Thick-skinned

Shen Xinran looked terrible with her face tense and taut. It remained that way for a while before she suddenly relaxed and said with a smile, "What are you saying, Mom? Brother has already agreed to lend the robot to me, why should we refuse it? Plus, the signing of the contract is only procedural. Since it's the company's property, we shouldn't make things difficult for him."

With that, she picked up the pen from the table, signed her name on the contract, then pushed the document to her mother, letting her sign it.

Upon seeing her daughter's determined look, reluctantly, Yu Qinglan let out a sigh and left her signature on it.

Seeing that both of them had signed the contract, Cheryl made an eye signal to Lu Lu, who was beside her. The latter nodded in tacit understanding and proceeded to give introductions, "This robot, named Ruan Ruan, is a specially customized caregiver-cum-companion robot. It has all the functions of the conventional caregiver-robots, making her equivalent to a junior carer. She can also hold a simple conversation and use some of the common household appliances, like washing machines, microwave ovens, and so on."

She gave out a long list of instructions regarding the use of the robot. And when she was finally done with it, she directed her hand to the mother-daughter pair and introduced them to Gu Anbao. "Ruan Ruan, these are Mrs. Shen and Ms. Shen."

The robot glanced at Lu Lu before turning to the two women in front of her…

… I don't want to go.

She was reluctant to do so, but no one asked her opinion about it.

Should I refuse?

Should I escape?

And risked being labeled as a faulty robot and send back to the factory to be destroyed?

She could not explain how she felt…

Am I feeling aggrieved? Why should I be, though? I'm a robot who was made for humans to use. Sad? Again, why should I be? I'm 'alive' at the very least, isn't that so…? What's more, I'm in a healthy 'body' and needn't be fretting about a heart attack all the time.

God has already treated me pretty well…

"Nice to meet you, Madam and Miss," she greeted them docilely, with a bow of her head, putting away that tiny and pathetic self-esteem she did her best to play the role of a robot.

It's fine.

She consoled herself.

It's just for three days… Those three days will soon be over.

You can do it.

It's just that… I'm a little sad… just a little…

——After the signing of the contract, Shen Xinran took the robot straight to the filming site.

There was not a hint of a smile on her face, and when the production crew greeted her, she only responded a bland nod of her head. The actress then simply left the robot in the dressing room while she, on the other hand, headed to her personal lounge to rest.

The production crew, unlike the working population in RK, were unfamiliar with robots and rarely had the chance to come across such highly anthropomorphic robots like Gu Anbao. Hence, she garnered the attention of many people who came over and crowded into the dressing room, curiously touching and squeezing her while letting out their exclamations at times.

She felt like a monkey surrounded by a crowd… It was degrading and ludicrous.

Before her were countless hands, stretched out from all directions, rudely and willfully groping her body— touching her face and tugging her ears, clothes, arms, and legs…

Yet she could only force herself to bear these intrusive actions and not hide from them…

How she wished right now she truly was a robot… without any feelings or emotions…

"Is this a wig? The hair feels real…"

"Eh? Its skin is similar to humans! Feel here, and this nail. Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

"What cute clothes she has! The material doesn't look cheap either."

"That's an impressive pair of boobs there. Hey, is her private part the same as a real person?"

"Touch it, and you'll know!"

Someone actually reached a hand underneath her skirt—

She immediately pressed her skirt's hem down and took two steps back!

The room instantly fell into silence, but what followed after was a burst of roaring laughter as everyone jeered at the person receiving the robot's disdain for his action.

A shout from outside was then heard. "Where is everyone?! Filming is starting soon! Get back to work!"

And so, these people soon left, leaving Gu Anbao alone in the dressing room…

She slowly retreated to a corner until her back was pressed against the wall before she slowly crouched down and hugged her knees… feeling the urge to cry…

However, as Ace had not designed tears for her… even if she did cry, not a single drop of water could be shed from her eyes.

Could it still be considered crying if it was not accompanied by tears?

Was she considered alive… without a body of flesh and blood?

…

The plane arrived in Xin Hai City.

The passengers successively turned on their phones after alighting the plane, and Chen Yuheng was no exception.

An unread message from Cheryl immediately popped up. He clicked on it to read the message, but he could not resist frowning at it.

It seems that I have underestimated the thickness of their skin… To think they were willing to even sign such an unreasonable and harsh contract term.

Whatever. Since the robot has already been loaned out, just forget about it. It's only for a couple of days, anyway. It's fine as long as they don't come bothering me.

Dropping that matter, he headed to the exit with his luggage.

Around twenty black-clothed security guards suddenly appeared on the other side of the aisle, escorting a woman dressed in a wine-red suit.

He caught sight of the woman, and naturally vice versa. Plucking her sunglasses off, she smilingly approached him—

"What a coincidence, Director Chen, that you were on the same flight."

He greeted, "Director Qin."

The latter glanced behind him before she shook her head with a laugh. "You came alone? Given your current status, isn't traveling this way… well, a little inappropriate?"

She truly did not know whether to describe the man, being the CEO of a corporation with a net worth of hundreds of billion, as a careless or a gutsy person for traveling alone.

Sweeping a glance at the rows of assistants and bodyguards behind her, he faintly replied, "I'm used to it."

"It's better to bring a few people with you. Surely you need someone to run errands for you." Director Qin looked to her left and right, then said, "Mike, Ben, go over to Director Chen's side for the next two days…"

"There's no need for that," the man interrupted, "I appreciate your kindness, but I'll just head down to the Excellent Star Hotel later."

The Excellent Star Hotel was a full-fledged robot service hotel under RK Corporation. Everything—be it cleaning, accommodation, fax printing, car-calling services, or even ticketing, was under the responsibility of computers and robots.

Knowing the convenience of that hotel, a smile broke out on her face and she said, "Alright, then. Let me know if you need anything. There's no need for formalities between us. Now that Qin Group has become partners with RK, we'll need to take care of each other for a very long time from now on."

The man smiled. "Of course. I shall take my leave first. See you at the press conference tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

He ended the chat and proceeded to leave the airport alone with his luggage.

Qin Yu stared at his departing figure until it disappeared into the distance, her lips curling into a faint smile. "Let's go, too."

Her assistant, carrying her luggage, quickly caught up with her and asked in perplexity, "Director Qin, Director Chen is always running around solo; is he not afraid of getting kidnapped?"

Her phoenix eyes arched as she glimpsed her assistant from the corner of her eyes. "Chen Yuheng isn't the typical rich boy."

"Pardon?" The assistant could not understand her words.

"Before deciding to work with RK, I ran a background check on him." A smirk appeared on her lips as if she had just recalled something interesting. "You guys, together, may not even be his rival. Should someone really harbor ill-intentions against that RK CEO, that person is just courting trouble… Hahahaha…"

The assistant's eyes bulged in surprise. "He's such a formidable figure?!"