Chapter 333: Mutual Exposure: Caught in the Act

Jinjiang Hotel, Li Luo took the elevator down alone and walked out the hotel entrance.

After walking past two intersections, he found a shop named "Old Yang's Xinjiang Barbecue," and inside, he saw Xu Youyu sitting listlessly in the corner.

Noticing Li Luo enter, Xu Youyu immediately waved at him.

"Has Zhusheng left yet?" Xu Youyu whispered.

"She had a stomachache and said she'd go to the restroom and then return to her room," Li Luo said as he sat beside Xu Youyu.

"Do you believe that?" Xu Youyu narrowed her eyes at this, sounding unimpressed.

"Not really," Li Luo coughed twice. "Anyway, just stay in your room today and avoid getting caught by her."

"Sigh…" Xu Youyu slumped onto the table and sighed. "Fine, I'll let Xixi go, but why did Zhusheng come too? She's been trailing you even to Changning—I'm really suffering."

"Xixi just happened to be able to travel; it's normal for her to come out for summer vacation, and her dad just happened to be coming to Changning on business," Li Luo said. "Zhusheng's case is the same—Aunt Yuan happened to have an event here."

"So unlucky," Xu Youyu muttered, lying on the table and turning to look at Li Luo, poking his cheek.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Xu Youyu, bored, poked him all over, then added, "When I first heard we could come to Changning for the salon, I thought I'd get to hang out with you more, but all we did on the first day was ride a boat—after that, we couldn't do anything."

"There'll be chances later."

"Hey, I'll tell you something," Xu Youyu said, her voice brightening with excitement as she talked about travel. "I've had a dream since I was little: when I grow up and earn money, I'll take a nationwide trip and see every inch of this beautiful land."

The uncle and aunt at the next table eating barbecue chuckled, probably laughing at the innocence of a child—or perhaps envying her for still having such dreams.

But Li Luo knew clearly: in his past life, Xu Youyu had indeed done exactly that—and she had succeeded.

Li Luo had been her witness.

Xu Youyu spoke excitedly, listing all the places she wanted to visit like reciting a menu, then added, "If possible, first travel normally, then buy a Motorhome and drive around again—that would be perfect."

"Then work hard—I believe in you."

"What good is your belief?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Come with me then—don't you want to go?"

"What if Xixi and Zhusheng want to come too?"

"Then they come too," Xu Youyu chuckled, grabbing Li Luo's ear and grinning. "When we're all in the Motorhome—one guy and three girls—aren't you kind of looking forward to that?"

"Ow… I never said that—you said it yourself."

＿C〇

"Hmph."

After chatting for a few minutes, the editor Qianzhou arrived at the shop and sat across from them.

When Xu Youyu saw Qianzhou, she immediately let go of Li Luo's ear and called the owner over for several bottles of cold beer, then picked out some barbecue from the menu.

"By the way, why were you called back in the middle of the day?" Li Luo asked, chewing on a lamb skewer. "If it's too sensitive, you don't have to say."

"It's not a big deal," Qianzhou sighed with a smile. "Someone wrote some sensitive content in a book, and it got reported directly to the top—our chief editor called an emergency meeting and told us to review all our books, contact authors to delete or revise problematic parts, or else pull them entirely."

"Wow," Li Luo murmured, still amazed—he'd never been this close to something like this before.

He knew that in his past life, he'd entered the industry only after 2020.

Back then, standards were already strict—even detailed descriptions of a small kiss could be censored, let alone sensitive content.

But now, the comprehensive cleanup campaign targeting Online Novels hadn't arrived yet; content was still quite open.

So readers often criticized Li Luo's book, saying it was bland and dry, with nothing extra written in key moments, making it tasteless.

But Li Luo had simply grown used to the censorship of his past life; now, to make this book last longer, he unconsciously held back.

As a result, even though in the future this style would be considered normal for a Cultural Entertainment novel, here and now, I Am Really Not a Star was seen as a breath of fresh air among contemporary Cultural Entertainment novels.

It was a lucky accident.

"By the way," Qianzhou mentioned it briefly and moved on, turning to Li Luo. "I got word from the copyright department—my chief editor told me too—have you already finalized the Big God contract?"

"Yeah," Li Luo nodded. "My lawyer arrives in Changning tomorrow—we can sign the contract directly. All the details are settled."

"Good," Qianzhou beamed after confirming the news again. "With your Big God contract, I'll even treat you to this meal."

"What benefit do you get from me signing a Big God contract?" Li Luo asked curiously.

"There's a bonus," Qianzhou said. "And your personal rating goes up, which helps with year-end bonus tiers—plenty of benefits. With you two on my roster, my performance this year will rank among the top—I won't have to worry about losing my job."

The three ate barbecue and chatted, talking about many things related to Online Novels.

At one point, they discussed Xu Youyu's next book's theme, and when she mentioned the idea of "Spiritual Energy Revival," Qianzhou's eyes lit up.

After brainstorming with Xu Youyu, Qianzhou offered many useful suggestions, giving her plenty of inspiration.

But after that, Qianzhou turned to Li Luo and asked curiously, "What about you? How much longer will you write this book?"

"This book's still early—won't write less than a few million words; wouldn't be worth the royalty," Li Luo said pragmatically.

"True," Qianzhou chuckled and shook his head. "I've been following your book closely—both the career arc and romance are tightly controlled, filled with plenty of interesting daily details, never boring—definitely can go on a long time."

"But…" Li Luo interrupted Qianzhou, thoughtfully said, "I might actually try writing something for that Realism-themed contest."

"Huh?" Qianzhou paused, surprised. "You're sure? Dual serialization isn't a good idea."

"It's fine," Li Luo shook his head. "I won't start it directly—I'll write it all privately first, then publish it. The length won't be long—maybe four or five hundred thousand words max."

"Topic decided?"

"Yeah—related to the Gaokao. It tells the stories of several families striving to create ideal Gaokao study environments for their children."

"Gaokao… that's definitely realist, and since you're a Gao Zhongsheng yourself, you've got firsthand insight," Qianzhou mused, then nodded and quickly added, "When you sign your Big God contract tomorrow, remember to discuss this with the copyright department."

"Discuss what?"

"The resources for this new book!" Qianzhou reminded him. "Realism-themed works aren't popular among Online Novel readers—they get almost no traffic. If you use this contract signing to secure more promotion resources, winning that contest will be a cinch."

Li Luo nodded in realization—he'd been reminded: "Alright, I'll ask my lawyer tomorrow."

"Cough… don't say I told you," Qianzhou whispered. "Otherwise I'll get warned—let's keep this between us; it'll help you."

"Yeah, I understand," Li Luo nodded.

Seeing him take it seriously, Qianzhou exhaled in relief—he'd worried this young kid, full of youthful pride, wouldn't bother fighting for resources.

Now that he had Li Luo's confirmed answer, Qianzhou relaxed and asked curiously, "So have you decided on a title yet? What are you calling it? I can reserve it for you first."

Li Luo nodded and said, "It'll be called 'Little Joys'."

……

After finishing the barbecue, it was already deep into the night.

Li Luo and the other two walked back toward the hotel.

"Why don't you just go home? You don't need to see us off."

"No problem," Qianzhou waved his hand. "You two are minors—it's late, so I have to see you safely inside the elevator before I can rest easy."

"Alright then."

Li Luo didn't refuse, and together with Xu Youyu, followed Qianzhou back to the Jinjiang Hotel.

After entering the lobby, Qianzhou pressed the elevator button for them, then said, "Chongran's already confirmed as a Grandmaster. Now it's up to Zaosleep— you've got to push harder."

"I'm still far off," Xu Youyu laughed. "This book won't finish until next year at least, and then there's the college entrance exam. My next novel probably won't come out until late next year."

Only then did Qianzhou realize—these two hadn't even taken the college entrance exam yet. He was momentarily speechless.

People really do make others feel crushed.

Forget Li Luo, the freak— even Xu Youyu, this little girl, already earns far more than I do.

Once she gets into university, she'll definitely be a little heiress.

I wonder who'll ever be good enough for her.

As he thought this, the elevator on the farthest side arrived at the first floor.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu walked toward the elevator doors, and beside them, Qianzhou smiled and said, "Zaosleep, I'm really rooting for you. If you finish this book, 'Literary Era,' properly, it'll become the foundation of your ascension."

As Qianzhou spoke, Li Luo and Xu Youyu reached the elevator doors.

But the next second, their expressions changed instantly.

Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing stepped out of the elevator—and ran straight into Li Luo and Xu Youyu.

The four of them exchanged glances.

Yuan Wanqing, wearing sunglasses, immediately let go of Ying Zhicheng's arm.

Xu Youyu quickly hid behind Li Luo, too frightened to even look at them.

At this moment, only Qianzhou hadn't noticed anything strange, still talking to himself: "Besides, didn't we just talk about this while barbecuing?"

"I thought the concept of spiritual energy revival you two mentioned was pretty interesting—could be a solid angle for a story. If your next book…"

"Uh…" At this point, Qianzhou finally sensed something was off. Seeing Xu Youyu suddenly hide behind Li Luo, and the two people stepping out of the elevator frozen in place, he asked hesitantly, "What's going on here…?"

"Ahem…" Li Luo glanced at Yuan Wanqing, then at Ying Zhicheng, then glanced at Qianzhou, his expression unchanged. "Uncle Ying, this is my editor."

"Oh, hello," Ying Zhicheng, initially startled, now calmed down despite his still-racing heart, and nodded politely to Qianzhou.

Seeing this, Qianzhou didn't intrude further. He nodded in greeting, then said to Li Luo, "Then I'll head home? Since you've met someone you know, I won't disturb you."

"Mm." Li Luo gave a slight nod, watching Qianzhou leave. Before he could speak, Ying Zhicheng across from him said—

"Are you two free right now? Let's talk."

"Yes, let's talk," Yuan Wanqing added with a faintly helpless expression, addressing Li Luo and Xu Youyu. "Come sit with us for a bit?"

"Alright." Li Luo nodded, then tugged at Xu Youyu's sleeve.

Xu Youyu quickly shook her head awkwardly, whispering, "Why don't you go alone? I'll stay behind."

"You're Xu Youyu, right?" Ying Zhicheng glanced at her. "I remember you're the girl who lives with Xixi and the others—we even had dinner together at a parent-teacher meeting."

"Yes, that's right," Xu Youyu nodded hurriedly. "Hello, Uncle."

"Come with us too," Ying Zhicheng forced a smile. "I just heard your editor say you're writing a novel too? Since you were invited to this event, your work must be doing well? Come sit with Li Luo."

Hit right on her weakness, Xu Youyu's face froze. She could only nod, eyes welling up: "Y-yes… okay… I understand…"

The four entered the elevator, the atmosphere thick and heavy.

Li Luo watched the elevator ascend to the 20th floor, then was led by Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing to a room door.

Ying Zhicheng swiped his key card to unlock the door and invited them in.

Not long after.

On the living room sofa of the suite, Li Luo and Xu Youyu sat together.

Yuan Wanqing sat on a single armchair beside them, her sunglasses now removed.

Ying Zhicheng pulled up a chair opposite the coffee table, hands resting on his knees, staring at Li Luo and Xu Youyu.

The atmosphere remained suffocating.

Finally, Li Luo cleared his throat twice and spoke first: "Uncle Ying, you and Aunt Yuan… have you two officially become a couple?"

"Yes," Ying Zhicheng clasped his hands tightly, nodding without evasion, bluntly admitting, "We're together."

"You can ask anything else you want."

"I only have one request: don't tell Xixi about this."

"And Zhusheng," Yuan Wanqing added softly, lips pressed together.

Hearing this, Xu Youyu on the sofa tugged Li Luo's sleeve and whispered, "Can they keep my secret too?"

Li Luo turned to her with a look that said, "Look at you, so weak," but still said, "Xu Xuejie's novel-writing is known only to me."

"She's shy about it and doesn't want anyone else to know. Can Uncle Ying and Aunt Yuan keep it secret for her?"

"Of course," Ying Zhicheng nodded. "We won't mention this to anyone."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu exhaled in relief.

But immediately, a powerful curiosity and a burning sense of gossip ignited within her.

After all, this was Xixi's father—and Zhusheng's mother!

These two had actually gotten together?!

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