I'm Scared Even Though It Doesn't Hurt.
How is it possible that they didn't bite…
When she accidentally stepped onto the snakes that fell off her body, they sank their teeth right into her calves…
The production crew, thinking that the robot was unafraid and immune to snake bites, kept on provoking and agitating them to get more footage of them attacking and opening up their jaws. The price of their actions was, of course, a lot of tiny holes in her body…
Without giving the robot time to answer, Shen Xinran smilingly replied, "It's fine! Robots don't bleed or feel pain, anyway! Brother, let me tell you something interesting! Those snakes lost their teeth when they bit the robot! Hahahahaha…"
After all, the former was just a robot. Even though her skin was as soft as that of humans, her inner structure comprised of metal and circuit board, so it was very hard.
Nonetheless… Gu Anbao did not find it funny at all…
What might have seemed highly amusing to others was actually terrifying for her.
The bite of a snake was different to that of a cat or a dog. Once its teeth sank into one's skin, it would not release its hold. It was only after a good amount of desperate shaking from her could she manage to get rid of the snakes hanging on her…
"I was scared… even though… it didn't hurt…" she despondently murmured.
She was afraid of snakes, rats, cockroaches, and spiders… After all, she was originally just a normal eighteen-year-old girl who was timid and overly naive…
The actress excitedly continued saying, "Even the director said that I've done him a great favor! We have several relatively dangerous scenes coming up over the next couple of days, but that certainly won't be a problem now since we have the robot as a stand-in… Oh, right. The director has also promised to give me additional scenes!"
"… SHEN XINRAN," the man suddenly shouted out her name from the other end.
It startled her. "Hm?"
"Did you see the contract I got you guys to sign as just mere papers?" His voice seemed to be faintly cold, despite his unchanging tone.
The smile on Shen Xinran's face froze. "Brother, it's only a few tiny holes, and they're unnoticeable… Plus, the robot is still in good condition; it can walk and talk."
He coldly stated, "There's a clause in the contract that you should remember; the contract will be terminated should the robot receive any damage, and you will have to bear responsibility for all the maintenance costs and compensation fee."
Her smile slowly faded away as she switched off the speaker mode and placed the phone to her ear, speaking softly, "… I just wanted to see you, brother… Don't be angry with me. I'll pay you whatever compensation amount is needed… I just wanted to see you…"
The former, however, had no intention to continue the conversation. With a detached voice, he said, "The employees from RK will retrieve the robot tomorrow. I'll contact you again then."
The call ended after that.
Shen Xinran continued to hold the phone to her ear for a long time before she finally lowered her hand…
She stared at her phone display emotionlessly, her lips suddenly curling into a strange smile which seemed to be of disdain and taunt.
It filled Gu Anbao with fear and trepidation as she witnessed this from aside…
There was a knock on the door and an assistant entered the room. "Sis Xinran, we can leave now."
The actress asked, "Which scene will we be shooting tomorrow?"
Her assistant smilingly answered, "You'll be co-acting with Brother Tao, and it's a night scene as well. We just have to be here at 6 PM, so you can have a good rest by sleeping in tomorrow morning. You've had it tough for the past couple of days."
She nodded, then took her bag, preparing to leave.
When the assistant saw the robot in the lounge, she could not resist asking, "Sis Xinran, is it ok to leave the robot here?"
Will it get stolen? Robots cost a bomb…
"Don't worry about it." The seemingly tired actress waved her hand dismissively and simply left.
The assistant hurriedly followed after her, turned out the lights, and closed the door behind her.
Gu Anbao was then trapped in the darkness…
It was only upon hearing the sound of footsteps outside gradually fade away that she slowly made her way over to the sofa in the lounge to sit down… and one by one caress the areas where she had been scratched and bitten.
Her injured skin was no longer as smooth as before, now, it was somewhat rough.
And when she touched an unnoticeable scratch on her calf, it felt weird. Using her fingers, she managed to pull out a toothpick-sized twig…
She smiled bitterly at that.
I wonder if any sand particles and small leaves entered my body through the wounds on my skin…? Will it affect the robot's body…?"
Fortunately, from what the assistant said, it seems like there's nothing on for me tomorrow. I can finally relax now…
…
Chen Yuheng, who had hung up the call, paced around his room twice, feeling somewhat irritable.
The thought of Ruan Ruan having several snakebites seemed to fill him with gloom and extreme uneasiness.
What he was currently feeling was akin to how one would feel when their car got scratched, their phone screen got smashed, or their computer got infected with a virus after lending them out…
He was terribly upset!
Picking up his phone, he then scrolled through his contacts until he reached a particular number and called it.
"Lu Lu, take the maintenance staff with you and fetch Ruan Ruan back tomorrow. Check the extent of her damage, then do up a detailed report on it. I'll forward Shen Xinran's phone number to you later; contact her tomorrow."
The woman dazedly sat on the bed with her phone in hand. Even though she was physically awake, her mind… uh… was not completely sober.
Her daze lasted for a while before her boss's instructions gradually resurfaced in her mind and slowly pieced together into information…
Fetch Ruan Ruan back…
Do up a detailed report…
Contact Shen Xinran…
Hold up…! A damage report?! What has happened to Ruan Ruan???
She was badly shaking!
What has happened to my cute lass?!!
"Who called? I'd just fallen asleep but got awakened by that call…" muttered someone else on the bed as he flipped over.
No longer able to fall asleep in this state, she immediately kicked her husband. "It's from Director Chen!"
"Ah?" The man opened his bleary eyes. "Why is the devil king looking for you?"
Her husband, also an RK employee, was in the research and development department.
"He wants me to take people over tomorrow to check up on Ruan Ruan! Oh, dear. How long has it been? Is she damaged? Gosh… I don't even know if it's serious or not, but from the devil king's tone earlier, he seems to be in a terrible mood!"
"It'll be fine…" said the half-awake man slowly, "It can be repaired no matter how badly damaged it is. Don't fret about it… Just as long as it's not been crushed into pieces by a car… Snore… Snore… Go to sleep now…"
His voice got lower and lower until it eventually trailed off. Lu Lu kicked a few more times, but there was no response from him other than his snoring becoming louder…
Sighing, she lay back down in bed and stared at the ceiling. Her mind was filled with countless questions—
What has Shen Xinran done to it?
What's wrong with Ruan Ruan?
The devil king… How did he know about this when he's in Xin Hai?
His tone sounded really harsh earlier… Is Ruan Ruan badly damaged?
If RK robots were so easily damaged, they would not have been able to sell well in both international and domestic markets, much less for the company to grow into today's scale.
Having earthquake and shock-resistant hardware was the most basic thing for robots. They were programmed to conduct daily routine system checks; any abnormalities found would be sent to the company's online maintenance center through the Internet. Its security protection device would be activated and the internal power supply would be cut off to protect the chip in the robot.
Unable to derive a conclusion, Lu Lu decided to just shut her eyes, instead. I'll be able to see Ruan Ruan tomorrow, anyway…