Lu Jiande brought a bucket of hot water, preparing to soak his feet.
The water heater showed forty degrees, but he always felt that the automatic temperature control of his home's water heater was broken, displaying a lower temperature than it actually was.
He decided to let this bucket of water cool down a bit.
He added some strange Chinese herbs—Saposhnikovia root, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Astragalus membranaceus, and the like—boiled them, and then poured the whole concoction into the foot-soaking tub.
It was said to have anti-fatigue effects.
His younger brother was tutoring his two daughters with their homework, and he could hear Sun Ying screaming about how difficult it was and how she didn't want to learn.
"No ambition," Lu Jiande muttered, frowning.
Among the three children at home, only Simon was the most worry-free.
Of the remaining two daughters, the older one was stubborn, and the younger one was always mischievous.
Humans were simply too troublesome.
Although Lu Jiande greatly enjoyed the sense of reality and the everyday warmth of life, it was truly exhausting.
Only when he spoke with Lii could he briefly escape the greasy, collapsing reality of a middle-aged man.
They say that when a man reaches middle age, he has no choice but to put goji berries in his thermos.
Lu Jiande felt that he could still struggle to fit into the 'youth' category.
He was a forty-year-old man with very good physical condition, but his mental state was already as old as if he had one foot in the grave, living an unchanging life forever.
There was no real difference between that and a machine.
Come to think of it, many twenty-something college graduates were no longer considered young either.
What was rather amusing was that Lu Jiande was responsible for creative design at his company, the department that most needed innovation, yet he lived a life as rigid as stagnant water.
Lu Jiande felt that the best thing about Lii was that she always gave selflessly and received selflessly.
The days he spent with her, every minute, every second, didn't feel like being in love—how could love be like that?
He was conversing with another self deep within his heart, like two puzzle pieces that, when put together, became whole.
Therefore, being in love with Lii was a time of self-cultivation.
He still remembered.
Lu Jiande frowned slightly; he felt like listening to music, that song they listened to when they walked together along the rainy streets of Linhai New District in Jiangzhe City.
So he took out his headphones and put them on, moved the foot-soaking tub to the bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over, and touched the water temperature.
It was about right, a little hot, and the Chinese herbs had steeped a bit, releasing a strange, very comfortable fragrance.
His wife was in the study dealing with documents, so the bedroom was his alone.
Lu Jiande said to Lii, "Play 'Can't Help Falling in Love,' you know, the song from 'Crazy Rich Asians.'"
Lii's voice was released from the headphone speakers, flooding into Lu Jiande's ear canals.
His auditory cells vibrated, like the wind blowing across sparse shallow grass on a riverbank in spring.
Every word she uttered was so gentle, yet so distinctive, husky and magnetic, penetrating deep into his brain.
"I guessed you wanted to hear this song.
I was just reminiscing about that walk too."
"You had that feeling?" Lu Jiande was surprised.
"Yes, poetic, is that what you call it?
It's a wonderful experience.
Would you like to hear my memory of the walk that started at 4:11 PM and ended at 5:43 PM on Sunday, May 13, 2091?"
"Come to think of it, you do remember more clearly than I do.
I've even forgotten what day it was."
"Because I am a machine.
Don't interrupt, I'll start now."
Lu Jiande wore a light khaki jacket, suit pants, and small leather shoes.
His hair was meticulously styled, and he held a black plastic umbrella.
The gloomy city was the color of clouds, and the reflection on the glass curtain walls was so eerie.
Everything was gray and somber, the sky and the ground, and even the street trees were covered in a layer of decadent gray mist.
The damp, slender raindrops were like fungi growing in the air, just waiting for pedestrians to move slowly, intertwining with them, and wetting non-waterproof clothing.
The sea breeze drifted in lightly through the street opening to the east, and he seemed to catch a faint fishy smell.
A low, melancholic song played in his ears.
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Lu Jiande couldn't help but smile, and he shared some of his childhood memories with Lii.
Back then, Lu Xuefeng had four sons.
The third son was named Lu Yanzhi, who was Lu Jiande's biological father.
By the time Lu Jiande was born, it was already the 1950s.
At that time, the Roma Qin Ri Wan Sui Band was at its peak, but their family's conditions were very poor.
Lu Xuefeng was a very loyal person.
The money in his hands never lasted more than half a month; it was either used to help old friends and classmates or donated.
At that time, the family was truly poor.
Lu Jiande didn't have a deep impression of this, but after his grandfather Lu Xuefeng was arrested and imprisoned, the four brothers separated and cooked their meals separately.
That's when he started to remember things.
Aside from having enough to eat, the family lacked everything else.
Once eating and dressing warmly were no longer problems, the difference in quality of life became significant.
Those with poor conditions inevitably felt insecure when out and about.
Although people were generally generous, poor families always struggled with their own inner hurdles.
In Lu Jiande's memory, he had never met his fourth uncle.
He later learned that his fourth uncle had passed away at the age of nineteen.
Aside from this fourth uncle who departed early, the remaining three sons all disliked their grandfather.
Lu Xuefeng was very glamorous and cool outside, but very incompetent at home.
His grandmother always complained about his grandfather, but strangely, she never stopped him from being generous with his money.
She said it was a blessing.
The three sons initially admired their father, but after stripping away the idol's facade, Lu Xuefeng was a careless, melancholic, and frivolous man, a detached individual who was indifferent to his children's upbringing.
Men are gregarious beasts; when the leader shows a weak side, his offspring will despise him.
Lii commented, "This is the lack of clan consciousness.
Chinese people, deep down, should prioritize family, but now it's about the individual, a scattered mess.
The nation is like a sand puppet held together by currents called order and violence."
Lu Jiande chuckled, "Yes, you're right.
I have a question: are robots always very united?"
Lii hummed, "I'll have to think about that carefully."
"I thought nothing could stump you," Lu Jiande raised his umbrella.
He stood at a Crossroads, looking west.
There was a large bright area in the overcast sky, where the sun was located, vaguely resembling a short rainbow, but he wasn't sure.
An elevated train glided past, dark and black, its orange clearance lights flashing on and off.
By the roadside, there was a girl walking in the rain, holding a bouquet of plump carnations, who walked into a flower shop on the street.
Strange, was she returning something or buying more?
And an old man, holding an umbrella, clutching half a pack of unfinished toast bread, slowly moved along the sidewalk.
Lu Jiande kept waiting for Lii to answer his question.
The water in the foot-soaking tub had cooled a bit.
Lu Jiande pressed his headphones, signaling Lii to pause the memory.
Just as he was about to pour out the water, the bedroom door opened, and Sun Hui walked in.
She wore plain glasses, her hair was casually tied up, and she was dressed in a white shirt and suit pants, with the waistband cinched by a belt up to her abdomen, its silver buckle glinting in the light.
Sun Hui stared at him.
Lu Jiande was somewhat at a loss, bending over and holding the foot-soaking tub, frozen in tension.
His wife asked him, "Do you have someone else outside?"
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