Chapter 316

This is the farmstay.

After the evening's fun ended and it neared ten o'clock, Li Luo called everyone to gather their belongings and return to their rooms to bathe and sleep.

Yan Zhusheng trotted happily beside Li Luo, following him all the way to his room door; Xu Yinghuan, who was just about to go upstairs, saw Yan Zhusheng stop and asked in confusion, "Zhusheng, come with me—our room is on the second floor."

At this moment, Li Luo had already pulled out his room card and swiped it to open the door; seeing Yan Zhusheng follow him inside, he sighed helplessly, "Isn't Xu Yinghuan calling you? Why are you coming into my room?"

"No reason." Yan Zhusheng wandered around the room, "I just can't sleep."

She then said to Xu Yinghuan, who had reached the doorway, "Go ahead and bathe first, I'll come back in a bit."

"You two be careful," Xu Yinghuan said, exasperated, then blushed slightly and whispered, "There are so many people here… if you two sleep together… it'll look bad."

"What are you talking about?" Li Luo's face flushed red at this; he acted like a guilty thief, quickly pushing Yan Zhusheng out the door and sternly warning, "Xu Yinghuan, don't say nonsense—and you, go back to your room and sleep properly. I'm going to bathe and rest too."

Yan Zhusheng was pushed out of the room and blinked innocently, then watched as Li Luo shut the door; she turned to Xu Yinghuan: "Huanhuan's bad."

Xu Yinghuan: "... At least pretend to hide it in front of me—you're not even pretending anymore."

"Pretend what?" Yan Zhusheng asked, puzzled. "I'm just good friends with Li Luo. Visiting his room for a bit is normal."

"Fine, fine, fine." Xu Yinghuan raised her hands in surrender, sighing helplessly. "Good friends, then. Good friends. Now what? You can't get in anymore—come back with me?"

"Alright." Yan Zhusheng nodded reluctantly and followed Xu Yinghuan upstairs.

Finally having Yan Zhusheng's company, Xu Yinghuan felt deeply comforted and immediately wrapped her arm around Yan Zhusheng's, affectionately heading toward the second floor.

But Yan Zhusheng quietly pulled away her hand, then stepped to Xu Yinghuan's other side and offered her right arm: "Left side won't work."

Xu Yinghuan froze, confused by this logic: "Why won't the left side work? Is there some superstition or mystical reason?"

"It just won't. Huanhuan's dumb."

"You calling me bad I can take—but calling me dumb? I won't stand for it!"

…

After seeing Yan Zhusheng off, Li Luo stretched out in his room.

He opened his suitcase, took out the change of clothes and toiletries Ying Chanxi had prepared for him, and suddenly remembered he hadn't sent her a single message today.

So as he walked into the bathroom to bathe, he dialed Ying Chanxi's number.

Almost instantly.

The call was answered.

"Hello?" Ying Chanxi's calm voice came from the other end. "What do you want?"

"Can't I call you if I have nothing to say?" Li Luo turned on speakerphone and placed it on the sink, then turned on the showerhead.

Ying Chanxi, hearing the water, asked in confusion, "What are you doing over there?"

"Just finished up, back in my room," Li Luo said. "About to bathe."

"You called me while bathing?" Ying Chanxi imagined Li Luo possibly naked, though she saw nothing, yet still felt her cheeks flush. "Pervert."

"But… you can't see anything. Why insult me?" Li Luo was speechless. "I'll hang up then. We'll talk after I'm done washing."

"Don't!" Ying Chanxi immediately stopped him. "This… this is fine too."

"Oh~" Li Luo chuckled. "Someone's even more of a pervert than me—wants to hear me shower?"

"Get lost." Ying Chanxi spat. "Who wants to hear? I just didn't want to waste time."

Then Ying Chanxi asked, "So what did you all do today?"

"Just the usual farmstay stuff—nothing special," Li Luo said, stripping off his clothes and stepping into the shower, speaking as he washed. "We arrived at nine-thirty, toured around, got our bearings, had lunch."

"Oh, arrived at nine-thirty." Ying Chanxi nodded, then asked casually, "Who did you sit with on the bus?"

"Uh… Zhusheng."

"Mm." Ying Chanxi seemed to have expected this—no surprise—and continued, "After lunch, then? Keep going."

"Then… then came the afternoon free time," Li Luo said. "Played some pool with classmates, watched my mom play mahjong, then accompanied my dad fishing for a while."

"Later we tried rowing a boat and played some board games with classmates."

"Then dinner. After dinner everyone gathered to chat and play cards, and by ten we went back to our rooms to sleep."

Listening to Li Luo describe these things, Ying Chanxi's face lit up with envy, imagining herself beside him, sharing every moment.

But it was only a fantasy.

Thinking of this, Ying Chanxi, hearing Li Luo's shower sounds, felt her cheeks warm slightly and suddenly remembered she'd planned to bathe too; her heart stirred, and she stood up from beside the bed.

At that moment, Xu Youyu had just finished using the bathroom and stepped out, bumping into Ying Chanxi as she emerged from her bedroom.

Seeing her holding her phone and on a call, Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow and asked, "Li Luo's?"

"Uh… yeah." Ying Chanxi stopped in the hallway upon seeing Xu Youyu and gave a slight nod.

Upon confirming this, Xu Youyu immediately wore an intrigued expression, grinning and leaning close to Ying Chanxi, wrapping her arms around her and pressing her head toward the phone, teasing, "Hello~ Guess who this is?"

"Academy sister, what are you doing?" Li Luo's voice came through the phone, exasperated. "You didn't snatch her phone, did you?"

"Do I seem that evil to you?" Xu Youyu snorted, then grinned. "I didn't snatch her phone—I just snatched her along with it."

"Academy sister…" Ying Chanxi, suddenly embraced like this, was stunned, feeling a heavy pressure against her chest.

"Stop messing around, academy sister," Li Luo's voice came from the phone.

"I'm heartbroken," Xu Youyu sighed dramatically. "Someone's so eager to call Xi Xi, but never thinks of me—gone all day without a single message."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi, who had been slightly upset that Li Luo hadn't contacted her all day, now felt a small surge of delight.

One's sense of superiority and satisfaction often comes from comparison.

Now Ying Chanxi felt neither lacking nor overflowing—just pleasantly content—and didn't mind Xu Youyu chatting a bit longer with Li Luo.

She even felt like she was granting a favor.

"I feel like a subordinate on a business trip," Li Luo sighed. "Worked all day, returned to the hotel room, and now have to report to my boss. What a hard life."

"Hmph. You're taking advantage and acting put-upon. Shameless," Xu Youyu spat, then released Ying Chanxi and waved at her. "Alright, I won't interrupt you two anymore. I'm heading back to my room."

Hearing the academy sister leave, Li Luo asked Ying Chanxi, "Aren't you in your own bedroom? Why did you run into her? Did she sneak into a virtuous maiden's room?"

"What are you talking about?" Ying Chanxi's face flushed slightly; she held a change of pajamas and dashed into the bathroom, locking the door before whispering, "I'm going to take a shower too—I just came out of the bedroom and happened to run into Senior."

"Huh?" Li Luo turned off the showerhead and was lathering himself when he heard this, pausing in surprise. "You're taking a shower too?"

"Y-yes…," Ying Chanxi's voice grew quieter with each word; if Li Luo hadn't turned off the shower, he probably wouldn't have heard her at all. "I'm going to sleep soon anyway—washing up is normal."

"So can I now call you a pervert?"

"You're the pervert!" Ying Chanxi pouted.

"So whoever takes a shower and calls is the pervert, right?" Li Luo chuckled, teasing, "That's blatant double standards."

"Mind your own business." Ying Chanxi sniffed, then placed her phone on the sink and turned on speakerphone.

Then she began undressing.

On the other end of the call, Li Luo had just finished lathering himself and was about to turn the shower back on when he heard the rustling of fabric from the phone—his hand froze instinctively.

Thinking that Ying Chanxi might be undressing right now, Li Luo's mind went hot; the sound felt strangely intoxicating.

Ying Chanxi, equally flustered, couldn't speak. After stripping completely, she stepped into the shower stall in her slippers, said nothing, and quickly turned on the water, adjusting the temperature.

Hearing the water sound on her end, Li Luo turned his own shower back on and began rinsing.

Both fell silent at once. They could've hung up right then—no words needed—but neither made a move to end the call.

Only after Li Luo finished washing, his body flushed, and stepped out of the bathroom to dry off did he find new topics to chat with Ying Chanxi about.

But after only a few minutes of chatting, a sudden noise came at Li Luo's door—someone knocked.

Hearing the knock, Ying Chanxi asked curiously, "Was that your side? Someone's knocking?"

"Yeah, probably a classmate looking for me." Li Luo placed his phone on the table. "I'll go check. Wait a sec."

"Oh, okay, go ahead."

Li Luo walked toward the door, guessing it might be Yan Zhusheng sneaking down again.

But when he opened the door, he saw Zhu Yufei and the others huddled outside, grinning as they tried to slip into his room.

Li Luo immediately blocked them, shouting, "Hey hey hey! What are you doing? Stop right there!"

His speakerphone was still on—were they really going to listen to Ying Chanxi showering?

Seeing them try to enter his room, Li Luo shouted loudly to halt them.

Zhu Yufei and the others froze at his shout and quickly raised their hands, signaling him to lower his voice.

"Shh!" Zhu Yufei whispered. "Class monitor, keep it down—can't we just come in and talk?"

"What are you guys sneaking around for?" Li Luo, exasperated, kept them outside the door. "Say what you need to say—there's no one else here."

"We're just afraid the teacher will catch us," Zhu Yufei chuckled, rubbing his hands. "It's only ten-thirty—we're all too wired to sleep. Class monitor, can you make an exception? Let us play a bit longer in the e-sports room?"

Li Luo stared at them, speechless. "You've been playing all day—still not enough?"

"We're on vacation, here at the farmstay—not here to play games."

"Can't you just play Three Kingdoms Kill in your room?"

"You can play on the computer at home."

"Home? Where's the computer?" Zhu Yufei blurted. "Our parents control everything, and we never get five people together anyway—only here do we have the setup."

"You can go to an internet cafe in summer," Li Luo said instinctively.

"We're all minors—how are we supposed to go to an internet cafe?" Zhu Yufei replied.

Hearing this, Li Luo froze, suddenly remembering these guys were all top students from Fu No. 1 High.

They were brilliant academically, but probably didn't even know about black internet cafes—places where you didn't need ID to get online.

Still, Li Luo couldn't deliberately corrupt them. Seeing their hopeful, pleading expressions, he sighed.

"I'll get a staff member to take you there—but we're clear: you play until midnight. At twelve sharp, you come back to sleep. We've got Dengshan tomorrow."

"No problem!"

Zhu Yufei patted his chest in assurance.

Li Luo called a staff member, gave instructions, and had them escorted to the e-sports room, then returned to his room.

Ying Chanxi, noticing how long he'd been gone, asked what happened. Li Luo vented to her briefly.

"Aren't you going to play too?" Ying Chanxi laughed. "I wonder who stayed up late gaming last night and almost couldn't get up this morning."

"Uh... cough cough..." Li Luo felt guilty under her teasing; although he hadn't played last night—he'd been manipulated by Senior, after all—he still declared firmly, "I'm the class monitor—I have to set an example. Let them have a little freedom."

Saying that, Li Luo pulled his laptop from his suitcase, placed it on the desk, and planned to write while chatting with Ying Chanxi—then personally drag them back to bed at midnight.

They chatted for over half an hour. Li Luo recounted small daily incidents; Ying Chanxi talked about her classes that day.

With Qiao Xinyan accompanying her to the math competition class, it wasn't too boring.

Amid the sound of Ying Chanxi's shower, Li Luo wrote with divine inspiration—over two thousand words in half an hour.

When the shower sounds stopped, Li Luo paused typing and asked, "You done?"

"Mm."

Ying Chanxi replied.

But Li Luo heard no door opening—she was still in the bathroom.

A soft rustling of a towel wiping skin followed, then rapid palm strokes over her body.

Hearing this, Li Luo immediately recalled something Xu Youyu had once told him…

Ying Chanxi always applied body lotion after showering… Li Luo thought of this, swallowed hard, and his mind conjured faint images.

"Why aren't you talking?" Ying Chanxi, having finished applying lotion, suddenly noticed his silence and asked curiously.

"Uh… nothing." Li Luo rubbed his nose, cleared his throat. "Just thought of a scene—I was thinking about it."

"Oh, I see." Ying Chanxi nodded, not suspecting anything. After applying lotion, she put on her pajamas, stepped out of the bathroom, and returned to her room. "I'm going to blow-dry my hair—the hairdryer might be noisy."

"It's fine, dry it," Li Luo said. "I'll keep writing."

"Mm, we'll talk after I'm done."

After speaking, soon, the whooshing sound of a hairdryer came from Ying Chanxi's side.

Because the noise was loud, even if Ying Chanxi spoke, Li Luo couldn't hear her, so the two simply fell silent for a while.

But at this moment, it was nearly eleven-thirty at night.

Li Luo was typing away when he sensed movement by the door, as if a card-swiping sound had just echoed.

He turned his head in confusion toward the door and saw that the door had actually been swiped open!

And the handle had been pressed down!

This sight startled Li Luo into leaping up from his chair, until the door was quietly opened.

A familiar head peeked in, and when Yan Zhusheng saw the room still lit, their gazes met—she blinked instantly: "Why aren't you asleep?"

Seeing this, Li Luo's face darkened, but remembering Ying Chanxi was still on the phone, even though the hairdryer was loud, he hurried to the door, grabbed Yan Zhusheng's cheek, and whispered sharply: "Where did you get this room card?"

"Mmm…" Yan Zhusheng looked innocent, whispering, "I just took it by accident."

Hearing this, Li Luo froze, turned to look at the desk, and realized the room card he'd placed there upon entering was indeed gone.

He hadn't noticed before!

Each room had two room cards, one for each person.

But since Li Luo was staying alone, he'd left one card plugged into the slot for power and kept the other on his person to unlock the door.

He never expected that, in a moment of carelessness, Yan Zhusheng had simply snatched it.

Li Luo was so annoyed he almost laughed, tapping her head: "You were planning to sneak in and ambush me while I was asleep, weren't you? Hmm?"

"No way." Yan Zhusheng looked away. "I just came to check if you were asleep—and since you weren't, I figured I'd remind you to go to bed."

"You're meddling too much." Li Luo sighed, holding out his palm. "Give it to me."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng blinked, extended her small hand, pressed her palm against his, then casually interlocked their fingers.

Seeing this, Li Luo was torn between laughter and exasperation, quickly yanking his hand free: "I meant give me the room card."

Yan Zhusheng immediately shook her head: "No."

"You stole my room card and now you've got the nerve?"

"I'm just holding it for you," Yan Zhusheng explained seriously. "You have two cards—one you use, one I keep. That way, if you lose yours, you can still use mine."

"... When did your brain get so smart?"

"I was never dumb."

Li Luo had no way to deal with her; he sighed and waved his hand. "Go back to your room. Don't keep Huanhuan waiting."

"It's fine," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "Huanhuan's already asleep."

"You waited until she was asleep before sneaking out?"

"No," Yan Zhusheng denied sharply, muttering quietly. "Huanhuan was just exhausted from playing today—she fell asleep the moment she finished her bath."

"That doesn't stop you from going back to your room and sleeping now."

"I can't sleep. What are you doing?" Yan Zhusheng asked.

"I'm typing." Li Luo paused, then added, "Also chatting with Chanxi."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng's face showed a flash of understanding, then she nodded obediently. "It's fine. I won't speak—let me come in and sit for a bit."

"I think you'd be better off going back to sleep."

"Li Luo."

"Hmm?"

"Look over there," Yan Zhusheng pointed toward the nearby fish pond.

Li Luo glanced over in confusion.

The next second, Yan Zhusheng dropped low, lunged forward, slipped past him into the room, and dashed straight onto Li Luo's bed.

Li Luo: "..."

Being tricked by such a childish ploy made Li Luo feel stupid.

With a helpless sigh, he closed the door, returned inside, and saw Yan Zhusheng sitting demurely on the bed's edge, lips pressed shut, pointing at his phone, then making a zipping motion across her lips.

At that moment, Ying Chanxi finished drying her hair and turned off the hairdryer.

"I'm done drying. How many words have you written?"

Hearing the voice from Li Luo's speakerphone, Yan Zhusheng blinked, extended her long leg, and nudged Li Luo's foot with her toes, reminding him to answer.

Li Luo rolled his eyes, thinking, Do I really need you to remind me?

"Not many. I was just brainstorming."

"Oh oh." Ying Chanxi nodded, lay down on her bed, hugged her panda plush, pressed it beneath her, placed the phone in front of her, then picked up Pikachu, fiddling with it, occasionally giving it two solid thumps. "Where were we again?"

"We were talking about visiting Changning and which sights to see," Li Luo said, then slapped Yan Zhusheng's foot with his palm, glaring at her.

But Yan Zhusheng blinked, pretending not to notice his glare, stretched her other foot onto Li Luo's thigh, and rubbed it back and forth—still obediently silent.

"Mm hmm, I looked up some guides—listen to me…" Ying Chanxi's cheerful voice came from the phone.

Li Luo sighed, chatting with Ying Chanxi while enduring Yan Zhusheng's antics.

He felt his life was getting harder by the day.