From a distance, Chu Wen couldn’t clearly see the robot’s expression, only that it seemed to stand up very slowly, and then walked towards him extremely slowly. Chu Wen’s patience was quite good, so at this moment, he merely watched coldly as the other party slowly approached him. When it reached the closest point, he opened the door and stepped out. After taking one step, he felt his clothes being pulled.

His brow furrowed more deeply, Chu Wen asked softly, “What are you doing?”

The little robot bowed its head, burying its expression in its hair, making it impossible to discern its emotions.

Chu Wen asked again, “What exactly is it?”

The little robot shook its head vigorously, but after a long time, it whispered, “…Wen, I think… I’m almost out of power.” The moment the voice stopped, the hand that was pulling his clothes suddenly fell.

Chu Wen suddenly froze. When he looked again, he saw the beautiful and delicate robot looking at him with those gem-like eyes, and in a voice like a mosquito’s hum, it said with difficulty: “I… I can charge myself, Wen… Wen, I can… I can charge myself.”

It had been six days since he bought this little robot, and Chu Wen had indeed forgotten to charge it. He picked up those soft hands, which were indistinguishable from human hands, and upon seeing the bright red numbers on its wrist, he suddenly froze: “Only this much left?”

The little robot nodded, wanting to speak again, but couldn’t utter a single word.

Looking at the little robot’s obedient and quiet appearance, Chu Wen slowly tightened his fingers. He looked carefully for a long time, then the next moment, he directly picked up the person and strode out.

This scene was filmed several times. Sr. Holt felt that Qin Cheng’s way of holding Rong Xu wasn’t good enough and couldn’t find the most suitable angle, so he NGD it multiple times.

Once Qin Cheng grasped the essence of the action, Sr. Holt felt that Rong Xu’s performance was still lacking. He carefully instructed: “You like him, you love him very much. This love already surpasses any imagination; it’s etched into your being. So every minute and every second, you are loving him, but now you’re almost out of power, and so you’re simultaneously enduring immense torment. So, what emotion should you show when you endure the pain to walk to him, and then he carries you to charge?”

Rong Xu thought for a moment and said, “Happiness.”

Sr. Holt nodded: “Hmm, but while you’re happy, there still has to be pain. After all, you were already showing a red alert when he first started working. Now, after a whole day, it would definitely be even more painful. How to grasp this balance, Rong, you can only understand it yourself; I can’t explain it clearly to you.”

Rong Xu nodded thoughtfully, and after two more NGs, the scene was finally passed.

Only when actually charging did Chu Wen realize that the little robot was almost completely out of power. If it had been any later, it might have shut down and needed to be restarted. A robot shutting down and restarting also consumes a lot of its own resources, like a human suffering a major illness. Shutting down wears out the machine. Although Chu Wen didn’t think machines could feel pain, it was, after all, a robot he had bought, and he hadn’t noticed that it was almost out of power.

Thinking of this, he frowned: “Why didn’t you say something when you were out of power?”

The little robot buried its head, not daring to speak.

Chu Wen asked again in a cold voice: “Why didn’t you say anything?”

This time, he got the other’s whispered reply: “…Wen was working, couldn’t speak.”

Chu Wen slowly froze. After a long while, he reacted, looking at the little robot’s flushed earlobes. He closed his eyes, then finally said, “From now on, you don’t need to sit next to me when I’m working. Do whatever you want, just don’t disturb me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the little robot suddenly looked up, widened its eyes, and stared intensely at the man in front of him. However, Chu Wen had already turned and left, not giving him another glance.

---

In recent years, Rong Xu had rarely played such innocent and pure roles. He gradually took on many action roles, however, in his first film to win the “Three Golds” Best Actor award, Everlasting March, he played an innocent student.

Now, he was portraying an innocent little robot.

Chu Wen spent at least half of his day in the studio. If he didn’t go to the studio, it meant he would hardly be seen. What did it feel like for the little robot not to see this person? He couldn’t even explain it himself, but the Third Law of Robotics states that it must obey all human commands, provided it doesn’t threaten human life or safety.

His eyes slowly became moist, but the beautiful little robot just bit his lip tightly, struggled for a long time, and finally softly said: “…Okay.”

At this point, this scene, which had been NGD several times, finally ended. By evening, they had to prepare to shoot a bed scene again.

In fact, there weren’t many bed scenes in Zeroth Law, but Sr. Holt wanted to shoot several different ones for later editing. And these bed scenes also needed subtle differences. For example, Chu Wen’s emotions definitely had to change; he would gradually fall for this little robot, but he himself firmly believed that robots had no emotions.

Filming a bed scene itself is indeed a test for actors. In the previous scene, they were performing a cold emotional scene, and in this scene, they had to start performing a bed scene. Most importantly, they had to “act” the bed scene.

Even though he was completely aroused by his young man’s teasing, Qin Cheng still had to maintain a cold facade. He couldn’t actively kiss Rong Xu’s lips, couldn’t actively touch his waist, and couldn’t even show too much enthusiasm. Why? Because you haven’t completely fallen for him yet!

Qin Cheng: “…”

Why didn’t that scoundrel fall in love with his Rong Rong at first sight?

Was he blind?!

How could someone so adorable not make him fall in love at first sight!!!

—From Mr. Qin, who has a deep understanding of love at first sight.

---

All in all, the filming progress of Zeroth Law was consistently very fast. Even with NGs, the two protagonists could quickly resolve them; if it was about props, locations, etc., the Holt father and son could also handle it smoothly.

By late February, more than half of the story had been filmed. Sr. Holt, in order to catch up on schedule, recently decided to divide the crew into two parts: one part led by him personally, shooting hands-on, and the other part led by Clemens, who could shoot some scene shots and less important character scenes.

Sr. Holt was confident in Clemens’s ability; entrusting him with such matters would absolutely not lead to problems.

So, this afternoon, Rong Xu had to shoot several very important scenes, while Qin Cheng’s schedule was to reshoot some solo shots. These simple solo shots were naturally handled by Clemens, in another studio. Sr. Holt would shoot the important shots, completely separating the two sides.

These few scenes were also a test for Rong Xu. He had to imagine himself as a robot, and he had to peel open his arm to reveal some internal parts—these parts would be created with special effects in post-production, but now, he had to rely on imagination to use his fingers to take out these parts.

Sr. Holt held a blueprint and said seriously: “Take a look, these two parts are about three centimeters from the wrist, and this one has a special shape. Pay attention to your hand movements when you perform. Oh, and Rong, this one…”

So, when it came to the actual filming, Rong Xu wore a green special effects sleeve on his left arm and began to imagine and remove the parts.

After six takes, this scene finally passed, and then they started shooting other green screen scenes. By evening, Rong Xu could finally relax. He walked towards the other studio, planning to see how Qin Cheng’s progress was. But this time, as soon as he walked out of the studio, he saw a tall man from a distance.

This unfamiliar middle-aged man, dressed in a finely tailored high-end suit, stood in front of a bulletin board outside the studio, looking up at something. He watched for a long time, focused and serious. From Rong Xu’s angle, he could only see that the other person seemed to be wearing glasses; nothing else was clear.

Ordinary passers-by would absolutely not be able to get close to the studio, because Sr. Holt had already arranged security to blockade the area. This was the first time Rong Xu had seen this stranger in two months on the crew. He couldn’t help but glance at him twice, but only twice, before turning his gaze and walking towards another studio not far away.

He had only walked a couple of steps when he heard an elegant and polite voice behind him: “Excuse me, are you Rong Xu?”

His steps immediately halted. Rong Xu turned around and saw the middle-aged man who had just been standing in front of the bulletin board now standing in front of him, looking at him seriously, with a hint of appraisal in his gaze.

Confused, but outwardly, Rong Xu smiled: “Hello, I am Rong Xu.” He had debuted over four years ago. Although he couldn’t say that everyone in the world knew his name or recognized his face, with this middle-aged man’s attire, he didn’t seem like someone who didn’t follow the news.

With a testing and doubtful heart, Rong Xu also carefully observed the person opposite him. Until the other person extended a hand and said to him in fluent Chinese: “Hello, I am Qin Xudong.”

---

Half an hour later, Qin Cheng finished filming and walked to the adjacent studio. He looked around but didn’t see his young man. At first, he didn’t think too much, assuming Rong Xu might have gone to do something else. But when dinner was over and he still hadn’t seen Rong Xu, he frowned slightly and found Luo Xi.

Luo Xi answered without thinking: “Xiao Xu went out with a friend.”

Qin Cheng was slightly surprised: “Friend?”

Luo Xi nodded: “Yes, a tall middle-aged man. He even spoke Chinese, I think I heard him say his name was… something Dong? Something Xudong?”

Qin Cheng: “…”

Qin Xudong.

This film city was very large, and there were many restaurants and cafes nearby. Qin Cheng searched for an hour but couldn’t find his Rong Rong. He called Rong Xu but found that Rong Xu had left his phone on set. He then called another person, and… the call was very quickly hung up.

Qin Cheng: “…”

Calling Rong Xu out behind his back, what exactly did he want to do?

This answer was finally revealed an hour later when Rong Xu returned to the crew. Facing Qin Cheng’s question, Rong Xu confirmed very directly: “Yes, it was indeed Uncle Qin. It was my first time meeting him. Qin Cheng, I never thought your father would come to the set to find me.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, Qin Cheng pulled his young man into a lounge, closed the door, and asked in a serious tone: “Did he want something from you?”

Rong Xu recalled: “Uncle Qin apparently only found out about us from Aunt Qin last month, so he decided to come and see me. He didn’t say much to me, just asked how I’ve been doing and if filming was hard. Oh, and about the Rong family. He asked if I needed his help with the Rong family matters.”

Qin Cheng’s lips were slightly pursed: “Only that?”

Rong Xu thought for a moment, then nodded: “Only that.”

Looking at Rong Xu’s honest expression, after a long while, Qin Cheng sighed and pulled the small hand to sit on the sofa, saying indifferently: 

“When you’re with my mom, you don’t need to be wary; she truly cares about you. But when you’re with my dad, you still need to be a little careful.” He paused, then Qin Cheng looked down and said, “He’s very similar to me in personality, but not as kind as me.”

Rong Xu: “…” After a moment of silence, he couldn’t help but say, “Can you repeat that last sentence?”

Qin Cheng said without batting an eye: “He’s not as kind as I am. He’s done a lot of bad things over the years and rarely spends time with my mother, otherwise, he wouldn’t have found out about us only after a few years.”

Rong Xu nodded seriously: “And what else?”

Qin Cheng thought for a moment, then added: “He’s an old fox, and he might dig a trap for you to fall into. Xiao Xu, don’t see him again in the future…”

“Pffft.”

Qin Cheng suddenly froze, as if he didn’t understand why his beloved would suddenly laugh. But Rong Xu, still laughing, said, “Actually, it’s true that Uncle Qin came to see me today, but Aunt Qin was already waiting in the cafe. They really just came to care about how I’m doing. Aunt Qin said a lot, constantly asking me how I was and if you were bullying me. Uncle Qin asked her why she didn’t ask me in front of you. Do you know what Aunt Qin said?”

Qin Cheng had no idea what happened next: “…”

Rong Xu didn’t expect the other person to play along, and he laughed even harder: “Aunt Qin said that if she said it in front of you, there’s no way I’d admit you bullied me. She said you’re a really bad person, with a very bad heart, and that even she, your mother, wouldn’t dare to question you face to face. She also said…”

Trying his best to suppress his laughter, Rong Xu imitated Aunt Qin’s tone, performing with Best Actor-level acting: “The last time I hit that brat Qin Cheng was when he was two years old. You tell me, what kind of son did you give birth to, so disobedient. What’s wrong with a mother spanking her son’s bottom? He was only five, and he wouldn’t let me spank his bottom. Isn’t that too much?”

Qin Cheng: “…”

“But the most interesting thing was that as we were leaving, Uncle Qin, who hadn’t said much, suddenly said a few words to me. He said that his son had called him several times in a row, but he kept hanging up and wouldn’t answer. Now that I’m back, his son will definitely say he’s very bad, and I need to be careful of him, and not meet him alone in the future.” At this point, Rong Xu paused, looked at Qin Cheng seriously, and said, “But Uncle Qin still guessed wrong. You don’t just hope I don’t meet him alone; you outright don’t want me to meet him at all, hahaha.”

Qin Cheng: “…”

Rong Xu gently embraced the man with both arms, saying with a smile, “This is the first time I’ve seen you act so childish… well, not counting online. Qin Cheng, will you act childish for me one more time?”

Mr. Qin lowered his eyes slightly and calmly said, “You and my parents are ganging up to bully me.”

The handsome young man calmly retorted, “According to Aunt Qin, it’s only right for me to bully you, and it’s unforgivable for you to bully me.”

Looking into Rong Xu’s clear, bright eyes, Qin Cheng let out a long sigh: “I don’t want you to see him because I don’t want you to be tricked by him. My mother has been tricked by him for so many years, always thinking he’s such an honest, good man, when in reality, he’s an old fox.”

He had only spent a little over an hour with Uncle Qin, but there were some things Aunt Qin couldn’t see because she was deeply in love and liked Uncle Qin no matter how he was. But Rong Xu could see that Qin Cheng’s personality was perfectly inherited from his parents: in real life, he had Uncle Qin’s personality, and online, he had Aunt Qin’s personality.

Aunt Qin always used to say: “I don’t know who my son inherited his personality from; he’s cold and not cute at all.”

Aunt Qin had no idea that her son wasn’t not cute; he just wasn’t cute for her to see. His cold personality wasn’t uninherited; it was inherited from Uncle Qin, only Uncle Qin never showed his cold side to her.

However, at this moment, Rong Xu had no interest in reminding Aunt Qin. He hugged a certain man tighter and repeated, “Just be cute for me sometimes… please, Qin Cheng?”

Qin Cheng: “…”

“Qin Cheng~”

After a long while, Mr. Qin let out a sigh, lowered his head, and kissed his beloved’s soft lips, then whispered in his ear, “Xiao Xu… Baby likes you.”

The deep, magnetic voice resonated in Rong Xu’s ear like the most beautiful cello in the world. His heart seemed to be fiercely clutched at that moment. After a while, Rong Xu chuckled, raised his head, and steadied those lips: “I like you too.”

The disappearance of the two male protagonists didn’t cause much commotion in the Zeroth Law crew. Sr. Holt was busy discussing the next scene’s setting with the props team. Soon after Rong Xu and Qin Cheng tidied their clothes and emerged from the lounge, they began filming the evening scenes.

Sr. Holt and Qin Cheng began discussing a line of dialogue, while Rong Xu stayed on set to touch up his makeup. He watched the stern and noble man from a distance, observing him calmly discussing the plot with Sr. Holt. For a long time, Rong Xu…

Rong Xu let out a light chuckle, and the makeup artist looked at him in surprise. Rong Xu simply shook his head.

Actually, the last thing Uncle Qin said to him wasn’t those complaints about his son. This father, whose personality was as reserved as his son’s, looked at him seriously, holding his wife’s hand, and said word for word, “We can see it, Rong Xu, Qin Cheng loves you very much. He may not be good at expressing it, but please believe, he truly, truly loves you.”