Chapter 464: Just Came to Watch a Movie

Beneath the New Year's Eve night sky.

Fireworks bloomed in the night air; Li Luo stood in the courtyard, holding two girls in his arms, yet still holding his phone, connected to a third girl's call.

Xu Youyu's smiling face on the other end of the line seemed right before his eyes.

The moment Li Luo heard her voice, a faint smile curled his lips: "Mm, I missed you."

Fireworks blazed and exploded in midair.

Only Xu Youyu on the other end clearly caught that "I missed you"; Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng hadn't heard it clearly.

So the two girls in his arms lifted their heads; Yan Zhusheng asked curiously, "Who are you talking to?"

"It's Sister Youyu calling," Li Luo said, then turned on speakerphone, "Sister Youyu, Chanxi and Zhusheng are right here."

"Oh oh, Chanxi and Zhusheng! Hello~" Xu Youyu laughed on the other end, "Happy New Year~"

"Happy New Year, Senior," Ying Chanxi quickly replied, greeting the phone.

Yan Zhusheng beside her also obediently responded.

"Are you guys setting off fireworks there?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"Yeah, Li Luo just lit some," Ying Chanxi nodded.

"I'm so jealous—cities don't allow fireworks," Xu Youyu complained, "But my family's just a few people celebrating, so there's no real New Year vibe anyway—whether we light them or not doesn't matter."

"Next New Year, come join us," Yan Zhusheng said. "The New Year atmosphere here is strong."

Ying Chanxi: "...?"

Glancing at Yan Zhusheng, Ying Chanxi gave a tiny huff—she thought if anyone was going to invite, it should be her, not Zhusheng.

But Xu Youyu would surely stay home for the New Year—how could she possibly come to the countryside on New Year's Eve?

Xu Youyu happily agreed, though she didn't take it seriously.

"By the way, I saw Aunt Yuan on the Spring Festival Gala," Xu Youyu laughed. "When she sang 'Mother and Daughter,' my mom nearly cried again; when she sang 'As You Wish,' my dad nearly teared up too—I died laughing, Aunt Yuan sang so beautifully!"

"My mom said you're coming over to our place on the fifth day," Li Luo asked. "Did you hear about it?"

"Oh oh, I only found out yesterday when I got home," Xu Youyu nodded, thrilled. "Can I convince my mom to stay a couple extra days? All the relatives who needed visiting have already been seen before the fifth."

"Fine," Li Luo nodded. "Chanxi's house has plenty of rooms."

"Hmph," Ying Chanxi wrinkled her nose again, but still said, "There are two empty rooms on the third floor—you can stay there with your parents."

"Aren't there empty rooms at Li Luo's place too?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"Uh, I only have one empty room," Li Luo reminded her. "It wouldn't be right for you to sleep separately from your parents."

"Oh oh, I get it," Xu Youyu nodded, not pressing further.

Anyway, where exactly everyone sleeps tonight... who knows?

The four chatted a while longer, then ended the call.

The fireworks were done; Li Luo went to light another box.

It wasn't just Li's family setting off fireworks—every household in Li Village had fireworks rising into the sky.

The air above became a paradise of fireworks, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Li Luo picked up his phone, took several photos of the night sky, recorded a short video, and sent it to Xu Youyu.

【SleepEarlyGrowTaller】: So jealous! So beautiful!

【Chongran】: When you come on the fifth, we can light more.

【SleepEarlyGrowTaller】: Yay~ Husband's so nice!

Li Luo: "..."

Seeing Xu Youyu's message, Li Luo quickly turned off his phone and shoved it back in his pocket, hiding the screen from Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng.

After the fireworks ended again, they returned upstairs.

After resting briefly in the living room, with family chatting on the sofa, the time neared one in the morning.

Li Luo looked at the flood of messages on his phone, feeling a quiet sense of reflection.

Because so many people had sent him New Year greetings.

Classmates from Class Eight, student council members, members of the rock club and literature club—at least seventy or eighty people had sent him New Year wishes.

His homeroom teacher, Kong Junxiang, had sent one too; Li Luo quickly replied.

Besides that, over a hundred online novel authors had wished him well—some he barely knew, yet still sent him mass messages.

Many authors had sent him personalized greetings; Li Luo politely replied to each one.

Editor Qianzhou, Chief Editor Hongdou, even Editor-in-Chief Nanfeng had sent New Year wishes; the CEO of Wenxue Group, whom he'd added before, had also messaged him.

Judging by the template, they were all mass-sent.

Director Wang Jun, whom he'd added, had also sent a courteous message, as did Lawyer Tian, who had been handling his copyright cooperation.

Altogether, roughly two hundred people had voluntarily sent him New Year greetings.

This left Li Luo feeling reflective, yet slightly dazed.

Recalling his past life, he doubted whether he'd ever received more than a handful of New Year greetings each year.

In his memory, only Zhao Rongjun had sent him one every year.

After meeting Xu Youyu, Sister Youyu had also started sending him messages.

As for Yan Zhusheng, they'd only known each other for about half a year—she'd already left abroad for treatment before New Year came.

Honestly, in his past life, Li Luo hadn't felt much about it.

Now, watching these red notification dots pop up one by one on his phone, he finally understood the contrast.

It was just tiring.

Li Luo replied to each one individually—those he didn't know well got a templated copy-paste reply; those he knew well got typed-out messages.

He kept going until Lin Xiuhong woke him up at one in the morning.

"Let's go," Lin Xiuhong said. "We're going to the temple to pray for blessings. Take Chanxi and Zhusheng with you."

"Coming, coming!" Li Luo finally finished replying, let out a long breath, stood up, patted his backside, and led Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi out the door.

Yi Zhicheng, Li Guohong, Li Dao, Li Guoru, and others drove; the grandparents had gone to sleep—they couldn't handle the ordeal—and their four cars were just enough to fit everyone.

But since his own daughter had climbed into Li Guohong's car with Li Luo, Yi Zhicheng could only watch, his lips twitching slightly, silently accepting the reality before loading Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei, the two mother-daughter pairs.

As for Li Luo, he was naturally sandwiched between the two girls, forced to sit in the least comfortable middle seat in the back.

Fortunately, the SUV was spacious, and both Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng were slender; the three of them sitting in the back weren't cramped at all.

Li Guohong led the way, driving at the front, guiding the three cars behind him toward the nearest temple.

At 1:30 a. m., the whole family arrived at the temple's parking lot and found spots to park.

Yan Zhusheng, seeing the crowds surrounding them, was momentarily stunned and instinctively tugged at Li Luo's sleeve, whispering in confusion: "Why are there so many people?"

"Everyone's here to pray for blessings," Li Luo leaned close to Yan Zhusheng's ear and explained. "New Year's Day at this hour means a fresh start. Coming to the temple now to pray ensures good fortune throughout the coming year."

"You can pray extra hard too. Tell the Bodhisattva whatever wishes you have."

"Whether they come true or not, make the wish first."

Yan Zhusheng nodded, half-understanding.

Abroad, there were similar rituals—like praying before meals—and many believers went to church on weekends; it was probably much the same effect.

But coming to the temple to pray on the first day of the New Year—since returning to China with Yuan Wanqing, Yan Zhusheng had never seen this before, and it felt strangely novel.

Yet beneath the novelty was a faint fear, so throughout the journey, Yan Zhusheng kept tugging at Li Luo's sleeve, unwilling to let go.

Even when Ying Chanxi handed her three incense sticks, she held the incense in her left hand and clung to Li Luo's sleeve with her right.

Ying Chanxi pouted and quietly grabbed hold of Li Luo's shirt too.

Li Xiang and Chen Lu, following behind, exchanged a silent glance—everything understood without words.

"My little brother really deserves to die…" Chen Lu muttered under her breath. "How did he even manage this?"

Chen Lu knew well that Ying Chanxi's father, Yi Zhicheng, was a general manager of a major company—the family certainly wasn't short on money.

As for Yan Zhusheng, her mother was Yuan Wanqing—how could she possibly be short on money?

Although Li Luo was now very wealthy too, the two girls certainly weren't drawn to him for that reason.

Of course, in Chen Lu's eyes, Li Luo was already an exceptionally outstanding boy.

If it were just Ying Chanxi or Yan Zhusheng alone who liked Li Luo and clung to him, that would be understandable, perfectly reasonable.

But both girls clung to Li Luo, never quarreled or bickered with each other, and even seemed quite harmonious.

This left Chen Lu utterly baffled.

And according to Li Xiang, besides these two, there was also Xu Youyu?

This was insane!

If it were Chen Lu herself, she certainly wouldn't want to share her boyfriend with another girl.

One could only say her little brother was truly skilled at courting girls.

Chen Lu stared at the backs of the three ahead, her expression oddly twisted, lost in these thoughts, and finally sighed.

An outstanding boyfriend like Li Luo probably wasn't easy to find.

Chen Lu had just graduated from university and worked at a bank; she felt most of her colleagues were quite ordinary.

Not to mention Li Luo—even Chen Yongqi didn't seem better than him.

"Hold it properly. Kneel and bow three times," Li Luo demonstrated for Yan Zhusheng, then reminded her, "Remember to make a wish while bowing."

"Only one wish?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head.

"You can make several if you want," Li Luo chuckled. "It depends on how many wishes you have."

"Not that many," Yan Zhusheng glanced at Li Luo, then at Ying Chanxi, then imitated Li Luo's earlier motion—holding the incense, kneeling, and bowing several times before the Buddha statue.

Whether she made several wishes or not, Yan Zhusheng's three bows felt much longer than anyone else's.

After wandering through the temple with Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi, bowing to every Buddha and Bodhisattva they could find, the New Year's Eve prayer was over.

By the time they returned home, it was nearly 3 a. m.

Even with the New Year's energy boost, everyone was exhausted by then and headed to their rooms to sleep.

But not long after Li Luo finished showering and returned to his room, his door was quietly pushed open.

Ying Chanxi's small head peeked in, then Yan Zhusheng's head appeared above hers.

Both peered into the room and saw Li Luo just settling onto his bed.

"Stop sneaking around and spying," Li Luo sighed, resigned, opening his arms. "Come in already—don't let my parents see."

"W-we came to watch a movie," Ying Chanxi whispered.

"It was Chanxi who said she wanted to sleep in your room," Yan Zhusheng bluntly exposed her true motive.

This turned Ying Chanxi's face bright red; she shook her head vigorously in denial. "No way! You're the one who said that!"

"I did say it," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "And you agreed, so you said it too."

Ying Chanxi: "…?"

One had to admit, Yan Zhusheng's way of thinking was always a bit odd, yet somehow always felt justifiable, leaving others unsure how to refute her.

"Then let's watch a movie," Li Luo gave Ying Chanxi an out, reaching for the laptop on his desk.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi immediately climbed onto Li Luo's bed and lay down against the wall.

That left Yan Zhusheng to sleep on the outer side, crawling into Li Luo's covers and propping herself against the headboard, waiting for the movie to start.

Though they said they were watching a movie, all three were clearly after something else—any excuse to be close was enough.

Yan Zhusheng watched Li Luo scrolling through movie options, then rolled over and hugged his arm.

Ying Chanxi spotted Yan Zhusheng's move and wouldn't be outdone—she wrapped her arms around Li Luo too, resting her head on his shoulder.

Li Luo picked a movie at random, and the three of them watched it, commenting and mocking the plot as it unfolded.

Often, when watching a movie alone and it's a bad one, it's frustrating.

But if you watch a bad movie with friends, complaining and joking about it might even make it fun.

But it was already very late.

Ying Chanxi had watched about half an hour of the movie when she began to drift off, her head nodding intermittently until finally resting fully against Li Luo's shoulder, snoring softly.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhusheng, noticing Ying Chanxi had fallen asleep, immediately closed the laptop on Li Luo's stomach and moved it to the desk, deciding not to continue watching.

"Are you going to sleep?" Li Luo asked.

"Mm," Yan Zhusheng nodded, but instead of preparing to sleep, she slightly lifted the blanket, climbed onto Li Luo, and straddled his abdomen.

Glancing at Ying Chanxi's deep slumber, Yan Zhusheng gently adjusted her head onto the pillow, then wrapped her arms around Li Luo's neck and whispered, "Li Luo, I want to practice singing."

Li Luo heard this and was speechless: "... It's the middle of the night—your excuse is a bit... uh..."