Against the Algorithm

Chapter 54: Given, Not Owed

"Barely."

"You're welcome."

Sicheng, from the front, glanced at her reflection in the mirror, eyes flicking toward the faint smile tugging at her lips. It was small. But it was there. He leaned back in his seat, one hand resting casually on the armrest, the other curled near the center console.

Yue yawned behind them. "I call the good couch when we get there."

"You always call the good couch."

"Because I deserve the good couch."

Yao hummed lightly. "We should give it to Da Bing."

"Traitor."

But his voice was fading now, lulled by the hum of the tires and the rhythm of the city. The quiet in the car settled again—not awkward, not tired. Just peaceful. And behind them, the Lu parents disappeared down another road, knowing exactly what they had left in motion.

The car pulled up to the ZGDX base just after midday, the familiar concrete façade and dark-tinted windows welcoming them back like the walls themselves had been waiting. The gates slid open smoothly, the security system already logged with their return, and the moment the vehicle rolled to a stop, Yue groaned theatrically from the back seat. "Home," he muttered. "My overpriced cave of caffeine, chaos, and judgment."

Sicheng ignored him, already out of the car and retrieving their bags with the same ease he handled pressure in a match—controlled, efficient, and completely unwilling to let anyone else carry anything, especially the travel safe Yao had quietly tried to reclaim three times during the trip.

Yao stepped out next, stretching lightly as the breeze caught her hair. She glanced toward the front entrance, half expecting Rui to be waiting with a clipboard and a schedule.

The doors slid open.

And out stormed Da Bing.

All thirty-five pounds of fluff and rage, his massive white Siberian frame gliding across the stone like a cloud of vengeance with blue eyes that blazed with judgment. Right behind him, at a slightly more erratic but no less dramatic pace, came Xiao Cong, the gray-striped Maine Coon kitten who had clearly inherited every drop of indignation his older counterpart had bottled up for the past two days.

Yao froze mid-step. "Oh no."

Da Bing stopped a few feet in front of her, tail lashing once, ears flattened against his wide skull as he glared. Not meowed. Not purred.

Glared.

Xiao Cong skidded to a stop beside him, his oversized kitten paws awkward but determined as he tilted his head and gave a small, sharp chirp of betrayal. His gray eyes shimmered with disappointment so potent it was almost operatic.

"Ohhh, you are in trouble." Yue poked his head out of the car and laughed.

Sicheng raised an eyebrow, calmly slinging his duffle bag over one shoulder and resting her travel safe carefully in his other arm. "Better you than me."

"Da Bing..." Yao sighed, crouching slowly as the large white mass of betrayal narrowed his eyes.

Nothing.

He just sat, one massive paw lifting slowly—deliberately—before swiping it across the pavement in a motion so clearly passive-aggressive it should've come with subtitles: HOW DARE YOU.

Xiao Cong mirrored him, only to dramatically flop over onto his side as if he had been abandoned by the only humans he had ever loved.

"I was gone for two days." she muttered.