231: Chapter 231 Don't ask, it's just a little toy Lu Li made on the spur of the moment.

By the time the press conference ended, the snow in Beining City had already stopped.

But the heatwave online was still rolling in layer upon layer.

Clips, long reviews, reposts, trending searches, and debates—they almost set the entire night ablaze with excitement.

After Lu Li left the venue, he accompanied several leaders and relevant departments for a brief meeting. By the time he had finished saying what needed to be said and meeting who needed to be met for the day, it was completely dark outside.

It was right then that Lu Jianjun called him.

Over the phone, this old father, who usually didn't say much, was uncharacteristically firm for once.

"Come home for dinner tonight."

"Don't try to get out of it."

Standing in the wind outside the venue, Lu Li was taken aback for a moment.

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight." Lu Jianjun gave a huff on the other end. "During the last National Day parade, you showed your face in such a big way, but we didn't even have a proper celebration dinner at home. Before, you were either busy with this or that, but now that you finally have a gap, you have to make up for it."

He paused there, then added:

"Lu Yaoguang and Wang Peng, I've called them back too."

Hearing this, Lu Li gave a soft smile.

"Alright."

"I'll be there."

And so, that night, the Lu family was finally gathered together again.

Wang Peng had been picked up directly from school.

The little fatty had spent the afternoon in his dorm hugging his tablet, watching the livestream, shouting and jumping around. By the time he was called for dinner by Second Aunt over the phone that evening, he still hadn't recovered from that excitement.

Lu Yaoguang was much the same.

She had originally been sitting at her dorm desk, ruminating on the press conference from earlier in the day while jotting down scattered thoughts in her notebook, preparing to actually write that review later. But after receiving the message from home that evening, she grabbed her bag and headed back.

Thus, from the very beginning, the atmosphere of this dinner was different.

It wasn't the relaxed, lively atmosphere of an ordinary family dinner.

Instead, everyone still carried a bit of the lingering heat from the day.

The restaurant wasn't overly flashy, but the dishes were plentiful.

Steam rose in layers from the tabletop; outside the glass window was the early winter night, and inside was the family, rarely all gathered together.

Wang Peng was still the most boisterous one.

The little fatty hadn't been sitting long, but his mouth hadn't stopped moving. While gnawing on a spare rib, he expressed his thoughts with a very serious face:

"Brother, do you know what your status is right now?"

"You're no longer just a tech mogul."

"You're now the kind of man—who, if written about in an essay, would get full marks from the teacher!"

Lu Yaoguang had been maintaining her cool, aloof demeanor as the campus belle of Jingda, but hearing this, she couldn't hold it in and kicked him under the table.

"Eat less."

"Your mouth is full of grease, and you want to write a biography for my brother?"

Wang Peng immediately shielded his plate, his expression as wary as if someone were about to steal his meal.

"I'm not writing a biography; I'm seizing the first-hand family spokesperson rights."

"If anyone dares to say a bad word about my brother in the future, I'll slap the menu from today's dinner right onto their face."

Chen Wanqing was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking; she raised her hand and served him another helping of food with her chopsticks.

"Swallow your food first, then go charge into battle for your cousin."

Although Lu Jianjun didn't say anything, he was clearly happy tonight. His expression was much more relaxed than usual, and he had even had a couple more drinks than he ever did—a rare occurrence. His usual rigid demeanor was a bit softer tonight.

He didn't praise people.

But everyone could see that his whole demeanor was warmer than usual.

Su Qingxue had originally come along with them.

She wasn't dressed too formally today. After taking off her coat, she was wearing a light-colored knitted maxi dress that really suited her temperament. Sitting beside Lu Li, the calm sharpness in her eyes from the press conference earlier had faded significantly.

But halfway through the meal, her phone suddenly vibrated a few times.

She looked down, her brows furrowing slightly.

Lu Li turned his head.

"Something up at the company?"

"Yes." Su Qingxue lowered her voice. "There's a temporary internal decision that requires me to go over and take a look."

After saying this, she added softly:

"It shouldn't take long; I'll come back as soon as I'm done."

Lu Li looked at her for two seconds and nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Drive carefully."

The corners of Su Qingxue's eyes curved slightly.

"I know."

As she rose to leave the table, Wang Peng couldn't help but sigh as he watched her back:

"Sister-in-law is becoming more and more like one of those top-tier female leads who can kill without blinking in the capital markets by day, yet still come home to serve you soup at night."

Just as he finished speaking, Lu Jianjun raised his chopsticks and tapped the edge of his bowl.

"Eat your food."

The meal didn't break up until nearly nine o'clock.

When they left the restaurant, it was already very cold outside.

The November wind carried a distinct chill; every breath formed a white mist in front of them. The leaves on the street trees had almost all fallen, leaving only bare branches shining under the streetlights.

By the time the whole family arrived back at the villa by car and pushed open the courtyard gate, Wang Peng's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

"...Holy crap."

This exclamation, tinged with subconscious bewilderment, was uncontrolled in volume.

Everyone looked in the direction of his gaze.

In the center of the courtyard, something was parked.

It wasn't a car.

Nor was it a Robot.

And it certainly wasn't any kind of household appliance within the common person's understanding.

It was a silver-gray single-person vehicle, its overall outline looking remarkably like a jet ski that had been shrunk and futuristic-ized. The front was sharply streamlined, the midsection of the body slightly recessed to allow for a person to sit in, and the tail was short and sleek. On both sides, there were no exaggerated exposed blades or struts typical of traditional aircraft; instead, there were deeply recessed energy heat dissipation vents, and three low-noise cooling fans were faintly embedded at the bottom and the rear.

In the very center was an integrated energy compartment.

The structure was compact and the proportions were exquisite, as if someone had taken a future version of a "personal transport vehicle," plucked it straight from one hundred years in the future, and tossed it into the Lu family's courtyard on a whim.

The courtyard lights fell from above, and the silver-gray shell reflected a cold, clean light; the sense of technology was so intense it made people stare blankly.

Wang Peng stood at the entrance, his glasses nearly sliding off.

"Brother..."

"When did you buy a jet ski?"

"No, wait, we don't have a sea in our yard. Are you planning to launch directly from the swimming pool into the Mingzhu River in the future?"

Lu Yaoguang had been looking down, replying to messages, but hearing this, she also looked up abruptly, her gaze pinned by the thing in the courtyard the next second.

She was quiet for two seconds, then stuffed her phone directly into her pocket and walked over quickly.

"This isn't a jet ski."

"No kidding." Wang Peng followed, circling the vehicle, becoming more confused the more he looked. "But it looks so much like one. At most, it's just a bit smaller than a jet ski, and... more flashy."

"And it can seat a person here."

"There seems to be a battery compartment in the back... No, wait, what on earth is this thing?"