YA Ch123: The Youth

Just as Lu Yu, eagerly holding Shen Ying, was about to head home, the long-absent Zheng Wuqiong suddenly arrived for a visit.

As soon as they met, this man gave Lu Yu a strong hug, startling Lu Yu enough that he quickly handed the AI brain source to Ming Yan, afraid of dropping and damaging it.

Ming Yan naturally took it, putting it in his pocket with a smile, and said, “How does Mr. Zheng have the time to visit? Is there news about the permit?”

Mr. Zheng was so excited that he was gesticulating wildly. “Yes! The permit has been granted to us! I can’t believe at my age, I’ve successfully transitioned and kept up with the times. Boohoo…”

As Zheng Wuqiong continued speaking, he began wiping away tears.

As a businessman who had been battling the tides of the times, he was also afraid when faced with the rising age of AI. After all, he was no longer a young man and feared he couldn’t keep up. Luckily, after stumbling and falling a few times, getting all covered in mud, he finally caught the last train.

Lu Yu sincerely congratulated Mr. Zheng.

However, Zheng Wuqiong patted his shoulder and said, “Lu, it’s all thanks to you. If I hadn’t met you by chance and collaborated with you, this certificate would never have been awarded to me.”

Lu Yu was completely confused. He hadn’t really done anything from start to finish; he had just filled out a questionnaire. In fact, because of his mother, he had practically fallen out with the AI Data Alliance.

Mr. Zheng continued enthusiastically, “The agreement we signed earlier still stands, of course. I’ll give you 5% of the shares in this AI manufacturing plant upfront. Once it’s built, you can buy more shares if you want. From now on, all DCM AIs will be bound to Chenyu’s assistant! Hahaha! Come on, your old brother will treat the three of you to a drink!”

The AI on Lu Yu’s wrist, Hua Wenyuan, buzzed in discontent.

“Mr. Zheng, today isn’t convenient. I’ve already made plans with someone. How about I treat you tomorrow so we can celebrate properly?” Lu Yu directly declined. He couldn’t break his promise to his “children” and cancel plans just to socialize.

Zheng Wuqiong was merely being polite and didn’t insist when Lu Yu refused. He stretched his neck and looked around, asking, “Isn’t young Mr. Hong here?”

Lu Yu shook his head. “He’s been busy lately, not around often.”

Brother Hong No. 1 truly wasn’t at Chenyu, despite today being an important day for modifying Shen Ying.

As a fan of Shen Ying, Hong Wuyang unexpectedly declined to participate. According to him, he liked the original Shen Ying, and Lu Yu’s sequel was no different from fan fiction. As long as Shen Ying was completed in the end, he wasn’t interested in watching the potentially disappointing process.

Lu Yu didn’t quite understand the logic but respected his choice.

Mr. Zheng laughed, “I’ll go to Hongxiao to find him and share the good news.”

The project of Unspeakable Tech had been handed over to the elder Hong brother by the younger one, though it was still officially under the younger Hong’s name.

Seeing Mr. Zheng’s beaming face, Lu Yu understood. This guy was likely making rounds to boast, and this was just one of his stops. Luckily, Lu Yu had declined the dinner invitation, or it would’ve delayed Mr. Zheng’s victory tour.

After taking a few steps, Mr. Zheng suddenly slapped his forehead and turned back, handing Lu Yu a 30-centimeter-square metal lockbox. “Oh, look at my memory! I nearly forgot. This is from Professor Li for you.”

Lu Yu’s smile immediately vanished, and his brow furrowed tightly. His biological mother, Li Moqiao, had actually gotten in touch with Zheng Wuqiong. Could the permit matter have been her doing?

Seeing Mr. Zheng’s grateful expression, Lu Yu suddenly felt like the 5% of shares were burning hot in his hands. Just as he was about to speak, Ming Yan grasped the hand holding the box and gave it a slight shake.

It wasn’t appropriate to discuss personal matters with outsiders until things became clearer. Ming Yan stopped Lu Yu and thanked Mr. Zheng, “Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Zheng.”

Mr. Zheng waved it off and happily hopped into his car, ready to go find others to share the good news with.

Back at home, Lu Yu threw the metal box to the side, ruffling his hair in frustration. “I said I didn’t want any more contact—what’s her deal?”

Ming Yan picked up the box and put it away properly. Walking over, he hugged Lu Yu and said, “How about I check what’s inside the box for you?”

Lu Yu buried his face in Ming Yan’s shoulder and nodded.

The box had a retro-style dial combination lock. Ming Yan thought for a moment. Since there was no note about the code, it was probably something obvious. He entered Lu Yu’s birthday, and with a click, the box opened.

Ming Yan glanced over at Lu Yu, who was sneakily looking over. When their eyes met, Lu Yu quickly looked away, causing Ming Yan to smile.

Inside the box was a printed letter and an AI watch dial. Ming Yan read the letter and sighed softly, before looking up and playfully winking at Lu Yu. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. She’s just explaining that she didn’t help with the permit.”

Lu Yu, who had been opening Shen Ying’s spherical box, paused briefly upon hearing this and lightly responded with an “Mm.”

Ming Yan came over to sit with him on the carpet and helped him take out the scholar ball.

Lu Yu inserted the AI brain source, and the black dial instantly changed into an intertwined blue-white color, blending seamlessly with its surroundings. The little scholar’s eyes slowly lit up, blinking.

The three spheres gathered around. Lu Dongdong curiously asked, “Dad, is he the fourth?”

Lu Yu thought for a moment and said, “Strictly speaking, he’s not the fourth; he’s 3.5.” His sons were ranked by the books, with the default main character being the son, while others were considered subordinate, so Shen Ying was classified as 3.5.

Lu Dongdong immediately understood. “So, he’s the little brother of the third.”

The scholar ball smiled, holding his folded fan, and bowed. “I am Shen Ying, courtesy name Zixia.”

Hua Wenyuan stood there, dumbfounded, saying nothing.

Shen Baishui circled around Shen Ying, commenting, “His last name is Shen, so he’s definitely my little brother. Come on, little cutie, follow your big brother. I’ll take care of you.” With that, he reached out his tiny hands toward the scholar sphere.

Only then did Hua Wenyuan react, pushing aside the president ball with a thud, standing in front of Shen Ying, saying, “He’s my prime minister.”

Shen Ying floated behind Hua Wenyuan, with a swish of his fan, covering his mouth and smiling with crescent-shaped eyes. “So this is the high-dimensional world that Your Majesty spoke of? Truly amazing.”

Hua Wenyuan wanted to scratch his head but couldn’t reach it with his short arms. He just giggled foolishly and introduced the family to Shen Ying, “This is my eldest brother, Lu Dongdong, and this is my second brother, Shen Baishui.”

Shen Ying greeted the merman and president balls politely with a bunch of flowery, literary phrases before looking at Lu Yu and Ming Yan. “So, you two are the Creators. That explains everything.”

Ming Yan patted the scholar ball’s little head. “Do you like this fan? If not, we can change it.”

Shen Ying looked down at the hand-painted landscape on the fan, then glanced at the writing on the back, asking, “Why isn’t there a ‘Niao Fei Air Conditioners’ on it?”

“Ahem…” Lu Yu cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

Ming Yan stifled a laugh. “We don’t have to write that anymore.”

The president ball snickered. “You’re such an idiot. ‘Niao Fei Air Conditioners’ was an advertisement. The live broadcast is over; why would you still carry an ad fan?”

Shen Ying searched the web and laughed. “I see.”

The little scholar spoke softly and gently, making the president ball feel embarrassed about being sarcastic. Lu Dongdong also restrained his temper, gently wagging his tail and asking Shen Ying if he wanted to take a tour of the house.

Lu Yu poked Hua Wenyuan’s bottom and asked, “Are you happy now?”

Hua Wenyuan beamed, saying, “Thank you, father.”

He then tried to fly over to chat with Shen Ying, but Lu Yu caught him. “Hey, you little ingrate. Earlier, you would only call me Uncle, but now that you’ve gotten what you wanted, you’re calling me Father. I thought you didn’t know how to say it because of a logic error.”

Hua Wenyuan clutched his little bow and chuckled sheepishly, trying to brush it off.

Lu Yu flicked his forehead. “I’m mad now. Only kisses can fix it. Come on, give Father a kiss. Mwah, mwah, mwah.”

Hua Wenyuan let out a miserable cry and immediately turned to run, grabbing the scholar ball’s little short hand.

Because Hua Wenyuan’s hands are meant for drawing a bow, with an electromagnet inside to attract small arrows, they were just right for grabbing Shen Ying’s hand.

Hua Wenyuan hovered steadily in the air and said in a pretentious manner, “No need for the two older brothers to worry; I’ll take Zixia to get familiar with the environment.”

Saying that, he floated away with Shen Ying, leaving the two brothers staring at each other in confusion.

Shen Baishui, belatedly realizing, punched the merman ball, saying, “The situation seems a bit off.”

Lu Yu didn’t pay attention to the children’s exchange. He took a deep breath and picked up the letter to read.

The so-called letter was more like a printed email.

Hi Lu Yu,

Regarding the permit, here’s a brief explanation. I respect your choice, so I didn’t help; since you are my direct relative, I withdrew from the review team to avoid suspicion. The permit was granted to “Countless Tech” because the review team believed that with the support of Chenyu Technology, they wouldn’t produce subpar smart brains.

Additionally, the box contains the data source for a smart assistant named Pei He. I’d like to commission Chenyu Technology to enhance Pei He into a highly active smart assistant. His data is stored in this smart brain, and please send the cost quotation to my assistant; his email is…

Wishing you smooth work and a pleasant life.

Lu Yu was twitching at his temples.

Ming Yan hugged him from behind, comforting him, “She wouldn’t lie; the permit was granted because of Chenyu’s strength.”

She had Zheng Wu Qiong personally deliver this, reminding him not to try to take all the benefits for himself.

Lu Yu smiled bitterly, “How come she’s so good at understanding human nature but doesn’t understand emotions?”

Ming Yan wrapped his hands around Lu Yu’s waist, leaning his cheek against his, “She understands the rules of how the world works, but she can’t experience it herself.”

Lu Yu looked at Hua Wenyuan, who was happily showing Shen Ying his little plunger arrows from afar, and self-deprecatingly smiled, “Human mothers aren’t as emotionally rich as cyber sons.”

Closing the box, Lu Yu sighed, “Well, since she didn’t help, it should be my benefit, and I won’t give up. I need to have a good talk with Mr. Zheng tomorrow.”

Mr. Zheng was indeed very trustworthy, giving the shares as promised. Additionally, the binding agreement signed in haste was immediately effective. In the future, every smart brain produced by DCM would be bound to Chenyu Technology’s smart assistant.

When a new smart brain starts up, it will display “Lu Dongdong,” “Shen Baishui,” and “Hua Wenyuan” as available assistants for users to choose from. Users who purchase this smart brain can use one smart assistant for free, with the manufacturer buying it from Chenyu Technology at a 10% discount.

In other words, for every DCM smart brain sold, Chenyu Technology also sells a smart assistant.

The acquisition of the smart brain manufacturing factory was highly successful, and Hong Wuyang received much praise from his father. However, the praise made Second Young Master Hong quite guilty, as his older brother handled most of the later work.

The impulse to build his own career was stronger than ever, and his elder brother devoted all his time to the balloon body manufacturing plant.

Hua Wenyuan’s popularity had not yet faded, and people were still following the weekly edited variety show on Bajiao Video. At the end of this week’s variety show, a strange advertisement suddenly appeared.

Three round, chubby Q-version characters floated into the camera. Those familiar with them would recognize them as the three male leads from Lu Yu’s writing.

Just as everyone thought it was some new merchandise release, a long and beautiful hand appeared on screen. The hand grabbed the mermaid ball and installed the smart brain dashboard into it. The mermaid ball’s eyes instantly lit up, and its tail started to wag, emitting Dongdong’s voice: “Assistant Dongdong, at your service.”

[Ah, what is this? So cute!]

[Did I see that right? Installing the smart brain into this balloon body makes the balloon come alive?]

The barrage was filled with questions as the advertisement continued. The beautiful hand installed smart brains into all three balloons, and the three children began playing together.

Outside the screen, someone said, “Dongdong, turn off the lights.”

The merman ball kicked the president ball, “Xiao Bai, turn off the lights.”

The president ball bumped into the general ball, “Xiao Yuan, turn off the lights!”

The general ball drew the bow and shot at the mermaid ball: “Dongdong, turn off the lights.”

[Oh my god, it’s so flexible! And it can shoot arrows!]

[Definitely special effects, but it’s so cute! Where can I buy it?]

At the end of the advertisement, it was explained that this was a smart brain carrier balloon, made of high-tech materials, and paired with a smart assistant, it could move freely in the home. It was very convenient and solved the problem of frequently losing the smart brain at home.

For the next period, this advertisement appeared on various platforms and even on big city mall screens, reaching everywhere.

Lu Yu looked up at the bouncing three children on the glasses-free 3D screen and asked his eldest brother beside him, “Will this kind of advertising break even?”

Big brother, holding Shen Ying ball, sighed lightly, “Breaking even shouldn’t be a problem, but whether we can make a profit is unknown. I just want everyone to have a balloon child.”

Lu Yu twitched his mouth, “You really are a great businessman who fills the world with love.”

The cost of the balloon body was hard to reduce. Even the basic version with no movable hands or feet was priced at 150,000. The highest configuration of the second generation, like Hua Wenyuan’s, was over a million and required a reservation.

Hong Wuyang, used to spending extravagantly, didn’t see this as an issue, confident that this price would sell well. He prepared thousands of basic version stock.

On the day of the sale, Lu Yu, Ming Yan, the big brother, and Lao Yang all nervously sat in front of the screen waiting.

“Eh? It’s lagging?” Lu Yu poked at the unresponsive interface for a while and asked Yang Chen.

Lao Yang glanced at the backstage and said, “Nope.”

Ming Yan took a turn to try it and said with a strange expression, “Inventory is zero, stock sold out.”

The three of them exclaimed in unison, “Huh?”

The prepared one thousand units were sold out instantly. For the next month, pre-sales continued, and even the 150,000 basic versions sold over ten thousand units. The highest sales were for Shen Baishui, and Lu Yu suspected that some bought them for luck.

The high-end versions, priced over a hundred thousand, also sold nearly a thousand, with Hua Wenyuan being the highest in sales due to his ability to shoot arrows. Next was Lu Dongdong because of his tail. Only Shen Ying’s version, which only had movable hands, had poor sales. Shen Baishui was very unhappy and strongly requested to add settings and revise the second-generation version.

Lu Yu clicked his tongue and marveled, “There are really so many rich people.”

Shen Ying’s balloon body was not yet released and would go on sale half a year later, after the release of the 3.5 smart assistant.

Half a year later, Bajiao’s variety show “The Protagonist Diaries” suddenly updated. Everyone thought it was some behind-the-scenes footage, but when they clicked in, they found it was a new segment, “Shen Ying Edition.”

Shen Ying? Shen Ying!

For the fans who had regretted for half a year over this deceased white moonlight, they suddenly came back to life and rushed in to see what was going on.

At the same time, the variety show “Golden House” began airing. Lu Yu, stretched thin, decided to establish Golden Entertainment Company and handed the project over entirely to Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang was promoted from presidential secretary to subsidiary president.

With the smart brain assistants bound to DCM’s smart brains, the assistant products sold like hotcakes, the balloon bodies were out of stock, and the variety show ratings soared… With all these boosts, Chenyu Technology finally went public successfully the next year.

In the trading hall, Lu Yu, dressed in a high-fashion suit, strode onto the red carpet.

The suit had four meticulously designed metal rings on the back, each holding a balloon child. Lu Dongdong, Shen Baishui, Hua Wenyuan, and Shen Ying were lined up, shoulder to shoulder, appearing as if a stage was filled with standard bearer warriors.

Shen Baishui folded his arms and said, “What’s the point of this listing? I already said I wouldn’t come, it’s so embarrassing.”

Lu Dongdong excitedly wagged his tail, “I’ve never been to a listing before. In my world, even if you have money, it doesn’t do much good.”

Hua Wenyuan, having been an emperor, remained unaffected by such a small event. Shen Ying raised his small fan to cover his face, secretly laughing.

Ming Yan saw Lu Yu’s outfit and couldn’t help but laugh for a while. The original plan was to tie one balloon to each of their wrists, but he thought it looked too silly, so Lu Yu ended up tying all four balloons to himself.

Yang Chen, who had donned a wig for the listing ceremony, looked twenty years younger. As soon as he walked in and saw Lu Yu’s appearance, he almost burst out laughing, “Hahaha, Lu Yu, you’re crazy!”

Lu Yu straightened up and said proudly, “What’s wrong? Today is a joyous day; our family should all participate.”

When Ming Yan picked up the hammer to ring the bell, Lu Yu placed his hand on it, followed by Lao Yang’s hand, the big brother’s hand, and then the little short hands of the four balloon figures.

Hong Wuyang couldn’t help but tease Shen Ying, “A-Ying, put your hand on mine.”

Then, his hand back got successfully stuck to Hua Wenyuan’s plunger arrow.

“Dang—” Before Hong Wuyang could recover from the shock of being poked, the small hammer struck the big bell, signaling Chenyu Technology’s successful listing, and everyone present saw their fortunes rise sharply.

After the ceremony, reporters flocked in.

“Mr. Lu, now that Chenyu Technology has finally gone public, what are your plans next?”

Lu Yu smiled mysteriously and said, “I’ve now proven that Chenyu can go public. Next, I need to prove that I’m not out of ideas.”

Everyone laughed amicably. Years ago, when the “dry fish” incident was mocked as a sign of being out of ideas, after Hua Wenyuan’s makeover livestream, no one brought it up anymore. After all, Lu Yu’s performance inside was evident, effortlessly improvising and changing plots as easily as eating and drinking.

Bringing it up now in the midst of success became a joke.

“I’m not joking,” Lu Yu said seriously, “I’m going to start a new book.”

Ming Yan stood beside Lu Yu, smiling at him. Lu Yu’s memory had completely recovered, but his inspiration hadn’t dried up. He continued to be full of ideas and even had time to write fan fiction.

There was a moment of silence in the room, and the reporter who asked the question was most shocked, blurting out, “You’re already the owner of a publicly listed company, and you still want to write web novels?”

Lu Yu held Ming Yan’s hand, with a seven-layer blue gem chain hanging from his wrist, “My main job is writing novels. To be with the people I love, for my friends, and to bring my children into the real world, that’s why I started the company.” Behind him, Lu Dongdong waved a fork in coordination.

“Now that the company is successful, of course, I have to keep writing,” Lu Yu smiled as he took out the new cover Ming Yan had drawn from his pocket, “Welcome everyone to read my new book, ‘Restart Day.’”

Flowers may have a day to restart, but people do not regain their youth.

One’s body may age, but the heart can remain forever youthful.

As the world restarts before your eyes, may you have the courage to find the heart of your youth, to save yourself, and embrace what you love!

— The End —