Chapter 307: Xixi Comes to Be Little Secretary

After Xu Youyu's birthday on June 8th ended, in the early hours of the 9th, within just a few minutes, Literary Era easily reached the ten-thousand subscriptions achievement.

This achievement, if placed a year ago, Xu Youyu wouldn't have dared to even imagine it.

Back then she was still a newcomer who had just entered the industry, writing at the same time as Li Luo's I Am Really Not a Star.

At that time, the two of them's books, among a pile of books from the same period, could be considered to have decent results.

But even I Am Really Not a Star, which had made it onto the Sanjiang recommendation, only had an actual first subscription of just over two thousand.

Although the subsequent updates were diligent, the results were only at the great-quality level.

If it weren't for last New Year's Day, the collaboration event between I Am Really Not a Star and Yuan Wanqing, who sang "Tree Rings," I Am Really Not a Star wouldn't have taken off so quickly.

And Xu Youyu, riding this wave and with the chapter recommendation boost from Li Luo, ground away for more than half a year, finally managing to grind her way to ten thousand subscriptions.

This also made Xu Youyu feel grateful, always feeling that her own results weren't truly solid, but rather could only rise with Li Luo's help.

But only Li Luo knew clearly in his heart that Xu Youyu's true strength was right there; he had merely provided some insignificant assistance, letting her ten-thousand subscriptions arrive a little earlier, that's all.

And at this time, I Am Really Not a Star's average subscriptions, under the situation of traffic continuously rolling like a snowball, had already reached 25,000.

A true case of one book exploding in popularity.

In 2015, what did 25,000 average subscriptions on the main site mean?

One had to know that this era was precisely the glorious moment for Online Novel channel sites.

Li Luo now normally updated around 200,000 characters of content each month, with main site royalties roughly around 150,000.

But each month's channel fees had already risen to over 500,000 per month, fully three times the main site royalties!

One had to know that the royalties distributed from the channel websites were first split fifty-fifty with the channel site, and after taking back the fifty percent earnings, the main site would then split fifty-fifty with the author again.

In other words, if a reader spent the same 10 yuan on this book, if it was spent on the Qidian main site, then the author could get 5 yuan.

If it was spent on those outside channel sites, the author could only get 2.5 yuan.

But even so, Li Luo's channel royalties were still over three times that of the main site.

Calculating it this way, the actual earnings from the channel sites were actually six to seven times that of the main site.

In other words, the number of legitimate readers who paid to read I Am Really Not a Star alone was at least around 200,000 people.

And as everyone knows... for a hit book like this, the number of pirated readers was basically over ten times that...

To exaggerate a bit, a hundred times wasn't impossible.

A public figure whose direct influence was solidly at least on the order of a million people—at this point, ordinary people might not feel much, but the Writers' Association's attitude was a bit different.

……

After the final exams at Fuyi High School from the 24th to the 26th ended, on Saturday the 27th, during the morning self-study class, Kong Junxiang walked into the classroom holding a stack of forms and told Hua Xiuxiu to hand them out.

Li Luo took the form from Zhu Huiyan in the front row and glanced at it—sure enough, it was exactly that subject-selection consent form mentioned earlier.

"Everyone take a look at this form, okay?" Kong Junxiang clapped his hands, signaling everyone to focus their attention, then said, "As mentioned before, after going home this week, everyone must fill out your subject-selection goals above, and then have your parents sign it and bring it back."

"On the form above, you should have seen, there are a total of two columns and six blank spaces."

"The first column is your first choice for subject selection, that is, the three subjects you most want to choose."

"Then the second column is the second choice, meaning if the first-choice subject selection doesn't work out, whether you lean more toward the three science subjects or the three humanities subjects."

"Mr. Kong." Zhu Yufei asked in confusion, "What does it mean that the first-choice subject selection doesn't work? Didn't the college entrance exam reform say you can choose freely?"

"Ahem." Kong Junxiang cleared his throat and explained, "Although it's said to be free choice, with seven subjects, even if we first rule out the Technology subject, the remaining six regular subjects, if you really want to choose freely, there are a full 20 combination options, but our school only has 16 classes in total."

"So if your first choice has relatively few people choosing it among all the students in the school, you may need to consider modifying it as appropriate."

"When the time comes, if the number of people with the same choice is less than thirty, the school will also privately continue to discuss follow-up countermeasures with you."

After answering a few more questions that the students were concerned about, Kong Junxiang reminded them of a few matters to pay attention to, then looked at Li Luo and beckoned him over: "About the class-splitting trip, why don't you come up and say a few words?"

"Oh, coming." Hearing Kong Junxiang call him, Li Luo stood up and walked toward the podium, passing by Hua Xiuxiu, tapped on her desk, "The prepared materials, hand them out."

Hua Xiuxiu immediately nodded, stood up again, took a stack of papers from the drawer, and began distributing them to all the students in the class.

Although Li Luo had long instructed Hua Xiuxiu not to coordinate with the other students in the class before the plan was finalized.

But because this matter had originally first sprouted from the girls' dormitory, quite a few people in the class already knew about it in advance; it was just that the specific arrangements were still undecided.

At this moment, after the notices about the class-splitting trip plan were handed out, the classroom immediately began whispering, with many students getting a little excited, looks of anticipation appearing in their eyes.

And this plan, after multiple revisions and iterations, was already relatively complete.

Zhu Yufei took the notice passed down from the front desk with a curious face, then started reading it, mainly paying attention to a few key points.

For example, the paragraph at the beginning, after explaining the reason and purpose of this class-splitting trip, mentioned, "This class-splitting trip is led and prepared by the parents of Class 8's class president, Li Luo—Mr. Li Guohong and Ms. Lin Xiuhong. When the time comes, they will participate in this activity together with the homeroom teacher Mr. Kong and the English teacher Ms. Ding, accompanying the Class 8 students."

And afterward, the destination and specific arrangements for this trip were explained in detail.

Li Luo didn't choose any faraway place, directly setting it in Yuquan County next to Yuhang City.

Li Guoru had acquaintances and friends over there who had opened a fairly large farmhouse resort.

Recently, Li Guoru had been sort of seconded to Chongran Culture, helping with the accounting and such, and conveniently helped Li Luo handle this matter.

After asking his friends, it happened that from July 17th to 19th, no one had booked there yet, so Li Guoru helped him directly book the whole place.

It could also conveniently run through the company's accounts, and Li Guoru could also find something to do for himself.

The plan was a three-day, two-night itinerary in total, with each person only needing to pay 200 yuan, with food, lodging, and transportation all included, and all the entertainment projects at the farmhouse resort also fully open for free, with unlimited play.

Several pictures were also pasted on the back of the notice—fishing, boating, fruit picking in the orchard, feeding chickens and ducks, hiking and mountain climbing, self-service barbecue, bonfire party—one could say everything was available.

Just looking at these introductions, the students of Class 8 were already drooling a bit, already wishing they could jump straight to July 17th.

"The notice for the summer class-splitting trip plan has already been written very clearly, everyone can take a careful look."

After Li Luo went up to the podium, he said, "On my end, I'll give everyone a small suggestion."

Saying so, he raised his hand, thumb and index finger pinched together, and continued with a smile: "After all, this class-splitting trip of ours isn't organized by the school, so some parents may have doubts and concerns."

"So, I've prepared two sets of plans and talking points for everyone."

"First, why did I choose to issue the notice today?"

"Because although the final exams are over, the exam results haven't come out yet, so we won't let a poor exam performance affect our parents' choice."

So when you get home, try not to bring up the final exam and the class-splitting trip in the same conversation—keep them strictly separate.

The best approach is to first proactively talk to your parents about the final exam, then wait for another time to discuss the class-splitting, subject selection, and the trip.

This should increase the chances of success.

Sitting on an empty chair beside them, Kong Junxiang watched Li Luo teaching everyone how to persuade their parents, and couldn't help laughing and shaking his head.

Li Luo continued: "Also, our dates are set for the 17th to the 19th—right from Friday to Sunday."

If any parents are genuinely uneasy about letting their child go out alone, they can also sign up to join.

We can all go together to a farmstay and have fun—having your parents accompany you will make them feel more at ease.

When Li Luo said this, many students showed reluctant expressions.

Zhu Yufei groaned: "No way! How can we have fun if our parents come along?"

"Relax—it's just letting the parents come along to enjoy themselves, not to join our activities," Li Luo chuckled. "My parents, Teacher Kong, and Teacher Ding will all be there to keep an eye on yours. We'll have our own schedule and won't be disturbed."

With Li Luo's assurance, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, going out with classmates isn't something you want your own parents hovering over you the whole time—it'd be unbearable.

After finishing these points, Li Luo briefly outlined the three-day, two-night itinerary, then nodded to Kong Junxiang, signaling he was done.

"Alright," Kong Junxiang stood up and walked back to the podium. After Li Luo stepped down, he clapped his hands and said, "So that's the situation with the class-splitting trip."

"After all, I've been your homeroom teacher for a year, and we've had a great time together."

"After Hua Xiuxiu asked me privately, I thought about it and realized it's actually a good idea, so I agreed."

"But I still need to say a few more things."

"This isn't a school-organized event—it's our own private plan."

"You might not feel it, but for teachers, the pressure is enormous. If even one of you gets into trouble, the risk is something I can't bear."

"So for this class-splitting trip, everyone must prioritize safety, follow the monitor's instructions strictly, and absolutely no unauthorized actions—understood?"

"Understood!"

Everyone's enthusiasm was high, and their response was loud and clear.

The students in the neighboring seventh class were puzzled, wondering what was going on with the eighth class—why were they so excited over a subject-selection consent form?

…

After school, after eating lunch in the cafeteria, Li Luo said: "We just finished the exams this week, so no study group today—everyone go home and sign your subject-selection consent forms."

"Will you be back tonight?" Yan Zhusheng asked quietly.

"Aren't you going home?" Li Luo asked, puzzled.

"I asked my mom's assistant—she said she'll be home this afternoon, but she has to leave around three-thirty," Yan Zhusheng said.

"I think Xi Xi and I won't be coming back tonight," Li Luo thought for a moment and said. "My mom wants us to stay over."

"Alright."

After lunch, the group packed their bags and walked out of the school gate together, then said their goodbyes.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi boarded the bus home and arrived at the Jincheng Community entrance.

But instead of heading straight into the community, they walked to the front of the old breakfast shop across the street.

The breakfast shop no longer existed—the sign had been replaced with "Chongran Culture," and the interior had been renovated into a bright, modern office.

Li Luo pushed open the door; Ying Chanxi followed behind.

Inside, the first thing you saw was a reception desk, with two small sofas and a coffee table beside it.

Turning into the inner office, Li Luo saw three people working there.

Besides Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong, Li Guoru was also there.

"Oh, you're here?" Li Guoru spotted Li Luo and grinned. "Just got out of school?"

"Yeah," Li Luo greeted, "Uncle, good afternoon," and placed his backpack on a nearby sofa.

Ying Chanxi also politely greeted them, then quietly sat down on the sofa.

Li Luo pulled out the subject-selection consent form, had Lin Xiuhong sign it, and that was settled.

Then he brought up the summer class-splitting trip.

When he did, Li Guohong and the others showed no reaction—they'd already known—but Ying Chanxi immediately frowned and whispered to Li Luo beside her: "When did you guys plan this class-splitting trip?"

"Uh… we just started organizing it recently."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well… you're in Class One, not our Class Eight."

"Doesn't being in Class One mean I can't go?" Ying Chanxi bit her lip, pouting. "I want to go too."

"Our dates are Friday to Sunday," Li Luo said. "You have your competition class on Friday."

"What if I go on Saturday?" Ying Chanxi pouted. "Is your trip location far?"

"Not far—about an hour by car," Li Luo smirked. "But there's no point. It's only three days and two nights—we'll be back soon."

"I don't care," Ying Chanxi puffed her cheeks. "I want to go."

"Aren't you going to class on Friday?"

"I can take a leave."

"Be good, just focus on your classes," Li Luo said, gently patting her head to soothe her.

After being patted on the head, Ying Chanxi fell silent—but still sulked, especially thinking Yan Zhusheng was in Class Eight and would definitely join. A sour feeling stirred in her chest, and her fingers itched.

"By the way," Li Guoru suddenly said, "I have a friend at the Writers Association named Sun Jingchun—the one who hosted the symposium for you. You remember him?"

"Oh, yeah," Li Luo nodded. "What about him?"

"Nothing major," Li Guoru chuckled. "He asked me to privately check in with you—apparently, the provincial Writers Association leadership previously asked you to apply for membership, but there's been no follow-up. He wants to know if you're still interested."

"That thing?" Li Luo blinked, then scratched his head. "I forgot about it."

Li Guoru: "..."

Seeing this kid look like he'd genuinely forgotten, Li Guoru was left speechless.

Just a few years ago, to join the Writers' Association, he'd written his own memoirs, hired someone to polish them, used connections to get them published, and even bought sales himself just to barely sneak in and play around.

Now Li Luo had been personally invited by a leader's verbal offer—and still managed to forget it!

Comparing people really makes you want to die of rage.

But precisely because of all the events tied to Li Luo, Li Guoru had recently lost interest in the Writers' Association.

After asking, he merely added one extra reminder for Sun Jingchun: "Print out an application form, fill it in, and mail it directly—I'll let him know on my end."

After receiving Li Luo's affirmative reply, Li Guoru dropped the subject and turned to ask about Chongran Culture's future development plans.

Li Luo had no development plans at all—he was basically just a shell company.

Its main purpose was to legally avoid taxes, and secondarily to give his parents something to do.

Seeing Li Luo had no ideas, Li Guoru didn't press further, only saying: "Anyway, I'm officially posted here, and I've been too lazy to go to the Writers' Association lately—coming here to enjoy the air conditioning isn't bad."

"It's just that there are too few people—only your mom and dad. If there were more, it'd be better."

"Otherwise, sitting here all day, I can only play chess with your dad—and that guy's terrible at it."

Hearing this, Lin Xiuhong beside him had an idea and asked: "What if we invite Xue Feng over? She's been looking for a job again—I was thinking she might as well come here for company. Didn't Brother say earlier that paying higher salaries can offset taxes?"

"Oh, that's true." Li Guoru nodded, then smiled. "Go ask her. Get four people together, then I'll get a mahjong machine—we can play some mahjong."

"Hey, that's great!" Lin Xiuhong's eyes lit up at the mention of mahjong, and she immediately nodded in agreement.

Li Luo coughed twice beside them and asked quietly: "Uncle, is paying salaries like this to avoid taxes legal?"

"What are you worried about?" Li Guoru rolled his eyes. "As long as the positions are real, necessary for normal company operations, and the salaries are within regulations, it's fine—no fake positions allowed."

"Your second aunt used to be a cleaner. We're short one for cleaning—let her come on as a cleaner. A few thousand a month is perfectly reasonable."

"This is normal operational expense, just like your dad's position as General Manager and my role as Finance Department Manager."

Hearing this, Li Luo felt somewhat reassured and asked curiously: "Then what about my mom? What's her position?"

"I'm the HR Manager," Lin Xiuhong said with a smug smile, covering her mouth. "Never thought I'd become a white-collar worker in my life."

Li Luo chuckled at that, then turned to Ying Chanxi and patted her shoulder: "If you can't find a job after graduation, come to my mom, okay? Just come for an interview."

Ying Chanxi gave him a look and asked casually: "What position would I be applying for?"

"Secretary," Li Luo patted his chest, pointing at himself. "I'm short a tea-pouring, errand-running secretary."

At these words, Ying Chanxi blushed, before she could respond, Lin Xiuhong swatted him: "Get out! What nonsense are you talking? Do you even need a secretary just to type? Aren't you ashamed?"

Hearing Lin Xiuhong defend him, Ying Chanxi bit her lip—inside, she felt a flicker of interest.

Li Luo chuckled twice, dodged his mother's flurry of slaps, stood up, stretched, and wandered around the office, nodding in satisfaction.

This area had originally been where breakfast shop customers ate; now it had been fully renovated into an office.

In the southeast corner of the office, the breakfast shop's old kitchen remained, but after renovation, it was now clean and bright.

Every morning, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong came down to work, so they didn't need to go home to cook lunch or dinner—they could handle meals right in the office, very convenient.

For this reason, Li Guohong had even installed a fridge in the office to store ingredients and fruit easily.

This little life had become wonderfully comfortable.

Looking at these changes in his family, Li Luo felt deeply satisfied—he finally truly understood the joy of changing his family's fate, seeing the breakfast shop he'd known for years transformed beyond recognition.

And just as things here were harmonious and joyful,

On the other side,

Yan Zhusheng had taken a taxi and was heading home.