The Perfect Relationship

Chapter 99 Touch and Go

For several consecutive days, Yin Chang couldn't put down "Xiao Ling", his birthday gift from Shao Junling.

Shao Junling didn't feel jealous that Yin Chang ignored him and chatted with the AI all day. On the contrary, he was happy that Yin Chang liked the gift he designed. As a designer, having his product recognized was a great sense of achievement for him.

When Yin Chang received "Xiao Ling", he thought Shao Junling had spent the past two months working on it while on vacation. But in fact, Shao Junling started designing this AI after he found out that his brother had a habit of using himself as a "memorandum".

It took him almost two years to complete. However, because he decided to go abroad at the end of last year, he temporarily gave up many personalized functions in order to be able to deliver it to Yin Chang on his birthday this year. In other words, what Yin Chang currently had in hand was not the initial complete version of Shao Junling's plan.

But it didn't matter. Since the designer and developer of this egg-shaped machine were Shao Junling himself, he could naturally make software improvements for it in the future. Moreover, combining user feedback and trial results from Yin Chang could make the machine egg more user-friendly.

Before going abroad, Shao Junling also upgraded "Xiao Ling"'s system, fixing some bugs that Yin Chang encountered, and adding the feature of "reading scripts".

When Yin Chang discovered that Shao Junling could continuously enhance the usage of "Xiao Ling", he was surprised once again. He asked Shao Junling outright if he could change "Xiao Ling's" voice.

"What kind of voice do you want?" Shao Junling asked.

Currently, "Xiao Ling's" voice was the most simple mechanical childlike tone. That was because in order to use it as soon as possible, Shao Junling directly purchased a voice package from a speech company. If Yin Chang wanted something else, like a loli's, a girl's, or a boy's, it could be easily done by Shao Junling purchasing the corresponding voice package from that company.

The result was that Yin Chang asked, "Can it be changed to yours?"

Shao Junling: "..."

This request from his brother was a bit excessive. If he wanted his voice, he would personally have to spend time recording all the common words, phrases, and sentences, and then turn them into a voice package. This was not a project that could be completed in one or two days.

Yin Chang saw Shao Junling frown. Assuming he was considering a way to do it, so after a moment's contemplation, Yin Chang made an even more unreasonable request, "It's better if it's your childhood voice."

Shao Junling instantly collapsed, "...No!!"

Yin Chang blinked, "Okay then."

In mid-August, Shao Junling packed his bags and prepared to leave. Although Yin Chang couldn't send him to the United States, he could at least send him to the airport.

"This is the key to the house in Pasadena. The car key should be in the drawer to the left of the short cabinet after entering the door. I've sent you the address. When you get there, send me a message. Also, this is Evan's contact information. He's my good friend's brother, so if you have any difficulties and can't contact me, you can look for him." Yin Chang sat in the car and made the final arrangements with Shao Junling before he left. 

"Okay, got it." Shao Junling took the key and put it in his pocket, then got out of the car alone.

Due to Yin Chang's status as a celebrity, he couldn't personally escort his brother in the airport. He left the car window open halfway and saw Ho Hongjun waiting with Shao Junling from a nearby pillar.

Shao Junling waved to the other party after he took his luggage from him. Turning back to Yin Chang, he said, "Brother, I'm leaving."

Yin Chang opened his mouth to say "have a safe trip", but the words got stuck in his throat due overwhelming nostalgia.

Shao Junling stared at him for a while, then suddenly put down his luggage, opened the car door, and got in.

Yin Chang was startled and was about to ask if he had forgotten something, but saw Shao Junling close the car door, raise the window, and approach him. He felt a light touch on his lips that was gone in an instant.

When Shao Junling stepped back and whispered, the seventeen-year-old boy's calm eyes showed heat that Yin Chang couldn't comprehend.

It was not clear if his actions were too fast or Yin Chang's reaction was too slow. By the time he realized what Shao Junling had done, the other party had already long disappeared into the airport with Ho Hongjun.

20 hours later, Yin Chang received a WeChat message from Shao Junling reporting his safe arrival.

"Landed" - Only one simple word.

Knowing that Shao Junling landed safely, Yin Chang let out a sigh of relief. However, he was soon overwhelmed by a different fear that he'd suppressed this entire time - for the first time since he'd adopted Shao Junling, he began to reflect on his relationship with him.

He tried to attribute Shao Junling's actions before leaving as an innocent parent-child kiss. But he could feel that he was lying to himself.

...Shao Junling was not a child anymore; he was already seventeen. Old enough to understand.

Yin Chang brushed his lips with his hand, feeling the lingering warmth. Years of spending every day together made Shao Junling's breath feel like a natural embrace.

But it was still wrong.

Yin Chang was suddenly glad that Shao Junling was gone. He didn't have the courage to ask Shao Junling what that act before leaving meant... he was afraid that Shao Junling's answer would completely shatter his perfect image of brotherly affection.

Yin Chang couldn't pretend that this didn't happen, but he felt that being separated for a while would do them both good.

A week later, Yin Chang headed to the film studio.

Before the official filming, they had to take makeup photos, character stills, and familiarize themselves with the shooting locations. "The Power Struggle of Three Kingdoms" was a historical costume drama with more than 80 episodes and had over a hundred actors. During this time, actors gradually joined the set.

Mi Xiu arrived three days later than Yin Chang. Both of them were now top celebrities in the entertainment industry. Although their acting skills were not as good as those of veteran actors, they were the most popular among young people on the set. That night, a few young actors they had just met asked them out for hotpot.

Before they left, Yin Chang remembered the message Shao Junling had sent him last night and brought "Xiao Ling" with them.

"What's this?" Mi Xiu asked casually when he saw it.

Yin Chang replied, "It's a birthday gift from my brother."

Mi Xiu's mouth twitched. He was about to ask how Shao Junling could give him an egg as a gift when the others arrived. A group of people enthusiastically greeted and surrounded them as they walked outside.

At the dinner table, another young actress saw the egg in Yin Chang's hand flashing and curiously asked, "Yin Chang, what is this?"

Yin Chang replied, "Oh, this is an AI."

The actress asked, "AI?"

Yin Chang smiled and called out to the egg, "Xiao Ling."

Everyone saw the egg start to transform with a "shua shua" as it extended a head, opened two wings, and developed facial expressions - "Y_Y...O_O....A_A...."

Xiao Ling said, "Brother!"

Splutter... Mi Xiu almost spewed tea.

This scene left everyone speechless. Two actresses held their faces in astonishment and exclaimed, "Ah, how cute! Where did you buy it?"

Yin Chang smiled, "It wasn't bought. My brother made it."

Mi Xiu stared at the AI and asked the same question Yin Chang did earlier, "Your brother made it? How did he do it?"

Last night, Shao Junling messaged him and said that "Xiao Ling" could chat with others. When in standby mode, "Xiao Ling" was still in the form of an egg, but it continuously collected data and recorded chat content. This could be referenced later by Yin Chang and also helped the AI understand Yin Chang's personality and speech habits better, improving its quality when chatting with Yin Chang. That's why Yin Chang brought it along. 

However, Yin Chang didn't want to show off too much. He gave Mi Xiu a glance and hinted that he would tell him more later. He only mentioned to the others that his brother was studying this field and made a product for him to experience. Then, Yin Chang put "Xiao Ling" back in standby mode, clearly not wanting people to talk about it anymore.

After dinner, the young actors asked if they wanted to play cards together.

"No thanks, we're going to our room to rehearse," Mi Xiu smiled.

"So hardworking!" a male actor teased him.

"Don't make fun of us. You know we can't compare to you science students. Give us a little more time to practice, so we won't be scolded by the director later. Or else, would you take the blame for me?" Mi Xiu teased back and left with Yin Chang.

Back at their hotel room, as soon as Yin Chang closed the door, Mi Xiu said, "Where's your egg? Give it to me to play with!"

"I thought we were rehearsing?" Yin Chang gave him a side-eye and took the egg out of his pocket. He then paused and suddenly said, "Wait. Why did what you just said sound so dirty? Say it again!"

Mi Xiu laughed, "Haha, stop joking around. Let me see it."

...Who was joking around with who? Yin Chang raised his eyebrows and threw the egg to Mi Xiu.

Mi Xiu imitated Yin Chang and called it, "Xiao Ling."

The machine egg remained motionless. Mi Xiu called it twice more, "Xiao Ling, Xiao Ling, wake up!"

The egg still did not respond. Mi Xiu fiddled with it and said, "Is it out of battery?"

Yin Chang changed his clothes and personally called out to the egg in Mi Xiu's hand, "Xiao Ling."

At the sound of Yin Chang's call, the machine egg immediately transformed into its previous form at the dinner table. It happily exclaimed, "A_A Brother!"

Mi Xiu was surprised and asked, "What's going on? It only listens to you?"

Yin Chang smiled, "As you can see."

Since Shao Junling had set the attribute for the machine egg to recognize its owner, after initial setup, "Xiao Ling" could only identify Yin Chang's voice and chat only with him. So no matter how Mi Xiu called it, it would not respond.

After hearing Yin Chang's explanation, Mi Xiu was helpless, so he let Yin Chang chat with "Xiao Ling" and show him. Yin Chang asked a few questions, and Xiao Ling responded smoothly. Then, he let Xiao Ling read the script to him.

After displaying just a few functions, Mi Xiu exclaimed in envy, "It's so intelligent. Is your brother a god? My brother only asks me for money!"

"Haha, my brother has always been a genius." Yin Chang did not hide his pride in front of Mi Xiu.

Mi Xiu bantered with him for a while, but then he saw that Yin Chang's eyes were slightly blue-tinted and suddenly asked, "Hey? Did your brother make this for you because he knew you would be unable to sleep without him?"

Yin Chang was taken aback, "No, he probably doesn't know that I have trouble sleeping without him."

Mi Xiu asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

"It's okay. These past few days, I've been taking two tablets of melatonin before sleeping, and I can manage to sleep. If that doesn't work, I can always take sleeping pills," Yin Chang poured a glass of water, drinking and saying.