Chapter 371: Is Senior Xu Youyu Jiang Mingyue?

After the opening ceremony of the sports meet ended, each class was orderly arranged to take their seats on the stands.

Because the Gao Er eight class's stand was right beside the podium, they were among the last teams remaining on the lawn.

By the time they finally reached the stands, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng—who had just performed on stage—and Ying Chanxi—who could move freely—were already waiting there.

The three sat side by side on the third row, near the edge, visibly striking.

After all, no one from eight class had arrived yet, while the adjacent stands were packed solid; only this spot remained largely empty, with just the three of them sitting there, impossible to miss.

Added to that, they were all good-looking, making it hard not to draw attention.

But whether Li Luo or the two girls beside him, they were long accustomed to such stares and no longer paid them much mind.

Seeing Li Luo and the others seated on the third row, Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan sat together on the second row, directly in front of Li Luo's group.

Seeing this, Li Luo immediately grinned and waved to Zhao Rongjun, calling out, "Jun Ge! Come sit here!"

Zhao Rongjun came over at Li Luo's call and ended up sitting beside Qiao Xinyan.

Soon, the sports meet began.

Zhu Yufei looked at the sports meet schedule in his hand, checked the time, then called out to the stands: "Yan Zhusheng, Luo Jiajia, get ready—the 100-meter preliminary race, report to the gym before eight."

"Looks like our class can already claim first and second place in the 100-meter." Li Luo couldn't help laughing upon hearing those two names.

At that moment, Yan Zhusheng and Luo Jiajia had already stood up, and Li Luo rose too, walking to the aisle of the stands.

Ying Chanxi hurried after them, wanting to join Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng.

But then Jiang Liuxian from Gao Yi eight class approached Ying Chanxi and passed on a message: the vice-principal wanted to see her.

So Ying Chanxi had no choice but to let Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng go ahead, and walked alone toward the podium, pouting.

Inside the gym, Li Luo wore his student council badge, reported to the PE teacher, and was assigned to handle registration and guidance for the morning's women's 100-meter preliminary race.

Behind him, Yan Zhusheng pulled out the harmonica Li Luo had given her, slipped it into his pant pocket.

The same scene had played out last year.

But compared to last year, today, far more people were secretly watching them around the gym.

When they saw Yan Zhusheng, right before everyone's eyes, unhesitatingly slip the harmonica into Li Luo's pocket, nearby students secretly shipping them nearly fainted from sweetness.

"You don't use this up on the stands, and you never carry it with you normally," Li Luo touched the harmonica in his pocket and laughed, "Why bring it now, right when reporting in?"

"Who says I won't use it? I'm going to play it," Yan Zhusheng said seriously, reached into Li Luo's pocket, pulled the harmonica out again, pretended to play a short tune, then put it back, "See? I played it."

Li Luo: "... Get in line already."

The PE teacher checked the list and began calling names; Yan Zhusheng and Luo Jiajia lined up accordingly.

"Your first group, follow him," the PE teacher said, his gaze landing on Li Luo's face, then he suddenly went, "Huh? You're Li Luo, right?"

"Yeah," Li Luo blinked, surprised the PE teacher had called out to him, "Teacher, what's up?"

"Nothing," the PE teacher chuckled, "Your novel's really good."

Li Luo: "..."

The surrounding students burst into laughter upon hearing this.

The gym erupted in merriment, but Li Luo's face turned dark as he quickly led the group out of the gym.

Yan Zhusheng walked first, behind Li Luo, saying to him, "Li Luo, you're really popular now."

"Shut up," Li Luo glared at her, "I'd rather be completely ignored than get this kind of attention."

The seven girls behind them quietly listened to their exchange, still giggling, finding Li Luo amusing.

But whether Li Luo himself found it amusing or not—that was unclear.

After escorting them to the starting line, Li Luo handed over the list to the PE teacher there, then stood on the lawn, cheering for Yan Zhusheng.

With Yan Zhusheng's level, the outcome was obvious.

After winning first place in her preliminary group, the two returned to the stands.

But as soon as they came back, Li Luo spotted a familiar figure.

"Hi~"

Xu Youyu sat in Ying Chanxi's spot, smiling and waving at them.

★TTKдN★co

Li Luo sat beside Xu Youyu and asked curiously, "Senior, why aren't you with your own class? What are you doing over here?"

"Your side's cooler," Xu Youyu pointed to the massive overhead canopy.

Because the Gao Er eight class's stand was beside the podium, and directly above the podium was a huge canopy, now blocking the sunlight and casting a large shadow—eight class's stand sat right under its shade.

"You're taking up Xi Xi's seat—where will she sit when she comes back?" Li Luo turned to ask.

"Xi Xi's still busy over at the podium," Xu Youyu said, a lollipop dangling from her mouth, "I saw the vice-principal talking to her, and she's got student council patrols to supervise too. Do you think I don't know how busy the president is right now?"

Even though Xu Youyu said that, Ren Zheng, sitting on her other side, patted a classmate's shoulder and motioned for them to move over and make room.

But then Xu Youyu added, "Even if Xi Xi comes back, no problem—just have her sit on your lap."

At those words, Ren Zheng, who had just been about to make room, froze mid-motion and plopped back down.

"Ren Zheng!" Li Luo saw her small move and glared, "Aren't you going to make room?"

"I think it's better if the vice-class president sits on the class president's lap," Ren Zheng grinned.

Other classmates around them snickered, clearly enjoying the drama.

Fortunately, Ying Chanxi was indeed busy and didn't return at all that morning.

So Xu Youyu happily sat beside Li Luo, enjoying the shade and sharing snacks with him.

She hadn't signed up for any events, so she might as well have been permanently stationed there.

Only near noon did Ying Chanxi return from the podium, only to see Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng seated on either side, with Li Luo right in the middle.

Seeing this scene, Ying Chanxi's expression froze.

"Senior, why are you over here?" Ying Chanxi stared at her empty seat, standing helplessly in the aisle, unsure which way to go.

But Xu Youyu didn't bully her; he immediately stood up from his seat, grinned, and walked over to Ying Chanxi, pushing her toward the chair: "I just came over to cool off—Xixi, you sit down."

"Mmm…" Ying Chanxi hadn't even spoken yet, and she was already back in her seat, making it hard to say anything more.

But at that moment, Yan Zhusheng beside them said: "Senior, I'll sit on Li Luo's lap—you can take my seat."

Ying Chanxi: "???"

"Stop messing around," Li Luo grabbed Yan Zhusheng's head and pushed it down. "Lunch is coming soon—calm down."

"Then what if I sit on your lap?" Xu Youyu grinned.

Seeing this, Li Luo immediately stood up, grabbed Xu Youyu's arm, and dragged her into his own seat.

"Is this fine enough?" Li Luo rolled his eyes, then strolled over and leaned against the railing along the aisle.

But this scene, seen by the others in Class Eight, took on an entirely different meaning.

Many glanced between Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi, then settled their eyes on Xu Youyu—those who were sharp immediately grew suspicious.

Ren Zheng was the first to whisper urgently to Hua Xiuxiu, though no one knew what they were saying.

Li Luo and the others knew nothing of this. When the morning competitions ended and the host announced dismissal, the students on the stands surged toward the cafeteria like piglets let loose from a pen.

Li Luo and the others followed the crowd slowly; by the time they reached the cafeteria, it was already packed with people.

But they didn't mind—they just lined up.

While they didn't care, the people around them certainly did.

Li Luo and his group were now celebrity-level figures at Fu No. 1 High; even the study-obsessed "learning demons," who normally ignored gossip, had heard at least something about Li Luo.

Upon entering the cafeteria, they drew every gaze within sight.

"What events are there this afternoon?" Xu Youyu hadn't signed up for anything herself, but she was curious about her juniors.

"There are quite a few events this afternoon involving us," Li Luo recalled in his memory palace. "Zhusheng's 200-meter prelim, Xixi and Qiao Xinyan's 1500-meter, my 1000-meter, Xu Yinghuan's 800-meter, and Zhao Rongjun's shot put."

"Good, good, good," Xu Youyu nodded eagerly. "After lunch, I'll buy extra snacks from the convenience store and come cheer for you all this afternoon."

"This is your last sports meet in Gao San—aren't you going to sign up for an event to leave behind some nice memories?" Li Luo laughed.

"Precisely because I want to leave behind beautiful memories, I signed up for nothing," Xu Youyu chuckled. "Unless there's a walking competition—I might consider joining."

"There is one," Li Luo nodded. "The women's 1500-meter—you can just stroll through it."

"Am I crazy?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "When Xixi and Xinyan compete, I'll stroll around the track and jog alongside them."

"What about me?" Yan Zhusheng asked, puzzled. "Why won't you come cheer for me?"

"How could I keep up with your sprint?" Xu Youyu pinched Yan Zhusheng's cheek. "You mean I should follow behind and breathe your exhaust fumes?"

After getting their meals, Ying Chanxi sat beside Li Luo, thought for a moment, then said to Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng: "After the sports meet, you two might have something to deal with."

"What's going on?"

"Just now, the vice principal called me over and gave me an assignment," Ying Chanxi said. "He wants to use the rock club as a case study to film a promotional documentary showcasing Fu No. 1 High's achievements in club diversity."

"In truth, he just wants to leverage Li Luo and Zhusheng's fame and accomplishments."

"He asked me to ask your opinions—do you want to accept this?"

Li Luo: "... Promotional documentary? Are you going to post it online?"

"No," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "Didn't you notice? At the school gate, there's a new large screen that cycles through videos and images."

"Oh, that one," Li Luo nodded, instantly understanding. "So it'll only play there?"

"Yes," Ying Chanxi nodded. "And you won't need to film much, since most of the footage already exists."

"They've recorded and archived footage from last New Year's Eve performance and today's live show—photography club has it all."

"They just need to film some daily activities in the rock club's practice room, then do a brief interview with you two."

"What's the benefit?" Li Luo asked.

Ying Chanxi hesitated: "... Bring glory to the school?"

"Alright then, fine—I'll do it," Li Luo wasn't truly materialistic; since his elective exams were over, he had nothing else to do. He nodded. "Just make sure to give me a private copy of the video."

"Why?" Ying Chanxi asked, puzzled. "You're not planning to post it online yourself, are you?"

"How could I?" Li Luo rolled his eyes. "I just want to show it to my parents. No other benefits—but at least let them be happy?"

"That's fine."

After lunch, everyone returned to their classrooms for a nap. When the assembly bell rang, they regrouped by class back on the stadium bleachers.

This time, Ren Zheng and the others were considerate—they left four seats empty.

After Li Luo sat down with Yan Zhusheng on his left and Ying Chanxi on his right, Xu Youyu soon strolled over and plopped herself into the empty seat beside Ying Chanxi, arms full of snacks.

"What are you looking at?" Xu Youyu casually handed a snack pack to Ren Zheng beside her. Seeing her secretly scrolling on her phone, she laughed. "The Student Union president is sitting right here—and you dare play with your phone?"

"Hehe… n-nothing special," Ren Zheng quickly hid her phone and took the snack. "Thanks, Senior. I can tell you're really close to Xixi and the others."

"Of course," Xu Youyu sucked on a lollipop. "We live together—of course we're close."

"Huh?" Ren Zheng had been about to say how impressive it was that the former president and current president had such a bond—but before she could speak, Xu Youyu dropped something even more explosive: "Senior… you mean 'live together'… as in?"

She pointed at Ying Chanxi, then at Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng—her inner gossip fire erupted instantly.

"Huh?" Xu Youyu blinked. "You didn't know?"

"Nope," Ren Zheng nodded. "The class monitor never said anything—we had no way of knowing."

"I remember they all had dinner together before the holiday, and even came to our place," Xu Youyu said, pointing to Xie Shuchen sitting behind them. "He went—didn't he tell you?"

In that instant, all the Class Eight students who had been quietly watching the drama turned their gazes toward Xie Shuchen.

Xie Shuchen, lost in his new romance, was completely unaware—he suddenly noticed everyone staring at him and jumped: "W-what are you all doing?"

…

【Embrace Sister Jiang!】

【Group owner has invited "Xie Shuchen" to join the chat】

【Ren Zheng】: What's going on? @Xie Shuchen

【Jiang Liuxian】: What? What? New developments?

【Ren Zheng】: Didn't we just guess this morning whether Jiang Mingyue was Senior Xu? @Jiang Liuxian

【Jiang Liuxian】: Right, I thought no other girl in school could be this close to Senior Li Luo except Senior Xu.

【Hua Xiuxiu】: Speak up! Senior Xu herself already said it—what's really going on? @Xie Shuchen

【Zhang Guohuang】: What? There's something I don't know about?

【Xie Shuchen】: Cough… Earlier, I didn't say anything because it was private.

【Zhu Yufei】: Elaborate.

【Zhang Guohuang】: Lao Kong is right next to you—how dare you look at your phone? @Zhu Yufei

【Zhu Yufei】: No problem, Lao Kong's sweet-talking Teacher Ding—he won't notice.

【Ren Zheng】: Go on! @Xie Shuchen

【Xie Shuchen】: Don't rush—I'm typing, I'm afraid Lao Kong will find out.

【Xie Shuchen】: Last year, during winter break, our rock club planned to get together for a meal.

【Xie Shuchen】: After the hotpot, we decided to hang out somewhere, so we went to Li Luo's place.

【Xie Shuchen】: Turns out, all four of them lived together—I was completely stunned.

【Hua Xiuxiu】: Really? All four lived together?

【Xie Shuchen】: Absolutely true—four bedrooms, one person per room.

【Ren Zheng】: The class monitor is amazing…

【Zhang Guohuang】: No wonder you started dating this semester—you finally gave up for real.

【Xie Shuchen】:???

? TTKΛN? co

【Xie Shuchen】: How do you know I'm dating someone?

【Zhang Guohuang】: Don't underestimate the title of First Affiliated High's All-Knowing One—I even know it's with a junior from your rock club.

【Xie Shuchen】: Damn! Stop talking! Let's get back to the class monitor.

【Ren Zheng】: You're so awesome—how come you didn't figure out Jiang Mingyue was Senior Xu? @Zhang Guohuang

【Zhang Guohuang】: Zhu Yufei and I did speculate, but we thought it didn't fit, so we dismissed it.

【Zhang Guohuang】: By the way, didn't you invite Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan into this? They're in a study group with the class monitor—they probably know more about Senior Xu.

【Ren Zheng】: Didn't invite them—they're a Yan faction member and a Chanxi faction member, no need.

【Hua Xiuxiu】: So we can basically confirm now—the three female leads in the class monitor's novel are the three girls he lives with, right?

【Lin Yuan】: What incredible luck does the class monitor have? Living with three beautiful girls—and even a harmonious harem?

【Hua Xiuxiu】: You seem jealous? @Lin Yuan

【Lin Yuan】: Not at all—I'm going to strongly condemn this immoral behavior!

【Zhu Yufei】: Screenshot taken—I'll show it to the class monitor later. @Lin Yuan

【Lin Yuan】:???

【Zhang Guohuang】: By the way, if Jiang Mingyue's prototype really is Senior Xu, I've got another really interesting guess.

【Ren Zheng】: Spit it out!

【Zhang Guohuang】: That guess you made before—remember? @Zhu Yufei

【Zhu Yufei】: You mean the Silver Alliance?

【Zhang Guohuang】: Exactly.

【Jiang Liuxian】: Senior guys, what secret code are you speaking?

【Zhu Yufei】: The Silver Alliance in the class monitor's novel.

【Zhu Yufei】: You probably don't use the official version, but this novel had three reader donations of ten thousand yuan each.

【Zhu Yufei】: Two of those accounts are called Shengsheng Bu Xi and Xixi Bu Xi Xi—you get it.

【Zhu Yufei】: But there's another one called Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao—no one ever figured out who it was.

【Zhu Yufei】: We once guessed it was Senior Xu, but this Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao account, besides donating one Silver Alliance, also has a serialized novel of its own called Literary Era.

【Zhu Yufei】: Our theory is that these three Silver Alliance accounts are the prototypes of the three female leads, because each had posted comments supporting their corresponding character before donating.

【Zhu Yufei】: Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao supported Jiang Mingyue.

【Zhu Yufei】: If Senior Xu is indeed Jiang Mingyue's prototype, then she's very likely Zao Shui Hui Zhang Gao.

【Zhu Yufei】: Meaning… Senior Xu is secretly writing Online Novels herself!

【Xie Shuchen】: Wow… are you guys here sipping sugar or playing detective?

【Ren Zheng】: Holy shit! This is intense!

【Hua Xiuxiu】: So is it possible that because Senior Xu also writes Online Novels, she and the class monitor have a lot in common—that's why she likes him? They're both heads of the Literature Club, after all.

【Jiang Liuxian】: So… so it's really like this?