it's uncomfortable, you have to keep it on, or something terrible will happen!"

Terrible, of course — an artificial omega Gland embedded in a Beta's body. Saying it out loud would probably shock even a robot like 339. Wen Ran nodded. "I know."

Sitting on the sofa reading for a while, he got drowsy. Wen Ran tilted his head and drifted off without realizing it, and when he opened his eyes again, 339 was holding a glass of juice in front of him. "It's almost one. Time to get up and study!"

Half-asleep, Wen Ran downed the juice in one go and got up to head to the elevator. The doors had already opened, and the second-floor button lit up on its own — 339 must control the whole smart-home system in the house. It really earned the title of multifunctional trash can.

Not sure if anyone was in the study, Wen Ran knocked, then pushed the door open very gently. By the desk, Gu Yunchi had noise-canceling headphones on, lashes lowered, a black pen in hand, working on listening practice. The white curtains inside the transparent balcony door were pulled half open, and the orange-yellow afternoon sunlight slanted in, reaching all the way to his feet.

Gu Yunchi didn't lift his eyelids at all. Wen Ran carefully shut the door and sat down in his own spot.

The study held only the sounds of writing and pages turning. Over half an hour later the teacher arrived, and as in the morning, she taught Gu Yunchi for one hour and Wen Ran for two. From one to five, Wen Ran went to the bathroom once, drank water twice, zoned out three times, and was dying of drowsiness four times — while Gu Yunchi sat there the whole while, reading, doing problems, a stack of used scratch paper piled beside his hand.

Maybe this was the self-discipline every S-Class was born with, Wen Ran consoled himself. It wasn't necessarily the gap between one person and another.

As evening came, the teacher clocked out with four glasses of water in her stomach, and Wen Ran seized the chance to leave too. 339 didn't ask him to stay for dinner this time, and helped notify the driver, who'd arrive in a few minutes.

After seeing the teacher off, Wen Ran worked up the courage to say to Gu Yunchi, "I'll head out too then. Sorry to have bothered you today." Unfortunately he'd probably keep bothering him in the future.

Gu Yunchi said nothing — didn't even slow his steps in the slightest — and turned to walk back into the living room as if he hadn't heard a thing.

339 and Wen Ran watched that indifferent back together, then looked at each other. Wen Ran shrugged, taking it in stride, and put his shoes on. 339 said, "I'll see you out." At the front door, it asked uncertainly, "Did Gu Yunchi not say a single word to you today?"

"Seems like it, yeah." More accurately, he hadn't spoken to him at all since their first meeting.

"He might be deaf." There was no one 339 didn't dare to trash-talk. "Don't take it to heart."

Wen Ran was amused into a smile by it, and 339 started backpedaling again. "Mm... don't mind that his personality's bad." It paused — the backpedal failed, it really couldn't think of anything good — "uh, actually his character isn't great either."

Thanks to 339, Wen Ran was smiling as he got in the car, and he waved at 339. 339 stood by the front door and called out loudly, "You have to come tomorrow too, okay!"