Chapter 361

After returning home, Li Luo called both Yan Zhusheng and Ying Zhicheng to learn the situation, and from Ying Zhicheng he heard a shocking revelation.

In the past, even if Li Luo had asked, Ying Zhicheng probably wouldn't have told him.

After all, he was just an outsider.

But now, Li Luo was not only the lyricist and composer of all nine songs on Yuan Wanqing's new album, having single-handedly planned and executed the viral promotion campaign, but also knew about his relationship with Yuan Wanqing.

Under these circumstances, Ying Zhicheng was willing to reveal the details in response to Li Luo's questions.

Still, after hearing it, Li Luo felt such stories couldn't be fully trusted—after all, even if Ying Zhicheng himself wasn't lying, people naturally tend to favor their own perspective when recounting such matters.

So the exact truth of what happened still couldn't be concluded hastily.

But the familial connection between Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng was probably real…

Thinking of this, Li Luo couldn't help rubbing his forehead—he hadn't expected the situation behind it to be so complicated.

With Ying Zhicheng's life story, it'd be absurd not to turn it into a TV drama!

Why bother with the little fresh meat economy? Just make yourself the main character and film it directly!

Li Luo muttered this to himself, then put down his phone and resumed writing.

After showering, Ying Chanxi wandered over to Li Luo's side and asked him to blow-dry her hair.

After drying her hair, she showed no intention of leaving, sitting on the edge of the bed to keep Li Luo company while he wrote.

As she sat there, somehow, Ying Chanxi ended up lying on Li Luo's bed, scrolling through a novel on her phone.

After Li Luo sent her the latest chapters of "Little Joys," she began reading them with great enjoyment.

To be honest, compared to "I Am Really Not a Star," Ying Chanxi actually preferred reading "Little Joys."

Of course, there was one very important reason.

Under Ying Chanxi's intense interrogation, Li Luo had still revealed the ending of the protagonist's story.

Learning that the main character ended up with his childhood sweetheart, Ying Chanxi grew to love "Little Joys" more and more.

But after Li Luo finished writing and turned around, he found Ying Chanxi's phone lying on its side, her head resting on the pillow—she had fallen asleep without him noticing.

Seeing this, Li Luo smiled helplessly, then got up to take a shower.

While Li Luo was showering, Ying Chanxi quietly opened one eye, glancing toward the bathroom, listening to the sound of running water, then closed it again.

But the moment she closed her eyes, a certain image flashed unbidden into her mind—Ying Chanxi reopened her eyes, her face instantly flushed red.

Only when the water stopped and Li Luo's footsteps approached did she quickly shut her eyes again.

In the darkness behind her closed eyelids, Ying Chanxi heard the sound of Li Luo opening the bathroom door, then the wet slap of his bare feet on the floor as he shuffled in slippers.

Until he reached the other side of the bed, kicked off his slippers, and climbed in.

A faint creak, followed by the mattress sinking under his weight.

The rustle of the quilt being lifted.

Li Luo's breathing drawing nearer.

Ying Chanxi pressed her lips together, her heartbeat gradually quickening.

Then, when Li Luo pulled her fully into his arms, her heart raced to its limit.

"Stop pretending to sleep," Li Luo whispered in her ear. "No one stays asleep when you're hugged like this."

The warm breath against her ear made it tingle, and her cheeks flushed.

Fortunately, all the lights were off—Li Luo couldn't clearly see her face.

Still, Ying Chanxi couldn't keep up the act, though she didn't speak—only softly murmured, "Mm."

Seeing that Li Luo had no intention of making her leave, she decided not to return to her own room, snuggling into his arms to find a comfortable spot and closing her eyes again to sleep.

Perhaps they'd slept like this many times before—there was an unspoken understanding between them; neither said more, silently accepting this night as perfect.

…

The next day, October 9th.

Ying Chanxi woke early, curled in Li Luo's arms, turning her head to watch him still asleep.

Recalling the bold things she'd done back in Changning City, Ying Chanxi gathered courage and quietly leaned her head over.

While Li Luo was still asleep, she left a silent mark on his face.

When Li Luo's phone alarm rang, Ying Chanxi closed her eyes again, letting him wake her up, then pretended to just be stirring awake, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she sat up.

She cheerfully joined Li Luo for morning run, ate breakfast together in the cafeteria, then sat again at Yan Zhusheng's desk beside him as his desk partner.

To be honest, if Yan Zhusheng weren't returning next week, Ying Chanxi might not have wanted to go back to her own seat at all.

Even though sitting in front of Li Luo offered plenty of chances for interaction, being his desk partner was still better.

Leaning on Yan Zhusheng's desk, Ying Chanxi sighed with envy.

Then she made up her mind in her heart.

If not in Gao Er, then Gao San!

Next time they switched classrooms, she absolutely wouldn't miss the chance again.

Li Luo was focused on class, jotting down homework, and naturally didn't notice Ying Chanxi's inner thoughts.

But after class, Li Luo felt everyone in the class was looking at him strangely.

The students from Old Class Eight were fine, but the new Class Eight students' glances gave Li Luo a sense of déjà vu.

A bad premonition immediately rose in his chest.

But since no one spoke up, he couldn't ask directly without exposing himself.

Yet when he and Ying Chanxi arrived together at Class Sixteen for history class in the afternoon, he suddenly noticed the girls in Class Sixteen were also looking at him oddly.

This left Li Luo thoroughly puzzled.

He couldn't help tapping the head of the student in front—Jin Yuting—and asked, "You didn't go around spreading rumors about me, did you?"

"Huh? No!" Jin Yuting shook her head quickly. "I haven't said anything about you in class."

"That's really strange." Li Luo rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment, still not understanding what was going on.

But when he finished dinner in the evening and went to attend the rock club's activity, the truth finally came to light.

"Senior Li Luo."

Lin Suifeng, inside the activity room, saw Li Luo walk in and his expression turned complex, but he couldn't suppress his intense curiosity, stepping closer to Li Luo.

"What's wrong?" Li Luo asked, puzzled.

"Um… it's just… that… these past two days, everyone at school has been talking about how Senior Li Luo is Chongran, the one who wrote songs for Yuan Wanqing." Lin Suifeng asked Li Luo with strong curiosity and doubt, "Is that true?"

Hearing this, Li Luo's face instantly darkened.

But for some reason, perhaps because he'd already sensed it all day long.

When he heard the news, Li Luo felt surprisingly little shock, and even less of that mortifying sensation.

He simply asked Lin Suifeng: "Where did this rumor come from?"

"Maybe the photography club?" Lin Suifeng scratched his head. "One of our classmates is in the photography club—they say it was a senior girl from there who said it."

"What does this have to do with the photography club?" Li Luo blinked, not grasping the connection or logic.

"Ahem, let me explain." Jiang Songhe pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed Li Luo a video.

It was footage from last year's New Year's Eve gala, recording the rock club's performance on stage, preserved by the photography club.

At the time, Yan Zhusheng sang "The Sky Has No Limits."

The New Year's Eve gala was held at the end of last year, while Yuan Wanqing's new album, featuring "The Sky Has No Limits," only debuted in the eleventh episode last month.

The fact that Li Luo from the rock club writes songs was known among a small circle at school.

"The Sky Has No Limits" was an original song by the rock club, yet now it appears on Yuan Wanqing's new album, credited to Chongran as lyricist and composer.

Put the two together, and the answer was obvious.

Once he realized this, Li Luo was speechless—he never expected the leak to come from here.

To be honest, when Yan Zhusheng sang "The Sky Has No Limits" at last year's New Year's Eve gala, nine months later, even if people at school heard the song again coming from Yuan Wanqing's lips, most would probably have forgotten it.

But this person from the photography club dug it up, instantly breaking through the barrier of time—everyone's memory snapped into place, and the evidence chain became crystal clear.

After figuring it out, Li Luo looked at the seven new members of the rock club and Xie Shuchen's suspicious expression, and sighed.

"If I said Chongran is my cousin, would you believe me?"

"Senior, stop pretending now! We won't tell anyone."

"Fine, fine." Li Luo raised his hands in surrender, looking exasperated. "It's me. But don't spread it online."

"It's really you?" Xie Shuchen, upon hearing his admission, lightly punched him in the chest. "I'm totally impressed—I spent ages explaining to them it was your cousin, and it was all just a lie?"

"What did you explain?"

"That Chongran is your cousin," Xie Shuchen said. "Back when you and Ying Chanxi did that MV, it spread all over school. You said some songs were co-written with your cousin—so it was all you, right?"

"Ahem… mainly I didn't want anyone to know." Li Luo awkwardly rubbed his nose. "But now it doesn't matter—you all know already."

Li Luo now had a bit of a "what's the point" attitude—so many people already knew the truth; hiding it any longer was pointless.

He might as well give up.

It was just a shame for the glorious image he'd carefully built up.

Thinking back to how the girls in Class Sixteen had looked at him today, and imagining they'd all watched "I Am Really Not a Star," Li Luo still felt a slight suffocation.

How was he ever going to live in Fuyi High School again?!

Wan Jianpan, standing nearby, grinned at Li Luo: "I read the book Chongran wrote yesterday—I never thought you were this kind of Senior Li Luo, haha~"

Lin Suifeng looked at Li Luo with a complicated expression, recalling how he'd read that novel these past two days and seen traces of Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng in it—he couldn't understand Li Luo's train of thought at all.

Was he really planning to date both of them?

And wouldn't Yan Senior and Ying Senior already know Li Luo wrote novels?

After reading his novel, how could they still calmly pursue him?

What is this world coming to!

Lin Suifeng truly didn't understand anymore.

"Ahem." Hearing himself teased like this, Li Luo cleared his throat and made a solemn declaration: "The novel is just fiction—don't connect it to reality. They're two completely different things."

Were they really two different things?

Lin Suifeng looked at Li Luo skeptically.

If you said they were two different things, technically, yes.

After all, the novel was still too conservative—the reality was even more absurd.

"Alright, alright." Li Luo clapped his hands, closing the matter. "Let's practice—the sports meet and parent-teacher conference performances are coming up."

…

He returned to Bihai Lanting at 8:20 p. m.

Since the show was live-streamed, tonight's "I Am a Singer" King Battle was scheduled to begin at 9 p. m.

They had just enough time to make it.

But as soon as Li Luo got home, he collapsed onto the sofa, listless and unwilling to speak.

Xu Youyu glanced at Li Luo in confusion and asked Ying Chanxi: "What's wrong with him?"

"What else could it be?" Ying Chanxi covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "His novel-writing and songwriting have completely spread through school—even the rock club's new members know."

"Oh?" Xu Youyu burst into laughter upon hearing this, pulling Ying Chanxi down beside him. "Xixi, tell me what happened!"

Ying Chanxi happily recounted the story to Xu Youyu.

Earlier during evening self-study, when she saw Li Luo return looking miserable, she'd thought something terrible had happened.

After learning the truth, she'd barely held back her laughter during self-study.

Now that Xu Youyu asked, she eagerly laid out the whole sequence of events.

Listening to the two girls giggling and chattering beside him, Li Luo rolled over and sighed, "Is happiness built on someone else's suffering really that delightful to you?"

"How is this built on your suffering?" Xu Youyu patted his head reassuringly. "The more people know you write novels, the more people will read your books, your ratings will rise, your royalties will go up— isn't that a good thing?"

"I'm truly grateful," Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu, giving her a meaningful look.

Noticing Li Luo's glance, Xu Youyu coughed twice and stopped teasing the younger student. "Alright, alright, Xixi, let's go take a shower first. After we're done, the show will be starting soon."

Afraid Li Luo might drag her into the same mess, Xu Youyu seized the opportunity and quickly pulled Ying Chanxi off to the bathroom.

While the two girls were in the bathroom showering, Li Luo received a call from Yan Zhusheng.

……

Friday night, exactly nine o'clock.

Nationwide viewers had been eagerly awaiting the grand finale of "I Am a Singer" to appear on their TV screens.

In an era when smartphones had only just become widespread and short-video trends had yet to emerge.

Sitting in front of the TV to watch programs was still a common family entertainment choice.

Thanks to the sustained buzz from Weibo trending topics, "I Am a Singer," which by its third season might have naturally declined, instead regained new vitality under the traffic boost brought by Yuan Wanqing.

That night, many people sat in front of their TVs or turned on their computers, logged into Mango TV, and chose to devote the time after nine p. m. to this program.

Whether it was Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling, or Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong, all now sat on the sofa, switching the TV channel to Hulan Satellite TV.

After the commercial ended, the screen switched to the live finale stage.

Listening to the host's fluent on-air lines, Cui Suling looked at the TV and teased Xu Rongsheng, "This time, you won't cry again, right?"

"Don't bring up the sore spot," Xu Rongsheng shot her a look. "Last time was understandable. Li Luo's two songs tonight can't possibly have the same effect as 'Ru Yuan.' Do you think I cry that easily?"

"What a shame," Cui Suling chuckled. "You should've recorded it with your phone back then—what a precious memory that would've been."

"Heh," Xu Rongsheng laughed too. "Just don't let you be the one crying this time. If you cry, I promise I'll film it."

"Impossible. I'm not as sentimental as you," Cui Suling waved her hand.

……

On the other side.

The three of them, having finished showering, gathered in the living room.

But as Li Luo was about to sit on the sofa, Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu grabbed him and dragged him toward the bedroom.

"Wait… what are you doing?"

"The TV doesn't have comments," Xu Youyu said as if it were obvious. "Let's go watch the Mango TV live stream on your laptop."

"Mm," Ying Chanxi nodded vigorously. "Comments are more fun. Hurry up—the show's already started."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Li Luo said, being carried between them into the bedroom, feeling the soft textures on either arm—each distinct.

Ying Chanxi's petite, firm body. Xu Youyu's bouncy, soft one.

Once they laid him down on the bed, all three lay down together.

With Yan Zhusheng gone, the space felt much more spacious.

But the two girls on either side still squeezed into his arms, claiming they needed to be close to see the show clearly.

Li Luo would temporarily accept that excuse.

But now, with no one else between them, Xu Youyu pressed fully against Li Luo's side—and even sneakily rubbed her bare thigh against him under the covers.

Luckily, the laptop blocked the view; otherwise, Ying Chanxi would've spotted it.

"Li Luo, why are you putting your hand under the covers?"

"My pajama pants are stuck around my waist. I'm adjusting them."

"Are you being squished?"

"No, no, you don't need to move," Li Luo quickly pulled his hand out, then glared at Xu Youyu. "Let's watch the show."

Xu Youyu smiled sweetly at him, her leg still misbehaving, her hands also sneaking around under the covers, doing naughty things that made Li Luo's heart race.

At this moment,

The screen cut to the singers' backstage lounge.

The host walked in with a microphone, greeting each one individually. When he reached the guest performers, he introduced them to the audience through casual conversation.

Soon, the host arrived before Yuan Wanqing and Yan Zhusheng.

"The previous few are all familiar faces, so I won't introduce them."

"But this next one is a new face."

"Miss Yuan, would you like to introduce her?"

The host smiled and passed the topic to Yuan Wanqing.

Yuan Wanqing smiled gently and took the cue, wrapping her arm around Yan Zhusheng's waist as she faced the camera. "This is my daughter, Yan Zhusheng, and also my guest performer tonight. Zhusheng, say hello."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng sat demurely on the sofa and waved at the camera. "Hello everyone."

"It seems Zhusheng is still a bit nervous being on our show," the host said with a smile. "By the way, isn't Zhusheng still in high school?"

"Yes."

"I heard—yes, I heard—that the composer behind Miss Yuan's new album, Chongran, is also a high school student. Is that true?"

"Mm," Yan Zhusheng replied, nodding toward the camera. "He's my good friend."