Chapter 486: Quick, Shut Up! Don

At one-thirty in the afternoon, in Xu Youyu's room, Li Luo stood by the bed, watching Xu Youyu buried under the covers with her head tucked inside, his expression twitching slightly.

He didn't know what to say.

Especially with Xu Youyu's expression—clearly saying, "Keep lying if you want, whoever believes you's a fool"—it left Li Luo both exasperated and amused.

"Just let me explain properly first, then decide whether to believe me, okay?" Li Luo hesitated, then urged her again.

Unfortunately, he'd played the "boy who cried wolf" too hard before, always using this excuse to trick her out of bed, so Xu Youyu now completely ignored his tricks.

Hearing Li Luo say this, Xu Youyu assumed he was just unwilling to accept his failure and still trying to fool her.

The moment she imagined herself falling for it again, only for Li Luo to burst into laughter triumphantly, she calmed down and chuckled from under the covers: "I believe your big-headed ghost? Stop bothering me, just get out already."

Li Luo looked at Xu Youyu under the covers with a faint smile, thinking to himself that if this secret really got out, it didn't matter whether she found out now or later—it made no difference.

Since she didn't believe him, let her sleep. He could explain everything in detail after she'd rested.

Thinking this, he stopped pressing her, nodded simply, and turned toward the door.

Before leaving, he kindly reminded her: "You go ahead and sleep, Youyu. When you wake up, I'll tell you everything in detail—try to prepare yourself mentally."

"Still not giving up, huh?" Xu Youyu pulled back the covers, revealing her head, and shot Li Luo a glare. "The first person I'm punching when I wake up? You."

Li Luo let out a laugh at that, said nothing more, and walked out, gently closing the door behind her.

Back at the living room desk, Li Luo sat down and glanced at the others nearby, his mind racing as he pondered the matter.

Logically, if Zhang Guohuang and the others already knew, then most of Class Eight probably knew about Xu Youyu writing novels.

So… did Qiao Xinyan know? Did Xu Yinghuan know? What about Zhao Rongjun?

Even… did Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng know?

Thinking of this, Li Luo felt a sudden chill.

Originally, this had just been Xu Youyu's personal social death moment—he'd even enjoyed watching it like a spectator.

But now, sitting here and thinking it through, it took on a quietly terrifying edge.

After all, if this had been exposed long ago, and even Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng knew…

Then as long as they weren't stupid, knowing Xu Youyu grew taller by sleeping early, they'd easily connect the dots and realize she'd also attended the year-end banquet.

Pushing it further back… Li Luo clearly remembered that during the salon event, Ying Chanxi and the others had already known "sleeping early makes you taller" was on the participant list.

At this thought, Li Luo's gaze toward Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng grew uneasy.

Especially if this leak stemmed from the year-end banquet photo incident, then didn't that mean Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng had known since their winter vacation trip to Qiongzhou City?

And thinking back to that night in the private villa, when they'd both pulled out their phones to read Literary Era… the implications were deeply suspicious.

Back then, they'd joked they'd suspected the author of Literary Era was Xu Youyu, and Li Luo had helped clear her name.

Now, if Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng had known the full truth all along, then both he and Xu Youyu had been the fools.

The more Li Luo thought about it, the more wrong it felt—he'd only wanted to watch the show.

How did this drama turn so bitter?

So they never let him off the hook after all?

Once Li Luo finally understood, he was speechless, yet inwardly hoped things hadn't gone that far.

Otherwise, it'd be mortifying.

But in the end, Xu Youyu was the one most embarrassed—Li Luo was fine.

After all, when you have too many lice, you stop feeling the itch—he'd weathered storms these past two years; it wouldn't break him.

He just wondered whether Xu Youyu could accept the truth once she learned it.

…

While Li Luo sat in the living room pondering these thoughts, Xu Youyu lay in her room—wide awake.

Actually, she couldn't sleep at all.

Lying in bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling, her face filled with resentment.

When she'd chased Li Luo out, she'd spoken lightly—"I'll never fall for it again," and so on.

But the moment Li Luo left, and she closed her eyes, his words from earlier replayed in her mind.

To be fair… this time, Li Luo's story was different from before.

Previously, he'd just made a teasing remark, then watched her wake up in shock with a smug smile—obviously a lie.

But today, he'd brought it up again and again.

Of course, maybe he just hadn't succeeded and was trying harder to fool her.

But once that seed of doubt took root in Xu Youyu's mind, she couldn't sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw classmates' strange glances, making her anxious.

Then came fantasies of her online novel exposure—every possible scene at school.

Thinking of this, Xu Youyu snapped her eyes open—she couldn't sleep at all.

She was now unsure whether Li Luo's words had been truthful.

Should've made him say more…

Thinking this, Xu Youyu grew suspicious and paranoid—how could she sleep?

After tossing and turning for over half an hour, hot and agitated, she finally rolled to the edge of the bed, grabbed her phone, and texted Li Luo with gritted teeth.

【Early Bird】：Come in here!

In the living room, Li Luo noticed the message, opened it, and couldn't help laughing.

【Rekindled】：Come in for what? It's only been half an hour—did you even sleep?

【Early Bird】：Why so many words? Just come in!

【Rekindled】：So what's going on?

【Early Bird】：It's all your fault! Come here and finish telling me what you meant earlier!

Seeing this, Li Luo smiled helplessly, put away his phone, and got up to walk toward Xu Youyu.

Returning to Xu Youyu's room door, Li Luo pushed it open directly and saw her sitting in a duck posture on the bed, entirely wrapped in blankets, staring at him with a mournful expression.

Before Li Luo could speak, Xu Youyu already gritted her teeth and snarled: "If you dare say one lie from now on, I'll bite you to death."

Li Luo: "... I was being nice, and now you say that, I'm not even in the mood to speak anymore."

"So it's really a lie, isn't it?" Xu Youyu narrowed her eyes, secretly hoping Li Luo would admit it.

That way, she wouldn't have to keep suspecting everything and couldn't even sleep soundly.

But Li Luo shook his head with a smile and sighed: "I wish it were false, but unfortunately, I'm not lying this time."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu clicked her tongue, and a bad premonition immediately rose in her chest.

But she didn't panic yet; instead, she waved her hand at Li Luo, signaling him to come closer.

Li Luo walked over to the bed in confusion, only to be yanked onto it next second, shoved to sit at the edge, then suddenly hugged around the neck.

"Keep talking," Xu Youyu huffed. "If you try to fool me, you're dead."

Feeling the soft, bouncy texture against his back, Li Luo didn't mind it at all; feeling the pressure on his neck, he quietly rearranged his words.

"It's like this."

Li Luo said, "Do you remember the three major ball game finals this morning?"

"Of course I do. What about it?" Xu Youyu nodded.

"I was patrolling the stands for Gao San, right? So I wasn't at my own class's section," Li Luo continued. "But during the basketball game, I switched shifts and went back."

"When I returned to my own class's section, I saw some of our classmates chatting from afar."

"When I got closer, can you guess what I heard?"

"What?" As Li Luo's story deepened, Xu Youyu grew tense.

"They were talking about your book," Li Luo coughed and sighed. "And they specifically mentioned it was written by Senior Xu."

At these words, Xu Youyu's mind went suddenly numb, her ears ringing.

She instinctively held her breath, her lips dry, and couldn't help pressing: "You're not fooling me again, are you? Are you lying again? Just teasing me?"

As she spoke, she shook Li Luo's body with both hands, sounding almost wounded.

"You're definitely lying again, right? How could people in your class even know what books I write?"

"That just doesn't make logical sense!"

"Unless you told them yourself, how could they possibly guess? And why would they be so certain, saying outright it was written by me?"

Xu Youyu clearly still didn't believe this.

Even though Li Luo had genuinely heard it, she still wanted him to admit he was lying.

Unfortunately, the truth was otherwise.

Li Luo could only give her a condolences expression, then whispered: "I suspect it was because they saw the photo from the annual party."

"How could that be? In just a few minutes? That's too coincidental!" Xu Youyu still refused to believe. "Do they spend all day staring at Wenxue Group's official Weibo?"

"Cough... they're my classmates," Li Luo said, slightly embarrassed. "They all knew I was going to the annual party, so maybe someone really did notice."

"So it's all your fault?!" Xu Youyu growled.

"Cough... you can't say it like that," Li Luo coughed. "I'm only guessing. Who knows how it was exposed? Maybe they found out long ago?"

"Impossible!" Xu Youyu cut in loudly.

Clearly, this theory was too ahead of her, delivering a heavy psychological blow.

But seeing Li Luo showed no sign of lying, Xu Youyu's cheeks flushed crimson, unable to accept this reality.

Still, she couldn't help asking: "So how many people know about this?"

"Judging from how they were chatting? At least seven or eight people, I'd say?" Li Luo recalled, feeling even seven or eight was an understatement—probably at least half his class knew?

Hearing this, Xu Youyu's vision went black, feeling as if the entire world was collapsing, her head spinning.

"How could this happen... how could this happen..."

Originally, Xu Youyu's plan was simple.

Finish "Literary Era" smoothly in May, then take the college entrance exam in June.

After summer break started, even if her novel-writing became known, it wouldn't matter—she'd just stay home all summer.

By the time university opened, hardly anyone would know her.

And university wasn't like high school; student connections were weaker, and there was no fixed classroom gathering everyone daily.

Even if her novel-writing became public, it wouldn't be as socially devastating as in a high school class.

But Xu Youyu never imagined it would be exposed right before the college entrance exam!

"Only people in your class know about this, right? Has it spread?" Xu Youyu grew anxious. "It hasn't reached our Gao San class, has it? If it has, I'm truly done for!"

"That probably... shouldn't happen?" Li Luo stroked his chin, thinking. "They're probably just chatting privately among themselves and don't even know anyone in your class—how could it reach Gao San?"

"That's good..." Xu Youyu felt slightly relieved after Li Luo's analysis, yet still a tiny unease lingered. "But how can we confirm this? If they spread it even a little, I'm finished!"

"Cough... actually, there's one more thing," Li Luo hesitated, then said. "When they were chatting, they mentioned a group—I suspect they have a private QQ group dedicated to discussing your book. If we could join and take a look, we'd know exactly what's going on."

"There's a group like that?!" Xu Youyu's eyes widened. "Why on earth would they create a group?"

"Creating a group is nothing," Li Luo chuckled, kindly reminding her. "Just think about what you wrote in your book—they've seen it all."

"According to them, many people specifically screenshot the more intense passages and circulate them in the group."

"I've noticed your recent chapters are quite explicit."

"Aaaah!" At this, Xu Youyu broke out in goosebumps, utterly unable to bear it, grabbing Li Luo's neck and shrieking: "Stop talking! Don't say any more!"

"Cough... cough..." Li Luo patted her hands, signaling her to stop, then said: "In short, we'd better figure out a way to sneak into their group first."

"How do we sneak in? Just ask directly?" Xu Youyu pushed Li Luo. "You ask for me—I can't."

"I never expected you to," Li Luo chuckled, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "I have a plan—let's try it."