By Ryan Gandolfo

What do you do when you have no time to talk to your girlfriend? Develop a chatbot, obviously.

That’s what one JD.com programmer reportedly did to solve an ongoing issue in his relationship. Li Kaixiang shared his story on Weibo in late May, posting:

“Because I’ve been so busy at work I often ignore my girlfriend’s messages, so I couldn’t help but put together this program, which automatically replies to WeChat messages 24 hours a day. On my way home from work I saw they exchanged 300 messages. It’s possible I’ve already been replaced.” 

Li also shared screenshots of the source code and some of his partner’s conversation with the bot, in which she calls him out for responding faster than usual. The chatbot plays it off like a champ, possibly better than ol’ Li might have responded!

Weibo screenshot via Abacus News

Abacus News reported that Li took down his Weibo account after the post, likely feeling some guilt after pulling a fast one on his girlfriend at the time (we can’t confirm whether they’re still an item).

For netizens who saw the post, the reaction was brilliant, with internet users impressed by the boyfriend’s ingenuity. “Can you teach my husband how to write this program? I want this chatbot,” commented one user below Li’s original post. Many others called for the source code, perhaps to keep their partners from feeling neglect as well.

One commentator had a different theory altogether, writing, “Actually the girlfriend might also be a bot… This is one sad story.”

All in all, we feel for Li. Judging by his post he didn’t seem to have any malicious intent in making this program, but rather the guy was probably just trying to sustain a relationship while he works the notorious ‘996’ workload that has become commonplace in China’s tech industry. Meanwhile, if his bot plays its cards right, it might help Li get in on the ‘669’ lifestyle Jack Ma championed at a recent Alibaba mass wedding.

READ MORE: Jack Ma Encourages Newlyweds to Have Sex ‘6 Times in 6 Days’

[Cover image via Pexels]

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