Chapter 222: Chapter 136: Big Brother, Isn’t It Super Cool?

Gu Gaoxu strode into Lu Yuan’s residence and, before he even found the man, began to bellow, "Brother Lu, our newfangled gadgets are a massive hit!"

This was hardly the first time the Zhao Family servants and Mansion Guards had seen Gu Gaoxu’s unrestrained and boisterous behavior, so they were long used to it.

Lu Yuan, who had been sleeping in bed with his wife in his arms, was jolted awake by the shout...

He planted a kiss on his wife and gave her breast a playful squeeze. "Let’s snooze a little longer."

"Mmm~"

Lu Yuan got dressed, left his room, and went to the reception hall, where he saw a beaming Gu Gaoxu already waiting for him.

"Ah, Brother Lu, you’re finally out! I was starting to think you were ’busy’ in there again~" Gu Gaoxu quipped, making a crude joke without the slightest hesitation.

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes. "I heard you squawking first thing this morning. What’s all the good news?"

Gu Gaoxu grinned. "You have no idea! The gadgets our factory has been churning out are in such high demand in Yandu that we can’t keep up."

"To say nothing of anyone else, all my aunts and then some are coming to my house every day trying to place pre-orders for a batch of goods~"

"And my old man—his attitude toward me is way better than it used to be."

...

’Of course,’ Lu Yuan thought. ’Yandu isn’t like Taiping City. It has a larger population, and naturally, more wealthy people. It’s only logical that the things I’ve invented by copying them from my era would be a huge hit.’

"And another thing! That radio is such a novelty. Five taels of silver a piece isn’t even that expensive. Now, practically everyone in my family has one—my old man, my older brother..."

The moment Gu Gaoxu mentioned the radio, Lu Yuan remembered he still hadn’t tested the telephone he’d been developing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

’Before I came to Yandu, the base stations in Taiping City were already set up.’

’The fact that the radios in Yandu work means the team I sent to set up the base stations here must have finished the job a while ago.’

’Since the base station network reaches Yandu, the telephones should work, too, right?’

Lu Yuan grabbed Gu Gaoxu and pulled him toward the study.

Gu Gaoxu was completely baffled by the sudden move.

Once in the study, Lu Yuan pulled two black boxes out of a hidden compartment in his desk.

Seeing the objects in Lu Yuan’s hands, Gu Gaoxu snatched one away.

"Oh~ I thought it was some newfangled gadget, but isn’t it just a new model of radio?" Gu Gaoxu said, pulling the antenna out from the top.

"But why does this thing have so many buttons? It’s not like the one I have, where you just slide the little wheel on the side to get a sound."

"This is a ’Big Brother,’ not a radio," Lu Yuan explained.

"A what? A ’Big... Brother?’ My older brother? What’s big? Gu Gaochi?" Gu Gaoxu asked, weighing the black case in his hand.

The telephone Lu Yuan intended to build was this very "Big Brother"!

The "Big Brother" phone was an early type of mobile telephone, far more portable than a radio transmitter or a landline phone.

Most importantly, it didn’t require laying down cables or stringing up telephone lines. As long as you were in an area with a base station, you could pull it out and make a call at any time.

’As for why I don’t just create a smartphone? That would be far too much trouble. It requires too many supporting technologies, and the component precision is too high. If it were that easy, it wouldn’t have taken tens of thousands of professional technicians back in my era to overcome countless hurdles and create generation after generation of them.’

’The ’Big Brother’ phone, however, was different. Its operating principle was simple and easy to replicate. It could transmit sound simply by using base stations to relay an analog signal.’

’Furthermore, the components of a "Big Brother" phone were even simpler. It could be assembled using a high-quality, refined Spirit Stone for power, a retractable antenna, a casing, a keypad, and a display screen.’

Lu Yuan pointed to a button painted green. "You stay here in the study and don’t move. I’m going to step outside for a moment. When this thing starts ringing, press this button."

"Ohh~~"

Lu Yuan walked outside his residence, then pressed "000001" and the call button.

Back in the study, Gu Gaoxu, who was fiddling with the "Big Brother," was startled by a sudden "RING! RING! RING!"

"Holy cow, it’s ringing!" Gu Gaoxu muttered, pressing the green button.

"If you can hear my voice, say something."

Hearing Lu Yuan’s voice coming from the black box, Gu Gaoxu froze. ’This thing is absolutely incredible!’ After a moment’s pause, he shouted, "I can hear you! What an amazing treasure! I’m taking this one!"

"In your dreams," came Lu Yuan’s voice from the box. "I only made two of these, and one has to go back to Taiping City."

Lu Yuan hung up and walked back inside.

He was met by the sight of Gu Gaoxu clutching the "Big Brother," poised to bolt for the door.

Lu Yuan blocked his path. "Whoa there, where do you think you’re going with that? You look like a thief."

"Hehe, if you won’t give it to me, I’ll just have to snatch it! C’mon, just let me take it to my old man and show it off!" Gu Gaoxu was truly blown away by the miraculous device.

Never mind that he was the Crown Prince of Yan; even the Grand Ancestor Emperor himself had never laid eyes on such a precious treasure.

With his naturally brash and unrestrained personality, he couldn’t be bothered with propriety. It wasn’t as if he wouldn’t return it; he just couldn’t bear to part with the incredible gadget, even for a moment.

Using his Martial Arts, Lu Yuan physically stopped Gu Gaoxu. "You rascal! You come here first thing in the morning just to pinch my things? No way!"

"Hmph! You’re so stingy, Brother Lu! Fine, don’t give it to me then!" Gu Gaoxu huffed, looking put out.

"Here, take it back!" he snapped, shoving it back into Lu Yuan’s hands.

An instant later, Gu Gaoxu was staring at Lu Yuan with the greedy eyes of a lecher. "Since you won’t give me *that*, then when are you going to teach me a few of *those* moves of yours~"

’Ah, I get it,’ Lu Yuan realized. ’I used my Martial Arts to stop him, and now he’s got his sights set on my skills.’