"Lu Yue..." She repeated it over and over, then nodded with a smile. "I like this name, Papa!"
Lu Ming reached out and patted Lu Yue's head. "In the future, you... don't have to call me Papa anymore, Lu Yue.
From the outside, there's not much difference in our ages."
Lu Yue tilted her head, and after processing it, her almond-shaped eyes, as pale blue as gemstones, welled up with tears. "Is Papa going to abandon Lu Yue?"
Lu Ming looked nervously at the pitiful, teary-eyed Lu Yue and explained frantically, "No, no! I didn't mean I was going to abandon you!
Look, I'm only a little over nine years old, and you look about the same age as me. If you keep calling me Papa, it'll look very strange to others."
Lu Yue blinked her pale blue eyes, crystal tears sliding down her cheeks, and her slight sobs gradually stopped.
She tilted her head, the golden cat ears atop her head twitching slightly, as if she were seriously searching for loopholes in Lu Ming's words.
After a few seconds, she asked in a small voice, "Really... you won't abandon Lu Yue?"
"Of course!" Lu Ming nodded seriously. "You were created by me, so it's not an exaggeration to call you my daughter. Besides, you're one of my most important family members. How could I abandon you?"
Lu Ming reached out and ruffled Lu Yue's hair. "If you really like using that title to address me, it's... okay to do so in private."
Lu Yue thought for a moment. "Then... then what should I call you in front of others, Papa?"
"You can call me by my name, Lu Ming, or Xiao Ming!"
Lu Yue stared at Lu Ming with her pale blue eyes for a long while. Seeing that his gaze was sincere and not at all perfunctory, she finally broke into a smile.
Lu Yue reached out her small, fair hand and gently grabbed the hem of Lu Ming's clothes. The fluffy white tail behind her began to wag vigorously again.
"Then... can Lu Yue call you Big Brother Xiao Ming outside, and still call you Papa at home?" Lu Ming thought about it and sighed, "Of course you can."
Lu Ming looked seriously at this silicon-based lifeform before him, who could cry and laugh and was full of dependence on him, and he smiled.
He thought to himself that the family would have one more member from now on!
Lu Ming took her hand and returned from the Manufacturing Space to his room.
Coming out of the space, Lu Ming looked at the alarm clock by the bed. "It's already late at night. It looks like I'll just have to make do for one night with Lu Yue."
Lu Ming climbed onto the bed and lay spread-eagled. Seeing this, Lu Yue followed suit and lay on the bed in exactly the same way.
After Lu Ming and Lu Yue messed around for a bit, they both fell into a deep sleep. Their sleeping postures were almost identical, both spread-eagled—one could tell at a glance they were from the same school.
The next morning, Sister Lin Hua came to Lu Ming's door and knocked. "Little Lu Ming, get up! Your weekend is over, hurry up and get out of bed for school."
Lu Ming and Lu Yue woke up groggily. "Alright, I got it, Sister Lin Hua. I'm coming out right now!"
Lu Ming got up and took Lu Yue to the bathroom. From the small cabinet by the sink, he took out an unopened toothbrush and handed it to Lu Yue beside him.
Lu Yue, who possessed basic common sense for daily life, quickly finished washing up with Lu Ming.
Lu Ming held Lu Yue's small hand and walked to the dining table in the living room. Sister Lin Hua, who had been buried in her breakfast, looked up and saw Lu Ming and the little girl he was leading by the hand.
Sister Lin Hua stared blankly at the little girl Lu Ming was holding. The fried dough stick in her hand dropped onto the table, and she didn't even react.
Sister Lin Hua pointed at Lu Yue. "Lu Ming, what's going on? Where did you kidnap this child from! Whose family does she belong to?
And why did she come down from the second floor with you!"
Lu Yue looked at Sister Lin Hua timidly and hid behind Lu Ming. "Papa, who is she? Why is she so mean?"
Hearing this form of address, Sister Lin Hua's brain felt like it had suddenly exploded. "Papa...? Lu Ming, what on earth did you do to her? What did you teach her!
You little brat!!!"
Lu Ming looked at the muttering Sister Lin Hua with a bewildered expression and took a few steps back with Lu Yue.
Sister Lin Hua got even angrier seeing this. "Lu Ming, what exactly did you two do last night? Why is this little girl calling you Papa!"
Hearing this, Lu Ming finally realized what was happening and understood why Sister Lin Hua was so angry.
Seeing the situation, Lu Ming hurriedly explained. Actually, it was like this—Lu Ming looked at Lu Yue beside him. "She's a robot I've been manufacturing over the past few days. You could also say she's a completely new lifeform.
Moreover, she's a silicon-based lifeform. Her entire body is formed through the natural division of mechanical cells, and she possesses emotions and thoughts.
I even feel like she has a soul. You could say she's a genuine living being.
As her creator, it seems perfectly reasonable for me to be called the father figure! You could say she's my daughter."
Sister Lin Hua looked at Lu Ming and the young girl with cat ears and a tail beside him in stunned silence.
Coming back to her senses, Sister Lin Hua saw that the girl before her looked exactly like a human, just with an extra pair of fluffy ears and a tail.
Sister Lin Hua even went up and tugged on a cat ear. After confirming it was real, she looked at Lu Ming in shock.
Lu Yue said to Sister Lin Hua, "Hello, Auntie! I really am Papa's daughter. You can call me Lu Yue."
Sister Lin Hua walked curiously to Lu Yue, patted her head, and reached out to pinch her fair cheek. When Sister Lin Hua pulled her hand away, she saw a slight blush rising on the girl's face.
Sister Lin Hua looked at Lu Yue's blushing face and said, "Even if I took her out on the street and said she was a robot, no one would believe it!"
Lu Ming said confidently, "Of course! This is a completely new lifeform."
After finishing breakfast, Lu Ming said to Sister Lin Hua, "I'm going to school. Help me take care of Lu Yue!"
After Lu Ming left, Sister Lin Hua looked at the somewhat reserved Lu Yue. "Xiao Yue, do you want to go with Auntie to buy some kitty supplies? We also need to buy you some clothes, a quilt, and things like that."
Lu Yue nodded. "Okay, Auntie." With that, she got up and followed Sister Lin Hua out the door.
After Lu Ming arrived at school, he greeted Nobita and the others and returned to his seat.
Lu Ming spent another relaxed day in the classroom in a lazy manner.
After school, Suneo called out to Lu Ming and the others. "I've built a ROCK recording studio at my house! Do you guys want to come over and see it?"
Gian looked at Suneo. "Sure, let's go check it out!"
Nobita also nodded excitedly and followed behind Suneo.
Shizuka and Lu Ming also followed along to see for themselves.
The group followed Suneo to his house and went down to the basement, arriving at a recording studio filled with various musical instruments.
Suneo looked at everyone triumphantly. "Look at this room! My dad specifically hired someone to build this recording studio."
Gian looked at the room filled with instruments. "Suneo, this room is really cool."
Shizuka looked at the instruments and said, "There are so many instruments here!"
"Of course, my dad spent a lot of money to build this," Suneo said boastfully.
Nobita looked at Suneo's luxurious recording studio with envy. "This music equipment must be very expensive!"
Lu Ming looked at the antler logos on the music equipment and said nonchalantly, "These things all seem to be manufactured by my family."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's gazes snapped toward Lu Ming. Suneo stammered as he looked at Lu Ming, "Is... is that true?"
Lu Ming nodded and pointed at the antler logos on the equipment. "Look, the mark on them is our family's product trademark."
Suneo looked at all the equipment in the recording studio and saw that they all had a small antler logo. Suneo, who had originally wanted to show off, was left speechless, not knowing what to say.