YA Ch133: Family Outing (Extra)

Bang! Bang!

Ming Yan had just stepped out of the bedroom in the morning when he was showered with confetti streamers.

Lu Yu, holding a party popper, stood on the sofa like a monkey holding a sugarcane, yelling excitedly, “It’s a holiday!”

“What holiday?” Ming Yan brushed the glittering confetti off his head and glanced at the calendar. It was March 9th.

“Today is Family Day!” Lu Yu jumped off the sofa, bounced over to Ming Yan, and gave him a kiss.

“Family Day!” The balloon boy echoed, raising his fork.

“I made up a Family Day,” Lu Yu picked up a slightly unsteady Yan-ge and lifted him high. “The spring is here, so our whole family is going on a spring outing.”

The CEO balloon rolled his eyes.

Ming Yan, after being pecked so forcefully, swayed a little. “Never heard of it.” He vaguely recalled there being an International Family Day, but it definitely wasn’t today.

Ming Yan pressed down on Lu Yu’s shoulders and looked over at the four balloon boys huddled together, frowning, “Are you planning to take the balloon people on a spring outing? That’s dangerous.”

Outdoor spring outings involve bicycles, kites, drones—things that could easily cause accidents with balloons around.

Lu Yu, knowing what he was concerned about, smiled and said, “Of course not outside; we’ll go somewhere we can all gather safely.”

The general balloon muttered quietly, “That doesn’t sound very lucky.”

The scholar balloon nudged the general balloon with a small fan, signaling him to stop talking nonsense.

As expected, in the next moment, Hua Wenyuan got a slap on the back of his head from Lu Yu. “You brat, stop talking nonsense.”

Lu Yu’s idea of gathering the family was to take everyone into a simulator and enter the world of The Fish King.

“Ta-da!” Lu Yu stood in the middle of a bustling street, raising both hands to showcase his creation to his family. “This is the new side story I wrote for Dongdong.”

Because The Fish King was a high-level martial arts and magic world, Lu Dongdong couldn’t go to worlds like The Golden House or Shooting the Heavenly Wolf, as the power levels there were too weak. Entering those low-energy worlds could break the balance and cause them to collapse.

But his younger brothers could come play in The Fish King world.

The six of them, dressed in matching family-style hoodies, strolled leisurely down the pedestrian street full of people.

Shen Ying glanced at his clothes and then at the others, puzzled: “Why are Dad and I the only ones in pink while the rest of you are in blue?”

Hua Wenyuan flashed a mischievous grin: “Because you two are the best-looking.”

Shen Baishui snickered, “Because you two are—” He didn’t finish before Lu Dongdong covered his mouth.

Ming Yan raised an eyebrow and looked closely at the setting. “When did you make this side story world? How come I didn’t know about it?” The scenery here was clearly done by the art team, but it wasn’t his style; it was different from the side story scenes he had designed before.

“If I’d let you in on it, how could I have surprised you?” Lu Yu grabbed Ming Yan’s hand. “Come on, let’s go explore the map.”

It was a city rebuilt after a disaster. After the spiritual energy revival, this coastal metropolis had been destroyed by the first wave of monsters that came ashore. Now it had been rebuilt, restoring its former prosperity, though there wasn’t yet time to build any skyscrapers.

Lu Dongdong walked down the street with his hands behind his back, like a king inspecting his domain. His long blue hair was loosely tied at the back, swaying gently in the wind like a fish’s tail when it’s in a good mood.

Shen Baishui curled his lip, disgusted by the run-down city. “There isn’t even a single tall building—what kind of third-rate small town is this?”

Hua Wenyuan and Shen Ying, both hailing from ancient times, were thoroughly enjoying their stroll.

“Your Majesty, is that a cream puff?” Shen Ying pointed to the golden, plump pastries in the glass display case.

Seeing that he wanted to eat, Hua Wenyuan immediately stretched his hand toward Lu Yu. “Money, please.”

Lu Yu slapped his palm. “You little brat, can’t you ask nicely when you want money from your father?”

Ming Yan took out his pen and drew a stack of cash, distributing it to the boys. After the world’s reconstruction, online payments weren’t fully operational yet, so they used newly issued paper money.

With the money in hand, Hua Wenyuan ran off to buy cream puffs for Shen Ying.

Lu Yu also took a bill, buying a drink to share with Ming Yan. “How’s this? I made sure all the snack shops on this street are the ones you like.”

Ming Yan took a sip of the sweet iced drink from Lu Yu’s hand. “Does this new side story have a plot?”

“No plot, just eating and drinking…” Lu Yu suddenly pointed to the side. “Hey! What’s going on over there?”

Over there, Shen Ying had cream all over his face from the cream puff, and Hua Wenyuan leaned in and licked it off.

Shen Ying, slightly embarrassed, explained to Lu Yu, “I’ve never eaten such food before, please excuse me.”

Lu Yu bared his teeth. “Is that the main point? Hua Wenyuan, what are you doing? Kids can’t go around kissing!”

Hua Wenyuan, with a righteous air, added, “There’s no handkerchief in this outfit. I couldn’t very well wipe it with my sleeve, could I?”

Lu Yu: “…”

Ming Yan stifled a laugh.

At that moment, Shen Baishui walked out of a luxury store, proudly wearing an expensive pair of sunglasses.

Ming Yan was surprised. “Those sunglasses must’ve cost at least five thousand, right? I only gave each of you three hundred for pocket money.”

“Yeah,” Shen Baishui nodded, pulling out another pair of sunglasses for Lu Dongdong. “We pooled a hundred bucks to buy scratch-off lottery tickets and won twenty thousand.”

Lu Yu’s mouth twitched. “You didn’t make Dongdong use his x-ray vision to help, did you?”

President Shen snapped his fingers. “Bingo. Don’t worry, I made sure to buy nine normal tickets and just one jackpot, so as not to attract attention.”

The shrewd Shen Baishui would never stir up trouble, even in a virtual world.

Lu Yu was speechless. “Alright, you’re impressive.”

Just as he was about to lead this restless group to their next stop, Shen Baishui lifted his foot to run off again. “Wait for me a moment; I’m going to the securities company to open an account. This city is rebuilding; trading futures will definitely profit, and the stocks for building materials will skyrocket…”

Lu Yu grabbed Shen Baishui by his hat and pulled him back. “Calm down for a moment. We came for a spring outing, not to control the economic lifeline of The Fish King world!”

Shen Baishui struggled, being pulled by the back of his collar. “Yes, exactly.”

“Dongdong?” Suddenly, a passerby spoke up, instinctively calling out, then quickly corrected himself. “Ah, no, my lord.” The person was about to kneel in fright.

Lu Dongdong, who was just about to hand the sunglasses to his younger brother, lightly raised his fingertip and silenced the man. The person halfway into a kneel remained frozen in that awkward position, wide-eyed and unable to make a sound.

Lu Dongdong ignored him and adjusted the sunglasses on Hua Wenyuan.

Hua Wenyuan tilted his head and looked around. “Wow, it’s pitch black; I can look directly at the sun now. Am I cool?”

The scheming Shen Ying immediately chimed in, “Your Majesty, with these glasses on, it’s like you have dragon’s eyes—truly marvelous!”

Hua Wenyuan proudly placed his hands on his hips.

Lu Dongdong chuckled, patted his younger brother on the head, then turned to the person who recognized him, asking Lu Yu uncertainly, “Dad, is this my old neighbor?”

Lu Yu nodded. “Yes, your old neighbor, his name is Ma Jun. When you were little, he even stole your jumping candy.”

The man named Ma Jun looked terrified.

Lu Dongdong raised a finger, signaling Ma Jun to remain quiet, and slowly said, “It’s rare for me to be out playing with my family; don’t make a fuss.”

With that, Ma Jun found himself unable to speak loudly for the entire day, only able to mutter softly.

Lu Dongdong released the person he had silenced.

Ma Jun bent down, bowing deeply and respectfully saying, “My lord, the Lu family is in this city. Would you like to meet them?”

The Lu family was the one that adopted Lu Dongdong, but after he revealed his merman features, they kicked him out, causing him to wander like a stray dog in a chaotic world.

The group moved along to the seaside. The parents of the Lu family, who had been hiding in a corner, limped out, shrinking back in fear.

“Father, let’s go to the seaside,” Lu Dongdong said with a light laugh, physically waving Ma Jun away.

Ma Jun felt his vision blur and suddenly found himself a hundred meters away from the divine beings.

Lu Yu ruffled his eldest son’s hair. “Yes, let’s go to the seaside.” This was the program they had rehearsed.

Ma Jun quietly thought, “My lord actually has a father; he must be a god resurrected from ancient times, perhaps even the creator god. If only you all hadn’t been so ruthless back then… maybe our whole neighborhood could live in a temple.”

Lu Dongdong’s parents looked pained, exchanging glances. Although they regretted it immensely, they didn’t dare to pursue the matter. This wasn’t an ordinary world; Lu Dongdong was no ordinary child. He had become a divine being, capable of destroying the city with a snap of his fingers. It was better for him not to remember them.

The “creator god,” Lu Yu, stood on the beach and announced loudly, “Next, our little Dongdong will perform for everyone. Let’s applaud!”

The family sat in a row on the beach, as if truly holding a family reunion, clapping enthusiastically.

Lu Dongdong placed one hand on his chest, bowed, and then leaped onto the surface of the sea, raising his sea god’s hand adorned with a sapphire ring.

The vast ocean instantly bubbled, waves rising to form a crystal-clear deep blue staircase. With another wave of his hand, a magnificent castle, glittering like an entire blue sapphire, emerged from the water.

Shen Baishui felt embarrassed and adjusted his sunglasses to hide his face. “Is Fish Boy performing Frozen?” He then mockingly provided the music, “Let it go! Let it go!”

People by the seaside paused, staring at the miraculous castle in the middle of the sea, gasping in amazement. After seeing the ugly deep-sea monsters, they had never witnessed such a stunning magical structure.

The seawater formed deep blue gem walls, soft shark silk became curtains billowing in the sea breeze, and giant clam shells were carved into rocking chairs on the terrace—this was a scene from a fairy tale.

As the family climbed the staircase, they were automatically transported to the castle’s terrace.

The terrace was covered in brightly colored flower petals, swirling and dancing with the sea breeze.

Lu Yu suddenly kneeled on one knee, taking out the prepared ring.

Lu Dongdong wiggled his fingers, causing the seawater to rise and freeze into a massive heart shape. Sunlight broke through the clouds, converging into a beam that illuminated the enormous diamond ring, shining brilliantly like the moon in the sea, the stars in the sky.

Lu Yu swallowed, gazing at Ming Yan as he spoke slowly, “Although I am the one who married into your family and you’ve given me seven seas, back then we hastily registered our marriage, and I still owe you a proper proposal. Yan-ge, will you marry me? Let’s have another wedding, okay?”

Ming Yan stared for a long moment, the overly bright reflection nearly dazzling his eyes. “Who drew this ring? It’s kind of ugly.”

Aside from that overly large diamond, the ring setting was crooked, the band lines uneven, looking as if it had been hand-squished.

Lu Yu scratched his head. “Ahem, I drew it myself.” In this virtual world, the best artists were the ones being proposed to; having someone else draw it felt insincere. Lacking any artistic talent, he could only rely on his own kid for some special effects to blur the focus.

Ming Yan smiled and extended his slender finger. “Okay.”

Lu Yu slipped the ring onto his finger, closed his eyes, and reverently kissed the back of his hand, quickly rising to find those soft lips.

In the moment they kissed, a circle of giant pink octopuses erupted from the sea, each lifting their tentacles to make heart shapes.

Shen Baishui grinned, watching the soft-bodied creatures. “Hey, what’s that?!” In President Shen’s eyes, this proposal design was a complete disaster.

A group of beautiful sea nymphs emerged, sitting on the rocks beneath the castle, starting to sing. Their ethereal voices, accompanied by the rhythm of the waves crashing against the shore, echoed throughout the seven seas.

Shen Ying’s eyes sparkled. “This other world is so interesting.”

Hua Wenyuan patted the solid gem railing. “This castle is nice; let’s build one when we go back.”

Shen Ying shook his head. “That would be a waste of resources; it’s not feasible.” In their world, everything was just starting, with countless issues needing to be addressed; how could they build something like this?

Hua Wenyuan sat on the railing. “What’s there to be afraid of? Side stories can be reset infinitely. I’ll be a foolish emperor, engaging in massive construction and appointing the prime minister as my empress!”

Shen Ying quickly covered his mouth.

“Xiao Yuan, what are you saying?” The sea was turbulent, and Lu Yu turned his head to hear the shouting.

“He said, wishing Father and Dad everlasting love!”