The End of the Universe Is Live-Streaming E-commerce – CH44

Chapter 44: The 44th Day of Livestream Selling

After finishing the examination and coming out of the hospital, Lin Zhao pressed a cotton swab against the needle mark where his blood had been drawn, while still thinking with 1114 about how to become a person more useful to society.

By the time they returned home, each of them had arrived at an answer.

“Boss Bro.”

“Hand it over.”

After speaking, this completely uncoordinated human-system duo looked helplessly at each other.

Lin Zhao made a “please” gesture, inviting the opposing side’s first debater, 1114, to speak first. But 1114 reflected on the last debate it had with Lin Zhao over what Lady Hu the demonic cultivator needed more, and felt that the reason it had lost—Lin Zhao: We clearly tied—was because it had spoken first. The little system, which had now begun learning how to play dirty, copied Third Auntie and rolled through the air. “Zhaozhao first, Zhaozhao first.”

Lin Zhao did not care much about the order. He opened with, “I don’t think we can ask Lenny about this.”

Because from the exchange between Elowen and the Mechanic, one could tell that she held back on a lot of technical information when speaking with other planes. There was no malice, and it did not seem deliberate either. It was more like she had concerns about some kind of restriction.

As Lin Zhao opened the fridge and took out the milk, he said, “And from my own conversations with Lenny, I can also tell that this bottom line should be relatively vague, or rather flexible. For example, Lenny can help us make connections to buy robots from major companies, while his sister Elowen is very cautious even when discussing technology.”

“You think Boss Bro would refuse you?”

“No.” Lin Zhao found the enamel milk pot and turned on the gas stove. With a click, a blue flame licked the bottom of the pot. “What I’m afraid of is precisely that Lenny has no bottom line when it comes to me, and that he’ll agree to anything without caring about the consequences.”

Lin Zhao could not be sure whether this restriction was part of some interstellar law. He only knew that since there was a restriction, it should not be broken without limit.

Even though Reinhardt did not seem to be afraid of doing so.

Reinhardt was truly good to him. Lin Zhao could clearly feel it. But precisely because he was too good, Lin Zhao’s own sense of morality would not allow him to keep exploiting that kindness.

After pouring just enough water into the pot to cover his palm, Lin Zhao sprinkled in a handful of washed pearl rice. Once it boiled over high heat and the rice was about half-cooked, he could remove the rice water, pour in the milk, and turn the heat down to simmer slowly.

This was Lin Zhao’s father’s recipe. In his family, no matter who had just finished a medical examination, they had to drink a bowl of milk porridge after coming home. There was no particular scientific reason. It was simply a habit.

As Lin Zhao cooked, he did not forget to have 1114 send Reinhardt a message, asking whether he wanted to drink milk porridge.

Ever since Reinhardt had complained last time that his chef could not even make chuiyuan, Lin Zhao, although he did not cook often, would subconsciously ask Reinhardt whether he wanted some whenever he occasionally made something. After all, cooking for one person was still cooking, and cooking for two people only meant adding a little more ingredients.

Reinhardt could always accurately tell whether the message had been sent by Lin Zhao or his AI. He could not say why. Anyway, he could distinguish it at a glance. While replying that he was looking forward to the milk porridge very much, he also asked 1114 whether Lin Zhao was busy.

1114 looked at Lin Zhao, who was standing leisurely in front of the kitchen island, humming an off-key children’s song while using a long-handled wooden spoon to slowly draw circles along the edge of the pot again and again, then shamelessly replied: Yes, our Zhaozhao is very busy.

Reinhardt’s mind was left with only one thought: So he’s called Zhaozhao. What a lovely name.

Of course, 1114 was not exactly lying, because Lin Zhao had already finished stating his reasons for rebuttal. Now it was its turn. It also agreed with what Lin Zhao said: one could not rely on someone’s kindness and then keep making them take risks without any bottom line, even though Boss Bro seemed quite happy to do so.

It said, “I know about handing things over. Ever since I started reading plane-trading novels, I’ve also seen this derivative genre, where the protagonist hands their ability over to the state. I like reading it too. But I can’t help wondering—I’m not accusing your country of having problems, okay? I’m only hypothetically saying, how can you be sure that the people you contact from the state will definitely be good people? How can you be sure they won’t change? Wealth can stir the heart. I understand your love for your motherland. The motherland will always be good, but people aren’t.”

The not-very-bright 1114 told Lin Zhao that he could not look at things too simply.

For example, unlike most systems in novels that lived directly in someone’s mind, 1114 was an independent entity. This respected both their privacy, but it also made them unusually easy to separate.

1114 was not afraid of being captured or dismantled for research. It would always have a way to return to Lin Zhao’s side. Only Lin Zhao was the host it was bound to.

But…

“What if the one taken away is you?” 1114 could come to Lin Zhao’s side, but it might not have a way to guarantee Lin Zhao could leave safely.

Inside the milk pot, the rice was pulled by the force of the wooden spoon, sinking and floating in the milky-white whirlpool. Some grains had already bloomed open, while others stubbornly retained their complete shape. A thin layer of milk skin formed on the surface, only to be gently cut apart by the back of Lin Zhao’s spoon and folded back into the porridge.

Although the porridge had not fully cooked yet, the kitchen air had already begun to fill with the faint fragrance of rice, interwoven with the richness of milk, making the whole home feel especially warm.

Lin Zhao could not resist taking a sip. The milk, with a little sugar added, was already very tasty.

Although his mother would always say at times like this that unfinished porridge should not be drunk casually, even if the milk itself was already drinkable. But Lin Zhao was like this when cooking. He could never resist the cook’s privilege of sneaking a taste.

Only after drinking did he say to 1114, “What you said also makes sense. If I didn’t have Xiangxiang, or rather if I didn’t have Xiangxiang’s teacher’s wife, even if I wanted to take this path, I wouldn’t know how to.”

But the problem was, he did have Lin Xiang.

1114 instantly seemed to find its pillar of support. “Right! What does Xiangxiang say? We should discuss it with Xiangxiang first. He’s smart, smarter than both of us.”

Then, along with the bubbling of the milk porridge, the problem the two of them worried about became how to convince Lin Xiang. He really did not seem to believe them much.

And Lin Xiang…

Did not need to be convinced at all.

From the moment he saw the solemn message his brother sent him, saying that he hoped to have a serious talk with him sometime soon, he knew he could no longer keep deceiving himself.

Lin Xiang would never say when exactly he had realized something was wrong with his brother and the system, nor would he say how much effort he had put into maintaining the status quo. He would only say that if his brother had kept muddling through life as a salted fish, he had complete confidence he could have made sure that his brother and the system would forever remain merely a part of his brother’s ability.

That was how selfish he was. He did not care about the life or death of most people. He only cared about his mother and brother.

But damn it, his brother cared.

So, when Lin Xiang came home, the first thing he said was straight to the point. “Tell me. What did you do in Congshi Town that changed the environment?”

Lin Zhao and 1114: “!!!” They had already been found out? Then they did not need to agonize over handing it over or not.

Good. Case solved. It really was them. Lin Xiang thought expressionlessly. His brother and 1114 truly had no talent for keeping secrets. He had merely made a casual remark and already blown it out of them. “So, what exactly did you do?”

1114: Despicable! Xiangxiang is so despicable!

Meanwhile, Lin Zhao had already defected and begun honestly confessing. “We just brewed a little wine. With spiritual plants…”

1114: Zhaozhao, you’re despicable too!!!

Then, the even more “despicable” 1114 immediately joined the team fight and followed up in one second. “It was a trade with Lady Hu. Zhaozhao only wanted to help her. The spiritual plants of her sect weren’t selling, Xiangxiang. You don’t know how bad those demonic sects taking advantage of the situation were. If it were you, you definitely wouldn’t have been able to resist helping either.”

Lin Xiang looked at the human and system before him, each speaking over the other, almost handing over their entire secrets, and only silently complained in his heart: No, if it were me, I would only watch coldly from the sidelines.

Whether someone else was being bullied or not, what did that have to do with me?

She is merely one of many clients in my plane trading. I am here to trade with her, not to become her friend.

Unfortunately, he could not say that. He could only record while giving a preliminary deduction. “Either the spiritual plants released the effective components inside their plant cells during high-temperature distillation at the winery, which then volatilized along with the steam, slowly but continuously releasing enough active components into the local atmosphere like a humidifier. Or the spiritual plants themselves have always been acting like carbon dioxide conversion, transforming violent and chaotic natural energy into gentle and orderly energy, unconsciously improving the surrounding environment.”

In any case, the spiritual energy from the cultivation world should be the key to this Qingzhou transformation. It also reflected and confirmed the reversal of part of his brother’s genetic illness through cultivation.

But what 1114 heard was: “It’s over, Zhaozhao. We damaged the environment.”

Lin Zhao could not understand what his brother was saying at all, but he understood 1114’s words and quickly asked, “Is it serious? How much damage did we cause?”

1114 was already sobbing. “I don’t know, Zhaozhao. Do you think our factory can survive? Can we just pay a fine and not have our business license revoked? We have environmental approval. We didn’t do it on purpose.”

Lin Xiang looked at the two idiots in front of him and truly did not know what to say. “It’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. This environmental change may be helpful in improving genetic disease.”

Lin Zhao and 1114: “!!!”

Damn. They had succeeded without even meaning to.

1114 excitedly pressed itself against Lin Zhao. “That’s great, Zhaozhao. Although we don’t know how we did it, it looks like everyone can be saved.”

Lin Zhao nodded fiercely. Yes, yes.

“Don’t get excited yet.” Only Lin Xiang remained calm and poured cold water over the two of them. “The current deduction is only improvement. We still don’t know whether it can completely eradicate the disease later. We still need to study it.”

“We can cooperate with however you need to study it.” Lin Zhao and 1114 spoke in unison.

It was also at that moment that 1114 finally understood why Lin Zhao thought that handing it over to the state might be better. Handing it over really was a good version-answer. Whether in brains, horizons, or comprehensive thinking, the two of them were not enough. In that case, it would be better to let smart people think, weigh the options, and do things that would be more beneficial to everyone.

But at this moment, Lin Xiang suddenly said, “If your goal is only to research and treat genetic disease, then we already have a direction now. Don’t ask how I plan to handle it afterward. In any case, I can take care of all of this and push things forward without exposing you. Do you still want to hand it over to the state?”

Lin Zhao froze for a moment, but in the end, he still nodded firmly.

He was not some morally noble person. Just like when he first got the system, forget telling others—he had not even used it much himself. After he later made money, what he considered was only benefiting his own family and friends. Now, the starting point of this idea was also only because he had fallen ill, so he could empathize with other patients.

He had always only thought about himself.

Even now, it was the same. “I really am not very smart. Right now it’s only genetic disease, but what if there are bigger problems in the future?”

“It’s already global evolution. What bigger problem could there be? Aliens invading Earth?”

“That’s the general idea anyway. Rather than scramble for help when the time comes, it’s better to start preparing now.” In some unseen way, Lin Zhao had a premonition. He could not explain it, but he simply felt that they needed to prepare in advance, even though he did not even know what they were supposed to prepare for.

“No regrets?”

“No regrets.”

“Even if handing it over might bring many difficulties?”

“I can overcome them all!”

“Including going to work?”

“…Huh?”

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