Chapter 125

The family housing complex of Qianjiang University is located in the north, near the Yin River shoreline.

After Xu Youyu led them through the complex entrance, they quickly reached the building, then took the elevator to the fifth floor.

Xu Youyu pulled out the key, opened the door, took out shoe covers from the cabinet, and called toward the kitchen: "Mom! I'm back!"

Cui Suling heard the noise at the door and hurried out of the kitchen, smiling warmly: "Hello, hello, come in, make yourselves at home. Dinner won't be ready for a while. Youyu, keep the guests company."

"Got it."

At this moment, Li Luo had put on his shoe covers and, holding the fruit in his hand, followed Cui Suling toward the kitchen: "Auntie, where would you like these fruits placed?"

"Oh my, why did you bring gifts?" Cui Suling immediately declined, "You're too kind."

"It's only proper," Li Luo said cheerfully. "Sister said these are your favorite fruits, so I brought them. Try them later."

"Youyu really is something—doesn't even refuse, and picks them out for him," Cui Suling gave her daughter a look, then took the fruit from Li Luo and planned to put it in the fridge first.

Xu Youyu stood frozen beside her, thinking: How did it become her choice?

It was Li Luo who just picked them out himself!

Who knew his luck was so good—he picked exactly what you two like.

"Alright, go sit in the living room. The kitchen's too smoky," Cui Suling thanked Li Luo, then called out, "Youyu, show them around. You can check out the balcony."

"Okay~"

Xu Youyu replied, then led them toward the balcony.

The family housing unit was not particularly large—roughly seventy to eighty square meters.

Besides a small living room and kitchen, there was one master bedroom, one secondary bedroom, and a small study.

It wasn't big, but it was cozy; the whole house was neatly cleaned and organized, with traces of daily life everywhere.

Xu Youyu's balcony was the place they always showed visitors.

"Uncle and Auntie, look."

Xu Youyu opened the window and pointed outside.

Their apartment faced west; to the right, the Yin River and the nearby river bridge were clearly visible—breathtaking scenery.

To the right, they could also overlook half of Qianjiang University.

"That's the north gate of Qianjiang University. Usually only one small door is open, mostly for family complex residents."

"That area inside is the north playground. My dad's literature department is in the building right next to it—very close to home."

"And that tallest building is Qianjiang University's iconic library. Next to it is an artificial lake, fed by a tributary of the Yin River, called Qiuzhen Lake."

"A thousand teachings, a thousand learnings—all to seek truth."

"That's the meaning behind Qiuzhen Lake."

"Well said," Lin Xiuhong gazed at Qianjiang University in the distance, her heart yearning, and couldn't help praising: "Youyu, you know so much."

"Auntie, you're too kind," Xu Youyu laughed. "I grew up here. Since I was little, my dad kept explaining all this—my ears are worn out. I used to play around there all the time, so I'm familiar."

"That's wonderful," Lin Xiuhong sighed, then turned to Li Luo and urged: "Keep up your grades—you should be able to get into Qianjiang University. You've got to do better."

"Don't worry, Auntie," Xu Youyu smiled. "If Li Luo keeps his current grades, getting into Qianjiang University is easy."

If someone ranked in the top 30 of the whole school still can't get into Qianjiang University, it's not Li Luo's problem—it's Fuyi High's.

After gazing at Qianjiang University from the balcony, they returned to the living room sofa. Ying Chanxi sat beside Yan Zhusheng, placing herself directly between Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo.

Then she spoke casually with Yan Zhusheng as if nothing were amiss.

"Zhusheng, have you thought about which university you want to apply to?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously.

"The Central Conservatory of Music, or Changning City Conservatory," Yan Zhusheng thought for a moment, then said. "Qianjiang Conservatory is also great—it's affiliated with Qianjiang University."

"That's right," Xu Youyu added from beside her. "The conservatory is on the far west side—we can't see it from here, or I'd have pointed it out earlier."

"So you're planning to go the arts route?" Li Guohong asked, his gaze falling on Yuan Wanqing, then he couldn't help laughing. "Makes sense—after all, your mother… well… she raised you well. Your singing today was impressive."

"It'd be a waste if she didn't go the arts route," Li Luo said from beside her. "Her regular academic scores definitely won't get her into Qianjiang University, but if she passes the unified and specialized exams, her current cultural course scores are more than enough."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi bit her lip slightly and glanced at him unconsciously.

Yan Zhusheng, however, remained oblivious, earnestly gripping Ying Chanxi's hand: "I'll work hard. We'll still be able to go to the same university."

"Mm… yeah," Ying Chanxi pursed her lips, suddenly struck by Yan Zhusheng's sincerity, and felt suddenly bewildered.

She always felt Yan Zhusheng was a bit clueless—she had no idea what was going on in her mind.

Ying Chanxi thought of the Pikachu on her bedside table, and her body softened; some emotions in her eyes faded, and she let out a quiet sigh.

At that moment, a noise came from the door.

Xu Rongsheng opened the door and immediately saw the full living room of guests. He smiled: "I'm really sorry—I just finished work at school and came back late."

"No problem, no problem," Li Guohong stood up first, stepped forward, and shook hands with him. "Hello, I'm Li Luo's father. This is his mother."

"This is Ying Chanxi, next to her is Yan Zhusheng, and Yan Zhusheng's mother."

"We just arrived a little while ago. We looked at the view from the balcony—your feng shui is clearly exceptional. You can see Qianjiang University from right here."

After some polite exchanges, Xu Rongsheng changed into slippers, placed his briefcase in the study, took off his coat, and returned to the living room to chat with the parents.

So Xu Youyu simply led Li Luo and the other two to the study to play on the computer.

After another half hour, Cui Suling finished cooking and called them to dinner.

Nine people sat around the table. Xu Rongsheng poured Li Guohong a small cup of baijiu and urged everyone to serve themselves.

Perhaps because of the invitation letter from noon, or perhaps to liven up the children, Xu Rongsheng thought for a moment, then asked Li Luo: "Do you read books regularly?"

Li Luo was momentarily stunned by the question, but realized Xu Rongsheng was a literature professor—this was normal.

Still, he wouldn't pretend to be something he wasn't: "I don't usually read traditional classics—just casual books."

"With today's internet, fewer young people read," Xu Rongsheng nodded, but instead of urging them to read more, he asked: "Are the books you read… online novels?"

At this, not only Li Luo, but Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong also raised their eyebrows.

Yan Zhusheng gave him a look full of unspoken meaning, glanced at Li Luo, smiled faintly, then immediately lowered her head to eat, pretending she knew nothing.

Sitting beside his father, Xu Youyu's expression turned tense; he wondered what medicine his father had taken today to suddenly ask about Online Novels?

Had his secret of writing novels already been exposed?

Was his father testing or warning him?

With this thought, Xu Youyu stole a glance at his father.

On the other side, Li Luo's expression turned peculiar, then he nodded and said, "Yes, Online Novels. Does Uncle Xu usually pay attention to these?"

"Hehe, just a passing interest—I was chatting with someone at school today, so I got curious," Xu Rongsheng casually made an excuse, then continued, "After all, it's a new form of literature."

"But the teacher I talked to said current Online Novels vary wildly in quality, with many works filled with lowbrow elements."

"There's clearly some disdain for Online Novels."

"But since this is a new phenomenon, young people's views must differ from ours—so I'm curious what you think."

Li Luo looked at Xu Rongsheng; with this question, he suddenly recalled, from his previous life, several articles and papers recommended to him by Xu Youyu.

The first author listed was Xu Rongsheng—Xu Youyu's father.

In fact, after Xu Youyu later achieved fame and success, Xu Rongsheng had long since shed part of his prejudice against Online Novels, and even under his daughter's influence, used his own status in the field of modern and contemporary literature to promote research on web literature.

One passage read as follows.

"Online Novels have only existed for a little over a decade."

"Thanks to societal progress and the spread of the internet, more people have been able to see these works at once."

"Of course, they contain vast amounts of shoddy content and all sorts of lowbrow tropes, but these are inevitable growing pains of any new literary form."

"Especially in our country, with universal nine-year compulsory education, anyone who knows Chinese characters can write Online Novels."

"Their literary literacy may be nearly nonexistent, yet precisely because of this, Online Novels reflect the results of our universal compulsory education."

"Otherwise, in ancient times, how many ordinary people had the right to write books, or even to read them?"

"Moreover, history's great tide filters out the dross—Tang poetry, Song lyrics, Yuan drama, when they were at their peak, were also frequently belittled by contemporary literati, yet many masterpieces still survived through the ages."

"And those shoddy works naturally vanish into the river of history."

"Online Novels are the same."

Xu Rongsheng hadn't expected this boy to deliver such a lengthy argument.

And it was surprisingly reasonable.

Hearing this, Xu Rongsheng immediately nodded: "You've put it well—it's given me new thoughts and perspectives on Online Novels."

He was due to attend a provincial online writers' association symposium in February, and had planned to write something to present anyway.

As Xu Rongsheng thought this, he suddenly realized: Li Luo's words, slightly expanded, would be perfect to share with those Online Novel authors.

"Come, have a drink," Xu Rongsheng said cheerfully, raising his cup to clink against Li Luo's juice, smiling. "It's rare for a young person to view something with your rational perspective—I think your way of thinking is excellent."

Watching her father clink cups with Li Luo, Xu Youyu's mind echoed with Li Luo's earlier words; the guilt she'd felt for secretly writing Online Novels behind her parents' backs suddenly eased considerably.

Seeing Li Luo respectfully hold the cup with both hands to return the toast, Xu Youyu smiled knowingly.

Suddenly, she felt she'd just found the perfect material for a male lead visiting his girlfriend's home for dinner.

What an unexpected blessing.