Ice Cream

By the time the man had finished the fourth ride on the roller coaster, he could feel his tummy churning badly… As he glanced at the men and women squatting by the side, vomiting their guts out, he was worried that he might be next if he were to go for another ride.

With her cheeks flushing and her big, round eyes blinking from time to time, Gu Anbao was clearly excited as she surveyed these new and latest entertainment facilities with interest.

He gave a doleful smile. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

The robot nodded earnestly, "It's so exciting!" It's superb! It's so much fun! I don't have to worry about a heart attack! It's really amazing!

The moment she realized that she could make use of her mechanical body to do the things she could never do in the past, she could not wait to try all the rides in the amusement park without inhibition!

He was amused by her childlike demeanor. Looking at her adoringly like a child, he soothed her wind-blown fringe with his hand, asking, "Do you want to take the ride one more time?" Although he was pretty sure that he would throw up with the next ride…

As a result, he tried to divert her attention and pointed to the carousel not far ahead from them. "Do you want to try that instead?"

She shook her head firmly.

When she was young, she could only ride the carousel whenever she visited the amusement park because it was the safest and least exciting. She was tired of this boring ride.

"I want to try that ride!" She pointed in the direction of the bungee jumping machine with her eyes full of anticipation.

"…" I'm really gonna throw up this time…

Still, he accompanied her, twice, on the jumping machine in the end.

… By then, not only was his tummy churning, but even his head had started to spin.

There was a circle of mushroom stools next to the bungee ride where he took the chance to sit down. After four roller coaster rides and two bungee jumps, he was barely able to stomach all the excitement.

He regretted having his lunch before bringing her here.

She seemed to sense his agony so she edged closer to him, and said thoughtfully, "No worries, I can go on the rides by myself."

This little heartless lass…

After that, he watched her on the pendulum ride six times, three times on the pirate ship, five on the swivel ride, twice inside the haunted house, and then four times on the mountain train ride…

Even after the sun had set and the amusement park was about to close, the girl did not seem to have had enough.

Looking hopefully at him, she asked, "Can we come here again in the future?"

Can AI be this playful?

He was tickled by her reaction. "Yes."

Her heart felt sweet and warm all at once. The man had been especially gentle today, and less cautious handling her as well.

She pointed to the exit, where a clown was selling balloons, and bashfully asked for a present. "Can I have one of those?"

To her, taking home a balloon was a fitting way to conclude a wonderful day at the amusement park.

Buying a balloon was indeed a much more relaxing task than taking the roller coaster ride with her. Without thinking, he pulled out his wallet and asked, "Which color do you want?"

"Pink," she whispered shyly, "the balloon in a heart shape."

The clown picked the balloon that she wanted, and the man was about to pay, with his wallet in hand, when a group of young children rushed over to them, clamoring for balloons, too.

One of the girls had a vanilla ice cream cone and took pain to protect it from the pushing and shoving of other kids. Unfortunately, she neglected the balloon in the other hand, and she accidentally let go of it during the jostle. Looking at the balloon floating speedily up into the sky, the girl broke into a loud cry…

Gu Anbao looked at the crying child and then she glanced up at her own balloon…

Knowing that her balloon was a momento more than anything else, and without special significance, she decided to give it to the little girl instead. She walked over to the girl and passed it to her sympathetically.

"Don't cry anymore. Let me give you mine,' she coaxed.

After making the payment, the man turned around to catch the exchange between these two girls, one smaller and younger than the other. He looked pretty amused when he reckoned that Ruan Ruan was trying to coax a kid as he had with her earlier.

The wailing stopped as the crying turned into sniffles instead. The little girl pushed her ice cream cone toward Gu Anbao and said in a childish tone, "Thank you, big sister. I let you have my ice cream."

"Sister doesn't need the ice cream, you can keep it for yourself."

"Have a bite, please. It's nice." The girl was persistent as she held the cone to the robot's mouth.

Somewhat amused, she told the little one, "Alright, then I'll just have a bite. Will that do?"

"Okay," the little girl nodded her head solemnly and emphasized again. "It's very delicious."

She took a small bite and muttered inaudibly, "Mm, it's really nice!"

Satisfied, the girl finally walked away happily with the balloon.

She stood up and realized something was not quite right… however, she could not tell immediately what was wrong…

Just as she was fretting over this matter, she looked up to see Chen Yuheng walking over to her, looking tense.

She panicked. "I…" It feels weird…

Before she could complete the sentence, the man rushed over, scooped her into his arms and sped away!

"?!"

What happened?

Ignoring the stares from passers-by, he ran to the carpark with her in his arms. After putting her in the car, he called Cheryl as he opened the car door to the driver's seat.

"Get the maintenance department to open up a maintenance room, and get Ace to go over immediately! Tell him that Ruan Ruan has swallowed an ice cream!"

"…"

I… I didn't do it on purpose…

It slipped my mind just now… that a robot isn't supposed to eat…

The car took off with him looking highly strung! There and then, she felt that she had messed up the entire day…

Trying to reduce the tension inside the car, she whispered, "Actually, I'm feeling fine…"

Well, at least she was not feeling any adverse effect now.

He glared at her. "Can you spit it out?"

She shook her head forlornly. "It has melted… inside my mouth." After that, the liquid had flowed down the tract inside the throat…

The car sped faster at that.

Back at the office, he did not bother to park his car properly before dashing off to the maintenance department with her in his arms. By the time she was rushed haphazardly into the maintenance lab, Ace and his men were already on standby.

Everyone looked stern, especially Ace who actually appeared worse off than Chen Yuheng. He looked as if… his heart had been broken.

After carrying her to the metalwork desk, Ace heaved a long sigh of relief as he switched on the scanner.

"You terrified me… Thank goodness it was only a small water stain. It was partly absorbed by the artificial throat structure and so it isn't a big problem now. We can clean and dry the interior with a small suction tube." Wiping away the beads of cold sweat on his brow, he turned his head over his shoulder to look at his friend. "Please be more specific in the future. I thought Ruan Ruan had swallowed a full ice cream."

Looking stunned, Chen Yuheng stared at the screen with the image of the small water stain without any reaction.

"Yuheng?" Ace called out again.

Recomposing himself, he turned around to look at Ace and asked, "What about?"

"Nothing…" His friend found him odd, but could not grasp the issue. He threw a quizzical glance at him once more before ordering the technician next to him, "Start the procedure."

The manhandling ways by the maintenance department had long left a deep impression on the robot's mind!

She saw the technician pulling a tube as thick as a rubber hose over to her, and bolted upright on the lab table frantically.

How can you call this a small suction tube?!

With a smile, Ace cajoled, "Come, Ruan Ruan, open your mouth…"

She was horrified. "No, I won't!"