Chapter 493: Final Chapter, Flowers of Celebration

After this semester's three major ball games at Fu Yi High School ended, the rock club had no more public performance obligations.

Moreover, since all the Gao Er students would be leaving the club next semester, the rock club's main focus shifted to helping the new Gao Yi members bond as a team.

In short, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng were successfully freed from the rock club's activities, allowing them to use their daily evening club time for other things.

The same situation applied to the literature club.

The basic tasks were handed over to the two vice presidents, Wu Yihang and Jiang Liuxian.

As for Li Luo and the other two?

They were secretly filming an MV on campus.

This time, however, Ying Chanxi was only the director, and the female lead of the MV became Yan Zhusheng.

"Isn't this the last scene left?" Yan Zhusheng asked, blinking at Ying Chanxi, who held the camera, her tone hopeful, "You mentioned it before."

"Hmm… y-yes." Ying Chanxi's face showed hesitation and inner conflict.

Then she heard Yan Zhusheng press further: "Is there a kiss scene this time?"

Ying Chanxi: "…"

"It's a stunt kiss, not a real one," Yan Zhusheng added seriously, watching her expression.

"Th-there is… we already agreed before," Ying Chanxi said, nodding as she saw Yan Zhusheng's earnest, certain look—her small reservations finally eased.

The kiss scene was unavoidable.

Ying Chanxi now only wanted to finish shooting the MV for "The Sun" as soon as possible, so she could return to her own two-person world with Li Luo.

Still, when explaining the final scene, Ying Chanxi carefully went over the details of the stunt kiss with Yan Zhusheng.

Li Luo stood to the side, picked up his thermos, and took a sip of hot water.

He wasn't sure if it was because of Xu Youyu's influence, but he'd felt his throat dry these past few days, so he'd been drinking hot water more often.

But he wasn't running a fever or showing signs of a cold—he figured his immunity was just strong, so he didn't pay it much mind.

When it came time to shoot, the three of them prepared themselves on the asphalt path behind the library.

Ying Chanxi aimed the camera at the pre-set angle, then signaled to Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng with a gesture.

The three had developed strong chemistry recently; one glance was enough to know what to do.

As Ying Chanxi pressed record, Li Luo walked slowly toward the camera, following the rehearsed blocking.

At the same time, Yan Zhusheng sprinted into frame from the opposite side, rushing toward the setting sun hanging in the distance, throwing herself into Li Luo's arms and rising slightly onto her toes.

In the frame, the setting sun rested on the right side of the sky; beside the slanted asphalt path stood a white wall and neatly trimmed shrubs.

Ying Chanxi's camera angle tilted slightly—just as Yan Zhusheng threw herself into Li Luo's arms and their lips met, the sunlight fell perfectly across her waist-length hair, casting a faint golden glow.

Such a beautiful scene made Ying Chanxi momentarily lost in admiration, thrilled at how perfectly she'd chosen the angle.

But when she came back to herself, a twinge of bitterness surfaced—she wished she were the female lead.

"Alright, alright! Done!"

Though still pouting inside, Ying Chanxi saw the two still clinging to each other and shouted loudly, "That's a wrap!"

Hearing Ying Chanxi's call, Yan Zhusheng reluctantly pulled away from Li Luo's arms, her lips pursed in lingering thought, then she wiped them with her hand, finally satisfied as she turned toward the camera.

Ying Chanxi glanced suspiciously between the two but saw nothing amiss, assuming it was truly just a stunt kiss, then cheerfully announced: "I declare the filming of 'The Sun' MV officially complete!"

"Yay~" Yan Zhusheng clapped her hands, slightly disappointed.

"Cough… time's about up," Li Luo said, his throat feeling dry again; he took another sip from his thermos, then added, "Let's go back for evening self-study."

…

After the two evening self-study sessions ended, Li Luo and the others returned to Bihai Lanting 1502.

Seeing Li Luo head straight for Xu Youyu's room upon arriving home, Ying Chanxi asked, "Sis Xu has been running a fever for days now—hasn't she recovered yet? Shouldn't she go to the hospital?"

"She's probably almost better," Li Luo said carefully. "I'll go ask."

Saying that, he knocked on the door, heard Xu Youyu's response, then pushed it open.

"At least pretend to be sick," Li Luo said upon entering, seeing Xu Youyu holding a bag of chips in her right hand, a cola in her left, watching an anime on her computer, happily munching and drinking.

Her lifestyle was too carefree.

"What if it was Xi Xi or Zhusheng who came in?"

"They never come into my room unless they have to," Xu Youyu blinked. "Besides, you all knock."

"Is that so?" Li Luo let out a dry laugh. "Then why don't you three ever knock when you enter my room?"

"Cough… cough…" Xu Youyu shifted her gaze, embarrassed, laughing awkwardly. "Boys and girls are different."

"That's discrimination."

"That's favoritism," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then smiled sweetly.

"Sounds nice," Li Luo said, stepping behind Xu Youyu and placing his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her computer screen. "You've got time to watch anime—but have you finished typing? It's already Friday."

"You have to return to school for evening self-study on Sunday."

"I made a solemn promise to Uncle Xu that I'd make sure you finish your novel."

"Hmph~ Who are you doubting?" Xu Youyu snorted, closed the anime window, then cheerfully opened her typing software. "Look! What's this!"

Li Luo looked closely and saw, at the top of Xu Youyu's typing software, the chapter title—

【Chapter 827: This Is the Best Era (Final Chapter)】

The chapter was already finished.

Li Luo stood behind her, leaned down, and grabbed the mouse, scrolling the wheel.

The chapter was already finished.

The content described the protagonist successfully hosting, in the novel's world, the first-ever global film festival dedicated solely to domestic cinema.

But none of that mattered.

What truly moved and comforted Li Luo were the small details—despite some influence from this life, what was written was still unmistakably something only Xu Youyu could have written.

Although the wording differs, the meaning is essentially the same.

Even the line Li Luo had loved most and found most inspiring in his past life, Xu Youyu had written nearly the same thing.

【When making films, never drown in your own painstaking efforts, and never expect audiences to praise you for your hard work.】

【Your sincerity is in the work itself; audiences can feel it—that's your skill. If they can't feel it, it means you didn't try hard enough.】

【We revere this industry, restrain our fragile hearts, and must always remember: we survive by our work, not by audiences' sympathy and tolerance.】

Li Luo scrolled the mouse, selected and highlighted this passage, and whispered to Xu Youyu beside him: "I really like this part—it's written beautifully."

Xu Youyu felt the weight pressing on her shoulder as he leaned over, watching Li Luo's hand gripping the mouse, and the faint reflection of his face in the computer screen.

Only after he carefully finished reading this chapter, spoke words of praise into her ear, and even circled the very passage Xu Youyu believed she most wanted to convey.

In that instant, she felt her heart, like a bud about to bloom, bathed in sweet rain and instantly bursting open.

That moment of blossoming joy and soulful resonance made her entire being cheer and leap with delight.

A trembling emotion that shook both spirit and flesh.

Yes, this was exactly what she wanted to express—the attitude toward commercializing literary works.

She felt she had truly created this book well, even though she felt ashamed of revealing she wrote novels, she never thought there was anything wrong with it.

She just loved it.

Although the driving scenes were plentiful, the book also contained countless things she wished to express.

One could even say, the ending she wanted to write, this film festival, the protagonist appearing for the final summary—all were crafted for this single passage.

She made these dumplings just for this touch of vinegar.

Yet Li Luo effortlessly picked out this single dumpling filled with vinegar from the plate, striking Xu Youyu's brow with perfect precision.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Li Luo noticed her silence, looked down, and found Xu Youyu had tilted her head up, her bright eyes fixed on him without blinking.

"Li Luo, I just realized how handsome you are."

"Wasn't I handsome before?" Li Luo touched his jawline and grinned mischievously.

"You were handsome before, but now you're glowing handsome," Xu Youyu said, then turned sideways, pulled Li Luo closer, and looked up at him.

Before Li Luo could respond, she instantly stood from her chair, wrapped both arms tightly around his neck, and kissed him fiercely.

Only when Ying Chanxi knocked on the door did they break apart.

"Senior, Zhu Sheng and I are done washing. Do you want to shower?" Ying Chanxi asked outside the door. "Are you feeling better?"

"This is to celebrate my book's completion," Xu Youyu replied, kissing Li Luo's lips once more before letting go and calling out to the door. "Got it! I'll shower soon. I've already broken my fever—I'll be back in class next week."

"Mm-hmm," Ying Chanxi replied, then added, "Li Luo's still in there, right? I'm going to do laundry—do you have any clothes to wash?"

"My dirty clothes are in the hamper in my bathroom," Li Luo said, walking toward the door, waving to Xu Youyu, and opening it. "I'll get them for you."

"Hurry up," Ying Chanxi said, glancing suspiciously into the room twice, but finding nothing suspicious, she turned and headed toward the washing machine in the bathroom.

Xu Youyu, meanwhile, picked up her pajamas and prepared to shower.

When the time reached midnight and the date flipped to May 7th, Xu Youyu's scheduled latest chapter was finally published.

The book The Literary Era had now fully reached its perfect ending.

Xu Youyu had stayed awake all night, waiting by her computer and phone after publishing the finale, refreshing the comment section endlessly, watching readers celebrate with flowers and offering final evaluations—she smiled with relief.

In this atmosphere and emotion, Xu Youyu suddenly felt inspired, opened her writing software again, and wrote a formal farewell note.

In half an hour of rapid typing, she wrote nearly three thousand characters.

She'd never felt this enthusiastic while writing before.

After finishing in one breath, clicking publish, Xu Youyu exhaled deeply and checked her update timeline in the table of contents.

From June 21, 2014, right after her first-year high school final exam, when she uploaded her first chapter on Qidian,

to now, May 7, 2016—nearly two years of updates had forged this novel of over two and a half million characters.

Looking back, she felt deeply moved.

Xu Youyu's thoughts swirled, recalling every moment of these two years.

She remembered when she first wrote this novel, still a complete novice, struggling in the new-book period, begging her editor for a recommendation to Chongran's QQ account.

And thus, the wheels of fate began to turn.

Her new landlord, her roommate, her first-year high school junior—was he also a newcomer in urban fiction, writing at the same time as her?

Such fate could only be heaven's design.

Until the end-of-2014 symposium, their identities were exposed to each other, and even her father had figured it out—yet she remained clueless.

Then came the summer salon, the winter annual meeting, and now, the novel's completion.

The journey of these two years had brought so many stories.

Sitting at her desk, chin propped on her hands, Xu Youyu drowned in these beautiful memories and felt profoundly happy and fulfilled.

The feeling of finally completing a long novel was both bittersweet and deeply satisfying.

And there was a lightness, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

It was like she'd placed her chest on the desk—so wonderfully free~

Now that it's finally over, she'd pretend she'd never written this book at all, and return to school to face her classmates!

Xu Youyu thought this self-deception, when the door was gently knocked.

She froze for a moment, then raised her eyebrows, a hopeful smile spreading across her face. She ran to the door and flung it open.

As expected, Li Luo stood outside.

But he held a box in his arms. Xu Youyu leaned forward curiously and saw it was filled with cocktail base liquors and mixers—her eyes lit up instantly.

"Congratulations on the finale," Li Luo said with a smile. "It's a rare chance—let's celebrate a little?"