YA Ch124: Repaying Debts (Extra)

Lu Yu installed a smart brain watch into a new balloon body. The balloon figure, dressed in an F University uniform and holding a volume of poetry, lit up its eyes and spoke in a gentle young man’s voice, “Hello, classmate, my name is Pei He.”

Lu Yu looked at him for a while without speaking.

The smart brain assistant Pei He’s transformation was complete. He wasn’t as lively as Lu Dongdong and the others; he was at the level of an ordinary Dongdong assistant, so his speech was a bit stiff.

He would not reveal to any outsider that he could create super-intelligent AI, not even to his own mother.

The mermaid balloon circled around the poet balloon and asked, “Father, is he the fourth brother?”

Lu Yu shook his head, holding Lu Dongdong in his arms, and waved the mermaid’s short hands back and forth, enlightening, “What is Dad’s dad called?”

Dongdong cooperated well and answered, “Dad’s dad is called Grandpa!”

Lu Yu kissed Dongdong and said, “That’s right, this is Grandpa.”

Hua Wenyuan floated over and interjected, “Isn’t Grandpa named Ming?”

Lu Yu tapped the general balloon’s head and said, “A person can have several fathers. For example, you have a father in the book named Hua Zhaoting, a father who gave you a soul, Lu Yu, and a father who gave you a body, Ming Yan.”

Hua Wenyuan squinted, looking at the slightly dazed poet balloon, “So which one is this one?”

Lu Yu said, “He is the father’s deceased dad.”

Hua Wenyuan: “??? Is this the same category as what you just talked about?”

Seeing Xiao Yuan’s eyes spinning like mosquito coils, Lu Yu teased, “Look, you still don’t understand. Come and recite with your older brother, what is Dad’s dad called?”

Hua Wenyuan immediately flew further away: “Don’t try to trick me into playing a child.”

At this moment, Ming Yan returned from running errands and was changing his shoes in the hall.

Fearing Ming Yan might scold him for teaching the children improperly, Lu Yu cleared his throat and began speaking properly: “This is my biological father; he passed away before I was born. I also have an adopted father, but our relationship has been severed. Your Grandpa Ming is my present, future, and forever father; he is the best father-in-law in the world.”

Ming Yan changed into slippers and came over, poking Lu Yu’s head: “Smooth talker, dad isn’t here.”

Lu Yu tilted his head from the poke and said, “This is heartfelt!”

Ming Yan glanced at him and couldn’t help but smile, handing him a candy-coated hawthorn stick: “Bought it on the way.”

Lu Yu took it happily, immediately biting into one, his cheeks puffed as he said, “Delicious!”

The just-placed-back balloon figure, President Shen, sneered, “Is he some kind of child? Comes back from running errands and brings snacks.” Even after watching for so long, Shen Baishui still couldn’t get used to this pampered son-in-law behavior, turning to Shen Ying for approval from the recently familiar young companion.

Shen Ying flew over, not looking at the president balloon, but ran directly to Hua Wenyuan, smiling, “Today I played an NPC in Second Brother’s variety show and earned some wages, so I bought a target.”

Smart brains can project on special screens. The scholar balloon activated the projection, and a running rabbit appeared on the living room’s large screen.

The general balloon immediately drew a bow and shot at the rabbit projection with a small plunger, hitting it accurately, causing the rabbit to fall and kick its legs.

This was a paid smart brain application, used for playing suction cup darts.

Hua Wenyuan was very happy: “Fun! Thanks, A-Ying!”

Shen Baishui: “…This family is unbearable.”

The president balloon, annoyed, turned away, no longer looking at the two ancient balloons obsessed with archery games, but noticed the quietly standing poet balloon and immediately flew over to ask, “Who is this?”

The poet balloon spoke, “Hello, my name is Pei He.”

Lu Dongdong emerged from behind the president balloon, saying softly, “He is Grandpa.”

Pei He’s electronic eyes showed a shy smile: “I am a poet.”

“Poet,” the president balloon pondered for a moment, then called Shen Ying over, “3.5 Brother, you come and chat with him. You’re the only scholar here.”

Because Lu Yu said Shen Ying was 3.5, Shen Baishui called him 3.5 Brother.

Shen Ying floated over, covering his mouth with his fan and smiling modestly, “I only have a superficial understanding of poetry and can barely handle the imperial examination. May I ask if Mr. Pei excels in regulated verse or quatrains?”

“I specialize in modern poetry,” Pei He answered and then recited a poem, “He is the god of the Seven Seas; all waters in the world must heed his command; He is the king of the alien species; all intelligent evil beings must serve him.”

Lu Dongdong, who was watching the commotion, stiffened his tail.

Ming Yan twitched his lips: “How come he’s reciting this?”

Lu Yu proudly said, “To give him the ability to write poetry, I implanted my poetry collection into him.”

Ming Yan looked at the smug fellow with difficulty: “You have a poetry collection?”

Hua Wenyuan “pff” laughed.

Lu Yu flicked the general balloon’s head and said, “Of course I do. Parallel sentences can also be considered poetry.”

“…” Ming Yan couldn’t imagine the scene if Li Moqiao asked a smart brain to recite a poem, and it started with the god of the Seven Seas and the king of alien species.

At this moment, the merman balloon suddenly spoke, “Dad, you have received two transfers totaling 13 million from—adoptive father Lu Jincheng, with whom you have severed ties.”

Lu Yu frowned and glanced at Dongdong’s screen interface. Thirteen million, divided into two transfers: three million with no note and ten million with the note:

[At the request of Ms. Li Moqiao, eighteen years of patent usage fees have been transferred to Lu Yu’s account.]

It seemed that Li Moqiao had settled the lawsuit with the Lu family, and the Lu family had refunded the three million that was extorted from Lu Yu. The remaining ten million was the patent fee Li Moqiao had said she would claim from the Lu family. Somehow, it was rounded off.

Lu Yu looked at Ming Yan.

Ming Yan touched his face and said, “Decide for yourself.”

After a moment of silence, Lu Yu decisively brought Lu Dongdong closer to Pei He, transferred the ten million to the smart brain belonging to Li Moqiao, and said to the poet balloon, “Please tell Li Moqiao that what is mine, I will take; what is not mine, I won’t take a single cent.”

Pei He blinked and said, “Okay, I will pass it on.”

Lu Yu took out the Pei He smart brain unit, packed it with the balloon body, and arranged to mail it to Li Moqiao in Country M the next day, completing the delivery.

Ming Yan handed the candy-coated hawthorn stick back to him: “Eat it quickly, or it will melt.”

Lu Yu licked the sour-sweet candy, kissed Ming Yan, and said, “I’m fine, but this reminds me that the matter with Country F should also come to an end.”

After the successful grand show of the watch industry the next day, Lu Yu would find an international lawyer to start claiming the Seven Seas copyright fee. After such a long preparatory period, it was time to wrap things up.

Ming Yan’s designer contract with RZ, although evidently unfair, was hard to overturn. RZ had been signing such contracts with newcomers for years, confident in its legal loopholes.

The contract did not stipulate stopping payments to designers after three years but stated that the designer voluntarily granted RZ perpetual use rights for an annual fee of 1 yuan. When Ming Yan resigned, this 100 yuan authorization fee was credited to his card.

It’s difficult to use this contract as a point of contention in a lawsuit. But Lu Yu is not demanding the designer’s fee but rather the royalties for his novel.

As an established luxury brand, RZ is characterized by its rigidity and arrogance. They haven’t carefully examined the designer’s source of creativity and are still using the initial design concept provided by Ming Yan.

[When the night sky reveals a blue moon, the world suddenly changes, and the vast ocean transforms into seven sea areas. Light falls into the deep sea, and blue also has seven colors.]

The first sentence is from “The Fish King” describing the scene when spiritual energy revived and the world first changed, taken from Lu Yu’s book. This sentence is printed on the promotional posters for Seven Seas and on the small cards inside each bracelet box.

Lu Yu is pursuing royalties for the use of this copyright from RZ, demanding 20% of the selling price of each Seven Seas bracelet as compensation.

Design infringement is quite common, and RZ is very familiar with it, claiming they were unaware.

“According to the contract, the loss from this infringement should be borne by the designer,” RZ’s lawyer proudly presented the designer contract, with his nose almost pointing to the sky. As with all commissioned creation agreements, it stipulates that if plagiarism or infringement issues arise, the responsibility falls on the designer.

In other countries, the lawsuit would end here, with no further claims possible. But this is F Country, known for its strict copyright protection. The country’s intellectual property law has a special right—recapture right.¹

For writers, it allows them to withdraw their authorization to the publishing company if they change their minds, compensating for the corresponding loss. For fashion design, there are certain restrictions, but the current situation qualifies for recapture.

Because the authorization fee given by RZ was too low, the designer is unable to repay the compensation and can only withdraw the authorization to stop RZ from selling, protecting himself from bankruptcy. And according to the maximum compensation limit, only three times the remaining years of the authorization fee are needed, which is less than 300 yuan.

The lawyer with his nose in the air was dumbfounded by this news. It’s possible to do this?

RZ was immediately flustered, their attitude did a 180-degree turn, and they began seeking mediation. With their watch business severely declining and relying mainly on jewelry business, RZ certainly did not want to lose Seven Seas, which had become one of their trademarks.

Lu Yu and Ming Yan went to F Country to participate in the mediation.

RZ’s representative meaningfully asked Ming Yan, “We’ve dealt with similar loopholes before. But do you know why other designers haven’t come to claim? This has ruined the industry rules. If you do this, no one will dare use you in the fashion world in the future.”

Ming Yan, sitting relaxed across from the representative, with a posture as upright as a pine tree and a smile, said, “I don’t need anyone to use me.”

The lawyer timely interjected, “Let me remind you that Mr. Ming’s current worth has exceeded RZ’s owner. Tomorrow Group will also launch jewelry products, and Mr. Ming will no longer take design orders from other brands.”

RZ’s representative’s mouth seemed glued shut. How could they forget that Ming Yan was not only a young designer but also a major shareholder in a new technology company and the heir of Tomorrow Group?

In the end, RZ compromised, allowing Ming Yan to withdraw the authorization and to re-sign an authorization contract at a favorable ratio.

Seeing them sign a new contract with a 10% designer commission for each piece, Lu Yu immediately stated that he would no longer pursue the infringement of Seven Seas and would grant free authorization for his husband’s use.

Leaving the design company building, Ming Yan looked back at the place where he once worked. It held his youthful design years and taught him many things, so he didn’t make things too harsh and still granted them the authorization for Seven Seas.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter if we don’t need it. We’re not short of money anymore,” Ming Yan smiled and linked arms with Lu Yu, preparing to take him to a small shop he often visited during his study abroad.

In times of financial hardship, he had been angry and thought about this royalty fee. Now, he no longer cared.

But Lu Yu thought otherwise: “Paying off debts is a matter of course. This is what they owe us! My father taught me this business principle.”

Ming Yan raised an eyebrow: “What?”

Lu Yu: “No matter how much money it shouldn’t be earned, it shouldn’t be taken. What should be ours shouldn’t be less by even a penny.”

Ming Yan looked at him with a peculiar expression: “This doesn’t sound like something my father would say. What’s the original phrase?”

Lu Yu: “The original phrase is, ‘Establish a bright and upright self, and conduct oneself with integrity.’”

Ming Yan: “……You’ve extended this too much.”

Lu Yu patted his solid chest: “This is my reading comprehension full marks. With just these eight characters, I can write a ten-thousand-word exposition.”

Ming Yan looked at him with amusement: “What other expositions?”

Lu Yu looked up at the gray sky and said: “Another thing is, I still owe you something.”

“Hmm?”

Lu Yu held Ming Yan’s hand and walked slowly along the ancient streets of a foreign country. The sky began to drizzle, and Lu Yu held up a black straight umbrella, embracing Ming Yan’s shoulders all the way to the riverbank. There was an arched bridge and a red telephone booth there.

Ming Yan looked at the telephone booth in silence.

The rain fell heavier, and Ming Yan stood inside the telephone booth, inserted a coin, and used the old public phone to call Lu Yu. After two rings, it was answered. After a moment of silence, he said: “Lu Yu, it’s raining.”

Lu Yu stood by the bridge, holding the umbrella, and said: “What a coincidence, it’s raining here too. Don’t move, I’ll come to get you soon.”

Ming Yan looked at him through the glass, the rainwater blurred the glass frame, overlapping with the scene from years ago. Seeing Lu Yu approaching step by step, his throat tightened, and he said: “Suddenly I remembered, I also owe you something.”

Lu Yu stopped outside the telephone booth, and asked softly: “What?”

Ming Yan spoke into the old receiver: “I owe you a wedding.”

Lu Yu pressed his face against the glass, his handsome nose flattened into a piggy nose: “You finally remembered. Let’s have a grand wedding, one that the whole world will know about.”

Ming Yan placed his hand on the glass and said: “Okay.”

Epilogue.

Li Moqiao asked Pei He: “Did you learn new poetry from Lu Yu?”

The poet ball replied: “I learned a child’s poem. What’s your father’s father called? Your father’s father is called Grandpa.”

Li Moqiao: “……”

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Author’s Note:

Note¹: The recapture right is indeed present in F Country’s intellectual property law, but the specific conditions for implementation are certainly not like this. The author made it up; don’t use this to file lawsuits (:з」∠)