Chapter 487: At the Critical Moment, You Still Need Brother Zhao

Xu Youyu looked at Li Luo with skeptical doubt; seeing him pull out his phone, she couldn't help asking, "You don't even know their QQ group number—how are you going to try?"

"You can just ask."

"Then you'll expose yourself!" Xu Youyu grew anxious, grabbing Li Luo's arm. "Don't do anything reckless—there are other ways, think slowly!"

"They already know. Why are you still hiding, Youyu?" Li Luo said helplessly. "I think you might as well just come clean outright."

"Then you might as well let me die!" Xu Youyu gritted her teeth. "The situation's still unclear—what if not many people know? I still think I can be saved!"

"Your parents already know. Adding a few more people doesn't really matter," Li Luo said. "Besides, your novel's about to end."

"I don't care!" Xu Youyu tugged hard on Li Luo's arm, letting out an adorable pouty whine. "Please, please don't mess around! It'll literally be life or death!"

"I never said I'd mess around…" Li Luo chuckled. "Just watch what I do."

"Really?"

"Really. Don't rush," Li Luo said, then opened his phone and sent a message to Zhao Rongjun in the living room.

【Li Luo】: Don't make a sound when you get this. I need your help with something.

Zhao Rongjun in the living room noticed his phone vibrating, pulled it out, and frowned in confusion.

【Zhao Rongjun】:?

【Zhao Rongjun】: I'm right here in the living room. Why can't you just say it out loud? Why send a QQ message?

【Li Luo】: Don't ask anything. Just do it. Pretend you need to use the restroom, then come to my senior's room.

【Zhao Rongjun】: What's this about?

【Li Luo】: Brother Zhao! Don't ask anything! I just need your help!

【Zhao Rongjun】: Fine.

Zhao Rongjun, being a straightforward guy, immediately stood up, whispered he was going to the restroom, left the living room desk, and walked straight to Xu Youyu's room door.

The next second, Li Luo opened the door, yanked Zhao Rongjun inside, and shut it behind him.

"Lend me your phone," Li Luo said. "I'll use your QQ. Don't worry—I won't mess around."

"What exactly are you planning?" Zhao Rongjun asked, puzzled, but trusted Li Luo enough to hand over his phone.

"Bro!" Li Luo clapped Zhao Rongjun on the shoulder, then took the phone, scanned the QQ groups Zhao Rongjun had joined, but couldn't find the suspicious group mentioned by Zhang Guohuang and the others.

Aside from his elementary, middle, and high school class groups, he only had one basketball group and a few private groups created by Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan—some of which Li Luo was already in, nothing worth looking at.

A single glance revealed Zhao Rongjun's social circle was painfully clean.

Which meant Zhao Rongjun clearly had no idea Xu Youyu wrote Online Novels.

So Li Luo quickly found a few people on Zhao Rongjun's QQ and, after thinking it over, chose Lin Yuan and sent him a message.

【Zhao Rongjun】: Lin Yuan, I have something to ask you.

【Lin Yuan】: Huh? Why out of nowhere?

【Zhao Rongjun】: I heard Fang Chen and Ren Zheng talking about a group where you discuss novels. Can I join?

【Lin Yuan】: Oh, that one? Wait, you haven't joined yet? I thought you were already in.

【Zhao Rongjun】: I don't pay attention usually. Didn't even know about it.

【Lin Yuan】: You're so close to Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan—didn't they invite you?

Seeing this, Li Luo's heart tightened; beside him, Xu Youyu, who had been staring intently, turned pale, her chest hollowed, and she nearly gasped for air.

Zhao Rongjun, standing opposite them, was utterly confused, wondering what Li Luo was doing with his QQ.

But trusting Li Luo, he didn't press further—just waited patiently for him to finish.

So Li Luo continued typing.

【Zhao Rongjun】: You know… I'm not good at talking to girls, or I wouldn't be asking you.

【Lin Yuan】: True… I'll send it to you then.

Lin Yuan sent a QQ group number.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu's faces lit up—they hadn't expected it to go this smoothly.

But the next second, their expressions froze.

Because after sending one QQ number, Lin Yuan immediately sent two more—leaving Li Luo and Xu Youyu stunned.

【Zhao Rongjun】: Wait… why are there three groups?

【Lin Yuan】: Yeah, three. Xu Yinghuan made one, Qiao Xinyan made one, and Ren Zheng made one too.

【Zhao Rongjun】: Oh okay, got it. Thanks.

【Lin Yuan】: No problem.

After the chat ended, Li Luo immediately deleted the entire conversation history, then returned the phone to Zhao Rongjun.

"If Lin Yuan asks you anything later, just brush it off—don't answer any questions, OK?" Li Luo said seriously.

Zhao Rongjun: "... Are you two up to something bad?"

"How could that be?" Li Luo clapped Zhao Rongjun on the shoulder. "You helped big time—next time, let Youyu treat you to a big meal!"

"Yes yes! I'll treat you to a big meal!" Xu Youyu chimed in immediately, thanking him. "Thank you so much!"

"Is this not related to me?" Zhao Rongjun asked suspiciously.

"No."

"Didn't you send anything to Yinghuan or Xinyan?" Zhao Rongjun asked again.

"Not related to them."

"Good." Zhao Rongjun exhaled in relief. As long as it wasn't that, anything else didn't matter. He nodded. "Then I'll go now?"

"Go ahead, go ahead," Li Luo grinned. "You're saying 'Yinghuan' and 'Xinyan' pretty smoothly now."

"You… that's just normal address!" Zhao Rongjun blushed, quickly fleeing the room.

After watching Zhao Rongjun leave, Xu Youyu immediately urged, "You deleted the chat history so fast—did you memorize all three group numbers?"

"You definitely remembered it," Li Luo pulled out his phone, logged into a secondary QQ account, and entered the first QQ number Lin Yuan had sent into the search box.

Xu Youyu, seeing him input the QQ number with ease, had grown somewhat accustomed to his freakish memory.

But each time she witnessed a scene like this, she still couldn't help glancing at Li Luo in surprise.

After all, they'd both seen Lin Yuan's QQ number at the same moment, yet in that brief span, Xu Youyu could barely remember even one.

And even that required immediate note-taking—otherwise, within one or two minutes, the memory would blur.

But this wasn't the time to marvel at such things; as soon as Li Luo entered the QQ number, Xu Youyu leaned in to watch the phone screen.

Soon, a QQ group appeared.

【Dongdong Is the Cutest in the World】

Li Luo: "…?"

Xu Youyu: "…?"

"This isn't your fan group, is it?" Xu Youyu narrowed her eyes, speaking with a hint of irritation.

"Obviously not," Li Luo said, forcing himself to speak calmly. "It says right here—it's Shen Dongdong's fan group. If you're mad, blame Xixi."

"How can you even say that?" Xu Youyu gritted her teeth and pinched Li Luo. "Hurry up and join and take a look."

"Don't rush," Li Luo clicked the group, attempting to join.

But the application page displayed: "Please state your class, student ID, and name."

"Wow," Li Luo muttered, clicking his tongue. "This underground organization's got some serious security? They even require this?"

"What do we do now?" Xu Youyu frowned. "We can't use our own info—that'd expose us immediately."

ottkдnoCo

"Just personal details," Li Luo chuckled, pulling out his cousin Wei Chun's name, student ID, and class, and entering them into the application form.

For Li Luo, who had long worked in the student union, his Memory Palace had long since memorized every student's ID in the entire school—this was nothing to him.

In his understanding, Wei Chun was a quiet kid who'd chosen the science stream in Gao Er—he surely had no idea about this.

Still, Li Luo didn't know how long approval would take, so he searched for the second QQ number.

【Little Empress Mo Qinghan's Fan Club】

"They really know how to have fun…" Li Luo stared at the group name, speechless, but applied anyway, following the same method.

This time, he didn't use Wei Chun's name—he switched to another classmate's, to avoid raising suspicion.

When they reached the third QQ group, Xu Youyu's expression turned weary as she read its name.

【Join Sister Jiang's Embrace!】

Li Luo glanced at the group name, then glanced sideways at someone's soft chest, thinking the name fit her persona perfectly.

Xu Youyu clearly noticed Li Luo's gaze, chuckled, and teased him: "You wanna join Sister Jiang's embrace too? Want me to let you try?"

"Cough," Li Luo cleared his throat, changing the subject. "We've got more important things to do right now."

At this moment,

Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan in the living room each received a group join request.

They pulled out their phones, confirmed the requester was a student from Fu Yi Middle School, and approved the application.

They couldn't verify whether the details were accurate—this was merely a screening mechanism; as long as the person was from Fu Yi, that was enough.

Thus, Li Luo smoothly joined 【Dongdong Is the Cutest in the World】 and 【Little Empress Mo Qinghan's Fan Club】 in succession.

Soon after, his application to 【Join Sister Jiang's Embrace!】 was also approved.

But as Li Luo entered the group, Xu Youyu noticed—the member counts for all three groups seemed unusually high…

"Why does Dongdong's group have over a hundred people!" Xu Youyu exclaimed. "Mo Qinghan's has over eighty, and Sister Jiang's has over fifty! These aren't just from your Class Eight, are they?"

"Looks like it…" Li Luo had noticed too. He gave Xu Youyu a mournful look. "Youyu-jie, you'd better brace yourself."

"…" Hearing Li Luo's words, Xu Youyu's vision darkened. She shut her eyes, collapsed onto the bed, and felt her soul had already floated far away.