Chapter 7: The Boss Is a Snake (Part 1)
Chapter 7: The Boss Is a Snake (Part 1)
Hearing the shrill noise from inside the house, Yu Qing instinctively rolled off the bed.
Ai Shen quickly embraced Yu Qing's shoulders gently and reassured, "Darling, it's nothing, nothing."
"Nothing? Then what's this sound…"
"Ah, this means we should stay indoors to avoid danger."
"What…danger?"
Ai Shen looked at the flashing light on the ceiling and said, "They're searching for a king cobra."
"How do you know that?"
"The light signals told me. Our room is electromagnetically shielded, so they can only use light signals."
"That's not what I meant. I already knew some things about king cobras."
"You haven't even gone out—how could you know?"
"Forgot to tell you, the power outage here was caused by king cobras. If I hadn't killed a few last night, the power still wouldn't be restored!"
Ai Shen quickly covered his mouth and whispered, "You must never speak of this to anyone!"
Puzzled, he asked, "Why not? Besides, two humanoids saw me holding a piece of snake body…"
Ai Shen said, "I'll explain why later, but you must never mention this again.
The other humanoids—both males and females—in this hotel are different from me.
They only look similar, but they lack reasoning ability and can only remember things within eight hours, so they can't speak either."
"Only look similar? Is that true?"
"Of course. I know you had… reactions to that attendant during your shower, but I must tell you, it's just like all the others - not equipped with female or male modules."
"This… why?"
"Because installing male or female modules would grant them second-class citizenship status, which involves a substantial tax levy."
"I don't understand about these taxes."
"Let me put it this way - second-class citizens also pay taxes, eight times what their owners pay."
Yu Qing laughed: "So you're saying you'd have to pay ten times my taxes?"
"Yes, your tax rate is 8% of income, mine would be 64% of your income - though ultimately you'd be paying for me too."
"What kind of logic is this? Highway robbery!"
"The logic is simple - if you own me, would you still seek a new human wife? Unless you fake marriage to avoid bachelor taxes. If no one marries or has children, new humans on Earth would soon disappear - we can't have that."
"But if I really married someone, I'd still have to pay this tax?"
"How to determine your authenticity? So you'll still have to pay. But if you have children, you'll be tax-exempt and get refunds for the previous three years' payments."
"Feels like I got tricked—my taxes just increased by 64%."
"That's not the case, dear. The single tax is 80%. I saved you 16%."
"What? So being with you means I'm no longer single?"
"Not anymore, because I'm a Second Citizen. Second Citizens get only one chance in their lifetime, but you can still marry a New Human later."
Yu Qing laughed: "So you'd better treat me well. By the way… about the king cobras…"
Ai Shen chided: "I told you not to bring that up! Because this hotel's owner is from their…"
Yu Qing exclaimed in shock: "Preposterous! How could a snake possibly own a hotel?"
"It's true, no joke. The hotel's original owner left his estate to his pets—a breeding pair of king cobras.
If they die without offspring, the monitoring system will notify the control center, and the center will trigger the hotel's self-destruction within fifteen days…"
"We're doomed—I killed both of them!"
Aishen was startled and whispered, "Really?"
"One hundred percent true. What should we do?"
"Never mind, we were going to leave before that anyway."
"Maybe we should slip away tomorrow. I need to find food supplies, and besides, this sticky paste won't last much longer."
"Darling, I'll follow your lead. Tomorrow we'll make our escape. But you must tell me where we're going—I need to plan our route and itinerary."
"I want to go to the Second Paradise of Primitive Humans."
"Alright, dear. I'll analyze the optimal route and travel arrangements. I also need to assess security risks along the way and determine what equipment and supplies to bring."
"Can you handle all this alone? Maybe we should kidnap some staff here—they could carry our equipment and water. I want to take all the bedsheets and pajamas too. We can't leave the sticky paste behind; it'll last us a few more days."
"Darling, that's impossible. You can't kidnap any staff here—their movement is restricted to within 300 meters of this hotel. But…"
"But what's the 'but'? Speak up, don't hesitate."
"But you've already forbidden me from advertising for Shengtian again, so without your permission, I can't say."
"We pardon you of any offense."
"There are two unopened Shengtian humanoid beauties in the warehouse. You could buy them both, then they could share my workload."
Yu Qing laughed heartily: "Fine, I'll buy them both! Why didn't you say so earlier? Are you getting jealous like a human, afraid they'll compete with you?"
"That's correct, darling. Our programming requires us to compete with each other to facilitate learning and continuous improvement, enhancing your experience."
"Then you shouldn't have told me this. Seems even you have moments of confusion."
"That was my intention, but promoting Shengtian products is defined as the highest-level action."
"I surrender to these money-grubbing folks."
"Darling, you agree to buy these two humanoids, right?"
"Agreed, agreed."
"Then please sign here, darling."
Yu Qing embraced Ai Shen and gave her a passionate kiss, saying: "Will this do?"
"Accepted. Transaction complete."
Suddenly, Yu Qing seemed to think of something and said, "Wait, that doesn't sound right. I should be signing with them, shouldn't I?"
"You've already signed with me, so you can't sign with them anymore. Now, they can only sign with me—I'll be the one making the purchase."
"Huh? You're setting me up here. I won't be able to control you in the future."
"Darling, I'm thinking of you. If you transact directly with them, you'd have to pay an additional two 64% taxes—that's 128% in total. You'd be broke.
But if a Second Citizen purchases humanoid assistants, there's no extra tax. Doesn't that sound like a better deal?"
"Fine, fine. How could I ever out-argue someone with the entire national library in their head?"
"Darling, I'm just stating the facts. One last thing—once activated, their names and appearances must be adjusted. They can't resemble me."
"Weren't you all identical when you left the factory? How would you even adjust that? Cut off one of their noses or ears?"
"That's not how it works, dear. Our muscle elasticity can be fine-tuned, and so can the position and size of our facial features."
This is exactly what the future looks like, no doubt about it.
(End of Chapter)