Yi Heye then noticed the familiar luxury car parked outside the alley and his face turned cold: "Next time you hitch a ride with me, I'll make sure you don't have your hands on the steering wheel."
Jian Yunxian obediently shut her mouth again.
It was 5:30 p.m., and there was still some time before Phoenix Lane would open for business.
Yi Heye looked around and then glanced at Comrade Jian Yunxian, who was leading the sheep. He suddenly felt that the remaining few hours would be more difficult than the rest of his life.
But Jian Yunxian looked relaxed: "There's still some time. Would Mr. Yi like to have dinner with us nearby?"
Just as Yi Heye was about to refuse, he saw Xiaoyunduo freeze on the rope with a look of resistance. She even secretly glanced at him and rolled her little eyes, clearly not wanting to go shopping with Yi Heye.
Unable to resist provocation, Yi Heye instantly became enraged—he would do what it didn't want to do.
Yi Heye parked Xiaoming next to Jian Yunxian's luxury car and looked at Xiaoyun with a cold smile: "Let's go."
Little Cloud stomped its feet in anger, almost flattening the protruding bricks on the ground with two thuds, but Jian Yunxian looked pleased: "Good, that's rare indeed."
It wasn't until he turned around and Jian Yunxian's smile came into Yi Heye's view that he belatedly realized—damn it, this father and son are putting on a show and digging a hole for themselves, they're really wicked!
But the words had already been spoken, and Jian Yunxian even familiarly put his arm around Yi Heye's shoulder, so Yi Heye couldn't escape even if he wanted to.
Outside Phoenix Lane lies the busiest commercial street in the entire D district. Compared to the large, technologically advanced shops in the B district, this crowded and unplanned area is filled with a unique and vibrant local atmosphere.
These shops are doing their best to showcase their stores, with each sign along the way displaying its own unique and flamboyant style. Some stand upright, occupying half the height of a building, while others stretch out into the middle of the road, as if they want to be right in front of passersby.
It was dusk, and as the city lights began to twinkle, one after another, the neon billboards around them, each vying for attention with their own dazzling display, lit up. In an instant, the crimson sky seemed to ignite, and the street before them stretched like a long tunnel, the light following wherever they went.
Little Cloud was also attracted by the lively atmosphere. It walked around looking around, its little tail swaying back and forth, clearly showing that it was in a great mood.
There was a popcorn-making robot by the roadside, churning and popping in the darkness. It looked quite old, and its lead content was probably way too high.
Little Cloud was attracted by its sweet creamy smell and curiously moved closer. The moment its nose touched the metal body of the robot, there was a loud "bang" and the robot's forehead exploded.
Little Cloud was so frightened that it almost wet itself, its four little legs floating in mid-air as it buried its head in Jian Yunxian's arms.
Jian Yunxian was amused by him and reached out to drop a coin into the robot. The robot then happily opened its head and handed out a bag of popcorn.
Little Cloud originally didn't intend to pay attention to this naughty thing that had startled her, but the aroma of popcorn was just too tempting. So, she could only snort with her nose to express her disdain, and bravely plunge her head into the pile of popcorn.
Seeing his fat sheep so useless, Jian Yunxian could only helplessly pinch the scruff of its neck: "You should eat less junk food."
Little Cloud looked on in bewilderment as the popcorn in front of her moved further and further away, pawing at it with her hooves while wiping the crumbs off her mouth.
Looking at the father and son, Yi Heye found it somewhat amusing. Without realizing it, his mood lightened up without him even noticing.
Jian Yunxian seemed to have radar installed in his head. The moment Yi Heye smiled, he turned his head precisely and looked over: "Mr. Yi seems to be in a good mood. What a rare sight."
Yi Heye's smile froze instantly again—as long as you shut up obediently, I'll be in a good mood.
Coming to his senses, Yi Heye realized that he had actually followed these two out-of-towners for almost half a street. With the mindset of a host, Yi Heye asked, "What would you like to eat? It's on me, but we don't have anything too clean or too high-end."
The sanitation conditions on this street are very poor. Looking closely at all the shops, none of them are particularly clean.
Jian Yunxian handed the difficult question to Yi Heye: "Mr. Yi, please choose. I don't actually have any dietary restrictions."
Yi Heye raised his eyebrows and led his men straight to a shop on the second floor of the east side.
This shop looked much cleaner than the ones on the first floor, but the sign hanging high above gave off a vague sense of unease—"Spicy Noodle Shop, It's So Spicy It Will Kill You!"
Pushing open the door, Yi Heye smiled and said, "I came here because you said I didn't have any dietary restrictions. I have a strong palate and only like to eat at this restaurant."
Looking at the deserted noodle shop, Jian Yunxian felt a vague sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.
As soon as he entered, the owner greeted him—Yi Heye was right, he must be a regular here.
"Hey, leopard!"
The boss was a bearded man with an electronic prosthetic eye, a deep, gruff voice, and an overall demeanor that suggested he'd grown up in the dirty waters of District D.
"Wow! He even brought friends—holy crap, Leopard's already made friends."
Yi Heye glanced at him speechlessly, tapped the table, and gestured for him to stop talking nonsense: "The same as always."
The bearded man also turned around and glanced at Jian Yunxian: "Where's your friend?"
My friend cautiously said, "Give me the least spicy one."
The bearded man sneered, then turned to point at Yi Heye and said, "You're just bullying him."
"He said he doesn't have any dietary restrictions." Yi Heye said expressionlessly, "Say less, we have other things to do later."
The bearded man gave a long "Okay!" and turned to go into the kitchen.
At this moment, Jian Yunxian looked like a lamb lured into a wolf's den, with an innocent and bewildered expression.
Yi Heye propped his chin up and stared at him for a while, then sneered, lowered his head, turned on the projector, and idly flipped through the documents.
Sitting across from Jian Yunxian at a table, he actually felt a subtle awkwardness because he didn't know what to say.
Thinking about it, it seemed they had never actually met face-to-face like this before. Yi Heye lowered his head, absentmindedly scanning the case files.
Suddenly, Yi Heye raised his head and asked as if he remembered something, "Mr. Jian previously questioned my criteria for judging humans and machines, so I would also like to ask, in Professor Jian's eyes, what is the biggest difference between humans and machines?"
“I think it’s about human nature,” Jian Yunxian said. “It’s about good and evil, and the seven emotions and six desires.”
"In my opinion, Commander Yi's current judgment mode is like a machine, precisely analyzing the reflectivity of their eyes and the subtle processing of their expressions. It is absolutely rational and objective, yet it is also extremely easy to be blurred," Jian Yunxian said. "Human brain machine, human body computer—what would you call these things if you used your judgment method to evaluate them?"
“But if we measure it by ‘humanity,’ all of this becomes simple and easy to understand.” Jian Yunxian said with a smile, “As long as it has human thinking, no matter what its appearance is, it is all turned into a human. As long as it operates by algorithms, no matter how realistic its appearance is, it is a machine—isn’t that much simpler and more efficient?”
“But human nature is not something that can be judged by a ruler or a scale. It’s a vague concept, but it’s the most fascinating aspect that distinguishes ‘humans’ from ‘machines’.” Jian Yunxian spread his hands. “That’s very interesting. Strict judgment standards don’t have suitable scales, and precise scales don’t have solid standards behind them.”
At that moment, the sizzling sound of oil in the kitchen filled the air, and a wave of spicy aroma exploded in the room like a poison gas bomb.
Xiao Yunduo, who was sleeping on the edge of the table, was choked awake. Before she could react, white smoke rose from her forehead due to the overheating. Jian Yunxian, on the other hand, was much more composed. After coughing lightly twice, she managed to maintain her composure.
Yi Heye quietly raised his eyes, chuckled softly, and calmly entered a meditative state amidst the spicy air.
A short while later, a bowl of bright red noodles topped with chili oil was served.
Jian Yunxian frowned and pushed the bowl that was offered to her to Yi Heye.
Yi Heye raised his hand to stop him, smiling, "Yours."
Jian Yunxian looked at the thick layer of chili oil and said softly, "I wanted the least spicy one."
Yi Heye's smile remained unchanged: "This is it, eating."
A look of shock appeared in Jian Yunxian's emerald green eyes. He held his breath, broke open a bamboo chopstick, dipped it into the bowl and scooped it a few times, but still hesitated to take a bite.
Yi Heye tapped the table lightly with his fingers, his smile turning dangerously sly: "Eat up, is a robot afraid of spicy food?"
Upon hearing this, Jian Yunxian quietly put down his chopsticks and then smiled, "Mr. Yi seems to be quite unafraid of spicy food."
It took Yi Heye a moment to realize that this guy was implying he was a robot again, so he got a little angry: "I guess you can't eat spicy food?"
I invited him to eat the spiciest noodles in the entire D district so that I could observe his micro-expressions when he ate spicy food up close.
When robots are made to mimic humans, they often focus more on complex emotional responses, while these seemingly insignificant details that are closest to everyday life are often overlooked.
The simple act of eating spicy food involves many bodily reactions, and various aspects such as complexion, whites of the eyes, and facial expressions can easily reveal clues.
This was Yi Heye's way of taking a moment to test Jian Yunxian.
Seeing the person in front of him looking troubled yet stubbornly refusing to admit it, Yi Heye declared that he had won this round.
He turned to the owner and said, "Don't make the other bowl, I'll pay for it."
He turned around and moved the untouched noodles back to his own face.
“Mr. Jian, imitating humans is not an easy thing.” Yi Heye said as he picked up the special chili powder on the table and sprinkled a thick pile on the noodles. “I don’t think it’s necessary to continue to make things difficult for you. I just want to tell you that I’m not just betting on intuition. In my eyes, you are just like those machines outside, full of flaws.”
“Until your so-called ‘kernel judgment method’ comes up with a suitable standard of measurement, my set of rules will never be outdated.”
Yi Heye first took out some milk powder from his pocket and made himself a cup of milk. Then he looked up at Jian Yunxian and waved the chopsticks in his hand: "Learn how humans eat spicy food."
Yi Heye ate very quickly, but not rudely. His demeanor and expression even carried his usual indifference and dullness. Faced with such a terrifying pile of red oil in front of him, he simply buried his head without changing his expression and silently ate a whole bowl with milk.
He seems like a negative example because he looks more like a robot than a robot that pretends to eat spicy food.
But Jian Yunxian looked closely at the corners of his eyes, the tip of his nose, and his lips, noticing the slight redness from the spiciness, and his misty eyes. Unusually, she didn't tease him anymore.
Instead, she waited for him to finish eating and tidy up his things before getting up with him.
Just as he was pondering what to say, Yi Heye, who had finished eating and drinking, looked up and patted his shoulder: "Come on, let me treat you to something else."
It was as if the previous probing had never happened.
Jian Yunxian quietly observed him, only to find that this guy was even more terrifying than she had imagined.
Once outside, Jian Yunxian casually picked out some lightly flavored rice balls to fill his stomach. He had to admit that Yi Heye's visit had made him lose his appetite, but it had also made him even more excited for this competition.
At this moment, night completely fell, and the lively nightlife of District D began to emerge.
After the two walked out of the porridge shop, a group of strangely dressed people crowded in front of them. Some had rainbow-colored hair, others wore smoky makeup, and they were all carrying broken guitars and basses, while others were carrying speakers and drums.
The leader was a short-haired girl wearing a crop top and high-waisted pants, covered in studs. She held a microphone and sang a strange song as she walked conspicuously through the crowd.
The little cloud took a step back in fear, but couldn't resist peeking out to take another look.
Yi Heye said, "This is a street band, a loud band that disrupts the streets. You could also think of them as street beggars, all of them are mentally unstable poor bastards."
This assessment is indeed true. Following behind them was a guy carrying a large sack, asking people for "tickets." Some people who wanted to watch the show would toss in a few coins, but if they didn't want to pay, this guy would just grab them by the collar and hurl a string of dirty insults at them.
After all that scrambling and robbing, I only managed to collect a small layer of coins after walking half a street.
When the sack was extended in front of Yi Heye, Jian Yunxian thought he was going to take the initiative and stuff him into the sack. Unexpectedly, he seemed to have prepared for this and took out a large denomination banknote from somewhere and threw it in.
Jian Yunxian looked over in surprise. Yi Heye raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "I used to be that kind of trash too. At least they could perform some kind of art. Back then, I relied purely on robbery."
After saying these words so casually, Yi Heye turned around.
Jian Yunxian then sized up his back view—this guy's clothes, though not extravagant, were quite appropriate and clean, making him look nothing like someone who frequents the D district. Even when he dyed his hair and got his ears pierced with this group of thugs, he chose the freshest colors and the most understated styles.
He had a very innocent appearance, and at first glance, he shouldn't have been here at all. But if you looked into his eyes for a few more seconds, you would find that his crimson eyes were covered by a thick layer of gray that could only be seen in the lower world.
He's the kind of person who's afraid to be here, yet was born here anyway.
After nightfall, the street became dazzlingly bright.
With the opening time of Phoenix Alley fast approaching, Yi Heye still hadn't figured out what reason to use to approach those guys—the men and women selling themselves on this street were all very shrewd, and you definitely wouldn't get any information just by asking questions.
This made Yi Heye a little anxious. As he pondered this, he weaved through the crowd and almost lost Jian Yunxian, who was unfamiliar with the place.
Turning around, Yi Heye realized that the person hadn't followed him, and belatedly retraced his steps to look for them. He then saw Jian Yunxian squatting by the roadside, prying open Xiao Yunduo's mouth: "Spit it out, you can't eat that."
Little Cloud pretended to be silly and continued chewing with her cheeks puffed out: "Crunch crunch."
Jian Yunxian: "If you swallow this, I won't give you any food tomorrow."