YA Ch116: Creating Life

“Alright, alright, stop fighting.” Ming Yan stepped in and rescued the second child who was stuck in the middle, getting all the heat.

Lu Yu grabbed the eldest with one hand and the third with the other, forcibly separating the two little ones who were fighting fiercely.

Lu Dongdong, like a kitten being grabbed by the scruff of the neck, instantly stopped moving, lazily wagging his tail. Hua Wenyuan, forcibly turned around, couldn’t retrieve his arrow in time, and with a “thud,” it stuck to Lu Yu’s forehead.

With the little suction cup arrow stuck to his forehead, Lu Yu said, “When it comes to rank, we don’t go by era; we go by the order in which Dad wrote the novels. So Dongdong is the eldest, and Xiao Yuan is the younger brother.”

Hua Wenyuan put away his bow and said, “Alright.”

The suction cup arrow retracted, leaving a round red mark right in the center of Lu Yu’s forehead, which made him look like he had a Guanyin mark. The young, handsome Lu Yu suddenly appeared benevolent and kind.

“Pfft.” Ming Yan couldn’t help but laugh out loud at his appearance.

The Merman Ball, being the first to be freed, circled around the General Ball still held by Dad and said, “Xiao Yuan, don’t be afraid. Electronic life is very free; you can go back anytime you want. Come here; big brother will teach you.”

“Is Xiao Yuan afraid?” Lu Yu was a bit surprised, lifting the General Ball to take a closer look. This little guy looked defiant and rebellious; where was the fear?

Hua Wenyuan scoffed, “Second Uncle, you’re overthinking it.”

Though he said that, he didn’t reject Lu Dongdong’s friendliness. After Lu Yu released him, he really didn’t fight with his big brother anymore.

Lu Yu asked the Merman Ball, “Why did you think he was afraid? Do you even have the emotion of fear?” According to Yan-ge, when Lu Dongdong was first put into the balloon body, he wasn’t used to it and flew around the room chaotically for quite a while.

Lu Dongdong swayed his tail and said, “In the original world, yes, but the balloon body doesn’t have physiological reactions, so I haven’t felt fear yet.”

“Then why did you say that?” Lu Yu pinched his mermaid tail.

Dongdong gave a sly, sideways smile and said, “It’s from a guide I looked up called How to Get Along in a Multi-Child Family. As the eldest, you should often say, ‘Don’t be afraid; big brother will teach you; big brother will protect you; I’ll count to three.'”

Lu Yu: “…”

What was that last part?

Before he could ask more, Lu Dongdong had already taken Hua Wenyuan to the study to play. Lao Da was showing Lao San around the room, introducing the furnishings and the physical copies of Shooting the Heavenly Wolf and its merchandise.

Ming Yan asked the President Ball, “Aren’t you going?”

President Shen sneered, “Tch, childish.”

Lu Yu leaned over to tease him, “If you don’t join in on group activities, the two of them will gang up on you later, and you won’t have a good time.”

Shen Baishui flared up, dragging his little golden pig and banging it on the floor with a clatter. “Isn’t it already two against one? Who’s to blame for that? Hurry up and get me an adult body!”

After complaining loudly, the President Ball, still fuming, dragged his little golden pig to the study to bond with his brothers. Since his combat power wasn’t on par, he could only rely on strategy.

After dinner, the eldest and second child started playing a game of chase again, while the third practiced archery against the wall. The little suction-cup arrows were tricky to aim, so he diligently practiced by shooting at the small patterns on the decorative wall.

Lu Yu sat on the sofa, watching the lonely little figure, feeling a bit worried. He leaned over and whispered to Ming Yan, “Is this kid… suffering from some kind of war trauma? Should we take him to Que De for some therapy?”

Ming Yan shook his head helplessly, pointing at the Merman Ball having a great time. “Dongdong has been through the apocalypse, and he’s fine. These are book characters, not children.”

Just as they were talking, the General Ball put away his bow and flew over, saying to Ming Yan, “Second Aunt, could you put some fletching on these little arrows?”

Ming Yan smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll see if we have any feathers at home.” With that, he got up and went to the small study.

Hua Wenyuan didn’t follow him but instead turned to Lu Yu and asked, “Second Uncle, where is Shen Ying?” It had been agreed that Shen Ying would also be brought to the higher-dimensional world.

Lu Yu shrugged. “You’ve seen the data, so you should know. To awaken him, the scenes in Shooting the Heavenly Wolf aren’t enough. I have to write a separate book for him.”

When he had looked at the data earlier, Shen Ying’s progress was at about 56%. He still needed a more complete backstory and plot. Writing a short story of around 200,000 characters and using the simulator for about a week should do the trick.

The General Ball narrowed his eyes. “So when are you going to write it?”

When Ming Yan came back with the feathers, he saw that Lu Yu had been forced to sit at the computer by his own kid, with a document open, starting to write a new book.

Hua Wenyuan hovered beside him, bow in hand, watching him intently.

Ming Yan chuckled, “Looks like you’ve finally met your offline催更 (‘urge for updates’) in person.” He waved the General Ball over and began attaching the fletching to his arrows.

Lu Yu sighed miserably, “Good thing I’m Lu Xiaoyu right now. Let me tell you, if I were Lu Dayu, I couldn’t write even if you held a real sword to my neck. Shen Ying probably wouldn’t be born for another three to five years.”

As he spoke, his fingers didn’t stop flying across the keyboard, dancing like shadows.

The story began with Shen Ying’s second reincarnation, returning to the time when he had just passed the imperial examination and became a top scholar. One moment, he had died in a snowy night, coughing up blood; the next, he opened his eyes to find himself adorned with flowers, riding a horse through the streets. At that time, Hua Wenyuan was leading the soldiers of Jiangzhou Camp, preparing to march to Hancheng to defend the border.

Ming Yan patiently attached a bright red feather to the suction-cup arrow, using scissors to shape it into proper fletching. After a round of trimming and adjustments, the aim improved significantly.

Hua Wenyuan was very pleased. “Thank you, Second Aunt.”

Ming Yan rubbed his head, got up to put away the scissors, and casually asked Lu Yu, “Do you remember where the equity agreement is? We’re starting financing next week, and I need to calculate how much to sell.”

Lu Yu, who was passionately typing, replied without looking up, “It’s in the second drawer of the bookshelf, in the blue folder.”

Ming Yan bent down and accurately found the equity agreement. It was the one Lu Yu had signed when they got married, clearly specifying his shareholding and the portion allowed for transfer.

He flipped through it a couple of times to confirm it was the right one. Holding the agreement, Ming Yan was about to leave but suddenly paused at the study door and slowly turned around: “How did you know?”

Lu Yu’s hands shook, and a string of gibberish appeared on the screen: “Yeah, how did I know?”

This was Lu Dayu’s memory. Lu Xiaoyu, who was ten years younger, shouldn’t have known this. As Lu Yu thought carefully, he vividly recalled the scene when the agreement was signed, even remembering how it was put into the drawer.

“Did I recover my memory?” Lu Yu spread his fingers and brushed his hair back. “Impossible; I’m still typing like I’m possessed.”

In just a moment, he had already written two thousand words.

But this memory was different from the ones that appeared in his dreams.

If the brain were like a computer, the fragmentary memories from his dreams were like random files popping up uncontrollably, part of a data recovery process. But this time, recalling the agreement’s location was more like a search function had appeared, automatically retrieving the needed information.

Lu Yu couldn’t determine if these memories were complete, but if he could recall anything he needed instantly, there wouldn’t be much difference between him and Da Yu.

Ming Yan raised an eyebrow, walked over, put down the contract, and leaned on the desk with one hand, looking at him: “If you’ve become Lu Dayu, do you still want to divorce me?”

The soft silk pajamas couldn’t stay in place, and in this position, the collar naturally slipped down.

Sitting lower, Lu Yu could see the beautiful collarbone down to the small, round belly button. He swallowed and said in a hoarse voice, “I can’t divorce now.”

Ming Yan leaned in closer: “Why not?”

Lu Yu nudged closer, rubbing his face against Ming Yan’s, then pointed to the two balloon people peeking in from the door and also pointed to Hua Wenyuan, who was staring at them intently, saying, “We have three kids now. If we divorce, we can’t split them up.”

Ming Yan chuckled softly: “Just because of that?”

Before Lu Yu could answer, Hua Wenyuan, who had understood, interjected: “Then hurry and make Shen Zixia.”

Lu Yu nodded, standing up with his hands on the desk, trapping Ming Yan between him and the desk. “The kid is right. We at least need to have one more.”

Then, without waiting for a response from Ming Yan, Lu Yu lifted him up: “Come on, let’s go make a baby.”

Ming Yan was startled, reflexively wrapping his arms around Lu Yu’s neck, kicking his legs: “Is this how you make one? Hey!”

The bedroom door closed with a “bang” and locked, leaving the three balloon people outside, exchanging glances.

Hua Wenyuan, puzzled, asked, “What are they doing? Weren’t they just talking about making Zixia? How did they end up in the room? It doesn’t look like work; it looks more like a wedding night.”

Shen Baishui grinned mischievously, nudged the General Ball, and whispered, “Come, come, let me tell you. By the way, do you have any money? Just so you know, one question costs fifty cents.”

Hua Wenyuan blinked: “I own the world; of course I have money. Do you want gold or jewels?”

Shen Baishui said, “I want a bank transfer.”

Hua Wenyuan: “…” The emperor, who possessed vast lands, suddenly realized that after entering the higher-dimensional world, he was penniless.

The President Ball patted him: “Don’t worry, I’ll put it on your tab for now, for the sake of brotherhood.”

Due to the sudden “baby-making plan,” the two couldn’t go out for the weekend again. Ming Yan, with a sore waist and bottom, slumped weakly on the couch, watching variety shows.

Lu Yu sat beside him, typing during the day and doing physical labor at night, jokingly calling it “a two-pronged approach” to ensure the fourth child would be born soon.

After two days of sorting data and absorbing information from the internet, along with playing games like Red Light and Green Light with the family, Hua Wenyuan gradually adapted to life as a modern electronic person.

However, he still didn’t quite understand Lu Yu’s nighttime activities.

“Could it be that balloon bodies are really made by Second Aunt?” Hua Wenyuan searched for a long time but couldn’t find any information online about how balloon bodies were made.

“Yep, it’s made with this,” Lu Yu said seriously, pointing to a small box of rubber products by the bedside. “You stick it in every day, process it for forty-nine days, and then a balloon is born… Ow!”

Before he could finish, he was kicked.

Ming Yan, with red ears, glared at him: “Stop talking nonsense; you’ll corrupt the kids.”