Chapter 348: Can You Eat Off Three Households at Once?

On Houde Road, Xu Youyu walked out from the Grade Three teaching building and met up with three others, heading together toward Bihai Lanting.

Beneath the night sky, it was rare for all four to be returning home together on a regular school day.

But after leaving the school gate, Li Luo did not head toward the residential complex entrance; instead, he led the three of them to the side iron gate of the dormitory area to take a look.

Seeing the familiar figure, Li Luo let out a wry laugh.

Only when he drew closer did he realize that, besides his uncle Lin Xiufeng and the diligent Zhao Rongjun, there was another figure at the stall.

"Senior Jian?" Li Luo recognized the person and exclaimed in surprise.

Jian Chun, who was helping prepare ingredients at the stall, turned at the sound of Li Luo's voice: "Huh? You're that… that…"

"Cough! Stop!" Li Luo immediately raised his hand to interrupt her, "Please don't mention my pen name when we're out."

"Oh oh." Jian Chun, reminded, couldn't help covering her mouth and giggling, "I finished writing that paper of yours over the summer—do you want to review it?"

"Senior Jian, can we please not bring this up again?"

Fortunately, there were no outsiders here; Jian Chun had said it, and Li Luo was already used to this level of social death.

When he reached Lin Xiufeng's side, he whispered in confusion: "Uncle, how did you end up bringing her here?"

"Don't phrase it so badly—what do you mean 'bring her here'?" Lin Xiufeng said, exasperated. "Qianjiang University has reopened; she's now a part-time employee at our milk tea shop. Isn't it normal for her to come over and lend a hand?"

"But this isn't even the official business of your milk tea shop," Li Luo chuckled in teasing protest.

"She's just curious," Lin Xiufeng said. "I originally planned for her to stay at the milk tea shop; she only came along to take a look, to experience it. She'll head back to the shop soon."

"You've got a milk tea shop already—why are you even coming over here?"

"Can't I earn extra cash? Who ever turns down more money?" Lin Xiufeng chuckled. "Once I buy a car, I won't come anymore."

Mainly, after opening the milk tea shop, Lin Xiufeng quit his job as a truck driver at his relative's company.

But compared to being a truck driver, the milk tea shop was clearly much more relaxed.

Especially during summer vacation, business was almost nonexistent.

Now that school had just restarted, milk tea orders had noticeably increased, but because of the diversion of customers to the milk tea shops on Ningshan Avenue, customer traffic at Lin Xiufeng's shop remained low—half his business was entirely from takeout orders.

Even though order volume had increased significantly since summer, for Lin Xiufeng and Jian Chun, it was still relatively easy work.

So by late evening, Lin Xiufeng remained energetic and rode his electric tricycle straight to Fuyi High School to earn extra cash.

After learning the full situation, Li Luo stopped worrying about his uncle, picked up four portions of fried noodles, greeted Zhao Rongjun, and headed home together.

After third-period evening self-study ended, Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan, the two boarding students, walked over together to the iron gate beside the girls' dormitory.

Zhao Rongjun, seeing them, quietly handed over two boxes of fried rice he had already prepared, refusing to take their money.

"By the way, why did you two come together tonight?" Zhao Rongjun asked curiously.

Last semester, Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan rarely walked together, so Zhao Rongjun had asked this question.

"You're so dumb," Xu Yinghuan giggled, wrapping her arm around Qiao Xinyan's. "After Grade Two class reassignment, dorms get reassigned too—I'm now sharing a room with Xinyan."

"Oh oh, that explains it," Zhao Rongjun nodded in understanding.

"Remember to get home early, don't make your family worry," Qiao Xinyan kindly reminded. "Watch your safety on the way back."

"Yeah, I know."

After watching the two girls return to their dorm, Zhao Rongjun resumed his work.

He also pulled out twenty yuan and slipped it into the pile of other cash he had collected, handing it all to Lin Xiufeng.

…

In Bihai Lanting 1502, after the four returned home and finished their late-night snack, they prepared to bathe and rest.

Xu Youyu patted her comfortably full belly, saw Ying Chanxi rising to bathe, and raised her hand to suggest: "Since we're all living at home now, taking turns bathing is too time-consuming—why don't we all bathe together from now on?"

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi, hearing the suggestion, glanced at Xu Youyu's chest, then at her own, and politely declined: "Let's not. We get out of school at eight, it's barely nine now—we'll definitely finish bathing before ten-thirty."

"Three of us together is more convenient," Xu Youyu grinned. "Or here's another idea: Li Luo's room has a bathroom too. After he finishes, I'll just go bathe in his room—then each bathroom has two people, and the time is more evenly split."

"I agree," Yan Zhusheng said at once, nodding. "But if we use Li Luo's room, we'll have to rotate daily."

"Great," Xu Youyu smiled sweetly.

But upon hearing this, Ying Chanxi immediately blushed and walked back, grabbing both their arms and whispering: "I—I think bathing together as three is fine too. We're all girls; bathing in Li Luo's room is still a bit awkward. Let's just bathe together."

Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu, who had mastered the art of "if you want to open the window, smash the door," and sighed helplessly before rising to tidy the dining table and heading into his bedroom to bathe.

After bathing, Li Luo stepped out of his room, intending to pour himself a glass of water before returning to write.

But as he passed the bathroom in the hallway, he suddenly heard loud chatter and suggestive splashing sounds coming from inside.

"Xixi, do you feel like you've gotten a bit bigger?"

"D-Do I?"

"Yeah, definitely," Xu Youyu grinned.

Hearing the three girls' conversation inside the bathroom, Li Luo hurried to the living room to pour a glass of water, rushed back to his room, drank to calm his nerves, and began writing.

But midway through writing, he received a message from his editor.

【Qianzhou】: Been busy and forgot to congratulate you—congrats on crossing the 30,000 average subscription threshold. I think your novel has a shot at hitting 50,000!

【Qianzhou】: By the way, can you keep writing until the end of next year?

【Chongran】: Probably. Why?

【Qianzhou】: With 50,000 average subscriptions on the main site and explosive results on partner platforms, you're already on the path to becoming a legend.

【Qianzhou】: If you can stick it out until the end of next year, even if this is your only novel, you'll qualify for a Platinum contract.

【Qianzhou】: Under-20 masters aren't common, but they've existed in recent years.

【Qianzhou】: But an underage Platinum author? I've never heard of one!

【Chongran】: Uh… technically, I'll turn 18 on December 21 next year, so I won't be a minor anymore.

【Qianzhou】: A 18-year-old Platinum author is still insane! Don't nitpick details.

【Qianzhou】: TuDou was only 19 when he wrote Doupo! You're even more extreme than him.

Seeing Qianzhou compare himself to a potato, Li Luo felt a bit embarrassed, thinking potatoes had far more talent in this area than he did.

【Chongran】: I'll probably still be writing this book for another two or three years, so no need to worry about it ending anytime soon.

【Qianzhou】: Alright, with that from you, I'm reassured.

【Qianzhou】: What about the novel you mentioned wanting to submit to the realism-themed writing contest? How's the preparation going?

【Qianzhou】: When do you plan to publish it? Better give me a heads-up ahead of time.

【Chongran】: I'm working on it right now. Since it's short, only about four or five hundred thousand characters, I plan to publish it after I finish writing.

【Qianzhou】: Really…? Won't that interfere with your regular updates?

【Chongran】: Don't worry, it won't affect anything—I've already got over three hundred thousand characters saved up.

【Qianzhou】: I guess that's what you get with the young… Your energy is truly incredible—balancing school and writing, and now even dual-running? Unreal.

【Chongran】: I'll let you know as soon as I finish—probably around the month after next.

【Qianzhou】: That fast?

In Qianzhou's mind, a short novel of four or five hundred thousand characters would be impressive if written at just one or two thousand characters per day.

Could Li Luo really finish it in two months?

But for Li Luo, writing "Little Joy" wasn't difficult at all.

Because the original novel was already very brief—only about one hundred thousand characters, just over twenty chapters.

Moreover, the original's content differed significantly from the TV drama's many settings.

So Li Luo wrote directly from the full plot of the TV drama stored in his mind.

With the TV drama's storyboards and dialogue available, writing it wasn't very difficult at all.

Still, whether the adapted version would become a hit after filming was beyond Li Luo's control.

【Chongran】: It's just my normal pace, don't worry.

【Qianzhou】: Alright then.

【Qianzhou】: I've got one last thing to tell you ahead of time.

【Chongran】: What's that?

【Qianzhou】: This year's annual meeting date is confirmed—tentatively January 30th and 31st. I'm giving you a heads-up now.

【Qianzhou】: The list of this year's Grand Masters and Platinum Authors will be announced then. Get ready to go on stage and show off.

【Chongran】: Cough… I don't really care about showing off. Can I skip the stage?

【Qianzhou】: You're one of this year's most representative authors—you're definitely going on stage. Don't try to wriggle out of it.

【Qianzhou】: It won't even be broadcast. What are you afraid of?

【Qianzhou】: Alright, I won't disturb your writing anymore. I'm off.

【Chongran】: …

After finishing the chat with the editor, Li Luo smiled helplessly and returned to typing.

Meanwhile, in the corridor bathroom, Yan Zhusheng had finished bathing first, put on a light sleepwear, and came to Li Luo's bedroom to ask him to dry her hair.

After Li Luo finished drying Yan Zhusheng's hair, Ying Chanxi stepped out of the bathroom and took Yan Zhusheng's place.

After Ying Chanxi finished too, Xu Youyu strolled out, grinned, and plopped down on Li Luo's chair, shaking his head: "Don't tell me I'm not included too?"

Li Luo sighed helplessly, picked up the hairdryer, and continued serving his third client, then couldn't help complaining: "If I charged for drying hair, I'd be financially free just from the three of you."

"Drying hair could make you financially free?" Xu Youyu chuckled. "That's some expensive service."

"Who else but the guy who dries the hair of three beautiful girls every late night… hmm…?" Li Luo joked. "When you all make big money later, won't I become financially free?"

"What kind of dream are you having?" Ying Chanxi, sitting on the bed, puffed out her cheeks and kicked him. "You're trying to live off three women at once?"

"Then not living off soft money is fine?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head and asked.

"N-No, that's not okay either!" Ying Chanxi widened her eyes in shock, staring at Yan Zhusheng beside her. "What are you thinking, Zhusheng?"

"Nothing much. Just saying."

While drying Xu Youyu's hair, the four of them chatted casually in Li Luo's bedroom—gatherings like this late at night were rare.

After Li Luo finished drying Xu Youyu's hair, Xu Youyu patted his butt and returned to his own bedroom to start typing.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng sat side by side on Li Luo's bed, staring at each other, neither willing to leave first.

Only after Li Luo dragged both of them out of the room did the bedroom finally fall silent.

Li Luo sat at his computer, typed "Little Joy" into a new document, then searched his Memory Palace and began transcribing the TV drama's plot into novel form, copying it exactly.

Compared to the original's pitiful one hundred thousand characters, Li Luo's version was clearly much more fleshed out.

A single scene in the TV drama might last only a few seconds, but for Li Luo, he had to translate every detail—time, setting, characters, psychology, dialogue—into words, then remove the irrelevant parts and keep only what served the plot.

Even so, after calculating, Li Luo estimated that each TV episode could produce roughly ten to twenty thousand characters.

That's about ten to twenty chapters of a normal Online Novel, forming a complete narrative arc.

The original's one hundred thousand characters were simply too sparse—the actual TV drama's richness came entirely from the screenwriters' expansions.

With forty-nine episodes total, it would easily reach seven or eight hundred thousand characters.

Fortunately, in his past life, he'd watched the entire drama—he'd bored himself during summer vacations by retrieving and downloading it in his Memory Palace, so now, while typing, he didn't need to strain his memory.

When he finished typing deep into the night, Li Luo stretched, checked the time, and went to bed.

…

He slept straight through until morning.

Li Luo felt a heavy weight on his body. When he woke up, he found Yan Zhusheng straddling his stomach, her finger sliding along his nose.

Seeing Li Luo's eyes open, Yan Zhusheng withdrew her finger and said seriously: "Li Luo, I've come to wake you up."

"I didn't hear you calling me?" Li Luo stared blankly, thinking: Didn't I wake up because you crushed me?

Where did you call?

I called you, but you didn't respond.

Now that I'm awake, get off right away.

Oh.

As he said this, Li Luo's door suddenly opened.

Ying Chanxi pushed the door open and walked in; she had come to wake Li Luo, but upon looking up, she saw Yan Zhusheng straddling Li Luo's stomach, and her eyes widened: "Zhusheng! What are you doing?"

"I'm waking him up," Yan Zhusheng said, already rolling off the bed, looking innocent.

Why did you climb onto Li Luo to wake him up?

"I called him, but he didn't respond—he was sleeping too soundly," Yan Zhusheng said. "Once I sat on him, he woke up right away."

Ying Chanxi: "... Really?"

"Really," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "You can try it next time, Xixi."

"What do you two think I am?" Li Luo said, his face darkening. "A mount?"

Ying Chanxi had already been tempted, but hearing Li Luo's words, she burst out laughing, then quickly schooled her expression: "I never said I'd actually try it."

"I hope tomorrow morning when I open my eyes, it's not you sitting on me."

"What do you mean?" Ying Chanxi frowned. "You don't want it to be me? Then who do you want it to be?"

"Is that really the extent of your understanding as the top student?"

"Hmph, none of your business."

After urging the two girls to go wash up, Li Luo told Ying Chanxi to soak Yan Zhusheng's towel in cold water and bring it over.

Then he went to Xu Youyu's door, knocked, and peeked inside.

Seeing Xu Youyu still fast asleep in bed, Li Luo walked straight in, crouched beside the bed, and patted her cheek: "Senior, wake up."

"Mmm... what time is it? My alarm hasn't gone off."

"You're gonna kill me..." Xu Youyu groaned upon hearing the time, rolled over to face away from Li Luo, ignoring him entirely, mumbling sleepily: "Just wait—tonight you're gonna regret it."

At that moment, Ying Chanxi entered the room with the damp towel, her expression odd, barely holding back a laugh as she handed it to Li Luo.

Li Luo took the towel, chuckled, and patted Xu Youyu's shoulder: "I'll show you something—after you see it, you can choose to go back to sleep."

"What's that?" Xu Youyu mumbled, turning over.

The next instant, her face was suddenly covered—a chill shot straight from her skin down her spine, spreading to every limb, making her shudder violently.

Before she could scream, Li Luo's large hand pressed down, rubbing back and forth across her face.

"Li Luo!"

Forced into a cold-water wash, Xu Youyu's sleepiness vanished completely. She scrambled out of bed barefoot, slippers forgotten, and stomped toward Li Luo with a furious slap-slap-slap.

Li Luo of course wouldn't stand still to be caught—he immediately bolted for the door.

But Xu Youyu ultimately had the upper hand; in the living room, she lunged onto the sofa and pinned Li Luo beneath her, snarling: "Three days without a beating, and you're tearing up the roof—I think you're asking for it!"

"I'm doing this out of good intentions! If you don't believe me, call Aunt Cui right now and ask whether she supports you or me!"

Li Luo, pinned beneath his senior, refused to yield, replying stiffly.

"Hmph! My mom's not even here—what good is it to get her involved? Give me your life!"

Ying Chanxi had been watching from the doorway as Xu Youyu chased Li Luo out, the two of them running and chasing through the living room, smirking to herself.

But when Xu Youyu pinned Li Luo beneath her, Ying Chanxi's expression froze. Seeing them wrestling, she rushed forward and grabbed Xu Youyu: "Stop—stop fighting! Don't fight! Go wash up and come run with me!"