Chapter 303: Kissing Is Fine Too, Right?

At 5:30 p. m., the light outside the window was still bright, but inside the master bedroom, the curtains had plunged the room into darkness.

When Ying Chanxi uttered the invitation to hold hands, her small face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away, not daring to look at Li Luo.

Her demeanor was sweet and charming, irresistible to tease.

Recalling what the senior had done to him earlier, Li Luo suddenly felt a whim and chuckled as he took Ying Chanxi's tiny hand.

When Ying Chanxi tried to pull Li Luo's hand toward the door, she suddenly felt her hand yanked hard—he pulled her fully facing him.

Then Li Luo suddenly leaned in, pinning her against the wall with a thump as her back hit the surface.

"According to your logic, if you're a couple…" Li Luo teased, leaning close to Ying Chanxi's face, whispering, "kissing is allowed too, right?"

Hearing those words directly from Li Luo, Ying Chanxi's face turned as red as sunset, like a ripe tomato, dewy and tempting to bite—just looking at it gave a tart-sweet sensation.

"Y-you… I… this…" Ying Chanxi's heart raced wildly, her eyes darting nervously, never daring to meet Li Luo's gaze—she was utterly tense.

Finally, her heartbeat grew so violent she felt her ears warming, so she tightly shut her eyes and answered with silence.

Feeling the small hand gripping his tightly, Li Luo chuckled and pinched both sides of Ying Chanxi's cheeks with his other hand, making her lips pout.

Then he smiled and said, "Just teasing you. Come on, they're waiting for us."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi opened her eyes, and immediately felt her hand pulled by Li Luo as they walked out of the bedroom.

At that moment, for some reason… a strange sense of loss suddenly welled up inside her.

Ying Chanxi bit her lip… thought to herself, what if she had… hmm… shook her head, seeing they were about to leave the hallway, she quickly let go of Li Luo's hand and whispered, "Y-you go ahead…"

Saying that, she turned and walked into the restroom on the hallway, washed her face with cold water to cool down, checked the mirror to confirm no signs remained, then shyly stepped out and returned to sit in the living room.

By now, the game had reached a fever pitch.

Except for one 【Female Restroom】, all other territories had been purchased.

Among them, Li Luo and Zhao Rongjun, two unfortunate brothers, each held only two territories after excluding their shared properties.

The rest had been divided among the five girls.

Especially in the latter half of the map, territories worth over 100 study points were almost entirely in the girls' hands.

Zhao Rongjun was somewhat better off—he shared 【Male Dormitory】 and 【Playground】 with Qiao Xinyan.

Li Luo, besides 【School Roof】 and 【Female Dormitory】, owned only one other territory: 【Class 16, Gao Er】, shared with Ying Chanxi.

He was living in dire straits.

Although he'd bought few territories and spent few study points, he still had to pay tolls every time he passed through others' lands.

Especially on the latter territories—each passage cost him ten or twenty study points, unbearable.

Worse still, they kept landing on 【Events】 and 【Accidents】.

If he drew a card letting him choose his own location, he could just stroll to his own territory.

But many cards specified fixed locations.

For example, Li Luo drew an 【Event】 card that read: "As a member of your class, actively participate in the school sports meet, contribute to your class's honor, sweat on the playground—immediately proceed to 【Playground】 to join the 100-meter sprint and roll a die, advancing from 【Playground】 by the rolled number."

So Li Luo had to first go to 【Playground】, pay 20 study points each to Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan as tolls, then roll a 4, arriving at 【General Teacher's Office】, where he paid 1 study point to Xu Yinghuan.

The initial 20 study points given at the school gate were completely insufficient.

After several more rounds, Li Luo's study points quickly ran out.

But it didn't matter.

He still had three girlfriends.

Seeing Li Luo nearly out of points, Yan Zhusheng quietly slipped him some study points to support him.

On the other side, Zhao Rongjun also drew an 【Accident】 card, forcing him to go to the principal's office, where he paid 25 study points to Ying Chanxi.

Combined with his already limited territories, his points soon vanished.

As a wealthy woman, Qiao Xinyan generously gave him her own study points to support her boyfriend.

Thus, the situation shifted unpredictably, gradually turning into a contest of who among Li Luo and Zhao Rongjun could better rely on their girlfriends' support.

Until Xu Youyu drew a 【Tattle】 card, cruelly announcing that Qiao Xinyan and Zhao Rongjun were forcibly broken up—the situation instantly clarified.

"Can I give him 【Playground】 and 【Male Dormitory】?" As they broke up, Qiao Xinyan frowned, bit her lip, then asked.

Hearing this, Zhao Rongjun immediately looked moved, but Xu Youyu smiled and shook her index finger: "Rules are rules—after a breakup, shared property goes to the girl."

"Alright." Qiao Xinyan sighed in frustration, then turned to Xu Yinghuan, "Huanhuan, help him for now—I'll see if I can draw another confession card later."

Xu Yinghuan patted her chest, assuring her it was fine, but relying solely on her support, Zhao Rongjun clearly couldn't survive.

After all, Xu Yinghuan had the least resources among the five girls.

After several more rounds of pressure, Zhao Rongjun's points vanished, forcing him to sell territories.

Just as Zhao Rongjun sold his last two territories—【Self-Study Room】 and 【Class 3, Gao Yi】—facing point zero and expulsion—Qiao Xinyan finally landed on an 【Event】, drawing a miracle card: a confession card.

Overjoyed, she immediately handed the card to Zhao Rongjun: "I like you! Let's date!"

Hearing this, Zhao Rongjun froze for a moment.

But at this point, Qiao Xinyan's competitive drive was fierce—she urged him urgently: "Hurry up, what are you staring for?"

Then she shoved half her remaining points into his hand: "Now you won't lose."

"Touching, so touching," Xu Youyu clapped in admiration, "Xinyan, you're wonderful—some guy's going to be lucky someday."

Qiao Xinyan blushed at this, but everyone was having too much fun now to mind the teasing.

But after Qiao Xinyan and Zhao Rongjun broke up and then got back together, Xu Yinghuan unlucky drew an 【Accident】 card.

"Due to your father's job, you're likely to relocate with your family to another city for school, leaving here."

"To spare your boyfriend heartbreak, you argue fiercely with him, breaking up so your departure won't hurt him."

"But your father's job stabilizes—you won't be moving—but you've already broken up."

"Though you desperately want to reconcile and explain, your timid nature and his disappointment hold you back—you ultimately accept the outcome."

"You break up with your partner; both lose 10 study points."

After reading this breakup card, Xu Yinghuan stared blankly: "Sis, what kind of plot is this?"

"The card content is mostly drawn from real life," Xu Youyu coughed twice. "This actually happened when I was in middle school—it was a funny mix-up. Don't question the absurdity of reality."

Thus, after Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun broke up, she could only fight alone.

Previously, to save Zhao Rongjun, she had already given away many credits; now that Zhao Rongjun had regained Qiao Xinyan's support, he was faring much better than she was.

Xu Yinghuan herself, surrounded on all sides, found life growing harder and harder, until finally she had to sell off her territory.

Just as Xu Yinghuan was about to lose all her credits, Zhao Rongjun arrived at the 【Event】 and successfully drew a confession card.

This immediately left him in an awkward position.

In front of his current girlfriend and his former girlfriend, who was about to be expelled for credit bankruptcy, Zhao Rongjun hesitated, unsure whether he should save her.

But at that moment, Qiao Xinyan said seriously: "Why are you hesitating now? Save Yinghuan! If it weren't for her just now, you'd already be out."

Hearing Qiao Xinyan say this, Zhao Rongjun gritted his teeth and extended his confession card toward Xu Yinghuan.

But Xu Yinghuan merely smiled and shook her head: "Sorry, but I'm declining this time."

Then she pointed to the sky outside the window and chuckled: "It's already late. Let's just end this sooner."

At that moment, everyone looked out the window and realized the sun was setting.

The last rays of sunset streamed through the window into the living room; the time was nearly seven o'clock.

After Xu Yinghuan lost all her credits and was eliminated, even though Qiao Xinyan had vast assets, she was burdened with a dead weight and ultimately could not withstand the Li Family Conglomerate's pressure, forced into bankruptcy.

But as the external threat vanished, the Li Family Conglomerate instantly plunged into internal infighting.

With no external threat, Ying Chanxi and the other two immediately stopped supplying Li Luo with credits.

Only after Li Luo was forced to sell all his assets did Ying Chanxi and the others take turns giving him a few credits, keeping him in a state of neither starving nor eating well.

In the end, Ying Chanxi's assets proved the most substantial, one by one defeating Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu.

When Ying Chanxi handed him all her credits and said, "I surrender," Li Luo froze for a moment.

"I—I—I won?"

"You won," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes. "Congratulations."

"I never expected the ending to be like this," Xu Youyu sighed. "When I made this map, I never imagined winning this way."

"Cough… Winning through my personal charm is a kind of recognition," Li Luo said shamelessly.

Yan Zhusheng turned to look at him, stared at the credits in his hand, and frowned unhappily: "Li Luo, you're being shameless."

"True," Ying Chanxi nodded. "I just didn't want to waste time—I'm already hungry."

At that moment, Xu Youyu's phone rang.

After answering, she immediately said, "Got it," then went to the door, opened it, and took the takeout from the delivery guy.

Dinner was a Pizza Hut pizza, followed by Xu Youyu's birthday cake.

The sun had just sunk below the horizon; nightfall was settling in.

After clearing the coffee table, everyone sat at the dining table, lit candles on Xu Youyu's cake, turned off the lights, sang "Happy Birthday," and pulled out their gifts.

Xu Youyu happily closed her eyes, made a wish, blew out the candles, and eagerly began cutting the cake.

But before they'd eaten more than a few bites of cake or pizza, Xu Youyu, as the Birthday Person, launched a cream war.

Seven people tussled in the living room; by nine-thirty, Qiao Xinyan and the other two wiped the cream off their faces and reluctantly bid farewell to Xu Youyu and the others.

The three took the elevator downstairs; as they walked out of the compound, Xu Yinghuan received a call from her father. After answering a few times, she waved to Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan: "My dad's picking me up at the gate—I'm leaving now."

"Mm-hmm, bye, Yinghuan," Qiao Xinyan nodded and waved.

"Want me to ask my dad to drop you off?"

"No, no," Zhao Rongjun, always reluctant to trouble others, quickly declined. "My place is close—just a few minutes' walk."

"Mine too," Qiao Xinyan nodded. "Go ahead, Yinghuan—don't keep your dad waiting."

"Alright, bye then," Xu Yinghuan waved and immediately ran out the compound gate, hopping into her father's car.

Now, only Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan remained on the road.

With Xu Yinghuan as the mood-lifter, the three had felt lively.

Now, silence suddenly fell.

Zhao Rongjun said nothing; Qiao Xinyan didn't know what to say either.

Their home directions were the same road, requiring them to pass two intersections before splitting at a fork.

So they walked in silence until the fork, just as they were about to part, Qiao Xinyan smiled at Zhao Rongjun and said: "That Monopoly game was kind of fun."

"Mm… yeah, it was," Zhao Rongjun nodded. "It… was pretty fun."

Seeing his sluggish reaction, Qiao Xinyan recalled Zhao Rongjun's behavior during Monopoly and laughed: "I really enjoyed playing with you today."

"Ah… really…?" Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, embarrassed. "I felt like I was dragging you down the whole time."

"It's just that Chanxi and the others were too mean," Qiao Xinyan giggled, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, have you decided what subjects to pick for Gao Er?"

"Me?" Zhao Rongjun paused, then replied: "Physics, chemistry, geography."

"Huh?" Qiao Xinyan tilted her head. "Same as me?"

"You too?"

"Yeah," Qiao Xinyan smiled. "We might even end up in the same class."

Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, unsure how to respond.

Qiao Xinyan said nothing more—she simply waved at him as they reached the fork: "I'm heading home. Bye."

"Mm," Zhao Rongjun nodded quickly. "Bye."

…

In Bihai Lanting 1502, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng went to the bathroom to wash up and bathe first.

Since Yan Zhusheng went in first, Ying Chanxi held her change of clothes and boldly claimed Li Luo's bathroom.

Xu Youyu was unpacking birthday gifts in the living room.

Zhao Rongjun gave her a book, Xu Yinghuan gave a bookmark, and Qiao Xinyan gave a box of hair clips.

Yan Zhusheng, as always, gave a pair of running shoes, with a sticky note inside that read: "Happy Birthday, Xu Youyu—keep up the morning runs!"

Xu Youyu's cheek twitched as she sighed: "Who the hell wants to run in the morning… this is annoying."

"Isn't that great?" Li Luo chuckled.

"You're the worst," Xu Youyu shot him a glare. "Every damn morning you wake me up for a run—I feel like half my life is gone."

As she opened Ying Chanxi's gift, Xu Youyu let out a soft "Huh?": "It's a speaker? Nice—I can play music while typing."

Xu Youyu glanced at the speaker's packaging, deciding to examine it later, then picked up Li Luo's gift and shook it—no sound came out.

"What did you give me?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"Open it and you'll see," Li Luo smiled. "But I suggest you hide it—don't let anyone else see it, or you'll be socially dead."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu's expression turned strange. She eyed Li Luo suspiciously, scanning him up and down. "You… you didn't give me something weird, did you?"

Even Xu Youyu felt a faint blush creep onto her cheeks as she said it.

Li Luo frowned. "What's wrong? I gave you normal stuff. Where did your mind go?"

"Something that makes a girl socially dead…" Xu Youyu muttered as she peeled open the box. "It's never anything decent. You didn't buy me some weird toy, did you?"

Hearing this, Li Luo finally understood—he turned dark-faced and immediately denied it: "Don't make things up! I gave you normal things!"

"How could normal stuff make me socially dead…" Xu Youyu said, already opening the box. She peered inside, paused, then pulled out a wine glass. "Huh? A glass?"

And not just one.

Inside the box lay five wine glasses, each with a different shape.

Li Luo looked at the tall stemmed glass Xu Youyu held. "This one, with the inverted pyramid shape—it's called a martini glass, I think."

"Why did you think to give me this?" Xu Youyu asked.

"You like drinking, don't you?" Li Luo smiled. "You drink while typing, right? Wouldn't using these glasses make it feel more atmospheric, more ceremonial?"

Though he said that, Li Luo knew well—last life, Xu Youyu had loved collecting wine glasses of all shapes and picking one to use each time she drank.

Choosing a glass was like a girl picking an outfit from her closet before going out.

But Xu Youyu, still young now, hadn't yet developed this little habit.

Yet the moment she held Li Luo's wine glasses, she instantly loved the feeling.

"I love them," Xu Youyu smiled, then her eyes darted mischievously as she leaned close to Li Luo. "How should I reward you, big brother?"

"Wash the cream off your face first," Li Luo said, deadpan.

"You've got some too," Xu Youyu shot him a look, then suddenly leaned in, tiptoeing, extending her pink tongue to lightly lick his cheek—she drew the white cream into her mouth, then winked at him, showing off the cream still clinging to her tongue.

Li Luo watched, wide-eyed, as Xu Youyu swallowed the cream—and he involuntarily swallowed too.

"By the way," Xu Youyu said after teasing him, suddenly remembering something. "You said if someone sees these glasses, I'll be socially dead—what did you mean?"

"Look closely at the glass wall," Li Luo coughed twice to cover his fluster, then prompted. "There's custom engraving on it."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu leaned closer, peering at the glass.

The moment she saw the engraved words—"Literary Era—Sleep Early to Grow Taller"—her expression shattered. She shoved the glass back into the box, slammed the lid shut, and glared at him in furious shock. "Li Luo!"

Li Luo, realizing his mistake, bolted for the master bedroom.

Xu Youyu chased after him, shouting fiercely: "Stop right there! Don't you dare run!"