A Robot in the Orange Orchard Episode 20 Recap
> A Robot in the Orange Orchard Recaps
At a shareholders' meeting, Lu Sen declared that he had found a new plan to bring development to IMU and offered to reveal it, but only if Li Jingcheng had the courage to resign should everyone agree. Li Jingcheng and Li Zhan were visibly shaken. Lu Sen clarified that IMU's success was built on user trust, and he had only paused Li Zhan's Edge-N project, not terminated it, hoping they would address the user data security flaws.
He emphasized innovation over replication. Li Jingcheng scoffed, challenging Lu Sen to present an innovative project and immediately dismissing Fu Yang as a "scientific fraudster" even before seeing the project in detail. Lu Sen encouraged patience, then introduced Fu Yang's team, Team Alpha, creators of the world's first humanoid AI companion robot, Friday. A holographic projection of Friday appeared. Friday introduced herself as an advanced AI robot equipped with 20 deep learning capabilities, designed to serve humanity.
Li Jingcheng dismissed her as a "pre-recorded video" and "grandstanding," but Friday directly retorted by presenting news from a reputable UK tech website that vindicated Fu Yang's reputation, surprising many present. Convinced, the shareholders approved Lu Sen's project, making Team Alpha IMU's core project team for the next five years. Following the vote, Lu Sen again asked Li Jingcheng to resign. Instead, Li Zhan took responsibility for the project's shortcomings and resigned as the Chief Operating Officer.
Furious, Li Jingcheng stormed out, slamming the door. Li Zhan, angered by Lu Sen's actions, soon after called a subordinate, assigning him a new, urgent mission and demanding upfront payment. Separately, Kang Li'er called Lu Sen to check on him after the tense meeting, acknowledging his strategic preparations and commending his choice of Fu Yang and Friday. She even claimed to be his girlfriend, something she, herself, had not known about.
Meanwhile, Yang Shanshan had dinner with her uncle, aunt, and cousin. Her cousin asked for one of Shanshan's lamps. Her uncle also requested one for his wedding anniversary gift to his wife, expressing how much he and his wife liked the invention. They all toasted to Shanshan's creativity, a rare moment of family acceptance that delighted her, a feeling that came after she had lost Lu Sen but gained something she always wanted.
Kang Li'er hosted a celebratory dinner for Fu Yang and Team Alpha. She subtly hinted that Fu Yang should pay more attention to people, not just robots. Taking the cue, Fu Yang suggested a walk. When the oblivious Wang Dayun wanted to join, Fu Yang assigned him and the rest of the team the task of re-running all of Friday's programs overnight, effectively clearing the way for a private walk with Kang Li'er.
Kang Li'er took Fu Yang to a noodle shop that had been her childhood "secret base," where she sought solace when her parents neglected her, finding comfort in the owners' presence. Fu Yang then impressed her by detailing his keen observations about her, including her favorite color, height, shoe size, food preferences, and love for excitement, proving his attention to her was "definitely more than ten percent."
Concerned that Yang Shanshan might be tricked again, her uncle decided to personally visit IMU to vet the company, despite his wife's assurances that it was a large, listed company. He was well-received by the staff, offered a free employee meal, and was impressed by the "full automation." Back home, Yang Shanshan and Tang Yajing discussed their next steps after the competition. Shanshan, feeling lost and nostalgic for her hometown, expressed a desire to revisit it.
Tang Yajing encouraged her to go and check on her grandmother, who was busy with her guesthouse. At the IMU employee cafeteria, Lu Sen sought to understand the staff's experiences. When he entered, everyone scattered except Yang Shanshan's uncle, who continued eating, unaware of Lu Sen's identity. Lu Sen sat with him, making small talk and asking about his background, mistakenly assuming he was a new applicant.
Uncle, finding Lu Sen's questions about his deceased parents strange, privately concluded that Lu Sen had "something wrong" and decided to keep Yang Shanshan away from him if she ever worked at IMU. However, he mentioned his hometown, Xī Wān, a small island described as a place where one could "forget their troubles." Intrigued by the idea, Lu Sen decided to travel there to forget his worries, secretly instructing a subordinate to monitor Li Jingcheng's actions while he was away.
Upon arriving in Xī Wān, Lu Sen spotted Yang Shanshan exiting a car. Delighted, he approached her, asking her name and if they knew each other. Yang Shanshan, feigning ignorance, called his approach "old-fashioned" and threatened to call the police if he continued to harass her. Frustrated, Lu Sen called Fu Yang, asking about Friday's design.
Fu Yang confirmed that Friday's appearance, actions, and habits were based on a "real-life person" but warned Lu Sen to "pretend not to know her" if he ever encountered the prototype, as she had explicitly requested her private life not be disturbed. Lu Sen confirmed he understood, but Fu Yang's immediate query, "You met her?" indicated his suspicion, which Lu Sen again denied, insisting he was merely curious.
Lu Sen also internally noted that he had not expected to meet her there, and it was purely accidental. Meanwhile, Li Zhan met with Fu Yang, presenting him with a photograph of Yang Shanshan and demanding to know if she was Friday. Li Zhan, asserting Shanshan was a real person, questioned whether Lu Sen's companion was the robot or the human, implying deception.
He further accused Fu Yang of being a "fraudster" and a "high-IQ rogue" from the UK, claiming he was gambling with IMU's future. Fu Yang retorted, stating that Team Alpha was accountable only to Lu Sen and not to Li Zhan. He then challenged Li Zhan, demanding to know how he obtained Yang Shanshan's confidential information, which was protected by project secrecy. Fu Yang accused him of using "disgraceful means" and vowed to inform Lu Sen.
As Fu Yang left, Li Zhan instructed his subordinate to personally supervise Team Alpha and report any developments. Following Li Zhan's orders, two of his men infiltrated Team Alpha's lab under the guise of taking measurements for a new laboratory. While there, they secretly installed a Trojan horse and began extracting data using hash encryption and an MD5 message-digest algorithm. Later, Fu Yang returned to find the system compromised.
He immediately directed his team—Pai Song to analyze the virus and restore the system, Dayun to reverse-trace the output path, and Li Chade to check for leaked files. They quickly identified the external implantation of the virus and linked it to the two "measurers" who had visited earlier. Fu Yang ordered them to strengthen their defenses and reverse the virus back to its source, which they traced to Yunlin District, Changzhou City.
On the other end, Li Zhan's men were baffled by the Alpha team's advanced countermeasures, only managing to acquire a few encrypted files that proved difficult to crack. Fu Yang's team successfully thwarted the attack, with Fu Yang confidently declaring that the perpetrators were "not a match for Alpha." Further investigation revealed that the design team had never scheduled measurements for that day, confirming it was an unauthorized intrusion. Yang Shanshan arrived at her grandmother's house, receiving a warm welcome.
Her grandmother noted her weight loss, attributing it to a breakup, which Shanshan playfully denied, asserting she was merely on a diet. Unexpectedly, Lu Sen appeared at the door, asking to stay. Yang Shanshan, recognizing him from earlier, accused him of stalking. Her grandmother, however, found Lu Sen harmless and welcomed him, insisting he stay and asking Shanshan to serve him tea.
Concerned, Yang Shanshan covertly called Tang Yajing, expressing worry that Lu Sen had followed her and might discover her true identity. Tang Yajing, however, saw it as an "astonishing fate" and advised Shanshan to treat him as a stranger she was meeting for the first time. Inside, Lu Sen tried to engage in conversation, even asking about her grandmother's income, which the grandmother dismissed as a secret.
Her grandmother soon realized that Yang Shanshan and Lu Sen knew each other despite their denials, assuming they were young people who had quarreled and needed space to reconcile. She made an excuse about a broken sink and left them alone. Lu Sen introduced himself and asked for Shanshan's full name. He then admitted to following her but insisted he was not a "pervert."
When Shanshan demanded to know what he wanted, Lu Sen surprisingly said he wanted her to scold him. Shanshan called him "sick," to which Lu Sen agreed, explaining he hadn't been so happy in a long time. He then mentioned his "friend" named Friday who looked like her and with whom he had shared "many meaningful moments." Yang Shanshan, exasperated, clarified that she was Friday's "character model," having been paid 20,000 yuan four years ago for a part-time job.
She asserted, "I'm a human, not a robot, got it?" Lu Sen confirmed his understanding, but Shanshan expressed frustration that he still pursued her, accusing Fu Yang of violating their confidentiality agreement. Lu Sen apologized, but Shanshan rejected it, demanding he leave immediately. Her grandmother returned, reminding Shanshan of her manners and guiding Lu Sen to his room, leaving Lu Sen with the unspoken realization of the "tsunami in my heart."
