Chapter 227: Father and Daughter Finally Meet

February 8th, Sunday morning.

Li Luo got out of bed before eight, quickly washed up, then went to the next room, knocked on Xu Youyu's door, and guided her into the bathroom to wash up.

After both of them got ready, they went down to the hotel restaurant on the second floor and had a simple breakfast.

By the time they set off for the adjacent conference hall, it was nearly half past eight.

They hurried to the conference hall, signed in at the entrance, showed their identity badges, were let in, then found seats in a corner at the back and sat down to wait quietly for the meeting to begin.

"Isn't today's speaker from the Writers' Association?" Xu Youyu said. "Sounds super boring."

As she spoke, she opened her backpack, pulled out a laptop, and placed it on the table, turning it on.

Seeing this, Li Luo's eyes widened: "You brought a laptop and didn't remind me? I would've brought mine too."

"You're dumb," Xu Youyu snorted smugly. "You still haven't learned from yesterday's lesson—online novel authors' sharing sessions are already boring enough. Do you really expect the Writers' Association people to say anything interesting?"

"So you're planning to write now?" Li Luo asked.

"No way," Xu Youyu shook her head vigorously. "I wrote one chapter last night as backup. I can write the next one tonight."

"Then why not write one now? That way, you can write two more tonight like you did last night, and you'll have 4,000 words in backup."

"You're so annoying," Xu Youyu said seriously. "I saved chapters last night precisely so I could enjoy a little peace today. Otherwise, what's the point of saving?"

Li Luo gave her a thumbs-up, acknowledging her logic.

As the two chatted, Sun Jingchun, the host of today's meeting, had already taken the stage and sat down.

"I'm delighted that we've gathered here today for this online literature symposium."

Sun Jingchun smiled warmly at the audience below and spoke methodically:

"Yesterday, we successfully held an internal sharing session among our online novel authors, and the response was excellent."

"Today, our Writers' Association has specially invited several guests to join us in discussing the current state and future development of online literature."

"Our first guest is Cao Qiwén, Deputy Secretary of the Qianjiang Province Writers' Association!"

At these words, a middle-aged man in the front row stood up and waved and nodded to the crowd behind him.

Li Luo and the others in the audience clapped enthusiastically in response.

"The second guest is Li Yuhang, Chairman of the Yuhang City Writers' Association!"

"The third guest is Chú Shèng, first-prize winner of the latest Yuhang City New Writers Selection!"

"The fourth guest is Xià Liè, Editor-in-Chief from the Qianjiang Media Group, who has extensively researched and reported on online novels!"

"The final guest is Xu Rongsheng, Professor from the Department of Literature at Qianjiang University!"

After listing these names, thunderous applause filled the hall.

But in the back corner, two people froze, stunned.

Xu Youyu had been clapping half-heartedly just to blend in, her full attention fixed on her laptop, scrolling through Weibo, devouring celebrity gossip to gather material.

Then, when Sun Jingchun uttered the last name, she was completely stunned.

The instant she heard her father's name, Xu Youyu instinctively glanced toward the front row.

There, Xu Rongsheng stood up, smiling warmly and waving to the audience.

Though only for a few seconds, Xu Rongsheng's gaze swept the entire hall and effortlessly spotted Xu Youyu and Li Luo sitting in the corner.

In that instant, Xu Youyu's heart leapt—a sense of dread surged deep within her.

The moment she saw her father, she immediately ducked her head, frantically hiding behind her laptop screen to block his view.

Beside her, Li Luo also lowered his head guiltily, heart pounding, whispering to Xu Youyu: "Why is your dad here? Didn't you know?"

"My dad did mention at dinner that he'd be attending a city meeting these two days," Xu Youyu whispered back, dumbfounded. "But how was I supposed to guess it'd be this Writers' Association symposium?!"

"What's he even doing here? He never reads online novels!"

"Do you think he didn't see us?"

Li Luo's lips twitched, equally speechless: "Probably didn't. There are hundreds of people here. We're way in the back—he probably just glanced over. He couldn't have noticed us."

"Good…," Xu Youyu exhaled slightly, patting her chest, calming down. "That just scared the hell out of me."

"If Dad finds out I write online novels, I'm dead."

"Should we just sneak out?"

"Sneak out where?" Li Luo glanced at the closed door behind them. "That door makes a loud noise when it opens. Aren't you afraid he'll hear it, turn around, and spot us?"

"Then what do we do?!" Xu Youyu looked frantic, wishing she could dig a hole and bury herself right now.

"Calm down," Li Luo whispered. "Your dad's in the front row. He'll definitely come up to speak later. The stage isn't high—we just keep our heads down. He won't notice us."

"Then after the morning symposium ends, we slip out with the crowd and head straight back to the hotel."

"The real problem is: will your dad attend the afternoon award ceremony?"

"If he does—even if he's handing out prizes—we'll be exposed for sure."

At this, Xu Youyu's face turned pale. She instinctively grabbed Li Luo's hand: "W-What do we do? Can I just skip the award ceremony? I don't even want the ten-thousand-yuan prize."

"Don't panic yet," Li Luo sighed helplessly. "We'll play it by ear. After lunch, ask the editor. If your dad is definitely involved in the award ceremony, we'll figure something out."

Xu Youyu nodded, feeling slightly relieved—but the thought of her father sitting right up front still made her uneasy.

The energetic, cheerful senior from yesterday had turned into a timid little mouse, hiding and dodging, terrified of being caught by her father, the old cat.

Xu Youyu hadn't heard a word of the speeches from the Deputy Secretary of the Qianjiang Province Writers' Association or the City Chairman.

She hadn't even touched her laptop.

Her mind was completely foggy.

Li Luo was slightly better off, but he had no interest in listening to the speakers either. He kept glancing at his phone to check the time, ready to bolt the moment the meeting ended.

Honestly, if he himself were discovered by Xu Rongsheng, it wouldn't matter—he'd already experienced social death several times and was somewhat used to it.

But out of respect for the three rules he'd made with Xu Youyu the night before, Li Luo was willing to help her hide.

After all, if Xu Rongsheng found out and forbade her from writing online novels—especially if he took her home to live—life would lose a lot of its fun.

Thinking of this, Li Luo also solidified his resolve.

Although in his previous life, Xu Rongsheng had been quite open-minded upon learning his daughter wrote online novels, and hadn't stopped or denied her.

But Xu Youyu was still only a Gao Zhongsheng; if Xu Rongsheng found out ahead of time, anything could happen.

So to be safe, it was better not to let Xu Rongsheng discover it.

But just as Li Luo thought this, Chu Reng, the newcomer writer introduced by Sun Jingchun as a rising author from Yuhang City, stepped onto the stage.

This thirty-year-old writer was the youngest among the five invited guests.

After taking the stage, he sat at the podium, smiled, raised his speech manuscript, gripped it with both hands, and in front of everyone, slowly, slowly tore it into two halves.

Then he smiled and said: "Yesterday, when you held your so-called sharing and exchange meeting here, we were in the adjacent conference room, discussing the original draft of this speech."

"Then my manuscript was returned, and ended up as this thing."

Saying this, he pointed at the torn manuscript, then continued.

"I hate false speech the most; if I have to read a speech that isn't mine, I'd rather die."

"As for online novels, I have only two words: garbage!"

"Worse than garbage!"

"I didn't want to say it so harshly; the original draft didn't include such foul language."

"But after the manuscript was altered, I couldn't sleep last night—I thought of so much."

"In the end, I decided to speak some truths here."

"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to say it."

"Before coming to this forum, I specifically downloaded a Qidian app and skimmed through a few novels."

"Aren't you holding a writing contest?"

"The first-prize novel, I Am Really Not a Star—I glanced at it, and all I can say is it's an eyesore!"

"Then I asked around—wow, this was written by a sixteen-year-old Gao Zhongsheng!"

"Look at what you people have written!"

"Because of you, what have you turned today's children into? Writing this kind of thing at sixteen?"

"All they care about is becoming a star, yet they can't write good works for country and people—this generation of youth will be poisoned by such trash!"

"I heard the young author is here today? His pen name is Chongran, right? His real name is Li Luo, isn't it?"

"Come on, stand up so I can see you."

"Which one are you?"

His words fell.

Li Luo in the back row immediately changed expression, silently cursing inside.

You can curse all you want, but why the hell did you call out my name?

Are you insane?!