Chapter 32: Boss! (Please Follow!)

After dinner, Xu Youyu leaned back comfortably in her chair, patted her full belly, and sighed with satisfaction.

"So delicious," she couldn't help exclaiming, "if you opened a restaurant, you'd have crowds every single day."

"No need to thank me," Li Luo picked up a toothpick and cleaned his teeth, then said, "I can cook every day from now on."

"Really?"

"Of course it's real," Li Luo chuckled, "but I have three things I won't do."

"What three things?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously from beside him.

"I won't do the grocery shopping."

"I won't wash the dishes."

"I won't take out the trash."

Li Luo slowly extended three fingers as he spoke.

"That's easy," Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, standing up from her chair, "then I'll wash the dishes today."

"I'll help too," Ying Chanxi rose as well, "you just focus on cooking—the rest is our job."

"OK," Li Luo snapped his fingers happily, "Zhao, wanna play computer games with me?"

"Nah, nah," Zhao Rongjun shook his head, "I still have homework unfinished—I need to catch up tonight, tomorrow's classes again."

"That's just sad," Li Luo couldn't help saying, "you still have homework for the transition from junior to senior high?"

"It's not that bad—Ying Chanxi has homework too."

"Don't you usually finish it during class?" Ying Chanxi was clearing the table, blinking as she spoke, "Unless it's the last class of the day, I never leave homework for home."

Zhao Rongjun: "..."

Li Luo clicked his tongue, patted Zhao Rongjun's shoulder: "Even among top students, there's a gap—you still have a long way to go, little Jun."

"You're one to talk," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes, "focus on yourself first—our teacher said there'll be a diagnostic exam after the break. Don't just play all summer; review a little, or your grades will drop."

"Will Fuyi High kick me out if my grades drop?" Li Luo's face turned serious, asking earnestly.

"N-no, not at all..."

"Then it's fine," Li Luo's serious expression vanished instantly, grinning, "play hard when it's time to play, study hard when it's time to study."

Ying Chanxi gave him a deadpan look: "You've got the most twisted logic."

The two girls carried the plates and bowls into the kitchen and began cleaning and washing dishes.

Li Luo saw Zhao Rongjun off, and as he passed the kitchen, he glanced at the two slender figures inside, then returned to his master bedroom, shut the door, sat down at his desk, and turned on his computer with perfect peace of mind.

He'd played basketball with Zhao Rongjun this afternoon, which slightly slowed his draft progress.

Li Luo checked the current total word count: 210,000 words.

The full manuscript in his draft folder had already reached over 400,000 words.

As a man with a Memory Palace, though not copying any specific book, he already had online novel experience and a wealth of future, market-tested plot examples to draw from—Li Luo's typing speed was extremely fast.

At this rate, by the time he enrolled and attended military training, he'd likely reach around 500,000 words.

That would leave him with roughly 250,000 words in reserve—more than enough to handle the busy high school life ahead.

Thinking this, Li Luo opened his writing software and logged into his QQ.

Then he saw the message the editor had sent him earlier that day.

【Qianzhou】: Chongran, are you there? We're planning to go live next Friday—stock up on drafts.

About one or two hours later, a few more messages arrived.

【Qianzhou】: By the way, have you considered adding Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao? She's a cultural author in the same batch as you, also under me.

【Qianzhou】: Her stats are slightly behind yours—I was thinking you two could cross-promote chapters.

【Qianzhou】: I've sent your QQ to her—talk privately.

Huh?!

Seeing the editor's message, Li Luo jolted, then immediately checked his friend request page—sure enough, Xu Youyu had sent him a friend request.

Wait, was Xu Youyu's editor also Qianzhou?

In Li Luo's memory, Qianzhou had already been the chief editor of the urban fiction group when he first entered the industry—he had no contact with writers like him who were struggling.

He never expected Xu Youyu was also under Qianzhou's wing when she started writing.

Before meeting Xu Youyu today, Li Luo hadn't deliberately sought out people connected to his past life.

He knew, however, that Xu Youyu's first novel was written during her high school years.

And her debut was Literary Era—a relatively literary and niche work among cultural fiction at the time, with extremely high critical acclaim.

Even years after its completion, people still recommended this book when suggesting cultural novels.

After writing I Am Really Not a Star, Li Luo had only occasionally glanced at the top ten of the new book rankings—he'd never noticed Literary Era tucked further down.

Thinking of this, Li Luo's lips twitched.

Honestly, he still couldn't mentally link Literary Era with the beautiful, lively Xu Youyu in front of him—this book simply didn't seem like something a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl could write.

The depth of her knowledge about the early 21st-century Jingcheng circle—the sixth-generation directors' experiences and gossip, her intimate familiarity with the era's popular actors, and her nuanced interpretations and descriptions of art films—made it hard to believe the keyboarder behind it was a Gao Er girl.

Especially those frequent, detailed scenes and visuals common in art films—Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao had written plenty of them in her book!

She drove better than he, a guy, ever had!

As for her knowledge of that era, Xu Youyu came from an intellectual family—she'd absorbed it since childhood, so that was plausible.

But even her driving skills, as if she'd been immersed in it for years, made this Xu senior truly impossible to judge by appearance.

Girls really do mature early...

Thinking this, Li Luo approved Xu Youyu's friend request—and blocked her access to his QQ Space, to prevent her from discovering his true identity.

Then Li Luo replied to the editor first.

【Chongran】: Received.

Then he opened the chat page with the LongSleepToGrow account, thought it over, and still tapped on the keyboard.

【Chongran】: Hello.

Xu Youyu was still washing dishes in the kitchen, so of course she couldn't reply to him.

Thus Li Luo returned to his writing software and began typing loudly in his bedroom.

……

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu finished washing the dishes and cleaned the kitchen and living room; Ying Chanxi then carried the full trash bag to the door and said to Xu Youyu, "Senior, tomorrow I'll go to school early—I'll just take out the trash on the way."

"Mm, thanks a lot then," Xu Youyu smiled at her, then added, "I'll head back to my room now—you should sleep early too."

"Mm-hmm," Ying Chanxi nodded and returned to her own room, planning to study a little, then take a shower and go to bed.

After returning to her room, Xu Youyu opened QQ—and as expected, she saw the message from Chongran.

Hello?

Hmph, quite aloof.

Xu Youyu's lips curled slightly, but she had no intention of revealing Li Luo's true identity; she sat at her desk, thought for a while, then typed a reply.

【LongSleepToGrow】: Hi, Master!

【LongSleepToGrow】: My editor asked me to add you—would you be willing to do a mutual chapter promotion?