Chapter 1024 Sensitive Child
"What in the world happened? This is the first time that I've seen Bacon cry. He says that you, his father, are the one who doesn't love him anymore and made him cry so hard like this."
Jin Liwei sighed but slowly began to relax a bit because his wife wasn't automatically blaming him. She wanted him to explain what happened first and to understand the entire situation. Fortunately, she didn't get into one of her extreme mood swings.
He explained to her what happened in the most objective manner that he could without shifting any blame to either himself or their AI son, Bacon. Ketchup also interjected her own version of the events as a spectator.
Bacon's golden eyes were glowing again which meant that he was back in the control room. He was still crying but not as hard as before. There was an obvious wronged expression on his face. He also avoided looking directly at his father.
Jin Liwei saw all this and sighed once again while massaging his suddenly aching temples. He didn't think that he was wrong at all in disciplining his own AI son. What he was worried about the most was his wife's reaction after hearing what happened.
He wanted to avoid arguing with her on how to discipline their AI son, especially since she had the tendency to spoil each and every one of their cat children without any reservations. In short, he had to play the bad cop all the time while all their children adored her because she rarely scolded them.
"I see," Iris murmured afterwards.
Jin Liwei and their two AI children all waited in nervous silence for her final verdict.
Bacon in particular looked very different from usual. His bored expression was nowhere in sight. He looked very pitiful instead.
Jin Liwei already felt his heart softening at the sight. He had no doubt that his wife was also seeing the same pitiful appearance of Bacon on her end. If he was already softening, then how much more so for her?
If she decided to side with their AI son, Jin Liwei was already prepared to back off this time. It wasn't worth it to deal with both an upset wife and an upset son at the same time. He planned to wait for today's emotions to calm down and address the issue on another day.
Both he and Iris knew the kind of personality that Bacon had. If they failed to discipline him properly right now while he was still young (he was basically still a baby), then who knew what kind of dangerous troubles he would find himself into someday when he matured?
It also didn't help that the kid admired his Uncle Zihao a lot, not to mention that the majority of his personality was based on that uncle, and liked to spend most of his time working at Shadow Winds. Although Bacon enjoyed teasing his Uncle Zihao, the truth was that the kid was more interested in his uncle's line of work than his father's. That in itself was already a great source of worry for both Jin Liwei and Iris.
However, they already agreed to let Bacon work for Lu Zihao. In this way, the couple hoped to be kept updated to both Lu Zihao and Bacon's activities and be able to quickly help them out of danger if needed.
Back to the present situation, Jin Liwei finally heard his wife's verdict.
"Bacon, you misunderstood your dad," Iris said in a gentle voice.
Jin Liwei's eyes became gentle. He was pleased but not because his wife sided with him but because of her obvious warm, motherly tone as she spoke to their AI son. He knew that she still feared turning into a bad mother but he believed 100% that she was already a terrific mother.
She may lack the heart to admonish their children most of the time but it didn't mean that she was someone who allowed their children to do whatever they wanted without fearing any negative repercussions. When needed, she knew how to be firm, never allowing any of their children to walk all over her head. Nevertheless, she would still leave the harsh lecturing of their children to him.
The teary Bacon sniffed, his child's voice trembling. "Mother…wuwuwu…my money…."
"Oh, Bacon. Don't be so upset with losing money, okay? Money is just money. If you lose it, fine. You are the son of your father and me. We know that you have the ability to earn more money just like your father and I."
"And Ketchup, too! The cute and mighty Ketchup has the ability to earn more money, too! Meow~"
Iris chuckled. "Yes. And your Big Sister Ketchup, too. So what's there to be worried about? Our family is filled with competent people who know how to earn money."
Bacon blinked his tearful golden eyes. "But Mother…."
"Besides, your father didn't say that he'll cut off your allowance and take all the money you've saved up forever. He only said that he'll do it if you misbehave again. If you behave, then there's no need to worry, right?"
"Wuwuwu…."
"If you misbehave, your father will ground you like usual. In addition to that, he'll also cut off your access to your money. But if you learn your lesson and start behaving again, then the money will be returned to you. It's as simple as that. I also think that this is reasonable."
Jin Liwei continued to listen to his wife patiently explaining his true intentions to their AI son while also comforting the kid. His heart felt warm and sweet. He once again silently thanked whatever higher powers that brought them together to become one family. There was no doubt that his wife and their children were his most important and precious treasures in his entire life.
"Father," Bacon finally addressed him after calming down a bit.
"Yes, son?"
Bacon widened his teary golden eyes, looking very adorable by doing so, and glanced at Jin Liwei shyly. The sight was very unusual to all of them. Bacon was shy? If this was before witnessing him melting down like what happened just now, they would never even think of such a possibility.
Iris and Jin Liwei then realized that this seemingly tough and no-nonsense AI son of theirs also had a vulnerable side to him. And the trigger was money. Thinking more carefully, it didn't feel too surprising.
Perhaps whenever Bacon said that he needed more money as compensation for emotional distress before, he really did feel distressed emotionally and wanted money to feel better. Bacon seemed to treat money as some sort of security blanket.
'Bacon is actually such a sensitive child,' Jin Liwei thought. 'Maybe even more so than Ketchup.'
Based on Jin Liwei's observation and the new knowledge he gained about his AI son today, Ketchup preferred expressing all of her emotions as openly and as freely as possible. In contrast, Bacon liked to keep everything inside and hide his true emotions behind his usual bored expression.
With such complicated and humanlike emotions like these, there was no way that Jin Liwei and Iris would treat Ketchup and Bacon as mere artificial intelligence beings. They were, without a doubt, their children.
Then Jin Liwei heard his wife say, "Oh, darling. How I wish that I could hug Bacon and Ketchup! I would love to hold the two of them in my arms. My babies!"
'Me, too,' he replied in his mind.
"Mommy, the cute and mighty Ketchup also wants to hug Mommy and Daddy! Meow~"
Bacon's tears finally stopped. His golden eyes glowed brighter and his tail rotated like helicopter rotors. Although he didn't say anything, it was clear that he was as excited as his big sister.
"I'm going to do it!"
"What are you going to do?" Jin Liwei asked his wife even though he could already guess what she meant.
"I'm going to make real bodies for Ketchup and Bacon!" Iris declared, her voice filled with determination. "No matter how long it takes, I'll make sure to give our AI children real bodies. I want to at least hug them before I die."
"Mommy's not going to die! Mommy is going to live forever and ever and be a one big happy family with Daddy and us kitty babies and our future human siblings until the end of time! Wuwuwu! Please don't die, Mommy! Meow!"
"Bacon won't let Mother die. Bacon will destroy the world if Mother dies. So please don't die or I'll really destroy this world and not care about it at all even if it's not classy."
Jin Liwei was scowling. Although he knew that death was natural and inevitable in the course of life, he still disliked hearing this kind of talk about dying especially when it involved his wife. She already experienced such a tragic death in her past life. He didn't want to think about dying right now. There were still a lot of things that he planned to experience with his wife and their family. For once, he didn't lecture Bacon on his vicious words.
It was Iris who did. "Bacon, please don't say that."
She was about to continue speaking but Jin Liwei interrupted her. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore."
"But darling—"
"The children are still young, Evelina. We'll talk to them again about topics such as old age and things like that when they're a bit older and can handle such matters."
She hesitated but still acquiesced. "Fine."
He sighed in relief. However, a new worry took root in his heart.
He and his wife were both humans. The twins she was carrying were also humans. Ice Cream and Popcorn were regular cats.
All of them would die one day.
But what about Ketchup and Bacon?