Chapter 453: I

On the fourth floor, in the bedroom.

Three people sat, one stood.

Xu Youyu, who was standing, was now completely stunned.

His mind had probably figured out what had happened, but his body hadn't caught up—he stood frozen, unsure how to react.

Li Luo, as an outsider, naturally understood and accepted the situation faster than Xu Youyu.

In plain terms, Youyu had already been exposed at last year's symposium.

But Xu Rongsheng was clearly even more tolerant and open-minded than Youyu had thought—he didn't expose his daughter's clumsy act, but instead kept her secret.

But this year's annual meeting, Xu Youyu was unlucky: Lin Xiuhong and the others saw the photo on the signature wall and immediately discovered her little secret.

Under Cui Suling's questioning, Xu Rongsheng realized he could no longer hide it and had to reveal everything.

Now, not only Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling, but even Li Luo's parents knew that Xu Youyu was writing novels.

Her own parents were one thing—Youyu knew her father was open-minded and wouldn't overthink it if he actually read her book.

As for Cui Suling, based on Youyu's understanding of her mother, she'd read the beginning and stop there—she wouldn't make it far into the plot.

So her high-speed driving scenes were probably still safe.

But now that she knew Li Luo's parents also knew, Xu Youyu felt like she was about to collapse.

She didn't know whether Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong had been reading Li Luo's novel all along, so she couldn't tell if the uncle and aunt would read hers.

If they saw the later plot, given their complete understanding of their own son, they'd definitely realize the male lead was increasingly resembling Li Luo himself!

Combined with all those excessive speeding scenes, Youyu couldn't even imagine how her uncle and aunt would look at her after learning these plot details.

Just thinking about it made her feel like she was going to die!

The more Youyu thought, the more dizzy she became; she kept her head down, too ashamed to meet her parents' eyes, her hands twisted together, toes gripping her shoe soles tightly.

If not for the good quality of these shoes, Youyu felt her soles would already be worn through.

"Cough, cough." Xu Rongsheng, sensing the silence, cleared his throat and said gently, "In any case, we all know about your novel writing."

"Actually, it's not a big deal, right?"

"I've finished reading your book. Compared to Li Luo's, I think yours has some better parts."

"His book uses language that's more mainstream and down-to-earth, while yours has higher-quality writing."

"Of course, I'm not saying Li Luo's is bad."

Here, Xu Rongsheng looked at Li Luo.

Li Luo quickly smiled and said, "I agree with that myself—Youyu is definitely far stronger than me in terms of language."

"No need to say that—I think Li Luo still has that ability," Xu Rongsheng chuckled, shaking his head. "You just understand the online novel audience better, so you consciously adapted your language to suit their level."

"Like Youyu's book—I think some readers' comments in the review section are quite right."

"The language feels heavy, some passages are rich and flavorful, but people read online novels to relax—reading her book can be tiring."

"So every book attracts its own audience; no book can please everyone."

Xu Rongsheng tried to shift the focus entirely to the act of writing, chatting with Li Luo to ease Youyu's embarrassment.

But Cui Suling had no patience for their lengthy discussion; she waved her hand and said, "I haven't finished speaking yet. You two can chat about this later."

"Go on." Xu Rongsheng stopped talking, exchanged a glance with Li Luo, then both turned to Cui Suling and Xu Youyu.

"Youyu, come here." Cui Suling gestured to Xu Youyu.

After hesitating repeatedly, Youyu reluctantly shuffled forward, slowly approaching Cui Suling, staring at her own toes, still too shy to meet her mother's eyes.

But Cui Suling's tone softened unusually; she took Youyu's hands and spoke softly, "What do you think you did wrong? Tell me yourself."

"I shouldn't have hidden my novel writing from you," Youyu muttered quietly.

Having recognized the situation, she admitted her mistake quickly.

But Cui Suling wasn't fully satisfied; she shook her head and pressed further, "Anything else?"

"Anything else?" Youyu looked confused. "Isn't that the only thing?"

"Then tell me—how did you sign the contract with the platform?" Cui Suling asked sharply. "After I found out, I asked Lin Yi in detail. She said when Li Luo wanted to write, he needed parental signature. Why could you sign alone?"

"Uh…" Youyu blushed, whispering, "I took the household registration book, copied it… that was enough to sign."

"See?" Cui Suling gave her hand a light slap as punishment, then her tone grew sterner. "Do you understand how serious this is?"

"You're still young—you don't know the tricks in contracts."

"Luckily, the company and platform were legitimate, and didn't slip in any hidden clauses."

"But what if the website you chose had problems? What if they trapped you in a contract or hid traps in the terms? What would you do then?"

"Do you understand law? Can you read contract clauses? Can you spot hidden traps?"

"Without your parents reviewing it, what if something went wrong after signing? Wouldn't your father still have to step in and fix it?"

Hearing Cui Suling's scolding, Youyu had her own explanations ready—she could analyze how she'd judged the platform's reliability back then.

But she also knew that now, she should just take it.

After all, Cui Suling had a point.

Her concern was completely understandable.

But Cui Suling wasn't done. She asked Youyu again, "Besides last year's symposium and this year's annual meeting, what other events have you attended?"

"Hmm…" Youyu had wanted to hide this, but realizing her mother had already been in touch with Lin Yi, she decided it was better to be honest.

So Youyu confessed: "I went to a salon event during summer vacation in Changning City—it wasn't far."

"How did you get there?"

"By high-speed train."

"And this year's annual meeting? By plane, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Li Luo is a boy, and his whole family knows what he's going to do, so they're more at ease," Cui Suling said, frowning. "What about you? You sneaked out without telling your family—how dangerous is that, huh?"

"Gender equality, right…" Xu Youyu muttered under her breath, but seeing Cui Suling's eyebrows rise, she immediately changed her tone: "I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"Of course we know! Do you think you'll get another chance?" Cui Suling shot her a look.

"Auntie Cui, it's also my fault," Li Luo chimed in. "When I found out Youyu-jie hadn't told her family, I still let her come along."

"It's not your fault—it's just that this girl's been spoiled rotten. Even without you, she'd still have gone," Cui Suling snorted, poking Xu Youyu's forehead. "You should be grateful Li Luo was with you. Otherwise, out there, someone could've tricked you, robbed you clean, and no one would've known!"

That remark… Li Luo felt a bit embarrassed.

He hadn't eaten her up and swallowed her whole, but he'd definitely explored plenty of places on her body.

So whenever Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling glanced his way, Li Luo felt a twinge of guilt and could only force a nervous smile.

"I know I'm wrong," Xu Youyu whispered, tugging at Cui Suling's hand. "Scold me all you want—but forgive me after! This book of mine is almost done, and it won't affect my studies."

"If it really affected your studies, your father wouldn't have kept hiding it from me all this time," Cui Suling clicked her tongue, then grew angry again and slapped Xu Rongsheng. "You're terrible! Hiding it from outsiders is one thing—but hiding it from me too? Do you think I'm an outsider now?"

"Hey hey hey!" Xu Rongsheng quickly interrupted. "We already had one big fight about this before—didn't we agree to let it go?"

"Letting it go doesn't mean it can't come back," Cui Suling snapped. "You two father-daughter pair are going to drive me to death, one after another."

"But setting aside all that," Xu Rongsheng patted Cui Suling's shoulder to calm her, then added, "Youyu's current book is actually doing very well."

"Sure, it's nowhere near Li Luo's level, but her monthly royalty probably isn't small."

"By now, this book must've earned you quite a bit, right?"

Here, Xu Rongsheng turned to Xu Youyu.

"Hmm… okay," Xu Youyu muttered softly. "I made about seven or eight hundred thousand."

"Where's the money?" Cui Suling asked.

"I saved it," Xu Youyu said.

"Keep saving it," Xu Rongsheng said. "Don't spend recklessly. Learn from Li Luo."

"Put it in a fixed deposit," Cui Suling suggested. "Otherwise she'll waste it."

"I'm not that reckless!" Xu Youyu grumbled. "I'm saving up to buy a house."

"There's no rush," Xu Rongsheng said gently. "Whether it's buying a house or anything else, better discuss it with us first. The royalties are yours—you earned them, so your mother and I won't interfere. We just hope you'll develop good spending habits."

"After all, from what I know, writing Online Novels doesn't mean hitting it big once guarantees another hit."

"Once your spending habits rise, it'll be extremely hard to go back to frugality later."

"I know," Xu Youyu nodded.

"Alright, let's leave it at that," Xu Rongsheng stood up, pulling Cui Suling to her feet, and headed for the door. "Your mother and I are tired today—we're going downstairs to soak our feet and rest."

"Hey hey hey! I haven't finished yet!" Cui Suling protested, but was ultimately dragged out by Xu Rongsheng.

Soon, the room was left with only Li Luo and Xu Youyu.

The next second, Xu Youyu's face crumpled. She whimpered and threw herself into Li Luo's arms, wailing loudly.

"Li Luo! I'm really going to die!"