Chapter 231

In the afternoon's award ceremony, besides Li Luo's participation in the event titled "Entertainment Dream, Urban Spring and Autumn," there were two other awards.

One was the Top Ten Online Literature Works of Qianjiang Province in 2014.

The other was the realist-themed writing contest titled "Good Stories, Walking with the Times."

The annual top ten selection primarily targeted blockbuster works—anyone who regularly read online novels would have heard of them by name.

In comparison, the "Urban Spring and Autumn" contest Li Luo entered was limited solely to the Qidian platform's urban category, and its prestige was certainly not on the same level.

As for the realist-themed contest… it was more like an annual task the website had to fulfill just to check a box.

Its popularity didn't even match that of the "Urban Spring and Autumn" category contest.

But to Li Luo, none of this mattered.

After all, writing contests were mainly for gilding authors and their works.

Some works, merely by sounding impressive on paper, could fetch higher copyright prices.

Whether it was the monthly vote ranking #1, the annual ranking #1, the top spot in a category, pioneering a new genre, or hitting a hundred million clicks on Baidu—these data points and labels all served the same purpose.

To sell for a better price.

But for authors like Li Luo, who wrote in the plagiarism style, selling copyright was inherently difficult.

Especially film and television rights—there was no point even considering it.

So Li Luo only hoped to claim a fifty-thousand-yuan prize and then head home.

Yet this award ceremony was truly boring, and the schedule was long and tedious.

Li Luo arrived at the conference hall precisely at 1:30 p. m. and sat through a half-hour speech by Chairman Li of the city's Writers Association on the significance of realist themes.

Then came the award ceremony for the realist-themed contest.

Over a dozen winning authors stepped onto the stage one by one, leaders came up to present awards, and then they took group photos.

Afterward, another leader spoke on stage, expounding on his understanding of urban themes and emphasizing the need to guide and warn the entertainment industry—in Li Luo's eyes, it was like a lullaby.

Only when the host called his name did Li Luo snap back to awareness.

"The first-prize winning work in this year's 'Entertainment Dream, Urban Spring and Autumn' contest is 'I Am Really Not a Star,' by Chongran. Please come up, Chongran."

Under everyone's gaze, Li Luo blinked, slightly regained his composure, and stood to walk toward the stage.

He had to admit, attending this symposium had one unexpected benefit: it greatly boosted the fame of the pen name Chongran.

After his confrontation with Chu Sheng that morning, nearly every author present now knew who he was.

At such a young age, with such achievements, any online novel writer would envy him.

Even those with better results envied Li Luo's youth.

Those with worse results envied everything about him.

"The second-prize winning work is 'Literary Era,' by Zao Shui Hui Chang Gao. Please come up."

Immediately after Li Luo stepped onto the stage, the host announced Xu Youyu's work and pen name.

Qianzhou, already prepared, rose promptly and walked up to stand beside Li Luo.

Fortunately, no one had any impression of Xu Youyu—they only knew that for the past two days, a very pretty girl had always been with Li Luo. Even those who had heard Xu Youyu's pen name likely forgot it by now.

So when Qianzhou appeared on stage, no one reacted strangely.

After all, this was a male-oriented category work—if Xu Youyu herself had come up to collect the award, it would have caused a stir.

Female authors in male-oriented categories were already rare, let alone one so young and beautiful.

Among the audience, the most disappointed was naturally Xu Rongsheng.

He had finally gotten a rare chance to present an award to his daughter, but she had lied about being ill to avoid him, sending her editor up instead.

"I thought your remarks this morning were very good."

As the awards were presented, Cao Qibin, vice secretary of the Qianjiang Province Writers Association, handed Li Luo the first-prize certificate and patted his shoulder with a smile.

"Our association has recently been considering recruiting online novel authors. I think you're quite impressive."

"Our association has had very little fresh blood in recent years, and young people like you are even rarer—you might consider applying."

"Thank you, Secretary," Li Luo murmured, sticking to the principle of saying as little as possible and saying nothing extra.

In reality, the more the Writers Association progressed, the more it needed to bring in online novel authors.

In this profession, from the national perspective, the competition was all about influence.

The greater a writer's influence among the public, the more likely they were to be absorbed and co-opted.

In the past, such writers mostly came from traditional literary circles.

But with the passage of time, the rise of the internet, and the rapid development of online novels, coupled with the decline of traditional literature's influence, many things were changing.

From Secretary Cao's perspective, take the incident with Chu Sheng that morning.

If this kind of confrontation were spread by traditional writers within the association, its reach would be extremely limited.

But if the online novel authors present spread it—by simply posting a standalone chapter at the end of their serials—it could reach hundreds of millions, even over a billion readers within a single day.

Such terrifying influence had reached a level that could no longer be ignored.

Therefore, merely establishing an Online Writers Association was far from enough.

The Writers Association was already considering directly absorbing influential online novel authors into its own ranks to achieve further integration.

Authors like Li Luo—young and with great potential—were naturally prime targets for recruitment.

But Li Luo had little interest in such matters; he politely responded, collected his certificate and prize money, took the group photo with the leaders, then walked offstage with Qianzhou.

"Can we leave early?" Li Luo whispered to Qianzhou as he returned to his seat.

"Others leaving early is one thing, but you're an award winner—leaving early would look terrible," Qianzhou whispered back. "Just sit a bit longer. It's only about another hour left."

"Another hour?" Li Luo was speechless.

It was already past three.

He'd assumed the award ceremony would be quick, but he'd underestimated how much leaders loved long-winded speeches.

The award ceremony was wrapped up in less than ten minutes; speeches usually take dozens of minutes.

"Here, take this back to Zao Shui," Qianzhou whispered, handing Li Luo the certificate and prize money.

"No, you keep it," Li Luo said quietly. "You saw at lunch—Sis still wants to hide this from her dad. Keep these for now; we'll come get them later when we have time."

"But I'm catching the high-speed train right after dinner," Qianzhou warned. "Don't forget."

"Give it to me after dinner," Li Luo thought for a moment, then said. "She's going out alone with her dad for dinner; we're going to the banquet—you can hand it to me before you leave."

"Fine," Qianzhou said, taking back the certificate and prize money, and nodding. "You two are something else. Zao Shui can't hide this from her family forever. It'll come out eventually—better to get it over with sooner."

"Then tell her that to her face," Li Luo laughed.

"Nah, better not," Qianzhou shook his head rapidly. "It's her own business—I won't meddle."

Li Luo sat in his seat, chatting idly with the editor; time passed fairly quickly.

Finally, around four-thirty in the afternoon, the Annual Top Ten award ceremony concluded perfectly.

Watching the familiar authors on stage, Li Luo felt a pang of emotion.

But as he was lost in thought, the host announced the afternoon ceremony was over, and everyone rose to leave for the banquet.

Many authors smiled and greeted Li Luo as they passed by—some were even big names who had just received awards on stage.

If Li Luo weren't so young, those older guys probably would've draped their arms around his neck and dragged him out for fun.

"Let's go," Qianzhou stood up, stretched, picked up Xu Youyu's certificate and prize money, and walked with Li Luo toward the exit.

At that moment, Xu Rongsheng walked up beside Li Luo and patted his shoulder: "Let's head back to the hotel."

Being caught by Xu Rongsheng, Li Luo felt a twinge of guilt.

On the way back to the hotel, it was Xu Rongsheng who initiated small talk.

"After we get back, I plan to take some time to read your book, I Am Really Not a Star," Xu Rongsheng said cheerfully. "Winning first prize must mean it's well-written."

Hearing this, Li Luo froze. He remembered what Xu Youyu had said at lunch, and suddenly shivered.

It was really cold this winter…

"Uncle Xu, my book's nothing special. Why not read some of the Annual Top Ten works? They're definitely better than mine," Li Luo said awkwardly. "Or maybe something more realistic? That might suit your taste better."

"What nonsense," Xu Rongsheng laughed, shaking his head. "Where did that boldness go from this morning's confrontation? I thought you had confidence in your work—I think it's perfect as a starting point for my research on Online Novels."

"Huh?" Li Luo blinked. "Research Online Novels?"

"What's wrong with that?" Xu Rongsheng smiled. "The classics of modern and contemporary literature have all been studied to death. But among today's hottest Online Novels, few actually study their mechanisms."

"I talked a lot with Editor Xia Lie today—he's interviewed many Online Novel authors and found many differences and similarities between Online Novels and traditional fiction."

"I think these are all worth studying—perfect material for a new specialized field."

Hearing Xu Rongsheng say this, Li Luo was surprised.

To be honest, in his past life, Xu Rongsheng eventually did turn to deep research on Online Novels.

But that only happened after Xu Youyu graduated college—when she earned the title of Twelve Heavenly Kings and was named Qidian's Grandmaster, she could no longer hide it, and after confessing to her family, Xu Rongsheng, under her influence, began truly understanding Online Novels.

But this life's trajectory was clearly different.

Xu Rongsheng had made this decision six or seven years earlier.

This caught Li Luo off guard.

After all, in his past life, it was only because of his own daughter's influence.

In this life, could it really be just because of his daughter's classmate—him—that Xu Rongsheng made such a shift?

Li Luo scratched his head, baffled.

Maybe Xu Rongsheng really just thought Online Novels were worth serious study.

"Oh, by the way," Xu Rongsheng suddenly remembered something and asked Li Luo, "Is Youyu's room next to yours?"

"Yes," Li Luo nodded. "I'm in 9105; she's in 9106."

"I see," Xu Rongsheng nodded, and together with Li Luo and Qianzhou, they entered the hotel elevator.

Qianzhou pressed the 8th floor button. Li Luo was about to press 9, but Xu Rongsheng pressed it first.

Li Luo thought Xu Rongsheng had pressed it for him and whispered, "Thanks."

But when the elevator stopped at the 8th floor and Qianzhou bid farewell and left, Li Luo realized Xu Rongsheng hadn't stepped out.

Li Luo was stunned. "Uncle Xu, we're at the 8th floor."

"Huh? I know," Xu Rongsheng chuckled. "But I'm going to see Youyu—we agreed at lunch to have dinner together."

At those words, Li Luo's face changed instantly—he realized something.

Earlier, when he came downstairs for the ceremony, Xu Youyu had still been sleeping in his bed!

He didn't know if she'd woken up yet.

If she was still lying there and Xu Rongsheng found her, he'd never be able to clear his name—even if he jumped into the Yin River!

Thinking of this, Li Luo quickly pulled out his phone and sent a QQ message to Xu Youyu: Xu Rongsheng's coming up.

But there was no reply.

His heart stopped, then pounded violently.

At that moment, the elevator stopped at the 9th floor. Xu Rongsheng stepped out first and walked straight to Room 9106, knocking on the door.

No response.

Xu Rongsheng frowned. "Is this girl out playing? Or just sleeping in?"

He knocked again, harder. Still no answer.

Then Xu Rongsheng turned to look at the neighboring room and noticed Li Luo hadn't moved—he was standing there, phone in hand, hesitating, staring at something.

"Li Luo, Youyu doesn't seem to be in her room. Did she say where she was going this afternoon?"

"Oh, uh, yeah… this…" Li Luo forced himself to walk to his own door and smiled awkwardly at Xu Rongsheng. "Sis should be in my room right now."

Xu Rongsheng: "…?"

When Xu Rongsheng heard Li Luo say this, his entire mind went blank.

Although he had suspected it before—after all, his own daughter was renting a room in Li Luo's home.

They had spent long periods together, and both secretly wrote novels; they likely had plenty in common.

This time, they had come together to attend the symposium, their relationship clearly very close.

So even though he knew they were sleeping in separate rooms, Xu Rongsheng still felt slightly worried.

But he hadn't expected Li Luo to be so bold—to openly admit it right in front of him!

"It's like this…" Li Luo quickly explained, "After lunch, Senior Sister went back to her room and accidentally wet the bedsheet. She called the front desk to request a replacement, but they said the staff was still having lunch and it would take about half an hour."

"Senior Sister was very sleepy, so she just came over to my room to borrow my bed and take a nap."

"So if Senior Sister didn't return to her own room afterward, she must've stayed in my room."

As he spoke, Li Luo raised his hand and knocked on his own door.

Watching his motion, Xu Rongsheng beside him asked, "Don't you have your key card? Just swipe it."

"I only have one key card, and it's still plugged into the room to keep the air conditioning on, so I didn't bring it," Li Luo said, then knocked again several times.

This wasn't him stalling—the facts truly were as he said.

After all, in the dead of winter, without the air conditioning on, no one could sleep.

But after Li Luo knocked several times, there was no response from inside.

Xu Rongsheng frowned and reached out, striking the door hard several times.

This time, there was finally some movement from within.

After a few footsteps, the door to Room 9105 opened a narrow crack.

Xu Youyu was wrapped in a bathrobe, rubbing her sleepy eyes, peering through the gap—barely the width of half her face—and, recognizing Li Luo, burst into a giggling laugh, sweet and drowsy, saying to him:

"Brother~ You're back?"

Before she finished speaking, Li Luo was startled into a full-body shiver, instinctively stepping back half a pace, his side hand frantically pointing toward Xu Rongsheng on his right, desperately blinking to signal Xu Youyu.

At that moment, Xu Rongsheng had narrowed his eyes, staring at his daughter's bathrobe, her bare feet, her slightly disheveled hair, and fell silent.

At this moment.

Xu Youyu, noticing Li Luo's odd reaction, finally caught sight of his subtle gesture.

Following the direction of his finger, she turned in confusion—and saw a face as cold and still as water.

"Ahh!!!"

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

In the hallway, only Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng remained, silence settling between them.

Li Luo's neck stiffened as he reluctantly looked toward Xu Rongsheng, forced a glance at him, then gave a forced laugh and raised both hands in a calming gesture.

"Uncle Xu, let me explain."

"Often, what you hear isn't true, and even what you see isn't necessarily real."

"It's definitely not how you think right now!"