Chapter 229: Uncle Xu, Let Me Explain

At noon, at a Sichuan restaurant several kilometers away from the Quanjie Hotel.

Xu Youyu and Li Luo sat in a small private room, reviewing the menu.

Of course, Li Luo was primarily the one looking at the menu, while Xu Youyu sat across from him, propping her chin on both hands, staring at Li Luo's face.

"Maple Tofu is fine. The Maple Tofu here should be good."

"Mm."

"Let's get Spicy Chicken too."

"Mm."

"Try Husband and Wife Lung Slice?"

"Mm."

"I don't know what the editor likes—let's order two more dishes when he arrives."

"Mm."

Li Luo asked the nearby server for a large bottle of Fruit Orange, then set the menu aside and turned to look at Xu Youyu across from him—then froze.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Li Luo touched his face. "Is there something on my face?"

"Nothing." Xu Youyu snapped out of it, shook her head, and smiled.

How to put it…

During the meeting earlier, Li Luo's novel had been publicly criticized by someone named Chu Sheng; Xu Youyu had expected Li Luo to stand up and launch into a furious argument.

This had worried her a little, and beneath the worry, there was a hint of anticipation.

Because she had never seen Li Luo lose his temper and yell before.

At most, he'd only gotten flustered when she teased him—nothing like pure anger.

But Xu Youyu hadn't expected Li Luo to calmly debate with the man.

Though he occasionally slipped in a few sarcastic remarks, his demeanor remained at least communicative—not the mindless aggression of someone consumed by rage.

This made Xu Youyu think of her father.

Xu Rongsheng was exactly that kind of person.

From childhood to now, Xu Youyu had rarely seen Xu Rongsheng lose his temper.

Even when her mother occasionally had petty outbursts, or when she herself acted out as a child, Xu Rongsheng always maintained a gentle demeanor and communicated with them.

How to put it…

To most ordinary girls, Li Luo standing up and yelling at Chu Sheng just now might have seemed cool.

But for Xu Youyu, raised under Xu Rongsheng's rational upbringing, seeing Li Luo's composed demeanor just now had actually made her find him unexpectedly attractive.

That feeling—of being able to communicate rationally, without fearing your meaning won't be understood!

Xu Youyu cherished this feeling.

Earlier, Xu Youyu had been puzzled about why being around Li Luo felt so comfortable.

Now, she'd found at least part of the reason.

"Sorry I'm late."

At that moment, the door opened and Qianzhou walked in, pulled out a chair, and sat down—immediately handed a menu by Li Luo.

"Order two more dishes," Li Luo said.

"Alright." Facing someone who earned 370,000 yuan a month, Qianzhou didn't bother with formality—he went straight for the most expensive items: "Pickled Cabbage Fish and Lamp Shadow Beef. That's it."

Li Luo nodded, called the server in, added two more dishes, then opened the Fruit Orange and filled everyone's glasses.

"Couldn't you two have waited for me at the hotel entrance?" Qianzhou remembered this and was speechless. "Why did I have to take a taxi alone?"

"Cough… that's a long story," Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu, who glanced back—both sighed helplessly.

"Then cut to the chase—could there really be some secret?"

"It's like this," Li Luo sighed and told Qianzhou, "Didn't the Writers Association invite a few speakers for this morning's symposium?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"One of them is Professor Xu from Qianjiang University's Literature Department—do you know him?"

"I think so," Qianzhou nodded. "The Writers Association handles the arrangements—I'm not familiar with them. Why?"

"Normally, there'd be no issue—but…" Li Luo looked at Xu Youyu across from him and chuckled, "That Professor Xu? He's Zao Shui's father."

"What?" Qianzhou, as an editor, hadn't attended the morning symposium and didn't know what had happened.

Hearing this, his mind went blank—he stared in shock at Xu Youyu, who was covering her face in embarrassment: "Your family background isn't ordinary, Zao Shui. No wonder your writing is so good—your dad's a Literature professor? Is this what they call a scholarly family?"

"Don't say any more, Editor… ugh…" Xu Youyu covered her face, too ashamed to look up. "I'm barely avoiding him now—if Dad finds out I write Online Novels, I'll be dead."

"Actually… I think it's not that bad," Li Luo coughed lightly and shared with Qianzhou what had happened at the symposium, then turned to Xu Youyu: "Look, your dad seems pretty open-minded about Online Novels—maybe even if he finds out you write them, he won't do anything drastic?"

"You don't get it," Xu Youyu glared at him. "Have you thought about what I actually write? My dad's a Literature professor—he'll read my books carefully, cover to cover, multiple times if he finds out."

"I can already picture it: he'll drag me into his study and dissect every plot twist and structural choice I made."

"And he teaches modern and contemporary literature—if he suddenly decides to assign his students a paper analyzing The Literary Era?"

"Then I'm truly dead!"

Hearing this, Li Luo couldn't help but feel a bead of sweat: "That scary?"

To be fair, even if family members found out you wrote novels, most wouldn't actually read them.

Aside from his dad occasionally reading to pass the time, only his cheap nephew Li Xiang read his novels.

Li Luo guessed even his uncle Li Guoru had probably only skimmed the first few pages and stopped.

His mother Lin Xiuhong was much the same.

After all, even the most down-to-earth Online Novels still target specific audiences.

Especially for people who don't usually read at all—it's even more true.

The only one actually reading seriously is probably Yan Zhusheng.

Of course, now Li Luo knows that Xu Youyu must be added to that list too.

But after hearing Xu Youyu say this, Li Luo suddenly realized how terrifying Xu Rongsheng could be.

The next second, Li Luo's expression changed instantly.

"But your dad doesn't know you're writing a novel—he knows I am!" Li Luo gasped in horror, "Damn it! My book won't end up in my uncle's students' theses, will it?"

"That's hard to say," Xu Youyu chuckled, a hint of malicious glee in her voice as she imagined it, "since Dad already knows you're writing, he'll definitely take a look."

Hearing this, Li Luo's face darkened: "... Damn Chu Sheng!"

Back in the conference hall, I was too restrained. I should've cursed louder.

The main reason was Xu Rongsheng was there—I just couldn't lose my temper.

Now I realize I got royally screwed.

"Then so be it." Li Luo's gaze turned to Xu Youyu, whose face still beamed brightly, and his eyes darkened, "If I can drag Senior Yan into this, will it be better?"

"No way!" Xu Youyu panicked and begged, "Didn't you forget our three rules? You can't break them!"

"But you haven't helped me out either!" Li Luo complained, "My pseudonym's already exposed to your dad."

"That's all Chu Sheng's fault—he pointed at you by name and challenged you on the spot. What could I do?" Xu Youyu looked exasperated, "You're just unlucky."

"But…" Qianzhou couldn't help interjecting, offering a well-meaning reminder, "Go to sleep early—the afternoon essay award ceremony has one first prize, three second prizes, and six third prizes."

"The first prize will be awarded by Secretary Cao, the second prizes by Chairman Li, and the third prizes by the other three guests."

"That means when you go up to receive your award, Professor Xu should be there—and he'll be the one handing it out…"

"Huh?" At these words, Xu Youyu's face turned pale, then instantly twisted into a pitiful expression as she pleaded with Qianzhou, "Editor! I have the most important request of my life! Please…"

Qianzhou knew exactly what she meant—he was half-amused, half-exasperated: "Alright, alright, I get it. I'll ask later."

"According to regulations, the winner must come up to collect the award."

"But under special circumstances, exceptions can be made—I'll see if I can get permission to collect it for you."

"Ohhh~" Xu Youyu cheered, "Editor, you're a lifesaver!"

Watching Xu Youyu likely escape unscathed, Li Luo clicked his tongue twice: "So I'm the only one who gets screwed?"

"Since Li Luo's already known to Dad, it doesn't matter whether you go up or not," Xu Youyu pulled over a chair and sat beside Li Luo, patting his shoulder with a grin, "Poor you, sis will feed you some food, okay?"

Saying this, she picked up her chopsticks and placed a piece of spicy chicken on his plate.

Li Luo rolled his eyes at her, utterly at a loss for words.

Right now, only the fifty-thousand-yuan prize money could slightly soothe his wounded soul.

But then again—

Once social death happens too often, a person gradually becomes numb to it.

Even if Xu Rongsheng now knows he writes novels, Li Luo felt his thick skin was finally developing.

…

After lunch, Qianzhou called the Writers' Association staff in the restaurant's private room, in front of Xu Youyu, pretending she had suddenly fallen ill and needed to go to the hospital for a checkup, so she couldn't attend the award ceremony.

"Who was it again?" Sun Jingchun frowned over the phone.

"Uh… the pen name is Zao Shui Hui Chang Gao," Qianzhou repeated nervously.

"Oh, you mean Xu Youyu?" Sun Jingchun's tone turned oddly strange, "What's wrong with her?"

"Uh… nothing serious—just… her period came, severe dysmenorrhea, she needs to go to the hospital, she'll probably miss the ceremony," Qianzhou lied with gritted teeth.

"Oh~ I see," Sun Jingchun nodded, "Understood—special circumstances are understandable. Then please help her collect the award."

"No problem," Qianzhou nodded vigorously, giving Xu Youyu a thumbs-up beside him.

Seeing Qianzhou's gesture, Xu Youyu jumped up in excitement, clapped her hands, and reached out for a high-five with Li Luo.

Li Luo sighed and gave her a half-hearted tap.

Meanwhile, Qianzhou had hung up and added, "You don't need to go on stage, but they also said that after you return from the hospital, you must go to the Writers' Association to have a photo taken."

"It'll be displayed on the official and online Writers' Association photo wall—your picture will be edited in."

"That should be fine, right? Your dad probably won't travel all the way downtown just to check the photo wall."

"Mm-hmm," Xu Youyu nodded happily, "Definitely not—he'd never do that. Perfect!"

"How boring," Li Luo sighed, "I'd rather see your face when Dad sees you on stage accepting the award."

"Hmph, can't you think of something nice for me?" Xu Youyu snapped.

"You were just gleeful a moment ago," Li Luo glanced sideways at her, "Total hypocrite."

After resolving the award ceremony issue, Xu Youyu felt light as air and took a taxi with Li Luo and Qianzhou toward the hotel.

But just as Xu Youyu, smiling and relaxed, walked beside Li Luo through the lobby of the Quanjing Hotel, heading toward the elevator, a voice she knew all too well called out.

"Youyu? What are you doing here?"

At the sound, she froze completely in place.

Turning her head, she saw Xu Rongsheng sitting in the lounge area beside the front desk—he had just stood up and was walking toward them, looking utterly bewildered.

In that instant, Xu Youyu's mind went blank with a deafening buzz.

In sheer panic, she instinctively grabbed Li Luo's sleeve and ducked behind him, pretending not to know him.

"Li Luo, Li Luo! Think of something!" she whispered desperately, "We're going to be found out! What do we do? What do we do? Help me!"

Li Luo felt the trembling woman cowering behind him—he was half-amused, half-exasperated.

Didn't she just seem so bold a moment ago?

Now she's begging him, huh?

I really can't do anything about you…

"Why are you hiding?" Xu Rongsheng stepped in front of Li Luo and peered around him, "I'm not blind—why hide behind Li Luo?"

He said so out loud, but Xu Rongsheng saw that Xu Youyu didn't look like she was suffering from menstrual cramps, and he felt a sigh of relief inside.

Anyway, as long as she was unharmed, that was what mattered.