YA Ch100: Birth Mother

When they got home in the evening, Lu Yu was eager to give Ming Yan an essential oil massage.

That position they tried at noon was too challenging, causing a bit of a muscle strain in Ming Yan’s upper thighs. It hurt to lift his legs when walking, which made Lu Yu feel really bad.

Lu Yu insisted he knew how to give massages. He laid out a soft mat in the coziest corner of the small study, where the heating was at its strongest, and warmly invited Mr. Ming to a free session.

Ming Yan thought this activity was quite risky and might worsen his injury. However, seeing Lu Yu looking at him with eyes full of expectation, like a little seal patting the mat, he couldn’t bear to refuse.

Hesitating for a moment at the study’s doorway, Ming Yan compromised and said, “Let’s be clear, the masseur should maintain professional conduct and not harass the customer.”

Lu Yu patted his chest and swore, “I swear by my pen name, ‘Han De Ba Yu,’ that if I harass the customer, I will change my name to ‘Han Di Shuan Gou (Dog Tied in Dry Land)’ on tomorrow’s live broadcast, in front of all viewers.”

Ming Yan: “…”

After taking a shower, Ming Yan, wearing only a pair of white boxers, lay on the mat. The room was as warm as spring, with the floor heating turned up high, so he didn’t feel cold. However, he looked back at himself and felt a bit uneasy, so he covered his lower half with a towel.

When Lu Yu came in with the essential oils and saw this scene, he grumbled, “Are you doubting my integrity? Is there no trust between people?”

Ming Yan said mercilessly, “Yes.”

Lu Yu huffed indignantly and began to prepare. He lit a few small scented candles, dimmed the lights, and had Lu Dongdong connect the room’s sound system to play some white noise of a babbling mountain stream.

Ming Yan rested his chin on his crossed hands and looked at him, suppressing a laugh. “You’re quite professional at this.”

“Of course,” Lu Yu, happy to be praised, sat cross-legged on the edge of the mat and said earnestly, “Gold-medal masseur Lu Xiaoyu is at your service. If you have a good experience, don’t forget to give me a five-star rating.”

Ming Yan buried his face in the mat, chuckling.

Lu Yu poured some essential oil into his palms, rubbed them until they were warm, and evenly dripped it on the smooth, jade-like skin of Ming Yan’s back. Then he placed his warm hands on it and sighed contentedly.

“Is it normal for a masseur to make such sounds?”

“Customer, please don’t question my professional standards.”

The professional Lu Xiaoyu wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and began massaging carefully from Ming Yan’s shoulders, slowly working his way down, inch by inch, until the white skin turned a lovely shade of pink under his touch.

The strained muscles along Ming Yan’s spine were being soothed comfortably, and he gradually relaxed, stretching out his limbs limply.

Lu Yu felt the body under his palms warm up and soften like a little cat having its fur stroked, and his heart melted along with it. Using a gentle voice, as if telling a bedtime story, he softly said, “Once Hua Wenyuan’s transformation is complete, let’s go on a beach vacation. We’ll sunbathe on a tropical beach, and I’ll tan my skin, which is now pale like fish meat, to a bronze color.”

Ming Yan chuckled softly with his eyes closed. “Sure.”

“When we make enough money, I want a wedding ring. Since I’m marrying into your family, the ring has to be from you.”

“Mm, I’ll get it.”

“And we should buy back the old Ming family villa. Dad definitely wants to move back there. We should hire a housekeeper so Mom doesn’t have to keep doing housework. She should be enjoying her life as a lady of leisure, going for beauty treatments, shopping, and playing mahjong.”

Ming Yan opened his eyes, turned his head to look at him, and said, “There’s no rush for any of that. We have all the time in the world.”

Lu Yu lowered his head to start massaging his calves. “I’m just taking the opportunity to ask for a reward. Don’t you think I look like an imperial concubine right now, massaging the emperor’s legs while asking for favors?”

Ming Yan smiled with pursed lips. “I’ve never seen an imperial concubine with abs before.”

“Well, now you’ve seen one,” Lu Yu proudly raised his chin. “It’s rare to encounter such a tasteful customer. I’ll give you a complimentary private health massage for men’s wellness.”

Ming Yan: “…No need. Actually, I’m not that tasteful.”

The enthusiastic gold-medal masseur insisted, “You need it.”

As he said this, his slippery fingers, slick with essential oil, slipped under the towel.

Ming Yan glanced at him sideways. “If you touch any further, you’ll be ‘Dog Tied in Dry Land,’ remember?”

Lu Yu: “Dog it is.”

Ming Yan, speechless, said, “I knew it.”

Lu Yu laughed cheekily. “Just teasing you. I won’t do anything, just touch. Today, I’ll be a gentleman.”

What kind of gentleman does that count as? Ming Yan rolled his eyes and didn’t bother responding.

Gentleman Lu Xiaoyu continued babbling, “They say this area needs proper care. I bought a set of deluxe Daisy skincare products from Que De. Let me try it on you while we’re at it.”

Ming Yan was quite shocked to see the set of products that Lu Yu produced like a magic trick. “Que De even sells this stuff?”

Que De not only sold this but also taught the techniques for its use. After Lu Yu thoroughly massaged him with care, working the luxurious skincare lotion deep into the skin, Ming Yan became so relaxed and comfortable that he was almost asleep, his limbs weak.

Lu Yu waited for the essential oils to be fully absorbed, wiped him clean with a warm towel, and then carried him back to bed. Stroking Ming Yan’s soft hair, he planted a kiss on his moist lips. “Goodnight, Dear Yan-ge.”

After finishing up, Lu Dongdong flew over and showed him a message on the smart brain.

There was a long text message from Lu Yu’s father. He nearly forgot that the Lu family had already passed their one-week blackout period.

Lu Yu frowned and opened the message:

“Yu’er, your mom and I have reflected deeply on ourselves. We were indeed biased toward your brother. Over the years, because of our pride, we refused to admit it, which caused you a lot of grievances. But your mom and I have always loved you. Before your brother was born, we truly gave you everything we could. If you think about it carefully, isn’t that so? In any case, Dad hopes you won’t hate us and that you live a happy life.”

Lu Yu looked at this text and stared at it for a long time.

No scolding, no questioning—just a seemingly sincere late-night reflection.

He had always stubbornly wanted his adoptive parents to admit that black was black and white was white, but they never did. During his rebellious high school years and even after severing ties in college, he never got a straightforward answer from them. Now, on the eve of meeting Michelle, he received an apology from his adoptive parents.

He didn’t feel relieved; he just found it strange.

Lu Yu didn’t reply to the message. Instead, he slid under the blanket, numb, and hugged the already sleeping Ming Yan.

Ming Yan, now used to his touch, instinctively snuggled into his arms.

The warm, real sensation of the body in his arms pulled Lu Yu back from the state of emptiness that had set in after reading the message. He buried his face in the soft hair and rubbed it. Whether it was sincere or insincere, he couldn’t be bothered to discern. As long as his Yan-ge in his arms was real, that was enough.

By Thursday, a very anxious and stressed-out President Zheng performed wonders under high pressure and actually managed to bribe a member of the assessment team. The person revealed that the chances of success among the competitors were about the same, and there weren’t too many technical requirements because DCM itself would provide the technology for manufacturing smart brains. However, he warned President Zheng never to offend Professor Mitchell.

DCM, after all, had angered the top brass of the Smart Brain Alliance back in the day, and that’s why it had struggled for so many years without certification, ultimately leading to a bleak fate of being sold off cheaply.

Zheng Wuqiong was pacing back and forth on the other end of the phone, saying to Lu Yu, “I know you’re doing this to revitalize Tomorrow Watch Company. This is my last chance and a great opportunity for the Ming family. I promise you, brother, if this works out, all our smart watch chain business will be handed over to the Ming family for production. Grab this chance, brother!”

Zheng Wuqiong, who was older than Lu Yu’s foster father, was calling him “brother.”

Lu Yu listened with a frown. This kind of low posture and earnest plea made him feel somewhat irritated, as if it added a lot of pressure out of nowhere.

“That’s someone else’s burden; don’t carry it on your own shoulders. We never promised we’d sort out the permit for you,” Ming Yan came over, took his hand, and smiled. “Tonight, I’ll treat you to something nice to eat. How about that?”

Lu Yu’s eyes lit up, and he immediately pushed aside the difficult problem that President Zheng had thrust upon him. Yan-ge actually wanted to go on a date with him, which made him very happy. He nodded repeatedly, “Sure!”

After getting off work in the evening, Lu Yu happily hopped into the car and was taken by Ming Yan to a restaurant that looked very upscale.

From a distance, the restaurant didn’t look like a dining place but more like a leisure club. The deep-colored entrance was intentionally vague and mysterious, and it was hard to even notice the name unless one looked closely. On the dark wall, there was a wooden plaque with the word “Mulan” written on it.

Lu Yu was stunned. Wasn’t this the restaurant where Professor Li had arranged to meet him?

Ming Yan nodded, “I made a reservation yesterday. This restaurant is a bit complicated, so I thought it would be good for you to get familiar with it in advance.”

By becoming familiar with the environment and the process, he wouldn’t be distracted by external factors and could engage in conversation with ease.

Lu Yu slowly tightened his grip on the slender fingers intertwined with his. The anxiety and restlessness that had been building since yesterday were finally soothed. All those indescribable worries were gently smoothed away by Yan-ge’s care.

“Yan-ge, how did you think of this?” Lu Yu’s heart felt full, and he asked in a husky voice.

“When small animals are nervous, they are prone to stress reactions. The same goes for little ones,” Ming Yan winked and tousled Lu Yu’s hair.

Sensitive people are also highly sensitive to their environment. Under normal circumstances, it’s not a big deal, but during times of mental tension, having to be mindful of the surroundings can be exhausting. Since they were alike in this way, Ming Yan knew very well how to minimize this impact.

Lu Yu touched his heart, which felt full and heavy, and nodded dumbly.

“Come, let’s try out some Western etiquette,” Ming Yan stood in place and pointed his chin at a chair.

Lu Yu walked over and attentively pulled out the high-back chair, inviting Young Master Ming to sit.

Just as Ming Yan had mentioned, the restaurant indeed had very intricate rules. Although it served Chinese cuisine, the serving method was Western-style. The dishes were served individually, one per person, and a new dish was brought only after finishing the previous one.

Lu Yu took note of all the procedures, gradually relaxing. He looked at Ming Yan, who was elegantly eating across from him, and asked in a low voice, “If she wants to acknowledge me as her son, should I agree?”

Before Ming Yan could answer, he continued talking to himself, “Changing from a perch fish to a carp doesn’t seem like much of an improvement.”

Ming Yan looked up, picked up a piece of mandarin fish from his own plate, and placed it on Lu Yu’s plate. “Follow your own heart.”

He’s not the experienced Lu Dayu; he’s the Lu Xiaoyu who just got news of his biological mother after leaving the Lu family, and deep down, he can’t help but feel some expectation.

“If she was really bullied, what if she sees me and throws up right away?” Lu Yu lowered his head to confirm the location of the trash bin.

Ming Yan sighed, squeezed Lu Yu’s hand that had unconsciously clenched into a fist, and said softly, “Don’t think too much. Since she decided to meet you, she’s prepared. Also, she’s already a successful and accomplished person. She’s not as fragile as you think.”

With such unease and anticipation, Friday finally arrived.

Ming Yan had prepared the clothes and accessories for Lu Yu and offered to drive him there.

Lu Yu shook his head, “I’ll go by myself. If she sees me still acting like a mama’s boy at this age, she’d be disappointed.”

Ming Yan was amused and wanted to tousle his hair, but seeing that Lu Yu had carefully styled it with hair wax, he curled his fingers instead. “What mama’s boy? Where do you come up with these weird phrases all day? Then take the family Bentley and present yourself as a successful person.”

Lu Yu, the successful person, drove the shiny luxury car and arrived early at the Moland restaurant. He sat in the designated seat mentioned in the invitation, sent a message to Ming Yan to say he’d arrived, and pressed the small box in his suit pocket before placing his hands on his legs, waiting obediently.

Soon, he heard the sound of a waiter leading someone over, and he slowly turned his head to look.

The person approaching was a tall lady dressed in a royal blue business suit, looking exactly like her ID photo. Time seemed particularly kind to her. Although she was theoretically nearing fifty, Professor Mitchell Li had no wrinkles on her face.

She walked over and said to Lu Yu, who had stood up, “Hello, I’m Mitchell Li. My Chinese name is Li Moqiao.”

Lu Yu almost forgot to breathe for a moment.

Even though he had already guessed her identity, hearing the name “Li Moqiao” right upon meeting still left him somewhat at a loss. Lu Yu mechanically pulled out the chair opposite and invited the lady to sit.

Thankfully, Yan-ge had rehearsed with him; otherwise, under such shock, he really wouldn’t have known what to do.

Lu Yu sat down, staring at Ms. Li almost greedily, his throat tightening as he asked, “Why do you want to see me? Do we… have any connection?”

Li Moqiao’s expression was blank, and speaking these words seemed to pose no difficulty for her at all. She was straightforward: “I saw the news on NiaoShu. The Lu family did not follow the agreement to raise you properly. I am here to solve this problem. I am your biological mother by blood.”

Lu Yu felt extremely strange. This was far from the reunion scene between mother and child that he had imagined—off by a hundred thousand miles. It was unbelievable. Her answer was entirely in the order of his questions, like a question-and-answer machine, not even as lively as Lu Dongdong when it spoke.

In the dim lighting of the restaurant, that delicate and handsome face triggered an uncanny valley effect, making Lu Yu feel like he was facing something that wasn’t quite a real person.

Lu Yu swallowed hard and asked, “Pardon my boldness, but… are you a bionic human? Li Moqiao-division-bridge?”

Professor Li’s expressionless face finally showed a slight change. She curved her lips into a perfectly shaped smile. “Currently, the scientific community has not yet created a perfect bionic human. Based on this, you can infer that I am alive.”