A Robot in the Orange Orchard Episode 24 Recap
> A Robot in the Orange Orchard Recap
Lu Sen, noting his own orange tree's dry and withered leaves, was distressed. Yang Shanshan, after researching, explained that the tree was suffering from malnutrition and needed to be irrigated with a watery soil mixture made from paddy soil. She suggested they go to the suburbs to get some, but Lu Sen, reluctant to leave the house, called his butler, Mr. Xie, to procure the soil.
Later, as Yang Shanshan mixed the paddy soil, she playfully invited Lu Sen to join her, trying to pull him into the mud. She almost slipped, but Lu Sen caught her, their faces close, nearly kissing. Lu Sen then asked why humans kiss. Yang Shanshan, in a robotic tone, explained that it stems from "needs" that cannot be hidden, like thirst for water, sleep when tired, or orange trees needing spring soil for irrigation.
She added that when one person needs light and the other shines brightly, they instinctively want to draw closer. Lu Sen then asked why she had run away after kissing him. She admitted it was because she was unsure if he "needed" it as well. Lu Sen then dropped his pretense, calling her by her real name, Yang Shanshan. Startled, she asked when he had found out.
Lu Sen revealed he had known since she first entered his house yesterday and had only been testing her sincerity by making her perform various chores like chopping onions, tidying the study, and sleeping. Yang Shanshan, realizing his intentions, called him mean, but Lu Sen concluded they were now even. Stuck in the mud with their shoes, Lu Sen lifted Yang Shanshan out. Embarrassed, she quickly ran off to find Mr. Xie to help Lu Sen.
Meanwhile, IMU faced a scandal as user information was leaked. Lu Sen, as the company president, was called in for questioning by officials and taken away by the police. News channels widely reported the incident, with reporters swarming Lu Sen's villa. Li Jingcheng, aware of the developments, gathered his scientists in a secret underground lab. He congratulated them on successfully decoding the "Orange Marmalade" file stolen from Fu Yang's team, revealing it contained research on emotional companion robots.
He expressed his interest in the "real Friday" and stated that their next plan had become much simpler. The data leak caused widespread outrage among users whose privacy had been breached by IMU's smart home appliances. For instance, a user's intimate anniversary message to his wife was used to push a romantic package, and another elderly man discovered his wife's profile on Truelove. com after using a smart makeup mirror.
The origin of the leak was traced back to Project Edge-N, a project originally initiated by Li Zhan. Lu Sen had only approved it for research and development, not public promotion, due to privacy concerns. Despite Lu Sen's stance, the project had somehow gone live on the intranet, leading to the data breach. Li Zhan, after seeing the news, confronted his father, Li Jingcheng, about the Edge-N project.
Li Jingcheng advised him to stay out of the matter, reminding him he had already resigned from the company. Li Zhan argued that user trust was foundational to the smart market and the incident could cripple the company. Li Jingcheng took offense, asserting he would never harm the company and questioning how such a fiasco would benefit them. Li Zhan pointed out that Lu Sen had always opposed promoting the project, making it unlikely he would suddenly launch it.
Li Jingcheng dismissed this, urging Li Zhan to look at actions, not just words, and promised a fair investigation, imploring Li Zhan to trust that all his actions were for their family's benefit. Later, when Li Zhan returned home, Li Jingcheng found him drinking and again pressed him to return to the company, vehemently stating he would not allow Lu Sen to dominate his son, just as Lu Sen's father, Lu Cheng, had once dominated him.
Li Jingcheng declared that they were now one step away from success, and if Lu Sen could achieve his dreams, so could they. Li Zhan, seeing no other choice, agreed to his father's demands. As Lu Sen's assets, including his villa and the Alpha lab, were company property due to an incomplete transfer of ownership, they were at risk of being confiscated.
Mr. Si, Lu Sen's assistant, informed Fu Yang that Lu Sen had less than 20,000 yuan in his personal account, enough for only about three days in a hotel at his usual standards. Concerned for Lu Sen's well-being and knowing his aversion to public interaction, Yang Shanshan, with Mr. Si and Dr. Ou on standby outside, entered Lu Sen's villa through a secret passage, bypassing the throngs of reporters outside.
She found Lu Sen, who was suffering from his human allergy. Yang Shanshan offered to take him to her uncle's house. Although Lu Sen was initially hesitant about living with strangers, preferring a hotel, Yang Shanshan insisted, saying his presidential fame would only draw more attention. She urged him to embrace a normal life and, despite his reluctance, helped him put on a helmet, as they left on her motorcycle.
Lu Sen confessed he didn't care about his lost possessions as long as he had Yang Shanshan as his friend. Later, Dr. Ou called Yang Shanshan, thanking her for helping Lu Sen and requesting her to teach him how to live as a normal, ordinary person. Meanwhile, Fu Yang and his Alpha team found their lab locked down and declared company property.
A security guard informed them they were no longer allowed entry, only their personal belongings, which had been placed outside, could be retrieved. The team expressed concern for Friday, who was still inside the lab's system. Fu Yang assured them that Friday could be rescued later but prioritized preventing their core data from being leaked. Fortunately, they had backed up important data.
Moving to an old, dusty warehouse, Fu Yang instructed Dayun and Li Chade to hack into the Orange Orchard lab and reformat all the data to prevent misuse. He tasked Pai Song with repairing the Edge-N backend, emphasizing that resolving the data leak was crucial for Friday's true return. Kang Li'er, hearing the news of the data leak, refused to believe Li Zhan was behind it. She sought him out, finding him drinking alone.
She pressed him for information about Lu Sen's investigation. Li Zhan, still bitter, accused Kang Li'er and Lu Sen of never treating him as a true friend, especially for concealing Lu Sen's human allergy for so long, a secret he had just recently discovered through his own investigation. Kang Li'er admitted she, too, had only recently learned of Lu Sen's condition and regretted that none of them had been there for him over the years.
She urged Li Zhan to reveal anything he knew about the current situation, reminding him that this might be their last chance to stand by Lu Sen. At Yang Shanshan's uncle's house, Lu Sen was warmly welcomed by her aunt and cousin, Enbao. Yang Shanshan's uncle, Zhao, recognized Lu Sen from a previous encounter at IMU, although he only knew him as a former employee recently fired from his artificial intelligence department, just like Yang Shanshan.
During dinner, the aunt, eager to make Lu Sen feel at home, prepared an elaborate meal, far more than their usual braised pork rice. Enbao openly admired Lu Sen's looks, prompting Yang Shanshan to playfully scold her for being two-faced. The aunt doted on Lu Sen, encouraging him to eat heartily and promising to cook anything he desired. She also announced that Lu Sen would be staying in Yang Shanshan's room while Yang Shanshan would sleep with her.
This meant Uncle Zhao would have to sleep on the sofa. Uncle Zhao grumbled, but his wife insisted that Lu Sen's long legs required a proper bed. Uncle Zhao then, to Lu Sen's shock, suggested that Lu Sen sleep with him.
