A Robot in the Orange Orchard Episode 17 Recap
> A Robot in the Orange Orchard Recap
Kang Li'er pressed Fu Yang about Lu Sen's feelings for Shanshan, asking what they should do if Lu Sen truly liked her. Fu Yang dismissed the idea, stating that Lu Sen only saw Shanshan as Friday, a robot. He believed Lu Sen didn't have real feelings for Friday the robot, and even if Shanshan spent more time with Lu Sen, she was still just a "fake Friday" in his eyes.
Fu Yang emphasized that Lu Sen needed the intelligent robot Friday to make their company a leader in the industry. Kang Li'er countered that Lu Sen needed Shanshan, and what Shanshan offered was something the robot Friday lacked. Despite her arguments, Fu Yang had already devised a plan: they would announce that Friday had been reset and send the real Friday back to Lu Sen.
Kang Li'er then asked Fu Yang for Friday's data to help Lu Sen with something, but Lu Sen called Fu Yang away. Fu Yang quickly arranged for Dayun to assist Kang Li'er with the data. Before Fu Yang left, Kang Li'er expressed that she felt like an outsider in some matters and couldn't interfere, but still believed they needed to talk properly when Fu Yang had time.
Lu Sen confessed to Fu Yang that he had fallen in love with Friday, feeling helpless and unsure what to do. He explained that he had followed Fu Yang's earlier advice to "project his emotions" onto the robot, and while she had healed him, he had unexpectedly developed feelings for her. Lu Sen found himself anticipating her arrival, enjoying her presence, her conversations, and her smiles. When she was absent, time felt incredibly slow.
Fu Yang reminded him that this was merely "projecting your emotions" onto a robot and urged him to be rational. Lu Sen admitted he couldn't control his thoughts about her and asked Fu Yang what he should do. Fu Yang suggested initialization, stating it would be better for both Lu Sen and Friday, allowing everything to return to square one. Lu Sen reluctantly agreed, but requested one last day with Friday before the initialization. Fu Yang consented.
Meanwhile, Shanshan's "Love Lamp," a quantum entanglement lamp, was finally repaired. As she explained the concept of quantum entanglement—how two particles, even far apart, could remain connected and influence each other—her colleagues were amazed, realizing the "real genius" was among them. Shanshan revealed that the lamp was just a basic prototype, and she had also invented luminous pillows and toys based on the same idea. Impressed by her technical prowess, Fu Yang invited her to join the Alpha team.
Shanshan was touched and agreed, but reminded them she would be leaving soon. She made a heartfelt request, asking the team to accompany Lu Sen after she was gone and treat him as a real friend, since they had made him dependent on Friday. She teared up, saying she didn't want him to be lonely anymore. On Shanshan's last day, her colleagues cheered her on. She met Lu Sen, who apologized for any hardships she had endured.
They agreed to interact in "friend mode." Lu Sen suggested they make the most of their remaining time together, which Shanshan confirmed was about eight hours of 'standby time' for her, starting with a visit to his elementary school, a place he hadn't been to in fifteen years.
Shanshan joked about him receiving many love letters as a child, but Lu Sen revealed he had been seen as "ugly" and a "monster" due to his human allergy, leading him to stop attending school. He had instead self-studied and completed numerous advanced courses from prestigious universities like MIT, Birmingham, Harvard, and Tsinghua, confirming Shanshan's belief that he was a genius. He added that his allergy had only begun to heal because of her.
As they walked, Lu Sen bought Shanshan a bouquet of sunflowers after she said she liked them, noting it was his first time giving flowers to a girl. He called her the "cutest girl" he had ever seen, even as a robot. He confessed that because of her, he had started to like sunflowers, despite previously claiming he disliked flowers.
When it started to rain, Shanshan pulled out an umbrella, and they sheltered together, mirroring an earlier memory at the amusement park, though without the kiss. They then went to a bookstore, a place Lu Sen loved but had never visited. Shanshan read him "The Velveteen Rabbit," a story about a toy rabbit that becomes real when truly loved by a child. As she read, Lu Sen felt like he was transported back to his childhood.
Later, as they walked home, Lu Sen expressed his gratitude. He told Shanshan that the days they spent together had changed his life, helping him find normality after fifteen years, acting as his friend and cure, and opening "doors to a new world" for him. Shanshan responded that she hadn't cured him, but rather his own inner desires had. She believed anyone could have helped him.
She called him her "best master" and "most precious friend," saying he had helped her find her own value. Shanshan then turned around and asked Lu Sen to initialize her by long-pressing a button on her neck for five seconds, explaining that all her memories would be deleted and could never be restored. With tears in his eyes, Lu Sen placed a necklace around her neck, a final tangible memory. He whispered, "Friday, I love you," before pressing the button.
Back in the lab, the system registered Friday's initialization, deleting all of Lu Sen's related data. Soon after, Shanshan returned to the lab, collapsing into tears, realizing her connection with Lu Sen was truly over as the real Friday robot would now take her place. At home, Lu Sen was equally heartbroken, recalling his memories of Friday and shedding tears.
