You said you would make games by yourself, but how did you become the richest man by doing nothing?

But the old couple didn't ask much, planning to have a good chat with Lu Yu when he got home.

Liu Mengyuan stood quietly to the side, watching the interaction between the family of three, her eyes full of envy.

Having grown up under Liu Lan's strict discipline, she had never experienced such an atmosphere; her father hadn't been around while she grew up either. This scene before her was a luxury.

After hanging up the video call,

“I want to eat your braised ribs tonight,” Liu Mengyuan said playfully.

“Oh, I'm a bit lazy. How about ordering takeout?” Lu Yu stretched.

“Mr. Lu, you wouldn't want your parents to know that someone your age is still reading those doujinshi, would you?” Liu Mengyuan said with a mischievous grin.

“Didn't you throw the books away? No evidence remains,”

“How do you know I didn't take photos with my phone as evidence?” she continued to hum.

Good grief…

Lu Yu said helplessly, “Alright, alright, for the sake of Daba, we'll have braised ribs tonight.”

“Yay!” Liu Mengyuan cheered inwardly.

As the saying goes, secrets are the strongest bonds.

Hmph, you finally have a handle on me, young man.

…

After a satisfying meal of ribs, Liu Mengyuan returned to the master bedroom.

Her gaze settled on a small wooden box.

Gently opening it, inside was a simple sachet, emitting a faint grapefruit fragrance that complemented Liu Mengyuan's natural scent.

Her fingers gently caressing the sachet, her expression was melancholy.

On one side of the sachet was engraved the ancient Chinese character “Liu,” while the inscription on the other side was so blurred that it was difficult to identify.

Lu Yu walked in with a bottle of lemonade, curiously looking at the sachet, and casually joked:

“This thing is quite exquisite. What's the character on the other side?”

“I don't know,” Liu Mengyuan smiled helplessly, placing the sachet back into the wooden box.

“This was left to me by my dad. He completely left this family when I was eight years old. Before he left, he gave me this sachet, saying it was a talisman to protect me.

As for his whereabouts, my mom never told me, and my dad never came home to visit us. Fourteen years have passed in a flash.”

Lu Yu was quite surprised. This was the first time Liu Mengyuan had voluntarily mentioned her father in front of him.

Her eyes welled up with indescribable emotions as she stroked the wooden box.

“I still don't know where Dad went, but I haven't given up looking.”

Lu Yu asked curiously, “Any leads?”

Liu Mengyuan squinted her eyes, recalling:

“My dad's drawing skills should be pretty good. I remember seeing him often drawing landscapes everywhere when I was little, and people would come to buy them.

So, my dad's profession should be related to painting.

Also, how do I remember my home…”

As she spoke, Liu Mengyuan suddenly stopped, her brow furrowed, as if she was trying to recall some forgotten childhood detail.

Her subconscious told her that this detail was very important to her life!

But, after thinking for a moment, she gave up.

“That detail is too vague. Because it's been so long, I can't remember it anymore. Every time I try to recall it, my head hurts badly.”

Lu Yu comforted, “It's okay, take your time.”

He thought to himself, having lost his father's love and having such a strict mother, Liu Mengyuan's childhood must have been quite lonely.

He learned another unknown side of this girl.

Isn't this proof that their relationship is taking another step forward?

…

Monday.

Liu Mengyuan was sitting at her workstation, looking calm and collected when Li Hongmei found her.

“President Liu, there's another public opinion crisis about our company online. Should we discuss it with President Lu?”

Liu Mengyuan waved her hand:

“It's okay, I'll take a look first.”

It turned out that the homepage of the Youyi platform was displaying a D station video link titled 《Detailed Review of Mouth-Based Life: An Overrated Vase》.

After clicking on it, the video had already exceeded 4 million views on D station in less than half a day.

The uploader was a verified self-media account named “Liunian,” with a brief introduction next to it:

I am Liunian, the West Editor of 【Central Plains Five Editors】. I have many years of game review experience, pay great attention to the sense of immersion and flow experience in games, am good at evaluating the creativity and whimsy in games, and have been active in the Douyin and D station game self-media for many years.

After the video started, Liunian wore an Ultraman mask and sat in front of a blue curtain.

“Hello everyone, welcome to 《Game Liunian Test》.

Today, we will deeply analyze a highly anticipated game, 《Free Mouth-Based Life》.

Before we begin, if you haven't clicked the follow button below, remember to follow our channel.”

The screen switched to a livestream clip circulating online, and Liunian began to pause it and talk eloquently.

“First, let's talk about the most core mouth-based combat system. In this game, all you have to do is choose dialogue options to attack your opponents.

But unfortunately, this system is relatively simple, lacking innovation and diversity.”

Then, he changed the subject and continued, “In the boss simulator, you can not only choose rich dialogue options to guide employees, but also further gain employee trust through rich interactive actions.”

Liu Mengyuan sneered slightly. This Liunian was skilled at shifting the concept. Mouth-based life was clearly a shooting game, but in his mouth, it became a galgame where you pass levels by choosing dialogue options.

Liunian continued, “Let's take a look at the problem of gameplay repetition.

The number of tasks and activities in the game is obviously small. Many times, you will find that the task list is quickly cleared, which may not be enjoyable for a long gaming experience.”

Liu Mengyuan continued to shake her head.

This was a typical generalization. The game's exhibition trial version was not the official version, so how could he assert that the subsequent tasks would be the same?

In the video, the more Liunian analyzed, the more disappointed his tone became:

“Moreover, the balance problem in the game needs to be solved urgently. Some mouth-based entries seem too powerful, making the game too easy. In contrast, the boss simulator is quite good, with a good balance of various employee values.”

In addition, the city design of New Afaka is not bad, but it lacks too much detail and is not attractive enough. For example, there are too few objects in the city that can be interacted with.”

At the end of the video, Liunian smiled at the camera and concluded:

“In short, although 《Free Mouth-Based Life》 has been a hot topic recently, I still advise everyone not to follow the trend and praise it.

You must be rational, independent, and objective thinkers. Otherwise, your blind following will only cause truly conscientious next-generation works like the boss simulator to suffer unwarranted stigma.

Reject following the trend, regain your IQ, start with me.”

Below this video, there was a fierce debate among netizens.

Some opponents complained:

“Liunian, as your old audience, I have to say that this issue is too biased. You have to promote the boss simulator at the end, which is a bit too much.”

“That's right, this Yan country map is a bit short.”

“You claim to be an old player of the Central Plains Five Editors, but you didn't personally experience it on the spot. It's too biased to analyze frame by frame based on online livestream clips.”

“The game is clearly just a trial version, it shouldn't be so harsh.”

As soon as their comments were posted, they were besieged by various water armies who supported Liunian:

“The Taoist soldiers and Taoist filial sons upstairs are really enough, can you not mythologize Peach Blossom Land, are you obsessed with playing games?”

“Support Liunian, this time it was very objective, the mouth-based part of the game is indeed a bit simple and lacks depth.”

“That's right, everyone has the freedom to evaluate. What, do I have to learn how to refrigerate to evaluate a refrigerator, and do I have to take a chef's license to evaluate whether a dish is delicious?”

The other party retorted again:

“Upstairs, who said he can't evaluate it? We said that he has to experience it himself. Are you creating something out of nothing and spinning like the wind?”

But after all, the Youyi platform is the home of the boss simulator. Soon, the voices supporting Liunian took the lead.

Li Hongmei looked at these comments and sneered, “This self-media knows how to use Tian Ji's horse racing strategy by comparing our disadvantages with the advantages of the boss simulator.”