YA Ch57: Inspiration

Ming Yan felt like he had been tackled by a large animal. The other party was taller than him and was now burying their body into his coat. He raised his hand, gently patting the back of Lu Yu’s head like coaxing a child, and said, “Yes, our Mrs. Ming has her own home. We don’t need theirs.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yu hugged him even tighter.

Before today, he didn’t have the confidence to say such things, but just now, Yan-ge had kissed him, admitting his status as his boyfriend. Now, he even verbally acknowledged the title “Mrs. Ming,” a symbol of identity. Lu Yu felt dizzy, as if he would float off the ground if he didn’t hold Yan-ge tightly enough.

Ming Yan glanced over Lu Yu’s shoulder, watching the family walk away before finally withdrawing his gaze and gently wrapping his arm around Lu Yu’s back.

Lu Yu mumbled, “Yan-ge, I really want to hug you longer, but… the sweet potato is so hot.”

Ming Yan chuckled, letting go of Lu Yu and taking the sweet potato from his hands. It was indeed very hot. This guy had been in such a hurry to eat that he hadn’t asked the vendor for a bag, and he had been holding it in his bare hands for quite a while.

Lu Yu shook his hands, then took the sweet potato back, tossing it between his hands. “Let’s eat in the car.”

“No,” Ming Yan refused without thinking, “You’re not allowed to eat anything smelly in my car.”

“Then…” Lu Yu looked around and pointed to the corner by a big tree near the school gate. “We can squat there and eat. It’s sheltered from the wind. I’m afraid if you eat against the wind, you’ll upset your stomach.”

Ming Yan sighed, “…Fine, let’s eat in the car.”

Eating sweet potatoes squatting by a wall was far too ridiculous. This wasn’t a simulator. If someone took a picture, “CEO Couple Squats by the Wall Eating Roasted Sweet Potatoes in Disgrace” would be even more embarrassing than “CEO Seizes Opponent’s Toad’s Eye at the Door.”

The two returned to the car and shared a roasted sweet potato.

Lu Yu split the sweet potato, handing the half with the crispy, charred skin to Ming Yan, specifically instructing, “The charred part is crispy and the best. Don’t throw it away.” As he spoke, he helped Ming Yan peel off the blackened skin, revealing the golden, honeycomb-like flesh inside.

Ming Yan was taken aback. “Is it really like this?”

Lu Yu looked up. “What’s wrong?”

Ming Yan looked at the half of the sweet potato in his hand with a complicated expression. “Two years ago, Lu Dayu also bought roasted sweet potatoes and shared them with me…”

At that time, Lu Dayu had given him the burnt half, and he thought to himself how ungracious that person was. Then he figured, since he wasn’t Lu Yu’s boyfriend, Lu Yu had no reason to save the better part for him. He also remembered how Lu Yu and Lao Yang usually fought over the best food, leaving the worst for the other, and he felt relieved.

He didn’t finish explaining, but Lu Yu instantly understood. Someone like Ming Yan, raised in an elite family, had never eaten a sweet potato roasted in a clay kiln and didn’t know which part was tastier. And as for Lu Dayu, either he hadn’t thought to explain or was just used to being silent.

Lu Yu laughed. “Don’t worry, whether it’s me or Lu Dayu, we’d always save the best for Yan-ge.”

Ming Yan sighed, feeling a bit guilty as he wiped some ash from Lu Yu’s face.

Lu Yu happily nuzzled his finger and said, “Hurry and eat. It won’t taste as good if it gets cold. Once we’re done, we’ll head to the next stop.” He was excited for every part of today’s date. It was his first official date, and nothing could make him give up halfway—not even if the sky were falling.

The afternoon event was a limited-time exhibition called “Starry Sky.” This technology and art fusion exhibit was open for only half a month, with the main feature being a high-tech recreation of the cosmos. A ticket cost 200 yuan.

The starry sky exhibit was held in a small art gallery. Only six people could enter at a time, and joining their group were a male and female couple and two female best friends.

Lu Yu held Ming Yan’s hand as they slowly walked inside. “Hold on tight. If a black hole appears, we must never let go. That way, even if we time-travel, we’ll end up in the same era.”

The young couple beside them exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes. How could anyone be more cheesy than them?

The pair of best friends, however, looked at them with glowing eyes, stomping their feet in silent excitement.

The group reached the center of the room, standing in a circle facing outward. The lights dimmed, and faint glowing spots began to appear around them.

It was a 360-degree panoramic display. The black floor gradually deepened, twinkling with irregular dots of light like an abyss stretching infinitely. Then the ceiling and walls joined in, the light dots connecting into one vast expanse, suddenly transforming into an endless starry sky.

Someone gasped softly in awe.

After a while, the starry sea thinned. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t thinning—the group was being drawn toward a particular star.

That star burned fiercely, its surface aflame with searing heat, so bright it was blinding. Then it began to expand, and the high-temperature gases rushed toward them, engulfing the spectators.

This was the evolution of a star. In the end, the enormous star exploded violently, quickly collapsing into a black hole that devoured everything around it.

Lu Yu’s ominous prediction had come true.

Immersed in the scene, the others couldn’t help but cry out in shock. Ming Yan instinctively tightened his grip on Lu Yu, afraid he might fall. Meanwhile, Lu Yu hugged him back. “Yan-ge, we’ll never be apart, even if we die! If we time-travel, let’s go together.”

The girl who had just jumped into her boyfriend’s arms: “…” She couldn’t take it anymore and punched her boyfriend.

Boyfriend: “What’s that for?”

Girl: “Look at them! Why can’t you be romantic like that instead of acting like a block of wood?”

The boy smirked, confident. “It’s all fake. What’s there to be afraid of?”

After the black hole shattered, everything returned to calm. A new star was born, drifting farther and farther away, eventually becoming another vast starry sea.

The boy from the couple exclaimed it was a rip-off, 200 yuan for only 15 minutes.

But Ming Yan felt it was worth every penny. He excitedly turned to Lu Yu and said, “I’ve got an idea for my next pocket watch design. I’ll make it a time black hole. The back will be a swirling black vortex endlessly devouring time, and the front will be a spiraling starry sky.”

Lu Yu’s eyes sparkled. “That sounds amazing!”

Ming Yan was happy and asked Lu Yu, “Did you get any inspiration?”

Why did this date come with a pop quiz? Lu Yu felt a bit guilty. He had spent the entire time either watching the dazzling display or staring at Ming Yan’s face, leaving no time for thinking.

But this didn’t faze the always-inspired Lu Yu. He thought for a moment, stroking his chin. “I think… maybe my next novel could be about interstellar wars. But this genre doesn’t have a big audience in the male-oriented market, so it might not get popular. Unless I make it part of a quick-transmigration series or add a twist like a ‘War God Son-in-Law.’”

Ming Yan looked at him, speechless. “War God… Son-in-Law?”

Lu Yu nodded, getting more enthusiastic. “Yeah, it’s the kind where an interstellar war god gets injured, is forced to become a live-in son-in-law, and when people insult him, he shouts, ‘Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don’t bully the poor youth!’”

Ming Yan: “…”

Lu Yu scratched his head. “Maybe I should just start an alternate pen name on Jinjiang to write BL. Interstellar genres do better there.”

Ming Yan’s face twitched. “And what would you write in BL?”

“Just interstellar warfare alone is boring. You can’t really have a romance either. For interstellar BL, I’d go with an ABO theme.” Lu Yu got more and more into the idea, tapping his fist into his palm. “I’ll write ‘Alpha Son-in-Law!’”

Ming Yan: “???”

Deciding he’d heard enough, Ming Yan turned to the car. Inspired Lu Yu followed closely behind, babbling about his brilliant new story idea. “He was once the top alpha war god of the Galactic Fleet. After getting injured, his status plummets, and he becomes a useless nobody. His comrades shun him, and his family scorns him. In a fit of rage, he decides to marry into the Ming family and become the live-in son-in-law!”

Ming Yan had just opened the car door when he burst out laughing at this. He turned around and gave the guy pressed up against him a push. “Stop spouting nonsense. Go over there and get in the car.” This was the driver’s seat, and this guy was so eager to talk that he was nearly squeezing him into the steering wheel.

“This isn’t nonsense; it’s my heartfelt desire. I really wish this were an ABO world. You, being an only-child Omega, would definitely need to bring in a husband. But most Alphas wouldn’t want to marry in; only I, with genuine sincerity, would bring resources to your family without deceiving anyone.”

After a fancy meal, their date ended perfectly.

Back home, Ming Yan sat on the sofa, knees bent, sketching quickly on a drawing board, trying to capture today’s inspiration. He drew the face of a starry sky watch, and just as he was about to add the symbols for the calendar, Lu Yu’s absurd, brainwashing story suddenly popped into his mind: ABO, Alpha, Omega… His hand shook, and he accidentally drew the Omega watch logo on the dial①.

Ming Yan: “…”

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Author’s Note:

Annotation ① Omega watch, in English OMEGA, its logo is Ω.

The author did not receive any advertising fees from Omega watches, so please do not make any random purchases, or the author will feel a loss of a hundred million and roll on the ground in anger.