The Rise of Otaku

Chapter 43 Glass Flower Greenhouse

The relationship between Zhou Yu and his father was not really harmonious. So It was really awkward to meet each other and discuss something at this time. But after all, they were still father and son. Although Zhou Yu was not willing to go out to work, his behavior could not really be considered as unfilial. So what happened in the past had already passed. Now that Zhou Yu was lucky enough to make some money, he did not think that his parents would be worried that much about him in the future.

This night, Zhou Hong asked Zhou Yu’s current work in detail. Knowing that he had signed a formal contract with a company, he no longer asked any more questions. Although his son still stayed at home, it could be considered that his son already got a job. In terms of how much his son was making, it did not matter to him.

Zhou Yu wanted to give some money to his parents. However, it was declined by Zhou Hong. Both he and his wife would retire in just a few years, they did not need money from his son. Their retirement fund was more than enough for them. He told Zhou Yu to save the money first. In the future, he would need money when he got married, and then he would need a new house. Once he had a kid, then Zhou Hong himself and his wife would have no regrets in their lives. During the discussion, Zhou Yu could only constantly nod his head to cope with the plan that his father laid out for him.

In any case, his father was obviously in a good mood. With the braised pork and other cold dishes that had been taken out from the refrigerator, Zhou Yu and his father had a meal together. Because Zhou Yu did not drink alcohol, so he just drank some sprite with his father. Looking at the smile on his father’s face, Zhou Yu suddenly realized that it seemed like they had not had a happy meal together for a very long time.

On the next day morning, Zhou Hong got up early to check around the old house. He was not happy with what he discovered. His son was too lazy. Although he had been living in the old house for more than a year, he did not seem to have cleaned the old house once. Apart from the bedroom, of which had some trances of cleaning, all other places were covered with spider webs. It almost looked like a haunted house. Fortunately, his wife did not come back with him, otherwise, seeing this kind of situation, her OCD might force her to clean the house upside down before she left.

But there were also some strange new things. For example, those potted plants were trimmed very nicely. He did not expect that his son had this kind of hobby. But he just did not know why a miniature farmer’s hut needed to be placed next to those potted plants. And on top of the farmer’s hut, it seemed to be written “Tian Nian’s House”

Carrying on walking, he then discovered that there were even more miniature buildings. In one of the potted plants, there was a house of the cormorant fisherman. He even discovered a miniature Taoist temple, a manga studio, a game company, and an animation base. Every one of them looked very delicate and all of them were clearly handcrafted.

He knew that his son knew how to make military weapon models and aircraft carrier models. But he did not expect that even the miniature buildings made by his son would look this pretty. No wonder why the old village chief always praised his son during the phone call. If he had known that his son had this kind of skill, he would not have been that worried.

‘This kid! Since he was young he has always been a quiet boy. When will he be more open to his parents?’

He still had classes tomorrow, so he could not stay in the village for long. After roughly checking around the house, he went to neighbors’ houses to thank them for looking after Zhou Yu.

After reminding his son to clean the house more often, Zhou Hong left the village happily. Comparing to the feelings he had when he came back to the village, he was completely free from the stress now. He even began to hop like a little kid on the way to the bus station.

There was no way that he would not be overjoyed. Everyone in the village would constantly praise his son whenever they saw him. It was no longer a son, who needed him to put on a brazen face and ask around to everyone he knew for a job for him.

This dramatic change made Zhou Hong sighed with relief for a very long time.

..............................

Zhou Yu was also free from pressure now. Since his parents no longer needed to worry about him, of course, his pressures would also dissipate very quickly. In terms of cleaning the house... Looking at the old house that had been abandoned for many years before he moved back, Zhou Yu really did not know where to start. Cleaning this kind of house for a lazy otaku like Zhou Yu was not worse than torture. Or maybe... He could just demolish it and build a new one?

Since he already had some money, the money he had should be more than enough to build a house. The more he thought about it, the more he thought that it was a good idea. The toolhouse was also very messy. He had also already received many complaints from the citizens of the ACG world already. It was time to solve this problem as well.

Therefore, he gathered all the citizens of the ACG world in his bedroom and closed the door to have an ACG world meeting. The main topic of the meeting was to find out what kind of living environment they wanted to have.

The first person that jumped out to make a suggestion was the chubby third dragon prince, “OCEAN! I want a big ocean! The river in this village is too small and too calm. It is too boring! I want WAVES! I WANT SURFING! I WANT...”

The more he talked, the more excited he was. But Zhou Yu just used his finger to flick him away. ‘Ocean my ass, does he want to flood the entire Luhua village?’

Then everyone took turns to make their suggestions. Comparing to the third dragon prince, the suggestions made by other people were more rational and feasible. Among them, the people that wanted the change of the living conditions the most was the employees of the game company and the animation base. They had been always locked in the toolhouse without seeing any sunshine. So they clamored for a living environment where they could enjoy the sunshine.

This gave Zhou Yu quite a lot of headaches. If those buildings were placed outside, they would easily be destroyed by kids. The Taoist temple was the only exception since it was the only building that was both big and heavy. Tian Niang would look after the potted plants for him, so it could not be placed outside. Moreover, the price of the animation base and the game company were both very expensive. If both of them were destroyed, he would at least need to spend more than several thousand Moe Coins to rebuild them.

Having thought it over and over again, Zhou Yu decided to build a glass greenhouse for them. In this way, not only could it prevent children from damaging the building, but they could enjoy the sunshine as well. Originally, there was already an area that was used for planting flowers in the yard. It was roughly 100 square meters. Building a glass greenhouse on top of it and then moving all the buildings inside, would not only be safe, but it would also be pleasing to the eye.

‘Em... this is it!’

Checking the cost of building a glass greenhouse online, the average cost was around 10k Chinese Yuan. so it was still within the affordable range. However, when he wanted to execute his building plan, he was at a loss what to do next.

Since he graduated from the university, he had been staying in the village since. He had already lost contact with the people from the city. Now that he suddenly needed to find a company and discuss a business deal that was worth 10k Chinese Yuan? He did not know who he should look for.

Many people probably would not understand this. They would probably think that The Customer Is God, why would he need to be scared. However, to an otaku like Zhou Yu, apart from the shops that he was familiar with, all other shops were like high-level dungeons.

He must discuss with someone else first. Otherwise, he really did not know if he would be able to find the right company or not.

But who should he need to discuss this with?

Zhou Fu?

Uncle Zhou Fu could be considered as the richest man in the village. Comparing to him, Zhou Yu was just a newly parvenu. Moreover, he used to be a soldier and had many years of experience in society. He, who was very knowledgeable, should be able to help him. Zhou Yu thought.

“What!? You want to build a glass greenhouse in your yard? I mean, boy Yu, it is not easy to earn some money nowadays, don’t waste it. It is understandable if you want to build one to plant some vegetables, but why flowers and potted plants? What is the use of them? If you really want to build one, wait until you got married. Now you should be focusing on your job. Once you are rich enough, even if you want to build a palace, no one will be able to stop you.”

To Zhou Fu, Zhou Yu clearly did not think it properly before he came to ask him. No matter how beautiful a glass flower greenhouse could be, it would only be pleasing to the eyes. It would not help him to make any money. It was clearly the behavior of a spendthrift.

In a way, Zhou Yu was indeed a spendthrift. Because to him, money was just some numbers, what he pursued was more games and animations and comics. So the glass flower greenhouse was necessary, even if it meant to spend a lot of money.

Seeing he could not change Zhou Yu’s mind, Zhou Fu could only let out a sigh a disappointment and told him that he would help him to find a construction company.