Chapter 254

At just after nine in the morning, Li Guohong drove his family of three back to Li Family Village.

"Dad, drive faster."

"What's the rush?" Li Guohong snapped. "Fine if you're yelling on the highway, but these village roads are so narrow—what if you hit someone going fast?"

"You've been nagging to come home since early morning—what's going on?" Lin Xiuhong asked suspiciously from the passenger seat. "Are you really that eager to visit your grandfather's place?"

"Impossible," Li Guohong chuckled. "Probably Xixi called for him."

In the backseat, Li Luo tugged at his lips: "You'll find out when you get there."

"Find out what? So mysterious," Lin Xiuhong scoffed, watching the car pull into the courtyard—only to see two figures coming down the stairs.

One was Ying Chanxi; the other… looked familiar.

"Isn't that your—your… your classmate?" Lin Xiuhong exclaimed, staring at the girl beside Ying Chanxi.

Li Guohong was equally stunned: "Yan Zhusheng? I recognize her—she's Yuan Wanqing's daughter. Why is she here?"

"Ah… she came to visit Xixi," Li Luo explained. "Come on, get out—the guests are here, we should greet them."

"You didn't tell me sooner!" Lin Xiuhong shot him an annoyed glare. "If you had friends coming over, you should've said something—I didn't prepare anything."

"Prepare what? They're just here to hang out."

"Still, you should at least give them a red envelope," Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes, then turned to Li Guohong. "Go up to the bedroom drawer—second drawer—grab a red envelope shell."

Li Luo immediately added quietly: "One might not be enough."

"What do you mean?" Lin Xiuhong blinked, momentarily confused.

"Ahem," Li Luo said, slightly embarrassed. "Xu Youyu came too—but for some reason, he didn't come with us."

"What?" Lin Xiuhong froze, blinked again, then finally understood. "He's here to visit Xixi too?"

"Yeah," Li Luo nodded. "But Xixi only has one spare room, which Yan Zhusheng took, so Xu Youyu's staying in our empty bedroom."

"Ohhh… huh?" Lin Xiuhong froze again. "Aren't they just visiting for a day?"

"It's rare to come to the countryside—they'll stay a few days," Li Luo said. "They've got nothing to do at home."

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lin Xiuhong gave him a disgruntled look. "Seriously—no preparation at all."

Saying that, Lin Xiuhong opened the car door and stepped out, smiling warmly as she approached.

Yan Zhusheng greeted Uncle and Aunt politely, but her gaze quickly settled on Li Luo—and didn't move much after that.

After greeting Yan Zhusheng, Li Guohong went upstairs as Lin Xiuhong instructed, to fetch the red envelope shells.

At that moment, Li Luo asked Ying Chanxi: "Where's Xue Xian? Why is only Zhusheng here?"

"She woke up too early, so after arriving, she went to her room to catch up on sleep," Ying Chanxi glanced at the time. "She's been asleep for over two hours."

"Oh, I'll go wake her up," Li Luo nodded and followed Li Guohong upstairs.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng had wanted to follow him, but Lin Xiuhong's enthusiasm pulled the two girls into the living room for chatting.

Beside them, Aunt and Li Xuexian joined in; three elders surrounded them, chatting happily.

Especially Yan Zhusheng—being new, Aunt and Big Aunt were intensely curious.

Yan Zhusheng found such warmth overwhelming, but luckily Ying Chanxi sat beside her, answering most questions for her.

When Li Luo wasn't around, Yan Zhusheng only felt a sliver of security by staying close to Ying Chanxi.

"Over a hundredth in final exams? That's impressive for Fuyi High—put in a bit more effort, you might get into Qianjiang University."

"Ohhh, studying music? That's even more impressive. Girls studying music are great—no wonder you have such poise."

"Xixi used to play piano as a kid, didn't she? Then she quit, right? What a shame."

"Oh my, you're in a band at school too? Is Li Luo in it? Why didn't Xiuhong ever mention it? Li Luo plays guitar?"

"Our QiQi has a guitar—he bought it in college, but it's just been gathering dust. I'll bring it over so Li Luo can play."

"Wait—her mom is Yuan Wanqing? Oh my!"

"A singer from ten years ago? I remember—our whole family was obsessed with her back then."

"Really? What a coincidence?"

"I just heard one of her songs recently—'Year Rings'—I saw it in a TV drama."

Laughter and chatter filled the living room.

Upstairs, Li Guohong had returned to the bedroom, pulled out two red envelopes, stepped out—and bumped into Li Luo just arriving on the third floor.

"Why'd you come up?" Li Guohong asked, puzzled.

"Xue Xian's sleeping here—I'll wake her," Li Luo pointed to the door of the empty room. "Dad, you go down first."

"Alright," Li Guohong nodded. "I still need to get some cash—our New Year red envelopes are all spent."

"Use mine," Li Luo said. "I've got plenty."

"Those are gifts people gave you," Li Guohong rolled his eyes. "You can't use red envelope money to give red envelopes."

"So do I still have to hand over my New Year money this year?" Li Luo grinned.

"Keep it for yourself," Li Guohong chuckled. "You're the one paying the mortgage now—our red envelope spending doesn't matter anymore."

Saying that, Li Guohong went downstairs.

Standing outside Xu Youyu's door, Li Luo felt a quiet sense of wonder—he never thought he'd one day control his own New Year money.

Joking to himself, Li Luo raised his hand and knocked on Xu Youyu's door.

But there was no response inside.

Li Luo turned the doorknob—it wasn't locked—so he called in: "Xue Xian, awake? I'm coming in."

He pushed the door open a crack.

Seeing Xu Youyu still asleep, Li Luo sighed and walked to the bed, poking her cheek: "Xue Xian, wake up—don't sleep anymore. I'm taking you out."

"Mmm…" Xu Youyu frowned, eyes half-open, mumbling, "You're so annoying… let me sleep a little longer."

"What time did you go to bed last night? You're this tired?"

"Three o'clock..." Xu Youyu stretched out in bed, "It's all Zhusheng's fault—she could've come over in the afternoon like before, but she showed up at my place this morning sharp at dawn."

"So are you going to keep sleeping?" Li Luo crouched beside the bed, watching her. "If you want to sleep more, I'll come back to wake you for lunch."

"Hmm... that wouldn't be very good." Xu Youyu remembered she was a guest; if she slept all morning and only came down for meals, it would seem rude.

So she pushed herself up, but halfway through, her strength gave out—her head plopped straight into the pillow with a muffled sigh: "I can't get up~ Who can help me?"

"Alright, alright." Li Luo had seen this trick countless times—whether during their stay together at Bihai Lanting before New Year's, or in his past life.

He stepped forward, grabbed Xu Youyu's arm, and dragged her off the bed, then shook her shoulders a few times: "Are you awake yet? Want me to slap you a few more times?"

"Brother, can you be so cruel?"

"..." Li Luo rolled his eyes. "Here, you'd better say less. Don't pull another stunt like last time when your dad caught you."

"Damn! Don't bring that up!" Xu Youyu instantly snapped awake at the mention. "Why do you remember that so clearly?"

"To keep you alert—don't go tempting fate."

"Got it~" Xu Youyu scratched her head, climbed out of bed, and held out her hand. "Hand me my socks."

"Here." Li Luo handed her the yellow socks she'd left on the chair. "Don't just say it verbally—I'm terrified you'll say something weird in front of my parents and leave me scrambling to explain."

"Hey, am I really that stupid?" Xu Youyu shot him a look. "When others are around, I don't act up. Last time was just because I was half-asleep and my brain was fuzzy."

"Then I guess you're fuzzy a lot."

"You talk too much." Xu Youyu pulled on her socks, got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and zipped up her down jacket. "Let's go—what are we doing now?"

"First, go downstairs and see what Chanxi and Zhusheng are up to." Li Luo turned and walked out.

"Wait, I need to grab something." Xu Youyu called from behind, pulling a large bag from her suitcase and holding it out to Li Luo.

"What's this?"

"Salted chicken from my grandpa's place—Mom made me bring one. Give it to Auntie later." Xu Youyu said. "Just slip it to her privately—Zhusheng didn't bring anything, so I won't hand it out in front of everyone."

"Oh, got it." Li Luo nodded understandingly. "Thanks for me to your mom—I'll take it straight to the kitchen."

"OK." Xu Youyu nodded, then pulled something else from her backpack, shoved it into Li Luo's arms, and slipped one into her own pocket. "Take it—Dad gave this to you."

"Huh?" Li Luo looked down and saw an envelope. "Thanks for me to Uncle too."

"No problem." Xu Youyu smiled. "I got one ready for Chanxi too."

Saying that, Xu Youyu followed Li Luo downstairs to the second-floor living room.

The living room had already ended its chitchat phase.

Li Xuexian had been dragged out by her two younger sisters to join neighborhood women for tea.

So Auntie recruited Lin Xiuhong, then pulled in Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, hoping to play mahjong.

But Yan Zhusheng didn't know how to play, so Li Xiang volunteered to teach her.

Unfortunately, Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "You play. I'll just watch."

So when Li Luo and Xu Youyu came downstairs, they saw the four of them playing mahjong—Yan Zhusheng sat between Ying Chanxi and Lin Xiuhong, pouring tea and handing out fruit.

Li Luo walked over to Yan Zhusheng, glanced at Li Xiang, then asked her: "Why aren't you playing?"

"I don't know how." Yan Zhusheng shook her head.

"Then I'll teach you?"

"Sure." Yan Zhusheng nodded.

Li Luo patted Li Xiang on the shoulder. "After this round, let the guest play?"

"Uh..." Li Xiang blinked, looking from Li Luo to Yan Zhusheng.

You refused when I offered to teach you, but now you agree the moment my little uncle says it?

Damn!

Is this Mo Qinghan's soul possessing you?

Your personalities are carved from the same mold!

Li Xiang twitched his lips, growing more convinced his little uncle wrote novels—or autobiography.

And judging by this setup... how does Mo Qinghan seem so good too?

This double standard—switching moods faster than turning a page.

How the hell did my little uncle pull this off?

"Alright, I'll finish this round and give up my seat." Li Xiang took a deep breath—and suddenly felt a chill between his brows.

He looked across at Ying Chanxi, certain her gaze had just sharpened.

He rubbed his forehead, watching Ying Chanxi, who was calmly drawing tiles with lowered eyes, momentarily confused—was it his imagination?

Soon after, Lin Xiuhong won the hand.

Li Xiang stood up willingly to yield his seat.

Yan Zhusheng took his place; Xu Youyu sat in Yan Zhusheng's former spot.

Li Luo pulled over a chair and sat between Yan Zhusheng and Lin Xiuhong, beginning to teach Yan Zhusheng how to play mahjong in Yuhang City.

"Do you know how to play mahjong, Youyu?" Lin Xiuhong smiled cheerfully after winning a hand.

"A little—I watched Mom play during New Year's." Xu Youyu said. Seeing Lin Xiuhong reach for the teacup on the small table, she immediately reached over to hand it to her. "Auntie, here."

"Thank you." Lin Xiuhong took a sip, then as she moved to set the cup down, Xu Youyu had already taken it and returned it to its place.

"Chanxi, have a grape." Xu Youyu picked up a grape and held it to Ying Chanxi's lips.

"Oh... thanks, Senior." Ying Chanxi opened her mouth and bit into the grape, her gaze shifting from Xu Youyu and Lin Xiuhong back to Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng, who were focused on teaching—and she crushed the grape hard between her teeth.

She swallowed even the skin.

Li Xiang, seated beside his grandmother, looked from Ying Chanxi to Xu Youyu to Yan Zhusheng, then finally at Li Luo—his eyes now filled with awe.

He truly couldn't tell anymore.

Is this really fiction—or reality?

Originally I thought that even if Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu really were beauties just like Ying Chanxi, at most they'd just have a normal friendship with Uncle.

But looking at it now, it doesn't seem to be the case at all!

Look at Yan Zhusheng, for instance.

I told her I'd teach her to play mahjong and she refused, but the moment Li Luo showed up she agreed.

And look at Xu Youyu.

Sitting over there and even knowing to pour tea and serve water for Lin Xiuhong—so well-behaved and so proactive.

Where the hell did Uncle even find these people?

Li Xiang looked around, his heart utterly conflicted, not knowing which camp he should defect to.