Chapter 199: Hello, Uncle and Auntie

January 10th, Saturday.

Zhao Rongjun stared blankly at the growing group before him, momentarily speechless.

Ying Chanxi, Yan Zhusheng, Xu Youyu… those three were understandable.

After all, they all got along well with Li Luo—let them come.

And as expected, Ying Chanxi had invited her beloved desk partner, Qiao Xinyan.

Hmm… Qiao Xinyan wasn't a stranger; fine, bring her along.

But why the hell was Xu Yinghuan here too?

Watching Xu Yinghuan, giggling and clinging to Yan Zhusheng's arm, Zhao Rongjun was dumbfounded—he never expected they'd become so close.

What Zhao Rongjun didn't know was that he himself had inadvertently helped.

Xu Yinghuan first began interacting with Yan Zhusheng after Li Luo shared the potato chips Yan Zhusheng had given him.

Later, when Xu Yinghuan realized Yan Zhusheng wasn't as hard to approach as she'd thought, she slowly started getting closer to her.

By the time of the sports meet, she'd become a full-fledged shipper, shipping them all the way to New Year's Eve.

Finally, with the daily evening ritual of fetching fried rice together, they successfully evolved into best friends.

Now, even when going to the bathroom, Xu Yinghuan would come find Yan Zhusheng to go together.

This time, when they planned to go shopping in the afternoon, she naturally wasn't left out.

But poor Zhao Rongjun suffered.

"Let's go," Li Luo patted Zhao Rongjun's shoulder. "We'll take the bus first, then get off at Yintai Mall—it has more clothing stores."

Normally, Li Luo would just take a taxi.

But this time there were seven of them, and considering Zhao Rongjun's tight budget—he still needed to save money to buy his grandparents down jackets—Li Luo didn't even consider taking a taxi.

After the seven of them walked out of the school gate, they headed to the nearby bus stop to wait.

The direction to Yintai Mall matched Ying Chanxi's summer route home, so she was familiar with it and pointed to the nearby bus sign: "Either Bus 8, or 473 or 677—all work, but Bus 8 is an older model, smaller; the other two are more spacious."

At the bus stop, several other students who hadn't stayed after school for club activities were also watching this group.

Let's be honest, this group of people standing out on the street is quite eye-catching.

Not to mention Ying Chanxi and the other two—even Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan were both very good-looking.

In comparison, Zhao Rongjun, tall and dark, standing there, looked like a beauty and the beast.

But Zhao Rongjun wasn't ugly—he just didn't have Li Luo's refined handsomeness; instead, he leaned toward a rugged style.

But since his body hadn't fully developed yet, and he still carried the youthful innocence of a student, Zhao Rongjun now appeared oddly mismatched in demeanor.

Add to that this guy's personality… Li Luo smiled helplessly; at least he'd improved a bit.

At least now, when facing girls, he no longer froze up and couldn't spit out a word.

In his past life, Zhao Rongjun suffered because of this personality—he stammered around girls and didn't know how to refuse.

In the end, he spent hundreds of thousands on a bride price, married a wife, but their life was utterly tasteless.

He only found a little joy in life by coming to Li Luo every weekend to grill meat and drink.

Thinking back, when Lin Xiuhong fell seriously ill and needed money, Li Luo had immediately turned to Zhao Rongjun.

That was also the first time Zhao Rongjun had openly argued with his wife—he snatched back his salary card, which she had tightly controlled, nearly driving them to divorce.

Now, reborn into this life, at least he wanted his good brother to live better.

For Li Luo, many things were just done on a whim—he hoped Zhao Rongjun could, like him, completely escape the miserable fate of his past life.

As he thought this, Bus 473 arrived at the stop.

Li Luo pulled out a coin, dropped it into the fare box, then walked toward the back of the bus.

Because Fuyi High School was remote, this stop was the second after the terminal, and the bus was nearly empty—seats were freely available.

So Li Luo sat down in the nearest double seat by the rear door, by the window.

Zhao Rongjun had wanted to sit beside Li Luo, but Xu Youyu beat him to it and claimed the spot, so Zhao Rongjun had to slink to a single seat up front.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, since they'd each brought a friend, sat in the double seats beside and behind them.

"Hey, remember what I told you before?" Xu Youyu poked Li Luo's arm and leaned close to his ear.

"What?"

"Back when I helped you in the kitchen, I mentioned something," Xu Youyu blinked teasingly. "Let's see if your memory's still good."

Li Luo chuckled and shook his head—he doubted his senior could stump him on something like this?

It was just a matter of recalling through his memory palace.

But after a quick mental search, he roughly knew what she meant.

"You meant that time you said I should go out shopping with you?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow. "And that… nine out of ten men on the street will glance at you, and the tenth will stare nonstop."

"There," Xu Youyu nodded toward the front. "One of those guys is staring nonstop."

Li Luo followed Xu Youyu's gaze to the front of the bus.

The front half of this bus had seats arranged sideways, so once seated, passengers faced the rear at an angle.

One middle-aged man had boarded at the terminal, and under Li Luo's gaze, his sneaky glances could no longer be hidden.

He kept glancing back occasionally, checking that the girls in the back weren't watching him, then staring again.

Probably because Xu Youyu had a better figure, he looked at her far more often.

Li Luo couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed.

Because when he himself sneaked glances at pretty girls, he did the same thing—just less frequently than this guy.

"It's not just him," Xu Youyu whispered into Li Luo's ear. "Others are looking too—some of the male students on the bus. They're just more reserved, only daring one or two glances."

"So you really notice all of it?" Li Luo smirked. "Do all girls do this?"

"Probably?" Xu Youyu smiled. "If you're curious, you can ask Zhusheng and the others."

"That won't be necessary…"

"But there's something I'm curious about," Xu Youyu leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "Suppose—I'm just saying suppose—that I'm your girlfriend, what would you feel when you notice men constantly sneaking glances at her on the street?"

"Angry?"

"Or a sense of pride, feeling a thrill of accomplishment?"

"Or maybe you'd feel offended and want to hide your girlfriend from everyone else?"

Li Luo: "... Do you normally think about stuff like this?"

"Never mind that, just answer," Xu Youyu urged.

"It depends on what clothes your girlfriend is wearing," Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu's school uniform, then said, "As for those feelings you mentioned, you'd probably feel a bit of all of them."

"A little angry, a little wanting to hide you away, and also a sense of accomplishment—these thoughts may seem contradictory, but they often coexist."

"It's just a matter of how much each dominates."

"And it also depends on your girlfriend's own attitude."

Here, Li Luo paused, then continued analyzing, "Sometimes, guys get a kick out of teasing their girlfriends."

"If you're constantly stared at by men on the street but don't care at all, and keep wearing sexy, revealing clothes anyway…"

"Then the guy will likely turn into a jealous mess, insistently begging you to wear more, wishing he could lock you at home where no one else can see you."

"But if you usually dress conservatively, with a pure, shy, innocent charm, then the guy will often nudge you to try on something sexier."

"Watching you walk down the street in those clothes, blushing and afraid to let strangers look, the guy actually feels satisfied."

"Hmm… in short, it's just being a jerk."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu suddenly felt a flash of clarity: "Damn! That's how guys think?"

"Cough, cough… This is just for reference and analysis, not all guys are like this," Li Luo immediately corrected, "It's just one possibility—I myself am still very serious."

At this, Xu Youyu narrowed her eyes and gave him a sidelong look: "You? Definitely not serious."

Someone who wrote I Am Really Not a Star shouldn't claim to be serious, okay?

Xu Youyu chuckled inwardly, thoroughly satisfied with this outing.

At least for research material, it was a rich harvest.

Too bad.

Ying Chanxi and Zhu Sheng were right here beside them—if only it were just her and Li Luo alone…

Then gathering material would've been easier.

Xu Youyu felt a faint pang of regret inside.

But she only thought it—she had no other intentions.

It was all for writing a better novel.