Chapter 195: The Peddler

After an hour and more of wildly energetic hide-and-seek, everyone finally got too tired to keep playing.

At first, everyone stuck to conventional spots—under tables, beneath coffee tables, behind curtains.

Once those spots were all used up, Li Luo started deliberately altering the layout: pushing the sofa against the desk, the desk against the wall, completely sealing off the space under the desk so the seeker couldn't even get in.

Later, Li Luo even placed a chair right on top of the desk, stood on it in a one-legged stance, and made Ying Chanxi feel around for ages without figuring out what strange thing had appeared on the desk.

By the time it was past ten, everyone was tired and hungry.

So Li Luo dragged Zhao Rongjun into the kitchen and started teaching him how to make fried rice with eggs.

"So why are you teaching me this?" Zhao Rongjun asked, baffled.

"Aren't you trying to earn money?"

"Just by selling fried rice with eggs?"

"Exactly." Li Luo nodded, scooping out the extra rice he'd boiled earlier that evening. "Your down jacket isn't expensive—you can save a few hundred yuan in just one or two weeks if you move fast."

"But… where am I supposed to sell fried rice with eggs?" Zhao Rongjun looked utterly bewildered. "Besides, I don't even have time for this normally."

"You don't get it yet," Li Luo wagged a finger. "We can sell it to classmates."

"Huh?" Zhao Rongjun blinked. "How do we even do that?"

"It's simple," Li Luo said, pulling eggs from the fridge and grabbing a few sausage sticks and carrots. "Have you ever walked around the dormitory area near our school?"

"No, never."

Zhao Rongjun was a day student who went home to his grandfather's every day after school—he'd never been to the dorm area.

Li Luo nodded understandingly and explained: "From our school gate, cross the street, and you'll reach the main gate of the dormitory area."

"Inside the gate, you'll pass a small convenience store. When students return to their dorms at night and get hungry, they buy snacks or instant noodles there to fill their stomachs."

"After the store, there's still a short stretch before you reach the first dorm building—the boys' dorm. Behind that comes the girls' dorm."

Here, Li Luo paused, then added: "Between the boys' and girls' dorm buildings, near the eastern wall, there's a fire exit gate made of iron—it's usually closed, but the gap is pretty wide."

"Passing a plastic food container through it won't be a problem."

"What do you think?"

Zhao Rongjun opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

He wanted to find a flaw in the plan, yet somehow it felt like there might be room to operate.

"But… who would even buy it?" Zhao Rongjun hesitated. "By the time they get back to their dorms, they've already bought stuff at the store—they probably won't even notice anything happening by the fire exit."

"Are we supposed to squat by the wall and shout sales pitches?"

"What if the dorm supervisor finds out? Won't she call security to kick us out?"

"Whether anyone buys it isn't something to worry too much about," Li Luo said. "The store only sells snacks and instant noodles—some students will definitely get tired of them and want a hot dish like fried rice at night."

"But your later concerns? Those do need attention—try not to get caught by security."

"Besides, we're not planning to do this long-term. We're just helping you earn money to buy a down jacket for your grandparents."

"At most, we'll stop after half a month. Buying clothes with your own hard-earned money will be meaningful enough."

Hearing Li Luo's analysis, Zhao Rongjun was already convinced. He nodded vigorously: "You're right—I think we should give it a try. So how do we start? Teach me first, then how do we arrange it?"

"Tell your grandfather you're studying for finals—you'll stay at my place after school to review," Li Luo said. "Right after the second evening study session ends, we'll sprint back."

"Before the third evening study session ends, make as many portions of fried rice as you can, then take them to the fire exit to sell."

"Each portion of fried rice, keeping costs tight, costs no more than two or three yuan."

"We'll sell each box for ten yuan—that's over seven yuan profit per box. To reach five hundred yuan profit, you just need to sell about seventy boxes."

Of course, Li Luo didn't factor in labor costs or anything else—he was only talking about the cost of ingredients for the fried rice itself.

After all, this was just a joke, and he didn't feel like calculating every detail for Zhao Rongjun.

As for earning money… he could probably make back a few hundred yuan just by writing one more chapter.

Suggesting this idea to Zhao Rongjun was purely out of loyalty to his good friend.

After all, it was for buying clothes for his grandparents—Li Luo was happy to support that kind of filial devotion.

Thinking of this, Li Luo added: "When you've saved enough to buy the down jacket, let me know—I'll go with you."

"Huh?" Zhao Rongjun blinked. "Why would you come with me?"

"I'll buy some clothes for my family too," Li Luo said with a smile.

With Zhao Rongjun's reminder, Li Luo suddenly realized: since his rebirth, he'd bought gifts for Ying Chanxi and the others—but he'd never once thought of buying anything for his parents.

Thinking about it, he realized he'd wasted over thirty years—he didn't even have Zhao Rongjun's sense of responsibility…

"Okay!" Zhao Rongjun nodded happily. "Then we'll go together!"

…

As for fried rice with eggs—if you call it simple, it really is simple; anyone can learn it and make it look decent.

But if you call it hard, it's genuinely hard—because making it delicious requires many little tricks.

Especially since different regions have different ways of making fried rice, with different flavors that need fine-tuning.

Fortunately, in his past life, Li Luo had run a street stall selling fried rice, fried noodles, and fried vermicelli—he knew this inside and out.

Even as a complete beginner, Zhao Rongjun could quickly pick up these skills, though he'd be a bit clumsy at first.

And Li Luo wasn't going to leave him to do this alone—he'd join him, so they could cook faster together.

Soon, under Li Luo's guidance, six portions of fried rice were freshly ready.

The two carried the fried rice to the dining table and called over the girls watching videos on the sofa for a late-night snack.

Paired with snacks bought from the supermarket that afternoon—like braised chicken and duck legs—the fried rice quickly filled everyone's stomachs again.

"How are we sleeping tonight?" Li Luo patted his belly and asked the others. "Zhao Rongjun sleeps with me. There's one spare room left."

"Xin Yan sleeps with me," Ying Chanxi said. "Zhu Sheng can take the guest room—she already slept this morning."

"Alright then," Li Luo nodded. "Remember to wash the dishes. That's it for today?"

"What's all this 'this and that'?" Xu Youyu widened her eyes and slapped the table. "It's only eleven o'clock! How can you sleep at this hour? Keep going!"

Li Luo: "... What else do you want to do?"

Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "How about watching another movie?"

Is she really thinking of watching a movie—or does she just want to crawl back under the covers?

Li Luo looked speechless. "The living room TV can't play specific movies. What are we supposed to do?"

Ying Chanxi whispered, "Maybe we should just skip it? It's already late. If we shower now, it'll be past midnight. Let's just sleep early."

Qiao Xinyan nodded too. She hadn't stayed up late like the others yesterday, and she was already feeling sleepy.

Seeing this, Xu Youyu couldn't insist further and nodded in agreement. "Alright then, I'll go wash the dishes first."

After tonight's entertainment ended, Ying Chanxi took Qiao Xinyan back to the bedroom and prepared to wash up.

Li Luo also brought Zhao Rongjun back to the master bedroom, telling him to shower first, while he sat down at his computer desk and typed a few lines while Zhao Rongjun was in the bathroom.

After Zhao Rongjun finished showering and got into bed, Li Luo quickly rinsed off, changed into pajamas, walked out of the bedroom to the living room, and planned to drink a glass of water before sleeping.

He found Yan Zhusheng sitting on the sofa watching TV.

"Aren't you asleep yet?" Li Luo poured himself a glass of water and asked while drinking.

"Senior sister is in the shower," Yan Zhusheng said. "She invited me to shower with her, but I refused—I'm just waiting here."

"Why not shower together?" Li Luo asked curiously. "Ying Chanxi used to shower with her before."

"Hmm…" Yan Zhusheng looked down, then shook her head. "I just don't want to."

"Alright, then I'll go back to bed."

"Wait," Yan Zhusheng sat on the sofa and turned to look at him. "Want to practice guitar? You barely practiced this evening."

At her question, Li Luo asked, "How long has Senior Sister been in there?"

"Just a few minutes."

"Oh, then I'll keep you company," Li Luo nodded and walked with Yan Zhusheng into the piano room.

After all, in his experience, Xu Youyu always took a long time in the shower—at least half an hour minimum.

It wouldn't be right to leave a guest waiting in the living room all night.

So the two of them went together to the piano room and resumed guitar instruction.

…

On the other side, after bathing with Qiao Xinyan, Ying Chanxi brought her best friend to bed.

The two lay on the bed, ready for some bedtime chatter.

"You really like stuffed animals, huh?" Qiao Xinyan stared at the giant panda doll on the bed, plus the Pikachu and Doraemon on the nightstand, and exclaimed, "Back in class, some guys said you liked these—I didn't believe them."

Although Qiao Xinyan had visited here before, she'd never entered Ying Chanxi's bedroom—this was her first time seeing these dolls, and she found them oddly fascinating.

"I don't like them that much," Ying Chanxi whispered, but she quietly hugged the panda doll beside her tighter.

"Can I hug it?" Qiao Xinyan, drawn by the panda's fluffy appearance, couldn't help asking.

But to her surprise, Ying Chanxi immediately pulled the panda doll farther away and whispered, "N-No, not this one. You can hug the two on the nightstand."

"Oh, I see," Qiao Xinyan was slightly startled, but seeing how precious it was to her, she didn't press further.

So she reached over and picked up Pikachu and Doraemon from the nightstand, placed them on the bed, stroked their heads, then asked curiously, "Ying Chanxi, why do these two dolls look so old? Like they've been here forever?"

"Uh… yeah… it's… true."

Ying Chanxi gave an awkward smile, unsure how to respond.

After all, she constantly beat them up at home—of course they'd get worn out.

And thinking back to this evening, when she saw Yan Zhusheng nearly hugging Li Luo in the piano room while teaching him guitar.

Then remembering how, later during the game, Yan Zhusheng pinched Li Luo's face to paint lipstick on him.

And then during hide-and-seek, how Yan Zhusheng squeezed into Li Luo's arms and fell right onto him—Ying Chanxi's lips tightened.

Under Qiao Xinyan's gaze, Ying Chanxi unconsciously raised her tiny fist and punched Pikachu's head four times.

Then she changed her mind and gave Doraemon one punch too.

"Ying Chanxi… why are you hitting them?"

"They're soft, feel nice—you can try too," Ying Chanxi lied with a serious little face.