In General Manager Old Xu’s plan, today he would take Gan Ling in a van to perform a routine cleaning at a residential house in an Old Residential Area. He had even gone to confirm the location personally; the level of cleanliness at the employer’s home was neither too bad nor too good, making it perfectly suitable for the Housekeeping Robot’s debut.
If Gan Ling was truly as capable as Lin Qingwen claimed, then a job of this level should be easy to handle. However, to ensure the commission was completed successfully, Old Xu still invited several of his most capable employees to provide backup. Currently, he was waiting with Gan Ling in the Company Parking Lot for the driver and the backup staff to arrive.
While they waited, two vans arrived one after another, returning a group of employees to the company as if they had already finished their work, but neither was the vehicle they were waiting for. The employees stepping out were all dressed in matching blue work uniforms and hats. Judging by their faces and builds, they were generally energetic young people, which perhaps explained why their curiosity was exceptionally strong. A beautiful girl Doll dressed in a Maid Outfit was certainly enough to capture their attention, especially when that Doll was standing right next to their boss.
One particularly curious male employee leaned in and whispered to Old Xu, “General Manager Xu, the one next to you is…?”
“It’s a Housekeeping Robot, sent by a large company for testing,” Old Xu answered without hesitation.
The male employee was not satisfied with that answer and followed up, “Why would they make a Housekeeping Robot look so exquisite?”
“How should I know?” Old Xu replied impatiently before shooing the man away.
Next, three female employees arrived. Upon hearing Old Xu say that Gan Ling was a robot, they walked over with great interest to interact with her.
“Wow, what a cute robot.” One of the female employees squatted in front of Gan Ling and began to stroke her hair incessantly, while another stood by and said, “Robot girl, tell us a joke!”
After thinking it over, Gan Ling decided to comply with the request. She opened her jaw, making an effort to produce a voice even more monotone than usual. “Request received. Beginning narration. Why do robots never post on social media? Because they only know how to repost and cannot create original content.”
Even Gan Ling herself didn’t think it was funny, but the employee who asked for the joke laughed uncontrollably, praising her, “Not bad, this robot is quite intelligent!”
The last remaining employee poked Gan Ling’s cheek and exclaimed in surprise, “So soft. Is this really a robot?”
“For real? Let me try, too!” Reminded by her coworker, the other two also reached out toward Gan Ling’s cheeks—one pinching and the other rubbing. After trying it for themselves, they all remarked, “The texture is amazing!”
However, Gan Ling’s mood was the exact opposite of theirs. She never expected that the things she usually did to Yang Mo would actually be done to her by others, and they showed no signs of stopping.
‘Have you had enough? Stop it!’ She was fuming, but because she didn’t want to blow her cover as a robot, she didn’t express it directly. Instead, she thought of another way to stop the three female employees.
“Undefeatable attack detected. Warning, warning, Self-defense Program about to be initiated.” Although part of her pronunciation was slightly muffled because her face was being pinched, the others still understood what she was saying.
“Hmm? So the joke wasn’t finished yet?” One of the female employees spoke without letting go, clearly not taking Gan Ling’s warning seriously. However, Old Xu knew where this “robot” actually came from, so it was impossible for him to have the same reaction.
By then, Gan Ling had already begun counting down in a mechanical voice, “Ten.”
Startled, he stumbled over to Gan Ling and the others, waving his arms and shouting, “Stop it, all of you! This is someone else’s property! What if you break it?”
The employees were all surprised by his attitude. “Nine.”
“General Manager Xu, you were just watching a moment ago. Why are you suddenly so agitated?”
“Never mind that, just listen to me and stop!”
“Eight.”
In the end, the employees were practically pushed away by Old Xu. After they left, Gan Ling stopped her countdown, leaving only her and Old Xu in the parking lot. Old Xu wiped the sweat from his brow and then leaned his hands on his knees as if all his strength had left him, letting out a long sigh. When he stood up again, he looked at Gan Ling with a bitter expression and lamented, “I should have just found an excuse to reject this in the first place…”
Right at that moment, a new van slowly drove up from the distance. Before the vehicle even came to a complete stop, the driver rolled down the window and leaned out to greet Old Xu. “Oh, General Manager Xu? Is this the robot thing everyone’s talking about?”
Old Xu was in no mood for pleasantries. Instead, he questioned the man testily, “What took you so long!”
The driver clearly hadn’t expected that reaction and could only respond haltingly, “Well… the roads were a bit congested. Besides, look, it’s only a few minutes past the agreed time.”
Old Xu didn’t reply. He leaned in and whispered an instruction to Gan Ling, “Get in the car.” He then climbed in after her.
In addition to the driver, there were several backup employees Old Xu had invited. They cast curious glances at Gan Ling just like the previous employees, but after noticing Old Xu’s expression, they all stopped. An uneasy silence filled the van’s cabin until they arrived at their destination.
—
From that day on, certain rumors about General Manager Old Xu began to spread among the company employees. “Hey, have you heard? General Manager Xu’s temper has been really bad lately. Be careful when you’re working!”
“And he’s strangely obsessed with that Housekeeping Robot. Could it be… forget it, I don’t dare say it.”
Of course, at this moment, he was completely oblivious to this. In front of the building where the employer lived, Old Xu was still carefully instructing Gan Ling on the effects of various cleaning tools.
“You press this spray here. Be mindful of the amount.”
“This mop’s mechanism is used like this…”
“And that… use that at the very end.”
To all his explanations, Gan Ling responded with the same reply, “Understood.”
In reality, Gan Ling truly did remember everything he said, but she felt that she probably wouldn’t need most of it. After all, she had her invincible Absolute Command to help. Finally, as originally agreed, Old Xu brought Gan Ling into the employer’s room and left her there. Looking at her petite back, an employee who had been silent until now couldn’t help but ask, “Is she really going to be okay alone?”
To this, Old Xu could only answer, “I hope so. We’ll find out when we check back later.”
Inside the room, Gan Ling quietly closed the door. At some point, a Silver Pocket Watch had appeared in her hand.
“Well then, it’s time to start the big clean.” After pretending to be a robot for so long, she finally had some relaxed and pleasant free time.