Chapter 268

The first day of school ended as uneventful as ever.

After the second evening self-study session ended, Ying Chanxi packed her bag and went downstairs to the door of Class Eight, leaving school with Li Luo.

After meeting Xu Youyu on Houde Road, the three of them walked out of the school gate.

But Li Luo suddenly stopped walking, then turned in another direction and said to Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu, "I'm going to check something over there."

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi blinked, watching him head toward the dormitory compound across the street, then immediately realized and laughed, "Your uncle didn't come again, did he?"

"Hard to say." Li Luo scratched his head. "Let's just go take a look."

"Then let's all go," Xu Youyu added. "I'm a bit hungry."

So the three of them headed toward the iron gate of the dormitory compound, and before they even reached it, they already saw two busy figures beside the gate.

As Li Luo drew closer, he was speechless.

Not only was Lin Xiuhong herself there, but Zhao Rongjun was too.

Judging by the scene, the kid must've sprinted out the moment the bell rang—he hadn't even crossed paths with Li Luo and the others when they came downstairs.

"Huh? Li Luo, you guys are here?" Zhao Rongjun spotted them and gave an awkward smile. "Want some?"

Li Luo rolled his eyes at him. "You really plan to keep working here forever?"

"It's not that bad," Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. "I told my grandpa I'm studying at your place. If my parents ask, don't betray me."

"As long as your grades don't slip, I've got no problem," Li Luo said helplessly. "From now on, come to my place every weekend to study together—I need to keep an eye on your level to make sure it doesn't drop."

"Don't worry, it won't interfere with my studies," Zhao Rongjun patted his chest. "I'll be done here by half past nine, home by ten. After working hard, I just collapse and sleep—my sleep quality is even better than before."

Li Luo watched him brimming with energy, his mouth twitching, unsure what to say.

So he could only give Zhao Rongjun an encouraging nod, then drifted over to Lin Xiuhong's stall by the roadside.

"What do you want?" Lin Xiuhong glanced at him, then kept stir-frying the rice in his hand. "Pick for yourself."

Li Luo looked at the electric tricycle stall—it had fried rice, fried noodles, fried rice vermicelli, plus all kinds of toppings: the usual eggs and sausage, now even pork tenderloin and chicken thighs. It had truly become more varied.

"Why work so hard? You're not even getting married," Li Luo muttered beside him.

"What kind of talk is that?" Lin Xiuhong laughed and scolded. "Can't I just earn more for myself? I still want to buy a nice car to drive."

"Then I'll buy you one later," Li Luo grinned. "What kind of car do you want?"

To Li Luo, who in his past life planned to leave all his wealth to Lin Xiuhong, and who, after Lin Xiuhong fell seriously ill, unhesitatingly emptied his entire fortune for her, giving him a car was nothing.

"Oh? You're getting cocky now?" Lin Xiuhong chuckled and shook his head. "You're making big money now, but save it for your future wife. I'll buy my own car with my own earnings."

"But selling fried rice isn't safe—you might get kicked out by campus security any day," Li Luo said. "By the way, Uncle, are you interested in opening a shop?"

"Open a shop? What kind?"

"I don't know," Li Luo shook his head. "We're just planning to buy a few storefronts on Xijie lately."

"Oh, your parents mentioned it to me—I remember now," Lin Xiuhong nodded. "But I've got no experience running a shop. Don't go saying silly things."

"I was just saying," Li Luo smiled. When Lin Xiuhong finished his current order, Li Luo temporarily took over for him.

He made fried rice for himself, Ying Chanxi, and Xu Youyu, loaded it onto plates, shoved it into plastic bags, then said, "We're off then, Uncle. Keep an eye on Zhao Rongjun—don't let him stay too late."

"Go on, go on," Lin Xiuhong waved them off, smiling as he watched them leave.

Back at Bihai Lanting 1502, Ying Chanxi took the fried rice from Li Luo and placed it on the dining table.

Xu Youyu went to the kitchen and poured three glasses of juice.

After finishing the fried rice, Ying Chanxi took a shower, then went to Li Luo's room and sat on his chair.

Li Luo naturally picked up the hair dryer and dried her hair for her.

While drying her hair, Ying Chanxi said, "Do you remember that MV I filmed for you last semester?"

"Of course," Li Luo asked, puzzled. "Has it been edited already?"

Previously, Li Luo's song "Waiting for You After Class" had been shelved because Yuan Wanqing didn't want it, so he kept it aside, planning to release it just for fun himself.

Ying Chanxi had edited it intermittently; during her overseas trip, when her father left her alone in the hotel, she'd pass time by editing videos.

By then, it had already been finished.

But after learning from Ying Zhicheng that Li Luo had been hiding his novel-writing from her, Ying Chanxi had forgotten about it.

Recently, as she neared the latest plot of Li Luo's novel, she remembered again.

"I already finished editing it. When do you think is the best time to release it?"

"No rush," Li Luo gently stroked Ying Chanxi's smooth long hair, looked at the computer, and suddenly remembered something. "I remember your birthday is March 14th, right?"

"Yes," Ying Chanxi smiled sweetly. "Good on you—you didn't wait for me to remind you. But why bring it up now?"

"Then release the MV on your birthday," Li Luo smiled. "I'll revise my draft these days, add a small subplot, and weave this song into the novel."

"Huh? That works?" Ying Chanxi blinked. "I thought you had over two hundred thousand words in reserve—won't revising at the last minute mess things up?"

"Just adding a daily subplot—no major impact," Li Luo said. "Shen Dongdong is still a college student, so it fits the song perfectly. Consider it your birthday gift."

Chongran's reputation for writing songs hasn't truly taken off yet; one song, "Nianlun," doesn't prove anything, and readers won't truly believe in his musical talent.

So even if he inserts original songs into the novel, Li Luo will only present them as daily or side plot elements—not affecting the main storyline.

So revising the draft temporarily isn't difficult.

When Ying Chanxi heard he'd weave the song into the protagonist's interactions with Shen Dongdong, her lips couldn't help but curl into a happy smile: "That's quite a special birthday gift."

"As long as you like it."

"Hmph," Ying Chanxi let out a cute hum, her tiny feet—smaller than Li Luo's palm—playfully swinging beneath the chair.

But soon, Ying Chanxi suddenly realized something and quickly warned: "But we both appear in the MV—if classmates see it, won't they figure out you write novels?"

"That?" Li Luo smiled slightly. "I'll mention in the novel that the MV was shot by my cousin and cousin-sister."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ying Chanxi covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "Are you pinning it on Yong Qi?"

"I could pin it on Li Xiang too—same age," Li Luo shrugged. "That way, I'm completely off the hook, so no one suspects me later."

"You're so sneaky."

"It's a last resort; I have no choice," Li Luo sighed. "After all, the songs I write in the future will definitely appear in the book, and many are already known by classmates."

"It's better to patch things up early by inventing a cousin to take the blame than to be caught out later."

"Then I'll just say the songs were co-written with my cousin."

"And it's not like we'll definitely get found out, right?"

In class, only Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang were reading his book; even if they discovered the MV of the new song, as long as he denied it and blamed it all on his cousin, they'd have no proof.

After finishing this conversation, Ying Chanxi's hair had dried.

Li Luo prepared to continue writing, so Ying Chanxi stopped disturbing him and quietly left the room.

But after leaving, she went to the kitchen, washed some fruit, brought it to Li Luo's desk, then returned to her own bedroom and lay down, ready to sleep.

After all, she had to wake up early tomorrow to go with Li Luo to the school playground and jog with Yan Zhusheng.

But Ying Chanxi then remembered Li Luo's novel—she'd nearly finished the latest chapter yesterday, and it seemed the TV drama adaptation was about to begin filming, the very same drama that had exploded in popularity at the start of the year: *How Me and He*.

The female lead was cast as Shen Dongdong, and Li Yang was both director and male lead.

The chapter she'd read yesterday had just barely introduced this plotline.

Since she'd only heard of *How Me and He* and had never watched it herself, she didn't know what plot points it contained.

Now, her curiosity flared, and Ying Chanxi pulled out her phone, thinking she'd just read a few chapters.

She glanced at the chapter list—it was still over thirty chapters away from the latest one.

Tonight, she'd read three chapters, slowly and steadily, then go to sleep.

After making up her mind, Ying Chanxi rolled onto her side, clutched her phone, opened the novel page, and began reading with great interest.

But after finishing the three chapters, she suddenly saw at the end that this drama included a kissing scene!

The thought of Shen Dongdong and Li Yang filming a kiss made her heart pound violently.

In the end, she couldn't resist the temptation and flipped one more page.

Just one more chapter!

Let's see how this kissing scene plays out!

But as she read Li Luo's content, it was again several chapters about TV drama filming, mostly focusing on petty power struggles and comeuppance within the production team.

Along with various external doubts and speculations, setting up a buildup for the next major climax.

This drove Ying Chanxi frantic—she read several more chapters in a row, yet still couldn't find what she wanted.

She spent over an hour, patiently reading more than ten chapters, word by word, afraid of missing any detail—only to be lulled into a daze by Li Luo's water-text technique.

By the time she reached ten chapters in, Li Luo even shifted the plot again, pulling out Jiang Mingyue and Mo Qinghan each for several chapters, laying groundwork for two additional career arcs and their future developments.

By one o'clock in the morning, Ying Chanxi had finally nearly reached the latest plot.

After all, she'd never read Online Novels before and read books carefully, unlike other readers who skimmed ten chapters at a glance.

So her reading speed was very slow.

These thirty-odd chapters took her two or three hours to finish.

Sometimes, reading slowly, one chapter could take ten minutes.

Now, at last, she'd caught up to the scene where Shen Dongdong and Li Yang film their kissing scene.

That Li Yang fellow actually asked whether they should use a misalignment technique.

Watching Shen Dongdong firmly refuse, declaring with resolute words that she was willing to sacrifice herself for art, Ying Chanxi blushed slightly—but felt those words could easily have come from her own mouth.

This strange sense of identification made her instantly curl up her legs.

Especially as the two were about to kiss, Ying Chanxi couldn't help grabbing the panda plush beside her and squeezing it tightly between her thighs before flipping the page.

But Li Luo played a cruel trick—he was about to kiss her, then Li Yang pulled back, coughed twice, and awkwardly asked everyone else on set to leave.

At this point, Ying Chanxi couldn't help clenching her tiny fists, wanting to find Li Luo right away and punch him twice.

But considering the plot had reached a critical moment, Ying Chanxi took a deep breath and temporarily forgave Li Luo, instead giving the panda plush two light punches on the head.

Her legs, however, clenched even tighter, her breathing quickened.

Ying Chanxi had never seen such a scene before—her cheeks flushed red, her ears burned crimson, and unconsciously she bit her lip, reading line by line with intense focus.

Finally.

After clearing away all other staff, Li Yang confirmed the camera was recording, and the lighting and set were perfect.

He re-entered the set with Shen Dongdong; after a few lines of dialogue per the script, Li Yang suddenly pinned Shen Dongdong against the wall.

With just a single glance exchanged, the next second, Li Yang pressed his lips firmly onto Shen Dongdong's soft lips.

Ah—

Ah!!!

They kissed! They kissed! They kissed…

Ying Chanxi bit her lip tightly, staring over and over at this passage, her mind spinning with three words.

They kissed!!!

Finally, they kissed!

Ying Chanxi couldn't help squeezing her legs even tighter, her hands trembling with excitement.

After staying up over three hours, she'd finally reached the scene she most wanted to see!

Ying Chanxi reread it repeatedly, feeling as if she'd worn out her phone.

Only when she realized it was nearly two a. m. did she frantically put down her phone and hurriedly lie down to sleep.

But the moment she closed her eyes, the image of Li Yang and Shen Dongdong filming their wall-kiss flashed into her mind.

And the faces of the two in the scene naturally shifted…

Eee~

Ying Chanxi snapped her eyes open, sat up, slapped her own cheeks, then covered her face with both hands and let out a deep sigh.

It's over...

Can't sleep at all!