YA Ch121: Kindred Spirit

After the grand show, there was a brand gala. Customers who had placed orders for expensive products, fashion elites, and supermodels all attended.

With drinks flowing, and the air filled with the shimmer of jewels, the fragrance of perfume, and the sight of elegant gowns and hairstyles.

Lu Yu held a glass of non-alcoholic sparkling water, smiling as he watched Ming Yan surrounded by people, chatting and laughing. He was no longer the frightened young master dreading banquets; now, he was the center of attention.

Father Ming, holding a glass of red wine, slowly walked over to clink glasses with him and asked, “Why aren’t you drinking?”

Lu Yu took a sip of his sparkling water and said, “I’m your and Yan-ge’s designated driver tonight, so I can’t drink.”

His father-in-law smiled faintly and, noticing an old friend, immediately raised his glass. The old friend approached and greeted them, “Zhigu, congratulations!”

Lu Yu paused for a moment, realizing that this was his father-in-law’s name—Ming Zhigu. He had seen it once before in news related to Tomorrow Watchs. At that time, he had jokingly wondered to himself if his father-in-law had a younger brother named Ming Zhiwen.

“All the credit goes to the kids,” Father Ming responded cheerfully, patting Lu Yu on the back and introducing him. “Xiao Yu, this is Uncle Li.”

Lu Yu was briefly surprised but quickly greeted him.

Father Ming clinked glasses with his friend and laughed, “The Li family is also in a traditional business, but his younger son, Li Yingjun, is involved in AI gaming, so you two should have a lot to talk about.”

Uncle Li smiled and said, “Us old guys can’t keep up with the times anymore. We have to rely on the younger generation. Xiao Yu and A-Yan are both outstanding, much better than my rascal son. Oh, and he still refuses to get married; it’s driving me crazy.”

Lu Dongdong, in his hidden earpiece, reminded Lu Yu: Li Yingjun runs a company that makes romance AI games, called Yingjun Games, which is quite successful and ranks among the top three in the dating game genre.

Lu Yu immediately said, “Uncle Li, you’re too modest. Yingjun Games is a leader in the industry.”

Uncle Li was overjoyed, and Father Ming gave Lu Yu a slight nod, pleased with his performance.

That night, when they returned home, both of them were still excited.

Lu Yu happily shared with Ming Yan, “Dad introduced me to his network, Yan-ge, I feel so lucky.” His father-in-law had publicly acknowledged his status!

Ming Yan had drunk a bit of alcohol, and his pale face was flushed. He smiled and patted Lu Yu’s head, swaying as he walked towards the dressing room. The soft shirt swayed with his movements, making his back look like a prince dancing the tango.

Lu Yu’s heart itched at the sight. He reached out from behind, wrapping his arms around Ming Yan’s waist, gently rubbing his warm cheek. “Don’t change just yet, this outfit looks really good. Let me admire it a little longer.”

Ming Yan leaned softly against him, tilted his head to look up at him, and continued smiling, “Is it just the outfit that looks good?”

The bright chandelier in the living room illuminated his delicate, upturned face. His brows and eyes were tinged with red, and even his ears were faintly pink, giving him a kind of translucent beauty.

Lu Yu was stunned. He realized that Ming Yan had had too much to drink. This kind of straightforward flirting was something he would never do when sober.

“Of course, it looks good because of the person wearing it,” Lu Yu said, lowering his head to kiss those lips that carried a hint of alcohol.

Ming Yan chuckled softly.

Lu Yu picked him up and placed him on the sofa, then fetched a warm towel to wipe his face and hands.

Ming Yan obediently let him wipe. After Lu Yu had wiped every finger, Ming Yan lifted his slightly damp fingertips and touched Lu Yu’s face, saying, “Xiao Yu, I’m really happy. The Ming family has come back to life.”

“Mhm, I’m happy too.” Lu Yu rubbed his cheek against the palm pressed to his face.

“Actually, it’s not just you who’s been creatively exhausted,” Ming Yan cupped his handsome face, tracing Lu Yu’s brows and eyes with his thumb. “I was too. I once thought I’d never design anything that could surpass the ‘Seven Seas.’ Thank you for coming back, my muse. I love you so much.”

Lu Yu felt like he had turned into a plaster statue, unable to move as Ming Yan touched his entire face. He asked in a hoarse voice, “Did you just say… I’m your muse?”

Ming Yan, smiling a bit foolishly, nodded vigorously. “Mm-hmm.”

Lu Yu’s breath quickened, and the overwhelming joy filled him to the point of suffocation. A muse is the highest praise an artist can give to the source of their inspiration. He had never imagined he could be Ming Yan’s muse. He was so ordinary, always acting out and causing trouble…

“You must be looking at me through an 800-meter-thick filter,” Lu Yu whispered.

Ming Yan, a little confused and drowsy, didn’t catch the words and mumbled with a bit of a nasal tone, “What?”

“Nothing. I love you too,” Lu Yu kissed him, gently sucking, wanting to know if the lips that had just spoken such sweet words tasted as sweet as honey.

The hand clad in soft white fabric gripped the top of the sofa back, like a butterfly pinned to velvet—struggling, trembling, fragile, yet magnificent.

Hua Wenyuan, watching from behind the sofa as his two older brothers bounced around, asked in confusion, “What are you two doing?”

Lu Dongdong, who had been bumped into the air, wagged his tail. “Bouncing.”

Hua Wenyuan clicked his tongue. “Childish.”

Then, the scene became three balls bouncing behind the sofa.

The next day, Ming Yan had a lot of work to do related to the watch industry—order arrangements, brand expansion plans, magazine interviews, and more. He couldn’t make it to Shen Yu for now.

Lu Yu, a bit worried about him, gently massaged his slender waist and regretted, “I shouldn’t have been so impulsive last night.” Facing such an intense workload with a sore back would probably wear Ming Yan out by the end of the day.

Ming Yan stretched and smiled, “It’s fine, I feel great.”

When you’re in a good mood, your body feels light and relaxed, and a little soreness doesn’t matter.

Lu Yu raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Looks like I didn’t try hard enough. Time to hit the weights today.”

Ming Yan gave him a sidelong glance. “By the way, there’s something I need to discuss with you. I want to restart the factory to produce non-jewelry pocket watches. The machines need to be replaced, and a lot of equipment needs upgrading. My two billion might not be enough.”

These past days, between the show, advertising, and store renovations, most of the two billion had been spent. Although they’d received a lot of orders yesterday, the deposits only covered the cost of those orders, leaving no extra money for factory upgrades.

Lu Yu didn’t hesitate. “Isn’t my two billion with you as well?” To ensure Ming Yan didn’t feel burdened, he had also given up an equivalent amount of equity when they raised funds.

Ming Yan smiled slyly. “I was planning to use that money and just wanted to let you know.”

Hearing this, Lu Yu burst into laughter, feeling delighted. “Go ahead and use it.” Yan-ge had finally stopped being polite with him and had even learned to actively tap into his funds. How wonderful.

Seeing Lu Yu’s silly, blissful expression, Ming Yan reached out and pinched his cheek. “You’re such a little fool. It’s lucky you ended up with me. Anyone else would’ve swindled you out of everything, down to your underwear.”

Lu Yu: “Then lie to me, come on, take the underwear.” As he said this, he pulled the other person’s hand toward his pants.

Ming Yan pulled his hand back, laughing, “I don’t want to, hahaha…”

After playing around, the two parted ways, each driving their own car.

Lu Yu went to work alone, feeling quite lonely. He complained to his two sons, “I finally understand the pain of going to work. Without my wife around, going to work feels no different from going to prison.”

Dongdong connected the car’s audio system and said in a crisp voice, “Dad, you have us with you.”

Hua Wenyuan chimed in, “You can slack off at work and write.”

Lu Yu: “…You make a good point.”

This third kid really ought to have a courtesy name, something like Hua-style Urging Updates.

Just as Lu Yu parked the car, he suddenly saw his long-time top supporter. The guy was directing his bodyguards to move boxes, all packed with who knows what.

“Big brother, you’re back!” Lu Yu greeted loudly.

Hong Wuyang happily waved at him and ran over, grabbing him and saying, “Come on, come on, I’ve got something good to show you.”

The two went to a nearby showroom. Young Master Hong pushed over a large box and said, “This is a souvenir I brought for you.”

Lu Yu looked at the big cardboard box and rubbed his hands, “You’re being too generous.”

The bodyguards moved the rest of the boxes into the room, and Hong Wuyang patted one of them, saying, “This one’s mine, it’s the same as yours.”

They opened the boxes together, layer after layer, and Lu Yu felt like he’d seen this scene before. Sure enough, after opening the final layer, inside was a familiar hexagonal transparent box.

Lu Yu took a small breath and carefully took it out. Inside the box was a cute Q-version balloon figure of Shen Ying.

Dressed in a blue and white wide-sleeved scholar’s robe, holding a small folding fan, it was very adorable. The electronic eyes had a faint red at the corner, a mark of his peach blossom eyes, even though the pupils weren’t lit up at the moment, the figure still looked like it was smiling.

Lu Yu glanced at the box in Big Brother’s hands. It was an identical Shen Ying balloon figure. After a moment of silence, he said, “You’ve been busy for over half a month—don’t tell me it was just to supervise this?”

Earlier, Hong Wuyang had gone abroad to personally acquire a balloon figure manufacturing company and hadn’t returned since. Every time Lu Yu asked, he said he was very busy, and it turned out he was busy with this—using his authority for personal gain, delaying customer orders so they could make Shen Ying figures for him first?

Big Brother, without any shame, replied, “Yeah, I gave them so much money. Isn’t it reasonable to prioritize my order? Plus, I got to learn about the balloon figure production process, which will be useful for future management.”

Hong Wuyang happily hugged his “Shen Ying,” praising the company profusely. All the craftsmen came to make these two figures for him, very enthusiastic, even volunteering for overtime—it was truly touching.

Lu Yu looked at him suspiciously, “Did you wave a wad of cash around and tip them every time they made progress?”

Big Bro’s clear eyes widened, “How did you know?”

Lu Yu: “I just knew… Money can make even ghosts push the millstone, and it can make lazy foreigners volunteer for overtime.”

Of course, passion for one’s hobbies has the same effect—just look at the overly-enthusiastic Hong Wuyang before him. According to him, the acquisition process was almost complete.

Big Bro, now fully immersed in his managerial role, even started assigning Lu Yu tasks: “I’m planning to build a balloon figure factory on the outskirts of the city. You should get your three kids to film a commercial when you have time.”

Lu Yu put the Shen Ying figure back in the box, “Isn’t that a bit premature? It’ll probably take a while to build the factory.”

“Not at all!” Hong Wuyang pulled out a stack of receipts. “I’ve already placed orders for the machines, and I’ve scouted two locations for the factory. Come with me tomorrow to check them out. One’s a bankrupt toy factory, and the other’s a barely-surviving drone assembly plant. Once we decide, I’ll buy it and start renovations—we should be ready for production after the New Year.”

“Indeed, passion is the best teacher,” Lu Yu said, dumbfounded, speaking in a tone like he was accusing a heartless man, “Big brother, you’ve changed. You’ve left behind us procrastinators.”

That night, Lu Yu carried the big box home.

The three balloon figures gathered around the transparent box. The CEO figure curled his lip, “Another second-generation model.”

The Merman figure squinted with a smile and asked Hua Wenyuan, “Who is this?”

The General figure quietly stared at the small, three-headed scholar in the box. His electronic eyes gleamed brightly, and he said in a low voice, “This is my close friend and also my teacher.”

“The teacher—could men marry in the ancient world?” The Merman figure flicked his tail.

“You’re such an idiot. ‘Teacher’ means mentor,” Shen Baishui scoffed, earning himself a tail flick.

“Oh, teacher, close friend—I have a close friend too,” Lu Dongdong said, raising his fork in demonstration. “He has lots of tentacles and likes to eat weird stuff.”

Lu Yu sat on the side, listening to them talk, his mouth twitching. The “close friend” Lu Dongdong was referring to was his “good buddy,” a mutated octopus. That thing was basically Lu Dongdong’s garbage disposal. Whenever the Fish King killed a monster, that guy would stuff the corpse into his mouth and eat it, keeping Lu Dongdong’s surroundings clean and maintaining the dignity of the King of the Seven Seas.

The President Ball rolled his eyes, “You consider that trash can your close friend? Then I have one too. My close friend cries and screams, ‘Just you wait, next time I’ll beat you!’ every time I take first place. Without him, my life would be half as fun.”

Hua Wenyuan: “…”

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Author’s Note:

Hua Wenyuan: I barely recognize the meaning of the word ‘close friend’ anymore.