Chapter 233

At 6 p. m., in a small restaurant near the Quanjie Hotel, Xu Rongsheng and Xu Youyu sat together eating dinner.

The father and daughter ate while chatting; after clearing up the earlier misunderstanding, the conversation gradually returned to normal.

Yet the topic still occasionally revolved around Li Luo.

Clearly, since yesterday discovering his daughter had attended the symposium with Li Luo, then partnered with him for the morning speech, and now this evening's misunderstanding, Xu Rongsheng's curiosity and desire to investigate Li Luo had reached its peak.

But Xu Rongsheng clearly wouldn't interrogate Xu Youyu like a police officer checking household registration.

Instead, he gently guided the conversation, first asking trivial, unrelated questions, then naturally steering it toward Li Luo.

From Xu Youyu's descriptions, Xu Rongsheng gradually built up a complete, concrete image of Li Luo.

A first-year high school boy with a humorous, witty personality, calm and composed in action, excellent academic performance, and considerable skill in online novel writing.

o￠o

To be honest, encountering a boy like this these days is truly rare.

Moreover, from Xu Youyu's account, Xu Rongsheng learned that Li Luo could even play guitar and write his own songs.

Among them, Li Luo's original song "Year Rings," selected by singer Yuan Wanqing as the theme song for a TV drama, became a massive hit.

According to Xu Youyu, the kind of entertainment novels Li Luo writes feature protagonists who directly plagiarize existing classic works from the real world.

For readers, what they want is the satisfying plotlines where these classic works dominate the fictional world.

From the reader's perspective, Xu Rongsheng could understand the fun and anticipation behind it.

Thus, Li Luo's practice of embedding his original songs into entertainment novels was extremely rare among such authors.

And among this tiny minority, only one person had actually produced original songs that reached widespread popularity through singers—Li Luo alone.

This alone revealed Li Luo's exceptional talent.

Xu Rongsheng had originally thought that earning 370,000 yuan in monthly royalties was already astonishing for someone Li Luo's age.

But he hadn't expected something even more astonishing.

How enormous were the profits behind the hit song "Year Rings"?

Even if, as a mere lyricist and composer, he received only a small share, it was certainly impossible for his income to be limited to just 370,000 yuan.

Just from "Year Rings" alone, Li Luo's earnings likely already exceeded 370,000 yuan.

And the facts confirmed this.

From the initial 80,000-yuan buyout fee for "Year Rings" as the TV drama's theme song, to Yuan Wanqing's additional royalties from appearances on variety shows, then the last-minute 200,000-yuan ticket sales, and subsequent supplementary contracts—all added up to earnings far beyond 370,000 yuan.

Moreover, according to Xu Youyu, Li Luo had written more than just this one song; if he had "Year Rings," he must have sold many others privately.

Looking at it this way, wasn't novel writing perhaps not even Li Luo's most profitable venture?

The thought made Xu Rongsheng gasp.

A high school student with such astonishing earning power was genuinely frightening.

The key was that despite all this wealth, Li Luo still maintained humility and composure, showing none of the arrogance typical of young men who achieve sudden fame.

Such qualities were truly precious.

Xu Rongsheng had met and heard of many youths who rose to fame early, but none reached Li Luo's level.

Calling him a young prodigy was entirely justified.

And with Xu Youyu's reminder, Xu Rongsheng suddenly recalled: "Your mom is my self-respect? I remember the lyrics went something like that, right? Your mom's been humming this song while cooking lately."

"... It's 'My self-respect is thick and dense.'" Xu Youyu looked unimpressed. "You heard it wrong."

"Ahem... I thought the lyrics sounded weird. It's because your mom sings with an accent."

As the father and daughter chatted casually, centered on Li Luo, Xu Youyu spoke enthusiastically, and Xu Rongsheng happily listened.

After over half an hour of talking, the food was nearly finished.

Both put down their chopsticks and took a brief rest.

Xu Youyu pulled out her phone and scrolled through it, seeing numerous banquet photos Li Luo had sent her on QQ—she couldn't help but envy them.

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: You're such a jerk! Eating alone is bad enough, but now you send photos to taunt me!

【Chongran】: I was thinking of you, senior! Sending photos to satisfy your cravings.

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: So I should thank you? I can't eat it, and you can't shove food through the screen!

【Chongran】: That's impossible, but I can pack some for you—what do you want to eat?

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: Nah, forget it. Just treat me to late-night snacks tonight.

【Chongran】: Fine. After I finish writing tonight, I'll treat you. Have you and your dad returned to the hotel yet?

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: Not yet, but we've finished eating and are heading back right away.

【Chongran】: Got it. I'm about done too—they're all going out to play, so I'm heading back to the hotel.

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: Yeah yeah! We're coming back too! Let's write together tonight!

【Chongran】: Understood. But did you explain everything to your dad?

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: Don't worry, my dad's easygoing. We explained clearly enough—but don't mention the research part, or he'll scold me again.

【Chongran】: Understood.

After chatting with Li Luo, Xu Youyu finished her drink, turned to look at Xu Rongsheng, and found her father holding his phone, carefully scrolling through the screen, clearly reading something.

Xu Youyu leaned over curiously. "Dad, what are you looking at?"

"Oh, reading Li Luo's novel," Xu Rongsheng tilted his phone toward her. "'I Am Really Not a Star'—I'd heard about its time-travel elements before."

"But concepts like parallel worlds and system god-powers—I've never seen them in a novel before."

"Looking at it this way, it's quite novel. No wonder today's youth love it."

Xu Rongsheng commented as he read: "How to put it? It feels absurd yet strangely plausible."

"If there really existed a parallel world where history, from ancient times to now, differed entirely from ours, and all cultural works were completely different..."

"And the protagonist possessed a system that provided every outstanding work from the real world..."

For readers, this creates anticipation for the protagonist to unveil those universally acclaimed masterpieces and shine brilliantly in a parallel world.

This opening technique—straight to the point, cutting straight to the core, instantly seizing the reader's attention—is indeed somewhat progressive.

At least in my reading experience, only a few works like *The Million Pound Bank Note* and *Robinson Crusoe* can instill this sense of anticipation from the very beginning.

Compared to the two works I mentioned, Li Luo's novel is far more direct and blunt in building anticipation at the start—almost crudely slapping it onto the reader's face.

It's as if it's pulling the reader's ears and shouting, "I'll write amazing stuff later—just keep reading!"

Seen this way, the lengthy format of online novels might have a reasonable explanation.

After all, as long as there is a constant stream of outstanding real-world works, one can write endlessly, endlessly repeating the same plot pattern.

Xu Rongsheng began reading Li Luo's book during lunch and had only finished twenty or thirty chapters by now, yet he had already summarized much.

Xu Youyu listened as her father spoke with such insight, barely holding back her laughter and nodding repeatedly.

The thought of Li Luo's book being read entirely by her father filled Xu Youyu with a sense of schadenfreude.

But then she reconsidered—Li Luo was, in a way, taking the blow for her—so she forced herself to suppress her laughter and maintain a serious facade.

"Dad, you're right—he uses the same method of borrowing from real-world classics in his later plotlines," Xu Youyu nodded. "But it's just too enjoyable; readers get hooked and can't stop."

"A trope isn't outdated if it works," Xu Rongsheng chuckled. "Even those so-called classic masterpieces—if you nitpick and scrutinize them—how many truly escape the logic of storytelling itself?"

"For example, *Robinson Crusoe*—its original title upon publication wasn't even that. That's already a simplified version."

"The actual title was over sixty English words long, and translated roughly means—"

"*The Strange and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who, After Being Shipwrecked, Lived Alone on the Coast of America, on a Deserted Island Near the Mouth of the Orinoco River, for Twenty-Eight Years, and Was Finally Rescued in an Unbelievable Manner by Pirates—Written by Himself*."

"Like Li Luo, Defoe deliberately gave this book an absurdly long title to hook readers the moment they laid eyes on it."

"And the entire book's content revolves around Robinson's gradual survival and development after being stranded on the island—in truth, it's nothing but a chain of tropes."

"But that doesn't prevent it from becoming a classic."

After hearing her father's remarks, Xu Youyu grinned and nodded. "There's actually a genre for this in online novels—we call it 'farming novels,' where the protagonist gradually builds their own power or territory, step by step toward wealth, strength, and prosperity."

"See? So online novels and so-called traditional literature aren't as sharply divided as people think—there's always transmission and innovation in between," Xu Rongsheng smiled. "Now that you've explained it, I'm even more determined to study online novels more deeply."

Saying this, Xu Rongsheng exited the reading page of *I Am Really Not a Star* and showed Xu Youyu his Qidian bookshelf.

It was already filled with numerous books—all the award-winning works from today's ceremony.

"I plan to use my winter break to read through these books, at least the beginnings, to get a general sense of current online novel formats," Xu Rongsheng said, then casually tapped open one.

As luck would have it, it was *The Literary Era* by Zao Shui Hui Chang Gao. "Look, this one seems to be about the film industry in the early 2000s. I saw Li Luo reviewed it in detail using his author account—it should be good."

Watching this unfold beside him, Xu Youyu's heart pounded violently at the mention of her own book—she nearly stopped breathing.

"Um… Dad…" Xu Youyu struggled to speak. "You don't have to go this far, do you? Online novels are so long—I think you'd be fine just finishing Li Luo's book first."

"You're worried about me?" Xu Rongsheng chuckled. "No problem. I read a lot normally—switching genres occasionally is fine. Consider this my new pastime."

Hearing Xu Rongsheng say this and seeing *The Literary Era* lying on his phone, Xu Youyu felt the world spin—her vision darkened.

Just moments ago, she had been suppressing laughter as her father read Li Luo's novel—now the retribution came so swiftly.

The thought of her father reading her own book made her feel as if she could no longer breathe.

But now… she absolutely could not let her father find out she secretly wrote novels!

Otherwise, how would she ever live?

Thinking this, Xu Youyu's expression grew resolute.

Meanwhile, Xu Rongsheng, observing his daughter's subtle facial expressions, smiled with playful amusement, put away his phone, and stood to pay at the counter.