YA Ch48: Foreshadowing

The morning livestream ended.

Lu Yu took off his helmet and rubbed his flattened hair, only to see Secretary Jiang coming over with a tablet.

The brain-computer interface makes the light screen content extremely clear for the person connected, but it appears semi-transparent to others unless it’s cast onto another screen, which provides some privacy protection.

This was the operating room, with external livestreams ongoing, so Secretary Jiang chose not to cast the screen and instead showed Lu Yu a physical tablet.

Secretary Jiang whispered, “‘A Song of Red Silk Countless Times’ has already tipped over a million.”

Lu Yu glanced at the livestream replay on the tablet. “That fast? This big brother is really loaded. Tell him to come… never mind, I’ll talk to him myself.”

Out of respect for the top supporter, he had to personally notify him and not let his secretary handle it.

He took another close look at the screen and found that the big brother didn’t mention the name of “plug-in” in the novel, and while tipping crazily, he was cautious enough not to spoil anything. What a considerate big brother!

Lu Yu opened his brain-computer interface and sent a message on Niao Shu to “A Song of Red Silk Countless Times.”

[Han Di Ba Yu: Thanks for the tip, big brother. When are you free these next couple of days? Come to Chenyu for a visit, and you can even play an NPC.]

There was an immediate reply from the other side.

[A Song of Red Silk Countless Times: I knew tipping a million would get me a surprise! Lu Dog, you’re the best. Big brother loves you! I’ll come tomorrow morning, wait for me!]

After setting up a contact method with him, Lu Yu asked Xiao Jiang to handle the reception for the big brother the next day.

Lu Yu turned off his brain-computer interface and got up to have lunch with Ming Yan.

As soon as he sat down at the coffee table in the office, the PR director knocked and came looking for Lu Yu.

“President Lu, do we have any upcoming collaboration plans with the Lu family?” The PR director looked serious.

“Colla…” Lu Yu wanted to say “collaborate, my ass,” but since the PR director asked, there must be something going on, so he looked at Ming Yan.

Ming Yan confidently answered, “No.”

The PR director’s expression didn’t relax and showed them a piece of news. “This happened this morning.”

The headline was very eye-catching—

[An Adopted Son to Repay the Favor? Lu Group Reveals Upcoming Collaboration with Chenyu Technology.]

Lu Yu chuckled in anger at the headline. This is like something out of a Hong Kong tabloid. Is the Lu family so shameless now that they’re using their supposed debt to pressure him?

He clicked on the video in the news. It appeared to be a presentation. The Lu Group was bidding for a brain-computer interface manufacturing factory, and the one presenting was the current CEO of Lu Group, Lu Zhenni’s father, Lu Yu’s nominal second uncle.

At the presentation, Uncle Lu stated they were discussing collaboration with Chenyu Technology. If successful, they would install Chenyu Technology’s super-intelligent assistant in their brain-computer interfaces.

“How are they so shameless? Did they give me a heads-up beforehand?”

Last time, Lu Zhenni inexplicably came over and suggested he buy Lu Group’s phone manufacturing plant to help Chenyu expand and go public. And now, they’re openly talking about collaboration as if it were happening in their dreams.

In the video, a reporter asked, “Are you confident about the collaboration with Chenyu?”

Second Uncle Lu smiled, his eyes looking meaningfully into the camera: “Lu Yu is also a member of the Lu family.”

After watching the video, Lu Yu cursed, “How thick is their skin? Haven’t they had enough of taking advantage of me?”

This second uncle of his never liked him. As a child, Lu Yu didn’t understand why, but later, when he found out he was adopted, he got it. His second uncle thought that such a huge family business shouldn’t go to an outsider picked up from the streets.

Ming Yan grabbed the furious Lu Yu and said to the PR director, “Nothing like that is happening, but there’s no need to respond proactively either. You know how to handle it.”

Chenyu Technology is currently in the spotlight, and everyone wants to ride on their coattails, so it’s better to keep quiet.

The PR director nodded, indicating they understood, and turned to leave.

“Alright, let’s eat.” Ming Yan opened the lunch boxes on the table and set them out one by one.

Today’s dishes were ordered by Lu Yu, from a grand restaurant. With all the recent busy work, he was worried that Ming Yan wasn’t eating well, so he ordered Ming Yan’s favorite, Longjing shrimp with mixed vegetable egg roll soup.

This wasn’t the traditional Longjing shrimp; instead, the Longjing tea leaves were fried crispy and sprinkled on top of the shrimp, which had been cooked with complex seasoning. Only this restaurant made it the best.

Ming Yan was a bit surprised, “How did you know I like these?” His tastes had changed over the years, different from his university days. Logically, Lu Xiaoyu shouldn’t know this.

Lu Yu served a bowl of egg roll soup and placed it in front of Ming Yan. “It was written in Lu Dayu’s memo.” He didn’t think it was a big deal. If he wanted to know what Ming Yan liked, he’d naturally go check Lu Dayu’s brain-computer memo.

Ming Yan was taken aback. “He wrote that in his memo… what else did he write?”

Lu Yu handed him a pair of chopsticks he’d already unwrapped and winked, “I’m not telling you. This is my guidebook for courting you. If I spoil it, how will I surprise you?”

Ming Yan looked complicatedly at the egg roll soup in his hand and slowly drank it all up.

After the meal, Lu Yu coaxed Ming Yan into taking a nap and then ran to Lu Dayu’s office to rummage through files. He was worried that Lu Dayu might have really agreed to something with the Lu family, so he needed to find out in advance and prepare.

Following Lu Dongdong’s hints, he found half a proposal on the computer in the office.

Lu Yu frowned as he opened the document and carefully read it from beginning to end.

It was a proposal that seemed unrelated to the Lu family, discussing the “feasibility of combining Tommorow Watches with modern brain-computer interfaces.”

Lu Dayu indeed had considered collaborating with a brain-computer interface company, but the plan had been shelved.

“Turning watches into brain-computer shells?” Lu Yu stroked his chin. This was indeed a good idea. If successful, it could revive the entire Ming family’s supply chain. Pocket watches would most likely have to take the luxury route, but to revitalize Tomorrow Watches, they would need large-volume orders.

Maybe Lu Dayu had hinted at this idea to the Lu family? However, the document didn’t mention why the plan was eventually shelved.

“I don’t know either, Father,” said Lu Dongdong, speaking up proactively since there was no one else around. “Sometimes you take off the brain-computer interface and leave me at home, so I can’t eavesdrop.”

“That’s normal. Some situations might require everyone to remove their brain-computer interfaces and leave them outside. You’re too precious; I definitely wouldn’t feel safe leaving you outside.” Lu Yu patted the brain-computer interface’s watch face, pondering the matter carefully.

Regardless of whether Lu Dayu had ever contacted the Lu family, now that they had suddenly brought him up, he couldn’t just sit back and wait. His Hua Wenyuan transformation was at a critical stage, and he couldn’t afford any setbacks. Confronting the Lu family, he had a natural disadvantage in public opinion, so he had to take the initiative.

The afternoon livestream continued.

Hua Wenyuan had reorganized the Jiangzhou Camp with an iron fist. After a period of recuperation, stabilizing affairs, and reassuring the people, he finally trained a group of usable soldiers.

Lu Yu stood on the edge of the training ground, watching the soldiers uniformly thrust their spears in unison. He sighed, “If Hua Wenyuan were in modern society, sending him to conduct military training for school kids would definitely be effective.”

Ming Yan shook his head with a light smile. “Having a general serve as a military training instructor is like asking you to teach elementary school essays.”

“I wouldn’t dare say that; I’m no great writer,” Lu Yu quickly stopped Yan-ge from blindly praising him. “And honestly, I wouldn’t be good at teaching elementary school essays. My essay scores weren’t high when I was in elementary school.”

As he spoke, Hua Wenyuan walked past them, and Lu Yu grabbed him.

“Xiao Yuan, do you know what elementary school is?” Teacher Lu was ready to start his lecture.

“Ahem, Second Uncle, I’m busy right now; let’s talk later.” Hua Wenyuan dodged the topic, broke free from Lu Yu’s grip, and leaped onto a high platform to start mustering the troops.

He was preparing to lead two thousand men to eliminate the rebels in the west. The so-called rebel was said to be a blacksmith named He Dazhui, who, unable to bear the forced labor of craftsmen, had killed the overseer and rebelled. His small rebellion had lasted for several months, occupying only a small city. For Hua Wenyuan, two thousand men were more than enough to capture He Dazhui alive and bring him back to forge weapons.

Just after the troops were ready, a decree suddenly arrived from the capital, instructing Hua Wenyuan to ignore the small rebel and head to the border to repel the Tartars.

Hua Wenyuan dismissed the official who delivered the decree and sat in his tent, pondering for a long time before picking up his brush to write a memorial to the emperor. He stated that Jiangzhou was short on provisions, with only one-tenth of the military households remaining, and had no real fighting force left. Only fewer than two thousand men remained, suitable only for small-scale anti-bandit operations, unable to head to the border.

[Your subject dares to recommend General Qian Podi. General Qian is a military genius and will surely be able to defend Hancheng Pass.]

In his previous life, General Qian had failed to seize military power from the eunuchs and died without ever commanding the border troops. This time, he should fulfill his ambition.

Once this memorial was sent out, the emperor would understand that Hua Wenyuan had seized military power in Jiangzhou but was not obeying the imperial edict, which amounted to rebellion.

But the emperor couldn’t outright declare him a rebel, because after submitting the memorial, Hua Wenyuan immediately went to suppress the rebellion and eliminate the rebels.

In the capital, the emperor was puzzled and asked the Minister of War, “What does Hua Wenyuan mean by this?”

The Minister of War knew very well but couldn’t say it directly. After all, even if Hua Wenyuan were deemed a rebel now, there weren’t enough troops to suppress him. So, he evaded, saying, “Jiangzhou has suffered disasters for years, and taxes have not been collected properly. Perhaps they are indeed in severe deficit. The Hua family has been loyal to the emperor for generations, and Hua Wenyuan is only sixteen. He shouldn’t have the courage to rebel.”

The emperor thought about it and agreed. Hua Wenyuan was only sixteen; who at sixteen would aspire to become a rebel?

So, everyone played along, and they truly appointed General Qian to defend Hancheng.

Meanwhile, Hua Wenyuan was riding his magnificent horse outside He Dazhui’s city, shouting, “Bold rebel, open the gates at once!”

“Tsk tsk, isn’t this like a thief calling to catch a thief? You’re a rebel, and I know I’m a rebel too, but as long as I don’t say it, I can represent justice and eliminate you,” Lu Yu said as he watched the scene from a pavilion on a hillside outside the city. He turned to Ming Yan, who was drawing. “It’s just like my parents. I already knew I wasn’t their biological child, yet they still said, ‘How did we give birth to someone like you, a piece of char siu?’”

After saying this, Lu Yu continued to crack sunflower seeds, feeling smug: “Playing with public opinion, I know how to plant foreshadowing. The Lu family better not mess with me.”

He casually threw out a hint, but Ming Yan took it to heart. Feeling pained, he looked up at Lu Yu and asked, “When did you find out you weren’t their biological child?”

Ming Yan had always thought that Lu Yu probably found out about his background around high school, and the Lu family claimed they had told him after he came of age. But now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Lu Yu met Ming Yan’s eyes, filled with concern, and felt a bit uneasy. He turned his gaze toward the battlefield not far away and casually said, “I knew when my younger brother was born.”

Ming Yan’s gently clenched fist tightened. That was when Lu Yu was ten years old. “Why?” How did Lu Xiaoyu become so keenly aware?

Lu Yu clicked his tongue. “Because they named my brother Lu Tingze. The name alone sounds like someone who would order the whole city’s highways closed just to find the female lead—the classic overbearing CEO. And me? Lu Yu… a wealthy family’s young master named Lu Yu, does that sound right?”