Chapter 216: Transformation

Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong arrived at Yin Zhicheng's house at six in the evening.

The two families—five people altogether—sat around the dining table in the living room; after three rounds of drinks, both hosts and guests were thoroughly delighted.

At the dinner table, Yin Zhicheng did not mention anything about Chongran; conversation occasionally turned to Li Luo, asking about his academic performance.

After learning he had stabilized at roughly the top twenty in the entire school, Yin Zhicheng's gaze toward Li Luo subtly shifted.

After all, balancing studies while composing several hit songs, and still…

This kid really has boundless energy.

Yin Zhicheng pondered these thoughts in his mind, but quickly dismissed them, clinking glasses with Li Guohong and discussing arrangements for the Lunar New Year's Eve.

"When roughly will you be back?" Li Guohong sipped a small mouthful of baijiu, smacked his lips, and asked Yin Zhicheng.

"Around the 15th, maybe—the tickets aren't booked yet; we'll decide closer to the date," Yin Zhicheng said. "Since we're going to three countries, the return time is uncertain, but we'll definitely be back before New Year's Eve."

"Then if you can get back by the 17th," Li Guohong said, "let's all go back to the countryside together."

"Yes," Lin Xiuhong added from beside them. "If you're coming back late, just let us know—we'll prepare the New Year goods ahead of time."

"Thank you both," Yin Zhicheng smiled, raising his glass to toast them.

Ying Chanxi listened nearby, her expression eagerly anticipatory; she bounced happily and said to Li Luo beside her: "You're going to steal the spotlight this time you go back to the countryside—ranked 17th in the entire grade."

"Then what about you, number one in the grade?"

"Everyone's used to it by now, so there's nothing to say," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "I bet Lin Yi will can't help but brag."

"You understand my mom pretty well—but not quite enough," Li Luo chuckled. "She won't brag outright. She'll first ask how other kids did."

"No matter how well or poorly they did, she'll launch into lavish praise."

"Once she's made them happy, and they finally ask curiously how her son did, then she'll modestly say a couple of words—oh, nothing special."

Ying Chanxi listened as Li Luo vividly described Lin Xiuhong's possible bragging routine, couldn't help but cover her mouth and stifle giggles, her whole body shaking with suppressed laughter.

"You're too mean—Lin Yi doesn't have that many schemes," Ying Chanxi patted Li Luo's shoulder. "Isn't this just what you'd want to do yourself?"

"I'm not that dramatic," Li Luo shook his head vigorously. "I just sit there, looking annoyed, complaining to my mom: 'Mom, please stop—it's just 17th in the whole school and first in the class, what's so special about that!'"

"Hahaha~" Ying Chanxi was utterly delighted; the scene flashed vividly in her mind. "That sounds exactly like you—remember when that annoying aunt kept talking at your promotion banquet, and you shot back exactly like that?"

"I'm usually easygoing," Li Luo laughed. "Only when someone deliberately pushes their sour face at me."

"Someone with terrible grades might still become outstanding in society—just not in school."

"So judging kids solely by grades is the most boring thing."

"Be careful—Lin Yi might hear that," Ying Chanxi whispered. "She'll scold you again."

"It's fine," Li Luo said. "With my grades now, anything I say sounds reasonable."

The two kids chatted idly by the table, while the three adults carried on their own casual talk.

From the children's affairs, they drifted to the subway construction in Yinjiang District, then to Yuhang City's recent policy trends, national development plans, and finally global instability—covering everything from earth to sky.

Lin Xiuhong kept refilling their drinks and reheating dishes; when she didn't understand something, she'd ask curiously, then leave the rest to the two men to dominate the conversation.

Ying Chanxi kept reminding her father to drink less, drink less—but Yin Zhicheng and Li Guohong rarely got such a chance to gather like this, so they were unwilling to cut short their drinking.

By around nine at night, the two men were half-asleep and collapsed onto the sofa.

Ying Chanxi grumbled as she fetched a blanket from the bedroom to cover her father. "We leave at seven tomorrow morning—he's still drinking like this? No sense at all."

"It's fine," Li Luo glanced at the time. "He'll probably wake up by midnight—won't miss the flight."

Lin Xiuhong called the two kids over to clear and wash the dining table.

Then Lin Xiuhong went to the opposite apartment to bathe and prepare for bed.

Li Luo didn't linger either—he planned to return to his room and write a bit more.

But when he was writing until past eleven, a door-opening sound suddenly came from outside.

Li Luo thought it was Li Guohong waking up from drunkenness and returning to sleep.

But soon, his door was knocked on.

Ying Chanxi pushed the door open just a crack, peeking in with her head and whispering: "Didn't I disturb you?"

"Not at all," Li Luo had already planned to sleep; seeing Ying Chanxi arrive, he couldn't help but smile wryly. "What do you want?"

"Hmm…" Ying Chanxi blinked. "I can't sleep—Li Luo, wanna watch a movie?"

Li Luo: "... You're sure you came just to watch a movie?"

Ying Chanxi nodded.

"What about your dad? Isn't it inappropriate to come over like this?"

"It's fine," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "He's passed out like a pig after drinking—and he and Uncle are both snoring loudly. My room's poor at soundproofing—it's too noisy."

They've gotten drunk before—why didn't you say it was noisy then?

Li Luo looked suspicious.

But since Ying Chanxi had said this much, Li Luo didn't refuse; he sighed and waved her in. "Come in—what do you want to watch?"

"You pick."

With Li Luo's approval, Ying Chanxi beamed and pushed the door fully open.

She wore a panda-patterned pajama set fresh from her bath, clutching something in her arms, and plopped straight onto Li Luo's bed.

Li Luo's bedroom was small.

The room held only a single bed against the wall.

Ying Chanxi immediately curled up against the wall, lying still; only then did Li Luo see what she was holding.

When he saw her hugging both Pikachu and Doraemon in front of her, Li Luo burst out laughing: "What's this? Giving Zhu Sheng and the senior sister a sense of participation?"

"Your panda plushie was too big to bring back, so I brought these two," Ying Chanxi said. "Come over too."

"Alright, alright."

Li Luo adjusted the charging cable of his laptop, then sat on the bed holding it.

A single bed is inevitably a bit cramped, and Ying Chanxi deliberately avoided pressing against the wall, leaving some space on that side.

This caused Li Luo's arm to come into full contact with Ying Chanxi's arm as he lay down.

But Ying Chanxi paid no attention to this, snuggling closer to Li Luo, pretending to examine the laptop screen closely.

"Stop pushing around," Li Luo sighed, rubbing his temples. "Why don't you pick something to watch?"

"You pick. I'm fine with anything."

Hearing this, Li Luo no longer cared—he selected another movie he'd never seen in his past life and started playing it.

This time, Ying Chanxi stayed awake for a long while; evidently, the film suited her taste, and she slowly watched it all the way through.

By the time the movie reached its ending, it was already one in the morning.

Just as Li Luo was about to shut the laptop and tell Ying Chanxi to return to the opposite room to sleep, he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.

He turned his head—and saw Ying Chanxi was already asleep.

Li Luo: "...?"

Wait... didn't I just see you watching it with total focus?

You fell asleep in just a moment?

Li Luo stared blankly, carefully lowering her head onto the pillow—but realized his grip felt strangely off.

A familiar sensation instantly washed over him.

So Li Luo silently lifted one of Ying Chanxi's arms above her head and muttered, "Foreign experts say that when someone is deeply asleep, raising their arms above their head makes them unconsciously hold that position."

He then released his grip.

Ying Chanxi's arm immediately dropped down, as if she were truly asleep.

Well... this one seems slightly smarter than the last.

Li Luo had no choice—he removed the two plush toys from her body and placed them on the nightstand, then lay down himself.

The next morning, Ying Zhicheng woke up on the living room sofa, his neck stiff and aching.

After using the restroom and washing up, he walked into the living room and saw a steaming breakfast on the table, along with a note.

It was written by Li Guohong, saying he had gone to the breakfast shop to work, urging him to eat breakfast and catch his flight, and if he had time in the morning, to stop by the shop before leaving.

Ying Zhicheng smiled, looking at the breakfast, and felt a sudden warmth in his chest.

He checked the time—it was already six in the morning—then walked to Ying Chanxi's bedroom door, knocked, and called out: "Xixi, wake up, come eat breakfast."

Normally, his daughter would respond at least a little when he woke her.

But this time, after Ying Zhicheng called out, Ying Chanxi gave no reply.

He called again several times—still no answer. He paused, then said into the room: "Xixi, still sleeping? I'm coming in?"

Saying that, Ying Zhicheng turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open.

Then he realized—the room was empty?!

Strange.

Ying Zhicheng wandered through the house but found no trace of his daughter.

Had she gotten up already this early?

Muttering to himself, Ying Zhicheng pulled out his phone and called Li Guohong.

"Hey? You're awake?" Li Guohong answered. "Don't forget to eat breakfast. I'm busy here—just say what you need quickly."

"Is Xixi with you?" Ying Zhicheng asked. "I woke up and didn't see her in her room—did she go to your shop?"

"Huh? No." Li Guohong paused. "Xiuhong! Have you seen Xixi?"

"Nope, why?" Lin Xiuhong called from outside the breakfast shop kitchen.

Hearing this, Ying Zhicheng frowned.

But Li Guohong suddenly realized: "Check our house—maybe she saw you weren't up yet and went to find Li Luo?"

"That's possible. I'll go check."

"You know where the key is—under the flowerpot. Help yourself."

"Got it. I'll hang up."

"Alright, let me know when you find her."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Ying Zhicheng walked toward the opposite apartment.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Li Luo was asleep, feeling as if he were trapped in winter, inexplicably cold.

He jolted awake, touched his body, turned his head—and realized Ying Chanxi had pulled all the blankets to herself. He stared, speechless.

This habit of stealing blankets while asleep—when will she ever fix it?

Li Luo thought this, picked up his phone to check the time, and immediately froze.

Shit!

Already past six?

Li Luo quickly put down his phone and prepared to wake Ying Chanxi.

Just then, a sound of a door opening came from outside.

Ying Zhicheng stood at Li Luo's bedroom door, knocked, and asked: "Li Luo, are you in? Have you seen Xixi?"

In that instant, Li Luo's heart shot up to his throat.

If Uncle Ying opened the door and saw this scene—his daughter lying quietly asleep on the bed of a boy from across the hall—what would his reaction be?

But just then, Ying Chanxi was awakened by the voice outside the door; she rubbed her eyes sleepily and mumbled, "Li Luo… how… hmm…"

Li Luo quickly covered Ying Chanxi's mouth, shushed softly, then whispered in her ear, "Your father is outside the door."

At these words, Ying Chanxi's eyes flew open and her cheeks flushed crimson.

"Li Luo?" Zhao Rongjun asked again.

"Dad!" Ying Chanxi called out from bed, pulling her hand away from Li Luo's and answering at once.

That shout made Li Luo's hairs stand on end; he leapt off the bed in panic.

But at that moment, Ying Chanxi displayed astonishing quick thinking.

She first shoved Li Luo back onto the bed, pulled the blanket over him, told him to close his eyes, then opened his laptop and placed it on the desk.

All of this was done in an instant.

Then Ying Chanxi went to the door, opened it gently, and held a finger to her lips as she said to Zhao Rongjun outside, "Dad, be quiet—Li Luo's still sleeping."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Rongjun's gaze fell again on his daughter's pajamas; his heart tightened and his temples throbbed.

"Why are you over here?"

"I came over to check some problems," Ying Chanxi whispered. "The computer at home was moved to Bihai Lanting, so I came to use Li Luo's."

"Teacher Sun sent a few more problems last night—it's easier to see them clearly on the computer screen."

"I saw you were still asleep just now, and it's early, so I came over to look at the problems."

After hearing Ying Chanxi's explanation, Zhao Rongjun's heart eased somewhat.

In his mind, his daughter rarely lied; she had always been his good girl, his thoughtful treasure.

So he spoke gently, "Your Uncle Li left breakfast on the table—don't look at the problems yet, come eat first."

"Oh, okay," Ying Chanxi nodded. "You go ahead and eat. I'll finish this last problem and come right over—it'll just be a few minutes."

"Alright, I understand," Zhao Rongjun nodded, thought no more of it, and turned back to the opposite room.

Watching her father's retreating figure, Ying Chanxi let out a long breath; her tense body nearly collapsed.

"Did Uncle Zhao leave?"

Li Luo's voice suddenly came from behind, making Ying Chanxi nearly scream.

She managed to hold it in, turned, and punched him irritably: "You scared me to death! You got up and didn't even say a word!"

"Whose fault is that?" Li Luo looked exasperated. "You insisted on sleeping over last night and pretended to be asleep."

"I did not!" Ying Chanxi's face turned red; she widened her eyes in protest. "I just fell asleep—where did I pretend?"

"Fine, fine," Li Luo raised his hands in surrender, helpless before her. "Then go eat breakfast quickly—you still have to catch a flight with Uncle Zhao later."

"I know, I know," Ying Chanxi pouted, huffed, then opened the door and walked out.

"Hey, wait."

Ying Chanxi turned back. "What? You're reluctant to let me go?"

"No," Li Luo handed her the two plush toys on the nightstand. "You forgot these."

"Oh…" Ying Chanxi's face flushed; she snatched them quickly and ran back to the opposite room to eat breakfast.

Li Luo watched her back, smiled helplessly, then tidied up, changed clothes, and went to the bathroom to wash up.