Chapter 255: The Loyal Minister of the Mo Party!

It had snowed continuously for three days, and by the third day, the snow had piled up thickly.

Yuhang City rarely saw such a snowscape.

After playing mahjong in the morning, Chen Hailin was called to help cook at a neighboring village, so he wasn't here today; with two young guests arriving at home, Lin Xiuhong personally went to the kitchen to cook.

Ying Chanxi voluntarily followed her into the kitchen, helping her out.

Li Luo, Yan Zhusheng, and Xu Youyu stood by the railing of the second-floor balcony, watching the snow in the courtyard.

"What are we doing this afternoon?" Xu Youyu turned to Li Luo with a smile. "You didn't bring us to the countryside just to play mahjong, did you?"

"Mahjong's fun," Yan Zhusheng blinked, offering a different opinion.

If they could keep playing this afternoon, Yan Zhusheng would be perfectly happy.

"You're too dumb," Li Luo gave her a look. "I taught you the whole round, your luck's good, but your skill's terrible—you won't even listen when I tell you which tile to play."

"You just didn't teach me well enough. Teach me more carefully next time," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "Besides, didn't I win?"

"Your mom and mine are clearly letting you two win," Li Luo laughed. "By the end, they wouldn't even win unless absolutely forced—they'd rather let you keep playing."

Only Ying Chanxi didn't hold back.

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng nodded, indifferent to winning or losing—as long as Li Luo sat beside her, that was enough.

At that moment, a car drove into the courtyard. Li Guohong stepped out, trampled through the snow, climbed the steps, and said as he walked: "The snow in the courtyard needs another sweep—otherwise the car won't be able to drive out."

He climbed up to the second-floor balcony, saw Li Luo and the two girls, and immediately pulled two large red envelopes from his pocket, handing them out: "Here, Yan Zhusheng, Xu Youyu—I didn't forget, right? Welcome to our place. Happy New Year."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu quickly accepted the envelopes with both hands.

After chatting casually for a moment, Li Guohong headed toward the kitchen.

Yan Zhusheng looked at the envelope in her hand, suddenly remembered something, pulled two more red envelopes from her own pocket, sorted them, and handed one to Li Luo: "This one's from my mom for you."

"Oh, thanks," Li Luo took the envelope, then glanced at the other one in her arms. "This one's for Xixi?"

"Mm."

Just then, Ying Chanxi was replaced in the kitchen by Li Guohong and sent to the living room to play with her classmates.

So Ying Chanxi took off her apron, walked out of the kitchen, saw the two girls beside Li Luo, felt unsure of her emotions, but finally walked over.

"Xixi, here."

"I've got one too."

"Happy New Year."

Ying Chanxi looked at the two red envelopes before her, blinked, then took them: "Th-thank you."

She didn't open the envelope in front of them, but simply squeezed it—she knew right away that Yan Zhusheng's envelope was noticeably thicker.

She knew Yan Zhusheng's mother, Yuan Wanqing, was a famous singer—but this was just a red envelope for her daughter's friend… was it really necessary to be this generous?

In comparison, Xu Youyu's father's envelope was perfectly normal—probably around five hundred yuan each.

Ying Chanxi looked at her own envelope, then at the one Li Luo held from Yan Zhusheng, felt it was inappropriate to say anything in front of them, and quietly accepted it.

But Li Luo glanced at Ying Chanxi's envelope—clearly much larger than his own—and thought: Yuan Auntie, you really don't hide it at all…

You're giving this much to your daughter's future older sister?

Li Luo twitched his lips, but said nothing.

Just as they were exchanging red envelopes, Yin Zhi Cheng, who had been busy with online work at home and had just finished and come out for lunch, looked up and saw the kids on the balcony—he froze.

"You guys…" Yin Zhi Cheng climbed up to the second-floor balcony, looked at Xu Youyu, then Yan Zhusheng. "When did you arrive?"

"They just got here this morning," Ying Chanxi explained. "You said you'd be busy this morning, so I didn't disturb you."

"Oh, I see," Yin Zhi Cheng nodded, then noticed the red envelopes in their hands, realized the situation, and immediately turned back home. "Wait a moment."

Soon after, Yin Zhi Cheng returned from next door, handing red envelopes to Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu—no smaller than Yuan Wanqing's to Ying Chanxi.

Li Luo glanced and saw that Yin Zhi Cheng's envelopes to both girls were identical in size and thickness—he thought: Yin Uncle really knows how to handle things.

Yuan Auntie's still a singer, not a businessman—her thinking's a bit slow.

Only Li Luo knew the truth, so he didn't mind; otherwise, if the amounts differed, it'd look bad if anyone found out.

But Xu Youyu, after noticing the discrepancy, waited until Yin Zhi Cheng walked into the living room, then quietly leaned close to Li Luo's ear and whispered: "What's the rule here? Do you really give this much? Did my dad give too little?"

"It's fine," Li Luo whispered back. "Look, my dad gave you the same amount. It's just that Yin Uncle's rich—take it, no problem."

After all, it wasn't meant specifically for you… Li Luo silently laughed.

Yin Zhi Cheng clearly wanted to give Yan Zhusheng more, but didn't want her or anyone else to notice, so he gave Xu Youyu the same amount.

You could say he went to great lengths—so many little tricks.

Li Luo looked at Ying Chanxi, then at Yan Zhusheng, realizing they were both clueless, and didn't know what to say.

"Dinner's ready!"

Not long after, Lin Xiuhong finished preparing two tables of food and called them over.

Li Dao and his wife had just left this morning, and Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu arrived right on time to fill the two empty seats.

Two round tables in the living room—Chen Hailin was absent, helping cook in the neighboring village—nineteen people sat down perfectly.

Ying Chanxi quietly sat to Li Luo's left, Yan Zhusheng naturally took the seat to his right.

Xu Youyu had no intention of competing for position and sat beside Yan Zhusheng.

Li Xiang sat across from them, watching the scene, unable to help but feel awed.

Reality really was reality—it never needed logic.

In Li Luo's novels, such a scene might never appear for a long time.

As far as Li Xiang knew from the latest plot so far, there had never been a scene with three heroines eating together with the male lead.

Not to mention the plot of them eating at the male lead's hometown, with his whole family.

Li Xiang couldn't even imagine how explosive that would be.

But reality actually unfolded exactly like this!

Their table was mostly children, except for the four at Li Luo's side, Li Xiang himself, and Chen Yongqi, Chen Lu, and Chen Sijia.

Added to them was Lin Xiuhong, the elder, dining with them.

The other ten adults sat at the next table.

After being called over to sit for lunch, Chen Yongqi and Chen Sijia merely cast a few extra glances at Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu, but said nothing.

Only Chen Lu, with her cheerful personality, became instantly interested upon seeing a pretty little girl, and directly sat beside Xu Youyu, curiously asking about their origins.

Upon learning they were classmates of Ying Chanxi and Li Luo, Chen Lu glanced at their seating arrangement, and her eyes immediately revealed a knowing expression.

"Xixi is in danger."

During the meal, Chen Lu quietly leaned toward Chen Sijia's ear, whispering secrets to her younger sister like a battlefield report.

Chen Sijia blinked, not understanding what Chen Lu was saying.

Seeing Chen Sijia's confused expression, Chen Lu burst out laughing and continued whispering in her ear: "What I mean is, these two girls seem to be after our little brother."

"Really?" Chen Sijia didn't quite follow, "Aren't they just here to play with Xixi?"

"To play with Xixi, yet sit right beside Li Luo?" Chen Lu rolled her eyes, "That little girl beside me didn't even sit near Xixi."

Normally, unless they had feelings for Li Luo, the obvious choice would be to sit beside Ying Chanxi, another girl.

With Chen Lu's analysis, Chen Sijia slowly began to see it—her gaze toward Li Luo had already changed.

Meanwhile, the two sisters continued analyzing the two new girls' attitudes toward Li Luo.

Across the table, Li Xiang watched Yan Zhusheng turn her head, glance at Li Luo once—and Li Luo, as if understanding instantly, gave her a helpless smile, then stood up, picked up a piece of spicy chicken from afar, and placed it in Yan Zhusheng's bowl.

Damn it… Li Xiang watched this scene, and even his rice tasted sour.

Do they really not need to communicate to know which dish the girl wants?

What kind of divine synchronicity is this?

Watching the quiet, subtle sweetness between Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng, Li Xiang fell into deep thought.

Now, looking at Ying Chanxi on Li Luo's other side, Li Xiang let out a soft sigh.

Such a formidable rival.

What can a childhood sweetheart even do?

And judging by now, Xu Youyu across the table didn't seem very assertive either.

It was Yan Zhusheng who kept interacting with Li Luo, in all sorts of tiny details.

Like Chen Lu and Chen Sijia, unless they observed closely, they might never notice such things.

Only Li Xiang, a loyal reader who had read I Am Really Not a Star in full, could spot these subtle clues at a glance.

Looking at it now, Li Xiang felt a faint stirring in his heart—he was already slightly moved by the real-life embodiment of Mo Qinghan.

This sweet, naive girl, her innocent spontaneity, the unspoken understanding with Li Luo, even teaching him how to play mahjong… all of it felt like tiny claws gently scratching at Li Xiang's heart.

This sugar rush… it's gotten way too sweet.

Thinking this, Li Xiang felt his fingers itch, and couldn't resist pulling out his phone, opening the comments section of I Am Really Not a Star.

Mo Fang is clearly the meta answer!

He'd truly been blind before.