Chapter 241: This Novel Just Keeps Making Me Angrier

After washing up in the morning, Ying Chanxi dressed herself, ran over to the neighbor's house for breakfast, and then the two families set off together to buy New Year goods at the suburban wholesale market.

Because the items they planned to buy might be numerous, one car's trunk wouldn't be enough.

So Li Guohong and Ying Zhicheng each drove their own cars.

But just as Ying Zhicheng pulled his Audi out of the garage and parked it side by side with Li Guohong's old little sedan, Ying Zhicheng watched in disbelief as three passengers got into Li Guohong's car.

"Xixi, aren't you riding with me?" Ying Zhicheng rolled down his window and asked, unable to hold back, "My car's more spacious."

"Dad, just focus on driving," Ying Chanxi replied, sitting in the backseat beside Li Luo and leaning out the window to speak to him, "I want to chat with Lin Yi."

"Fine," Ying Zhicheng sighed, then glanced at Li Guohong, who was grinning, and rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll lead the way."

"OK," Li Guohong gave a thumbs-up, waited for Ying Zhicheng to pull out of the community first, then followed behind.

Compared to Ying Zhicheng's Audi, which he bought only two years ago, Li Guohong's small sedan had been driven for seven or eight years.

Over those seven or eight years, Ying Zhicheng had replaced his car at least three times, while Li Guohong had kept the same one the whole time.

The car's interior features were clearly no match for Ying Zhicheng's Audi.

The backseat was also far less comfortable than the Audi's.

Yet Ying Chanxi still chose to get into this car, happily fastening her seatbelt and glancing at Li Luo beside her.

Meanwhile, Li Luo was watching Ying Zhicheng's Audi ahead, feeling the performance of Li Guohong's car.

This seven- or eight-year-old car was practically an old workhorse of the Li family.

The engine noise, the jolts during acceleration, the shaking when braking, the rigid seats, the creaking sound when rolling down the window—all of it spoke of one thing.

"Dad."

"What?"

"After a while, can we get a new car?" Li Luo suggested. "Look at Uncle Ying's car—it's so impressive."

"Get a new car?" Li Guohong's interest stirred at the mention, but the words died on his lips as he smiled and shook his head. "This one still runs fine. Why spend money? We don't even travel far often."

"Exactly," Lin Xiuhong added from beside him. "Better spend that money on something else. As long as it runs, the car's fine."

Hearing his wife say that, Li Guohong sighed.

But Li Luo said: "But our car has been driven for seven or eight years now. I'm not saying it's old and broken, but at least the engine and other parts have aged—over time, there's bound to be some safety risks."

"Hey hey hey!" Lin Xiuhong cut him off, turning to glare at him. "Don't say such bad luck! Tap your own mouth three times—quick!"

"Hey hey hey." Lin Xiuhong immediately cut him off, turning to glare at him. "You're driving, and you're talking such bad luck—hit yourself three times on the mouth, quick."

"Lin Yi, I'll do it." Ying Chanxi leaned over to Li Luo's side, raised her small hand, and lightly slapped his mouth three times—pa-pa-pa. "There. All fixed."

"Xixi is so sensible," Lin Xiuhong nodded approvingly, then reconsidered Li Luo's words and recalled her son's astonishing royalty payments—her mind wavered slightly. "But you're right, and your..."

Mid-sentence, Lin Xiuhong suddenly realized Ying Chanxi was in the car. She glanced at Li Luo and fell silent.

Li Luo instantly knew what his mother was about to say, so he spoke up: "Xixi and Uncle Ying already know I write novels. No need to hide it anymore."

"Huh? You told them?" Lin Xiuhong raised an eyebrow, then turned to Ying Chanxi in the backseat. Seeing her nod, she smiled. "Xixi, it's not that Auntie was hiding it—Li Luo's the one who insisted on keeping it secret."

"Huh? You told her?" Lin Xiuhong raised an eyebrow, then turned to Ying Chanxi sitting behind them. Seeing her nod, she smiled and said, "Chanxi, it's not Auntie hiding this from you—it's that Li Luo kid who insisted on keeping it secret."

"That's right, all his fault," Lin Xiuhong chuckled, then steered the topic back. "Anyway, let's put the car purchase on hold for now. Aren't you still considering a storefront? Keep the money for that—good steel must go to the sharp edge, right?"

"True," Li Luo nodded. "I was just saying it out loud. Storefront comes first, then the car."

In Li Luo's memory, his father had driven this car for eleven years.

It finally broke down when he was entering university—after scraping another car on the roadside and hitting a tree.

Li Guohong himself was unharmed, but for safety's sake, it was better to replace his father's car sooner rather than later.

Li Luo himself wasn't in a hurry—he was still underage and couldn't even learn to drive yet.

Now that he'd finally earned money, he definitely wanted to improve the family's living conditions, and buying a new car should naturally be part of the plan.

Last month, he earned 370,000 yuan in royalties—enough to buy two or three brand-new cars of the same make as his father's current one.

Lin Xiuhong in the front passenger seat, likely thinking the same thing, grew less resistant to the idea of a new car.

Lin Xiuhong in the front passenger seat, having likely thought the same thing in her mind, suddenly felt less resistant to buying a new car.

Living on three or four thousand a month is one way of life; living on thirty or forty thousand is another.

If you made three or four hundred thousand a month, your standard of living would reach an entirely new level.

But Li Luo's current monthly income of several hundred thousand yuan wasn't yet stable or lasting, so whether it was Li Luo himself, or Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong, their spending habits still clung to their old levels.

The suburban wholesale market was about a twenty-minute drive from Jincheng Community.

Li Guohong followed Ying Zhicheng's Audi, arriving there around nine-thirty in the morning.

The place consisted of several large, side-by-side open sheds, with rows upon rows of vendors selling all kinds of New Year goods.

Normally, these items could be bought at supermarkets.

But because of the New Year, they needed to buy more, so Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong came here to the wholesale market to save money wherever they could.

Once they arrived at the New Year goods market, it became Lin Xiuhong's domain.

She led the other four people effortlessly through the sheds, asking prices and directing Li Luo and the others to pick up items.

Spring couplets, window cutouts, fu characters...

Candies, nuts, fruits...

Tea, ham, Tang Yuan, niangao, walnuts...

Lin Xiuhong knew these items inside out—she'd already planned exactly what her own family needed for the New Year, what gifts to give to other households, and even thought ahead for Ying Zhicheng, saving him considerable effort.

Li Guohong and Ying Zhicheng were the two big laborers; Li Luo and Ying Chanxi were the two little laborers.

The two little ones followed Lin Xiuhong, carrying the purchased goods, while the two big ones quickly rushed the New Year goods to the cars and stuffed them into the trunks.

Li Guohong had somehow borrowed a small cart, and everyone's workload lightened immediately.

They scoured the wholesale market for over two hours before Lin Xiuhong finally stopped, and the other four took a breath.

After scouring the wholesale market for over two hours, Lin Xiuhong finally stopped, and the other four also caught their breath.

After sitting back in the car, the five members of the two families returned home before noon, fully loaded with their harvest.

Lin Xiuhong started cooking.

Li Luo's father and Ying Zhicheng chatted on the living room sofa.

Ying Chanxi quietly walked into the kitchen, tied on an apron, and helped Lin Xiuhong.

Li Luo stayed in the living room, listening to his father and Uncle Ying chat idly, occasionally interjecting a few words.

"Some parts of the subway draft were approved, others weren't."

Ying Zhicheng recalled the topic he'd discussed with Li Guohong and mentioned it, "Mainly two districts' subway lines got approved."

"One is the Xiaoshan District line, since it directly connects to the airport, it passed smoothly."

"But this line is long, divided into three phases; even if it finally reaches the airport, it'll still take four or five years."

"The other is Binjiang District, a later-developing area of Yuhang City, likely to become a key development zone."

"A subway route was already planned there two years ago; this year, two more routes were approved."

"As for our side…" Ying Zhicheng shrugged helplessly, "Still not approved. Don't know when it'll happen."

"Wasn't it said it was very likely to pass?" Li Guohong couldn't help lighting a cigarette and asked Ying Zhicheng, "What's the real situation?"

"No need to rush—Yuhang City is developing fast, one of the most dynamic second-tier cities." Ying Zhicheng smiled. "I think it's just a matter of time."

"But the Xiaoshan District's airport connection is relatively important."

"Binjiang District has many new internet companies, so everything needs careful consideration."

"Our Yinjiang District's western side has a tech park holding it up, but the eastern side near Changning City is mostly manufacturing and apparel—slower planning is normal."

"The news I heard is, the results will definitely come out this year."

"Even if our side doesn't get as many lines as Binjiang District, at least extending the southern station line a few more stops should be no problem—just relax."

Hearing Ying Zhicheng say this, Li Guohong felt somewhat reassured.

That apartment in Bihai Lanting had consumed over a decade of their family's savings just for the down payment.

If the subway never came, they'd be seriously screwed.

Seeing his expression, Ying Zhicheng chuckled: "Why are you so tense? Times have changed."

"Before, I worried—if the subway never extended, what would you do after buying that house?"

"Now Li Luo's writing is doing this well—what's there to worry about? You won't starve no matter what."

"If he keeps writing like this for one or two years, who even cares about the subway anymore?"

Ying Zhicheng's reminder made Li Guohong realize it, and he chuckled.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it.

It's just that this was his child's own talent, his own achievement, his own earned money.

Li Guohong always subconsciously set this money aside as separate.

But if you actually counted it, Li Luo's bank account had gone from over 500,000 to now 370,000—heading straight for a million in savings.

In half a year, he'd earned what his parents had worked for over a decade.

If he kept earning like this from one book, what was there left to worry about?

In just half a year, their family had gone from betting on buying a house to seemingly living in perfect peace.

Life's circumstances are sometimes truly unpredictable.

After lunch, the three men who hadn't helped cook were shooed into the kitchen by Lin Xiuhong, lined up to wash dishes and tidy the counters.

Lin Xiuhong took Ying Chanxi, brought over freshly cut fruit to the living room sofa, watched TV, ate fruit, and chatted.

After washing the dishes, Li Guohong and Ying Zhicheng resumed talking in the living room about national affairs and global events.

Li Luo slipped back to his bedroom, planning to write some words.

Ying Chanxi followed right behind him, slipped into his bedroom, and plopped down on his bed.

"Why'd you come in?" Li Luo glanced at her. "I'm working now—don't distract me."

"Are you writing a novel?" Ying Chanxi sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at him curiously. "I've never seen you write a novel before."

"What's there to look at… it's just sitting in front of a computer and typing."

"Then type. I'll just watch beside you."

"Don't look at what I'm actually writing," Li Luo gave in, seeing she had no intention of leaving, and warned her, "If someone watches what I'm writing, I can't write at all."

"Got it, I won't look," Ying Chanxi nodded obediently.

Seeing her promise, Li Luo let her be.

He pulled out the notebook Yan Zhusheng had lent her, took out the mechanical keyboard Xu Youyu had gifted him, set them up, turned on the computer, opened his writing software, and slipped into flow.

Sitting on the bed, Ying Chanxi, upon seeing Li Luo take out the notebook and keyboard, secretly puffed out her cheeks, suddenly realizing who had given these two things.

Her small hands clenched in front of her belly, suddenly feeling restless, as if she'd forgotten to bring something.

After watching Li Luo write for about half an hour, Ying Chanxi grew bored, got off the bed, left the room, cut some more fruit, and brought it in.

She ate fruit, pulled out her phone to read an Online Novel, and occasionally fed him a bite.

Li Luo's book now had over 1.4 million characters.

Ying Chanxi had never encountered an Online Novel before, let alone one over a million characters long.

Reading an Online Novel for the first time, she still followed her habit of reading classical literature, examining every sentence carefully.

Only during chapters featuring Mo Qinghan and Jiang Mingyue did she slightly speed up.

Even so, she read very slowly.

Last night she stayed up late reading, almost until dawn, getting from the early chapters to around chapter ninety.

Over five hundred chapters still awaited her.

This word count should be enough to keep her occupied through the Spring Festival.

But as she progressed further into the book, Ying Chanxi gradually sensed something off about the content.

In the first hundred chapters of the plot.

Li Luo had long ago introduced the three female leads individually, giving each ample ink to develop.

But aside from the childhood friend, who arrived with an instant "easy win" aura, the others—Mo Qinghan and Jiang Ming—had only just met the protagonist.

They had not yet shown any romantic interest or affection toward the protagonist.

So when Ying Chanxi read this section, even though she skimmed Mo Qinghan and Jiang Ming's arcs, she still grasped the general plot.

It simply began with the protagonist, Li Yang, being reborn and transported to a parallel world after appearing as a lucky guest at Mo Qinghan's concert, then singing "Dongfeng Po" with the system's help.

He then formed a bond with the rising star Mo Qinghan.

After leaving the concert arc, Li Yang returned home, where a series of interactions unfolded with his childhood friend Shen Dongdong, along with plans for his future.

The first hundred chapters mainly described how Li Yang, by copying songs and leveraging his relationship with Mo Qinghan, rapidly accumulated capital and gained fame in the original songwriting circle.

Meanwhile, Shen Dongdong, who dreamed of becoming an actress, became a newcomer in the entertainment industry but faced constant obstacles.

Eventually, unable to endure the director's coercion and bribes, she confided in Li Yang, saying she had misjudged the entertainment world, lost heart, and wanted to quit and obediently follow her family's plan to take a regular job.

But at this point, Li Yang—having already completed his initial capital accumulation—had set his sights on the TV drama market and devised a script, teaming up with Mo Qinghan's film and television company to produce a relatively simple TV drama.

This, in turn, introduced Jiang Ming, who was then at a low point in her acting career.

In the past, Jiang Ming would never have accepted such a low-budget TV drama, but now she became the female lead.

And Shen Dongdong, under Li Yang's arrangement, became a supporting female role with strong potential to stand out.

Thus, the plot unfolded under this setup.

And it was from here that Ying Chanxi began to sense something was wrong.

Because during the filming of the TV drama, Jiang Ming's interactions with Li Yang evolved from initial distrust to being moved by the plot's design and gradually charmed by Li Yang's personal charisma.

After the TV drama became a massive hit, Jiang Ming looked at Li Yang with entirely new eyes.

Unlike Mo Qinghan, who was emotionally insensitive and simple-minded, or Shen Dongdong, who was prickly and hid her feelings for Li Yang completely.

Jiang Ming was several years older than Li Yang and, in matters of emotion, was neither reserved nor coy—she was open, bold, and fiery.

From the plot after the first TV drama onward, everything became strange.

Ying Chanxi grew angrier and angrier, going over a dozen chapters without seeing Shen Dongdong appear, while Jiang Ming danced right on her trigger zone.

It made her hand tremble as she stabbed fruit with her fork.

Only when Li Luo noticed her odd behavior during a break did he ask curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Ying Chanxi glared at him, bit hard into the apple in her hand, then couldn't resist, lifting her white-socked foot and kicking him in the waist.

"You just said nothing's wrong! Then why'd you kick me?"

"I just wanted to kick you!"