The early stages of Zeroth Law primarily recounted the story of how the scientist Chu Wen interacted with the little robot, Qi.

How could this robot claim to possess love? In Chu Wen’s view, its “love” must have been assembled from a collection of individual instructions. 

For instance, Chu Wen discovered that after only a few days of cohabitation, the robot consistently prepared dishes that he himself preferred. He then recorded this in his data: “May be specially coded to observe the master’s preferred meals and attempt to prepare them in the future.”

In short, this “love,” in Chu Wen’s opinion, was simply fabricated by individual action commands. Humans express love in vastly different ways; how could robots possess love? All they possessed were behaviors they were instructed to perform.

However, despite knowing this deep down, when faced with a situation where he was genuinely “loved,” Chu Wen couldn’t help but fall.

Who could resist such a gentle trap?

Its goodness towards you was meticulous, making you feel constantly cherished deep in its heart. Whenever you looked at it, it was always looking at you, with such ardent yet shy eyes, and once your gazes met, it would instantly turn away.

Knowing perfectly well that this might be a program executed by pre-arranged instructions, knowing perfectly well that the other was merely a machine that would execute digital commands, yet when you woke up every morning and suddenly found this beautiful person curled up obediently in your arms, then looking at you with those eyes as bright as stars, Chu Wen, who had lost his parents from a young age and had never experienced any affection, completely fell.

After falling, came self-doubt and denial, a desire to struggle and abandon these unrealistic emotions. Thus, he became irritable, ordered the robot not to appear before him, and even entertained the thought of sending it back to the original factory.

The ending of Zeroth Law is that Chu Wen finally understands that his little robot’s love for him was not manipulated by individual action codes, but was deeply engraved in its chip. 

It surpassed the Three Laws, becoming the supreme Zeroth Law, and even killed a person for him, ultimately leading to its forced destruction by the Robot Association.

The First Law of Robotics dictates that the life safety of any human individual must be protected. But when Chu Wen’s competitor hired a killer to run him over, the little robot in the passenger seat blocked the impact with its body—this still didn’t violate the First Law. However, the killer still didn’t give up and got out of the car with a gun.

At this point, Chu Wen was already disoriented from the car accident and couldn’t possibly escape. He watched, dazed, as his robot shielded him, blocking bullets for him repeatedly.

This still didn’t violate the First Law.

Until the killer walked up, kicked the robot aside, and pressed the gun to Chu Wen’s forehead. Life was about to end in the next second; as soon as the killer pulled the trigger, his life would be over. 

In his dying moments, Chu Wen felt little emotion. He didn’t think about his unfinished experiments, nor did he hate the ruthless competitor. His only regret was having ignored Qi and deliberately treated it coldly for much of the past.

Then, he heard a gunshot. It wasn’t him who fell, but the killer.

—Qi, having been kicked aside, activated its defense mechanism and, with one shot, killed this unfamiliar killer.

At this point, it had completely violated the First Law of Robotics.

Robots must protect the life safety of any human individual; they cannot kill, under any circumstances, they absolutely cannot kill. But Qi killed a person. Although it could have just stunned this person or shot their gun-holding wrist, it still killed the other party.

The Robot Association took this incident very seriously. They had already taken Qi away while Chu Wen was hospitalized and unconscious. The final result of their deliberation and research was to destroy all love robots produced by this company because they were already considered extremely dangerous robots.

The last scene the crew was about to shoot for wrap-up wasn’t in script order; it was a reshoot of a scene from the earlier stages of their interaction. At that time, Chu Wen had begun to feel uneasy, having developed unusual feelings for this little robot. So, he ordered it not to appear before him anymore, and they slept in separate rooms.

In the huge house, he was suddenly alone again. The house was big and empty. If the little robot didn’t want to appear before Chu Wen, it was particularly simple; there were always places it could hide. Although he knew the other was a robot and didn’t actually need to sleep, Chu Wen still arranged a room for it, a room very far from his own bedroom.

This day, Chu Wen finished work and returned home. There were no lights on in the house. He washed up as usual and returned to his room to rest.

On set, footsteps echoed continuously. Lights turned on one by one as Qin Cheng walked, and then turned off one by one behind him. Qin Cheng opened the door and entered the bedroom. The camera immediately followed him, giving him a close-up.

His deep, complex gaze was fixed intently on a distant door. He stared seriously for a long time, his fingers gripping the doorknob, making it creak. But in the end, he pursed his lips, turned to enter the room, and closed the door with a thud.

He wanted to see the little robot, but he had to restrain himself, prohibiting this action.

However, Chu Wen would never know that the moment he closed his bedroom door, the distant door would open. The little robot would tiptoe over, walk to his bedroom door, and obediently sit on the floor, hugging its knees, pressing its ear to the door, listening to the faint sounds from within.

Its head tilted to one side, just quietly listening like this, in the cold dark night, on countless nights, just sitting obediently on the ground, separated by a door, listening to the sounds from inside. The soundproofing of the door was too good; most of the time, it couldn’t hear anything. But whenever it heard even a slight sound, even a tiny cough, its gem-like eyes would suddenly light up.

Chu Wen ignored Qi for a full 146 days, so Qi sat at that doorway for 130 days. For 16 of those days, Chu Wen didn’t go home but worked in his studio.

For Qi, the only life it could have in contact with this man was sitting at the door, listening to the sounds from the room. Most nights, it couldn’t hear a single sound. However, just thinking that the person was behind that door, only a few meters away, it couldn’t help but smile.

This love, etched deep in its chip, had reached a nearly humble level.

But there was no other choice, because its sole purpose of existence was to love him.

In the center of the set, when the delicate and gentle young man sat on the cold tile floor, hugging his knees and leaning gently against the door, the air seemed to gradually quiet down. Rong Xu lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze unfocused on the ground. Suddenly, he seemed to hear something, and his eyes widened abruptly, undisguised surprise flashing across his face.

But the next moment, a hint of shock suddenly flashed in his eyes. Before he could react, the large door behind him was suddenly pulled open. Chu Wen, holding a water glass, was abruptly startled. He slowly lowered his head, looking at the little robot sitting in front of his door.

Immediately standing up and quickly apologizing, the little robot kept repeating “I’m sorry,” endlessly, seemingly afraid that the other person would truly abandon him. 

However, the next second, the glass cup shattered on the ground. Qi stared blankly at the shards of glass all over the floor, then looked up, and his lips were sealed by the other person’s.

The fiery, frantic kiss came too suddenly. The man forcefully pushed the robot in front of him to the ground, kissing it unrestrainedly. He caressed the soft, tender skin that felt just like human skin. His hand reached into its clothes, touching the one who had almost tormented him to death.

When the kiss ended, tears welled up in the young man’s eyes. Even knowing that these tears might have been activated by some command, the man gave a self-mocking laugh, pressing down on the robot, and asked in a hoarse voice, “…Do you like me?”

When the word “like” suddenly appeared, no one noticed that the little robot’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Like Wen… really like Wen.”

The man looked down at the little robot beneath him, whose face was full of adoration. His eyes were filled with complex emotions. After a long while, he chuckled softly, “Good… that’s enough.”

The kiss fell once again. Many staff members had already been cleared from the set, leaving only about twenty. They watched Qin Cheng kiss the young man beneath him with an almost devout tenderness, as if he were treating the most precious treasure, lovingly kissing the tears that spilled from the corners of his eyes, his touch equally gentle.

And the robot’s love was performed by Rong Xu to perfection. His eyes held only Qin Cheng, as if he truly deeply loved this person, loved him to his bones, and thus would sink with the other into the abyss.

When this scene was finished, the film was officially wrapped. A staff member couldn’t help but exclaim, “Qin and Rong’s acting is truly amazing. They’re so good, I really thought they were deeply in love!”

This comment happened to be overheard by Clemens, who was passing by. The blond director snorted dismissively.

Acting?

That was just them being themselves! How could it not be good?!

Regardless, Zeroth Law was finally wrapped. On the same day the film was completely finished, Sr. Holt had Clemens begin the promotion work. 

Initially, Clemens was quite unwilling: “I’m about to start filming a new movie, Lance, I simply don’t have time to promote your film.” Moreover, why should he help a competitor promote their film?

However, Sr. Holt waved his arm: “Your mother has already found ten beautiful boys for you to go on blind dates with, dear Clemens. You can choose to help me and gain my support, or not help me, and I’d be happy to help your mother drag you back to Washington.”

Clemens: “@#%#^$!#$!!!”

Sr. Holt was eager to promote the film, first, because Zeroth Law‘s special effects had been in preparation for years, and post-production would be very fast, estimated to be released in September. 

Second, as Qin Cheng said, Rong Xu would be releasing a new album globally on May 20th. This was an excellent promotional opportunity that Sr. Holt wouldn’t miss.

At the wrap party, many female staff members gathered together, saying with indignant regret: “Why couldn’t we watch Rong’s bed scene? We’ll see many clips after the movie comes out anyway, and it’s not like it’s full nudity. I really wanted to see Rong’s bed scene, I heard it’s especially, especially alluring!”

A staff member asked, “Don’t you want to see Qin’s bed scene?”

The female staff member immediately waved her hand: “Of course Qin is especially handsome, but he’s shot bed scenes before! Only Rong, he’s never shot one. I really, really want to see it!”

Regardless, the filming of this movie, which spanned five months, was now completely finished. After dinner, everyone said their goodbyes one by one. When Clemens said goodbye to Rong Xu, he said with an annoyed expression, “My parents are very eager to find me a partner recently.”

Qin Cheng raised an eyebrow, subtly shielding his beloved behind him.

Clemens calmly said, “I won’t steal your thunder, why think so much? Rong Xu is indeed my type, but I have no interest in taking someone else’s love. I just wanted to ask…” Saying this, Clemens looked at Rong Xu and said, “Do you have any good people to introduce to me? I like Chinese people. My mother will definitely pick Europeans or Americans for me, so I might as well find one myself.”

Hearing this, Rong Xu was slightly surprised, seemingly not expecting Clemens to say such a thing: “I thought you preferred to fall in love naturally.”

Clemens smiled meaningfully, not answering the question, but instead said, “If there’s a chance, please recommend a few people to me.”

---

Even the next day, on the plane back to Huaxia, Rong Xu was still pondering whether Clemens Holt had drunk too much the night before, as he seemed quite different from the arrogant and shrewd director he remembered. 

Just then, Qin Cheng gently held his Rong Rong’s soft and tender little hand, openly taking advantage, while calmly saying, “Clemens Holt is probably thirty-seven this year, right?”

Rong Xu didn’t think much of it: “Yes, why?”

“Why do you think he was strange yesterday?”

Having spent so much time together, Qin Cheng could tell what Rong Xu was thinking at a glance. Not surprised by this, Rong Xu explained, “I’ve worked with Clemens before, and frankly, I don’t think he’s the type who likes… arranged dates. Or rather, he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would let others set him up. He should believe in fate and prefer to fall in love naturally. He’d only be willing to be with someone he met himself. Something like that.”

“Three years ago, I told Sr. Holt about that incident. After he beat his son, he told me that he believed his son was a first-time offender and had certainly never exploited other artists before. Sr. Holt told me that he knew what kind of person his son was; he couldn’t possibly be involved in improper relationships privately.”

Upon hearing this, Rong Xu’s eyes widened: “…No way, are you trying to say that Clemens is in his late thirties and still a virgin?”

Qin Cheng’s thin lips curved slightly: “I didn’t say that.”

Rong Xu: “…That’s a bit too innocent.”

“Perhaps he’s resigned himself to fate and just wants to find someone to settle down with. You can just introduce him to one or two people from the industry. I think there’s a male guest on Ace Awakening who’s pretty good. I heard from Xu Jin that he’s gay.”

Rong Xu thought for a while, then suddenly realized: “There seems to be only one male guest on Ace Awakening, named Qian Fangzhou. I remember… he’s 160 cm tall, weighs 100 kg, and is a comedian…”

Qin Cheng raised an eyebrow: “What’s wrong? If he’s not suitable, I remember Xu Jin also said that under Huaxia Entertainment, there’s a celebrity named Wang something Qi who’s also gay?”

Rong Xu: “…It’s Wang Zhaoqi, but Brother Luo told me that Wang Zhaoqi’s private life is very messy. He apparently even got an STD last year, which his agent barely managed to keep quiet. Now, who knows if he’s even cured.”

Qin Cheng: “Xing Xiao?”

Rong Xu: “Doesn’t Xing Xiao have a girlfriend? And she’s a female singer!!!”

Qin Cheng: “That’s fake, he’s gay.”

Rong Xu: “…Exactly which other people in the industry do you know are gay?”

Qin Cheng: “Many, but heterosexuals are still more common. But among the people you know, Dong Zheng is.”

Rong Xu was shocked: “Brother Dong too?!”

The male lead in Rong Xu’s first work, Veil of Superimicy, was Dong Zheng. When they filmed, Rong Xu never noticed that the other person was gay. Even later, they became friends and occasionally kept in touch, but he never detected the other’s sexual orientation.

Qin Cheng nodded lightly: “He is. Xu Jin investigated him later and found out he has a non-celebrity boyfriend.”

Rong Xu, whose worldview was shattering: “…” After a moment, he suddenly realized: “Wait, why would Xu Jin investigate Brother Dong?”

Qin Cheng: “…”

Rong Xu: “Did you do something I don’t know about?”

Qin Cheng: “…Perhaps Xu Jin is interested in Dong Zheng?”

Rong Xu: “I remember, Xu Jin has been married for several years and just had a daughter early this year.”

Qin Cheng: “You have a point. I should have a good talk with his wife about this.”

Rong Xu: “…”

Xu Jin, the perfect husband of twenty-four filial virtues who loves his wife and daughter, a good man of the new era: “…” I can’t be his manager anymore!!!