Chapter 312

July 17, Friday morning.

Li Luo opened his eyes with a headache, awakened by a gentle shaking of his body.

Last night, Xu Youyu had promised to drink only one glass of wine, but before long it turned into countless glasses, and they didn't sleep until 1:30 a. m.

He really had believed Xu Youyu's lies—she said she'd drink just one, yet afterward she was impossible to stop.

She even insisted he teach her how to make cocktails, showed her step by step, and kept teasing him at every turn.

Dressed in a light sleepwear, Xu Youyu radiated an alluring aura; Li Luo felt as if Doraemon's magic pocket were about to burst through his crotch.

He ended up kicking Xu Youyu out of his room at 1:30 a. m. and didn't fall asleep until nearly 2 a. m.

"Let me sleep a bit longer—I'm skipping morning run today," Li Luo muttered, slapping away the hand shaking him while keeping his eyes shut, "Zhusheng, just leave for now."

Ying Chanxi had first frowned, thinking this guy was being disobedient again—he must've stayed up late gaming after finishing his writing last night.

But seeing how exhausted he was, she softened a little; checking the time, it was barely before six a. m. —if he skipped morning run, he could sleep an extra hour.

Yet when Li Luo finally said "Zhusheng," Ying Chanxi's eyes narrowed instantly. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

Next, she grabbed the blanket and yanked it off the bed with a sudden jerk.

"What the—?" Li Luo jolted awake from the air conditioner's cold wind, shooting upright on the bed. At the sight of Ying Chanxi, the words "Zhusheng" nearly slipped out again—but he swallowed them down, "Xi… Xi Xi… Why are you up so early? Uh… good morning?"

"Hmph." Ying Chanxi tossed the blanket back onto the bed, re-covering Li Luo, then turned angrily toward the door, leaving only one remark: "Sleep if you want—I'm going for my morning run alone."

Hearing this, Li Luo obviously couldn't foolishly keep sleeping.

He immediately threw off the blanket, leapt out of bed, and chased after Ying Chanxi, grabbing her arm: "I'm up, I'm up—let's go for the morning run together."

Ying Chanxi hadn't walked far; once he grabbed her, she pouted and relented: "Then hurry up—I've already washed up, you should—"

Li Luo, dressed in his pajamas, had no issue with his attire.

But when Ying Chanxi glanced down, she saw the bulge in his pajama pants—his magic pocket overflowing—and blushed furiously, nearly unable to finish her sentence.

"You should wash up quickly too," Ying Chanxi quickly turned her head away, whispering, "Use facial cleanser, and after you're done, put it in your suitcase to bring along."

"Mm." Li Luo nodded, obediently washed his face with the cleanser as instructed, then packed it into his suitcase.

Meanwhile, Ying Chanxi stayed in his room, double-checked his luggage, confirmed everything was fine, then zipped it shut for him.

At this point, Li Luo glanced curiously at the hallway outside the master bedroom and asked, "Hasn't Zhusheng woken up yet?"

"No," Ying Chanxi shook her head, then speculated, "Maybe she was too excited about the class trip last night and couldn't sleep well?"

"Possibly," Li Luo said, then walked toward Yan Zhusheng's bedroom, "I'll go wake her up."

"Better not," Ying Chanxi grabbed Li Luo's hand, whispering, "Let Zhusheng sleep a little longer."

Li Luo: "...?"

Looking at Ying Chanxi, Li Luo thought—wasn't this same person just telling him to wake Zhusheng up?

But remembering they wouldn't see each other for the next two or three days, Li Luo agreed to Ying Chanxi's suggestion.

Today, following Ying Chanxi's instructions, Li Luo wore a blue T-shirt she had bought him—no design, just a string of white English letters.

Ying Chanxi's T-shirt was the exact opposite: white base, with a string of blue English letters.

After getting ready, they went downstairs together, jogged a few laps around the Bihai Lanting complex, then ate breakfast at the downstairs café before buying breakfast for Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu.

Upstairs, Yan Zhusheng had indeed stayed up late thinking about the class trip, only waking at 6:30 a. m.

When she got out of bed, shuffled in her slippers to Li Luo's bedroom door, and saw the empty bed, she fell silent.

She then checked Ying Chanxi's door—Ying Chanxi wasn't there either.

Next, she peeked into her senior's room and saw Xu Youyu still fast asleep—this brought her slight comfort.

Shortly after Yan Zhusheng finished washing up, she heard movement at the door.

Stepping out, she saw Li Luo and Ying Chanxi returning together, carrying breakfast bags.

"Zhusheng, you're awake," Ying Chanxi smiled, holding up the plastic bag, "I brought you breakfast—eat it while it's hot."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng said nothing more, nodded obediently, and sat down at the table to eat.

Li Luo carried Xu Youyu's breakfast into the study, placed it on her chair as usual, patted her awake, and told her to eat while it was still warm.

"Mmm…" Xu Youyu forced her eyes open, leaned over the edge of the bed, glanced at Li Luo, then suddenly grabbed him.

"What's wrong?"

"Aren't you and Zhusheng leaving soon?"

"Yeah, at 7:30."

"I see," Xu Youyu pulled hard with her arm, dragging Li Luo to the bedside, "Wait a second."

"What are you doing?" Li Luo glanced at the door—luckily, he'd closed it before entering—so he let Xu Youyu pull him over, crouching beside the bed, "What else do you want?"

"Nothing," Xu Youyu grinned, and as soon as Li Luo was beside the bed, she yanked him hard.

Li Luo stumbled forward and tumbled straight into Xu Youyu's arms.

"Before you leave, let me hug you one more time," Xu Youyu wrapped her arms around his head, pressing him against her chest, whispering softly in his ear, "Charge me up—I won't see you for days."

"You said the same thing last night," Li Luo mumbled, bracing his hands on the pillow, trying to push himself up.

But Xu Youyu hissed: "You're crushing my hair—it hurts!"

"Oh… sorry, sorry," Li Luo immediately relaxed, unable to rise from her grasp, and let her hug him as long as she wanted.

Only when Ying Chanxi walked to the study door and knocked curiously did Xu Youyu finally let go with a grin: "Alright, have fun!"

Li Luo escaped from his senior's lair, walking out of the study under Ying Chanxi's suspicious gaze.

Glancing at Xu Youyu, who was still eating breakfast beside the bed, Ying Chanxi turned away, closed the study door, and headed to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Li Luo had already sat down at the dining table.

Yan Zhusheng sat across from him, quietly eating, then glanced up at him.

Before Yan Zhusheng could speak, Li Luo preempted: "I saw you weren't up this morning, so I figured you'd stayed up late and were still tired—I didn't wake you for the run, let you sleep longer."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng looked at him again, "Was it Xi Xi who said I should sleep more?"

"Uh… hmm…"

"It's fine, I'm not angry." Yan Zhusheng secretly stretched her feet onto Li Luo's thigh, then handed him a pair of chopsticks. "Feed me."

"Are you three years old?" Li Luo chuckled. "Do you need someone to feed you?"

"Then I'm mad." Yan Zhusheng pouted.

"... Open your mouth."

"Ah—mm…"

After Ying Chanxi finished using the restroom and came out, Li Luo put down his chopsticks.

Yan Zhusheng finished her breakfast obediently, then dragged her suitcase out of her bedroom with Li Luo; everything was ready.

But Yan Zhusheng still walked into the piano room, carried out a guitar case, and tilted her head to ask Ying Chanxi: "Xixi, can Li Luo take this? At the bonfire party, he can play guitar for the classmates."

Ying Chanxi's first reaction was to refuse.

The thought of Li Luo playing guitar and singing for someone else made her purse her lips.

After a few seconds' pause, she still smiled and nodded. "Of course you can! But you both are carrying luggage—let me help you carry it down later."

Saying this, Ying Chanxi walked up to Yan Zhusheng, took the guitar case from her arms, and kindly followed the two to the door.

It was nearly half past seven in the morning.

Lin Xiuhong called. Li Luo answered, and heard his mother say on the other end: "The bus has arrived at the gate of the neighborhood. Several of your classmates got here early—hurry down."

This class trip's assembly point was set at the gate of Bihai Lanting, just one street away from the main gate of Fu No. 1 High School.

After all, Yujun County lies northeast of Yinjiang District; assembling at Bihai Lanting, which is north of Yinjiang District, is quite suitable.

Hearing his mother's words, Li Luo nodded and replied: "Got it. We're coming right down. Have you and Dad arrived yet?"

"We're here already. Your uncle is here too. Hurry up."

"Coming, coming!"

After hanging up, Li Luo called out to the study: "Senior! We're leaving!"

"Got it!" Xu Youyu replied while eating breakfast. "Have a safe trip!"

After saying goodbye, Li Luo led the way, dragging his suitcase out the door.

Yan Zhusheng followed behind.

Ying Chanxi, holding the guitar case, walked last, closed the door, and followed them into the elevator.

When they stepped out of the building and reached the neighborhood gate, they saw the bus parked by the roadside, its side luggage compartment open, with several suitcases already inside.

As Li Luo approached, he spotted Li Guohong and Li Guoru standing beside the bus, smoking.

Kong Jun and Ding Xiang had also arrived early and were chatting with Li Guohong and the others.

Besides them was a middle-aged man who looked refined and approachable, wearing round gold-rimmed glasses, not smoking, just listening quietly to their conversation.

"Good morning, Teacher Kong, Teacher Ding." Li Luo greeted first, then nodded to Li Guoru, and turned his gaze to the middle-aged man. "Uncle, you're Lu Jiahao's father, right?"

Li Luo had attended two parent-teacher meetings for Kong Jun, so he naturally recognized all parents who had visited the school; he quickly retrieved the memory from his mental archive.

Lu Jiahao's father was slightly surprised that Li Luo recognized him.

"I only came to one parent meeting last year—this year it was Hahao's mother," Lu Zhangyuan adjusted his glasses, surprised. "You must be the class monitor, Li Luo?"

"Yes, that's him," Kong Jun said with a chuckle, completely used to this guy's memory. "Besides your Lu Jiahao, he's the most reliable one."

"Teacher Kong, if you keep praising me like this, I'll get too proud." Li Luo grinned, then turned to Li Guohong. "Dad, where's Mom?"

"She's inside, enjoying the AC," Li Guohong inhaled smoke and exhaled slowly. "We just came out to smoke. You two put your luggage… hey? Why is Xixi here too?"

Seeing Ying Chanxi following behind Li Luo, Li Guohong exclaimed in surprise: "Are you coming along too? Well, it's not a problem—there are still empty seats."

To be honest, in that instant, Ying Chanxi truly felt an inner impulse to just say yes and skip her afternoon competition class.

But in the end, she suppressed the thought and said plainly: "Good morning, Uncle Li. I'm just helping carry the guitar—I'll head home after."

Saying this, she held up the guitar case, then handed it to him once Li Luo had placed his luggage in the compartment.

"Why don't you get on the bus and sit for a bit?" Li Guohong said. "Say hello to Lin Yi before you go."

"Mm-hmm, okay!"

"This is the top student in first year, Ying Chanxi," Kong Jun whispered to Lu Zhangyuan beside him. "She's close to Li Luo's family."

"Oh, so this is the top student?" Lu Zhangyuan immediately gave Ying Chanxi another look.

Watching Ying Chanxi's obedient demeanor as she followed Li Luo onto the bus, it was hard for him to connect her with the top student.

He'd heard his son mention her name—someone so formidable that even in dreams, one dared only to imagine barely scraping into second place; first place was unthinkable.

Such an impressive girl, and yet she seems close to Li Luo?

Last year, when he attended the parent meeting at Fu No. 1, he was surprised to learn Lu Jiahao had come in second in the class; later, he found out the class monitor Li Luo had taken first, and assumed it was just an exceptional performance.

When he discovered Li Luo was the only student from the parallel class consistently ranked in the top 40 schoolwide, he became curious about Li Luo's family's parenting methods.

This visit was partly to learn something from Li Guohong and his wife.

"Lin Yi, good morning~" As soon as she boarded, Ying Chanxi spotted Lin Xiuhong sitting in the front row scrolling on her phone, and walked over sweetly to greet her.

Yan Zhusheng followed behind, politely greeting as well.

Lin Xiuhong beamed upon seeing the two girls board. "Oh? Xixi, you're here too?"

"I'm just helping carry luggage," Ying Chanxi said, sitting beside Lin Xiuhong. "Lin Yi, have fun! I'll head home soon."

"Hehe, no problem—we still have plans to go to Changning City next time," Lin Xiuhong patted Ying Chanxi's head.

Watching Lin Xiuhong chat with Ying Chanxi, Li Luo glanced toward the back of the bus.

Several people had already arrived.

Besides Lu Jiahao, who came with his parents, Zhu Yufei and Zhang Guohuang were also there.

Xu Yinghuan had arrived early too, and upon seeing Yan Zhusheng, waved happily: "Zhusheng, come sit over here!"

Yan Zhusheng followed Li Luo over, glanced at the empty seat beside Xu Yinghuan, then turned to Li Luo: "Where are you sitting?"

"I'll sit here." Li Luo pointed to the empty seat across the aisle from Xu Yinghuan.

"Then you sit inside, I'll sit here." Yan Zhusheng pointed to the window seat, gesturing for Li Luo to take it, then sat down by the aisle and turned to face Xu Yinghuan. "Huanhuan, you can sit by the aisle."

Xu Yinghuan: "..."

Favoring beauty over friends!

Muttering this silently to herself, Xu Yinghuan shifted her seat from the window to the aisle.

Zhang Guohuang and Zhu Yufei, seated behind Li Luo, stood up and leaned over their seatbacks to witness the scene, shaking their heads in amusement.

"You guys sit down first—I'll go down to greet the other students."

After confirming his seat, Li Luo placed his guitar there, then stood up and returned to the aisle, addressing the group: "I'll have all the parents sit up front, and our Class Eight students will gather at the back—no overlap."

"There'll be too many people coming up later; I can't call out to each one individually."

"When you see someone boarding, direct them to sit at the back."

"OK." Zhu Yufei gave a thumbs-up. "No problem."

Li Luo nodded, then walked to the front to greet Lin Xiuhong, asking her to stop any arriving parents and invite them to sit in the front seats.

After speaking, Li Luo took Ying Chanxi downstairs, personally escorting her to the building entrance and pressing the elevator button for her.

"Um…" Ying Chanxi tiptoed slightly, looking down at their shoes, and whispered, "Be careful on this trip, especially with things like rowing—watch out, okay?"

"Mm, I know."

Watching the elevator slowly descend from the twenty-something floor, Ying Chanxi pressed her lips together, growing more reluctant.

It was only two or three days without seeing each other.

But the next second, Li Luo opened his arms, stepped closer, and suddenly stood right before her.

Ying Chanxi froze, then realized—she instinctively opened her arms, blushing faintly as she leaned gently into his chest.

"Hugging when saying goodbye to a friend is proper etiquette, right?" Li Luo pulled her into his arms, one hand around her waist, the other resting gently on the back of her head, stroking her soft long hair. "Like when I saw you off at the airport last time."

"Mm!" Ying Chanxi nodded vigorously in his arms, holding him tighter.

Until the elevator reached the first floor and the doors automatically opened.

An elderly grandmother shuffled out of the elevator, saw the two young people hugging at the door, chuckled, and shook her head as she walked away.

Realizing someone was exiting the elevator, Ying Chanxi's face flushed crimson as she broke free from Li Luo's embrace and sprinted into the elevator.

"Bye-bye! I'm going up first."

"Mm, bye." Li Luo smiled, watching Ying Chanxi dash into the elevator until the doors slowly closed, then strolled back leisurely to the bus entrance.

It was already around 7:40.

Students from Class Eight began arriving one by one.

Some, whose parents were lenient and lived nearby, came alone.

Many others were dropped off by their parents; after seeing their children board, the parents lingered by the bus door, chatting with teachers and other parents, before leaving for work.

Under Li Luo's arrangement, the fifty-seat bus's interior was divided into two distinct sections.

The first three rows were occupied by eight parents—including Li Guohong—plus Li Luo's uncle Li Guoru, and teachers Kong Junxiang and Ding Xiang.

A dedicated zone for the elders.

Meanwhile, Class Eight's students, with the fourth and fifth rows left empty, all sat in the back rows—from the sixth to the thirteenth.

By 7:55, the last student arrived at the bus.

After Li Luo helped them stow their luggage, they boarded.

The driver closed the luggage compartment, then got in and asked Li Guoru: "Shall we depart now?"

"Li Luo?" Li Guoru turned to Li Luo.

"Wait a moment longer." Li Luo smiled, and in front of the parents, recited the names of all thirty students besides himself.

After hearing the chorus of "Here!" from the back rows, Li Luo glanced at the parents in front, confirmed the final count, then told the driver: "Master, everyone's here. We can depart."

"Alright!" The driver responded and quickly started the bus.

Kong Junxiang in the front glanced around at the parents, then cleared his throat and smiled softly. "Our class monitor is impressive—this summer class trip was entirely his idea. I rarely have to worry about class matters when they're in his hands."

"Indeed," Lu Zhangyuan adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement. "This also reflects the strength of Li Luo's parents—entrusting such responsibilities to a child yields growth most kids simply can't experience."

At these words, other parents who had come with a learning mindset immediately nodded, their expressions thoughtful.

Their gaze toward Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong instantly grew more respectful.

Parents who could raise a child as outstanding as Li Luo clearly had exceptional qualities.

"Li Luo's dad, say a few words too," one parent asked curiously. "How did you agree to this? What should we watch out for? We'd like to learn."

"Uh…" Li Guohong broke into a sweat at the question, thinking: What could I possibly say?

He was now working for his son's company; at home, almost everything followed Li Luo's arrangements.

Though minor daily decisions were still made by his parents, major ones—like buying storefronts—had long since become Li Luo's behind-the-scenes direction, unnoticed.

If asked to explain how it happened, he truly didn't know what to say.

"It's really just letting things unfold naturally—let the child make more of their own decisions," Lin Xiuhong coughed lightly and offered a few words to help.

Meanwhile, Li Luo had passed by the parents' section, taken a microphone from the driver, tapped it, and addressed everyone on the bus:

"Welcome everyone aboard our summer class trip bus."

"Now, I'll explain the detailed itinerary and important notes."

"Pay close attention—I'll ask questions afterward."

"Anyone who can't answer will have to perform a talent for everyone."

Seeing the parents in front smile with interest, Li Luo grinned and added: "Parents, you're included too—don't look too happy."

"Good!" Zhu Yufei clapped first, and the other students erupted in cheers.

The atmosphere instantly heated up; even the parents laughed.

After all attention was focused, Li Luo raised his hand to silence the room.

In an instant, the students in the back rows fell quiet.

"OK, then listen to me next."

Seeing this, Lu Zhangyuan and the other parents immediately showed expressions of surprise, thinking that Li Luo, as class monitor, truly held considerable authority in the class.