Chapter 378

If the person sitting in Li Luo's seat right now were Ying Chanxi, she would likely feel shy from the classmates' curious glances and wouldn't even dare to lift her head.

But right now, the person sitting here is Yan Zhusheng.

She appeared calm and composed, sitting quietly there, listening attentively as Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong chatted beside her.

Soon after, Qiao Xinyan's mother arrived; after Qiao Xinyan moved aside, she didn't leave immediately but quickly explained the current situation and circumstances to her own mother.

Although Qiao Xinyan's mother had heard about Li Luo's family at home, she had never heard from Qiao Xinyan about Li Luo's special relationship with these two girls.

Hearing now that Li Luo's parents had each taken one girl to attend the parent meeting, she was momentarily stunned, and only after sitting down did she gradually regain her composure and piece together the situation.

But last year, during the first parent meeting in freshman year, she had already met Lin Xiuhong, so she wasn't too surprised—she merely thought Ying Chanxi's parents were far too busy.

But now, Li Luo's own father had come to attend the parent meeting for another girl, which left her genuinely startled.

So your family runs a professional childcare service, right? Specializing in substituting for other parents at parent meetings?

Of course, if you ignored this matter, chatting with Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong was still quite enjoyable.

Since her own child, Xinyan, often visited their home to study, Qiao Xinyan's mother was deeply grateful and quickly struck up a conversation with the couple.

When it reached eight o'clock in the morning, just as the parent meeting was about to begin, Ying Chanxi and Li Luo returned from the school gate and came back to the classroom to assist Teacher Kong in holding the parent meeting.

Meanwhile, after the students of Class Eight gradually left the classroom, apart from a few who went directly to clubs, everyone else gathered in the self-study room on the sixth floor.

While the teacher supervising self-study hadn't arrived yet, the students of Class Eight clustered together and couldn't help but start chatting.

"The monitor is truly insane—I have no idea how he pulled this off," Ren Zheng shook her head in awe, still finding it hard to believe. "He's just too powerful—he got uncles and aunts to come and attend the parent meeting for Xixi and Zhusheng."

"Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng's parents really have big hearts," Zhu Yufei murmured. "They actually agreed to let other parents attend the parent meeting for them?"

"As for Xixi, I knew about it," Qiao Xinyan added beside them. "Last year, during the first parent meeting, it was Li Luo's mother who attended on behalf of Xixi's parents."

"Huh? So it's been like this since last year?" Ren Zheng exclaimed in surprise. "So this is their tradition now?"

"The monitor and vice-monitor are childhood friends," Zhang Guohuang reminded them. "I think it's normal for their parents to help attend a parent meeting—but Yan Zhusheng's parents agreeing too? Are their families already that close?"

"They must be pretty close," Xu Yinghuan recalled. "I remember they even had dinner together before."

"That's just what I know—usually, their parents all get along well; they probably get together for meals often."

"And think about it—Yan Zhusheng's mother is Yuan Wanqing. Who wrote the nine hit songs on Yuan Auntie's latest album? How could their relationship not be close?"

With Xu Yinghuan's reminder, everyone suddenly understood.

If you looked at it this way, Li Luo's parents attending the parent meeting for Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng actually seemed perfectly reasonable?

"This is just insane…" Lin Yuan couldn't help but grunt. "The monitor didn't even write this in his novel—reality is even more outrageous."

"It's really depressing when you compare yourself to others," Fang Chen couldn't help but sigh.

"Who are you trying to compare yourself to?" Ren Zheng shot him a glance and snorted.

"Ahem," Fang Chen quickly corrected himself. "I'm condemning the monitor's evil behavior! Not admiring him."

After finishing this topic, the time reached eight o'clock.

The teacher supervising the self-study room walked in through the front door.

Zhu Yufei and the others, who had no intention of studying there, immediately slipped out the back door and headed to the basketball club to play.

Among the remaining girls, Hua Xiuxiu glanced at Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan sitting ahead, then quietly sidled up to Ren Zheng.

"By the way," Hua Xiuxiu whispered, "where are you in 'Literary Era'? I just finished Chapter 135 yesterday—the senior wrote the heroine giving the hero…"

Here, Hua Xiuxiu didn't dare continue—even to her best friend Ren Zheng, she felt this topic was too awkward to voice.

But Ren Zheng clearly remembered the scene vividly, nodding repeatedly; after checking the teacher on the podium and seeing he wasn't paying close attention, she whispered to Hua Xiuxiu:

"I know, I know—this scene is way too steamy!"

"You don't know how detailed the senior wrote it—I read it hidden under my blanket."

"It's not worse than the romance novels I've read before."

"Is…is that so?" Hua Xiuxiu froze when Ren Zheng said it wasn't worse than romance novels. "You've read even more outrageous stuff?"

"I have," Ren Zheng nodded, then her expression turned strange. "I originally thought boys' writing would be dirtier, but I never expected the monitor's novel to be this pure."

"It's labeled a harem novel, but really, he's just tenderly dating each heroine—there's nothing particularly steamy in it."

"Wait till you read further—you'll see how amazing the senior is! I literally kept my legs clenched while reading it at night."

Hearing Ren Zheng describe it so vividly, Hua Xiuxiu couldn't handle it.

Mainly because she'd only ever read classics before.

Although some classics contained explicit content, they rarely made you blush, because the authors weren't being explicit for the sake of it.

But after reading 'Literary Era,' Hua Xiuxiu realized the senior truly loved driving.

And the speed was extremely fast, and the ride was incredibly smooth.

She described even the car's equipment, condition, and road conditions in meticulous detail, making you feel like you were inside it.

In comparison, the monitor's 'I Am Really Not a Star' seemed much more naive in this regard.

I wonder where the senior learned all this.

…

In the classroom of Gao Er Class Eight, Kong Junxiang was holding the parent meeting at the podium; the white screen above the blackboard lowered, playing the pre-prepared PPT.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi stood on either side, occasionally handing Kong Junxiang materials, distributing documents, or refilling tea for the parents.

The parents treated Li Luo and Ying Chanxi with kindness and courtesy, especially after Kong Junxiang introduced them as his monitor and vice-monitor—parents who hadn't known them before now looked at them with renewed admiration.

Academically, Ying Chanxi was naturally more brilliant, having always been the top student in the grade.

But in this selection exam, both she and Li Luo scored a perfect 300; the ten subjects were graded on a level system with no specific scores, so the two had rarely been separated in performance.

On this basis, when some parents heard Kong Junxiang introduce Li Luo, one asked curiously: "Our class monitor—isn't he Chongran, the one who wrote songs for Yuan Wanqing?"

Li Luo: "…"

"Yes, that's him," Kong Junxiang, hearing the parent's question, glanced at Li Luo's darkened face and chuckled, nodding to confirm it for him.

A low ripple of laughter spread through the classroom.

Obviously, not just this one parent knew about this, but many others did too.

Of course, not every student shared these school anecdotes with their parents, so some parents looked confused and quickly whispered to the parents beside them who understood.

After learning the details, many suddenly wore expressions of surprise, their gazes toward Li Luo filled with shock and disbelief.

The songs Li Luo wrote, after being made popular by Yuan Wanqing on the singer stage, were likely heard by any parent in the class who had a habit of listening to music or frequented places that played music recently.

And some parents didn't just know about Li Luo writing songs—they'd also heard about him writing novels.

Even more so, two male parents looked at Li Luo with slightly odd expressions.

They had clearly read the actual content of Li Luo's novels, and upon meeting him in person, still found it hard to believe that the online novel they couldn't stop scrolling through on their phones every day was written by their son's classmate.

This situation was downright bizarre.

Fortunately, by the time the conversation turned to Li Luo and Ying Chanxi, Kong Junxiang was already discussing this year's elective exam.

After another ten minutes, at half past nine in the morning, Yan Zhusheng waved to Li Luo from the back row.

Li Luo understood at once, walked over to Kong Junxiang, and whispered something to him.

Kong Junxiang immediately nodded: "Go ahead. Ying Chanxi needs to go too, right?"

"Mm." Ying Chanxi nodded beside him. "I need to check the preparations."

"Then all of you go. I've got nothing left to do here."

After receiving permission, Li Luo immediately moved to the back row, picked up Yan Zhusheng who had just stood up, and followed by Ying Chanxi, exited through the classroom's rear door.

The parents, seeing this, all looked puzzled.

Kong Junxiang smiled and explained: "Do you all remember last year's first parent meeting for Grade 10? Back then, all Grade 10 parents went on a school tour."

"The final stop of that tour was at the gymnasium, watching the rock club's performance."

"Some parents from last year's Class 8 probably know a bit about it; others certainly don't."

"Our class monitor, Li Luo, and the student just mentioned, Yan Zhusheng, are the guitarist and lead singer of our rock club—they're off now to perform for the Grade 10 parents."

"Ying Chanxi is our student council president and needs to go check on things too."

After Kong Junxiang's explanation, everyone understood.

But some felt a bit disappointed.

After all, they'd only seen it once last year, and now that they knew Yuan Wanqing's daughter was in this class, and that Chongran was here too, watching their performance again would definitely be worth it.

…

After leaving the classroom, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng made their way to the gymnasium.

Xie Shuchen had already arrived early and was coordinating with student council staff.

Although Yan Zhusheng was now the rock club president and Li Luo the acting president, the one actually handling daily chores was Xie Shuchen himself.

It wasn't because Li Luo or Yan Zhusheng assigned him to—it was just that Xie Shuchen was currently deep in a tender, secret romance with a Grade 10 junior and wanted to be glued to her side at all times.

Even when coming to do rock club work, he could just tag along and work together—male and female pairing, efficiency doubled.

Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng arrived together at the rock club's activity room on the second floor of the gymnasium to check how everyone was preparing.

Ying Chanxi went downstairs to inspect the instruments and speakers, ask about readiness, gather student council members for a final self-check to fill any gaps, and also inquire about the Grade 10 parents' tour progress.

Soon, the rock club was ready.

The Grade 10 parents began arriving and taking their seats on the stands.

Jiang Liuxian, as a member of the student council, also came to the stands, sat beside her father who had come for the parent meeting, and quietly whispered something to him, leaving him stunned and blinking.

When Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng led the rock club members onto the stage, a cheer rose from the stands.

"Xiao Feng! Go for it!" A woman stood up, smiling broadly and waving at Lin Suifeng. "Mom's here!"

Seeing this, Li Luo glanced over at Lin Suifeng, who awkwardly waved back, and suddenly remembered how, last year, when he first stepped onto this stage, his own mother had shouted the exact same thing.

At that moment, Li Luo lowered his gaze and met Yan Zhusheng's eyes—she softly said, "Last year, Lin Yi shouted like that too."

Li Luo smiled back at her, and for a moment, they felt perfectly in sync.

Once all the parents were seated on the stands, Lin Suifeng saw the president turn back and nod to him—he took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

The next second, a rhythmic drumbeat rang out in the gymnasium, driving the keyboards, guitars, and bass into the melody of "Under the Flying Clouds."

"Under the flying clouds~ I thought I'd forgotten home~"

"Whispering in my ears~ Telling me not to trouble myself with pain and fear~"

"On this halfway path~ I've put on memories and wind and sand~"

The original version of "Under the Flying Clouds" was a duet, and now, performed together by Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng, it carried a flavor distinct from Yuan Wanqing's version.

But just as everyone was immersed in the beautiful singing,

the song entered the second verse.

Li Luo sang first, then turned to Yan Zhusheng, signaling her to take over.

Yan Zhusheng raised her microphone and sang along with the music: "Loneliness is a trench coat~ Wrapping up fear~"

"Yet I'm brave~ Even if no one remembers me, it doesn't matter~"

After this section ended,

Li Luo naturally joined Yan Zhusheng in duet: "The future waits for me to claim it!"

But the moment he sang "waits for me to claim it," Li Luo suddenly felt something soft press into his palm.

The next second, he realized his hand had been tightly clasped by a small one.

"Under the flying clouds~ I thought I'd forgotten home~"

Fortunately, the next chorus began with Yan Zhusheng singing—Li Luo, startled by her sudden move, froze for a moment, then quickly caught up with the rhythm and kept singing.

But now that Yan Zhusheng was holding his hand, he couldn't just pull away.

After all, holding hands right now could pass as stage effect—if he pulled away on his own, the scene would look awkward.

As a result, the image of Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo singing "Under the Flying Clouds" hand in hand was firmly etched into Ying Chanxi's eyes below the stage, making her pout in quiet displeasure.

"During your rehearsal, was this interaction designed?" Ying Chanxi asked, squinting at a guitarist from the rock club who hadn't made it on stage.

"I—I don't know either…" The guitarist scratched his head. "But aren't they a couple? Holding hands is normal, right? It's just a performance."

"Who told you they're a couple?!" Ying Chanxi snapped, widening her eyes.

"Nobody said it… but isn't it obvious to anyone with eyes?" the guitarist muttered awkwardly.

"No, no, no," added another guitarist, well-informed and once part of 【Dongdong World's Cutest】, "Can't you see? Senior Li Luo and Senior Ying are the real couple."

"Huh?" The first guitarist blinked.

"Eh… really?" Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed; she asked hesitantly, blushing, "We're childhood friends—we grew up together. Do you really think we look like a couple?"

"Absolutely!" The second guitarist nodded vigorously.

"Don't say that," Ying Chanxi smiled shyly. "Not yet, anyway."

The first guitarist looked from Ying Chanxi to Li Luo, hand in hand with Yan Zhusheng onstage, and fell into a long, silent stupor.

He had indeed heard rumors before.

But facing this reality up close still gave him the feeling of being in a dream.

He hadn't expected the rumors to be not just understated… but downright conservative!