Chapter 30: Exposed

Actually, Li Luo hadn't heard what the two girls were talking about.

The reason he froze on the spot was simply because the girl beside Ying Chanxi was someone he recognized.

Of course, back in his previous life.

At that time, he had just graduated from university and, after obtaining his chef's certificate, was sent by his parents to work in the kitchen of a restaurant.

Later, when he quit to write novels, a senior online novelist gave him great help.

Hmm… that person was Xu Youyu.

At first, Li Luo always assumed the other person was male.

Even though readers often called this author "EarlySleepSis," there were still nicknames like "CuttlefishMama," so Li Luo naturally paid no mind, thinking it was just a reader's affectionate term.

EarlySleepGrowsTall herself never directly responded to her own gender.

When Li Luo first entered the field writing urban entertainment novels, it was EarlySleepGrowsTall's guidance that helped him smoothly cross the contract threshold.

Later, after Li Luo achieved success, he went to report the good news to his "EarlySleep Master," and after chatting more, they discovered they were both from Yuhang City.

So they met offline, and Li Luo learned that EarlySleepGrowsTall was indeed a woman—and very beautiful.

After that, the two often met for meals.

Since they were both entertainment writers, they watched movies together, shared TV dramas and playlists, and complained about entertainment industry gossip, all under the pretense of "research."

Unfortunately, Li Luo couldn't endure the hardships of writing; after several consecutive failures, he turned to shooting short dramas.

That same year, EarlySleepGrowsTall's new book performed exceptionally well, earning her the title of Annual Twelve Heavenly Kings, and the next year she gained the Grandmaster slot, rising to the top in one step.

After hearing Li Luo had gone to shoot short dramas, Xu Youyu enthusiastically came over to join the fun, investing money in his short drama project.

But Li Luo messed it up and lost a lot of money.

Although Xu Youyu didn't care, Li Luo still felt embarrassed, so he retreated behind the scenes, focusing on writing scripts for short dramas and repaying her a little each month as he earned money.

But because of this, their relationship gradually drifted apart until they eventually stopped contacting each other.

It wasn't until Lin Xiuhong fell seriously ill and Li Luo couldn't raise any more money that he mustered the nerve to approach Xu Youyu and ask if she could lend him some.

Xu Youyu asked how much he needed.

Li Luo said fifty thousand, or thirty thousand would do too.

Without hesitation, Xu Youyu transferred eighty thousand to him.

That money had still not been fully repaid before his rebirth.

He never expected that after rebirth, they would meet in this way…

Li Luo could never have imagined that in high school, Xu Youyu had been a tenant in his third uncle's house?

The Six Degrees of Separation theory really lives up to its name.

"Didn't you say you were going to buy groceries? Let's go."

Xu Youyu was a cheerful, sunny girl; even though she was the most unfamiliar among the three present, she showed zero hesitation.

"I'm Xu Youyu—I know both of you already; XiXi just told me."

"Eh… Miss Xu, nice to meet you." Li Luo snapped back to himself, nearly slipping up, then nodded and said, "Let's go buy groceries."

"I have a question," Zhao Rongjun couldn't help asking quietly, "when we get back with the groceries, who's going to cook? Can Ying Chanxi cook?"

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi blinked, shaking her head rapidly, "I can't cook. Li Luo can."

"Huh?" Zhao Rongjun stared in shock, turning to Li Luo, then instinctively stepped back half a pace, "You can cook?"

"What's with that skeptical look?" Li Luo grumbled, "Aren't we good brothers?"

"What does being good brothers have to do with it?" Zhao Rongjun stepped back another half step, "Maybe I should just go back to my grandfather's house for dinner."

"Where do you think you're going?!" Li Luo grabbed his collar, scowling, "You haven't tasted my cooking yet? Tonight, you'll see for yourself—I'll make you call me Dad."

No sooner had he spoken than Ying Chanxi kicked him.

"Hey, why'd you kick me?"

"You know why."

…

Returning fully loaded from the market, the group returned to Bihai Lanting.

Li Luo walked into the kitchen to prepare the meal.

The other three sat on the living room sofa chatting.

Of course, mostly Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu were talking.

Once Zhao Rongjun found himself surrounded only by girls, he instantly turned mute, sitting on the sofa scrolling through his phone—actually just opening QQ, closing it, then opening it again, completely clueless about what he was looking at.

"You still have class tomorrow, right?" Xu Youyu sat cross-legged on the sofa, hands resting on her ankles, addressing the two. "I remember the summer prep classes last four weeks, then comes the military training at the start of term."

"Right." Ying Chanxi nodded, legs together, sitting with perfect poise. "We still have class tomorrow, then we officially register for school."

"The military training after registration is actually fun," Xu Youyu grinned. "The first few days are just acclimating to the intensity; later, they take you to nearby military bases for training—lots of cool activities."

"You'll go to military bases?" Ying Chanxi was surprised. "Won't it be exhausting?"

"Military training is always tiring," Xu Youyu patted her face. "What matters more is sun protection—remember to prepare sunscreen in advance."

"Oh, by the way." After finishing the topic of military training, Xu Youyu suddenly remembered something, pulled out her phone, and asked the two, "What are your QQ numbers? Let me add you."

As she spoke, Xu Youyu had already opened the QQ interface on her phone.

Glancing at the friend request page, she noticed Chongran still hadn't accepted her friend request, and she clicked her tongue.

Could this guy be looking down on her and just ignoring her friend request?

Thinking this, Xu Youyu tapped into the add-friend page and looked over at Ying Chanxi and Zhao Rongjun.

Both promptly gave their QQ numbers.

After adding them, Ying Chanxi said, "I'll just send you Li Luo's QQ number."

As she spoke, she copied and pasted the number and sent it directly to Xu Youyu.

Xu Youyu glanced at it and felt a strange sense of familiarity when copying the number.

Then she searched it…

"What's wrong?" Ying Chanxi noticed her odd expression and asked with concern.

"Nothing." Xu Youyu quietly put away her phone, her peripheral vision lightly flicking toward Li Luo bustling in the kitchen, then she chuckled, "Xixi, isn't Li Luo's Chinese grade pretty good?"

"It's pretty good," Ying Chanxi nodded. "He scored 110 on his high school entrance exam—third in the whole school—and his essay was a perfect score."

"Perfect score?" Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, then immediately accepted it as reasonable. "That's impressive."

"But nothing compared to Senior Xu," Ying Chanxi shook her head with a smile. "You've won so many essay competition awards—Li Luo only has one perfect essay to his name."

"Hmm…" Xu Youyu nodded reluctantly.

Was she really better than Li Luo?

But Li Luo's I Am Really Not a Star is ranked fifth on this week's new book chart—ahead of him are only big-name masters and Lv5 veteran authors.

And she's at number thirty-one, utterly crushed…

She hadn't expected Chongran to be someone her own age!

And even worse—a younger brother!

Xu Youyu clenched her teeth silently and glanced again at the friend request on her phone.

There was no Li Luo.

Only Chongran—and it was still pending approval.