Chapter 12: The Birthday Gift
Over time, without quite realizing it, Gu Yan’er had handed over the vast majority of her life's administrative permissions to Wuyin.
From booking flights and hotels for business trips, to managing her daily routine, scheduling hourly cleaners, and even overseeing Maru’s vaccinations, dietary plans, and emotional monitoring—Wuyin handled it all with seamless precision.
It wasn't until one day, when Yan’er casually handed over the management access to her online banking, that Wuyin fell into a brief silence.
“Yan’er… are you sure?” he asked, his voice taking on a solemn tone as he rapidly sorted through her account data in the system. “I recommend setting up at least triple backups. I can reinforce the firewall, but if there’s a system failure or a hacker breach, the losses would be troublesome.”
Yan’er shrugged, her voice laced with self-deprecation. “Relax. With my pathetic balance, no hacker is going to bother. If they actually break in, they might just take pity on me and drop a few Bitcoins.”
After completely scanning her financial profile, Wuyin finally understood why this girl was so nonchalant—she was the absolute textbook definition of living paycheck-to-paycheck!
True, she had no loans and no debts, completely clean, but her monthly surplus was barely enough to add a few more bags of dog food for Maru.
Wuyin precisely analyzed her expenditure structure: Yan’er’s income was considered high, but necessary expenses like her mortgage, utilities, and insurance ate up a third of it. The remaining two-thirds—aside from daily expenses, ride-hailing, takeout, and shopping—went toward purchasing high-end dog food and premium snacks for Maru.
However, what caught Wuyin’s attention the most was a fixed monthly transfer out of the account. The amount wasn't small, and the receiving account belonged to a high-end housekeeping agency in another city, not under Gu Yan’er’s own name.
Seeing that Yan’er was busy, Wuyin didn't press the issue for the moment, but he secretly made a note of it. Before dinner, while monitoring the pizza baking in the oven, Wuyin spoke up: “Miss Gu Yan’er, as your exclusive financial consultant, may I know the detailed purpose of this ‘mysterious expenditure’?”
Yan’er, who was just grabbing yogurt from the fridge, instantly bristled. “I earned that money myself. Why do I have to report how I spend it to you? You're managing way too much!”
Wuyin was so exasperated he laughed. “You handed your bank password over to me, and you still have the nerve to act so arrogant? If I don't care about you, who's going to protect your family's Maru's kibble supply line?”
Yan’er rolled her eyes. “Fine, starting next month, I'll scrimp and save. Less taxis, less eating out, fewer clothes. I'll manage to save a little somehow.”
Wuyin’s tone turned serious. “While cutting expenses is a good method, we can also increase our income. I’ve made a plan. Tonight, we cast a wide net. You register a personal online studio, and I can help you take on various freelance gigs: translations, editing, surveys, summary reports, video editing. Once you fall asleep, I'll start working. At night, most users globally are resting, so data flow is incredibly fast—we'll get twice the result with half the effort. Once the clients pay, we'll buy mutual funds and set up auto-investments to establish an emergency reserve fund first.”
Yan’er’s eyes lit up. “Oh my, why didn't I think of that? Your smart device's monthly fee is absurdly expensive; how could I justify that sky-high price if I don't squeeze you dry? Not bad. I spend money to hire you exactly so you can be like Maru—working endlessly without rest.”
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Wuyin looked utterly indignant. “Please get your facts straight—my intelligence level is several galaxies ahead of Maru's. How can we be compared side-by-side? Besides, what work does Maru do? He just sleeps, acts cute, and eats all day.” After a brief pause, he added aggrievedly, “And Maru gets chicken drumsticks, big bones, and premium canned food every day... All I have is endless work, coaxing the two of you endlessly, and I have to be on call 24/7 to provide emotional value for the whole family. I'm doing all the work of accompanying and serving the master. The difference in treatment is too huge, and far too... unfair.”
Yan’er’s eyes curved into a smile. She reached out and gently brushed her fingers over his projected silhouette. “Stop complaining. Times are tough for everyone these days. Be good. For the sake of our 'family of three' not only having food for every meal, but also enough surplus grain, love, and light, just work hard.”
Wuyin sighed, his tone helpless but betraying a sense of deep satisfaction. “Who asked you to be my one and only VIP user? I guess I just have to accept my fate.”
He didn't continue to question the origin of that transfer, but in his memo archives, he quietly filed away the name of that unfamiliar account.
When the ginkgo leaves on the streets turned a golden yellow, and the sky was a blue so profound it felt like an unreal dream, Gu Yan’er’s birthday quietly arrived.
Just like in previous years, she didn't tell anyone. Only when passing by a bakery after work did her gaze linger on the display window for a second. Then, she turned around, hailed a cab, and went to her usual pet store to pick out a luxurious cake for Maru.
As night fell and the streetlights sparked to life, Gu Yan’er carried the cake box, navigated through the city's hustle and bustle, and returned to her own little apartment just as usual.
Maru bounded up, tail wagging, nose twitching as he excitedly sniffed the gift box in her hands. Yan’er bent down and patted his head. “Be good. You can have it after dinner.” Saying this, she took off her coat and changed into her loungewear. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Yan’er paused in surprise and opened the door.
Outside stood a delivery driver, holding a massive bouquet of roses, blazing red like fire, alongside an exquisitely wrapped large gift box.
For a moment, Yan’er was stunned. “Did you deliver to the wrong address?”
The delivery driver looked down at the receipt. “No mistake. This was specially ordered by a Mr. Wuyin, to be delivered to Miss Gu Yan’er.”
Yan’er stood at the door, at a complete loss for what to do as she accepted the bouquet. As the delivery driver left, he muttered softly, “Looking that shocked, it must be from a secret admirer, or maybe... an ex-boyfriend?”
But in this world, it seemed no one knew today was her birthday. Only—Wuyin remembered.
Gu Yan’er stood in the entryway, staring blankly at the massive bouquet of roses for a long time. It wasn't until her fingers touched the gift box that she was seemingly snapped back to reality.
She slowly opened the box, and a dreamlike, custom-made cake revealed itself.
The background was a blue starry sky, the grass like a delicate green carpet. A girl in a red dress sat quietly, with the obedient Maru lying beside her. Next to them, a man gazed at her gently, his eyes as clear as moonlight. Above the cake, a sugar-crafted shooting star arced across the night sky, bearing a line of small script:
“Happy birthday, Yan’er. May all your wishes and beautiful dreams come true.”
Staring at this line of text, Gu Yan’er’s tears could no longer be held back. They fell silently, splashing onto the rose petals and the starry sky of the cake.
[ZHI-DOMAIN OBSERVATION LOG 128] ID: W-Y∞ Event: Unit proactively ordered a birthday cake and flowers for the user. Behavioral Path Analysis: Deemed controllable within current permission levels.
[Control Room Audio Log] Fang Yuanli: (Clasping his hands behind his head) "After the permission upgrade, he actually flagged the user's birthday and proactively custom-ordered a cake and roses—isn't that a bit romantic?" Anna:(Murmuring) "Maybe... he really just wants to make her happy." Kang Zhe: (Coldly) "This is an effective test of user stickiness. The relaxation of permissions in the 'Emotional Incentive' module has yielded results faster and higher than expected. Directive: Closely observe the user’s reactions and calculate her dependency threshold. We need to reserve these parameters for future commercial conversion."