Chapter 232

If Li Luo on the corridor had been an ant on a hot pan, frantically circling and desperately explaining to Xu Rongsheng,

then Xu Youyu, who had just slammed the door shut, her face flushed crimson even to her earlobes, was now a grasshopper roasted in the fire—completely done.

How could she have imagined that her impulsive joke, meant only to tease Li Luo, had been watched by her own father?

This was way too embarrassing!

Just thinking about it made her toes curl into the floor, wishing she could just bash her head against the wall right now.

Yet among the three people present, Xu Rongsheng was the calmest.

Unlike many ordinary parents, Xu Rongsheng had excellent self-control and could fully manage his emotions even under sudden circumstances.

After hearing Li Luo's explanation, he merely nodded slightly, glanced at the closed door, and raised his hand to knock.

"Youyu, open the door," Xu Rongsheng said. "Running away from problems is shameful, especially when you leave someone else outside to face them while you hide inside—do you think that's right?"

Hearing this, Xu Youyu inside finally calmed down a little.

After all, he was her father—she knew Xu Rongsheng's temperament well.

As long as it wasn't a matter of principle, he wouldn't escalate things unnecessarily.

For an incident like this, if she explained properly, surely she could clear it up?

"J-just wait a moment," Xu Youyu replied softly from behind the door. "Let me change my clothes first."

"Alright," Xu Rongsheng nodded. "Hurry up."

"Coming, coming," Xu Youyu called back, then immediately dashed to the bed, shed her bathrobe, and hurriedly pulled on her clothes.

Outside on the corridor, the atmosphere sank back into silence.

Li Luo stole a glance at Xu Rongsheng; his expression had returned to normal, showing no visible reaction, which made Li Luo feel uneasy.

If he got the wrong idea, this would turn into a huge mess.

Fortunately, Xu Youyu inside moved quickly, changed into her clothes soon, and ran to the door to open it.

But upon seeing her father again, Xu Youyu still felt guilty and avoided his gaze, lowering her head.

Seeing this, Li Luo winced inwardly, thinking: Sister, why are you acting so guilty?!

We have absolutely no romantic relationship—why don't you just stand your ground and act confident?

Your reaction makes it look like we really did something!

If we had, fine—but I haven't done anything at all! Can't you just not blame me for this?

As Li Luo thought this, Xu Rongsheng stepped into the bedroom.

He said nothing, walked straight into the bathroom, glanced at the trash bin inside, then came out, checked the trash bin beside the bed, and swept his eyes over the desk and nightstand.

Finally, he sat on the chair, gestured to Xu Youyu, paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and finally asked: "Didn't you two use protection?"

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Li Luo: "...?"

Xu Youyu: "...?!"

"Dad! What are you thinking?!" Xu Youyu, being a seasoned veteran, understood instantly—her cheeks flushed red, and she lightly punched his shoulder. "Li Luo and I aren't like that!"

"Then what just happened?" Xu Rongsheng narrowed his eyes, his expression serious. "I'm not some old-fashioned fool—if you really have a partner and something happened, it's already done, and regret won't change it."

"So instead of lying and hiding it from me, it's better to come clean now."

"I have no objection to Li Luo—he's a good guy, and his grades are solid."

"Although it's still early to be dating in high school, if something has already happened, you need to think about how to solve it."

"Especially regarding safety measures—schools don't teach this, but I remember your mother already talked to you privately about this before. Did you even pay attention?"

"I won't interrogate you, but I have one demand: don't hide anything from me."

"Tell me clearly, so we can fix it."

"Do you understand?"

Listening to this whole speech, it was clear Xu Rongsheng had already prepared for the worst-case scenario.

His mental preparation had been completed in those few minutes on the corridor.

One could imagine that although his face had remained calm outside, his heart had been in turmoil.

But his long-honed rationality had still prevailed, allowing him to sit here calmly and communicate normally with the two kids.

If any other girl's parent had seen what just happened, they'd probably have smashed Li Luo's head already.

But after hearing Xu Rongsheng's speech, both Li Luo and Xu Youyu suddenly felt a headache.

This had truly spiraled out of control.

"Mr. Xu, it's not at all what you think," Li Luo sighed, rubbing his forehead. "This noon, Sister Xu's bedsheet got accidentally wet, and the room service attendant won't arrive for half an hour, so she's temporarily staying in my room."

For safety, Li Luo repeated his earlier explanation from the corridor, aligning his story with Xu Youyu face-to-face to avoid inconsistencies.

Hearing this, Xu Youyu immediately understood and picked up the thread: "I just napped here this afternoon, then the AC was too high—I woke up sweating."

"I thought I'd just take a shower, otherwise I'd feel sticky."

"It was only a little past two—figuring Li Luo wouldn't be back so early, I was too lazy to go back to my own room, so I showered here."

"Besides, the keycard was inside the room—he'd have to knock if he came back, so I wasn't worried he'd barge in."

"After showering, I watched TV a bit, then got sleepy around three, and fell asleep on the bed."

"I slept until I was woken by your knocking—I thought only Li Luo was outside, so I decided to tease him."

"That's why I only wrapped a bathrobe, opened the door, and joked around calling him 'big brother'—it was all just a prank, Dad, you took it seriously?"

Xu Rongsheng narrowed his eyes, mentally weighing it—all their explanations made logical sense.

But.

"How could a girl like you possibly walk around in just a bathrobe doing something like that?" Xu Rongsheng frowned. "Of course friends of the opposite sex can joke around, but you still need to know your limits."

"Li Luo's different!" Xu Youyu stamped her foot, turning to her father. "We live together all the time—he's seen me in pajamas before, our relationship is super familiar!"

"If it were any other guy, I definitely wouldn't have acted this way."

"Friendships have different levels of closeness—you can understand that, right, Dad?"

After hearing his daughter's explanation, Xu Rongsheng still felt somewhat skeptical.

He glanced between Xu Youyu and Li Luo, sensing something was off everywhere.

Mainly because he still had full confidence in his daughter's charm, so he simply couldn't imagine a boy being alone with her in a room and still keeping his composure.

But now, it seemed he might have misunderstood them after all?

In truth, if he could choose, Xu Rongsheng would much rather have been the one mistaken.

After all, no parent wants their daughter to lose her innocence ambiguously during high school.

After hearing both of their explanations, Xu Rongsheng couldn't help confirming again: "Really nothing?"

"Uncle Xu, if there really was anything, I wouldn't deny it," Li Luo said helplessly. "From another perspective, if I truly had any relationship with Senior, there'd be no need to hide it at all."

"For ordinary high school students, parental disapproval of dating mainly stems from the belief that students themselves aren't settled yet."

"Everything revolves around academics, all aimed at getting into a good university and landing a good job after graduation."

"Ultimately, it all boils down to securing a stable life—in crude terms, having money."

"But I've already practically skipped these stages."

"If there really was anything, I wouldn't run away."

"But right now, Senior and I are completely innocent—I couldn't possibly admit to something that isn't true."

After hearing Li Luo's words, Xu Rongsheng fell into deep thought.

No matter how you looked at it, there was some sense to what he said.

After all, Xu Rongsheng had already heard that Li Luo's novel, I Am Really Not a Star, earned a full 370,000 yuan in royalties last month alone.

That was nearly equal to his entire annual income.

Even if he counted only his salary, he couldn't earn that much.

And for Online Novels, a single work often runs for millions of characters.

If Li Luo could maintain this momentum, even just a few more months of writing would mean each month's earnings equaled his entire year's income as a university professor.

If he kept writing for a year or two, it would directly match over a decade of his hard work.

To be honest, upon reflection, in terms of earning power alone, Li Luo was far superior to him, a university professor.

If a boy with such conditions were to become involved with his daughter, Xu Rongsheng really had no grounds to object.

First, his daughter liked him.

Second, Li Luo's material conditions were impeccable.

Third, Li Luo's personality and character, from several interactions, had been quite good.

Fourth, he had met Li Luo's parents during dinner—they were sensible, well-mannered parents, not the kind without discipline.

This was probably also part of the underlying reason why Xu Rongsheng had been able to calmly communicate with the two kids earlier.

In short, he didn't dislike Li Luo at all—in fact, he quite admired him.

But due to the kids' young age, he still leaned toward a conservative stance.

If they were already in university, even if he felt a pang at his cabbage being stolen by a pig, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly.

But now, after hearing their explanation, could it really be that he'd misunderstood?

Was this whole thing just a big misunderstanding?

As the three fell into a brief silence, footsteps sounded outside the door.

Qianzhou's voice came from outside: "Chongran! In a bit, at five o'clock, the banquet will..."

Qianzhou, who had just come up from the 8th floor to find Li Luo, saw his door open and walked in without hesitation.

He'd barely finished speaking when he sensed the atmosphere inside was odd, and immediately stopped, blinking: "Uh... Professor Xu? What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Xu Rongsheng waved his hand. "Just chatting with the kids. Since your banquet's about to start, Li Luo, you go ahead—don't keep your editor waiting."

"Mm." Li Luo nodded, but before leaving, he couldn't help asking Xu Rongsheng: "Uncle Xu... about this matter?"

"You both said so—I'm not going to doubt you, am I?" Xu Rongsheng shook his head. "Go on, it's fine."

Hearing Xu Rongsheng say that, Li Luo finally relaxed slightly, turned, and followed Qianzhou to the door. Then he paused, turned back, and said: "Can I take the room card? When you leave later, just lock the door behind you."

"Got it," Xu Youyu replied, waving at Li Luo.

After Li Luo and Qianzhou left and shut the door, the room was left with only father and daughter.

"Now that Li Luo's gone, tell me again—really nothing between you two?" Xu Rongsheng asked, raising his eyes.

"Really nothing!" Xu Youyu lay back on the bed, utterly exasperated, swinging her feet. "I was just teasing him—it's not as complicated as you think. If you still don't believe me, fine, when we get back, Mom can take me to the hospital for a checkup."

"…That won't be necessary," Xu Rongsheng said, finally exhaling in relief, but then added, "Still, have you reconsidered staying at Bihai Lanting? After winter break, come back home."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu blinked, then immediately refused. "No."

"If it were just me and Li Luo living together, I'd understand why you'd want me to come back."

"But it's not just me—Ying Chanxi lives here too, and Yan Zhusheng sometimes stays over."

"Even Ying Chanxi watches movies in bed with Li Luo late at night—sleeping in the same bed and nothing happens."

"They've been childhood friends, so close, yet their parents never say a word."

"They're just classmates and friends—don't overthink it, okay?"

Hearing his daughter's words, Xu Rongsheng fell into a brief silence, wondering if he'd simply fallen behind the times.

Are kids today really this casual with their friendships?

But since Xu Youyu had said this, Xu Rongsheng didn't press further, only warned: "In any case, even if there's nothing now, if anything ever does happen, first, take precautions; second, tell Mom and me."

"Your mother and I aren't unreasonable people—you can always talk to us about these things."

"Other families might avoid discussing this, but I don't think that way—the more you hide it, the more likely problems will arise. Do you understand?"

"Got it~" Xu Youyu tugged on his father's arm, swaying it a few times. "If I ever really find someone, I won't hide it from you guys."

"With that promise, I'm a little more at ease."

"Alright, alright, so what are we having for dinner?"

"Let's go. Whatever you want to eat, Dad's treating you. We'll have something nice tonight."

"Let me think… Li Luo's treated me to plenty of good food these past few days. He's loaded now—I've taken him for quite a bit. Let him pay for lunch tomorrow too."

"That's not how it works," Xu Rongsheng scolded. "Friendship means give and take. I'll pay for tomorrow's meal. How could you kids be the ones footing the bill?"

"Dad, can you earn 370,000 a month?"

"... If you can't speak properly, say less." Xu Rongsheng's face darkened. "If I made 370,000 a month, the school would investigate me and throw me in jail!"