Chapter 212: This Is International Etiquette

Feeling the weight on both shoulders, Li Luo, with great principle, finished watching the movie.

Fortunately, this time he had learned to be smart; he chose a movie that was only an hour and a half long, and by a little past one in the morning, he finally saw the ending.

Watching the male and female leads in the movie reunite and kiss, Li Luo silently closed his laptop, then looked left and right.

As a result, in a certain instant.

Li Luo didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

He just felt that Yan Zhusheng seemed to blink once.

You damn thing, you haven't been pretending to sleep the whole time, have you?

Li Luo, harboring such suspicion, quietly calmed down.

He first supported Ying Chanxi's head and carefully laid her down on the pillow.

Then he turned his head to look at Yan Zhusheng and laid her down as well.

Afterwards, he sensed something unusual from the touch.

After all, when a person is truly fast asleep, their entire body is limp; supporting their head feels dead heavy.

But when Li Luo was lowering Yan Zhusheng's head, he clearly felt her own neck subconsciously exerting a slight force.

This made him chuckle; looking at the quietly sleeping Yan Zhusheng before him, he rolled his eyes.

He reached his hand under the blanket, grabbed Yan Zhusheng's hand, and then pulled it out.

Then, holding Yan Zhusheng's wrist, he raised it high, and while lifting it, he muttered, "I heard foreign experts say that when a person is fast asleep, if you raise their hand, they will subconsciously keep it raised; if it drops, it means they are pretending to sleep."

Having said that, Li Luo let go of his hand.

Sure enough, Yan Zhusheng's arm remained raised high, showing no sign of moving at all.

Seeing this scene, Li Luo was immediately amused by her; looking at this girl with a mix of helplessness and laughter, he didn't know what to say.

"Alright, alright, stop pretending," Li Luo said with a speechless expression, reaching out to pinch Yan Zhusheng's pink, tender cheeks. "You've learned to be bad, pretending to sleep now?"

Yan Zhusheng, pinched by him, opened her eyes and said expressionlessly, "Li Luo, you pinched me awake."

"Well, that's really too bad," Li Luo rolled his eyes.

He didn't know if this girl had been pretending to sleep from the very beginning, or if she had originally fallen asleep but woke up in the middle.

Regardless, it was good that she was awake now.

"The movie is over; you should go back to your room to sleep," Li Luo said.

"What about Xixi?"

"She's asleep, so just let her sleep for now."

"Then I'm asleep too," Yan Zhusheng closed her eyes, looking as if she would really be asleep if he stopped talking.

Li Luo was almost laughed into anger by her.

"Why not sleep properly in a single bed, but insist on squeezing in here?"

"It feels very secure," Yan Zhusheng opened her eyes again. "Can't we sleep together?"

"No."

"Then why can Xixi?"

"Because she's asleep."

"I can be asleep too."

"At least you are awake right now."

"Li Luo, you are so annoying."

"Hey, hey, no personal attacks."

Li Luo bickered with her for a few minutes; seeing her determined look, he finally softened his heart and said helplessly, "Sleeping here is fine, but you have to bring your own blanket."

"Why?"

"Xixi likes to steal blankets when she sleeps; I'm afraid you'll catch a cold at night."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng finally agreed to get up, walked out of Li Luo's bedroom, and a short while later, she returned here holding a blanket.

As a result, Li Luo took a close look and immediately asked in surprise, "Why did you bring two blankets?"

"This one is mine," Yan Zhusheng put down her own blanket, then placed the other blanket over by Ying Chanxi. "This one is Xixi's."

"... Why did you bring hers?"

"Didn't you say Xixi steals blankets at night?" Yan Zhusheng said with an innocent expression. "I'm afraid you'll catch a cold."

Hearing this familiar sentence, Li Luo immediately fell silent, having nothing to say.

Thus, two minutes later, three people lay side by side on the bed, each with their own blanket.

Because Li Luo's blanket was larger and the space in the middle was small, he had no choice but to cover the blankets of the two people beside him with his own.

However, regardless, with the separation of the blankets, he could finally fall asleep peacefully.

Yan Zhusheng didn't make any extra small movements; she was probably just very curious about the feeling of sleeping with a friend.

After Li Luo agreed to let her sleep, she really fell asleep very quickly, and her breathing gradually became steady.

Li Luo looked left and right; on one side was Ying Chanxi's cute profile, slightly pouting after falling into a deep sleep.

On the other side was Yan Zhusheng's exquisite profile, very quiet and peaceful after falling asleep.

The last time Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi slept beside him, because he himself was also groggy, he only realized this fact when he woke up, which was a bit startling.

But at this moment, realizing this fact before sleep, his mindset was somewhat different.

So much so that he found it a bit difficult to fall asleep.

He couldn't even toss and turn; after all, sandwiched between two people, the space was limited, and turning over would easily wake them both.

So, he didn't know when it was, but Li Luo finally fell into a deep sleep.

Until the morning sunlight slightly filtered through the curtains from outside the window, casting a faint glow inside the bedroom.

In his deep sleep, Li Luo felt his arm being lifted up by someone.

The next second, the arm slammed heavily onto his stomach, jolting him awake instantly.

Turning his head, he discovered Yan Zhusheng looking at him with curiosity, attempting to lift his arm again, leaving Li Luo completely baffled: "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking if you're pretending to be asleep," Yan Zhusheng said with utmost seriousness. "Which foreign expert did you quote? He's a fraud."

"It's clearly you who is easier to fool," Li Luo said with a helpless chuckle. "That was obviously something meant to trick small children, yet you took it seriously; you're even easier to fool than an elementary school student."

"I knew it was fake from the start," Yan Zhusheng said with a serious expression. "I just happened to trust you more."

"So that makes it my fault?"

"It is your fault."

"So, have you slept enough?"

"Enough." Yan Zhusheng nodded. "Shall we go for a run?"

"Alright."

The two climbed out of bed and tiptoed into the bathroom, careful not to wake Ying Chanxi, who was still fast asleep.

While washing up, Li Luo glanced at his phone and realized it was already past seven in the morning.

It had truly been a long time since he had slept in this late.

"This is the toothbrush and cup you used last time," Li Luo said, pointing to the items on the shelf.

Previously, when Yan Zhusheng had stayed here for the first time, she had gone to the supermarket with Xu Youyu in the afternoon to buy snacks and had picked up some toiletries along the way.

The next morning, Yan Zhusheng had run into Li Luo's bedroom to brush her teeth there, resulting in the toothbrush and cup being left behind instead of being taken to the other bathroom.

Now, this saved them the trouble of running back and forth.

Sharing a single washbasin, the two finished their simple ablutions, after which Yan Zhusheng returned to her own bedroom to change clothes.

Li Luo, however, took a look at Ying Chanxi on the bed, thought it over, and ultimately decided to take his clothes into the bathroom to change before coming out.

Afterwards, he went to the bedside, picked up Yan Zhusheng's quilt, carried it back to her bedroom, and put it away properly.

After tidying up, the two went downstairs together for their morning run.

They ran a lap around the neighborhood, ate breakfast, and bought a portion each for Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi.

Upon returning home, Li Luo let Yan Zhusheng wake the other two for breakfast, while he returned alone to his bedroom, finally enjoying some solitary space, and began typing while he had the free time.

By late morning, after the three girls had gone to the vegetable market to buy groceries, the four of them shared their final communal meal here at Bihai Lanting; by afternoon, it would be time for everyone to return to their own homes.

However, just before leaving, Yan Zhusheng pulled a letter out of her schoolbag and secretly slipped it into Li Luo's palm.

"What's this?" Li Luo asked, raising an eyebrow as he held the letter Yan Zhusheng had handed him.

"A pen pal letter," Yan Zhusheng said with utmost seriousness.

"We aren't pen pals."

"We are now," Yan Zhusheng replied. Seeing him about to open it immediately, she quickly pressed down on his hand. "Read it when you get back."

"Did you write something shameful inside?"

"It's my first time writing a letter to someone," Yan Zhusheng said, blinking her eyes. "I'm a bit shy."

Looking at her face, which was clean, fair, and rosy, Li Luo narrowed his eyes and said, "How come I can't tell that you're shy?"

"Li Luo, you talk too much," Yan Zhusheng said, slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder and walking to the door to put on her shoes. "I'm leaving now; see you on the 2nd."

With that, Yan Zhusheng also bid farewell to Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu, who were packing their luggage in the bedroom, and then left apartment 1502.

Li Luo looked down at the letter in his hand, returned to his bedroom to place it in his schoolbag, planning to find some time to read it once he got home.