YA Ch104: Gemstones

After seeing his best buddy write tens of thousands of words and still energetically insult him in a message, Lu Yu felt gratified and contentedly snuggled up to Ming Yan, falling asleep with him.

The next morning, the alarm clock rang as usual.

Ming Yan reflexively sat up, feeling that something was off. After a moment of confusion, he realized he wasn’t wearing pajamas. Although the room had the heater on, being naked in the air was still a bit chilly.

Lu Yu, eyes closed, snuggled closer and hugged Ming Yan’s waist, nibbling and speaking in a nasally voice from just waking up, “It’s the weekend. No need to get up so early.”

“I have an appointment with Dad at the workshop today,” Ming Yan rubbed his face, waking up a bit more, and pushed Lu Yu who was clinging to his waist, “Come with me.”

“Huh?” Lu Yu grabbed his head and sat up. His hair was a mess, and his eyes, swollen from crying yesterday, couldn’t open completely, making him look like a scruffy lion cub.

Seeing his appearance, Ming Yan couldn’t help but laugh, “Haha, oh…”

Laughing made his abs hurt, so he had to stop midway. They had been fooling around on the sofa last night, and the confined space had exhausted his waist and abdominal muscles. He hadn’t felt it before sleeping, but it was painfully obvious now.

Lu Yu quickly supported him and asked with concern, “Does your butt hurt?”

Ming Yan punched him, “It’s your butt that hurts.”

Lu Yu chuckled, “That’s impossible.”

Ming Yan narrowed his eyes, secretly grabbed a pillow, and when Lu Yu wasn’t paying attention, he smacked him with it, pressing him down and giving his butt a hard slap, “Does it hurt now?”

Lu Yu squirmed around like a big worm, “Wah wah wah, you’re bullying me! Just wait, I’ll tell Dad!”

“Haha, ooh—”

After a bit of pillow fighting on the bed, the two finally woke up and got up to wash up.

Ming Yan applied an eye patch to reduce Lu Yu’s swelling, chose a beige sweater and light-colored down jacket for him, and styled his hair neatly, making him look especially well-behaved, almost like he was eighteen.

Lu Yu obediently sat on a small stool while Ming Yan styled his hair, “Does this fulfill your wish of playing with Barbies?”

Some little boys also like to play with Barbie dolls but are embarrassed due to gender.

Ming Yan chuckled and said, “Barbie doesn’t have swollen eyelids.”

“Personal attacks prohibited,” Lu Yu huffed. Then he suddenly remembered something, pulling out the jewelry box from his suit pocket from yesterday. Inside was the expensive gemstone bracelet and a card that read “For Ms. Mitchell.”

Ming Yan pursed his lips and pointed to a drawer, “Just put it there.”

Lu Yu shook his head and stuffed the box into his pocket, “No, I’ll return it later.”

Ming Yan helplessly said, “It’s inappropriate to return it in front of the designer, right?”

Lu Yu grinned and hugged Ming Yan’s waist, “Wait until I sue them and get the design fees back, then we’ll buy it.”

The design of Seven Seas came from The Fish King, and technically, it was related to the novel. If RZ were still paying Ming Yan design fees, Lu Yu wouldn’t pursue it. But now that the copyright fully belonged to RZ and they weren’t giving Ming Yan a dime, he had to take it up with them.

However, such a luxury company has very strict contracts, with various disclaimers. Lu Yu needed to find an international lawyer skilled in this area to find loopholes, and this would take some time.

Although they had only scheduled lunch with Dad, they couldn’t really dawdle until two or three in the afternoon to go. So, they went out early, had a combined brunch, and went to the mall to return the Sevenfold Sea item.

The store clerk looked at them with a strange expression. She recognized the two; they had said it was too expensive last time and were now returning it after buying it.

Ming Yan initially felt too embarrassed to go in.

But Lu Yu wasn’t afraid of judgment and confidently handed over the card, pushing the jewelry box over. He chatted with the clerk, saying, “Oh, it’s for a business client. The deal didn’t go through yesterday, and we even had to pay for a meal. The household burden is heavy with two kids and a third one coming soon; we can’t afford to waste.”

The clerk looked sympathetic and quickly processed the return.

Ming Yan: “…”

After brunch, they went straight to the workshop.

At the door, Ming Yan touched his turtleneck sweater and asked Lu Yu to check if there were any red marks on the exposed skin, then checked Lu Yu’s condition and worriedly said, “Don’t suck on my neck next time.”

Lu Yu nodded obediently, “Next time, I definitely won’t do it before meeting the parents.” He didn’t know Ming Yan had arranged to meet his dad today.

Ming Yan, feeling helpless, had forgotten to remind Lu Yu because of the emotional turbulence from last night.

In the workshop, the master craftsmen were working energetically. Ming Yan greeted everyone and asked why they were still working on the weekend.

The Ming family managed these master craftsmen leniently, paying them high wages and allowing flexible working hours.

The craftsmen cheerfully said, “We’re eager to make a few more pocket watches so we can start selling before the New Year.” Before the New Year is the peak period for luxury goods sales.

“Young Master doesn’t need to worry about us; the Master is waiting for you in the basement,” another watchmaker added.

Ming Yan smiled and nodded, leading Lu Yu toward the basement.

This was Lu Yu’s first time here—the legendary basement that held the true foundation of the Ming family. Descending the wooden spiral staircase, they entered a small hall, a Republican-era styled exhibition room filled with various watches, photos, and books.

Ming Yan pushed open a sliding door that looked like a bookshelf, revealing a heavy metal plate behind it, featuring complex password locks and a silver pull ring, somewhat similar to a bank vault door.

Lu Yu touched the metal plate and gasped, “I’m just now feeling a bit of what it’s like to marry into a wealthy family.”

Ming Yan shot him a sidelong glance, scanned his fingerprint, and entered the code to slowly open the vault door.

Though the main door looked like a vault, inside was a lavishly styled exhibition hall, completely different from the warehouse full of password boxes that Lu Yu had imagined. In the center was a set of vintage sofas, and on either side were transparent display cabinets arranged like bookshelves. Each cabinet held a different kind of gemstone, shimmering under spotlight like galaxies fallen to earth.

At a glance, the starry brilliance was endless, almost making one lose themselves in the dazzling array of jewels.

Lu Yu stared with his mouth slightly open for a moment and whispered, “I feel like I’ve walked into a dragon’s lair.”

Ming Yan’s father, dressed in a vintage gentleman’s suit, came over. Hearing this, he smiled, and after some pleasantries, began introducing the collection to Lu Yu in a melodious tone.

There were deep-sea blue spinels, garnets in red, green, and blue, various shades of violet tanzanite, piles of Paraiba tourmaline, sea sediment stones believed to come from the lost Atlantis, and the long-extinct Kashmir cornflower blue sapphires… each display was worth a fortune.

This was the first time Lu Yu had heard his father-in-law speak so much. He obediently maintained a curious expression, making exclamations of “wow,” “oh,” and “ah” as each item was introduced.

Ming Yan’s father was pleased with his reaction and slightly raised his chin, looking around, “This is part of the Ming family’s century-old assets. There are a few particularly valuable pieces in the private vault at the bank. I’ll have A-Yan take you to see them later.”

Lu Yu, already a bit nervous around his father-in-law, quickly waved his hand and stammered, “N-no need.” It didn’t seem appropriate for him to look at the Ming family’s assets.

Ming Yan’s father gave him a meaningful look and turned to Ming Yan, saying, “Aren’t you planning to make a ring? You can choose a gemstone to take back today.”

Lu Yu’s brows twitched. A ring… he had just asked Ming Yan to buy a wedding ring a few days ago. Could it be for that? Was it appropriate to take it from his father-in-law?

Lu Yu looked at Ming Yan, asking with his eyes.

Ming Yan chuckled lightly, “It’s better to make a plain band for the ring. It’s a bit too conspicuous for a man to wear a large gemstone ring.”

Lu Yu subtly nodded; he didn’t dare to take his father-in-law’s ancestral gemstones before even getting married.

However, Ming Yan continued, “But, we can use these gemstones to make a truly special Seven Seas for you.”

Saying this, Ming Yan took out a tray lined with black velvet and, without hesitation, began selecting gemstones one by one. When his slender fingers picked up the rare Kashmir sapphire, Lu Yu clearly saw his father-in-law’s forehead twitching.

Lu Yu swallowed nervously, and amidst the tense atmosphere, he suddenly recalled his mother-in-law’s words, “The eldest son of the Ming family is enchanted; he must marry me.”