Chapter 369: The Secret Support Team for Chanxi the Undercover Agent

After the third season of "I Am a Singer" ended, the massive traffic and popularity continued for several more days.

Yuan Wanqing did not waste this traffic; after the singing show, she participated in various activities even more frequently.

Invitations poured in for all kinds of variety shows, such as the third season of "Running Man," and Yuan Wanqing leveraged the momentum to make appearances and boost her visibility.

In addition, interviews, concerts, fan meetups, and more were all added to the schedule.

In just one week, Yuan Wanqing was busier than she had been in the past month.

She barely saw Ying Chanxi at all, constantly traveling across the country to solidify the traffic surge from "I Am a Singer" and convert it into tangible gains.

Of course, Ying Chanxi didn't meet Yuan Wanqing not only because she was so busy during this period, but also because paparazzi attention was high.

Although they had already been notified that Yuan Wanqing's daughter was still a minor and that high school studies were more important, so people should not disturb her.

But as the top celebrity of recent times, countless eyes were fixed on Yuan Wanqing; it was nearly impossible to make those information-hungry creatures back off with just one request.

If any scandal erupted during Yuan Wanqing's rapid rise, the consequences would be an unpredictable risk.

So during this period, Ying Chanxi also kept a low profile, mostly sticking to a routine of work and home.

Her main focus remained on advancing her film and television projects.

Probably because she was still anxious, Ying Chanxi had Li Luo register all copyrights for "Little Joy" first, then immediately requested the first three hundred thousand characters and had them sent directly to the film and television department's writing team.

To see how good the content was.

After reviewing it, the writing team's opinions were not uniform, but one point was certain.

This script was quite good.

Some writers felt the plot revolved around three families—would the content be too scattered?

But other writers believed the author had woven the conflicts among the three families into a single thread, with each influencing the others in a clever structure.

Especially the final segment—the hotel swimming pool incident—where the male supporting character Ji Yangyang's conflict with his father erupted, bringing the children's relationships closer while having all three sets of parents appear together to deliver a climactic peak.

Each character had a clear role and was vividly portrayed.

And another key point was... whether it was the writers' illusion or not.

They felt another advantage of this novel was... its low adaptation difficulty.

Or rather, almost no adaptation was needed—even the novel's narration used a cinematic camera perspective as its entry point.

Although written as a novel, converting it into a script required almost no effort, because all the elements were already fully provided.

Plus, it was a modern urban setting, without the special effects demands of fantasy or xianxia.

If the TV drama didn't cast overly big-name stars, the production cost wouldn't be high.

Knowing this much, Ying Chanxi had a clear idea.

It could be filmed.

But they still had to wait until Li Luo finished writing.

He still had two years; he could afford to wait.

As another one or two weeks passed, the popularity brought by "I Am a Singer" gradually faded.

Netizens' interest in Chongran was replaced by other hot topics.

Yet rumors about Chongran, centered around Fuyi High School in Yinjiang District, began spreading outward.

After all, humans are social animals; students at Fuyi High had friends and former junior high classmates.

During casual chats about recent songs, the conversation might drift to Chongran.

Then a Fuyi High student would mysteriously pull out their phone, show the other person a glimpse of the Fuyi High Bible, and tell them Chongran was from their school.

Thanks to this, junior high classmates had started asking about it in their old class groups, driving Li Luo crazy.

"In short, from Monday to Wednesday next week is the academic proficiency test, and some students have also signed up for elective exams."

In Class 8 of Gao Er, Kong Jun said during morning self-study.

"Some university majors restrict academic proficiency test grades—if you don't meet the required number of A's, or if you lack an A in a specific subject, your major choice will be blocked, so everyone must take this seriously."

"Also, students who signed up for elective exams must remember: this academic proficiency test and elective exam are on the same paper."

"Be sure to check both sides of the test paper and confirm you've completed every question—don't miss any!"

After hearing Kong Jun's words, Li Luo wasn't nervous at all; instead, he felt a bit excited.

After all, he had prepared thoroughly for this elective exam.

If everything went smoothly, he might only need to study three core subjects for the rest of his two-year high school career.

As he thought this, Li Luo sensed movement beside him, turned his head, and saw Yan Zhusheng secretly passing him a note.

【Yan Zhusheng】: So nervous.

【Li Luo】: Why are you nervous? I've reviewed everything with you—just perform at your usual level.

【Yan Zhusheng】: But I'm afraid I'll do poorly in history.

【Li Luo】: Why history?

【Yan Zhusheng】: If you and Chanxi both score 100 in history, won't you no longer need to commute to Class 16 for history class? Then I'll be the only one going.

【Li Luo】:... You're telling me you're nervous because of this?

【Yan Zhusheng】: Not entirely—I'm afraid I'll fail, so you have to comfort me.

【Li Luo】: How am I supposed to comfort you?

【Yan Zhusheng】: Just give me a hug before the exam.

Okay, okay, now the mask is off.

Li Luo took the note and scribbled on it.

When Yan Zhusheng received the note back, she saw a tiny figure hugging another tiny figure and patting its head, and immediately puffed out her cheeks.

After morning self-study ended, the rest of the day's classes focused on reviewing the most basic subject content to prepare for next week's academic proficiency test.

After lunch, after attending the student council meeting and watching Ying Chanxi calmly organize the upcoming elective exam details from the head of the table, Li Luo felt a pang of reflection.

After Xu Youyu stepped down, Ying Chanxi, who succeeded as student council president, quickly adapted to the role's responsibilities.

But the cost…

Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu sitting beside him and sighed softly.

That's right.

Xu Youyu did step down, but she was still class monitor of Class 16, Gao Er, and still had to attend student council meetings.

After becoming president, Ying Chanxi had to sit at the main seat to preside over meetings.

Instead, Xu Youyu now always slipped over to Li Luo's side during every meeting, sneaking small gestures under the table or whispering to him.

But as these interactions grew more frequent, Li Luo always felt the other students in the student council were looking at him strangely.

Or perhaps—strangely at Xu Youyu?

With the elective exams approaching, Li Luo didn't dwell on it; after the student council meeting ended, he walked back to Class 8, Gao Er, alongside his president.

Then, with a grimace, he secretly took earbuds from both Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng and slipped them into his ears.

Why hadn't anyone noticed he was wearing two earbuds?

Because Yan Zhusheng always slipped hers in first, then immediately lay down and fell asleep.

Only after seeing Yan Zhusheng asleep would Ying Chanxi quietly pass her earbuds to Li Luo, then instantly lie down and sleep too.

Li Luo silently inserted both earbuds and endured the torment.

The bad news: at first, he couldn't adapt at all; after just one lunchtime, he hadn't slept a wink, his head buzzing.

The good news: since both Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng slept during this time, they chose only soft music at low volume.

After adapting for a while, it became less torturous.

Eventually, Li Luo simply used his Memory Palace to play other music inside his mind, drowning out the volume of both earbuds, and finally freed himself.

But once nighttime running came around…

"Xixi, here."

"Li Luo, here."

Ying Chanxi took one earbud from Yan Zhusheng, then immediately placed her own Bluetooth earbud into Li Luo's ear.

Thus, the two girls shared one pair of earbuds, while Li Luo enjoyed his own pair alone, the three of them jogging together on the track.

Two months had passed since the start of school; the three of them had finally settled into a stable rhythm of daily life.

They basically did nearly the same things every day.

Yet each of them found it endlessly enjoyable, never feeling bored.

It would just be better if they didn't have to wear two earbuds at lunch.

…

November 2, Monday, morning.

The elective exams arrived.

Although not everyone chose to take the elective exams on the first attempt, everyone still had to take the academic proficiency test.

Thus, before the college entrance exam even came, the Gao Er students got a taste of the same atmosphere as the college entrance exam.

Before entering the exam hall, Xu Yinghuan muttered under her breath, hands clasped together, seemingly praying.

"Huanhuan, what are you doing?" Yan Zhusheng asked curiously.

"I'm praying to the God of Exams," Xu Yinghuan said seriously. "I'm wishing all the questions are ones I've seen before."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded and clasped her hands together, murmuring silently.

"What are you doing, Zhusheng?" Xu Yinghuan asked.

"I'm making a wish too."

"To the God of Exams?"

"To Li Luo."

"Will that even work for you?"

"It works," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "Huanhuan, want to try?"

"That works for you, not for me."

"Stop chatting," Li Luo said from beside them. "Focus on the exam. Aim for three hundred points—after that, things will be much easier."

"Do you think everyone's a top student?" Xu Yinghuan rolled her eyes. "I just want all three subjects to score above ninety after scaling."

"Don't set your sights so low," Li Luo smiled. "If you perform well this time, you might even hit a hundred."

"Really?" Xu Yinghuan herself didn't believe it.

"You've been training like a special forces soldier for months," Li Luo said. "Most people slacked off over summer—we've kept studying and improving."

"You ranked in the top 250 on the entrance exam, even with your three main subjects dragging you down."

"Chemistry and geography are your strengths. If you handle them well this time, maybe a miracle will happen?"

"Alright, alright," Xu Yinghuan nodded eagerly. "If Chongran says so, I'll definitely try harder."

Li Luo: "... Don't call me that at school."

"What's the harm?" Xu Yinghuan laughed. "Everyone already knows."

Fifteen minutes before the exam, students began filing into the exam halls.

The first elective exam under the new college entrance reform officially began.

In the following three days, Li Luo reviewed each exam paper, comparing them one by one with his memories, and finally sighed softly.

Roughly 80% of the questions remained identical to those in his previous life.

But for reasons unknown—perhaps the butterfly effect—20% of the questions had changed from his past memory.

Then again, that wasn't surprising.

After all, this exam paper was prepared by a team of teachers seconded from key schools across provinces and municipalities by the Ministry of Education.

Naturally, some of these teachers would come from Fuyi High School.

And this tiny butterfly, Li Luo, whose wings had fluttered within Fuyi High School, had already drastically altered the school's original historical trajectory.

Perhaps it was merely a minor change—like a teacher summoned by the Ministry to draft questions, who, upon hearing rumors about Li Luo, grew curious and searched for his novels, enough to shift many predetermined historical paths.

A single shift in thought could alter the very questions originally set.

Thinking of this, Li Luo no longer placed much hope in the accuracy of the college entrance exam paper.

After all, in just one year, nearly 20% of the questions had already been affected; in another two years, who could say what would happen?

All one could say was that one must strengthen oneself—better to pass by genuine ability than rely solely on memorizing past exam papers.

But even so, the remaining 80% of identical questions were, for now, entirely sufficient.

Three days after the academic and elective exams ended, when Xu Yinghuan stepped out of the examination hall, she still felt dazed.

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but over these past few days, she'd felt the exam questions were a bit… easy?

Moreover, while solving them, she kept getting a sense of déjà vu, making everything feel unusually smooth.

Yet she also felt anxious, for since entering Fuyi High School, she had fallen from being a top student in the mortal world to becoming a bottom-tier student in this upper realm.

And bottom-tier students often experience two illusions during exams.

Either they think the questions are impossibly hard, utterly incomprehensible.

Or they think the questions are ridiculously easy, instantly solvable—but in truth, they miss the traps hidden in the problem statements.

Xu Yinghuan now feared she was experiencing the second case, yet the entire exam had gone so smoothly she even wondered if she'd been possessed by the Exam God.

"How did it go?"

After dinner, everyone returned to the classroom, and Ying Chanxi sat sideways on her seat, asking Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng in the back row.

"Not bad," Li Luo nodded. "What about you, Zhusheng?"

"Not bad," Yan Zhusheng mimicked Li Luo's tone, nodding.

"Don't copy me—how exactly did it go?"

"I did very well," Yan Zhusheng said. "It felt like I'd done all these questions before."

"Cough… good then," Li Luo brushed it off. "Anyway, if your first elective exam score is good, studying afterward will be much easier."

Ying Chanxi didn't need Li Luo to worry about—Yan Zhusheng was the one who needed more attention.

Of course, theoretically, for a student pursuing music and arts, this score was already very high.

⊙TtkΛn⊙￠o

For an arts student, ranking within the top 160 at Fuyi High School—a provincial key school—and reaching the level of a regular key class was simply devastating in the arts stream.

As long as the arts exam score didn't tank, they'd easily get into Qianjiang University.

Right now, it's just precautionary—raising the academic score never hurt.

"Oh, by the way."

With the elective exams temporarily over, Ying Chanxi pulled out two forms from her desk drawer and handed them to Yan Zhusheng. "These are the sports meet registration forms. Give the male one to Zhu Yufei. Submit them before Saturday after school."

"Why do you have the registration forms?" Li Luo blinked, then realized. "Aren't I the class monitor? Why didn't Old Kong tell me to pick them up?"

"Because I'm the student council president," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes. "Normally, the student council assigns someone to deliver them to the homeroom teacher—I just brought ours ahead of time."

"Alright, alright," Li Luo clucked his tongue. "Trying to sideline the class monitor? Quite ambitious."

"Hmph, I just wanted to save trouble," Ying Chanxi poked him with her pen. "Who cares about your stupid class monitor position? In the student council, you still answer to me."

"And so what?" Li Luo chuckled. "Even the mighty student council president still has to obediently listen to me in class."

Qiao Xinyan, beside them, covered her mouth and giggled, watching their banter with delight.

While they weren't paying attention, she pulled out her phone and secretly sent a message beneath her desk.

Just before evening self-study began, Li Luo went out to the restroom, and Ying Chanxi turned back—only to see Qiao Xinyan smiling broadly, staring at her phone.

Curious, she leaned closer and saw it was a QQ group.

"Dongdong Tianxia Diyi Ke'ai?" Ying Chanxi frowned. "What group is this, Xinyan?"

"Ah!" Qiao Xinyan jumped, realizing she'd been caught, and stammered, "This… that… um…"

"Don't lie," Ying Chanxi narrowed her eyes. "That 'Dongdong'—isn't it Shen Dongdong?"

"Cough… cough…" Qiao Xinyan blushed, and as Li Luo returned from the restroom, she quickly pulled Ying Chanxi aside and whispered, "It's… just a small private group."

"What's it for?"

"Shipping sugar…"

"Huh?"

"We're shipping Li Yang and Shen Dongdong," Qiao Xinyan whispered. "But really, it's just you and Li Luo."

At this, Ying Chanxi's face flushed crimson: "I—I—I and Li Luo… what's there to ship?"

"Then just pretend we're shipping Li Yang and Shen Dongdong."

"No way," Ying Chanxi immediately shook her head. "You add me in—I want to see what you're talking about."

"That's not good… if you join as yourself, who'd dare talk about you?"

"Then… then I'll make a fake account," Ying Chanxi whispered. "Are you an admin? Just add me."

"O-Okay."

During evening self-study, Ying Chanxi secretly created a fake account and was added by Qiao Xinyan.

Only then did she realize Qiao Xinyan was the group owner.

And when Qiao Xinyan had called it a "small group," Ying Chanxi discovered upon entering that it had over fifty members.

More than a normal class!

【Aikesi】: Where's the group owner? Why'd you add someone? Just now you were talking and then vanished.

【Qiao Xinyan】: Cough, cough, just now another sister applied to join the group—I went over the application.

【Ren Zheng】: So Li Luo and Xi Xi really argue every single day, I'm dying laughing—one's the Student Union president, yet ends up as Li Luo's vice-class monitor.

【Hua Xiuxiu】: Get used to it; Li Luo just likes to snap back at people.

【Ai Kesi】: But I feel Ying Xuejie actually enjoys it, hahaha~ So sweet~ I think Ying Xuejie's even cuter than Dongdong from the novel!

Seeing this chat log, Ying Chanxi's cheeks instantly flushed red.

"You're too mean, Xinyan," Ying Chanxi muttered under her breath, yet inside she felt an inexplicable flutter of delight, as if these people had officially confirmed their relationship.

Scrolling further up through the chat history, Ying Chanxi realized that Qiao Xinyan actually spoke very little in the group, popping in only occasionally.

Most of the time, other group members posted, sharing scenes from the novel involving Shen Dongdong, then asked in the group whether Li Luo and Ying Chanxi behaved the same way in real life.

If they got the group owner's confirmation, they'd dance around wildly, squealing—double sweetness from both reality and the novel, the experience was absolutely perfect.

Besides that, some classmates could not help sharing updates whenever they spotted Li Luo and Ying Chanxi on campus.

Then everyone would gather in the group to watch and savor the sugar in real time.

The entire group consisted of nothing but Shen Dongdong stans; as Ying Chanxi scrolled through the chat logs, she found herself getting more and more engrossed.

She felt these people read the novel even more carefully than she did—when scenes involving Shen Dongdong appeared, they'd even take screenshots specifically for analysis.

For example, there was a scene in the novel where Li Yang ate lunch with Shen Dongdong in her university cafeteria, and they deliberately picked different dishes to share with each other.

Someone screenshot it and asked the group owner if it was true.

But after receiving Qiao Xinyan's confirmation, they immediately burst into ecstatic cheers.

Ying Chanxi blushing through the entire chat log, realized the group had only been created about half a month ago.

After privately pressing Qiao Xinyan for details, she learned the group had originally been just a small circle of Qiao Xinyan, Ren Zheng, and Hua Xiuxiu.

Later, as more and more people read Li Luo's novel, fans of Shen Dongdong were gradually invited in, turning it into what it is today.

Qiao Xinyan had even become the de facto leader of the Dongdong fan club.

【Ren Zheng】: Haha, the group next door is talking again—Li Luo and Zhusheng are passing notes. How come they pass notes every single night during self-study?

Ying Chanxi: "???"

Seeing this message, Ying Chanxi immediately turned her head to glance at the two students in the back row.

Yan Zhusheng was bent over doing homework; Li Luo was earnestly scribbling on his notebook, showing no sign of anything unusual.

【Ying Chanxi】: What does "next door" mean in the group?

Confused, Ying Chanxi privately messaged Qiao Xinyan on QQ.

【Qiao Xinyan】: Oh, that's the fan club for the little diva Mo Qinghan—it's another group, built by Huanhuan.

Ying Chanxi: "..."

Looking at Qiao Xinyan's message, she fell silent, wondering what kind of world this was.

【Ying Chanxi】: Then invite me into it.

【Qiao Xinyan】: I'm loyal to Xi Xi—I didn't even join that group.

【Ying Chanxi】: Should I thank you?

【Qiao Xinyan】: Cough, cough.

【Ying Chanxi】: Give me the group number—I'll add myself.

【Qiao Xinyan】: That probably won't work.

【Ying Chanxi】: Why not?

【Qiao Xinyan】: You have to submit your name and student ID to join—earlier, I could just pull you in because I'm the group owner.

【Ying Chanxi】: But you didn't join that group. I'll use your identity to join.

【Qiao Xinyan】:...

One could only say—no wonder she's the top student in the grade; her mind works fast.