Chapter 221: Xu Youyu

On the way to the barbecue spot, Qianzhou felt the atmosphere around him was unusually heavy.

To his left was Li Luo, who sighed occasionally.

His novel, I Am Really Not a Star, earned him a staggering 370,000 yuan in royalties last month, and he was only just sixteen years old.

To his right sat Xu Youyu, expressionless, staring out at the street scenery to her right.

Her novel, Literary Era, captured the literary youth vibe of the early twentieth-century literary circle and was one of the few treasure authors under Qianzhou's roster to reach the Masterwork tier.

And she was barely seventeen, strikingly beautiful—not inferior to Yan Zhusheng, the girl Qianzhou had met beside Li Luo before.

Every time he thought of this, Qianzhou felt dazed, as if this world were truly absurd.

Most crucially, these two seemed to know each other—and judging by their demeanor, they were likely close acquaintances.

Otherwise, their reactions after their identities were revealed wouldn't have been so extreme.

"So what exactly is your relationship?" Qianzhou asked curiously. "Relatives? Classmates?"

"Obviously classmates from the same school," Li Luo chuckled. "Didn't you hear me call her senior?"

"Shut up!" Xu Youyu growled. "Say one more word and I'll kill you."

"Qianzhou is an editor—he's not an outsider. Knowing won't hurt," Li Luo said helplessly.

"It's all your fault as an editor for not being clear!" Xu Youyu muttered, frustrated. "I never thought this far ahead—if I'd known you'd come, I'd never have shown up!"

"You never asked me," Qianzhou said, embarrassed. "Besides, I thought you two were pretty close online—you both commented on each other's posts. Your relationship must've been good; maybe you even talked privately already."

"How could I tell anyone about attending a live panel?" Xu Youyu snapped. "It's all the editor's fault."

"True," Li Luo agreed, nodding, directing all blame squarely at the editor.

"Fine, fine," Qianzhou gave up on arguing with these two kids. "My mistake—I didn't explain clearly. Tonight's barbecue is on me."

"No need," Xu Youyu muttered, pouting. "I already said I'd treat."

"Why be so polite with her?" Li Luo teased. "Don't let her age fool you—she's written scenes where the male and female leads… uh…"

"Shut the hell up!"

Hearing Li Luo's tone, Xu Youyu instantly knew what he was about to say. She lunged past Qianzhou and clamped her hand firmly over his mouth from behind.

The posture was somewhat intimate.

Li Luo felt his back pressed hard against her, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if it was punishment or reward.

Seeing this, Qianzhou cleared his throat twice and warned, "I'm reading both your novels, so your reactions don't need to be this dramatic."

"Girls mature earlier—I understand. You don't need to be so shy."

"We're all in online novels—no one gets to laugh at anyone else. Look at Li Luo—he wrote three female leads. Each one… uh…"

Here, Qianzhou paused, as if struck by a thought. He glanced between Li Luo and Xu Youyu, recalling Li Luo's term "senior," and his expression turned peculiar.

Xu Youyu had already released Li Luo and returned to sit beside Qianzhou, putting clear distance between herself and Li Luo.

Qianzhou whispered quietly, "Li Luo, the female lead in your novel—the one named Jiang Mingyue…"

"Hmph," Xu Youyu crossed her arms. "Obviously based on me—senior, big chest, greedy eater, loves sleeping in, and…"

Listening to Qianzhou and Xu Youyu, Li Luo's face darkened—but then, as she listed the heroine's traits with uncanny precision, he scoffed, "You know your own flaws awfully well."

"Besides, didn't you write about it too?"

"The male lead is one year younger than the female lead, is great at cooking, plays guitar, sometimes writes songs, and…"

"You!" Xu Youyu glared, face flushed, lunging again to tackle Li Luo and silence him.

But Li Luo anticipated it—he sidestepped, dodged around Qianzhou, and executed a perfect "Qin Wang Rào Zhù," evading her grasp entirely.

Qianzhou stared helplessly at these two eccentric young authors, feeling as if he were babysitting.

This chaos—if you knew, you'd realize he was just an editor; if you didn't, you'd think he was taking kids out for a stroll.

"Alright, alright—we're here," Qianzhou stopped walking and pointed to the roadside barbecue spot. "Still eating?"

Xu Youyu halted, let out a heavy huff, stomped angrily, and marched into the restaurant first.

Li Luo followed behind Qianzhou, entering the restaurant and taking a seat at a table.

Qianzhou and Li Luo sat side by side; Xu Youyu sat directly across from Li Luo.

After grabbing the menu, Xu Youyu swiftly ordered barbecue, then waved her hand at the server. "Bring a case of beer."

"Huh?" The only adult present blinked, whispering, "Drinking isn't a good idea…"

"Why not?" Xu Youyu glanced at Qianzhou in surprise. "Editor, you can't handle it?"

"What does that have to do with me?" Qianzhou's face darkened. "You two are minors! Why are you drinking outside?"

"You're not my dad or mom—why do you care so much?" Xu Youyu waved her hand. "Li Luo and I drink at home all the time—it's fine."

"At home?" Qianzhou paused, confused. "What do you mean 'at home'?"

"Uh… we lived together during school," Li Luo whispered. "My house is big, with two rooms rented out. She rented one—she's my tenant, I'm her landlord."

Qianzhou: "... Just how complicated is your relationship?"

Originally, Qianzhou had assumed they were merely classmates from the same school, maybe just close at school.

Turns out you two live under the same roof?

You both secretly wrote novels and had no idea about each other.

Could such a coincidence even exist?

And even more absurd—both of you are authors under my management.

Stunned, Qianzhou glanced between Xu Youyu and Li Luo, then whispered to Li Luo's ear: "Did you two ever date? Then what's your relationship with Yuan Wanqing's daughter?"

"Bro, what are you even thinking?" Li Luo said, exasperated. "We're just friends—nothing like what you imagine."

"Who's 'they'?" Xu Youyu asked suspiciously from across the table. "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing," Qianzhou shook his head. "Just talking about his female lead."

"Oh, that," Xu Youyu chuckled. "His book's got more than just me—Mo Qinghan is Zhusheng, Shen Dongdong is Chanxi, right? You really know how to take inspiration."

After Xu Youyu said that, Li Luo was instantly covered in black lines: "Novels are pure fiction; don't connect them to reality. You're just overthinking."

"Hmph." Xu Youyu didn't believe his nonsense. "You fantasize about the three of us in your books every day—I won't even scold you. Dare you say that when you're typing those scenes, you never pictured any of us in your mind?"

Xu Youyu was still the same Xu Youyu—she never beat around the bush.

Her question left Li Luo speechless. He stammered, trying to explain—how fiction draws from reality, how writing is all imagination, how once you enter the flow, you don't think that much…—but in the end, he couldn't produce a single coherent argument.

As the three chatted, the barbecue arrived, and a crate of beer was already set down.

Watching Xu Youyu expertly pry open the beer bottle cap, Qianzhou fell into thought: how many drinks had this Miss consumed in her life?

Her technique was even more practiced than his.

But soon, Li Luo and Xu Youyu returned to discussing the recent misunderstanding over their pseudonyms, and the blame once again landed squarely on Qianzhou.

"It's all the editor's fault. He knew one of his authors was coming to the panel, but didn't bother to say who else would be there."

"True. Once the contest results came out, he didn't even tell us who the other winners were."

The two of them sang in perfect harmony, dumping all responsibility onto Qianzhou.

But soon, Qianzhou sensed something was off.

When he realized the logical flaw in their reasoning, he couldn't help saying: "Wait a minute."

"Logically, you two didn't even know each other wrote novels."

"So even if I told you Chongran or Zao Shui was coming to the panel, you still wouldn't know the other's real identity."

"Wouldn't you still need to meet face-to-face to find out who was behind the pseudonym?"

"So why is this my fault? It was bound to happen anyway!"

At Qianzhou's words, Li Luo and Xu Youyu exchanged a glance—and froze.

Thinking it over, it really did make sense.

But Xu Youyu sneered and shook her head: "You don't get it. I've known Chongran was him all along—I just pretended not to."

"What?!"

Li Luo leapt out of his seat, trembling finger pointing at Xu Youyu, face filled with disbelief. "Y-you… when did you find out?!"

Seeing Li Luo's stunned expression, Xu Youyu finally felt some pleasure. She laughed triumphantly and boasted: "I've known since day one."

"I knew the moment you moved in."

"Remember when you cooked for the first time? I, Xixi, and Zhao Rongjun were waiting in the living room."

"While we chatted, I asked them if they'd added you on QQ, and casually asked for your QQ number—I thought I'd add you too."

"Guess what happened?"

"Your QQ number was the exact same one the editor gave me for Chongran!"

"Isn't that a coincidence?"

"At that moment, I already guessed Chongran was you."

After hearing this, Li Luo felt utterly deflated.

So all this time he'd been hiding it—yet Xu Youyu had known everything all along?

He considered telling her he had known she was Zao Shui, the president who grows taller.

But then he realized: he'd only learned that through rebirth—it was hard to explain, and after thinking it over, he decided not to boast about it.

So Li Luo could only scowl and accept Xu Youyu's blunt mockery.

Only Qianzhou, beside them, looked utterly speechless: "So you knew all along… and you pretended not to?"

"What do you mean 'pretended'?" Xu Youyu widened her eyes. "If I'd exposed him, wouldn't I have exposed myself? I'm not that stupid!"

"But now you both know," Qianzhou said helplessly. "It's an Online Novel—everyone knows what's written. Once it's out in the open, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Just let it go."

"Easy for you to say," Li Luo chuckled dryly.

"Exactly!" Xu Youyu agreed, clinking her bottle against Qianzhou's. "Editor, drink up! Tonight, I won't let you leave until you're drunk—I'll change my surname to anything but Xu!"

"Damn! We have a meeting tomorrow—let's drink less."