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Chapter 68 p2: Electronic Pet

The chef at the Bai’s house had taken leave for something. These past few days, it was Auntie Wu who was cooking. Bai Luochuan had said before that Mi Yang was not eating properly, and now he himself had started to be a picky eater. He hadn’t eaten well during the day, and at night, as soon as it got dark, his stomach would growl with hunger.

Auntie Wu was only there during the day. At night, Luo Jiangjing was still busy at the company and would probably be staying there. Mi Yang opened a bag of instant noodles for Bai Luochuan. The young master was so picky that he wouldn’t even sniff it. He lay there, his stomach growling again, and closed his eyes impatiently. “So hungry. I want to eat fried rice tomorrow, the soft kind, with ham…”

Mi Yang stood up. “Let’s go.”

Bai Luochuan tilted his head to look at him. “Where are we going?”

Mi Yang said, “To the first floor. I’ll make you fried rice.”

Bai Luochuan immediately sat up and followed Mi Yang to the kitchen on the first floor. He was in such a hurry going down the stairs that he didn’t even turn on the light, just relying on the little bit of moonlight coming in from the side window to barely see the steps, and quickly went down two steps.

There were a lot of things in the refrigerator in the kitchen on the first floor. Mi Yang searched for a while and took out some vegetables and ham, as well as the rice the young master had refused to eat during the day. Now, after taking it out and adding the vegetables and meat, he put it all back in the pot. The fragrance immediately wafted out, straight to his nose.

Bai Luochuan watched with novelty. He had never seen Mi Yang cook before. “When did you learn?”

Mi Yang, while stir-frying the rice, said, “I learned it while taking care of my little sister.”

Hearing this, Bai Luochuan raised his eyebrows at Mi Yang and asked him, “Is this your little sister’s favorite too?”

Mi Yang had seen unreasonable people, but he had never seen anyone as unreasonable as him. He was so angry he laughed. “No, Xiaoxue likes to eat steamed things. You were the one who ordered this just now!” He served the fried rice. He was also a little hungry, so he took half a small bowl for himself and gave the rest of the large plate to Bai Luochuan, putting a spoon in his hand. “Try it. See if you like it?”

Bai Luochuan took a large mouthful and couldn’t stop eating.

Mi Yang also ate his half-small bowl. The heat was just right, and the fried rice was flavorful. The rice was also just the right texture, and the occasional bite of ham was particularly fragrant with its salty, meaty taste.

After eating for a while, Bai Luochuan suddenly said, “You must have cooked for Mi Xue a lot, right?”

Mi Yang said, “It’s alright. More during the winter and summer breaks. My mom is too busy with the pharmacy.”

Bai Luochuan frowned. “But it’ll be better in a few years.”

Mi Yang said, “What?”

Bai Luochuan ate a mouthful of fried rice and said vaguely, “In two years, she’ll be ten and can work.”

Mi Yang was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. “Do you think this is the old society, buying a little maid? That’s my own little sister. I won’t let her do these things.”

Bai Luochuan said, “You can do it. Why can’t she? There’s no reason for you to serve her.”

Mi Yang said, “Then there’s no reason for a little sister to serve her older brother either. We help each other. Anyway, I have nothing to do. It’s just making a meal. It’s no big deal.”

Bai Luochuan argued with him as he ate. He was probably not so hungry anymore, and his mood had relaxed a lot. He could even argue with Mi Yang for half a day about whether “Mi Xue should learn to cook.” In the end, the two of them each took a step back and said that they would ask for her opinion after Mi Xue turned 16 and then decide.

Bai Luochuan touched his chin. “She’ll be 16, so that’s ten years from now. We’ll be 24 then.”

Mi Yang took the empty bowls and plates to the kitchen. “Yes, two or three years after graduating from university. We should all be busy with work.”

Bai Luochuan laughed at him. “You’ll definitely be busy with your ‘little handicrafts’ in the biggest library.”

Mi Yang also smiled. “Maybe.”

Many things happened during the month that Mi Yang and Bai Luochuan were quarantined at home.

In early April, the Minister of Health announced that the epidemic had been effectively controlled.

In late April, the said official and the mayor of Beijing were dismissed.

At the end of April, the new Minister of Health took office and, for the first time, publicly disclosed the concealment of the epidemic.

In May, due to the “SARS” epidemic, the May Day Golden Week was announced to be canceled.

In mid-May, primary and middle school students all over the country began to have their classes suspended. To solve the problems caused by the suspension, the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television launched a temporary channel, “Airborne Classroom.”

…

The news of the fight against “SARS” was broadcast on a loop on TV, and banners with “United as one to fight SARS” were posted everywhere. At the same time, a nationwide panic began to spread. People began to panic-buy all kinds of daily necessities. Anything that could be eaten or drunk was swept away, leaving only rows of empty shelves in the supermarkets.

A large number of people fled Beijing in a panic. Epidemic prevention personnel checked the ID cards, tickets, and health cards of those leaving Beijing at crowded places like train stations. A few days later, the control of the floating population began…

Luo Jiangjing watched the news reports and felt a wave of fear. The TV was broadcasting the news of Peking University distributing traditional Chinese medicine soup to its teachers and students to prevent “SARS.” The campus was full of students wearing masks and lining up to get the medicine. After she saw it, she patted her chest, knowing in her heart that this was a restriction on people leaving Beijing, and she was also secretly glad that she had brought the two children out before.

Bai Luochuan and Mi Yang’s one-month period was long over, and the ban had now been lifted. But with the situation outside so serious, their families did not dare to let them go out. They were still confined at home, and Mr. Wei had been invited to tutor them at home.

It was too much trouble for Mi Yang to go back and forth, so he still stayed at the Bai’s house for classes, only going back to his own house on Saturdays and Sundays, just like when he was in school.

The Bai’s house was now also filled with the smell of disinfectant. Auntie Wu would spray with a disinfectant spray from time to time, being very careful.

It was no exaggeration to say that if you coughed now, the people around you would be so scared they would run away.

A female classmate had somehow gotten Mi Yang’s phone number and had called to ask him about her math homework. After she was done, she was reluctant to hang up and stammered, wanting to talk to Mi Yang, but she couldn’t say a couple of useful words. Bai Luochuan, who was listening from the side, his face darkened. He grabbed Mi Yang’s hand and pulled him a little closer, then coughed loudly a couple of times. The other person, like a rabbit, quickly said goodbye and hung up, as if afraid that the virus would be transmitted through the phone.

Mi Yang: “…”

Bai Luochuan sneered. “See? This is human nature.”

Mi Yang didn’t see anything else, just his willfulness.

Bai Luochuan was still educating him, “Don’t listen to those girls’ pretty words. They’re useless when it matters. That time in Beijing, I told them about the text you sent me. When we went back to the hotel to get our luggage, the teacher casually asked if you needed anyone to take care of you. You don’t know, a circle of people were so scared they backed away. Let alone the male and female classmates, even the hotel staff’s faces changed. The one who called was even more exaggerated. She ran away through the phone just because of a cough…” He looked at Mi Yang and concluded, “Now do you know who’s good to you? Say it.”

It was the first time Mi Yang had heard him say this, and he was a little moved. He immediately said, “You’re the best.”

The young master Bai felt a little more comfortable and said again, “They’re all unreliable, you know? It’s only me. This is called ‘true love is seen in adversity,’ you understand!”

Mi Yang nodded. “I understand.” He placed the phone on the table on the side and asked seriously, “I’m not calling anymore. Should I go and help you finish that model from yesterday?”

Bai Luochuan said, “No, that’s boring. I had someone buy a new game console. Let’s play together.”

The driver soon brought two large bags of things to the room. This time, it was not just game consoles and books, but also a lot of snacks and drinks.

Bai Luochuan flipped through them and took out two cardboard boxes that didn’t look very high-end. They were colorful, but the words “Game Console” were printed on them. They were probably just randomly grabbed from a store. They were about the size of a palm, with a small screen and only three buttons below. When he turned it on, he saw an electronic chicken popping out of an eggshell, its mouth wide open, wanting to be fed.

Bai Luochuan pressed it a few times and said with a look of disbelief, “What the hell is this! This is also called a game console?”

Mi Yang leaned over to take a look. He was not surprised and said calmly, “It’s an electronic pet. Xiaoxue also has one.”

Bai Luochuan pressed it a couple of times, very unhappy. “I’ve never seen a game console like this in my life.”

Mi Yang chuckled. “You have. Xiaoxue gave me her red pet egg to play with. You saw it at my house last time, didn’t you?”

Bai Luochuan said, “Is it the one she didn’t want?”

Mi Yang glanced at him. “It’s her favorite one.”

Bai Luochuan sneered.

Mi Yang pointed it out to Bai Luochuan, “Press here, and you can also give it a name. Then press this to feed it, this is for a walk, and this last one is to shovel its poop.”

Bai Luochuan was shocked. “This thing also needs to have its poop shoveled!”

Mi Yang said, “Yes, that’s how you play with electronic pets. It’s a raising game.” Mi Xue had raised it for a long time before, and the little girl had even specially shown it off to her older brother. Mi Yang was more familiar with it.

Bai Luochuan casually fed it some food. Seeing the electronic chicken pecking at the food in the bowl, he had an indescribable expression. “What can it be raised into in the end? Will it grow wings?”

Mi Yang said, “It’s just an ordinary chicken. It’s quite cute.”

Bai Luochuan pressed it a few times but didn’t think it was fun at all. He threw it aside with a sour face. Mi Yang picked it up and gave the newly hatched electronic chicken a name, “Meimei.” Bai Luochuan saw it and frowned. “Why that name?” If he remembered correctly, the female classmate who had called just now seemed to have the character “Mei” in her name.

Mi Yang hadn’t thought that much and said calmly, “It’s a girl. It even shows the gender here. Look.”

Bai Luochuan: “…”

Bai Luochuan refused to let him use that name. He took it over, deleted it, and started to type again. He had just written “Xue” when Mi Yang coughed. He then changed it to “Xueqiu.”

Mi Yang glanced at him. The young master Bai was still saying righteously, “Look how white it is. It should be called that.”

Perhaps because he had given it a name, he felt a sense of responsibility, or perhaps it was because of Mi Yang’s occasional glances, but the young master Bai seriously raised the electronic chicken for three months. It was not until the news of SARS slowly disappeared from the TV that his electronic pet had also reached its maximum level, leaving behind an egg and flying away.

Bai Luochuan was furious. “…What the hell kind of game console is this! Isn’t this just resetting and starting over! Garbage game, it deserves to go bankrupt!”