YA Ch82: Speculation

Lu Yu hurriedly returned home in the evening, anxiously turning on his computer to check the files in the “Golden House” folder.

Inside the folder, there was indeed a file on Zheng Wuqiong. Upon opening it, it read:

[Zheng Wuqiong, a legendary self-made salesman. His name is not derived from the mathematical symbol “infinity” but from the fact that his family was extremely poor when he was young. His parents hoped that he would grow up without poverty.]

Lu Yu didn’t remember the opening line very well and turned to ask the floating merball beside him, “Dongdong, have I opened this file since I fainted on November 9th?”

Lu Dongdong blinked his electronic eyes, pulled up the computer’s background work log, and swayed his balloon body back and forth, nodding, “Yes, you’ve opened it.”

Lu Yu let out a huge sigh of relief, collapsing into his computer chair, staring blankly at the ornate, carved ceiling.

The merman ball floated up, blocking Lu Yu’s view. “Father, does it matter if you’ve opened it?”

Lu Yu pinched the tip of the merman’s tail. Since the balloon’s interior was connected, pinching the tail would puff up the face, instantly turning merman Dongdong into goldfish Dongdong.

“It’s about whether I’ve traveled through time or just lost my memory.”

This week, Lu Yu had been having dreams that felt like memories of the past, but he couldn’t verify them. This vague unease was why the file had suddenly startled him.

If he hadn’t opened this file but could clearly remember the information Lu Dayu collected, it would prove that he possessed Lu Dayu’s memories. That would mean he wasn’t a time traveler but someone with amnesia.

If it’s amnesia, when his memories return, he’ll become Lu Dayu.

That was terrifying.

Goldfish-faced Lu Dongdong continued to ask, “What’s the difference?”

Lu Yu released the tail, sighed, and said, “If I have amnesia, Father and Dad would have to get a divorce.”

Talking about divorce made Lu Yu feel heavy inside. He hugged Lu Dongdong sadly and said, “Dongdong, if Father and Dad divorce, who will you go with?”

The merball’s electronic eyes displayed a teary expression as it resolutely said, “I’ll go with Father. Father needs me.”

The CEO ball floated in to find Lu Dongdong, saw the scene, and silently turned around, only to be grabbed by Lu Yu. “Qianqian, if Father and Dad divorce, who will you go with?”

The CEO ball snorted, “Can’t you just set me free?”

Lu Yu scared the kids: “Nonsense. Do you know how dangerous it is outside? If someone steals a super AI like you, they’ll force you to work non-stop, 24/7. It’s terrifying. Besides, what would you even do if you left home?”

“Make money,” Shen Baishui, arms crossed, glanced at Lu Yu. “You’re making money too slowly.”

As the richest person in his own world, President Shen was quite dissatisfied with the wealth accumulation speed of this family.

“You’ve hurt me,” Lu Yu clutched his chest, anger rising, poking at President Shen’s weak spot, “You’re not richer than me right now. You only have two fifty-cent coins.”

The richest person in the world’s wealth accumulation progress—two out of a trillion, fifty cents being negligible.

Shen Baishui trembled with anger.

Father and son, destined to be lifelong enemies.

“What’s going on?” Ming Yan entered and, seeing the vibrating CEO ball, asked with concern.

“Nothing, we’re just playing around. Yan-ge, let me show you a magic trick.” Lu Yu grabbed the merball, holding it up for display. “This is a merman.”

Lu Dongdong cooperatively stood up straight, and his pink, bun-like face puffed up as soon as his father pinched his fish tail.

Lu Yu solemnly introduced, “This is a goldfish.”

Ming Yan burst out laughing, “What a terrible pun.”

“And,” Lu Yu grabbed the CEO ball and continued showing it off, “this is a CEO.”

Shen Baishui tried to struggle but was suddenly squeezed hard on his short legs, his serious poker face puffing up like a goldfish.

Lu Yu: “This is a fat CEO.”

CEO Shen shook and blacked out, shutting down on the spot.

“Such a temper?” Lu Yu shook the CEO ball, “This guy’s human nature is developing too fast.”

“It’s all because you stress him out.” Ming Yan laughed and took the second child, manually rebooting him.

By Friday, the Lu family was still playing dead.

For some reason, General Manager Zheng, who appeared to have some free time, visited Shenyu Technology to look around. He brought Lu Yu a bunch of children’s smartwatches, saying, “For your kids.”

Lu Yu picked up a smartwatch with Sun Wukong on it and pointed to the merball figurine in the glass case, saying, “Our kids look like that.”

Zheng Wuqiong stared at it for a while, measured with his hands, and said, “The arms are a bit thin. No worries, just put it on the tail.”

Lu Yu gave a thumbs-up to Mr. Zheng’s quick wit.

“Haha, just kidding,” Mr. Zheng laughed as he wrapped an arm around Lu Yu’s shoulder, whispering in a gold-medal sales tone, “Let me tell you, this thing is essential for a boss. Sometimes, during meetings, they activate AI shielding, but this smartwatch can’t be blocked. It still uses the most basic phone signal. That way, if your wife urgently needs you, she can still reach you.”

AI relies on today’s omnipresent super-strong network signal, and phone cards are all virtual now. However, children’s smartwatches, to prevent them from getting lost, still come equipped with retro phone cards.

Lu Yu quietly slipped the Sun Wukong watch into his pocket, “Mr. Zheng, you truly are a marketing genius.”

Zheng Wuqiong chuckled and accepted the compliment with ease, touring around with Lu Yu and leaving with a bunch of souvenirs in return.

Holding a plastic bow and arrow from Hua Wenyuan’s line of souvenirs, he competed in archery with Hong Wuyang while casually saying, “Looks like the Lu family’s in trouble. My front-line spy reported that the whole family was arguing fiercely in the conference room.”

Mr. Zheng mimicked their argument in perfect detail:

Mrs. Lu thought it was all Second Master Lu’s fault and that she should use motherly love to win over Lu Yu first. Second Master Lu said it was the couple’s fault for not trying to coax Lu Yu earlier, and now they’re in a rush.

Lu Yu was taken aback. Not only was the content accurate, but even Mr. Zheng’s mimicry of their tone was spot-on: “Mr. Zheng, your spies go pretty deep. Who did you bribe at such a high level?”

Most of Lu Corporation’s higher-ups are family members, which should be difficult to bribe.

Hong Wuyang was curious as well and leaned in to listen.

Zheng Wuqiong laughed sheepishly, “The cleaning lady.”

Lu Yu: “…”

Apart from exchanging information, Mr. Zheng’s visit was also to check out Shenyu Technology to see if a collaboration was worthwhile. After seeing the simulator in action, he was both shocked and very pleased: “If you could use employees to operate this simulator for training, without you and Ming Yan having to personally oversee it, you could roll out new products much faster. Also, mature assistants, like Shen Baishui, who doesn’t deal with much danger, could be opened up for entertainment projects.”

Lu Yu nodded thoughtfully. He had to admit, this legendary salesman really had some skills: “Thank you for the advice, Mr. Zheng. Talking with you is always enlightening.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. Your company’s just starting out, so you haven’t had time to think about these things. You’ll figure it out once you get some downtime.” Mr. Zheng, holding a bunch of plush toy souvenirs, was ready to leave.

Just as Lu Yu was about to walk Mr. Zheng downstairs, Yang Shen approached, showing him his AI interface, which had several missed calls from the Lu family and one already answered.

Lu Yu frowned, “What’s going on? Just say it.”

Yang Shen glanced at Mr. Zheng and Young Master Hong before sighing, “The Lu family couldn’t reach you or Ming Yan, so they called me. They asked me to tell you that you must talk to them today because they have something very important to tell you about your mother.”

Mother?

Lu Yu slowly clenched his fist.

This “mother” certainly wasn’t referring to Lu’s mother, but his biological mother.

As far as Lu Dayu knew, the Lu family had already confessed to him years ago. According to what he knew, his mother was a university student who, after giving birth to him, couldn’t afford to raise him and happened to get an opportunity to study abroad, so she gave him to the Lu family. What other truth could there be?

Was there something even Lu Dayu didn’t know, or was this just a ploy to trick him into going?

Seeing the change in Lu Yu’s expression, Yang Shen quickly messaged Ming Yan, telling him to come over.

Lao Yang didn’t have much fondness for the Lu family, and he originally didn’t want to bother with them. It was only when he saw the text message they sent, fearing it might actually be important to Lu Yu, that he picked up the phone.

Lu Yu stayed silent for a long time until Ming Yan, who had come down from the top-floor conference room, appeared in the elevator, the door opening with a “ding.”

The warm light from the elevator illuminated Lu Yu’s face, which gradually brightened, “Only one more day left. No need to meet.”

Mr. Zheng found this statement mysterious and asked Hong Wuyang as they exited the building, “What does that even mean?”

Young Master Hong shook his head, “I asked him, but he wouldn’t say. He just gave me an evil smile.”

“What does an evil smile even mean?” As someone trying hard to keep up with the times, Mr. Zheng still didn’t understand some expressions.

Young Master Hong raised one corner of his mouth and arched his brow, “Like this.”

Mr. Zheng stared at the adorable dimples that appeared on Young Master Hong’s chubby cheeks, even more confused.

Saturday morning, Young Master Hong was still sleeping in his 200-square-meter bedroom when Mr. Zheng woke him with a phone call.

Zheng Wuqiong screamed in an unusually high-pitched voice for someone his age, “Xiao Hong! This is unbelievable! I swear, Lu Yu is a genius!”

“Huh?” Half-awake, Hong Wuyang drowsily stared at the news screenshot Mr. Zheng sent over.

[The AI Data Alliance announced early this morning that the Lu Corporation has been removed from the pending list for AI Data entry qualifications for unknown reasons.]

“In other words, they won’t be granted entry qualifications anymore!” Mr. Zheng excitedly paced around.

A powerful competitor had just been eliminated! It was as if, while he was struggling like the Foolish Old Man moving mountains, the mountains suddenly disappeared, leaving the skies wide and the sea boundless.

“Lu Yu is deep and unfathomable,” Mr. Zheng said solemnly to Hong Wuyang. “If our cooperation works out, I’m willing to give him a bigger cut.”

The deep and unfathomable Lu Yu opened his eyes and jumped out of bed, exclaiming, “Today’s the day!”

Ming Yan groggily opened his eyes and, in a nasal voice, asked, “What’s today?”

Lu Yu pounced like a hungry tiger, wrapping himself and the blanket tightly around Ming Yan, his eyes sparkling as he asked back, “What do you think?”

Today was the day to collect benefits—the day when Lu Yu the donkey, having toiled all week, finally got his carrot!