Du Yu

On the sixth day of his elven transformation, Lan Mu did not get up until after noon.

He had only gotten home at five in the morning. After cleaning his bow and arrows, he went straight to sleep, getting exactly seven hours.

Yet Lan Mu did not feel sleep-deprived, even though this was the first time he had slept since becoming an elf.

He felt that elves did not seem to have the regular rest patterns humans did. They could sleep whenever they wanted and wake whenever they wanted.

There were no dreams, either. As long as they decided before sleeping when they wanted to wake up, they could close their eyes, open them again, and it would be time!

Not a minute off! Deep sleep, with an automatic internal clock in their minds to wake them, along with a sleep-alert system.

Elves could even go three years without sleep, then sleep for three years at once!

Eating was the same. When thirsty, they could drink a little dew; when hungry, they could absorb the essence of grass and trees.

Living on wind and dew—wasn't that practically becoming an immortal?

By the time he woke up, Su Yue had already prepared lunch.

Looking at the food, Lan Mu sighed. He did not want to eat.

He forced down a few bites, then spent the rest of the meal watching Su Yue eat alone.

"Brother Mu, why don't you eat?" Unable to hold it in any longer, Su Yue asked. This was not the first time.

"Uh... I ate outside. I'm not hungry," Lan Mu had no choice but to answer.

Su Yue gave an oh and silently began clearing away the leftovers.

"Don't bother. We don't have a refrigerator at home, so just throw them out." Lan Mu stepped forward and dumped the leftovers away.

Su Yue froze, but said nothing.

Lan Mu hurriedly asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Su Yue shook her head, and Lan Mu said, "Do you think I'm being wasteful? But it's hot out. Leftovers spoil easily."

"Brother Mu, are you really opening a studio?"

Lan Mu gave an awkward sound. Thinking about what he had been doing these past few days, it really did seem as though he had tricked her into moving in with him. Embarrassed, he said, "Some things delayed me these past few days. I probably won't be able to start preparing officially until the day after tomorrow. How about I go rent a place today first?"

"Brother Mu, you don't need to discuss it with me. You're the boss." Su Yue smiled with her lips pressed together.

"Right, right. Okay, you stay home by yourself. I'm heading out."

Lan Mu put on his sunglasses and cap before leaving. He actually had a friend who worked in real estate.

Originally, he had planned to contact that friend once he turned back into a human the day after tomorrow.

But since he was renting now, he could only find a good place himself.

"It can be a little out of the way, as long as it's big enough. Preferably two stories, so one floor can be for living and the other for work."

"Come to think of it, I'll have to look in the suburbs."

Lan Mu found a real estate agency's number on his phone. Such numbers were everywhere, so he casually chose one with decent reviews and called.

After a few polite exchanges, he got straight to the point. "Yes, I need it soon."

"The location doesn't matter. Around 150 square meters is fine, with standard furnishing, and it needs to be suitable for living in too."

After briefly explaining his requirements, Lan Mu added,

"A three percent commission? Fine. Come pick me up. I'm at..."

Lan Mu waited at the intersection for over an hour before a small Changan car pulled up in front of him.

"Are you Mr. Lan?"

"That's right." Lan Mu got into the car and fastened his seat belt.

The driver was the agent, a slightly chubby man who looked honest and simple. Yet he stared blankly at Lan Mu, clearly not expecting the so-called Mr. Lan to be so good-looking.

Lan Mu coughed, and only then did the man look away.

"Mr. Lan, my name is Li Peng Hou. I have several vacant studios on hand. Here are the listings. Shall we go to a café and discuss them slowly, or would you like to choose one directly and inspect it?"

"No need to waste time. This one looks good. Let's go take a look."

Lan Mu quickly flipped through the listings and picked one that seemed decent.

But pictures always differed from reality. If he was dissatisfied with one, they went on to the next.

The entire afternoon, Li Peng Hou drove Lan Mu all over Shanghai, viewing one place after another.

It was nearly six by the time Lan Mu finally settled on one.

"Brother Mu, I'm calling you brother here! This place is really good. It was newly renovated last year, has 156 square meters, and only costs three yuan per square meter per day. The utilities, fire safety, and everything else are absolutely up to standard..."

Listening to Li Peng Hou chatter away in an all-out effort to sell the place, Lan Mu saw that it was getting late and stopped being picky. He chose it.

"I heard the security around here isn't very good... but forget it. I'll be living in this studio too, and I'm pressed for time, so let's settle on this one."

Li Peng Hou was overjoyed and hurriedly took out a contract for Lan Mu to sign.

The commission was three percent. The studio was on the second floor and covered 156 square meters, at three yuan per square meter per day.

The monthly rent came to over fourteen thousand yuan, including property management fees.

Today was August 19. Since Lan Mu paid one month's rent plus a two-month deposit, starting October 19, he would have to pay rent on the nineteenth of every month.

Just like that, Lan Mu had paid over forty-three thousand yuan.

His savings were now running low, with only eighty thousand yuan left. He still needed to buy equipment and prepare for studio registration.

Funds were tight. If he could not earn much within two months, the studio would not be able to stay open.

After parting with Li Peng Hou, Lan Mu took the subway home alone, thinking the entire way about how the newly established studio should develop.

He was desperately short on money now. Once the studio officially opened, the remaining operating funds would probably be less than fifty thousand yuan.

He also needed to hire people. He and Cheng Ming alone could not handle much work.

A studio with poor work capacity would ultimately be ignored by everyone.

Still, he was not overly worried about hiring. After all, he had spent several years getting by in Shanghai and had built up some connections.

Just finding his old university classmates would be enough to get through the early stages.

But at the root of all these problems, he simply lacked money.

If he could not even earn enough for rent and salaries within two months, the studio could shut its doors.

"There are only two options. Either bring in more capital, which will give us more time to develop."

"Or find a way to land a few major contracts and make a name for ourselves in the shortest possible time."

"But even if I can get major contracts, can my studio handle them?"

When he had impulsively decided to open a studio himself, he had not thought much of it. Now that he considered it, he realized it was far too difficult.

Sure enough, nothing that started from scratch was ever easy.

By the time Lan Mu walked back to the bottom of his apartment building, it was almost seven.

A red Jaguar XE was parked downstairs, and a young man leaned against it, smoking.

The young man looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, Lan Mu recognized him.

He was the man he had encountered while buying a bow at Forest Club that day. Lan Mu remembered that he had introduced himself as Du Yu.

Seeing Lan Mu return, Du Yu grinned from ear to ear.

He hurried over to shake hands. Lan Mu gave his hand a token shake before immediately pulling away.

"Lan Mu, right? Brother Mu? I've finally caught you! The one in your home absolutely refused to open the door for me, so I could only wait downstairs for you." Du Yu spoke with an overly familiar grin.

From the sound of it, Du Yu had arrived long ago and had even gone upstairs to knock. But Su Yue obviously could not have opened the door for him.

"How did you know I live here? And how do you know my name?" Lan Mu found it strange. He and Du Yu had merely crossed paths that day, and Lan Mu had not even paid him any attention. How could he have found this place?

"Haha..." Du Yu looked a little awkward and stammered, "Don't worry about those details!"

"Oh..."

Lan Mu did not ask further. Du Yu had clearly investigated him somehow. Lan Mu did not know what methods he had used, but he did not like him in the slightest.

After responding indifferently, Lan Mu headed straight upstairs.

Yet Du Yu naturally followed alongside him and said, "Brother Mu, you've got some seriously impressive archery skills! My eyes practically popped out that day!"

"Don't follow me. Also, I'm just a beginner."

Lan Mu did not want to chat nonsense with him and bluntly shot him down.

After all, he had used a bow yesterday to punish the culprit and embarrass the police. He did not want anyone knowing that he was highly skilled at archery and drawing the police's suspicion.

But Du Yu was clearly thick-skinned and paid no attention to Lan Mu's attitude.

He continued with a grin, "Don't be like that! Brother Mu, don't worry, I won't spread it around. A hidden master among the common folk, right? But I saw it with my own eyes, so there's no point denying it."

Lan Mu sighed, turned around, and looked at him. "What do you want?"

"Don't be so distant. I apologize! I was wrong!" Du Yu immediately apologized.

Lan Mu nodded, thinking, At least you know you were wrong to investigate me. But I was careless too. I can't be so conspicuous when showing off my archery skills in the future.

To his surprise, Du Yu immediately continued, "That day was really a misunderstanding. I didn't know you were a man. I was completely blind, but don't worry! You're not feminine at all!"

"..."

Lan Mu stared at him impassively for a long while before finally spitting out one sentence.

"Get lost!"