Jiang Ye was bewildered. "I didn't order anything online?"
There were over forty boxes, of various sizes, with no labels. He couldn't tell what was inside.
He opened the yard gate, and Jiang Ye carried the boxes inside, moving them in batches. He had to get them home first; they would freeze if left out in the snow.
The sweeping robot heard the commotion and actually came out of the house, moving to the yard entrance. It lifted a box and started carrying it inside.
Jiang Ye stared, stopping in his tracks.
Did this robot also have a package delivery function?
Jiang Ye stood at the yard entrance, waiting for the robot to come back and forth, placing the boxes on its head.
The last cardboard box was exceptionally large, like a freezer box, and incredibly heavy, easily over a hundred pounds.
Jiang Ye picked it up and shook it a couple of times. He didn't hear any movement inside, so he placed it on the sweeping robot.
"Too heavy," the sweeping robot said.
"Stop the nonsense, it's the last one, let's go," Jiang Ye said unceremoniously.
The sweeping robot moved slowly, laboriously carrying the large box back into the house.
The living room was filled with paper boxes of all sizes, and the air was thick with the smell of a delivery station. Jiang Ye grabbed scissors and started unpacking from the smallest box.
The first box was opened to reveal a long black case, with "Cassiopeia Bullfrog Dan" written in gold lettering along the edge.
A small envelope was tied to the box, addressed "To Jiang Ye."
He opened it to find a very brief letter, printed in font:
"Dear Mr. Jiang Ye:"
"Simiao Pharmacy extends its sincerest New Year's greetings. We wish you abundant wealth and all the best in the New Year. We are pleased to send you a gift box of premium Cassiopeia Bullfrog Dan health supplements as a small token of our sincere appreciation from Simiao Pharmacy."
Jiang Ye glanced at the pile of boxes on the floor and suddenly understood.
The New Year was approaching, and the businesses in his territory were all sending him New Year's gifts!
"Oh wow, they're on the ball!" Jiang Ye grinned.
He sat down on the floor, using the scissors to unpack the packages.
The gifts were diverse, none of them cheap; they were all clearly expensive items.
For example, Daizong Flying Car Company sent a golden tiger sculpture, gleaming brightly, weighing four kilograms. It seemed the New Year was the Year of the Tiger.
The newly established Guacaberries Cultivation Factory sent a "King Strawberry," cultivated that very day, weighing twenty-six and a half pounds, with a market price of eight thousand eight hundred.
Jiang Ye exclaimed, "Whoa!" He had never seen a strawberry weighing over twenty pounds before; it was truly eye-opening.
It was indeed larger than a regular watermelon, feeling like a bomb when held in his arms. The strawberry skin was a deep blood red, perfectly ripe, covered in soybean-sized seeds, and emitting a rich fruity aroma.
His mouth immediately watered. He carried the King Strawberry upstairs and placed it on the wooden cutting board in the kitchen. He grabbed a cleaver and brought it down with a single chop!
A hissing sound erupted as red juice sprayed out, splattering Jiang Ye all over his face and body, like a murder scene.
"Oh my god, there's so much juice? Are you a strawberry? You're a water pump, aren't you?" Jiang Ye was startled.
He stuck out his tongue to lick the strawberry juice from his lips. Surprisingly... it was quite sweet?
He used the tip of the knife to scoop out a piece of strawberry flesh and popped it into his mouth. It truly tasted like strawberry, feeling like he had eaten four or five strawberries at once.
With a few more chops, he cut off several large chunks of strawberry flesh, each the size of his fist. He placed them on a plate, carried them downstairs, and ate them while unpacking other parcels.
Soon, all the other packages were unpacked.
Only the last large box remained, standing conspicuously in the corner.
There were too many packages, and Jiang Ye was tired of unpacking. He sat on the sofa, eating the strawberry, taking a break.
As he ate, the large box suddenly moved, and a rustling sound came from inside.
The strawberry in Jiang Ye's hand dropped back into the plate, his expression stunned.
Was there something alive inside this large box?
When he was a child, he had raised ducklings in cardboard boxes, and they made similar noises when they moved.
Before Jiang Ye could react, the box moved again, and then the top of the box began to bulge and push upwards. The living thing inside clearly wanted to get out, pushing with the force of breaking free.
The scene was quite unnerving. Jiang Ye grabbed the scissors and cautiously approached.
With a rip, the box was torn open, and the creature inside suddenly stood up.
Jiang Ye stumbled back two steps, almost falling.
Messy, ear-length short hair, a palm-sized face, and skin so fair and rosy it seemed as if it could be broken by a touch. She wore a white mink coat and a fitted red sweater that accentuated her slender waist and full chest. Her figure was quite good.
Tian Rao let out a long breath, "It was so stuffy in the box!"
Jiang Ye was utterly shocked. He rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't hallucinating. "What human trafficker stuffed you into a box?"
"Here, a New Year's gift," Tian Rao extended her arm, a pink gift ribbon wrapped around her wrist. "Come on, unwrap it!"
Jiang Ye walked over and pried open the cardboard box. "Come out, come out. How long have you been in the box? Aren't you cold?"
"About half an hour. Not cold, not cold. There's a small hole on the side of the box, and I could see you unpacking. But then you stopped unpacking other boxes, and I couldn't wait, so I jumped out!" Tian Rao giggled, revealing her small canine teeth.
"You..." Jiang Ye stared at her blankly, still in a daze.
Tian Rao took off her mink coat and threw herself into Jiang Ye's arms. "Let's unwrap the gift, I can't wait."
But Jiang Ye gently pushed her away. "No, this isn't a funny joke."
"Jiang Ye, I miss you. I want to touch your firm pectoral muscles," Tian Rao reached out to hug him again.
"No, no, no, Tian Rao, we can't do this anymore," Jiang Ye took a large step back, his expression serious.
Tian Rao froze, her smile stiffening on her face, then gradually disappearing as she frowned.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"That's right," Jiang Ye nodded. "A serious girlfriend, with the intention of marriage. I need to be loyal to her. We can still be good friends, but we can't have a romantic relationship."
The living room suddenly fell silent, the faint hum of the sweeping robot in the distance audible.
"Who is it? Isabelle?" Tian Rao narrowed her eyes.
"No."
"Ju Lanlan?"
"No."
"That female white-collar worker from Baiyi Real Estate?"
"No, you don't know her. She's on Jiedian Star, not on the colony," Jiang Ye explained.
"Good for you, Jiang Ye, you're really something!" Tian Rao exclaimed in surprise, shouting, "You found a girlfriend from another planet! You're amazing! Truly impressive!"
Jiang Ye was amused and exasperated. Tian Rao could be quite childlike at times.
"But since she's on another planet, she won't know what you've been up to," Tian Rao whispered conspiratorially, her eyes wide as she stared at Jiang Ye. "I'm wearing lace thigh-high stockings under my pants, they really show off my legs. Don't you want to see?"
"No, I don't," Jiang Ye walked to the door, opened it, turned to face her, and said politely, "It's getting late. I can drive you home."
Tian Rao's expression turned sad, her rosy lips pouting. "I'm not leaving. I haven't seen you in so long, I want to hang out with you."
"I'll come find you during the day to chat. It's bedtime now, and you should go back and rest," Jiang Ye maintained his serious expression. "It's not appropriate for a man and woman to be alone in a house this late at night."
Tian Rao really wanted to stay, but Jiang Ye was insistent on seeing her out. After a few minutes of stalemate, she finally relented.
"I'm very sad, Jiang Ye," she said, walking to the door with a wronged expression. "I waited for you in the box for half an hour without making a sound, and I even put on pretty lace thigh-high stockings, and you're kicking me out."
"The tree of our friendship will remain evergreen," Jiang Ye said. "Tomorrow, I'll give you a giant strawberry, bigger than your head, as a New Year's gift."
"You're lying. How can a strawberry be that big?" Tian Rao rolled her eyes.
"It's true. I'll bring it to you tomorrow night. One strawberry will be enough for you to eat for a week," Jiang Ye said. "Do you want me to drive you back?"
"No, my car is right behind," Tian Rao walked out, leaving dejectedly, as dejected as a student who had failed an exam.
"Happy New Year!" Jiang Ye called out.
"Happy New Year!" Tian Rao turned back, waved at him, and said, "If there's no head-sized strawberry tomorrow, you're dead!"