Pheromone Deficiency Syndrome chapter 44

Tao Tao

It was the 32nd day since Gu Jinyi arrived on Roselle Star, and he went to Bai Chuan’s capital city once again.

He didn’t come here intentionally, but because he promised to buy a limited edition puzzle for Chu Xiaonian the night before. After searching, he found that only Bai Chuan’s store still had inventory and it was not sold on the star network, only available for offline purchase, so he hurried over.

It was already midsummer on Roselle Star, but Bai Chuan still had a desolate winter scene, similar to when he came last time, with snow fluttering, tree branches covered in white snow, and ice lanterns lined up along the lake. Even during the day, one could see the faint glow of lights inside.

Gu Jinyi found the storefront according to the map and luckily bought the last puzzle.

As he walked past a corner shop with the puzzle, he saw a familiar figure standing outside the floor-to-ceiling window, struggling to reach for coins. However, because of his short stature and lack of jumping ability, he could only stretch his hand as far as possible.

Gu Jinyi walked over with curiosity and waited beside the figure until he recognized the person as the mascot of Lande College, the robot Tao Tao.

With a blond-haired, blue-eyed appearance of a young man, Tao Tao almost looked like a human if not for his somewhat stiff expression.

Gu Jinyi asked, “Tao Tao, what are you doing here?”

Tao Tao turned his head and looked at Gu Jinyi for a while before matching the person with the information in his database.

After determining that he was not a dangerous individual, he answered Gu Jinyi’s question, “I’m buying things.”

Gu Jinyi followed Tao Tao’s hand and found that it was a self-service shop selling limited-edition handmade desserts from Bai Chuan.

He became even more puzzled. Why would a robot like Tao Tao come to buy sweets? Could it be for someone else?

He asked Tao Tao, “Can I pay with my card for you?”

Tao Tao glanced at him and handed over his card, emphasizing, “Use mine.”

Gu Jinyi noticed this, and surprisingly, Tao Tao was using the card he obtained with his own identity.

Robots don’t own property.

This was a well-known fact.

But Tao Tao was different. Like every human, he had an identity crystal card, an account he could use for travel and shopping.

Gu Jinyi helped Tao Tao buy some snacks.

A palm-sized green box was handed over from the window, and Tao Tao ordered two portions.

Gu Jinyi also bought two portions for himself and planned to take them back to Chu Xiaonian and Qu Xi.

He returned the snacks and the card to Tao Tao, couldn’t help but ask, “Tao Tao, who do you want to give this snack to?”

Tao Tao seemed very willing to answer this question. His somewhat stiff face smiled, and in an instant, he became lively and vivid, as if he were really a sixteen or seventeen-year-old human boy.

“It’s for Mr. Albert,” Tao Tao smiled beautifully. “He likes the limited edition snacks from Bai Chuan.”

Gu Jinyi was momentarily speechless.

Mr. Albert was Tao Tao’s master, the former principal of Lande Academy, who had passed away fifty years ago.

But when Gu Jinyi was still in school, he knew one of Lande Academy’s default rules—never tell the robot Tao Tao that his master was no longer here.

This was one of the former principal’s last wishes.

Gu Jinyi fell silent for a moment, feeling a bit sad for some reason, but he gently smiled at Tao Tao. “Mr. Principal would be very happy to see the snacks.”

Tao Tao carefully stored the snacks in his own storage space.

He looked up at Gu Jinyi and asked, “Why are you alone? What about the human who was with you?”

He gestured with his hand, “The tall alpha, in black clothes, doesn’t smile.”

Though he spoke vaguely, Gu Jinyi immediately understood. He was asking about Xie Huaizhou.

Gu Jinyi didn’t know how to answer this question but heard Tao Tao ask him, “Is he also like Mr. Albert, gone?”

Gu Jinyi was startled and shook his head, “No, he hasn’t disappeared. I just don’t want to see him.”

Tao Tao looked puzzled, finding it difficult to understand the complex and subtle emotions of humans.

But he could recognize that Gu Jinyi’s expression was sad.

So he asked Gu Jinyi, “Why don’t you want to see him? I really want to see Mr. Albert.”

Gu Jinyi didn’t know how to answer this question, but fortunately, robots are easily fooled. He smiled and said nothing, and Tao Tao forgot to ask.

They walked along Bai Chuan’s streets together. In the bustling crowd, one human and one robot didn’t seem out of place.

Tao Tao didn’t understand the twists and turns of human affairs. He knew Gu Jinyi was a student at Lande Academy, essentially Mr. Albert’s student, so he was very willing to talk to him.

He pulled Gu Jinyi’s sleeve, even though he was much older than Gu Jinyi, he still seemed as naive as a child.

His language function was already outdated, so his speech was always a bit strange.

He asked Gu Jinyi, “Where do you think Mr. Albert has gone? He clearly said he would be back after a short trip. He took me to school to make smoothies and said there would be many people who want to be friends with me. But I only want to make smoothies for him alone.”

His question was naive and innocent, and Gu Jinyi hesitated to answer.

Because everyone knew that Mr. Albert would never come back.

He remained unmarried throughout his life, an orphan. Besides the small robot Tao Tao, which he made himself, he had no family.

So there was no funeral for him held at Lande Academy, just to keep Tao Tao from knowing.

He specially applied for a “identity card” for Tao Tao, opened a human-only account for Tao Tao, and let Tao Tao stay at Lande Academy to sell smoothies.

All of this was done so that after he passed away, his little robot could live alone.

He probably thought that Tao Tao would be very happy, as someone would come to accompany him every day.

Gu Jinyi once thought so too.

How could a robot really have human emotions? They were created and modeled after humans, but fundamentally they were just programmed.

How could a robot understand what human sorrow was?

But Gu Jinyi looked down at Tao Tao’s face and clearly saw a look of loss on his face, so similar to a human’s.

This made Tao Tao look nothing like a robot.

He looked more like a not-so-smart human, believing it when the former principal told him he was going on a long trip, waiting reluctantly for someone who would never return.

This wait lasted for fifty years.

This made Gu Jinyi feel very uncomfortable for a moment.

He asked softly, “Tao Tao… have you been waiting for Principal Albert all this time?”

So he would specially buy some snacks, because he didn’t know when Albert would come back.

Tao Tao nodded, without hesitation in his response to the question: “Yes, I am Albert’s robot, so of course I have to wait for him.”

“And when will you stop waiting?”

Gu Jinyi’s question sounded a bit absent-minded, because Chu Miyun had also asked him the same question.

Tao Tao lowered his head and stepped on the snow with a creaking sound.

He answered this question very easily: “Wait until my parts are broken and can’t be repaired anymore.”

When parts are broken and the main chip is destroyed, it’s the robot’s death.

Tao Tao meant that he would wait for Albert until death.

This was not at all like an answer a robot who believed Albert would come back would give.

Gu Jinyi couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

He looked incredulously at Tao Tao.

In a sea of white snow, Tao Tao, like a child, tiptoed to look at the goods in the shop window.

He was very beautiful, with fair skin, rosy lips, soft golden hair, and a slender figure.

He would never age and never shed tears like humans, only faithfully execute his master’s orders.

But he said he would wait for Albert until the day of death.

In an instant, Gu Jinyi recalled many things.

He remembered some rumors that he had thought were just rumors.

There were rumors that the former principal Albert had remained unmarried for life because he fell in love with a small robot he had made himself, willingly guarding a metal body.

Gu Jinyi looked at Tao Tao’s brilliant blue eyes and suddenly felt that perhaps this rumor was true.

And perhaps Tao Tao had long known that the former principal would not return.

He just pretended not to know and lived in the world woven by Albert for him.

Gu Jinyi’s heart felt a little stifled. He brushed off the snow from Tao Tao’s shoulders, stopped asking, and held Tao Tao’s hand, leading him forward.

At the exit of Bai Chuan, he and Tao Tao boarded the hovercraft together. Tao Tao bought a ticket like a human and chose to sit on the sofa with Gu Jinyi.

He leaned against Gu Jinyi’s shoulder familiarly, showing a posture of a spoiled child.

He curiously pinched Gu Jinyi’s fingers and asked, “Why aren’t you wearing a ring?”

He remembered that there was a very beautiful ring on Gu Jinyi’s finger last time.

Gu Jinyi didn’t expect Tao Tao to remember this.

His fingers curled up for a moment. Instead of perfunctory, he answered seriously, “I separated from the person who gave me the ring, so I don’t wear it anymore.”

Tao Tao pinched his fingers again, feeling sorry for him.

“That ring was very beautiful,” Tao Tao said, and after a moment, he proudly took out a small ring from the storage compartment on his wrist, showing off, “Albert also gave me one.”

Gu Jinyi touched Tao Tao’s head and praised, “Your ring is also very beautiful.”

That was indeed a beautiful little ring, very suitable for Tao Tao’s pale and slender fingers.

Tao Tao was satisfied and took the little ring back.

He stopped talking as well, probably reaching his limit for that day’s conversation.

He held the pastries he wanted to give to Albert, wearing a well-fitted and delicate little coat. He sat upright and proper, like a dignified little master.

He looked like someone who had been cared for for a long time.

Someone had taken care of him like a human, taught him, loved him, so he became more and more like a human.

Gu Jinyi didn’t bother Tao Tao anymore.

But as he looked out the window, he remembered the last time they met at the academy, when Tao Tao told him while buying ice drinks, “Someone bought limited edition motor oil for me. He sat with me for a long time, he wanted to see you.”

At the time, he just thought Tao Tao was malfunctioning in speech, saying it casually.

But now as he looked out the window at the fleeting scenery, he suddenly knew who that person was.

As they were about to reach the Lande Academy, Gu Jinyi asked Tao Tao this question softly.

He pulled up a photo of Xie Huaizhou from his Ipad, asking Tao Tao, “The last time you said someone wanted to see me, was it him?”

Tao Tao nodded confidently. Although he was quite old-fashioned, robots were not as forgetful as humans.

“Yes, it’s him,” Tao Tao said. “He waited for you for a long time.”

Gu Jinyi’s heart trembled slightly, but he didn’t say anything more.

When Tao Tao arrived at the Lande Academy, Gu Jinyi got off the car with him.

He suddenly wanted to take a walk at the Lande Academy.

Tao Tao waved goodbye to him seriously, then walked towards the road leading to the former principal’s office.

It was only after Tao Tao’s figure disappeared that Gu Jinyi looked down at the Ipad again.

On his Ipad’s page, there was information about former principal Albert.

He was a genius figure, with an unshakable position in the field of scientific research. He was knighted by the empire at the age of forty.

Next to his introduction were videos of him, but not just him alone.

Principal Albert had a refined and gentle face, with naturally silver-white hair. He didn’t look approachable at all, and his gray eyes had an indescribable coldness.

But in his arms were around a golden-haired and blue-eyed young man, as beautiful and lazy as a cat, smiling, boldly twisting his ear.

This young man was Tao Tao, the Tao Tao from decades ago.

In this era, human aging had slowed down considerably, and people like Principal Albert had many ways to delay their appearance changes.

But compared to Tao Tao’s eternal youthful beauty, he already had slight crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes.

But when he looked down at Tao Tao, he smiled like a young man, patiently talking to Tao Tao, letting Tao Tao look at the camera.

Now that Principal Albert was gone, this video remained forever, and his little robot was still waiting for him.

Author’s note:

Tao Tao also had a little ring. He and Albert were partners. Although they couldn’t register, Albert had given him a wedding ceremony. While Albert was alive, he was a happy little robot.