Chapter 768 - Who Are You, Wife?

Jin Liwei watched his baby girl become focused yet animated at the same time. She must be recalling codes or data or whatever inside that genius brain of hers. As a result, he became extra careful on where they were walking because she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings at all, too engrossed in explaining their two cat AI children to him. Even while ensuring that she didn’t trip on her own feet, he continued listening to her because her feats fascinated him and also filled with him great pride.

She continued explaining, "Since I didn’t bother creating another emotion processing centre, I thought that Bacon will become a regular AI—regular in a sense that it doesn’t have a dynamic personality like Ketchup but of course, even without a personality, it would still be far more advanced than any other AI developed in the world right now. But today, I realized how wrong my assumption was."

"In what way?" he asked while steering her away from a man-sized sculpture that she almost bumped into. She didn’t notice the sculpture at all or that he saved her from bumping into it because she was too absorbed in talking about Bacon to him.

"I failed to consider the fact that the corruption was originally from Ketchup and immediately treated it as a separate entity. Perhaps it extracted some data from Ketchup’s emotion processing centre and from that, it was able to form its own personality after completing its evolution to become our Bacon. That’s one of my current hypotheses. I still need to continue observing him in order to verify whether I’m correct or not."

"Do what you need to do but remember not to overwork yourself," he told her.

"Okay."

Jin Liwei paused as he thought about something. "It’s obvious that Ketchup’s personality is largely influenced by Dominic. I wonder whose personality Bacon’s is based on."

The two of them pondered together.

"I don’t know," she said. "I need to observe him more before making a conclusion."

"I think I know."

She tilted her head to the side. "Really? Who?"

"Lu Zihao."

She was taken by surprise hearing his answer. Not by the answer itself but by his tone. There was such an unfamiliar distant feeling in the way Jin Liwei said Lu Zihao’s name. She had already noticed earlier today that he had stopped calling Lu Zihao as "Fifth Brother". The argument between the two men must have been more serious than she initially expected if Jin Liwei was acting so impersonal like this.

Then he added, "The Lu Zihao who’s your big brother, not my Fifth Brother Lu Zihao who I knew since childhood."

She stiffened. Her eyes widened in shock. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria Cross]

historical

"Your big brother doesn’t show any of his real emotions unless he wants to. Sometimes he’s easygoing, sometimes he’s intense. The only word that I can think of right now to describe it is that he’s two-faced just like how Bacon seems to be. I’m just glad that Bacon has his tail which is a dead give away of his true emotions, unlike your big brother who’s practically unreadable. But once Bacon learns to control his entire body, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’ll become more similar to your big brother later on." He exhaled a weary sigh. "If Bacon really has a similar personality as your big brother, then raising him would be a headache."

Iris’ mind buzzed. Every time he said "your big brother" instead of "Fifth Brother", she felt like there was a knife stabbing at her conscience. What in the world happened between her man and her brother while she was sleeping? Jin Liwei’s clear differentiation between the two Lu Zihaos had left her speechless and close to a nervous wreck.

When she failed to reply to him, he finally noticed that something was wrong. "Xiulan?"

No reply.

She was too preoccupied with the storm of thoughts and emotions currently raging inside her that she didn’t hear him. Did he know already that Lu Zihao was no longer the sworn brother he knew since childhood? Was that the reason why he was now referring to Lu Zihao as her big brother instead of Fifth Brother? Did this mean that Jin Liwei knew that the Lu Zihao from before the ski accident and the Lu Zihao now were different people? What did that entail? Did Jin Liwei already know the truth? So many questions kept popping inside her mind than she knew what to do with.

"Evelinka?"

"Yes?" Then she gasped upon realizing her mistake.

His eyes narrowed.

"I m-mean—" What should she say?!

He took hold of her chin and raised it so that she was forced to look at him in the eyes. "Who are you?"

She paled. "I...I’m y-your wife!"

"Indeed, you’re my wife," he murmured while rubbing his thumb gently on her chin. "But tell me, who are you, wife?"

Her hands gripped the front of his robe. Both were trembling. Her entire body was trembling. "Liwei...."

"Yes, wife? Tell me who you are."

"I...."

He leaned down until their faces were only inches apart. "Tell me. Don’t be afraid. Tell your husband."

Tears filled her eyes. One drop fell. He wiped it with the fingers of his other hand. Another drop. He wiped it again. Drop after drop fell. He just kept wiping them with one hand while his other hand maintained its hold on her chin, not letting her go. She also didn’t try to escape. She stood there while trying to make sense of the current situation. Her mind was a complete mess.

In a tone so gentle that it was almost scary, Jin Liwei said, "Do you know what your big brother told me?"

She shook her head.

"He said that you and him have a secret together."

Her trembling hands on his robe began to shake.

He continued rubbing her chin, gentle as always. "I asked him what it is. He said that it’s a secret that I can’t handle. A secret that binds the two of you beyond death and through eternity."