YA Ch122: Busy

Ming Yan returned in the evening, saw the Shen Ying balloon figure, and couldn’t put it down. He held it up, delighted: “So cute, can the fan be replaced?”

He tugged at the little folding fan in the balloon figure’s short hand and found that the fan surface could indeed be removed. The manufacturing company had thoughtfully included a few extras in the box.

Ming Yan unfolded one of the blank fan surfaces and wrote the four characters “應接不暇” (“overwhelmed with things to do”) on it, chuckling as he looked at it.

General Ball circled around it once and said, “There should be a landscape painting on the front.”

Ming Yan smiled as he patted Hua Wenyuan’s small head and explained gently, “I can’t draw such a detailed ink painting by hand. Tomorrow, I’ll take it to the company and ask one of the sisters from the art team who specializes in Chinese painting to do it.”

He knew only the basics of ink painting and wasn’t very skilled at it. In the simulator, the fan surfaces were drawn using built-in brushes for landscapes and birds.

Hua Wenyuan replied, “Okay.”

Ming Yan smiled as he put away the little fan, praising, “Xiao Yuan is so well-behaved.”

Lu Yu and the two balloon figures stood in a row, all speaking in unison: “Where is he being well-behaved?”

This kid had just shot his eldest brother with an arrow, punched his second brother, and even ordered his father to seal up Shen Ying’s box.

Ming Yan raised an eyebrow, looking at the three who were trying to complain: “Are you all thinking of testing out Shen Zixia’s balloon figure?” After all, Lu Yu had already put Lu Dongdong into the General Ball before.

Lu Dongdong looked sideways at the sky, Shen Baishui crossed his arms and remained silent, and Lu Yu scratched his head with an awkward laugh.

Ming Yan smiled and carefully placed the little scholar’s balloon figure back into its box, locking it. He said, “Tomorrow, the work at the watch company has already been settled. Most of the matters can be handled by Dad. Tomorrow, we’ll start preparing the materials for Shen Ying’s new story.”

Lu Yu nodded, “Alright, I’ve already written 150,000 words. I should finish it in the next few days.”

After a month of leisure, the production team was about to get busy again. Fortunately, Shen Ying’s production wasn’t live-streamed, and everyone was experienced by now, so there wasn’t as much tension. The only headache for Lu Yu was that Hua Wenyuan was insisting on participating as well.

Lu Yu seriously explained to the child, “This is for AI training. You are an AI yourself, so you can’t train others.” If AIs could create new AIs, the world wouldn’t be far from destruction.

Hua Wenyuan promised, “I won’t do anything extra. I’ll just follow the script.”

When it came to acting, he was quite professional. Even during the side story broadcasts, where he had to act like a regular AI for advertisements, he performed excellently, didn’t he? Moreover, since this was a spin-off of Shooting the Heavenly Wolf, Hua Wenyuan originally had a role in it.

Lu Yu wrinkled his nose, “But, Hua Wenyuan is just an NPC in this. Your participation doesn’t add much value.”

Originally, using the world from before Shen Ying’s rebirth was the best for his cultivation, as it would raise him into a well-mannered gentleman, Governor Shen. But Shen Ying’s cultivation progress had already reached 56% in the main story, so to use this data, the timeline had to move forward; otherwise, it would cause confusion in Shen Ying’s memory.

Thus, the script Lu Yu wrote was—Shen Ying is reborn again, returning to the time when he was preparing to take the imperial examination. Hua Wenyuan remains the loyal and patriotic general from his first life, and Shen Ying has to rely on himself to save the crumbling dynasty.

Hua Wenyuan anxiously flew around Lu Yu, “But what if the NPC version of me bullies him? He’s just a civil official with no strength to fight back.”

Lu Yu pinched Hua Wenyuan’s side, lifting the balloon figure up in front of him and said, “For such a small little guy, you sure have a lot of thoughts. Alright, fine. But let’s be clear, if you do anything extra, I’ll immediately eject your consciousness, okay?”

Hua Wenyuan extended his tiny hands for a fist bump, “Deal.”

Once General Ball happily flew off, Ming Yan asked, “Weren’t you planning on letting him join from the beginning?”

Late at night, while the two were lying in bed, Lu Yu had already told Ming Yan about the story’s plot. In the latter part, Emperor Hua Wenyuan also gets reborn, working with Shen Ying from within to win over the world. The final 50,000 unwritten words focused on this, and of course, the AI version of Xiao Yuan was supposed to play a role.

Lu Yu chuckled, “If I didn’t say that, how could I mess with the kid? Watching him get all worked up, flying around like a butterfly—it’s so much fun!”

“Thunk!” A small suction arrow hit Lu Yu’s butt, but because his soft pajamas provided too much cushion, it didn’t stick and automatically retracted.

Lu Yu pretended to be angry, “You ungrateful child! How dare you ambush your father? Come here and get spanked!”

Hua Wenyuan immediately turned and ran, and Lu Yu took off after him. Seeing this, Lu Dongdong also joined in the chase.

Shen Boshui, seeing the chaos, avoided them by going the other way. Unexpectedly, General Ball made a sharp turn, running past the President Ball. Lu Yu followed close behind, and before Shen Baishui could react, he collided directly into Lu Yu’s strong chest. Before he could adjust himself, Lu Yu casually scooped him up, holding him under one arm as he continued the chase after Hua Wenyuan.

Shen Boshui, now upside down and wedged under Lu Yu’s arm, shouted in frustration, “I don’t want to play! Put me down!”

But no one listened to him. Once again, the President Ball was forced into family activities, without any compensation…

The next day, Lu Yu and his elder brother went to the suburban industrial park. After inspecting two factories, they ultimately chose the toy factory.

The storage warehouse for plush toys was better suited for storing balloon figures compared to the other factory. Though the drone assembly factory had skilled technicians and experience with making flying machines, the factory environment wasn’t suitable for the expensive balloon materials.

“However, we can outsource some of the mechanical assembly work to them. It would be a nice way to help out our neighbors,” Hong Wuyang said, glancing regretfully at the neighboring factory.

Lu Yu felt relieved. Although his elder brother had a lot of money, he wasn’t foolish enough to buy both factories unnecessarily.

Sensing what Lu Yu was thinking, Hong Wuyang smiled and said, “This money isn’t just mine now; part of it belongs to you too. I wouldn’t waste it. If it were just my investment, I probably would’ve bought both factories.”

Lu Yu: “…” So his brother hadn’t become more mature and cautious after all—he just didn’t want to recklessly spend someone else’s money.

Now that the factory was decided, they would begin dismantling machinery, forming a management team, recruiting workers, and filming promotional ads.

After only a few days of relaxation, Lu Yu was once again busy as a dog. He had to write, manage the factory, and prepare for the variety show “Golden House,” so busy that his heels could almost hit the back of his head.

“Not even the donkeys on the production team are worked this hard. I quit.” Lu Yu lay flat like a dead fish on the carpet of Ming Yan’s office, utterly refusing to do anything.

Ming Yan lifted his head from the drawing board and smiled, saying, “You’re working so hard, how about we cancel tonight’s activities?” This guy was spinning like a top all day, yet still had the energy to mess with him at night. Ming Yan had no idea where he got his stamina.

Hearing that, Lu Yu immediately flopped around like a fish out of water. “No way! Tonight’s activity is eating carrots. The busier I am, the more necessary it is! Otherwise, the donkey will starve! I need to eat a carrot right now, or I’m not getting up.”

“Then just keep lying there.” Ming Yan lowered his head and continued drawing, paying no attention to the brat who was flopping around like a child throwing a tantrum.

After some time, Ming Yan felt something at his feet. When he looked down, he was startled to see Lu Yu sneaking around under the table.

Covering his chest, Ming Yan closed his eyes and asked, speechless, “What are you doing?”

Lu Yu’s eyes sparkled. “Eating carrots,” he said, pressing his hands on Ming Yan’s knees and squeezing himself under the table.

Ming Yan’s face instantly turned bright red. He tried to kick him away, but his ankle was firmly caught.

Lu Yu innocently stroked up the leg of Ming Yan’s perfectly tailored pants, saying, “Don’t mind me. You keep drawing, I’ll eat my carrot.”

Ming Yan: “…I don’t think you’re busy enough.”

Half a month later, thanks to Lu Yu the donkey’s hard work, the preparations were finally complete.

Lu Yu placed the AI core containing 56% of Shen Ying’s data and Hua Wenyuan’s AI source onto the mechanical arm.

The simulator started up, and the big screen displayed the most bustling street in the capital. Dressed in a bright red top scholar’s robe and wearing a hat adorned with flowers, the young Shen Ying was riding a tall horse, heading down Yu Street toward the Qionglin Banquet amid the sound of drums.

The people on both sides of the street cheered, discussing the young top scholar.

“What a handsome top scholar! He looks so young, not even twenty yet, right?”

“I wonder if he’s married?”

On both sides of the street, people from the restaurants above were tossing silk flowers, showering them down on the young top scholar, recreating the ancient scene of “fruit overflowing the carriage.” It was a lively and bustling scene.

With the country weathered by storms and chaos, good things had not happened for a long time. This young and handsome top scholar, vibrant and full of life, brought joy to the common people just by looking at him.

But the top scholar himself was not happy. Shen Ying’s smile suddenly froze, his face becoming dazed for a moment.

He remembered dying—dying on a snowy night in the northern forests, in the warm and cozy hunter’s cabin, in Hua Wenyuan’s arms. Why was he here now?

The plot, spanning 200,000 words, could be broadcast in a day, following the pace of the previous live streams. Even with more interactions with Shen Ying, a day and a half would be enough.

The AI assistant’s data activated, with the first half being slow and the latter half quick. The first 56% had already aired for over three weeks in “Sirius the Skywolf,” and the remaining day and a half was more than sufficient.

By the afternoon of the second day, Lu Yu had obtained the AI core of Shen Ying at 100% completion.