Chapter 7

He rested all Sunday but it didn't really get better. Monday morning, Wen Ran got in the car with his crooked neck and headed to Gu Yunchi's Residence. BDH-339 welcomed him enthusiastically, cared about him sincerely, empathized with him wholeheartedly, then dropped a 'let me finish what I'm doing and I'll come find you' and bolted toward the kitchen.

The tutor's been coming late these past few days. Gu Yunchi was sitting on the couch drinking coffee and scrolling his Mobile Phone. Wen Ran stood there quietly for a moment, then figured he'd be more comfortable hanging out with BDH-339. He headed toward the kitchen, but halfway there remembered he hadn't done something yet, so he poked his head out from around the corner, neck still crooked from the injury, and said to Gu Yunchi: 'Morning.'

Gu Yunchi wasn't going to acknowledge him anyway. After the greeting, Wen Ran went over to BDH-339 and found it diligently hand-grinding coffee beans.

'Can't you use an electric grinder?' Wen Ran asked.

'He insists I grind by hand—ten pounds of it!' BDH-339 grabbed the handle and cranked it furiously a few times, cursing angrily. 'Ten pounds! Is he trying to drink himself into a giant?!'

'Maybe it's a year's worth.' Wen Ran tried to comfort it, then immediately regretted it. At this rate, BDH-339 would be grinding forever. Better to go hang out in the living room.

Like a weed growing crooked on a wall, Wen Ran went back to the living room. To make it easier to work on problems and write, he sat on the carpet in front of the coffee table, spread out his textbook, and buried himself in it. He got stuck on a big problem pretty quickly. After struggling for a while with no idea how to approach it, he looked up, hesitated a few seconds, and asked Gu Yunchi on the couch: 'Can you help me with a problem?'

Just in case Gu Yunchi thought he was tilting his head to act cute, Wen Ran explained: 'I twisted my neck. I'm not doing this on purpose.'

He was overthinking it. Gu Yunchi couldn't even be bothered to look up: 'Ask the tutor.'

'The tutor went over this type of problem with me before, but I forgot again.' Wen Ran was genuinely embarrassed—it had been covered on his very first day here, but he'd been too nervous to fully absorb it. 'I'd feel bad asking again.'

'Aren't you pretty thick-skinned?' Gu Yunchi finally glanced at him.

'Maybe just with you.' Wen Ran said. It was true—sucking up to Gu Yunchi was his assignment. No thick skin, no mission accomplished.

Gu Yunchi's face darkened: 'Don't make me sick.'

'Sorry.' Wen Ran hadn't expected that line to disgust Gu Yunchi. He apologized sincerely and carefully. 'Don't be mad.'

'Oh, they're here, they're here!' BDH-339 suddenly burst out of the kitchen and raced toward the front door. 'Young master, the tuner's arrived.'

Two bodyguards came in with the tuner, nodded slightly to Gu Yunchi, then headed together toward the other end of the living room—that pure black concert grand piano. Wen Ran had always assumed it was just decoration. Turns out it wasn't. Curious, and seeing Gu Yunchi was on his phone and wouldn't notice, he got up and went over to watch.

BDH-339 didn't want to grind beans anymore and came over to join the fun, chatting with Wen Ran while watching: 'Can you play piano?'

'A little.' Wen Ran answered.

He still remembered that year when he'd first come to the Wen Family. Chen Shuhui had taken his hand, looked it over, and said: 'Seven—too late. Your fingers will never be as soft as a four- or five-year-old's. Learning piano will be a real struggle.' But she'd let him learn anyway. Not exactly to cultivate a hobby—just to gild the lily a bit, get him to a passable level of cultured pretense so he'd have something to show off later, instead of being completely useless.

'This piano's over eight million. The tone is incredible, but it's super high-maintenance—needs constant temperature and humidity year-round.' BDH-339 said. 'Why don't you play it later?'

Wen Ran silently took half a step back, putting some distance between himself and the eight-million-yuan instrument. 'Maybe not.'

The tuning was done quickly. After the bodyguards and tuner left, Wen Ran was still standing by the piano, staring at it. It really was a beautiful instrument—like a classical artwork. He couldn't hold back any longer. He turned to look at Gu Yunchi and asked: 'Can I play it? I'll be very careful.'

He'd braced himself for mockery, but Gu Yunchi didn't even look up: 'Break it, pay for it.'

That was basically permission. Wen Ran even forgot to say thanks. He walked over, sat down, carefully placed his fingertips on the keys, took a few seconds to find the feel, and pressed down gently.

The regularly cleaned floor-to-ceiling windows were spotless, and even the sunlight coming through was filtered clear, falling on Wen Ran's hair tips, his lashes, and his long slender fingers. He was wearing a gray tee, his dark brown hair soft and fluffy. When his face was blank, he could come off a little cold—but those pretty black eyes, the tear mark beneath them, and the slight upward curve of his lips softened the chill. Because of the injury, his head was tilted slightly, his pale slender neck wrapped snugly in a black Neck Ring, along with a light brown medicated patch on his skin.

BDH-339 stood just a meter from Wen Ran, unusually well-behaved, secretly snapping tons of photos of him with its camera.

After finishing the piece, Wen Ran gently lifted his hands. He'd probably hit a few wrong notes, but the piano's tone was so exceptional it washed over the flaws like flowing water—he didn't feel too defeated.

He turned his head. Since BDH-339 wasn't tall enough to block the view, Wen Ran's eyes met Gu Yunchi's from over ten meters away—he froze, not expecting Gu Yunchi to be watching him.

He started sweating. Wen Ran felt like he was being looked down on for showing off in front of an expert.

BDH-339 secretly saved Wen Ran's performance video, then moved in front of him and asked: 'What piece did you just play? I tried to identify it but couldn't find anything.'

'My piano teacher wrote the score herself, a long time ago.' Wen Ran said. 'It's called Nineteen Days of Polar Night.'

'Wow...' BDH-339 marveled. 'What a coincidence—the young master's birthday is on the nineteenth.'

Gu Yunchi's Mobile Phone rang. He walked out of the living room to take the call.

'And when he was born, it was also polar night.' BDH-339 continued. 'The day Madam went into labor, Mr. Gu was at the polar circle for a research project, and it happened to be polar night—so they named him Yunchi. In classical Chinese, yun means sunlight.'

Yunchi—the sun takes forever to show up, so it's polar night.

What a coincidence—totally unexpected. Wen Ran stood there stunned while BDH-339 was already over the moon, spinning in a circle and sighing joyfully: 'This must be fate~' and burst out a shower of pink bubbles on its screen.

The tutor hadn't arrived yet. Gu Yunchi finished his call and went to the study first. Wen Ran gathered his textbooks from the coffee table and was about to head upstairs when BDH-339 sidled up to him and suddenly said: 'You're so special. You're not like any omega I've ever met. You give off this distant vibe, a lonely feeling, like you're close but out of reach...'

'?' Wen Ran couldn't help cutting it off. 'Is there something you need?'

'Sort of...' Two shy pink blushes floated up on its screen. BDH-339 said, 'Could you ask Gu Yunchi what Aimee's current phone number is?'

'Aimee is?'

'She's a robot developed at the same time as me, my good friend. We used to talk on the phone all the time, but then she suddenly lost contact, and Gu Yunchi won't tell me her new number.' BDH-339 looked up at Wen Ran pitifully. 'Can you ask him for me?'

'He won't tell you—why would he tell me?'

'I feel like you two are kind of close now. Maybe? Please? Aimee is my only friend. I really want to talk to her again.'

'Okay, I'll ask him for you.'

'Love you! Love you!' BDH-339 started spraying pink bubbles again.

Gu Yunchi was already working on problems. Wen Ran sat at the other end of the desk, not daring to disturb him, staring at him while trying to figure out how to ask. After watching for half a minute or so, Gu Yunchi looked up, looking annoyed: 'Got nothing to do?'

'BDH-339... asked me to find out Aimee's phone number.' Wen Ran opened carefully. 'Do you know it?'

'No.'

Wen Ran didn't really buy it: 'How could you not know?'

He rarely used modal particles in his speech. That ne got dragged out a little longer than usual—unskilled and unconscious—paired with his tilted head, it came across as slightly pleading, almost urgently coquettish.

Gu Yunchi dropped his head back to his problem: 'Putting on an act for BDH-339—how noble of you.'

Wen Ran didn't understand a single word of that. He was about to ask what it meant when Gu Yunchi continued: 'Aimee was resold by her buyer two years ago. They reset all her programs before the sale. She doesn't remember BDH-339 anymore.'

'I see.' Wen Ran opened his textbook, thought for a moment, then asked: 'Then why don't you just tell it?'

After a long wait, Gu Yunchi was still rapidly working through problems, ignoring him. Wen Ran gradually realized his question was kind of pointless. In Gu Yunchi's eyes, BDH-339 was just a robot—there was no 'why' to it. Didn't want to say, too lazy to say, deliberately stringing it along—whatever his mood, no need to consider BDH-339's feelings.

Wen Ran lowered his head and went back to studying that big problem he'd forgotten how to solve.

Some noise came from downstairs—the tutor had arrived. The study door clicked open; BDH-339 had opened it for the tutor in advance. Soon the elevator dinged, footsteps sounded in the hallway. Gu Yunchi finished a problem, set aside a few pages of scribbled work, and opened the textbook for today's session.

The turning pages lightly brushed the hair off his forehead. He said flatly: 'It would be sad.'

An answer delayed by several minutes. Wen Ran froze for a moment. The tutor pushed the door open and greeted them.

After dinner, Wen Ran was still turning over Gu Yunchi's 'it would be sad' in his head. The more he thought about it, the less he knew how to tell BDH-339.

Spotting Gu Yunchi heading to the Media Room to play games on the monitor, BDH-339 immediately stopped grinding beans and burst out of the kitchen: 'Baby baby! Did you ask him? Aimee's number!'

Not wanting to tell BDH-339 the truth and make it sad, Wen Ran had to make up an answer that fit Gu Yunchi's personality: 'He said I'm being nosy, told me to...'

He was still hesitating between 'told me to shut up' and 'told me not to worry' when BDH-339 cut in: 'He told you to get lost, didn't he!'

Wen Ran: 'Uh, actually...'

'Don't sugarcoat it for him!' BDH-339 wasn't sad anymore—it was pissed now. 'Fine if he won't say it, but why'd he have to yell at you?' After a pause, it comforted Wen Ran: 'It's fine, honestly he tells me to get lost at least ten times a day. We're used to it.'

'We?'

'Yeah, me and my other twenty-eight personalities.'

'...Okay.'

Just as he said that, Gu Yunchi came back and ordered BDH-339: 'Find my phone.'

BDH-339 was still fuming and shouted: 'You make me do everything—am I your dog?!'

'You're not even as good as a dog.' Gu Yunchi gave zero face. 'Find it.'

Find it, then. Found it right away. BDH-339 snatched the phone off the couch and brought it to Gu Yunchi: 'Here!'

Gu Yunchi glanced at the screen: 'There's a missed call. Why didn't you tell me?'

Dereliction of duty. BDH-339 tactfully turned humble: 'Oh, it was He Wei calling. You were in class then, so he called me instead. Later I got so into grinding beans I forgot. Sorry—let me play back the call recording for you right now, young master.'

Beep, beep—

'-Hello, BDH-339. Where'd Gu Yunchi go? Why isn't he picking up?'

'-Hello, Mr. He Wei. The young master's in class.'

'-In class? That's a bit funny. More like skipping class, right?'

'-Mr. He Wei, please watch your language.'

'-Whatever. Tell him I'm back in the country today and he owes me dinner and a night out tonight, thanks.'

'-Mr. He Wei, that's a bit much!'

'-What? He and Lu Heyang are out living it up every night—partying, drinking, the whole nine yards. He must know the best spots in the Capital City.'

'-Mr. He Wei, nice idioms, but please refrain from personal attacks, or I'll have my lawyer sue you!'

'-Who are you to act tough, you trash can?'

'-You're the trash can! You big useless sack!'

'-You wanna keep going? Pfft!'

'-Pfft!'

'-Pfft!'

'...'

After that, they went back and forth 'pfft'-ing at each other for nearly two minutes, until He Wei finally hung up first.

'Was there any point in playing me this garbage recording?' Gu Yunchi asked.

'Don't you think he was out of line?'

'The pot calling the kettle black.' Gu Yunchi turned off the phone and headed back to the Media Room. 'Tell the driver to bring the car in spot 19 around six tonight.'

'Out partying and drinking every night, total playboy!' BDH-339 said, then paused and glanced back at Wen Ran, who was quietly sitting on the carpet drawing something. BDH-339 moved over and saw the paper on the coffee table—a hand-drawn top-down view of a ship.

'You like this stuff?' BDH-339 asked.

'Sort of.' Wen Ran paused, then added, 'Just doodling.'

'So... did you hear what was just said?'

'Yeah.' Wen Ran kept drawing without stopping, sketching straight lines freehand without a ruler. 'Isn't that pretty normal?'

Match rate decided nothing, constrained nothing—especially when it came to Gu Yunchi. Gu Yunchi hated him, looked down on him, and he'd only come here carrying the Wen Family's ambitions. Everything was just a mission.

Not getting hit lately was already something to be grateful for. Today he could sit here on a 97.5% match rate; tomorrow he might get tossed aside the moment someone with 98%, 99%, even 100% showed up. Somewhere in this world, there had to be another omega born to be a perfect fit with Gu Yunchi.

People die eventually anyway. If it came a little sooner, Wen Ran had no objections.

Finished drawing. He picked up the sketch and said jokingly to BDH-339: 'Someday we'll take this ship out together, okay?'

'Wow...' BDH-339 took it seriously, taking the paper with both hands, tears welling up like fried eggs. 'We could take this and go find Aimee...'

Wen Ran felt a pang. Being forgotten was sometimes sadder than a clean break. He couldn't bear to burst BDH-339's bubble, so he just patted its head.