YA Ch117: Increasing the Price

Before they knew it, it was a workday again, and the audience, who had developed a habit of watching the livestream, showed up on time.

[I’m doomed. I’ve developed a conditioned reflex. When the time comes, my hand automatically clicks in.]

[Boohoo, I just remembered that Hua Wenyuan has already been upgraded. How will I live without the livestream from now on?]

[Thank goodness there’s still a side story. Otherwise, I’d be going through withdrawal today.]

On Monday, the side story Youth Travels aired.

It told a series of standalone stories about the emperor going on an autumn hunt, traveling incognito, and taking a boat trip to observe the Grand Canal. Basically, it’s about Hua Wenyuan, after becoming emperor, occasionally going on adventures and righteously punishing evildoers while secretly investigating corrupt officials—essentially a feel-good narrative.

Since Hua Wenyuan had already been upgraded, Lu Yu left him alone to play by himself, only asking Lao Yang to keep an eye on him. If the kid misbehaved, they’d cut off the livestream.

Lu Yu, meanwhile, was with Ming Yan, receiving people from Hongxiao Capital and Qingqu Capital.

With Hua Wenyuan going online for three days and selling like crazy, the company’s valuation had risen again. President Ximen looked grim, as if someone owed him eight million dollars; the top contributor, however, was indifferent. After all, no matter how much it cost, it was still a worthwhile investment.

With the current progress of Chenyu Technology, it was certain to go public within a year or two. Hongxiao Capital had never been concerned about how much they invested; their principle was that as long as it was before the IPO, it was never too late to invest.

Lu Yu asked cheerfully, “Why does President Ximen not look so well?”

Zhao Yanqiong had long given up on correcting his form of address, only glaring at him before sitting down with his team.

Hong Wuyang added fuel to the fire: “It might be because the valuation that came out this morning is nearly five times higher than when Qingqu Capital first inquired. To be honest, I’m a bit regretful too. We’ve known each other for so many years, I should’ve been an angel investor back then.”

“No one blames you for that. You only noticed this project recently,” Zhao Yanqiong, having been put in his place by Young Master Hong last time, spoke more politely and rubbed his aching temples. “Our company’s higher-ups are a different story.”

When Zhao Yanqiong had first founded this investment company, he had pooled money from several second-generation rich kids. These young masters and ladies were generous and didn’t mind occasional losses, but none of them got along, often quarreling.

This time, Zhao Yanqiong could have made the decision to acquire Chenyu on his own, but Chenyu had been making such big waves lately that their elders had found out and started meddling, complaining that although he had sharp insight and had recognized Chenyu’s value early on, he had hesitated for a month and ended up in a bidding war with Hongxiao.

Over the past three days, Zhao Yanqiong had endured plenty of frustrations.

Seeing President Ximen’s distressed face made Lu Yu feel quite pleased. With a grin, he placed a small, exquisite box in front of Zhao Yanqiong and said, “This is the latest pocket watch from the Ming family, not yet released. A thank-you gift to President Ximen for buying two watches from us during the Ming family’s difficult times.”

Opening the box revealed a finely crafted gold-cased pocket watch, though it was without any jewels. This was a basic model that Ming Yan had prepared for mass production, with a cost not too high, and each estimated to sell for around twenty or thirty thousand yuan.

Ming Yan smiled slightly, allowing Lu Yu to represent him in giving the Ming family’s products to investors.

The top contributor also received one and took it out to admire: “This is pretty fun. Wearing a pocket watch makes me seem sophisticated.”

Hong Wuyang wrapped the long metal chain around his suit button, placing the watch face in the same pocket as his “wife”—a figurine of a demoness—instantly elevating his style.

After thinking for a moment, feeling something was missing, Hong Wuyang pulled out a card featuring Shen Ying and slipped it into the pocket watch’s cover. After checking both sides, he snapped it shut with a “click”: “Now it looks right.”

Zhao Yanqiong watched his antics, successfully turning an elegant vintage pocket watch into a Sailor Moon transformation device, and silently closed his own watch box, no longer wanting to wear the same model as Hong Wuyang.

Both teams were well-prepared and expressed their desire to invest as soon as possible. Qingqu Capital was worried about another price increase, while the top contributor was eager to buy the balloon-man company.

The three sides negotiated throughout the day, and by the afternoon, they had essentially determined the direction. Ming Yan stayed behind to oversee things, while Lu Yu took the opportunity to visit the livestream and check on his kid.

With no one supervising him, Hua Wenyuan was happily playing in the side story, and the audience was just as entertained.

Lu Yu stood in front of the big screen. This was the first time he had watched a livestream of Shooting the Heavenly Wolf from the outside.

Hua Wenyuan, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit with arrow sleeves, sat atop a high observation pavilion, gazing over the entire hunting ground. The autumn grass grew wildly, stretching to the horizon, with white rabbits and yellow antelope hidden within—a symbol of abundance.

He held a jade flask in his hand, casually turning his head as if to make a toast to his cousin.

Xie Zhongyun, who had been conferred the title of Duke, grinned but didn’t dare sit on the railing with Hua Wenyuan. Instead, he squatted on the beauty rest. His large frame on the narrow seat looked rather comical.

Hua Wenyuan glanced at him and took a sip of wine.

Wishing to buy osmanthus and carry wine, it’s never the same as youthful travels.

Lu Yu walked in and stood under the pavilion, spreading his arms wide: “Come on, jump down, Uncle will catch you.”

Xie Zhongyun was stunned. He jumped up from the beauty rest and stammered nervously: “Uncle, you… you… you…” After stammering for a while, he still couldn’t manage to say anything coherent.

Duke Xie couldn’t understand why Second Uncle Hua was still so bold, daring to joke with the emperor like this. At home, his grandfather had repeatedly reminded him to never treat Hua Wenyuan as just a cousin anymore. He was the emperor now, and no matter how good he was to them, as a subject, one must know their place.

Lu Yu grinned, showing his teeth, and said loudly: “Zhongyun, your wife was just looking for you.”

Xie Zhongyun shrank his neck. He had married General Xu’s eldest daughter, who not only was beautiful but also skilled in martial arts. She fought on the battlefield no less than Xie Zhongyun and had a fiery temper, often resorting to violence when things didn’t go her way. Not wanting to get beaten, Cousin Xie quickly apologized and ran off in a hurry.

Hua Wenyuan propped himself up on the railing and jumped down, landing gracefully. He asked, “Uncle, what’s the matter?”

Lu Yu winked at him and smiled mysteriously: “The livestream is coming to an end. Why don’t you say goodbye to the audience?”

As soon as he said that, the comment section exploded, leaving the audience watching the livestream stunned.

[Wait, can they interact like this?]

[Aaahhh! I hate you, Han Di Ba Yu! How can you make a paper character connect with reality like this?]

[Wow, Han Di Ba Yu, you wouldn’t make our Xiao Yuan personally sell products, would you? Selling himself?]

[Can Xiao Yuan see the comments? Hua Wenyuan, mommy loves you! Mwah mwah mwah.]

Inside, they couldn’t see the comments. Xiao Jiang compiled the important ones, and the art department backstage made them into little note props and handed them over to Lu Yu.

Secretary Jiang, dressed in a brown short-sleeved outfit, appeared out of nowhere and quickly handed over the notes without looking up.

Hua Wenyuan curiously stared at Xiao Jiang for a moment, then turned his head to look at the note. Since Ming Yan wasn’t there, the props were hastily made, looking as though a line of bold characters had been printed on xuan paper.

Lu Yu glanced at it and said toward the camera: “We can’t see the comments in here, but we have Xiao Jiang who can pass notes in.”

With that, he patted Hua Wenyuan and said, “Come on, Xiao Yuan, say hello to the audience.”

Everyone in front of the screen held their breath, waiting to see how Hua Wenyuan would react.

Hua Wenyuan looked in the direction Lu Yu had pointed, cupped his hands, and said, “Greetings to all; I am Hua Wenyuan.”

Lu Yu read the note aloud, answering a comment in passing: “Is this a scripted performance? No, there’s no script. Xiao Yuan is now an upgraded smart assistant, capable of interacting with humans, just like the one you can download into your smart devices.”

After saying that, Lu Yu winked and pointed to the shopping icon at the bottom of the screen, pulling Hua Wenyuan along and saying, “Baby, come on, tell everyone, ‘Please support Chenyu and take me home.'”

Hua Wenyuan dug his ear with one finger, assuming the lazy posture of a carefree young general from the start of the story, and said with a smile, “Please support Chenyu and take Your Majesty home.”

[Aaahhh, he’s so smart! He’s got his own style, not just parroting words!]

[Hahaha, did Xiao Yuan dig his ear because he hates being called ‘baby’?]

[His intelligence is amazing, totally on another level compared to the stiff assistants from other companies.]

[Buy, buy, buy! Fine, I’ll buy it, okay?]

The public beta version of Hua Wenyuan had already been adjusted in time, and the official version, which launched on Monday, had returned to its original price, no longer discounted. Yet sales didn’t decrease—instead, they continued to rise.

With this latest “I’m selling myself” moment, where Hua Wenyuan personally advertised the product, sales surged to another peak.

The employees from Qingqu Capital who were visiting clutched their chests and said to Zhao Yanqiong, “Director Zhao, we need to hurry. If we delay any longer, the price will go up again.”