Du Yu

The sixth day after transforming into an elf, Lan Mu woke up a little past 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.

However, Lan Mu didn't feel sleep-deprived. This was, after all, the first sleep he'd had since becoming an elf.

He felt that elves didn't have the same regular sleep patterns as humans. They slept when they wanted and woke when they wanted.

Moreover, there were no dreams. Basically, whatever time they decided to wake up before sleeping, they would close their eyes and open them to find that exact time had arrived!

Not a minute off! Deep sleep, with an automatic biological clock in their brain to wake them, and a sleep alertness system.

Elves could even go three years without sleeping, and then sleep for three years straight!

It was the same with eating. When thirsty, they drank dew; when hungry, they absorbed the essence of plants.

Breathing in the wind and drinking the dew – this was practically achieving immortality!

After waking up, Su Yue had already prepared lunch.

Lan Mu looked at the food and sighed. He didn't want to eat.

He picked at a few bites, and then Lan Mu basically watched Su Yue eat alone.

"Brother Mu, why aren't you eating?" This wasn't the first time, and Su Yue couldn't help but ask.

"Uh... I ate outside. I'm not hungry," Lan Mu replied, having no choice.

Su Yue hummed an "oh" and quietly started clearing the leftover food.

"Don't bother cleaning up. We don't have a refrigerator at home, so just throw it away," Lan Mu said, stepping forward to discard the leftovers.

Su Yue froze, but remained silent.

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

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

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

Lan Mu gave a slight "uh," and after thinking about his actions over the past few days, it really did seem like he was tricking her into living at his place. He said sheepishly, "Something came up these past few days. I can probably start preparing officially the day after tomorrow. How about I go book a place today?"

"Brother Mu, you don't need to ask me. You're the boss," Su Yue said with a smile, pursing her lips.

"Right, right, right. Okay then, you stay and watch the house alone, I'm going out."

Lan Mu put on his sunglasses and hat and left. He actually had a friend who worked in real estate.

He had originally planned to contact that friend after he turned back into a human the day after tomorrow.

But since he was renting now, he had to find a good place himself.

"It doesn't matter if it's a bit out of the way, as long as it's big enough, preferably two stories. That way, one floor for living and one for work."

"Thinking about it that way, I'll have to look in the suburbs."

Lan Mu found a real estate agent's phone number on his phone. These numbers were everywhere, and he casually picked one with good reviews and called.

After a few pleasantries, he got straight to the point: "Yes, I need one soon."

"The location doesn't matter, around 150 square meters is fine. Generally furnished, and it needs to be habitable."

After briefly explaining his requirements, Lan Mu added.

"Three percent commission? Okay, you can pick me up. I'm at..."

Lan Mu waited at the intersection for about an hour before a small Changan car pulled up.

"Are you Mr. Lan?"

"That's right." Lan Mu got in and fastened his seatbelt.

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

Lan Mu coughed, and the agent finally averted his gaze.

"Mr. Lan, my name is Li Peng-hou. I have several empty studios on hand. Here's the information. Shall we go to a cafe to chat slowly, or would you prefer to pick a place and we'll go see it directly?"

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

Lan Mu quickly flipped through the information and selected a promising one.

But pictures could only do so much, and reality often differed. Unsatisfied with one, they moved on to the next.

The entire afternoon, Li Peng-hou drove Lan Mu all over Modu, looking at one place after another.

Finally, as it was nearing six o'clock, Lan Mu settled on one.

"Brother Mu, I'm calling you brother now! This place is really good. It was newly renovated last year, 156 square meters, and only three yuan per square meter per day. Utilities and fire safety are absolutely up to par..."

Listening to Li Peng-hou's enthusiastic sales pitch, Lan Mu saw that it was getting late and decided not to be picky. He chose this one.

"I heard the public security in this area isn't great... but never mind. I'll be living in this studio too, and I'm a bit rushed. Let's just finalize it."

Li Peng-hou was overjoyed and quickly produced the contract for Lan Mu to sign.

Three percent commission, 156 square meters, a studio on the second floor, three yuan per square meter per day.

The monthly rent was over 14,000 yuan, which included property management fees.

Today is August 19th. Because Lan Mu paid one month's rent plus a two-month deposit, starting October 19th, he'll have to pay rent on the 19th of every month.

Just like that, Lan Mu spent over 43,000 yuan.

Seeing his savings dwindling to only 80,000 yuan, he still needed to purchase equipment and prepare for the studio's registration.

Funds were becoming tight. If he couldn't earn much in two months, this studio wouldn't be able to stay open.

After bidding farewell to Li Peng Hou, Lan Mu took the subway back home, pondering how the newly established studio should develop.

He was desperately short on money right now. After officially opening the studio, his remaining operating funds would likely be less than 50,000 yuan.

Moreover, he needed to hire people; he and Cheng Ming alone couldn't handle too much work.

A studio with incompetent staff would ultimately be ignored.

However, he wasn't too worried about hiring, as he had some connections from his years in Modu.

Just finding his former university classmates would be enough to handle the initial phase.

But all these troubles, in the end, boiled down to a lack of money.

If, within two months, he couldn't even earn enough to cover rent and salaries, the studio would have to close.

"There are only two options: either bring in more capital, which would give me more time to develop."

"Or find a way to land a few big contracts and build a reputation in the shortest possible time."

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

He had impulsively decided to open his own studio, but now, upon reflection, he realized how difficult it was.

Indeed, nothing is easy when starting from scratch.

Lan Mu arrived downstairs at his apartment building, and it was already almost seven o'clock.

A red Jaguar XE was 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 met that day at the Forest Club when buying arrows. He remembered the guy introducing himself as Du Yu.

Du Yu grinned when he saw Lan Mu returning.

He hurried over, intending to shake hands. Lan Mu gave a perfunctory handshake and immediately pulled his hand back.

"Lan Mu, right? Brother Mu? Finally, I've been waiting for you! Your significant other refused to open the door for me, so I had to wait for you downstairs," Du Yu said with a friendly, grinning demeanor.

Lan Mu gathered from his words that he had arrived earlier and even knocked on the door upstairs. But it was obvious Su Yue wouldn't open it for him.

"How did you know where I live? And how do you know my name?" Lan Mu was very surprised. Du Yu was just a chance encounter back then, and he hadn't paid him any mind. How could he have found him here?

"Haha..." Du Yu looked a bit embarrassed and stammered, "Don't mind the small details!"

"Oh..."

Lan Mu didn't press further. It was clear Du Yu had investigated him, though he didn't know by what means. Lan Mu had no good feelings towards him at all.

With a indifferent "Oh," Lan Mu headed straight upstairs.

However, Du Yu naturally followed, walking alongside him and saying, "Brother Mu, you're quite the archer! I was dazzled that day!"

"Stop following me. Also, I'm just a beginner."

Lan Mu didn't want to chat with him and retorted sharply.

After all, he had used his archery skills to apprehend a criminal yesterday, embarrassing the police. He didn't want anyone to know about his excellent archery skills and attract police suspicion.

Yet, Du Yu was clearly thick-skinned and unbothered by Lan Mu's attitude.

He continued to grin and say, "Don't be like that! Brother Mu, don't worry, I won't spread it around. A hidden master, right? But I saw it with my own eyes, so denying it is useless."

Lan Mu sighed and turned to face him, asking, "What do you want?"

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

Lan Mu nodded, thinking: So you know you were wrong for investigating me. But it's also my fault for being careless. I need to be less flashy when I use my archery skills from now on.

Unexpectedly, Du Yu continued, "That day was a real misunderstanding. I didn't know you were a man, I was truly blind. Don't worry! You're not effeminate at all!"

"..."

Lan Mu stared at him blankly for a moment before finally spitting out.

"Get lost!"