CH 15.1

Squandering the family fortune (part 1)

Editor: MinMin 

Ryan’s cheeks flushed. He bit his lips and uttered, “Mister, please do not make fun of me.”

The youth lowered his head shyly, looking very ill at ease. 

Like a little bunny in the presence of a big, bad wolf. 

Chu Yuwen teased, “Come here.” 

Ryan looked up with fear, a little stumped. 

Chu Yuwen’s dark golden eyes darkened slightly. This time, his voice was more commanding, “Come here.”

Ryan slowly moved closer and was pulled by Chu Yuwen to sit on his lap. 

He let out a cry of surprise. The towel around his waist almost came loose, but he quickly grabbed onto it. 

Chu Yuwen took off his military coat. Inside was a thin shirt plus a tie. He wore business casual on top but business professional below with his black military uniform pants, weapons pinned to the waist, daggers strapped to the legs, and a pair of dark black boots. 

His well-defined and handsome facial features were like the blinding sun. 

Except for the Empire’s Moon, no one could compete with the sun, and no one dared challenge the sun. 

Ryan was sitting on the other man’s lap, wrapped only in a bath towel. His pale feet were dangling off the ground; not even his toe could touch the floor.  

He called out helplessly, “Mister?”

“You did not dry your hair completely.” Chu Yuwen gazed down at his wet hair. “Are you not afraid of getting a headache at night?”

Ryan choked, “I can dry them again.”

“Do not move.” Chu Yuwen let the machine assistant deliver the hair dryer to him. “I will blow your hair for you.” 

Nowadays, everything is very high-tech, but the hair dryer has retained its original shape and usage. But one thing had improved: it no longer required electricity. 

In the unique sound of the hair dryer, the warm air blew against the tip of the youth’s hair and scattered along his body, down to the bath towel. Ryan involuntarily tugged on the bathrobe. 

In order not to fall off, he held onto the towel with one hand and put his other hand on Chu Yuwen’s shoulder. He could feel the warm palm falling on his hair, evaporating every drop of moisture for him. 

When the room was quiet once more, the boy’s brown hair was thoroughly blown dry.  

“Done.” Chu Yuwen handed the hair dryer to the machine assistant. 

Ryan politely said, “Thank you.”

After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “May I come down now?”

Chu Yuwen said, “You may.” 

Ryan immediately stepped onto the ground, hurriedly grabbed his sleeping gown on the bed, and ran into the bathroom, closing the door on his way in. 

Leaning back against the door and lowering his eyes, the blush on Ryan’s face quickly faded. 

He turned around, looked up at the delicate and strange boy in the mirror, and untied the towel. 

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Yan Weiliang was also a famous beauty in the imperial capital. His achievements in war and status surpassed the reputation brought by his appearance, but people could not ignore his extraordinarily striking looks. 

The Third Prince’s skin was as white as snow and as delicate as porcelain; even his temperament was permeated with a cold white tone. Upon his arrival, it was like the chill brought in from the night. His messy dark hair and slightly cold eyes would send chilling messages to anyone. 

He was the snow on top of the mountain and the flower growing high on the cliff.  

Except for being melted by the bright sun, no one could pick the flower. 

Yan Weiliang was different from Ryan. Ryan was petite and cute. His whole person radiated a warm aura, like a real teenager who was still ignorant of the world, eyes filled with innocence. 

He looked at the amber eyes in the mirror and raised the corner of his lips into a smile that could be a smirk. There was no emotion in the smile, but with the childish and beautiful face, the smile looked innocent. 

If he was not someone from a noble background, then he could indeed be a movie star.  

–

Ryan put on his nightgown and came out of the bathroom. Chu Yuwen was holding his optical computer…playing the dress-up game. 

What is wrong with this man?

When Chu Yuwen heard the movements of someone approaching, he raised his head and said, “Did you spend ten thousand star currency today?” 

The account was given to Ryan by him, and he would receive all notifications about any purchases the youth made. 

Ten thousand star coins was an insignificant amount for Chu Yuwen, but the complete opposite for someone from the Fourth District. He was a bit surprised that Ryan could suddenly spend such a large sum of money, given his background on living expenses. 

It seemed that the little guy was not being polite at all. 

Ryan uttered an “ah” sound in confusion.  

He tried to rethink, saying, “I saw a very interesting live stream today and saw many people sending things, so I also sent a spaceship…” He suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air. “You mean that spaceship cost ten thousand?!”

Chu Yuwen confirmed, “Correct.”

Ryan immediately frowned and uttered in both frustration and guilt, “I did not know that! I did not know how much it cost. Can I ask for a refund?”

Chu Yuwen said with a smile, “No need. The money in your account is yours to use. Just be thoughtful, and do not fall for others’ scams.” 

No wonder the little guy was so generous; he had no concept of money at all. 

That made a lot of sense. 

Ryan was still very sorry. “But, that is such a large amount of money—”

“It is fine.” Chu Yuwen reassured, “Remember, you are the master of this family, and you have all the financial control.” 

Ryan had a hard time accepting it. “But—”

“No buts.”

Chu Yuwen felt that he needed to change Ryan’s view of consumption so that he would not blame himself. 

He opened the Star Network and went onto a shopping platform, where a wide range of products immediately popped up.  

The logistics industry in the Interstellar Era was also very advanced. No matter how remote the place was, it could receive fast delivery through space carriers. 

Everything was available in online stores, from small towels and toothpaste to giant spaceships and mechs. 

The people in the middle three districts generally buy some daily necessities on the Star Network for around one to five hundred. The most expensive things to buy were small mechs and household robots. Those who could afford to pay thousands or tens of thousands were the wealthy people in the middle three districts. 

But ten thousand was about the price of a skirt for a noble lady in the upper three districts.  

The consumption levels in the upper and middle districts were vastly different, and the shopping websites they visited were usually not on the same level. 

The people in the upper three districts shop at Taojin Marketplace, and the people in the middle three districts browse Taoyin Marketplace. How about the lower three districts? Unfortunately, networks were very hard to access there. 

The people in the upper three districts occasionally shop for bargains on the Taoyin Marketplace. To them, it was a new experience while the people in the middle three districts consciously avoid opening the Taojin Marketplace. 

Most people in the middle three districts did not know the URL either.  

That was not a world they could touch. Seeing it at most could increase their knowledge since they could not afford anything on the site. 

‘Ryan’ naturally, never saw this website. 

Even if the Third Prince was the top VIP member of Taojin because of his annual consumption. 

Looking at the dazzling new commodities on Taojin, Ryan skillfully showed his astonishment.  

Anyway, after he came to Chu Yuwen’s side, he was either amazed by this or shocked by that every day. He pulled out his best performance as a country bumpkin who had never seen the world before. 

Probably to be considerate of Ryan, Chu Yuwen hid the price tags on the goods. But each item was worth more zeros than expected—if Ryan indeed had never seen these things before. 

“Add whatever you like to the shopping cart.” Chu Yuwen told Ryan what all the omegas in the interstellar would like to hear, “You can buy it all, just swipe my card.”

What a beautiful offer.  

Ryan felt extremely loved, “I can do that? Would they cost too much? I do not think this is necessary…”

Chu Yuwen was being super generous. “You won’t; swipe as much as you want.”

Ryen was embarrassed. “Then please excuse me.”

Tsk, if I do not tear off at least one layer of your skin, then it will be my loss.  

With Chu Yuwen’s assurance, Ryan browsed curiously and clicked on this and that; anything that caught his interest was added to his shopping cart. Seemingly worried about spending too much, he chose small and exquisite things and avoided larger items. 

Look how wise and kind he was. 

In actuality, the smaller the things, the more sophisticated they were. Yan Weiliang picked the most expensive ones. 

He did not care whether it was useful or not, or whether it looked good or not. As long as it was expensive, he would put it in the cart. Chu Yuwen might have hidden the price, but he knew exactly how valuable these things were.  

For the time being, he would temporarily put other things aside except for taking advantage of this opportunity to spend a large sum of Chu Yuwen’s fortune. 

…To vent his hatred. 

After buying those expensive high-tech gadgets, clothes, accessories, snacks, and so on, nothing was missed. Ryan picked a few selective things, but they were all very expensive in their respective categories. 

Anything less was ignored.  

Chu Yuwen’s smile gradually stiffened. 

This little fellow knew what the good things were to buy. 

It was not that he could not afford it, but the card he gave might not have enough balance to cover it…

“Okay, done!” Ryan finished his shopping and curiously asked Chu Yuwen, “Sir, would twenty thousand be enough to cover these?” 

Twenty thousand was the highest amount he could think of. 

Chu Yuwen: More than that. You have to add four more zeros to buy these things. 

Other products were nothing; that is, Ryan also bought a simulated combat robot that accounted for the majority of the sum with a price tag of one hundred million. 

Chu Yuwen countered with his question, “Does Ryan like this robot?” 

Ryan met his eyes and chirped, “Yes, he is a good-looking robot,”

The latest combat intelligent robot, priced at one hundred million, had a combat power equivalent to an alpha with double S-level combat power. It was a must-have home protection robot when the family was out on vacation. Yan Weilaing had long wanted one, but he did not have the chance to place an order yet. Now, Chu Yuwen was handing it to him on a silver platter. 

But for Ryan, the only value of this combat robot was its handsome appearance. 

This kind of simulation robot possessed a human appearance. It was handsome and tall. It was popular for face-con. However, the price tag was what stopped most people.  

Looking at the face, there were other simulation robots on the shopping platform that provided indescribable services at a much lower cost. But Chu Yuwen could never use it as a stand-in, it was simply tarnishing the pure Ryan. 

Lord Marshal had forgotten that it was he who defiled Ryan’s purity. 

Chu Yuwen smiled. “Okay, as long as you like it, then buy it.”

He then took his computer and transferred the funds from his account. The amount of the card he gave Ryan was only ten million, which was not enough to complete the transaction.  

As he paid the bill, he asked, “Ryan, guess how much these cost.”

Ryan was caught off guard. “Was twenty thousand not enough?”

Chu Yuwen shook his head. “More than that.”

Ryan guessed, “Then… thirty thousand?” 

Chu Yuwen shook his head. “Guess again.”

Ryan bit down. “Two hundred thousand!” It could not be any higher!

“Wrong.”

Chu Yuwen looked at him with a smile but still gave an answer that was one less zero: “Twenty million.” 

He was worried that two hundred million would cause Ryan to faint, as he could not bear the stimulus. He was only looking to improve Ryan’s consumption perspective, not to disrupt his worldview.

But for Ryan, this was enough to overturn his worldview.

After a moment of silence, Ryan mumbled, “Can I return them?”

Chu Yuwen replied, “No can do.” 

Ryan covered his face in despair. “I squandered enough to empty your whole fortune!”

Chu Yuwen said kindly, “I have more than enough for you to squander.”

Yan Weiliang: Challenge accepted.