Unusual Idol Love Episode 1 Recap
> Unusual Idol Love Recap
Xihai City's technology companies, in collaboration with Kewen Entertainment, developed human-like artificial intelligence idols. As a test product of the first batch of AI idols, they possessed human emotions but had no control over their own destinies. One of these was the popular idol Hu Li.
Intern reporter Ji Nian inadvertently caused a public outcry when she published a video report titled "Hu Li Refuses Best Actor Award and Rebukes the Winner, Bai Dongchen," which included an audio recording of Hu Li's angry remarks about Bai Dongchen's acting. Soon after, news broke that Hu Li, suffering from depression, had committed suicide by jumping into the sea.
Ji Nian was called to her editor's office, where she was harshly reprimanded for publishing "poison" and informed that Hu Li's fans blamed her article for his death. She was promptly fired, with her editor stating that no media company would ever hire her again unless Hu Li miraculously returned to life.
Distraught and burdened by guilt, Ji Nian questioned if her article alone could have driven Hu Li to such an extreme, noting that he didn't seem like someone who would kill himself and had handled numerous controversies before. She tearfully confided in her friend Luo Li at Smile Cafe, lamenting her ruined career and the house mortgage she now couldn't pay. Luo Li offered comfort and support, promising to help with her debts.
Ji Nian was also subjected to severe online harassment, with people doxing her and calling for "justice for Hu Li." She recalled an incident at the awards ceremony where the lights flickered and went out just after Hu Li entered an elevator, but mysteriously, there were no news reports about an "elevator accident" involving him, deepening her suspicion that something more complex was at play.
One stormy night, as Ji Nian prayed for Hu Li to reappear, hoping to revive her career, he suddenly appeared at her doorstep, disoriented and wearing a hood. Mistaking him for a ghost, a terrified Ji Nian screamed. After he placed her on the sofa, Hu Li, holding her business card, asked if she knew "Ji Nian." Ji Nian, still panicked, denied being herself but then, in a fit of fear, bludgeoned him with a vase, knocking him unconscious.
She pondered if he was human or ghost, noticing his shadow. Shortly after, a man named Yang Zhe, identifying himself as Hu Li's friend, arrived at Ji Nian's door, revealing intimate knowledge of her life, including her recent dismissal. He explained that Hu Li, an AI idol created by Kewen Entertainment, had developed an irreparable flaw, leading the company to orchestrate his "suicide" to prevent exposure and manage potential losses.
Hu Li hadn't died but had lost his memory and, guided by Ji Nian's business card he held, had found his way to her home. Yang Zhe offered Ji Nian a substantial deposit and a contract: if she sheltered Hu Li and kept his survival a secret for two weeks, he would pay off all her debts. He stressed that Hu Li's spontaneous arrival at her home made her the most convincing person to him.
Under Yang Zhe's implied guidance, Ji Nian awkwardly attempted to weave an elaborate, romantic backstory. She tied Hu Li to a chair, gave him the pet name "Shi Tou," and declared herself his fiancée. She presented doctored photos as proof of their past, though Hu Li quickly spotted an extra hand in one. Her fabricated tale involved them meeting in college, her, the campus belle, falling for him, the "ordinary" student, after his prolonged courtship.
They then eloped and went into seclusion. Hu Li, though amnesiac, recognized the clichés, noting the story seemed lifted from old romances like that of Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng. Ji Nian continued, claiming her mother had forcibly separated them, telling Hu Li she had died of a terminal illness. In his grief, Hu Li had supposedly jumped into the sea, only to miraculously return to her.
Internally, Hu Li found her story "cliched" and her acting "over-dramatic," but he decided to play along, half-believing and half-doubting, until he could figure out the truth. The two began living together. Later, Ji Nian's ex-boyfriend, Zhuo Yuan, visited, expressing concern over her job loss and attempting to reconcile. Ji Nian quickly dismissed him, insisting they were mere acquaintances.
After Zhuo Yuan left, Hu Li questioned their relationship, prompting Ji Nian to invent another cover story, claiming Zhuo Yuan was her mother's former student. When Hu Li questioned why her supposed "rich family" had a teacher, she amended it, saying her father was a wealthy businessman. Hu Li drily commented on how many hearts she seemed to have broken for him. Unbeknownst to Ji Nian, Kewen Entertainment was diligently covering up Hu Li's true nature.
Discussions between Mr. Zhou, the company chairman, and an assistant confirmed that all hotel CCTV footage of the "elevator accident" had been destroyed, witnesses (including Hu Li's assistant, Xiao Pang, who awoke believing it was a simple malfunction) silenced, and the incident dismissed as a simple malfunction. Yang Zhe, on a call with Mr. Zhou, assured him that Hu Li had been "handled" and promised to send a video as proof.
While Mr. Zhou acknowledged Yang Zhe's emotional attachment, he firmly reminded him that Hu Li was merely a machine with worsening electricity leakage. Revealing an AI idol to the public would ruin Kewen, making Hu Li's destruction the only viable option. Yang Zhe lamented that he had created and then "destroyed" someone who, to him, had become human, but Mr. Zhou reiterated that he could create many Hu Lis, but Kewen was unique.
One evening, while Hu Li was showering, the water supply cut off. He called out to Ji Nian, requesting her help to wash his hair as he didn't know how to do it himself. Feeling flustered by his bare appearance, Ji Nian reluctantly agreed. As she shampooed his hair, Hu Li teased her to use more force. An accidental splash of shampoo into his eyes led to Ji Nian's profuse apologies and attempts to rinse it out.
Wiping his eyes, Hu Li looked at Ji Nian and suddenly questioned, "Why? Why is it you? Who are you? Who am I? Why do I only remember your name, Ji Nian?" The name, "Ji Nian," seemed to echo with a hidden significance for him.
