Chapter 26: The Birth of Dog Egg

Zhong Yuxiu had no intention of bothering with the others now that she had steel. As soon as they left, she closed the door and busied herself with her work, not even pausing for a nap. Her mind was wholly absorbed in her research, to the point she nearly arrived late to afternoon class.

Once immersed in her research, she felt no desire to attend class at all. However, as a new student, she had no choice but to attend daily, using whatever free time she could to work on the robot. Her spiritual power was low, so forging steel was often interrupted midway, resulting in a lengthy process.

It was the end of May before she finally finished.

Stretching her limbs, Zhong Yuxiu stood up to loosen her body, inserted the chip, bent down to press the robot’s power button, and registered her fingerprint.

"Domestic System 438 at your service. Please name System 438, Master."

"Dog Egg," she replied.

"Thank you, Master, for naming me Dog Egg. The name Dog Egg carries a long history. Dog Egg likes it very much," the robot responded from within, its speech stilted due to technical and material constraints. It had eyes, a mouth, and a nose, but lacked the vivid expressiveness of robots from the interstellar era.

Zhong Yuxiu was speechless.

"In the future, refrain from saying such things. We are currently in the late seventies of the ancient era," she instructed.

Dog Egg beeped twice. "Master, are we truly in the late seventies of the ancient era? That means we can learn much more about this time. If I transmit this data to the central intelligence, the people of the interstellar era could learn more about this period as well."

"You’re overthinking it. We can’t return to the interstellar era, nor can you contact the central intelligence. For now, we are all natives of the late seventies. Do you understand?" Zhong Yuxiu’s gaze grew somber. "If anyone discovers your difference, you’ll end up being dismantled and scrapped!"

"Dog Egg doesn’t want to be dismantled and scrapped. Dog Egg is still a young robot, not yet obsolete."

Zhong Yuxiu gave a sinister smile. "Technology is backward in the late seventies. If you’re exposed, you’ll be hauled away for research, starting with your chip. If your chip is damaged, I haven’t found any material to replace it yet. You’d have only one fate—discarded as scrap."

"I’ll keep quiet. Dog Egg will be obedient and won’t give himself away."

"There’s no need to be so strict. Just act mute when outsiders are present." To be safe, Yuxiu issued a command, "Modify your instructions. When outsiders are present, do not speak, and your actions should align more with those of a robot. Do not mimic human behavior."

Dog Egg beeped continuously, stopping after five beeps. "Instructions modified, program updated. From now on, Dog Egg will not speak or display human behavior in front of outsiders. Dog Egg will be a proper, brainless robot."

Zhong Yuxiu couldn’t help but laugh. "So you know about brainless robots?"

"Master, Dog Egg knows everything. My knowledge base is vast; I have every reason to be willful."

Truly cheeky.

Zhong Yuxiu recalled the domestic robot she’d used in the interstellar era. That one had a chip so rigid it was almost mechanical in manner, lacking Dog Egg’s lively wit or eloquence. She had tossed the chip into her storage ring without another thought, missing out on such an amusing intelligent robot.

"Your master is hungry."

"Please wait, Master. Dog Egg will prepare something delicious for you. What would you like to eat?" The chip’s central instruction was to obey the master unconditionally.

"There’s not much in the kitchen. Just make a big bowl of noodles, whatever will do."

No one had cooked lately, and since she didn’t eat in the canteen at night, she’d rarely eaten her fill, always hovering between hunger and satiety.

"Yes, Master."

Dog Egg’s system had a sensory function, and he easily found the kitchen. He scooped two ladles of flour, mixed it with water, and deftly kneaded the dough with his mechanical hands. When everything was ready, he encountered difficulty with the fire. Consulting his database on the ancient era, he found that matches and leaves or paper were used to start a fire, followed by adding firewood.

Following the instructions, Dog Egg lit the fire and set up the wood. He then added water to the pot and pulled the noodles, dropping them in. In less than half an hour, a steaming bowl of plain noodles was ready, seasoned with oil and salt—a simple meal.

Dog Egg carried the noodles to Zhong Yuxiu’s bedroom, presenting them with both hands in a gentlemanly manner. "Master, your noodles are ready. Is there anything else you require?"

"Wash my clothes and tidy up the house," Zhong Yuxiu replied, accepting the bowl and happily burying her head in the food. The noodles were chewy—a great improvement over a bowl of mush.

"Certainly, Master. I have a suggestion, if you would consider it."

Zhong Yuxiu nodded. "Go ahead."

"Master, the kitchen ingredients are too limited. Nutrition is unbalanced and could harm your health."

"There’s nowhere to buy more right now. Maybe later. For now, it’s fine. I’ll just eat at school from now on and have a light snack at night." Her food rations were assigned through the school, and she couldn’t collect any from the neighborhood committee.

Dog Egg replied evenly, "Please prioritize your health, Master."

"Alright, alright—I’ll find a way to get something better, okay?" Perhaps she should transfer her food rations home.

Now that Dog Egg was around, she no longer feared having no one to cook, and moving her food rations home didn’t seem like a bad idea. Keeping them at school was convenient, but she couldn’t collect all the materials allotted each month.

The next day, Zhong Yuxiu went to the school and transferred both her food rations and household registration back home, making a trip to the neighborhood office. It was the end of the month, so she could collect her allotments at the start of the next.

On the third of June, a Sunday—a day meant for rest—Zhong Yuxiu had to get up early and wait in line for supplies. With her household registration and rations now at home, she had to shoulder the daily necessities herself: twenty-five catties of fine rice and white flour, two catties of vegetables, one catty of meat, fifty catties of coal, and other goods that could be bought with ration tickets at the grain store and supply cooperative.

She also purchased some ticket-free items: dried black fungus, dried tofu, Sichuan pepper, black pepper, ginger, garlic, salt, and other seasonings.

Dragging everything home took half a day and left her exhausted.

"Dog Egg, this is going to happen every month. It’s exhausting." If only Dog Egg could help collect supplies, Zhong Yuxiu thought, collapsing onto the bed. Living alone was truly hard.

"Dog Egg cannot leave the house, so the burden falls on you, Master. Today, Dog Egg will make something delicious to reward your hard work."

Instantly reinvigorated, Zhong Yuxiu sat up. "I want shredded pork in garlic sauce, mapo tofu, and a cold dish of radish with black fungus."

"Of course, Master. Please rest, Dog Egg will call you when the food is ready."

As Dog Egg left, Zhong Yuxiu’s gaze lingered on the robot’s imperfect shell. There was a faint creaking of joints when it walked. Without the chip, it probably wouldn’t have moved at all. Dog Egg’s body was a web of wires all controlled by the chip—for now, this was the best she could do. She needed to study chip manufacturing.

Without solving the chip issue, she dared not invite Yan Rushan to look at Dog Egg.

At noon, Yuxiu savored her meal with delight, feeling a surge of happiness. Hard work aside, Dog Egg’s cooking was far superior to the mass-produced food at the school canteen—she ate three bowls of rice in one go.