Besides, while Rong Xu didn’t care about money, he hadn’t completely let go of the Rong Corporation. Rong Xu’s financial advisor consistently attended various Rong Corporation meetings on his behalf.

Rong Xu’s second uncle, Rong Heng, was, from a public perspective, neither good nor bad. Under his management, the Rong Corporation didn’t see great development, but also no major blunders. However, from a private perspective, Rong Heng had been in the news constantly for the past two years, not because of how well the company was managed, but because of his family affairs.

Ever since Rong Xu exposed the existence of a mistress in front of his second aunt three years ago, the Rong family’s old residence had never known peace. After that, Rong Xu and Rong’s second aunt each arranged for private detectives to investigate Rong Heng. Not investigating was one thing, but once they did, it was astounding: Rong Heng actually had an illegitimate son!

The Rong family’s second branch had been married for over ten years without children. On one hand, Rong’s second aunt had difficulty conceiving, and on the other hand, Rong Heng was also to blame, as he too had a difficult constitution for procreation. So, three years ago, when Rong Heng finally had a son, he began to think about how to get the shares back from Rong Xu.

If he had no son, then after his death, everything would surely belong to Rong Xu, and there would be no point in him fighting for it; he couldn’t take it to the grave to spend. But now it was different; he had a son, and naturally he had to think for his son. It would be best if Rong Xu had nothing, and being swept out of the house would be only natural.

Thus came the incident three years ago when he tried to trick Rong Xu out of his shares, and because of this, Rong Heng’s newborn illegitimate son was exposed.

The existence of this illegitimate son caused chaos in the Rong family. Rong’s second aunt threw tantrums at home, forcing Rong Heng to the company, and then she went to the company to throw tantrums, determined to prevent Rong Heng from ever acknowledging that illegitimate son and to ensure that the illegitimate son and the mistress received nothing.

They were already causing such a fuss themselves. Rong Xu then arranged for people to secretly cause trouble behind the scenes, making it very easy to profit from the situation. As for these profits, Rong Xu also transferred them into the Rong Yan Foundation.

---

When signing his name on the contract, Rong Xu seemed a little lost. He reached out and stroked the thin, strong characters “Rong Xu” on the white paper, then finally sighed softly and smiled as he handed the contract to the current head of the Rong Yan Foundation.

Since then, none of the money received from the Rong family belonged to Rong Xu; it belonged only to the poor and needy children around the world. Moreover, this money slowly grew to be more than just the original 20% of Rong Corporation share dividends; a portion of Rong Heng’s shares were also secretly acquired by people arranged by Rong Xu.

Recently, it had reached a critical period. Even if Rong Heng was foolish, he had noticed something was amiss and started paying attention. So, Rong Xu couldn’t afford any problems at this time; he couldn’t let his opponent grasp any leverage.

Thinking of this, the poor, lonely Mr. Qin could only sigh and walk back to his own room.

His beloved had his own career. He could only cheer him on, wave flags, and absolutely not interfere in the slightest.

However, although he had sent Qin Cheng back to his room earlier, after showering that night, Rong Xu still couldn’t resist picking up his phone and sending a text message. The two were separated by a wall, yet they were texting each other, like middle school students decades ago who, when they met someone they liked, would never speak face-to-face, only secretly pass notes, one writing a letter, the other writing a letter, especially innocent.

In the end, Rong Xu suddenly thought: [The first scene tomorrow shouldn’t be a kissing scene, right?]

Qin Cheng replied calmly: [Hmm, that’s just for promotional effect.]

Then, the next day.

Sr. Holt clapped his hands: “Alright, the first scene is a kissing scene. Get ready. Want to try it out beforehand?”

Rong Xu: “…”

Qin Cheng: “…”

As stated at the start-up press conference, Zeroth Law was indeed a sci-fi romance film, or rather, a romance film disguised as sci-fi. Lance Holt, filming a gay movie for the first time, put in considerable effort, but the film cannot be called a purely gay film in the full sense, because one of the two protagonists is a robot without a gender identity.

The film’s story is set in the year 2100, fifty years in the future, where humanity’s development in artificial intelligence has reached its peak. Many industries have begun using robots on a large scale to replace manual labor. Robots appear in every corner of human society, and with the development of human emotional needs, they can not only be workers but also friends, family, and lovers.

Chu Wen, the scientist played by Qin Cheng, has been researching artificial intelligence. When he learns that a certain company has successfully developed a love robot, he is very incredulous, because his belief is: “Numbers cannot calculate the human soul; this is the only difference between humans and robots.”

Taking this as an opportunity, he secretly bought a robot of that model, numbered Seven. He casually named it “Qi” (seven). Chu Wen bought the robot wanting to research whether this robot had successfully acquired human emotions, purely for research purposes. However, the development of events far exceeded his imagination.

The story told throughout the film is very simple, but for the two protagonists, especially Rong Xu, the pressure is immense. In the entire play, his character has few facial expressions or movements, but Sr. Holt had seriously told him before filming began: “Qi has emotions.”

How does one portray the emotions of a robot?

This greatly tests an actor’s skill.

The first scene to be filmed was a kissing scene, depicting Chu Wen’s first experiment after receiving the robot. He simply and directly activated the robot, then looked at the timid and shy robot, pushed up his glasses, and asked, “Can you kiss?”

The first words were not a greeting, not a concern, but “Can you kiss?”

In the center of the set, Qin Cheng looked down at the young man in front of him, asking the question with a calm tone and indifferent expression.

The young man standing before him showed no signs of being a robot. He wore human clothes, had soft black hair, and a pair of beautiful eyes like the most dazzling, pure black gemstones, looking at him timidly, not answering.

Chu Wen was very patient and asked again, “Qi, can you kiss?”

This time, the little robot replied by shyly nodding. The little robot’s ears turned red, and its cheeks gradually flushed pink. Chu Wen nodded thoughtfully, recording notes in his notebook, then said, “Kiss me, may I?”

The next moment, Qi suddenly looked up and lightly kissed him on the lips.

This scene should have been very easy to shoot, and with Qin Cheng and Rong Xu as actors, there was no reason for them to have NGs. But what Sr. Holt never expected was that after the very first take, he widened his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, “Cut! Qin, you were a little out of frame. Let’s do it again.”

Qin Cheng nodded slightly, seeming a bit apologetic.

And Rong Xu, who had just finished kissing and was suddenly called “Cut”: “…”

Such a simple scene surprisingly took five takes to finally complete. Fortunately, Sr. Holt was not superstitious like Elder Liu; otherwise, if the first scene had so many NGs, Elder Liu would surely have been furious, perhaps even angrily pointing at Qin Cheng and scolding: “Are your Best Actor trophies used for holding water to drink?! You NG five times even on a scene like this?! I’m going to submit an application to the Golden Phoenix Awards committee right now to revoke your trophy!”

Sr. Holt wouldn’t say such a thing; after all, five NGs was still within his tolerance. Of course, he didn’t know that the reason there were only five NGs was entirely because, on the last NG, Rong Xu, who had just leaned in and kissed him, curved his lips and said with a half-smile, “Mr. Qin, one more NG, and you sleep in the study for a year. One take, one year.”

Qin Cheng: “…”

Although occasionally changing locations for that can be fun, spending a whole year in the study… his back would ache from the books.

So, in this first scene, a certain man only enjoyed his beloved actively kissing him six times. Yes, only six times, just six times. But… they had a long future ahead.

Apart from a few NGs in the first scene, the rest of the filming went very smoothly. At lunchtime, Qin Cheng was called by Sr. Holt to discuss the plot. Luo Xi brought Rong Xu a bento box she had made, and quietly commented, “Xiao Xu, when you and God Qin film together, it feels… it feels really good.”

Rong Xu was slightly startled: “Feels really good?”

Luo Xi nodded, seemingly wanting to say more, but in the end, she blushed profusely and could only manage to say, “It’s filmed exceptionally well.”

Filmed exceptionally well? But what exactly was filmed so well?

Rong Xu didn’t know that when he slightly tilted his head and shyly offered a kiss, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful. But the most beautiful wasn’t the final take approved by the director, but the third NG in between. When that take was NGD, Sr. Holt had once said: “Qin, you’re showing too much emotion. Right now, you should be looking at Rong with the simple attitude of looking at a machine.”

Yes, when Rong Xu kissed him for the third time, Qin Cheng seemed to instinctively lower his head and kiss the young man.

This scene was beautiful and pure. Two handsome and tall men kissed earnestly and devoutly. Although the script only called for a fleeting kiss, they accidentally kissed for a little longer, as if their eyes held only each other.

When Rong Xu was filming Zhuang Hua Luo, Luo Xi had already noticed a strange feeling, always thinking that something was off between Kong Chao and Zhu Molang. And now she had this feeling again. Although the relationship between Chu Wen and Qi in the movie was inherently like this, this time the “off-ness” wasn’t just in the script; it seemed… it seemed like even between Qin Cheng and Rong Xu, things were strange.

At this moment, Luo Xi had no idea that the “strangeness” she felt today was just the beginning.

Chu Wen wanted to research the so-called love robot. Naturally, he couldn’t just disassemble it for research from the start; he had to make some contact. In this world, humans could, of course, disassemble robots, as long as they put them back together afterward. After all, a robot was just a tool made of data and parts.

So, Chu Wen began to do things with this robot that only couples would do. He took the robot on dates, watched movies with it, and attended concerts together. When night came, he suddenly thought: “Do you have a bed function? Like a s*x robot?”

At this moment, the little robot was standing by the bed. Hearing this, its body stiffened abruptly, its cheeks flushed. Finally, it looked at its master with those clear, big eyes, and answered with a slight tremor in its voice: “Ye… yes, I can.”

And then, he was pressed onto the bed by this man, and on the first night of their first meeting, they did it three times.

The filming of this bed scene was on the fifth day of shooting. The entire crew had mostly gotten used to each other, and filming was progressing well, but when it came to shooting a bed scene, there was still some awkwardness.

Everyone was an adult, and they weren’t filming a children’s movie, so the bed scene naturally had to be very realistic. Although it’s unclear why, in the eyes of many industry experts, how realistic a bed scene is also represents how sincere a film is.

When filming this bed scene, all female staff were isolated and not allowed on set, leaving only a dozen or so big men surrounding the set, preparing to film the bed scene. At this point, Peter from the camera crew even joked, “It’s lucky this is a gay movie. If it were a bed scene between male and female actors, it would be even more troublesome.”

Indeed, many actresses choose body doubles for bed scenes. For parts that require showing the face, they also have to be careful not to film anything that shouldn’t be filmed. If the contract stipulates that two points can be exposed, then the third point absolutely cannot be filmed, otherwise, it would have to be re-shot.

Qin Cheng and Rong Xu were both men; exposing two points was irrelevant. As for the third point… let alone whether they were willing, Sr. Holt wasn’t interested in filming that either.

Whether a bed scene is good or not depends on whether it can arouse the audience’s desire. The audience here were naturally the group of big men joking around, each claiming to be absolutely straight, never bending. But when the two truly began to film the bed scene, these staff members, who had just been saying “I’m straighter than the Eiffel Tower,” surprisingly fell silent one by one, unable to utter another word.

Rough panting and the creaking of the bed echoed for a long time on the set. This kiss was no longer simple and pure; the man forcefully pried open the little robot’s teeth, wildly and unrestrainedly seizing his breath. The fair and beautiful young man’s cheeks were flushed pink, his eyes teary from the kisses, only able to groan softly, yet his clothes were stripped off one by one by the man on top of him.

With only the simplest covering remaining, at this point, the men on set finally understood why women always said they were women and really wanted to marry Qin Cheng. But if they were men, they would probably also be willing to marry Rong Xu.

This young Chinese actor was unbelievably beautiful. The thin blanket barely covered his body, but just the slightest exposed skin created enough temptation. When Qin Cheng ended the kiss, Rong Xu could justifiably let out a moan. The staff couldn’t clearly see the movements under the blanket, but looking at the young man’s seductive eyes, they involuntarily swallowed.

He was simply a demon!

Possessing the innocence of a little robot, yet precisely that innocence, when mixed with desire, became even more compellingly criminal.

This bed scene was filmed a total of four times. One time, the camera crew wasn’t ready. The other three times, Sr. Holt felt there were still areas for improvement and asked the two actors to cooperate a bit more, filming more takes to give the post-production team options for editing.

Most actors are reluctant to film bed scenes, and having to shoot so many takes makes it even worse, so Sr. Holt also felt his request was difficult to fulfill. However, he naturally didn’t know that beneath a certain man’s indifferent facade, a heart was thumping with excitement.

Who could guess that under the blanket, as Qin Cheng gently kissed Rong Xu’s beautiful, slender neck, Rong Xu, while softly moaning, reached out and firmly pressed down on a certain part of the man’s body.

“Don’t move, no rubbing!”

“It got up on its own, don’t blame me… Xiao Xu, see, you’re up too.”

“…Don’t say it!!!”

After this bed scene was filmed, Mr. Sr. Holt was fine; the old man was very calm. But many staff members nearby blushed and averted their gazes. Qin Cheng’s assistant also stayed on set. As soon as the scene was finished, he came forward with a jacket and handed it to Qin Cheng, who unexpectedly threw it directly onto Rong Xu.

The assistant was startled, but then heard Qin Cheng say in a hoarse voice: “Get me another one… get that long trench coat.”

The assistant quickly ran to get the clothes.

After filming this bed scene, the crew was going to change sets and go to Los Angeles for more scenes, including kissing scenes and bed scenes. That night, all staff…

Everyone had gone to bed early, preparing for the next day’s long journey. While everyone rested, a certain man silently took a stack of papers and walked to the adjacent room, knocking on the door and entering.

Once inside, Rong Xu leaned against the wall, asking with a half-smile, “Mr. Qin, in the middle of the night, here to go over the ‘night-light script’?”

Qin Cheng’s lips curved: “Just going over lines isn’t very meaningful, Xiao Xu. How about we act out the scene directly? I feel like I didn’t quite understand today’s scene.” 

Saying this, a certain man pulled his beloved’s hand and placed it on a certain part of his own body.

That touch was like dry tinder meeting raging fire, burning fiercely.

When they were filming that night, both of them had already started to feel it, pressing against each other’s thighs under the blanket. The staff members had no idea that Rong Xu’s alluring gasps and glistening tears weren’t entirely acting, but genuinely physiological tears.

It was both exhilarating and constricting, such a tormenting feeling. And yet, that bed scene was very short, not giving them any chance for NGs or anything else. Sr. Holt just happily yelled “OK.”

This had stifled them both, and now they had to properly release it.

After one round, Rong Xu rested for a while, then kissed the man beside him. However, Qin Cheng righteeously stated, “I’m not as scummy as Chu Wen, not understanding how to be considerate, treating a love robot like a s*x robot. We have to get up early tomorrow, Xiao Xu, we can’t overdo it.”

Rong Xu was startled, seemingly not expecting this man to be so upright. Who knew that the next moment, a certain man flipped over and pressed him beneath him, looking at him seriously and saying, “So we won’t do it three times, twice is enough.”

Rong Xu: “…”

Upright, my foot!!!

After all, they were also an old married couple (?), long accustomed to each other’s bodies, so doing it twice was no problem. It was just that early the next morning, before dawn, Qin Cheng was kicked out of bed by Rong Xu, told to quickly return to his own room before the rest of the crew woke up.

Everything went very smoothly. The next day, the crew indeed found nothing amiss. Everyone flew to Washington. When Rong Xu arrived at another set, ready to film, he saw a man even before shooting began.

The handsome, tall blond man waited on set with a disgusted expression, coordinating related work with the props and lighting teams. Seeing Rong Xu and Qin Cheng, he waved: “Rong, long time no see.”

Rong Xu was surprised: “Clemens, why are you here?”

This time, Clemens didn’t need to answer himself. His father, Sr. Holt, laughed heartily: “He’s the assistant director for the crew, responsible for shooting some scenes and supervising props. Rong, my son is quite good. Although he has a bit of a bad temper, he’s good at heart, and not much different from your age.”

To have Clemens Holt as an assistant director, perhaps only Mr. Sr. Holt in this world could achieve it.

However, Rong Xu was more concerned: “Lance, I don’t quite understand… what do you mean?”

Sr. Holt chuckled, walked over to Rong Xu, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “Two years ago, my idiotic son already got a beating from me. I know he wanted to use his position to exploit you back then. Don’t worry, I won’t let him do such a foolish thing again. Clemens told me that he could tell you’re also ‘one of us,’ which is why he acted that way. Rong, you are wonderful. Although my son might be a bit unworthy of you, I will strictly supervise him and make him change some of his bad habits, so… Rong, are you interested in considering my son?”

Rong Xu: “…”

Qin Cheng, who was so angry he wanted to throw the script and leave right now, and also had to pull his Rong Rong back, but still maintained a poker face: “!!!”