Chapter 27: Du Yu
Chapter 27: Du Yu
On the sixth day of becoming an Elf, Lan Mu didn’t wake up until after 12 noon.
He had only returned home at five in the morning, cleaned his bow and arrows, and then gone to sleep—exactly seven hours.
However, Lan Mu didn’t feel sleep-deprived, even though this was the first time he had slept since turning into an Elf.
He realized that Elves didn’t seem to have the same regular rest pattern as humans. They slept when they wanted and woke when they wanted.
They also didn’t dream. Basically, if they decided how long to sleep before closing their eyes, then as soon as they shut their eyes and opened them again, it was time!
Not a minute off! Deep sleep, with an automatic biological clock in their mind to wake them up, plus a sleep alert system.
This Elf species could even go without sleep for three years or sleep for three years straight!
It was the same with eating and drinking. When thirsty, they drank a little dew; when hungry, they absorbed a bit of plant essence.
Living on wind and dew—it was like becoming an immortal!
After waking up, Su Yue had already prepared lunch.
Lan Mu looked at the food and sighed. He didn’t want to eat.
He managed a few bites and then basically watched Su Yue eat alone.
“Brother Mu, why aren’t you eating?” This wasn’t the first time, so Su Yue couldn’t help asking.
“Uh… I ate outside. I’m not hungry,” Lan Mu had to reply.
Su Yue said “oh” and silently started clearing the leftovers.
“Don’t bother. We don’t have a fridge at home; just throw it away,” Lan Mu stepped forward and dumped the leftovers.
Su Yue was taken aback but remained silent.
Lan Mu quickly asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
Su Yue shook her head, so Lan Mu said, “Do you think I’m wasteful? But the weather is hot, and leftovers spoil easily.”
“Brother Mu, are you really starting a studio?”
Lan Mu uttered an “uh,” thought about what he had been doing these past few days, and realized it really did seem like he had tricked her into staying at his place. He then said sheepishly, “I’ve been delayed with some matters these past few days. I can probably officially start preparing the day after tomorrow. How about I go look for a place today?”
“Brother Mu, you don’t need to discuss it with me. You’re the boss,” Su Yue said with a pursed-lip smile.
“Right, right. Okay then, you stay and look after the house. I’m heading out.”
Lan Mu put on his sunglasses and hat and left. He actually had a friend who worked in real estate.
Originally, he planned to contact that friend once he turned back into a human the day after tomorrow.
But since he needed to rent now, he’d have to figure out how to find a good place on his own.
“A remote location is fine, as long as it’s big enough, preferably two stories, so one floor can be for living and the other for work.”
“Thinking about it that way, I can only look in the suburbs.”
Lan Mu looked up a real estate agent’s number on his phone. Such numbers were everywhere, and he randomly chose one with a decent reputation to call.
After some polite small talk, he said directly, “Yes, I want it soon.”
“Location doesn’t matter, around 150 square meters is fine, generally well-decorated, and it should be livable at the same time.”
After briefly explaining his requirements, Lan Mu added.
“Three percent commission? Fine, come pick me up. I’m at…”
Lan Mu waited at the intersection for about an hour before a small Changan Ben sedan pulled up.
“Are you Mr. Lan?”
“Yes,” Lan Mu got in the car and fastened his seatbelt.
The driver was the agent, slightly chubby and looking honest and simple. But he stared blankly at Lan Mu, clearly not expecting Mr. Lan to be so good-looking.
Lan Mu coughed, and the agent finally looked away.
“Mr. Lan, I’m Li Penghou. I have a few vacant studios on hand. Here’s the info. Should we go to a cafe to discuss slowly, or do you want to pick a place directly to go see the properties?”
“No need to waste time. This one looks good. Let’s go take a look.”
Lan Mu quickly flipped through the information and chose a decent one.
But pictures and reality could differ. Dissatisfied with one, they went to the next.
All afternoon, Li Penghou drove Lan Mu all over Metropolis, viewing one place after another.
Finally, as it approached six o’clock, Lan Mu settled on one.
“Brother Mu, I’ll call you brother! This one is really good, newly decorated last year, 156 square meters, only three dollars per square meter per day. The water, electricity, and fire safety systems are absolutely up to standard…”
Listening to Li Penghou’s enthusiastic praise, Lan Mu saw it was getting very late and stopped being picky, choosing this one.
“I’ve heard the security around here isn’t great… but never mind. I’ll be living in this studio too, and I’m in a bit of a hurry, so let’s settle on this.”
Li Penghou was overjoyed and hurriedly took out the contract to sign with Lan Mu.
Three percent commission, 156 square meters, a studio on the second floor, three dollars per square meter per day.
The monthly rent was over fourteen thousand, which included property management fees.
Today was August 19th. Since Lan Mu paid one month’s rent plus two months’ deposit, starting from October 19th, rent would be due every 19th of the month.
Just like that, Lan Mu paid over forty-three thousand dollars.
Seeing that his savings were dwindling, with only eighty thousand left, he still needed to buy equipment and prepare for studio registration.
Funds were getting tight. If he couldn’t earn much money in two months, the studio wouldn’t be able to stay open.
After bidding farewell to Li Penghou, Lan Mu took the subway back, thinking along the way about how the newly started studio should develop.
He was seriously short on money now. After officially setting up the studio, the remaining operating funds would probably be less than fifty thousand.
And he still needed to hire people. Just him and Cheng Ming couldn’t handle too much work.
A studio with poor work capabilities would end up being ignored by everyone.
But he wasn’t too worried about hiring, since he had been in Metropolis for several years and had some connections.
Just reaching out to old university classmates could handle the initial stage.
But all the trouble, in the end, came down to a lack of money.
If he couldn’t even earn enough for rent and salaries within two months, the studio could shut down.
“There are only two ways: either bring in more funding, which would buy more time to develop.”
“Or find a way to land a few big projects to build a reputation in the shortest time possible.”
“But even if I could get big projects, could my studio handle them?”
He had impulsively decided to start his own studio, but now, thinking about it, he realized it was too difficult.
Starting from scratch was never easy, after all.
By the time Lan Mu walked to the building where he lived, it was almost seven o’clock.
He saw a red Jaguar XE parked downstairs, with a young man leaning against it smoking.
The young man looked familiar. Lan Mu thought for a moment and recognized him.
It was the person he had met when buying the bow and arrows at the Forest Club that day. He remembered the guy introducing himself as Du Yu.
Du Yu saw Lan Mu return and grinned happily.
He hurried over to shake hands, but Lan Mu gave a symbolic handshake and immediately pulled his hand back.
“Lan Mu, right? Brother Mu? Finally caught you! The person at your place absolutely refused to open the door for me. So, I had no choice but to wait for you downstairs,” Du Yu said with a familiar, cheerful tone.
From his words, it seemed Du Yu had come early and even knocked on the door upstairs. But obviously, Su Yue wouldn’t have opened the door for him.
“How do you know I live here? And how do you know my name?” Lan Mu felt very puzzled. Du Yu was just a passing acquaintance that day; Lan Mu hadn’t paid him any attention. How could he have found this place?
“Haha…” Du Yu looked somewhat embarrassed and stammered, “Don’t worry about those details!”
“Oh…”
Lan Mu didn’t ask further. It was clear Du Yu had investigated him, using who knows what methods, and Lan Mu didn’t have the slightest bit of fondness for him.
With a cold “oh,” Lan Mu headed straight upstairs.
Yet Du Yu very naturally followed, walking beside him, and said, “Brother Mu, you’re amazing with a bow! That day, my eyes were dazzled!”
“Don’t follow me. Besides, I’m just a beginner.”
Lan Mu didn’t want to chat with him and bluntly retorted.
After all, he had just used a bow to deal with a criminal and embarrassed the police yesterday. He didn’t want anyone to know about his excellent archery skills and raise police suspicion.
But Du Yu was clearly thick-skinned and didn’t care about Lan Mu’s attitude.
Still smiling, he said, “Come on! Brother Mu, don’t worry, I won’t spread it. You’re just a talented folk expert. But I saw it with my own eyes; denying it won’t work.”
Lan Mu sighed, turned to look at him, and said, “What do you want?”
“Don’t be so distant! I apologize! I was wrong!” Du Yu directly apologized.
Lan Mu nodded, thinking: So you know you were wrong for investigating me. But it’s partly my fault for not being careful. I shouldn’t show off my archery skills too much in the future.
Unexpectedly, Du Yu continued, “That day was really a misunderstanding. I didn’t know you were a guy. I was really blind! Don’t worry, you’re not girly at all!”
“…”
Lan Mu stared at him coldly and after a long pause, spat out one word.
“Get lost!”