After a good while, the man finally withdrew his gaze and picked up the documents in his hand again.
"Have a seat," he said, his tone cold.
Jiang Lijin blinked, feeling a bit suspicious. Was this guy really that easy to talk to? But she didn't overthink it, getting up and walking over to the only sofa in the room, leaning back against it.
[Xiao Yi?] she called out in her mind, but after several shouts, Xiao Yi didn't respond. She wondered what was going on. It couldn't be that it had crashed from the critical hit of that man's stunning beauty just now, could it?
After quite a while, Xiao Yi's voice finally rang out in her mind: [Host, I'm back. I just... crashed.]
Jiang Lijin was speechless and complained frantically in her mind: [What kind of trash system is this? You crashed just from that? Is your version a trial version?]
Xiao Yi sounded aggrieved: [Host, I don't know either. I'm clearly the latest version of a companion system... Are you angry?]
[No, I just suddenly felt that your latest version might be a defective product.]
[Host...] Xiao Yi dragged out its voice, as wronged as a rejected puppy, [You've hurt my feelings.]
[Never mind, never mind.] Jiang Lijin didn't dwell on it. [Can you play some funny videos for me to watch? It's so boring just sitting here.]
[Of course!] Xiao Yi's voice instantly became cheerful again. [This is a basic requirement for our systems!]
Jiang Lijin's train of thought suddenly paused. She thought of Xiao Er. In the past, whenever Xiao Er secretly played funny videos for her, it always acted like a thief, terrified of being discovered and punished by the main system. But now Xiao Yi was saying "this is a basic requirement". They probably didn't belong to the same company!
Thinking of Xiao Er, Jiang Lijin's eyes involuntarily dimmed for a moment. But she quickly suppressed that emotion, crossed her legs, and waited comfortably for Xiao Yi to play the video.
However, after a long time, Xiao Yi still hadn't responded.
[Xiao Yi?] she called out in her mind.
[Host, I'm here.] Xiao Yi's voice revealed a hint of guilt.
[Hurry up and play the video, I'm so bored.]
[...]
[Host,] Xiao Yi's voice grew even weaker, [There is no public network in this location, and there is a signal jammer. I cannot access the internal network. Their firewall level is too high, and I can't break in.]
[Connect to the internet?] Jiang Lijin frowned in her mind. [Why do you need to connect to the internet?]
[Because the videos need to be loaded from the network,] Xiao Yi answered as a matter of course.
[What? My previous system, Xiao Er, who I mentioned to you, never needed to connect to the internet to play videos for me. It could play them directly in my mind, and it could even play videos from other worlds, like Blue Star and various others. It had everything.]
Xiao Yi fell silent for two seconds.
[Host,] Xiao Yi's voice became somewhat subtle, [This system does not understand your previous system. Before I was born, my core database was indeed infused with a large amount of data from other worlds, including Blue Star and the other worlds you just mentioned. But I can only retrieve text descriptions, data analysis, and even simulated scenes about those worlds. I cannot play the real video records you mentioned; those videos are not in my storage.]
Jiang Lijin was stunned.
[Wait, what do you mean by 'before you were born'?]
[It means before I was activated.] Xiao Yi's answer carried a hint of caution. [I am your companion support system. I was officially activated and born the moment you arrived in this world. Before that, I was just a string of inactive code in the main system.]
Hearing this, Jiang Lijin was temporarily left speechless.
[So...] Jiang Lijin paused for a moment and slowly spoke, her voice carrying a trace of disbelief, [You were born less than three days ago?]
[To be precise, two days and 17 hours.] Xiao Yi's tone actually carried a hint of embarrassment. [I am still very young, and I am still learning many things. Please bear with me, Host, if I do anything poorly.]
Jiang Lijin fell silent.
She remembered its vague answers when she had previously asked Xiao Yi about Xiao Er; she remembered how little it knew about this world, and how its permissions didn't seem very high; she remembered how it sometimes looked so ignorant and needed to figure things out on its own. It turned out it wasn't because it was a defective product, but because it was... a newborn?
[Xiao Yi,] she asked suddenly, [If I die, meaning I pass away in this world, what will happen to you?]
Xiao Yi spoke, its voice very soft: [I will die with you.]
Jiang Lijin's breath hitched.
[I am your companion system.] Xiao Yi continued, its tone holding no fear or resentment, only the calmness of stating a fact. [My existence is bound to your life. You live, I live; you die, I will dissipate with you. This is the definition of a companion support system. A one-time existence, belonging solely to you.]
Jiang Lijin remained silent, or rather, she couldn't speak. But she could feel a certain corner of her heart quietly being filled with an unfamiliar emotion.
[Host,] Xiao Yi's voice carried a hint of worry, [Why aren't you speaking? Are you angry? Because I'm not capable enough yet?]
[No.] Jiang Lijin spoke with some difficulty, finding her voice a bit hoarse. [I'm not angry.]
[That's good.] Xiao Yi's tone visibly lightened. [I will study hard, Host. Once I've lived a few more days and accumulated more experience, I will definitely become more useful. By then, I can find whatever videos you want to watch.]
Jiang Lijin looked up at the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and suddenly spoke: [Xiao Yi, are you afraid of dying?]
Xiao Yi seemed to ponder for a moment: [This system cannot answer this question because I do not have a complete database for the emotion of 'fear'. But...]
[But?]
[But if possible, I want to accompany the Host for a little longer. This world is very big, and we haven't even started exploring it yet. Moreover, you just became an S-rank, and you haven't gone to slap the faces of those three scumbags yet. I want to follow you and do all these things together. So, Host, you have to live a little longer, okay?]
Jiang Lijin stared into the void for a good while without speaking. Then she smiled, not her previous self-deprecating, reckless smile, but a helpless, almost doting smile.
[Okay,] she said, [I will try my best.]
[Mhm!] Xiao Yi's voice was full of joy, like a puppy that had received a promise, its tail wagging like a propeller.
Jiang Lijin didn't speak again. She sat quietly for a while, sorting out her surging thoughts. Then she opened her eyes again and looked around the room in sheer boredom.
The person behind the desk still maintained his previous posture, looking down at his documents. In the sunlight, his side profile was so exquisite that he didn't look like a real person.
Jiang Lijin stared at him for a moment and suddenly felt that just sitting there was far too boring.
"Um...?" she spoke up tentatively.
"My name is Chiron." The person across from her paused his finger movements, raised his head, and looked over with a calm gaze.
"Alright, Chiron." Jiang Lijin nodded agreeably. "Do you have anything here to pass the time? Books, magazines, a datapad, anything will do. I get sleepy just sitting here doing nothing, and if I fall asleep and snore, I'm afraid I'll disturb your work."
Chiron looked at her, as if contemplating a serious question. Two seconds later, he spoke: "No."
Jiang Lijin shrank back into the sofa and muttered softly, "So you just read documents all day long?"
"Yes."
The room fell quiet once again.
"You are divorced?" She looked up and saw that Chiron had set down his documents at some point and was now looking at her.
Jiang Lijin froze, feeling a bit confused. As her psychological counselor, didn't he know the reason why she was here for counseling in the first place?
"That's right," she nodded. "I just signed the agreements yesterday. Divorced all three of them at once. Pretty efficient, right?"
Chiron didn't say anything; he just looked at her.
Figuring she had nothing else to do anyway, Jiang Lijin simply continued, "The Central System matched me with three S-class big shots, but they thought my rank was too low and left me hanging for three years. Now that I've taken the initiative to ask for a divorce, they still think I was reaching above my station." She laughed as she spoke. "Actually, it's normal. A C-class like me being matched with three S-classes was just the Central System short-circuiting in the first place."
"You don't seem like a C-class."
Jiang Lijin's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
Chiron looked at her, his tone calm. "C-class females usually don't dare to speak this much in front of strangers."
Jiang Lijin choked on her words. What kind of strange logic was that? Couldn't a C-class be lively and outgoing? What kind of stereotype was this? Still, feeling a little guilty, she explained, "Well, it's not like you're here on a blind date with me, so what does it matter if I talk a lot or a little? Besides, I just thought you looked quite friendly, which is why I chatted a bit more."
"Friendly?" Chiron repeated the word, his tone subtle.
"Yeah." Jiang Lijin nodded with complete justification. "Even though you looked a bit impatient with me at first, you didn't kick me out later, did you? If that's not friendly, what is? You just haven't seen those scumbags..."
Chiron raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The room grew quiet again. Jiang Lijin stared at the carpet for a while before suddenly remembering something.
"Are you married?" she asked suddenly, her tone as casual as if she were asking if he had eaten.
Chiron looked at her and did not answer. Only, something flashed through those light gray eyes.
