YA Ch53: Early Demise

“…” Ming Yan glared at Lu Yu, signaling him to stop playing puns at this moment, and then comforted Second Brother Hong by saying, “It’s just that you’re in different fields.”

Having been scolded by Yan-ge, Lu Yu didn’t respond, awkwardly pulling his hand back. “Yeah, in the online literature world, you’re a legendary figure, the top among the top. Your brother probably doesn’t understand this stuff. Some characters may seem like side roles, but in the next book, they might become the protagonist. You like Shen Ying, right? I can write him his own standalone book if you want.”

As long as Big Brother paid enough for the manuscript, he didn’t mind writing a 200,000-word short story just for Shen Ying, treating it as a giant epilogue.

Hearing this, the downcast Hong Wuyang suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “Oh right! You could make our A-Ying into a smart assistant too, and then he’d become the main character!”

Lu Yu: “…” Why is this so hard to deal with?

Lu Yu quickly applied the rhetoric Ming Yan had just taught him, and half-heartedly explained, “It’s not impossible, but it requires research. This isn’t like other companies slapping a template on things. The cost of developing our main products is quite high. We need to ensure that Shen Ying’s popularity is sufficient for us to break even before we can…”

“What do you mean, break even?” Big Brother waved impatiently, “I’ll invest in it. I’ll cover the costs.”

Lu Yu gritted his teeth, “Damn it! You think just because you’re rich, you can do whatever you want?”

Big Brother smoothly responded with the punchline, “Sorry, being rich does mean I can do whatever I want.”

With this new hope, Big Brother’s gloom vanished, and he decided to stay at Chenyu Technology for the rest of the month. His task was to assess project investment feasibility, also known as lounging around watching others work.

Lu Yu tried to refuse, explaining that their tech company was very busy.

Big Brother dismissed the concern, saying he’d pay to work, so no need to worry.

Feeling wronged, Lu Yu buried his face in Ming Yan’s back, “I hate rich people.”

Passing by, Lao Yang chuckled gleefully, “He’s even paying you. What’s there not to like?”

In the afternoon livestream, Lao Yang, watching from the control room with Young Master Hong, who occasionally tossed tips to Lu Yu, patted his bald head, “…I hate rich people.”

Although Big Brother did as he pleased, he kept his word. Having said he’d give a million yuan just for fun, he didn’t join the afternoon livestream, merely watching from the surveillance room and playing with Old Yang.

Lu Yu and Ming Yan continued working.

Shen Ying, along with Hua Wenyuan, recruited a few scholars, training them to serve as local officials to manage the newly occupied territories. Among the scholars, there was one named Zhou Zhengyu, whom Shen Ying specifically highlighted and entrusted with important responsibilities.

“He later became a famous scholar. After the dynasty fell, he organized local militias to resist the invaders and defended Feng County for over a year. When Jiangzhou fell, Zhou Chengyu fought the invaders to the death,” Shen Ying explained his reasoning for such an arrangement to Hua Wenyuan.

Hua Wenyuan nodded, “He’s a talent.”

This man’s way of defending the city was quite interesting. Using the unique terrain of Feng County, when the invaders came, he quickly gathered food and fled, leaving nothing for them. When the invaders left, he’d return to continue farming.

“How did you die in your previous life?” Hua Wenyuan wanted to show respect to Scholar Shen but couldn’t help his curiosity.

Shen Ying, standing with his hands behind his back on a dirt mound, looking out at the vast green fields, suddenly brightened and pointed to a spot: “General, a rabbit!”

Without thinking, Hua Wenyuan drew his bow and shot, pinning the gray rabbit hidden among the grass to the ground.

The soldier following behind quickly ran over and picked up the rabbit along with the arrow.

Hua Wenyuan wiped the arrowhead and tossed it back into his quiver, handing the still-struggling rabbit to Shen.

“We’ll have meat today,” Shen Ying said cheerfully, holding the rabbit by the ears. At the early stage of their campaign, they were short of money and food, and the strategist didn’t often get to eat meat.

Just when Hua Wenyuan thought Shen Ying wouldn’t answer his question, Shen, now holding the rabbit, spoke slowly: “At that time, I was urgently appointed as the governor of Xiangnan. The imperial tutor escaped with a young prince, and I stayed behind to cover their retreat.”

He held that provincial city for seventy-two days. When it could no longer be defended, he drew his sword and committed suicide.

“At that time, many scholars died like this, nothing unusual,” Shen Ying jested. “Nothing like the general, riding out alone to slay enemies.”

Hua Wenyuan felt a bit embarrassed and cleared his throat. “What happened to the young prince?”

Shen Ying silently shook his head.

At the time, he had been stationed in Xiangnan, on the front lines, so the imperial tutor naturally didn’t send him any messages. It was said that the young prince died along the way. Later, a small court was established in the far south by some prince, but it likely wouldn’t last long.

The Great Zhou was doomed; no one could save it.

“The invaders claimed they admired me, promising that if I surrendered, they wouldn’t kill the civilians. So, I surrendered,” Shen Ying gave a self-deprecating smile. “But I died anyway. I don’t know if those barbarians kept their promise. Geniuses always die young, after all. I didn’t even reach thirty before I died, so I guess I fulfilled some celestial fate.”

It would sound pretentious if someone else called themselves a genius, but when Shen Zixia said it, it only made Hua Wenyuan feel a deep sadness.

Hua Wenyuan sighed and pointed to the soldiers he had trained, saying, “From now on, we’ll have a strong army and never end up in such a situation again. Someday, we’ll drive out the invaders, and you’ll live a long life.”

Shen Ying smiled at him, “Actually, I could only hold out for 71 days, but I wanted to round it up, so I made it to the 72nd day before killing myself at midnight. If I make a serious mistake in the future and you have to kill me, remember to choose a good number. Otherwise, I’ll come back as a vengeful ghost to haunt you and count the days in your ear.”

The gray rabbit in his hand twitched its legs a couple more times before finally dying.

Hua Wenyuan remained silent for a while, covering his quiver with its lid, “You’ll live a long life, and when the time comes, you’ll have a grand burial with the auspicious number of 99.”

Shen Ying chuckled and, still holding the dead rabbit, went to find the cook.

“Woo, A-Ying, Mommy won’t let you die,” Hong Wuyang sat in front of the big screen, munching on a spicy rabbit head and wiping his tears.

After the livestream, Big Brother clocked out, satisfied, and declared he’d come back tomorrow.

Lu Yu quickly reminded him, “We’re off tomorrow and the day after. Come back on Monday.”

Big Brother’s eyes widened in shock. “Off? But it’s hot right now, how can you take time off?”

According to the rules of the livestreaming industry, you had to constantly stream to retain viewers. Plus, weekends had the highest traffic, yet this guy wanted to stop streaming.

Lu Yu spread his hands, “We’re a tech company, not an entertainment company. Our employees need weekends off.”

Although giving up some traffic was a pity, this precedent couldn’t be set. If they started working nonstop now, every new product development in the future would turn out the same, and how would that be different from that big company that exploited Old Yang?

Moreover, it wasn’t really giving up on traffic. Viewers could get fatigued from watching too much, and over the weekend, Bajiao Video would release a compiled variety show episode, which would help those who missed the livestream catch up.

Young Master Hong reluctantly agreed.

“And besides,” Lu Yu added, shifting his tone, “I have to go on a date with Yan-ge.”

Big Brother looked at him in disbelief. Lao Yang came over, patting Big Brother on the shoulder, “He’s always like this, you’ll get used to it.”

Big Brother, indignant, folded his arms and sulked, “Damn it! Is having a wife so great?”

Yang Chen joined in, resting one hand on Big Brother’s shoulder, “Exactly! Is having a wife that amazing?”

At that moment, Ming Yan pulled up in a car, parking at the company’s entrance, “Get in. Time to go home.”

“Coming!” Lu Yu happily ran toward the car, but not before turning back to say, “Sorry, having a wife is amazing!”