Chapter 391: Chanxi: Won!

Li Luo didn't know how he'd walked out of Xu Youyu's room.

He just felt dazed and deeply uncomfortable.

It wasn't just physical discomfort—he'd been trapped in total darkness the whole time, and the only glimpse he'd gotten of the birthday gift Xu Youyu had prepared for him was the fleeting flash of her phone's light.

But it was clear enough.

Even though Xu Youyu was usually bold, putting on that outfit still made her blush like a shy little girl.

She hadn't even dared to turn on the light.

No wonder her face had flushed when she'd first decided what gift to buy.

Li Luo had originally thought it was the stockings, but remembering how happily she'd played flying chess in the master bedroom earlier, he realized her blush had nothing to do with stockings.

Now, the truth was finally clear.

Li Luo took a deep breath, didn't head straight to Ying Chanxi's bedroom, but first went to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.

After clearing his head, he dried his face, stepped out of the bathroom, and walked slowly to Ying Chanxi's bedroom.

Just like before, he gently knocked on the door, then opened it just enough to peek inside.

Unlike Xu Youyu, Ying Chanxi had left the light on.

But now she lay in bed, covered by the quilt, eyes closed, lips slightly parted—clearly fast asleep.

Seeing this, Li Luo couldn't help but smile.

If with Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu he'd had to worry whether they might suddenly do something reckless,

with Ying Chanxi, he didn't have to worry at all.

He stepped into the room, closed the door, and quietly approached the bed, crouching down to watch Ying Chanxi sleep.

He couldn't resist touching her slightly puffed cheeks as she slept.

Then he brushed her messy strands of hair away from her forehead and smoothed them to either side.

After finishing, he stood up, tucked the quilt snugly around her, confirmed everything was fine, and prepared to leave without waking her.

But the next second, Ying Chanxi either woke from his movement or something else—suddenly her eyes flew open, she shot upright in bed, turned her head, and without hesitation reached out, grabbing his arm.

"Don't… don't go…"

Li Luo had just turned away when she yanked him back—he froze, turning to look at her: "Why'd you wake up? Did I disturb you?"

"No…" Ying Chanxi blinked, coming back to herself, lifting her face to look at Li Luo, then lowering her head and whispering, "I had a dream… and woke up scared."

"Are you okay? What was the dream?" Li Luo turned back, bending down to gently hug her.

Ying Chanxi buried her face in his stomach, shaking her head: "I can't remember after waking up."

"Mm, it's fine, it's fine." Li Luo patted her back, comforted her for a moment, then asked, "Go back to sleep? I won't bother you anymore? It's pretty late."

"No!"

Hearing Li Luo was leaving, Ying Chanxi panicked, clutching him tightly to stop him, then whispered, "You… you haven't finished your punishment yet."

"Oh right, your socks are still on." Li Luo said. "Are they uncomfortable to sleep in?"

"It's okay."

"Let me take them off for you before you sleep?"

"Mm…" Ying Chanxi let go of Li Luo, lowered her head, cheeks flushed, and pulled his hand. "You come up first."

"I can take them off right here by the bed—just stick your legs out."

"No, you come up first." Ying Chanxi bit her lip softly.

Li Luo had no choice but to climb onto Ying Chanxi's bed.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi beamed, pulled back the quilt to make space for him, then shifted over to give him room.

But the moment Li Luo pulled the quilt over himself and turned to receive his punishment, the room plunged into darkness.

The light was turned off.

"... Why'd you turn off the light?"

"No reason." Ying Chanxi curled into the quilt, burying her head completely, too shy to look at Li Luo.

"How am I supposed to take them off now?"

"Then… then don't take them off?" came her timid voice from under the quilt.

"Huh?"

Li Luo paused, confused by what she meant.

Though she didn't dare show her face under the covers, she still reached out and tugged at his pajama top, whispering: "If you don't finish your punishment, can't you go back?"

Li Luo: "... Technically, that's correct."

"Then don't take them off." Ying Chanxi snuggled into Li Luo's arms, found a comfortable spot to rest her head, and placed her bare-toed white socks resting on his legs.

Feeling the softness and smallness of the girl in his arms, Li Luo held her quietly, unable to suppress a smile.

"Won't it be uncomfortable wearing them to sleep?"

"Mm… a little unusual, but not really uncomfortable."

"Can you even sleep like this?"

"Mm."

"But I still really want to take them off for you." Li Luo leaned down, whispering in her ear, "What should I do?"

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi froze, worried he didn't want to stay with her.

But Li Luo added: "Take them off first, then sleep—I won't leave."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi first paused, then understood his meaning—her heart leapt, and she nodded eagerly in his arms: "Okay!"

"Shall I take them off now?" Li Luo asked. "Should I turn the light on?"

"The light…" At the thought of Li Luo taking off her socks, Ying Chanxi blushed, quickly shook her head, whispering, "Just… just take them off like this. Can you see?"

"Of course you can't see clearly." Li Luo chuckled, turning to press Ying Chanxi down onto the bed, then his right hand slid gently down along her slender waist. "If we don't turn on the light, it's got to be like this… slowly feeling around…"

"Mmm…" Ying Chanxi felt Li Luo's warm palm tracing down her bare thigh, and her whole body shivered, emitting a cute little whimper.

Just hearing that soft moan made Li Luo feel he could eat several bowls of rice.

As his hand slipped deeper under the covers, he finally touched the soft flesh of her thigh, slightly indented, and found the top edge of her white sock.

But just as Ying Chanxi thought Li Luo would help her take it off right away, he continued sliding down along the sock—without the slightest pause.

This left Ying Chanxi, lying still as a good girl, blushing furiously, yet offering no resistance as Li Luo continued to caress her.

His palm traveled past her knee, down her calf, to the exposed toes—her adorable little feet once again fell into his grasp.

To be fair.

Yan Zhusheng's and Xu Youyu's feet were also beautiful.

Anyone who saw them would think so.

But compared to Ying Chanxi's, they seemed somewhat lacking.

Ying Chanxi's tiny feet were dainty and delicate, soft and cute, with just the right curve to the sole, smooth and supple skin, not to mention her glistening, adorable toes—purely the work of nature's artistry.

Small and delicate, they fit perfectly in Li Luo's palm, easily held with a gentle squeeze.

Even without any light in the room, merely feeling that tender texture was enough to make one unable to let go.

Added to that, the shy Ying Chanxi would occasionally twitch her feet when Li Luo touched them.

This timid reaction only added charm, making her even more adorable.

After savoring it thoroughly, Li Luo finally circled past her tiny feet, lifted his hand, and returned to the sock's upper edge, slowly peeling the white sock down, inch by inch.

When both feet were finally freed, Li Luo pulled the two white socks out from under the covers, waved them in front of Ying Chanxi, and smiled: "Where should I put these?"

"G-give them to me!" Ying Chanxi blushed, snatching them away and shoving them onto the bedside table, planning to wash them tomorrow.

After putting them away, Ying Chanxi turned back, eager to burrow into Li Luo's arms, whispering: "I—I'm going to sleep now."

As she spoke, she lifted her thigh and placed it directly onto his stomach.

Li Luo simply reached out, tracing down her smooth thigh skin, easily finding her little feet now resting just above her thigh.

Ying Chanxi had finally realized: Li Luo seemed to really like her… feet.

Though she didn't know why, feeling his large hand envelop her tiny feet brought her a deep sense of comfort.

It felt as if she were being held completely by Li Luo.

Unlike before, when she was with Yan Zhusheng or Xu Youyu.

Ying Chanxi didn't move or fidget—she simply rested quietly in Li Luo's arms, letting him touch her feet.

Beyond that, neither of them made any further moves.

They listened to each other's breathing, to their heartbeats; Ying Chanxi savored this peace.

Though thoughts of the Literary Era occasionally flashed through her mind, she lacked Yan Zhusheng's quickness to learn and act—she only dared to imagine them in her head, never taking any real action.

So the two lay entwined, slowly drifting into sleep.

…

The next morning.

Ying Chanxi's phone alarm rang.

Woken by the noise, Li Luo instinctively reached toward the bedside—only to find nothing. He opened his eyes and realized he was in Ying Chanxi's room.

Ying Chanxi had also woken, reached out, and turned off the alarm with two fumbles.

The next moment, she felt arms wrap around her from behind—she remembered what had happened yesterday, and her cheeks flushed.

"Good morning," Li Luo whispered in her ear.

To be fair.

Since childhood, Ying Chanxi had slept in Li Luo's room many times.

Though she stopped sleeping in his room around third grade, since high school she had sneaked into his room countless times.

But for Li Luo to voluntarily sleep in Ying Chanxi's room, spending the night in her private space—that was truly unprecedented in two lifetimes.

Thinking of this, Li Luo tightened his embrace.

So much so that Ying Chanxi felt something pressing against her small buttocks.

After reading the Literary Era, she naturally understood what this reaction meant.

So she couldn't help but blush.

She instinctively shifted her hips to avoid it—but failed, instead giving the other person a little massage.

"Are you… uncomfortable?" Ying Chanxi noticed Li Luo's breathing had grown heavier, and finally couldn't help asking softly.

Hearing this, Li Luo felt embarrassed, quickly loosened his hold, shifted toward the edge of the bed, and coughed twice: "No, no, I'll be fine in a moment."

After saying that, he quickly got out of bed, adjusted the waistband of his pants, and said to Ying Chanxi, "I'm going to wash up over there. You should get up too—it's time for our morning jog."

"Oh." Ying Chanxi blinked, couldn't help sneaking a glance at Li Luo's pants, roughly tracing the shape of what was underneath with her eyes. Her cheeks instantly flushed pink, and she didn't dare look again.

By the time Ying Chanxi climbed out of bed, changed into a set of clothes, and finished washing up in the bathroom, she heard Li Luo's footsteps coming down the hallway.

Ying Chanxi followed him out into the hallway, and seeing that Li Luo was about to go wake Yan Zhusheng up, she quickly grabbed him.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Li Luo asked in confusion.

"Um... this..." Ying Chanxi lowered her head, her cheeks crimson, and shyly squirmed a little before leaning close to Li Luo's ear and whispering, "This morning, um... should we go out for a walk?"

"After all, your birthday is on the 21st, but today is actually only the 20th."

"You've been the birthday star these past few days, so besides playing at home, we could also go out for a stroll."

"It's not like we can't." Li Luo nodded. "But the morning jog..."

"Just the two of us." Ying Chanxi bit her lip and said softly, "Just like last time for Zhusheng's birthday."

Prompted by Ying Chanxi's reminder, Li Luo actually did remember.

Before Yan Zhusheng's birthday, he had been pulled aside by her alone and spent the whole morning wandering outside.

Thinking of this, Li Luo looked at Ying Chanxi, whose eyes sparkled with anticipation, and couldn't help but smile, reaching out to pat her head.

"So where do you want to go?"

"I haven't decided yet, but…" Seeing him about to agree, Ying Chanxi rushed back to her bedroom and returned with a camera and tripod, her face full of expectation. "I still have some MV shots I want to film—all daytime scenes. Let's go film them together?"

Watching her eager expression, Li Luo said nothing more and nodded firmly, taking the tripod from her hands. "Fine, I'll follow your plan this morning—but first, let's go for a morning run."

"Mm-hmm!"

…

At just after seven in the morning, Yan Zhusheng woke up groggily from sleep, rubbing her eyes on the bed and still feeling sleepy.

Logically, Li Luo had left her bedroom first yesterday, so Yan Zhusheng should have been the first to fall asleep.

But perhaps because Li Luo had personally taken off her silk stockings, held her in bed for a long time, and finally given her a goodnight kiss,

Yan Zhusheng ended up unable to sleep.

Imitating what Xu Youyu wrote in the Literary Era, Yan Zhusheng secretly tried it herself with her fingers.

She hadn't realized how addictive it would be until she tried.

Imagining in her mind the scene when Li Luo had taken off her silk stockings, her face flushed red, and she'd been forced to change her sheets late at night.

She didn't fall asleep until very late.

Now finally awake, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and checked the time.

When she saw it was already past seven in the morning, she jolted upright in shock, wondering why Li Luo hadn't come to wake her up.

Maybe he hadn't woken up yet?

Yan Zhusheng thought so.

After all, everyone had been quite tired yesterday.

Li Luo had to visit three places and complete each punishment before sleeping—he didn't know when he'd finally finish.

Yan Zhusheng got out of bed, stepped out of her bedroom, still thinking this as she walked toward Li Luo's room.

But when she passed Ying Chanxi's room and saw the empty bed inside, a suspicion formed in her mind, and she headed straight for the master bedroom.

Yet when she saw no one was there either, her face froze.

She had always been the one to drag Li Luo out for morning runs alone.

She never expected to be outdone today…

Yan Zhusheng bit her lip, turned silently, and walked out of Li Luo's room. Disappointed, she changed clothes, washed up quickly, and went downstairs for a morning run alone.

After finishing her run and eating breakfast, she returned home and pulled out her phone to call Li Luo.

"Hello?"

"Li Luo."

"Zhusheng?"

"Where are you?"

"By the intersection next to Yintai City," Li Luo said on the other end. "Xixi wants to finish shooting the remaining MV scenes, so I came out with her."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng pursed her lips and nodded. "I understand. When will you be back?"

"Around noon," Li Luo said. "I already told Zhao Rongjun and the others we won't study together this morning."

"But my mom might still come over with Aunt Cui to cook for us."

"If they show up, remind them Zhao Rongjun and the other three won't be eating lunch."

"Okay." Yan Zhusheng nodded and hung up without further delay.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Ying Chanxi watched Li Luo put away his phone, stepped forward, bit her lip lightly, and blushed as she said, "Let's start shooting then."