YA Ch112: Financing

[F***, Old Thief Han Di Ba Yu, you’re heartless, still talking about your power pills at a time like this!]

[Woo woo woo, A-Ying, my A-Ying.]

[What was the malfunction earlier? The officials haven’t even given an explanation.]

[Chenyu Technology: “It’s said that President Lu was too heartbroken and pressed the emergency stop. It wasn’t a mechanical failure, okay?]

The public relations team finally decided to spend some money and sent a colorful bullet comment with a title, but none of the audience believed a single punctuation mark of what they said.

[Yeah right, Han Di ba Yu heartbroken? I saw him grinning so hard his gums were about to show.]

In the livestream, Lu Yu certainly wasn’t actually smiling, but his expression definitely couldn’t be called sorrowful. He even had the time to mention power pills, which didn’t make him seem like someone who would press an emergency stop button. 

The more they explained it, the less the audience believed it was a manual stop. They started to suspect Chenyu Technology was trying to cover up a mechanical failure to prevent the audience from thinking their technology wasn’t up to par.

[Come on, an explanation is just a cover-up; for sure it was a disconnect! Hahaha…]

[You guys turned a holographic game cabin into an AI trainer; it was a jerry-rigged job in the first place; bugs are totally expected.]

[Oh my God, look at the shopping cart! Ahhhhh, Old Thief Han Di Ba Yu, you’re heartless!]

The little yellow cart at the bottom right corner of the livestream promptly added various merchandise: standees, stickers, color swatches, and even digital desktops of Shen Ying’s death, looking exactly like the Sleeping Beauty-like Shen Ying in the livestream with his eyes closed.

The audience angrily cursed the “heartless Old Thief Ha Di Ba Yu,” then honestly clicked to buy.

Ming Yan’s artwork was full of narrative depth.

On a snow-white fur blanket, a slender, jade-like hand lay draped down, entwined with strands of black hair, its fingertips stained with traces of blood. It was the hand of a brilliant 17-year-old champion of the imperial examination, the hand of a prime minister who wielded a brush to scheme for the empire. Now, dyed red with his own blood, it lay in a warm fur blanket in a snowy mountain forest.

The full illustration even depicted the faint twilight outside the window of a small wooden hut.

Not long after, all of Shen Ying’s merchandise sold out, and under the audience’s strong demand, a pre-order link had to be set up. Occasionally, some questioned whether the AI had become sentient, but the discussion didn’t gain much traction. In the audience’s simple understanding, a system that could experience mechanical failures was unlikely to cultivate an AI capable of passing a Turing test.

Thus, the crisis was resolved with both thrills and danger, and Hua Wenyuan continued his conquest of the world, dutifully. However, without his teacher’s restraint, Heavenly King Hua quickly went astray, and before long, he was naturally demanding rewards from Lu Yu.

Hua Wenyuan placed Shen Ying into an ice coffin provided by a deer hunter, resting one hand on the transparent lid. Looking at the still-vibrant young scholar beneath the crystal-clear ice, he turned to Lu Yu and said, “Uncle, find a way to preserve the body. Once I kill Duohe, I will personally escort the coffin back to Chu Ping.”

Lu Yu, who was just enjoying the show with excitement: “….”

In the original story, there really was a way to bring Shen Ying back intact, but it wasn’t something Hua Shengmi found! That method wouldn’t be available until near the Pearl Divers’ territory. However, faced with those blood-red eyes full of “If you don’t agree, I’ll throw a tantrum,” Lu Yu could only grit his teeth and agree.

Fine, fine, children are debts.

After a whole day of livestreaming, Lu Yu felt like he was about to collapse. By the time it was time to clock out, he didn’t want to move and lay sprawled on the couch in the break room, being lazy.

Ming Yan came over and patted his almost-broken buddy. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Lu Yu, like a talking toy, made a small whimpering noise with each pat but didn’t move. “My whole body is sore, I even got beaten up by that brat, Hua Wenyuan, so miserable. I need a bath! Urgently need a bath!”

He wanted to sink into a big bathtub, fill it with hot water, and soak his entire body. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a bathtub at home, only two separate shower rooms.

After listening to his whiny complaints for a while, Ming Yan gave in, “Then book a hotel.”

Lu Yu instantly perked up, sitting halfway up, only to immediately flop back down again, kicking his legs a few times. “I don’t have money, boohoo…”

All the household money, including his royalties, was in Ming Yan’s hands. He only had a little bit of pitiful pocket money.

Ming Yan chuckled softly. “Alright, alright, I’ll book it.”

Big Brother, the top fan, came out holding a pile of Shen Ying merchandise and heard this, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning. “Han Di Ba Yu, no way, you’re making your wife pay for the hotel?”

Lu Yu flipped over, lying on the couch with a lazy attitude. “Yeah, I’m exactly that kind of scumbag!”

Hong Wuyang, full of indignation, said, “I’ve completely misjudged you.”

Lao Yang pouted, “He’s broke.” In Yang Chen’s opinion, if Lu Yu weren’t being controlled too strictly by Ming Yan, he wouldn’t have brought up a debt from ten years ago to demand that three yuan and fifty cents back from him.

Although Lao Yang’s reasoning process was wrong, the result was completely correct.

Big Brother, the top fan, understood and looked at Lu Yu sympathetically. “I get you, my dad often doesn’t have money either. Once the financing comes through, you’ll be more comfortable.”

Ming Yan booked a hotel with a large bathtub. While the rest of the hotel was unremarkable, the suite featured a giant massage tub right next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. You could soak in the bath while enjoying the night view, which was quite wonderful.

Lu Yu lay in the tub, letting the massage jets lift him up until he floated like a salted fish soaking in water.

Ming Yan sat on the ledge of the tub, holding a glass of red wine, watching him with amusement. “Your pose…”

Completely naked, with his privates floating among a bunch of rubber ducks, it looked especially funny.

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow like Tom the Cat and flicked one of the little yellow ducks on the water’s surface. “I did this on purpose. You know, this particular area shouldn’t be exposed to heat for too long; it affects the sperm’s vitality, so I’m letting them cool off.”

Ming Yan turned his face away, speechless. “What do you need sperm vitality for?”

Lu Yu thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead. “Oh right, I don’t need it. Let’s heat them up!” With that, he flipped over, his butt in the air, becoming a face-down flipped-over salted fish.

Ming Yan poked him. “Don’t play like that, it’s dangerous.”

However, the person soaking in the water seemed to ignore him, floating on the water without moving.

“Lu Yu?” Ming Yan started to worry. He called out, but there was no response. He quickly set down his wine glass and reached out to pull him. “Lu Yu!”

Just as Ming Yan’s slender hands grasped Lu Yu’s armpits, Lu Yu suddenly shot up, like a crocodile pretending to be driftwood to catch its prey, grabbing Ming Yan and pulling him directly into the water.

Ming Yan let out a surprised yelp as he fell into the tub, his bathrobe instantly soaking through.

Lu Yu cradled the back of Ming Yan’s head to prevent him from choking on the water. “Hehe, if we soak together, neither of us will drown.”

“Never heard of that,” Ming Yan punched him and wriggled free.

Lu Yu patted his leg. “Sit on my lap, and you won’t get submerged.”

Ming Yan took off the wet bathrobe, tossed it aside, and slid to the far end of the tub, lying down with only his shoulders above water.

Lu Yu dove underwater, swam over, grabbed Ming Yan’s waist, and emerged for a wet kiss. Then he happily lay beside Ming Yan, their bodies close, and started playing a game of intertwining their legs.

You hook my leg like a water snake, I pull it out and hook yours back. Such a boring game, yet the two played it with great enthusiasm for quite some time.

Ming Yan poked Lu Yu’s sole with his toe and said, “I’ve got something to discuss with you.”

Lu Yu, ticklish, shivered and used his toes to grab Ming Yan’s foot. “What?”

“For this round of financing, I want to sell a small portion of our equity to get some cash flow.” Ming Yan reached out, grabbed the wine glass from the ledge, and took a sip. When Lu Yu leaned over to taste it, Ming Yan moved the glass away.

This time it was different from when they were urgently selling to Qingqu Capital. The asking price would be at least three times higher. He only needed to sell a small portion to get a large amount of money.

“Then sell it. I’ll sell some too,” Lu Yu smacked his lips, having failed to taste the wine, so he leaned over and licked Ming Yan’s lips to taste the flavor. “No telling when we’ll go public. Since we’re not issuing new shares this time, the three of us can all cash out a little.”

Without increasing the number of shares, Hongxiao Capital would have to buy shares from the three original shareholders. Given the current valuation of the company, that should be quite a sum of money.

After thinking it over, Lu Yu added, “Tell Ximen Qing to get ready. Chenyu will launch the financing process next week.”

Bringing in more investors would drive up competition, and with it, the company’s valuation. This way, Ming Yan could make even more money.

Ming Yan raised his eyebrows and scrutinized Lu Yu’s expression. Seeing he was serious, Ming Yan smiled and nodded, then picked up his smart device and sent a message to Zhao Yanqing.

Just as he clicked send, Lu Yu pounced, nibbling on the soft skin of Ming Yan’s neck. “You’re sending a message to your former suitor right in front of me? I’m going to punish you.”

Ming Yan rolled his eyes. He had known this would happen and helplessly pushed the pest away. “Weren’t you tired?”

Lu Yu replied, “Work tired and this kind of tired are totally different things. I can’t do any work right now, but I’m fully charged for this! Pile-driver Lu Xiaoyu, at your service.”

Ming Yan: “Hey!”

The two were messing around when the smart device tossed aside suddenly rang with a phone call. Assistant Xiao Bai lazily asked, “Incoming call from Zhao Yanqing. Answer?”

Ming Yan was leaning with both hands on the edge of the tub, water splashing around his pale fingertips, too occupied to pay attention.

Lu Yu, with a mischievous grin, immediately said, “Answer.”

Ming Yan was startled, his body tensing up instantly.

On the other side, Shen Baishui thoughtfully put the call on speaker, and Zhao Yanqing’s voice came through the external speakers: “Are you informing me ahead of time behind Lu Yu’s back?”

Ming Yan bit his lip, adjusted his breathing, and calmly replied, “No, Lu Yu knows.”

There was a brief pause on the other end, and then Zhao Yanqing said, “Your new product is launching next week, and the price will likely go up. Considering our relationship, can you sell me a bit privately in advance?”

The guy deliberately spoke slowly, his deep voice oozing male charm.

For the first time, Ming Yan found him incredibly annoying. Just as he was about to respond, he let out a muffled groan, quickly covering his mouth with one hand. Losing his balance, his body slid forward, and Lu Yu caught him by the waist.

With one swift slap to the jerk behind him, Ming Yan, unable to bear it anymore, said, “Let’s talk tomorrow. I’m busy right now.” Without waiting for Zhao Yanqing’s reply, he hastily hung up the phone.

Overjoyed just moments ago by Ming Yan’s special treatment, Ximen Qing was left speechless: “…”