Chapter 72: Affairs of the Company

Having decided to sometimes stay on campus and sometimes go home, Lu Yu took Shi Zixuan and Qin Xiaomian shopping near the university for bedding and other essentials. They made several trips in and out of the campus until they had almost everything; anything else the girls needed could be bought later as the need arose.

After so much running around, neither of the girls felt tired at all, thanks to Lu Yu's enforced running regimen over the past weeks. Once the new sheets and such were set up, the three headed home to pack their luggage.

When they arrived, Lu Yu ordered takeout while the girls went upstairs to pack what they would bring. It was mostly clothes and shoes; ever since they started using Lu Yu’s company’s facial masks and body wash, they hardly needed makeup anymore, just some cosmetics and skincare products for special occasions.

Still, each of the girls ended up packing two suitcases and a small backpack. Lu Yu was a bit stunned at the sight.

“Didn’t you say you’d only be staying occasionally? Why bring so much?”

Qin Xiaomian replied, “It’s not that much—just clothes, shoes, and bags.”

Shi Zixuan nodded vigorously in agreement.

Lu Yu’s mouth twitched; he realized he shouldn’t have even asked. After all, has any girl ever felt she had too many clothes?

…

After lunch, the girls lounged on the sofa with their phones. Lu Yu glanced at the four suitcases, told the girls he was heading out, and went to rent a car.

On the way, he considered whether he should just buy a car—it was such a hassle to rent one every time he needed it.

He drove to the parking garage, parked, and went upstairs to help the girls with their luggage. With two backpacks on his back and two suitcases in hand, Lu Yu led the way, while each girl managed a suitcase of her own.

At the garage, Lu Yu packed all the luggage into the car—two in the trunk, two in the back seat. One girl squeezed into the passenger seat, the other in the back.

They chatted along the way, and with the occasional traffic, it took more than an hour to reach the University of Finance and Economics.

Lu Yu found a parking spot, then, with two backpacks and two suitcases, entered the campus with the girls.

…

By the time the girls had finished unpacking and came out, half an hour had passed. Today was just registration day; classes wouldn’t officially start for another three days, so the girls had no intention of hanging around the campus.

Lu Yu checked his phone—it was nearly three o’clock. It was too late to get anything done at the company, so he decided not to go in.

Spotting the girls looking a little listless in the car’s rearview mirror, he asked if they wanted to go shopping.

Shi Zixuan and Qin Xiaomian, who had been a little dispirited, brightened instantly at the suggestion, their eyes sparkling with excitement as they nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, hurry up, let’s go!”

Lu Yu chuckled and sped up, heading toward Chunxi Road.

In the back seat, the girls started discussing where they wanted to go and what they planned to buy. Lu Yu chimed in now and then.

There were plenty of traffic lights along the way, and it took ages to find a parking spot near the mall.

Qin Xiaomian clung to Lu Yu’s arm, hopping excitedly as she looked around.

…

They shopped until eight in the evening before the girls, still reluctant, finally called it a day.

They loaded all their shopping bags into the car and found a trendy restaurant nearby for dinner.

By the time they got home, it was nearly ten.

The girls lamented that there were still places they hadn’t visited. Lu Yu said, since classes wouldn’t start for another three days, they could shop as much as they liked—if they saw something they wanted, just buy it.

Qin Xiaomian gazed at Lu Yu with hopeful eyes—clearly wishing he would join them again.

But Lu Yu shook his head firmly, saying he had work to do at the company.

What a joke—even if he had nothing urgent, he would come up with something. Who wants to go shopping all day?

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

What’s so interesting about shopping anyway? Is it more fun than writing code?

Qin Xiaomian was a little disappointed, but she understood Lu Yu truly was busy—after all, he was always working overtime at the company.

After such a hectic day, all three felt a bit tired and retreated to their rooms to shower and rest.

…

The next day, Lu Yu returned the rental car before heading to the company.

In the office, he first checked the progress of each team, then opened his laptop and immersed himself in writing the core sections of code.

After lunch, while having tea in the lounge, Zhou Jing arrived at Yunhan Technology to see Lu Yu.

Noticing the folder in her hand, Lu Yu led her into his office.

Once seated, Zhou Jing handed him the folder. “Mr. Lu, this is our recent investigative report on domestic special effects companies.”

Lu Yu nodded, took the folder, and began flipping through it.

There were plenty of special effects companies in the country, but the quality was questionable.

The better ones were actually foreign companies—like the Chinese branch of Base FX from the United States, or Digital Domain, founded by James Cameron, which had acquired PO Chao Ting and had offices in both the capital and Shanghai.

The largest domestic private special effects company was Tiangong Yicai, responsible for effects in films like “If You Are the One,” “Aftershock,” and “Back to 1942.”

Others included MORE VFX, which worked on “Guns and Roses,” and Vision Film Digital Technology, which handled “1911” and “The Flowers of War.”

There was also One Cool Film, founded by Louis Koo, with its subsidiary Wutong VFX, which contributed to “Let the Bullets Fly” and “The Mermaid.”

…

Aside from these, there were many other small and medium-sized companies whose teams had contributed to major film projects, albeit mostly in support roles for the big firms.

Lu Yu read through the entire report, page by page, frowning in thought. He skipped the major and mid-sized companies and focused instead on the small ones, making notes as he went. In the end, he selected nine small companies.

What these companies had in common was a stable special effects team with experience working on multiple film and television projects.

After making his selection, Lu Yu told Zhou Jing, “Visit these companies as quickly as possible and choose two for acquisition. The rest don’t matter—I want experienced special effects teams.”

“This is urgent—please see to it quickly. Yunhan Technology needs people with real experience, both to provide input and to share the practical challenges they encounter.”

Zhou Jing took the file, glanced through it, and nodded before heading downstairs to coordinate with the Nebula Investments department.

…

Although Lu Yu had studied all kinds of special effects software on the market, he lacked hands-on experience in effects production. It was like developing a mobile app—you can’t just code blindly; you need to understand user needs.

For special effects software, the users are the effects teams themselves.

That’s why Lu Yu was so eager for Zhou Jing to acquire two experienced companies and bring their teams into Yunhan Technology—to provide input on software design and describe the actual problems they encountered, so his team could devise concrete solutions.

Only in this way could the resulting software truly meet the needs of industry professionals.

Lu Yu’s goal was to make special effects production simple and intuitive, not to cram together countless features into a clunky, difficult-to-use program.

If the software became too complex, it would defeat the entire purpose of making it open source.

…

As for the software’s capabilities, Lu Yu wasn’t worried at all. He couldn’t claim every feature would be best-in-class, but most of them would surpass what was currently available—especially the key functionalities.

Take particle effects, for instance, used to create water, fire, mist, cosmic starlight, and so on.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Essentially, it’s about combining countless individual particles to present a specific state, then using algorithms to control the movement of the whole or of individual particles, thereby simulating realistic effects.

The algorithm directly determines the quality of the special effects in a scene—in simple terms, it’s all about realism.

This shows just how crucial algorithms are to particle effects.

Lu Yu planned to personally lead the rewriting of all algorithms.

Given his current programming expertise, the algorithms he guided would undoubtedly surpass those currently in use.

Other features—such as 3D modeling, compositing, rendering—also depended heavily on algorithms.

In short, the quality of the algorithms would largely determine the quality of the effects.

…

This was why Lu Yu suddenly found himself so busy.

The entire software architecture needed his design, and he also had to supervise the algorithms for every key feature.

At times, Lu Yu wished he could learn the Shadow Clone Technique from Naruto—he’d even accept turning into a woman, if only he could clone himself.

With his full focus on coding, he barely noticed time slipping by, or whether he’d introduced any bugs. He was completely oblivious to the fact that work hours had long since ended.

Ge Yuncong, after working overtime for a while, was about to leave when he noticed Lu Yu’s office light was still on. He went over and knocked.

Lu Yu didn’t even look up as he called out, “Come in.”

“Boss Lu, the workday’s over,” Ge Yuncong said.

Lu Yu looked up in surprise. “What? It’s already that late?”

Ge Yuncong grinned. “It’s been over for a while.”

Lu Yu glanced at the code on his screen, saved everything, packed up his laptop, and left the company with Ge Yuncong.

…

In the elevator, Ge Yuncong teased, “Boss Lu, when you get in the zone, your fingers fly even faster than mine!”

Lu Yu laughed. “Watch your mouth!”

Ge Yuncong laughed too, then asked, “So, Boss Lu, are we really going to open source this software?”

Lu Yu nodded. “Of course. Didn’t I say so before?”

Ge Yuncong said, “Just looking at the architecture, I can tell this is no ordinary program—it’s at least as good as any special effects software out there. I just don’t get why.”

The elevator doors opened, and as the two walked out, Lu Yu explained, “You might not believe this, but I just wanted to invest in a film. But domestic special effects are lacking—not just because of a shortage of talent or unwilling investors, but also because most special effects software is too hard for the average person to use.”

“So I thought, why not make my own? Make it simpler and more intuitive, with better results than the existing ones.”

“I never planned to make money selling software. Why bother with the hassle of breaking into the market? I’d rather spend that time selling a couple more boxes of face masks.”

Ge Yuncong looked incredulous. “You’re kidding—just because you wanted to invest in a movie?”

Lu Yu nodded emphatically. “Really.”

Only when he saw the utter seriousness on Lu Yu’s face did Ge Yuncong finally believe him.

Still, in his heart, a thousand wild horses were stampeding.

After a moment, he could only twitch his mouth and mutter, “Rich people really know how to have fun.”

Lu Yu sighed. “I’m not rich. I’m broke—I can’t do half the things I want.”

He was, of course, thinking of his research into fundamental and new materials.

But Ge Yuncong didn’t know that; his mouth twitched even harder.

…

Page 3 of 3