Chapter 1039 Five Minutes
Iris thought for a moment before making a decision. "Bacon, hold on for five more minutes."
"Mother, Bacon might not last that long because I'm feeling too angry at Eagle for wasting my time when I want to assist Father and Uncle Zihao at the hotel as soon as possible and make sure that they're both safe. Targeting Father and Jin Corporation at the same time is not classy at all."
"I'll give you a red packet if you manage to hold on for five more minutes."
The black cat AI paused and considered his mother's offer for a couple of seconds before asking, "How much will be in the red packet?"
"1,000 US dollars."
"Bacon wants 10,000 US dollars."
Despite the gravity of the entire situation, Iris couldn't help but chuckle when her AI son threw a counter offer. Bacon was indeed her son—shameless to the core when it came to family. Grandpa Lu's teaching permeated their entire family.
"No, Bacon. You're the one who needs my help. 2,000 dollars."
"5,000 dollars?"
"Bacon." There was a warning tone in her voice but she wasn't really mad. Not at all.
Jin Liwei was the strict parent, not her. She was just pretending to be displeased to see how far her AI son would continue countering her offers.
After Bacon's shocking meltdown earlier with his father, Iris had already decided to cooperate with her husband to raise Bacon to become less obsessed with money.
"2,500 dollars?" Bacon made another counter offer.
Despite her determination to re-educate her AI son, Iris still couldn't resist Bacon especially since he looked so adorable as a black kitten. In the end, she gave in to him.
"Fine. Just make sure to hold on for an exact five minutes. If not, no red packet for you. Understood?"
"Yes, Mother. Bacon understands."
"The five minutes starts now."
A timer appeared at the bottom corner of the dashboard monitor showing a countdown of five minutes which quickly turned into 4:59 and so on.
Beside the stone-faced Bacon who had a slightly pleased look in his golden eyes, his sister Ketchup wiggled her fluffy white butt and started blinking imploringly at their mother.
"Mommy, the cute and mighty Ketchup also wants a red packet! Ketchup wants the same exact amount as my little kitty brother Bacon—2,500 dollars! Meow~"
"Alright. But you have to continue defending Jin Corporation and not allow any breaches after I go assist your brother later. For now, I'll fortify the company's security system and make it more robust while dealing damage to Eagle's team of hackers and hopefully trace their identities or origins as well. If you can do that, I'll also give you a red packet."
"Aye aye, Mommy! The cute and mighty Ketchup will make sure to do my super-duper bestest to defend Daddy's company from all these Eagle poopoo-heads and earn 2,500 dollars from Mommy! Meow~"
Bacon glanced at his excited older sister and had the urge to hiss at her but restrained himself so as not to upset their pregnant mother. He felt a little annoyed that his Big sister Ketchup was also getting the same benefits as him when he was the one who worked so hard to negotiate with their mother just now.
However, he had no time to complain about it because he was truly having a difficult time dealing with this other Eagle team that was more aggressive than normal. Only five minutes. If he could just hold on for five minutes, the 2,500 US dollars will be deposited to his bank account. This incentive alone was enough to push him into overdrive with 100% laser focus.
Sitting not far away from Iris, Jin Chonglin was gaping at her and the AI cats on the dashboard monitor with a dazed expression. It seemed that he still hadn't recovered from his earlier shock.
During the mother and AI cat children's negotiation earlier, Jin Chonglin opened and closed his mouth many times but was unable to interrupt them because the entire situation dealt a huge blow to his normal brain.
When he looked at Dominic Chua, the guy was nonchalantly preparing snacks and drinks for Iris while she worked on her laptop. Dominic looked like all of these things including the unbelievably lifelike conversations with the AI kittens were normal occurrences to him. Even the driver at the front was the same.
In short, only Jin Chonglin looked like his soul had flown out of his mortal body. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind and make sense of everything that was happening right now. Then he glanced outside the tinted windows and saw several men and women loitering a few steps away from the vehicle.
"Hm?" He looked closer and recognized a couple of men as people who followed Lu Zihao.
They were all wearing regular clothes and acting as if they were just a bunch of buddies hanging out together. However, if one looked more closely like what Jin Chonglin was doing, it would be clear from the way they positioned themselves and how they always had the vehicle in their sight that something must be going on.
Jin Chonglin opened his mouth, about to inform the others about the people outside, but eventually changed his mind and stayed silent instead upon seeing how busy Iris was in hacking.
Dom was also hard at work holding the water bottle and straw for Iris so that she could stay hydrated without stopping her work. The guy would also wipe the perspiration beading on her forehead and neck.
All Jin Chonglin could do was sigh and let the two do their own thing. Since he recognized two of the individuals as Lu Zihao's people, then the group must have been sent by his Big Bro Jin Liwei's fifth brother to protect them, or more specifically, to protect Iris Long. He was just an addition. The priority would always be Iris Long and the baby she was carrying.
Then all of sudden, there was a low buzz.
"Mother, the five minutes are up," the black cat AI announced.
"Good job holding on, Bacon," Iris replied.
"Thank you, Mother. Please don't forget Bacon's red packet of 2,500 dollars."