Chapter 246: The Senior

In Li Family Village, besides Ying Chanxi, Jin Yuting and Zhao Rongjun's hometowns are also here.

Although most of the parents' generation have moved to the city, the older generation of grandparents still remain in the village.

Especially after the demolition, living conditions improved greatly, so the elderly lost all desire to move to town and preferred to stay.

Thus, during the New Year, wave after wave of small families returned with their entire households to celebrate.

Jin Yuting was brought back by her parents as soon as winter break started, while Zhao Rongjun only arrived yesterday.

Both had privately messaged Ying Chanxi and Li Luo on QQ, and upon learning they were returning today, they came over right after lunch.

"Chanxi." On the second-floor living room sofa, Jin Yuting stood up to greet Ying Chanxi as she came downstairs.

But perhaps because they weren't in the same high school class, their relationship had grown distant, far from the closeness they had in junior high.

Then again, now that their class monitor Li Luo ranked first in the class and seventeenth in the entire school, he was no longer the same inexperienced boy.

In the past, Jin Yuting had mocked Li Luo for his poor grades and his impossibility of getting into Fuyi High School.

Now, in Li Luo's presence, she had become quiet and well-behaved, daring not to utter a single word against him.

If once Jin Yuting had thought Li Luo was utterly unworthy of Ying Chanxi, now seeing the two walking down the stairs together, she found them perfectly matched.

Xu Yinghuan had even told her Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng made a great pair, but in Jin Yuting's eyes, who could compare to Ying Chanxi and Li Luo?

They were childhood friends, for heaven's sake.

She didn't even know when she'd shifted from staunch opposition to becoming a firm supporter of their pairing.

And Li Luo remained completely unaware.

Of course, he wouldn't hold it against the girl for having once looked down on him—they were just kids, and he didn't bother with such things.

Now they were classmates and fellow villagers, so Li Luo had no intention of making things hard for her.

In comparison, Zhao Rongjun's side was much simpler.

His best friend simply couldn't see any special connection between Li Luo and other girls; he just thought they were all close friends.

At most, he felt that Ying Chanxi and the others were a bit closer to Li Luo.

After hearing Li Luo had returned, he came over, and when he saw Li Luo coming downstairs, he asked: "Wanna play basketball?"

"Sure, now?"

"Not now." Zhao Rongjun shook his head. "I just passed the village basketball court—it's already taken."

"Then why ask me?" Li Luo rolled his eyes, then thought a moment and said, "Come on, let's buy some firecrackers and head to the fish pond."

Saying this, Li Luo gestured for the others to follow.

At that moment, Lin Xiuhong had just finished cutting fruit and stepped out of the kitchen; seeing the kids running off, she laughed and groaned: "Hey! Are you eating the fruit or not?"

Hearing his mother's call, Li Luo sprinted back, grinning as he grabbed the tray: "We're taking it with us."

"Be careful! Don't drop and break the tray!"

"Relax." Li Luo ran downstairs, shoved the tray into Zhao Rongjun's arms, then picked up a grape and slipped it into Ying Chanxi's mouth. "Hold this—Mom said not to drop it, so be careful."

"Why don't you carry it yourself?" Zhao Rongjun's face darkened, clutching the tray unsure of where to put it.

"The fruit's from my house—I and Chanxi provided the fruit, Jin Yuting's a girl, so who else but you should carry it?"

Zhao Rongjun: "..."

Confused by Li Luo's twisted logic, Zhao Rongjun couldn't find a rebuttal right away, while Li Luo had already walked toward the convenience store across the street.

"Grandpa San!" Li Luo entered the convenience store and spotted Grandpa San, who had sold them the Bihai Lanting house, and greeted him cheerfully.

"Oh, Li Luo!" Grandpa San chuckled. "You've grown up—ranked seventeenth in the whole school on your final exam, even better than your cousin. Help yourself to whatever you want."

"I'll just take some firecrackers." Li Luo unhesitatingly grabbed several boxes of ground crackers and firecrackers from the shelf, added a lighter, and before leaving, asked curiously, "Grandpa, how do you know I ranked seventeenth?"

"Your mom told me," Grandpa San stroked his beard. "Came by this morning to buy soy sauce, chatted with your aunt, and it came up."

"Didn't she say anything else?" Li Luo grew slightly alert and asked.

"What else could she say?"

"Then it's fine." Li Luo grinned, thanked him, and called for Ying Chanxi and the others to head to the fish pond.

He'd been worried his mother might blab and reveal his novel-writing.

It'd be fine if only family knew.

But if relatives found out and started gossiping among neighbors, and it somehow reached Jin Yuting or Zhao Rongjun's ears—how would Li Luo ever live?

Fortunately, his mother still had some sense and didn't go around boasting.

Still, with Ying Chanxi, Li Luo quietly leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Don't you dare tell Jin Yuting or the others about me writing novels. Don't forget."

"I know," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes. "I'm not that stupid."

Nearby, Jin Yuting watched them whispering intently.

Only Zhao Rongjun, carrying the tray behind them, said blankly: "Why are we going to the fish pond?"

"To blow up fish."

Li Luo ate another grape and, kindly, took one for Zhao Rongjun.

The fish pond he mentioned lay north of the village, a small tributary of the Yin River that pooled into a small pond at the village's northern edge.

After lunch, Li Guohong and the others had gone to the pond to fish.

They'd barely sat by the shore for less than an hour when a ground cracker exploded suddenly beside their ears, startling them.

Turning around, they saw four mischievous figures.

Leading them was his own son.

"You little brat, you trying to kill me?" Li Guohong shouted irritably. "You scared all my fish away!"

"It wasn't me!" Li Luo called from afar. "Chanxi threw them!"

"I didn't!" Ying Chanxi denied frantically, chasing after Li Luo.

Li Luo immediately dropped a ground cracker under her feet, making her jump back in fright, glaring at him angrily.

In a moment, Li Luo took the plate from Zhao Rongjun's hands, strolled to the shore, and handed it first to Ying Zhicheng: "Uncle Ying, have some fruit."

"Oh, thanks," Ying Zhicheng replied, his eyes fixed on the water's surface; only after Li Luo called him did he snap back, reaching out to take a grape.

Then Li Luo passed the plate to his uncle-in-law Chen Hailin, and finally to his own father, Li Guohong.

After going around like this, plus the grapes eaten by Li Luo and his friends, the plate was soon reduced to just a few grapes.

At that moment, Li Luo tossed the plate under his father's feet and said: "Mom washed these specially for you—Dad, remember to take the plate back when you're done."

"Oh, got it," Li Guohong muttered automatically, then looked down at the plate and saw only a few grapes left—only then did he realize, "You little rascal! You wait till you've eaten them all before tossing it to me!"

By then, Li Luo had already run far away, leading Zhao Rongjun and the others back to the village, darting through narrow alleys, occasionally setting off firecrackers, as the joyful time slipped away quietly.

Near mealtime, the four of them parted ways at the crossroad.

As they said goodbye, Jin Yuting looked dejected: "Ugh, I'm gonna get scolded again when I get home."

"What's wrong?" Ying Chanxi asked with concern.

"It's just that I didn't do well on the final exam," Jin Yuting sighed. "In our village this year, only six or seven of us got into Fuyi Middle School—besides the four of us, there's also our classmate Wei Chun."

"Your grades, and the other two's, are all way better than mine."

"My mom keeps nagging me every day. If I'd known this, I should've just gone to No. 2 High instead—better to be the head of a chicken flock than the tail of a phoenix."

"You sure?" Li Luo chuckled. "Then you'd lose me as your good class monitor."

Jin Yuting nearly laughed at that, but then she sighed again.

In every sense, Li Luo really was a good class monitor.

But in the end, he was just a tool her mother used to compare her against.

"Li Luo, don't say that," Jin Yuting pouted. "Ying Chanxi and Zhao Rongjun are fine—they're in the elite class anyway, so it's understandable."

"But you're in my class, got elected class monitor, and improved so fast—you're ranked 17th in the whole school."

"After my mom found out, she's been asking me every day why I don't learn from you—why can you do it but I can't, when we're both in regular classes?"

"I'm sick of hearing it."

Li Luo had no solution either—he had the same kind of mom at home.

But he had his Memory Palace to help him; his grades had already silenced most of his mom's nagging, so he was far better off than Jin Yuting.

"Just tell your mom to get used to it," Li Luo sighed. "After all, every exam from now on, she'll see my name in the top 40 of the whole school—maybe one day she'll even see me at number one."

"Hmph," Ying Chanxi chuckled beside him. "Try it if you can."

Zhao Rongjun shook his head upon hearing this: "I'd believe you if you said you'd get second in grade, but first? No way—I think you'll never manage it in this lifetime."

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west!" Li Luo declared solemnly. "Earlier, Ying Chanxi said if I got first in grade, she'd grant me any wish without conditions."

"I keep my word," Ying Chanxi huffed. "Go ahead—try getting first and see."

The four chatted some more, then finally went their separate ways, each heading home.

When Li Luo and Ying Chanxi returned home, Chen Hailin was already cooking in the kitchen.

Li Luo plopped onto the sofa, bored, pulled out his phone, and saw a QQ message from his senior.

【Xu Youyu】: Zhusheng told me—we're coming to your place during the fourth year?

【Li Luo】: Yes.

【Xu Youyu】: From what she said, she wants to stay a few days at your place—do you have extra rooms?

【Li Luo】: Sure, come as you like—but tell your family ahead of time, don't show up secretly like last time at the symposium.

【Xu Youyu】: Don't need to remind me. By the way, does Chanxi already know you write novels? I think I saw her post.

【Li Luo】: If you mean "Chanxi Not Laughing"… yeah, that's her.

【Xu Youyu】: Haha~ Chanxi is so cute, just like Dongdong. I saw her and Zhusheng replying to each other—it was hilarious.

【Li Luo】: At least you're not as childish as them—that's the only silver lining.

【Xu Youyu】: I'm not that dumb—if they notice me, I'll be in trouble. What if they guess who I am? Gotta stay low-key.

【Xu Youyu】: You too—absolutely don't expose my alias!

【Li Luo】: Don't worry, I've got a tight mouth.

【Xu Youyu】: Good. I've prepared a New Year's Eve gift for you—remember to claim it.

【Li Luo】: Huh? What gift?

【Xu Youyu】: Keeping it secret for now—you'll find out when the time comes.