Chapter 422: Xu Youyu

After entering the hotel room, Li Luo dragged his suitcase and placed it on the wall-mounted luggage rack.

Xu Youyu got up from the bed at this moment and, together with Li Luo, took a general look around the room.

To be fair, in his previous life, Li Luo had stayed in relatively ordinary hotels when visiting Qiongzhou with Xu Youyu.

Even in this life, this was his first time staying in a dedicated seaside resort hotel.

Not to mention that Wenxue Group had been extremely generous, reserving for them—these top-tier authors—rooms facing directly onto the ocean beach.

From inside, looking out through the balcony window, one could see at a glance the endless sea and a yellow beach like a flowing ribbon.

Inside, Xu Youyu walked to the bathroom door, then let out a "Wah~" and said to Li Luo: "A round bathtub, and just a single pane of glass separating it."

Li Luo glanced at the enormous bathtub on the right side of the bathroom—it could easily fit two people—and then looked inward toward the room, where a full-height glass panel separated the bathroom from the bedroom.

Unlike the hotel room in Changning City, this time there wasn't even frosted glass—just pure transparent glass.

But there were curtains on both sides that could be drawn for privacy.

On the left side of the bathroom was a toilet and a wet-dry separated shower area.

"Want to soak in a bath tonight?" Xu Youyu poked Li Luo's waist, grinning mischievously. "It's rare to come here—wouldn't it be a shame not to enjoy it?"

"I don't mind," Li Luo said. "But haven't you written today yet? Will you have time?"

"What do you know?" Xu Youyu huffed. "Isn't attending the annual meeting the best excuse to take time off?"

"You're planning to take off two or three days?" Li Luo said. "And your parents are coming from the 1st to the 4th—won't you be too busy then? Shouldn't you write more drafts now?"

"Oh come on, my novel's already in the late stage," Xu Youyu said, waving her hand dismissively. "If I keep updating normally, I'll probably finish by March or April—no rush. Taking a few extra days off won't hurt."

Hearing this, Li Luo could only sigh helplessly—he was used to her behavior by now.

Or rather, most online novel authors had this habit.

Especially someone like Xu Youyu, who had written two or three million words and now needed to wrap things up, filling in all the plot holes she'd dug earlier—it was exhausting work.

And digging holes was far more enjoyable than filling them; digging let you dig wherever you wanted, which was fun for the author.

But filling holes was just adding to established facts—it wasn't nearly as satisfying for the author.

Slacking off and procrastinating became the norm.

"Finish early, get liberated," Li Luo said. "You don't want to finish after the college entrance exam, do you?"

"Alright, alright~ I'll try my best~" Xu Youyu replied vaguely, then pushed Li Luo out of the bathroom toward the balcony.

But as soon as they reached the balcony and pulled back half the curtain, both froze.

Because behind the curtain on the balcony was another enormous outdoor bathtub!

"No way! Is this hotel really that fancy?" Xu Youyu opened the balcony door, stepped out, inspected the large bathtub, then turned to Li Luo with excitement. "Two bathtubs—perfect! One each day—we'll both soak!"

Li Luo: "... Can't you have some ambition? You're in Qiongzhou and all you care about is bathtubs? Can't you just look at the ocean?"

"Why can't I want both? They don't conflict." Xu Youyu was already eager, slipping back into the bedroom, rushing into the bathroom, grabbing the showerhead to rinse the tub, then turning on the hot water. "Look—rose petals! And they even gave us bath oils!"

Li Luo found himself growing more and more tempted as she spoke; he walked to the bathroom door and watched her bustling about—the tub's bottom already held a shallow layer of hot water.

But finally, he remembered Qianzhou's warning and restrained himself, avoiding any mistake, then turned and returned to the desk in the bedroom.

From his backpack, he took out the laptop borrowed from Yan Zhusheng, the mechanical keyboard gifted by Xu Youyu, and the mouse Ying Chanxi had casually bought him, placing them on the desk.

Once everything was ready, Li Luo sat down and entered writing mode.

Xu Youyu came out of the bathroom and saw Li Luo already typing, fingers clacking loudly, so she didn't dare disturb him.

After taking some things from her suitcase, Xu Youyu glanced around, pulled back the curtain outside the bathroom's floor-to-ceiling glass, then stepped into the bathroom and drew the inner curtain shut.

Then she stripped off her clothes, wrapped her hair in a Mao Jin, turned on the hot water for the tub, and went into the shower area to wash up.

Hearing the gentle patter of water from the bathroom, Li Luo couldn't help pausing his typing—his mind instantly conjured a beautiful scene.

Fortunately, his willpower held firm; he played "Descendants of the Dragon" in his memory palace and finally suppressed those wicked thoughts, returning to his writing.

The novel I Am Really Not a Star, now nearly a year and a half old, had reached 3.7 million characters and was close to the 4-million mark.

But thanks to Li Luo's skillful padding and pacing, the male lead still hadn't made any "breakthrough" progress with any female lead.

As a result, many readers had complained in the comments that the protagonist was a eunuch impotent.

Li Luo remained unfazed—he hadn't even gotten his own meat yet, so why should the protagonist rush?

This would take time.

And since I Am Really Not a Star went viral, Li Luo had thoroughly prepared the subsequent plot outline.

The male lead, Li Yang, walks on four legs: music, variety shows, TV dramas, and films.

The three female leads each occupy one of the music, TV drama, and film sectors, occasionally appearing together with Li Yang on variety shows to stir up flirtatious rumors and let fans ship them.

Li Luo didn't rush to elevate Li Yang's status or fame too quickly, keeping his growth steady and slow.

Even now, nearing four million characters, Li Yang's standing in the entertainment industry was still blossoming everywhere—but far from reaching the top.

Divided among each sector, that's only about a million characters per storyline—not so long after all.

Li Luo estimated that if he kept controlling the pace like this, he'd still be writing past high school graduation.

Of course, he wasn't really eager to finish it.

Because…

Not only could he use I Am Really Not a Star for future cross-promotions of his own works,

but others could also approach him for promotion if they needed.

This wasn't his fantasy—it had already happened.

Chongran Culture had recently contacted Li Guohong—not to request a song, but to propose a collaboration.

They wanted Chongran to incorporate one of their upcoming songs into I Am Really Not a Star for an internal-external crossover collaboration.

Li Luo had his father look up the song's content—it was something from his previous life he'd never heard—and he politely declined, citing poor plot compatibility.

But if a future hit song ever came knocking for promotion, Li Luo wouldn't rule it out.

After all, one person couldn't possibly copy every good song.

Besides this, some singers hoping to make a comeback could also approach Li Luo, reviving their old hits within his novel.

Because many had noticed that whenever Li Luo wrote about those old songs in his book, within an hour, the comment section of that song on QQ Music would be flooded with readers coming to visit.

Moreover, Li Luo's novel I Am Really Not a Star, along with its dual release on this platform and external channels, would continuously provide him with generous royalties as long as he kept writing.

Like some school beauty novel that had been serialized for over a decade, spanning tens of millions of characters, outsiders were all speculating whether he'd signed some guaranteed contract.

In truth, it was simply because the channels kept making money—though veteran readers couldn't bear to read it anymore, there were always newbies.

As long as you held a prominent traffic exposure slot on the channels, the first book new readers encountered would very likely be something like I Am Really Not a Star, the channel king.

Li Luo had never thought his writing skill could match that of a talent like Xu Youyu.

His current success came entirely from the rich material provided by his Memory Palace, the entertainment-themed writing techniques and templates summarized by later-generation masters, plus the hype from literary plagiarism combined with Yuan Wanqing's popularity.

If he were to start an identical new novel all over again, Li Luo was certain he'd likely not achieve such success.

After milking this one book dry, he had no intention of writing for life—perhaps just borrowing future online novel ideas, telling them to Xu Youyu, and letting his beloved senior sister explore them.

Once he entered university, he'd invest his spare cash in a few future-proof, guaranteed-profit stocks, securing his livelihood for life.

If he ever wrote again, it would be purely out of personal interest—earning money would be secondary.

As Li Luo thought about these things, his typing speed slowed considerably.

At that moment, a tapping sound came from behind him, making him instinctively turn his head.

He saw a figure standing inside the bathroom, separated from his bedroom by only a glass panel, behind closed light-colored curtains.

As Li Luo's gaze fell upon it, the slender figure quickly crouched down and slipped into the bathtub, leaving only her head exposed above the water.

The next second, the curtains inside were yanked open, revealing the bathroom's true scene.

Xu Youyu now had her bare shoulders exposed, both arms resting on the bathtub's edge, her chin propped on them, tilting her head with a flushed, smiling gaze toward Li Luo.

It was unclear whether her rosy cheeks were from the hot water or something else.

Sitting in his chair, from his current angle, Li Luo could see only a small portion of the water's surface, rippling and indistinct.

Yet even so, merely seeing the pale, tender arms exposed above the water was enough for Li Luo to imagine the alluring scene within the tub.

But this beautiful sight lasted only a few seconds before Xu Youyu, blushing, yanked the curtains shut again.

Just as she pulled them closed, her arm lifted slightly, and Li Luo caught a fleeting glimpse—an astonishing sight, even if only a sliver of the iceberg.

It was enough for Li Luo to repeatedly savor and contemplate within his Memory Palace.

"Senior, I'm typing."

"I know," Xu Youyu chuckled from inside the bathroom. "I just noticed your typing speed slowed down."

"That's still no excuse for you to seduce me."

"What's wrong with a girlfriend seducing her own husband?" Xu Youyu huffed. "If you've got the guts, come in and soak with me—I won't resist~"

Li Luo: "..."

Xu Youyu's words were too devastating; Li Luo fell silent for a moment, struggled fiercely in his mind, then barely restrained his impulse: "Just soak already. Fifteen minutes is enough—too long's bad for your health."

"Got it~" Xu Youyu replied. "But you really don't want to come in?"

"... No thanks."

"You hesitated. Looks like you still want to come in."

"I'm typing."

"Hey!" The curtains were pulled open again.

Li Luo instinctively turned back—and saw Xu Youyu had already pulled the curtains shut again.

Xu Youyu's cheerful laughter echoed from the bathroom; Li Luo's brow twitched—he wanted to storm in and pin her down right then and there.

Finally, he had no choice but to take out his headphones and put them on, blocking out Xu Youyu's distractions.

Seeing this, Xu Youyu immediately lost interest and quietly soaked in the tub.

Not long after, the sound of water trickling from the showerhead began again.

Li Luo typed diligently, music playing in his headphones, paying no attention to the bathroom's activity.

Then, after a while longer, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Before he could turn around, a soft body pressed against him, two pale, tender arms wrapping around his neck, pulling off his headphones, warm breath brushing his ear as Xu Youyu whispered: "I'm done washing~ Your turn now."

Li Luo felt his ear tingle and his back soften; when he turned, he saw Xu Youyu wearing the hotel's white bathrobe.

At that moment, he seriously doubted whether she was wearing anything underneath it.

"Alright, I'll shower," Li Luo stood up from his chair, instinctively glancing at Xu Youyu's wet, slipper-clad feet, then surreptitiously scanning the robe's chest, now stretched taut.

The next second, his gaze met her half-smiling, teasing eyes—he coughed awkwardly.

"So eager to look? Then why didn't you come in earlier?" Xu Youyu grinned. "What are we to each other? If you want to look, you can look however you want."

Li Luo took a deep breath and turned toward the bathroom.

Behind him, Xu Youyu hurriedly called out with a laugh: "I left the bathwater for you—it's got temperature control, still nice and warm."

"And I washed before I got in, so the water's clean~ You can soak after your shower too."

"Just don't sneak a sip—I added the hotel's complimentary essential oils, and you can't drink that."

After hearing Xu Youyu's words, Li Luo nearly stumbled as he stepped into the bathroom.

Once inside, Li Luo looked to the right and saw the bathtub still filled with water.

He walked over, touched the water—it was still hot, perfect for a soak.

And... it was the water Xu Youyu had just soaked in.

Li Luo swallowed hard, shook his head quickly, hastily stripped off his clothes, and rushed into the shower.

After rinsing off, Li Luo hesitated, glancing at the bathtub—finally, he couldn't resist the temptation and walked over to its edge.

After all, the tub's temperature control was still on; not using it felt wasteful.

Li Luo comforted himself with this thought, then extended one foot, stepped in, followed by the other.

When his entire body was immersed in the water, Li Luo immediately closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

Thinking that Xu Youyu had just been soaking in it too, his memory palace automatically replayed that fleeting glimpse—he instantly felt his whole body stiffen.

It felt as if even the water itself smelled sweet.

Fortunately, he still had some sense of reason; after soaking for only a few minutes, he stepped out, drained the water, took a shower, put on his underwear and bathrobe, and stepped out.

At this moment, Xu Youyu was sitting quietly in front of the desk, typing away—something that surprised Li Luo greatly.

But when Xu Youyu saw Li Luo emerge, she immediately stood up, leaned close with a suggestive look, sniffed lightly, then smiled and said, "You took a bath?"

"... How did you know?"

"The faint scent of essential oil." Xu Youyu grinned triumphantly, "Looks like your body is still very honest~"

"I just didn't want to waste it."

"So you drank it all?"

"Senior, you're asking for a beating."

"Shh." Xu Youyu raised a finger and lightly tapped Li Luo's lips, then leaned in and whispered, "Don't call me Senior—what should you call me?"

"Wife?"

"My dear husband is so good." Xu Youyu nestled into Li Luo's arms, resting her head on his chest and smiling softly, "So am I still asking for a beating?"

"... Still a little."

"Then hit me—gently, okay?" Xu Youyu whispered pitifully into his ear, "I'm afraid of pain."

Entangled by this enchanting demon, Li Luo drew in a sharp breath; his hand, meant to strike her buttocks, landed with no force at all—instead, it became a caress.

Dressed in her bathrobe, Xu Youyu's face flushed slightly as she gave him a sultry glance: "Is this your punishment, husband? How considerate of you."

Li Luo's breathing grew even more rapid, and he held her tighter.

Until his phone suddenly rang, and the two finally pulled apart.

Xu Youyu casually picked up his phone from the desk, glanced at it, and burst out laughing: "It's Chanxi calling."

"Oh, I'll take it." Li Luo took the phone, ready to answer.

Xu Youyu sighed and rubbed her forehead: "Now it's like we're sneaking around again, thanks to Chanxi."

"Cough… you could look at it differently," Li Luo said with a bold face, "A married couple is on vacation—doesn't it make sense for their daughter to call?"

"Hahaha~" Hearing this, Xu Youyu burst into delighted laughter, shaking with mirth. "Then answer it—listen to what your precious daughter has to say."

Saying this, Xu Youyu flung herself into Li Luo's arms and pressed the answer button for him herself.