Chapter 86: Fool, My Mission Is to Stay by Your Side
She scrolled through her collection of reaction images, searching for one that matched her mood but didn’t seem too clichéd. Guided by some inexplicable impulse and following Lu Ye’s last message, she casually typed the word “miss” to see if any suitable images would come up. Her finger slipped, and she accidentally sent one.
[Miss you, miss you, miss you.jpg]
A black-and-white panda cupped its hands around its mouth, as if shouting the words through a megaphone.
Jiang Sui: “...” Why did her hand always betray her like this?
Lu Ye replied almost instantly.
[Hmm...]
Jiang Sui: ...
What did all those ellipses mean? Why did she suddenly sense a hint of bashfulness from him? Was it just her imagination?
“Ergou, what kind of person do you think Lu Ye is in this life? Will he hurt me again?” Lying on the sofa, Jiang Sui asked curiously.
Summoned by her, the system appeared in her mind.
“He doesn’t seem like he’ll hurt you.”
Jiang Sui gazed out the window, her voice soft. “If he really doesn’t want to hurt me, maybe we could get along peacefully in this life. If it weren’t for the fact that he has no memory at all, I’d almost suspect he’s just like me—my only familiar presence.”
The system asked, “What if he does hurt you?”
Jiang Sui’s tone turned cold in an instant. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with him.”
System: “...”
What a ruthless, heartless woman...
Jiang Sui rolled her eyes. “I can hear you cursing me in your head.”
System: “...”
“Oh, by the way, if I live out my natural lifespan, will you disappear too?” Jiang Sui suddenly wondered, realizing she’d overlooked this.
“Yes, I will,” the system replied.
Jiang Sui frowned. “You’ll just vanish?”
After a pause, the system said, “I exist because of you. If you’re gone, so am I. In fact, I might disappear before you die.”
A sense of foreboding swept over her. “What do you mean by that?”
The system fell silent. No matter how many times Jiang Sui called out, there was no response.
But in the system’s own consciousness, a certain memory played on a loop:
A young woman in a white lab coat smiled at the intelligent robot she had developed. “After a hundred thousand iterations, I’ve finally created you. Hmm... How about I give you a name? They say simple names bring good luck, so you’ll be called Wang Ergou.”
“Ergou, stay with me, just like a real person.”
“You’re amazing! You’ve already learned to communicate like a human so quickly!”
“Ergou, you’re the smartest child I’ve ever met. Mommy loves you!”
...
——————————————
After Wang Ergou faded from her mind, Jiang Sui suddenly felt uneasy. She had always suspected there was a deeper connection between her and the system. That was why she’d accepted its presence so easily from the very first moment it appeared in her mind.
It had been with her for so long—sometimes appearing out of nowhere, sometimes vanishing without warning—but she always knew it was there. That sense of security was what allowed her to persist through each lifetime.
“I don’t want you to disappear,” she murmured, her voice low and gentle.
“Even though you’re often irresponsible and love to mess with me, we’ve depended on each other for so long. Haven’t we?” The smile on her lips was warm, as radiant as sunlight.
The system: ...
Silly girl, my purpose is to keep you company...
Jiang Sui’s smile deepened.
“I heard you.”