Chapter 528: Going to the Bathroom Together

When the three of them returned to Bihai Lanting, the kitchen was already packed.

Because it was Yan Zhusheng's birthday, Cui Suling, who had just finished playing mahjong, thought it over and decided not to join the celebration—she went home to cook for Xu Rongsheng.

After Yuan Wanqing arrived at Bihai Lanting 1502 with Lin Xiuhong, she volunteered to enter the kitchen and wanted to cook several dishes herself for her daughter.

With prior experience cooking in the countryside during the New Year, and with Lin Xiuhong and Ying Chanxi helping beside her, Yuan Wanqing found cooking a simple task.

When Yan Zhusheng returned home, carrying two large bottles of drinks, she placed them on the dining table and turned to see Ying Chanxi in the kitchen, assisting her mother.

"Thank you, Xixi," Yuan Wanqing smiled gently, taking the prepared ingredients from Ying Chanxi's hands.

Ying Chanxi's fingers stiffened at Yuan Wanqing's thanks, and she forced a faint smile: "Auntie Yuan, you're welcome."

If Lin Yi weren't here, she wouldn't have come to help at all…

Ying Chanxi bit her lip, feeling a pang of grievance.

During the mahjong game just now, Lin Xiuhong sat across from her—Li Luo's mother.

On either side sat Cui Suling and Yuan Wanqing—the mothers of Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng.

Only she had no mother to stand in for her; she had to face all of this herself.

Moreover, the Auntie Yuan before her had secretly stolen her father away.

Thinking of this, Ying Chanxi felt her nose sting, quickly lowered her head, washed her hands quickly, and whispered: "I—I'm going to the bathroom."

Li Luo had just finished using the bathroom and was pulling up his pants when he heard the door open behind him and jumped in surprise: "Someone's in here!"

Ying Chanxi walked in from outside, glanced at Li Luo's pants, saw he had already pulled them up, and stepped in without hesitation, washing her face at the sink.

"What's wrong?" Li Luo frowned, stepping closer to Ying Chanxi, washing his hands as he asked with concern, "Feeling down?"

Normally, if Ying Chanxi caught Li Luo in the bathroom—even if he was already dressed—she would blush and retreat immediately.

She wouldn't act like this now.

And she came into the bathroom just to wash her face… Li Luo had a feeling something was off.

"Nothing," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "I accidentally rubbed my eye while cutting chili peppers—it stung a bit."

"Still stinging? Let me see." Li Luo, not suspecting anything, turned her face toward him, cupped her soft cheeks in his hands, and examined them closely: "Your eyes do look a bit red—do you feel uncomfortable?"

"It's fine now, no problem," Ying Chanxi said. His rough hands cupping her delicate face made her pale cheeks flush pink, like her eyes.

But this feeling of Li Luo's concern… seeing the worry on his face, Ying Chanxi bit her lip and couldn't help leaning her face closer.

But Li Luo leaned back, dodging her advance, grinning mischievously: "What are you trying to do? Trying to sneak a feel?"

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi's face burned red with shame and indignation, and she stomped on his foot.

But the next second, she felt Li Luo pull her into his arms, spin her around, and pin her against the wall.

"Mmm…"

This feeling of being forcibly held by Li Luo… Ying Chanxi gradually sank into it, unconsciously pushing aside her earlier grievance and discomfort.

Her soft body seemed ready to melt entirely into Li Luo's.

But she especially loved this feeling of being firmly held by Li Luo.

It gave her a strange sense of safety, as if she were completely wrapped up, with nothing left to fear.

After a long while.

The bathroom door was knocked on.

"Who's in there?" Xu Youyu's puzzled voice came from outside.

"I—I'm using the bathroom, Sister Xu, please wait a moment," Ying Chanxi broke away from Li Luo's lips but still pressed tightly against his chest, her face flushed crimson as she whispered to Xu Youyu outside.

"Oh." Xu Youyu replied, then asked, "Where's Li Luo? Have you seen him? He suddenly disappeared."

"I—I don't know…" Ying Chanxi's forehead broke into sweat, her voice sounding guilty, "If you need the bathroom, use Li Luo's room."

"I just came from using the bathroom in his room," Xu Youyu's tone grew teasing.

Ying Chanxi hadn't caught the hidden meaning, but Li Luo understood immediately.

So he stopped hiding, cleared his throat, and said: "I'm in the bathroom too."

"Ah! What are you doing!" Ying Chanxi, still pressed against him, panicked at his voice, her face instantly turning crimson like a steaming kettle.

But Xu Youyu let out a light laugh, and footsteps faded away outside—the person had left.

"You were clearly looking for me," Li Luo said, holding down Ying Chanxi's hand as it pinched his waist, helplessly. "You must've checked every other room already and guessed I was here—that's why you knocked on the door just now."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi realized it was true—and felt even more embarrassed.

She fidgeted in the bathroom for a long time, made Li Luo leave first, then stayed alone for over ten minutes, waiting until the flush on her face faded, before tiptoeing out.

Fortunately, Xu Youyu had already returned to her bedroom; Ying Chanxi didn't see her, and hurried back to the kitchen, exhaling deeply.

"What's wrong? You're flustered," Lin Xiuhong asked, concerned as she saw her enter, "Why did the bathroom take so long?"

"I had diarrhea…" Ying Chanxi replied guiltily, then quickly returned to the sink to continue helping the two aunts.

…

At dinner, the living room table was filled with dishes, nearly half of which were Yuan Wanqing's efforts.

For Yuan Wanqing, now hailed as possessing the grace of a diva, this was already remarkable.

Who could have imagined that this major star, constantly appearing on screens over the past year, was now at home playing the role of a housewife?

And she seemed to enjoy it.

Yuan Wanqing clearly loved cooking alongside Ying Chanxi in the kitchen.

She saw it as a good opportunity to strengthen her bond with her future daughter.

Although this was somewhat unfair to Yan Zhusheng, Yuan Wanqing had come over for Yan Zhusheng's birthday largely because Yan Zhi Cheng said he would bring her home this New Year to speak openly.

So Yuan Wanqing hoped to create as many opportunities as possible before the New Year confrontation, to help Ying Chanxi grow fonder of her as an aunt.

Now, watching the four children sit down and eat the dishes she had cooked, Yuan Wanqing looked at Ying Chanxi, opened her mouth, then turned to Li Luo and asked: "How's the taste?"

Li Luo gave Yuan Wanqing a thumbs-up: "Auntie Yuan's cooking is star-level."

"You're exaggerating a bit too much," Yuan Wanqing laughed. "As long as it's not terrible, that's fine." "Where's my cake?" Yan Zhusheng looked around; after returning, she had gone straight to play the piano and hadn't paid attention to where she'd left her cake.

"It's in the fridge," Li Luo said. "Eat dinner first, then have cake later."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng nodded, then got up and walked to the sofa, opening the two gift boxes she'd brought back from the craft experience studio and taking out the two cups inside.

After washing them in the sink, Yan Zhusheng returned to the dining table, filled the cups with drink, and handed one to Li Luo.

Seeing the two cups, which looked remarkably like a couple's set, Yuan Wanqing raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Where did you get these cups?"

"Today's my birthday. Li Luo took me to the craft studio and we made them ourselves," Yan Zhusheng said, tilting her chin up proudly.

Lin Xiuhong glanced at the cups, then at her son, and swept her gaze over the other two girls—but saw no envy or admiration in their eyes.

But as soon as she spoke, Ying Chanxi and Xu Youyu exchanged a look, then calmly rose, went to their respective bedrooms, and returned with their own cups, pouring drink into them.

Seeing this, Lin Xiuhong asked, "Why did you two specifically bring out your own cups?"

"Mine was also made by Li Luo and me during a craft session," Xu Youyu said with a grin.

"Mine too," Ying Chanxi nodded lightly.

Not a single mistake, not a single slip, not a single detail out of place!

Lin Xiuhong: "..."

Yuan Wanqing: "..."

The two mothers fell silent, staring at the scene before them, unsure what to say.

The topic shifted, and Yuan Wanqing smoothly changed it, saying, "Li Luo, the new song you wrote for me—I plan to sing it at the concert."

"Good idea," Li Luo nodded. "Perfect for promoting the new album."

"Yes, the planning department agrees," Yuan Wanqing said. "Tickets are already selling fast. The first show is on National Day, the 2nd, in Jingzhao City."

"Zhusheng mentioned it before," Li Luo said. "Auntie Yuan will save us tickets, right?"

"Of course," Yuan Wanqing smiled lightly. "I was thinking—you could use the holiday to visit Jingzhao City together and come see my concert."

"Sure," Li Luo nodded, then turned to Xu Youyu. "You have to ask Uncle Xu and Aunt Cui."

"Got it~" Xu Youyu grinned. "If it's Auntie Yuan's concert, my parents will definitely be happy to come."

"So it's only Auntie Yuan's concert that's worth going to?" Yuan Wanqing teased.

"Exactly," Xu Youyu nodded firmly. "My dad loves Auntie Yuan's song 'Ru Yuan.' My mom adores 'Shi Mama Shi Nü'er.'"

"I'll sing 'Ru Yuan' at the Jingzhao show," Yuan Wanqing smiled.

"Then my dad will definitely come," Xu Youyu grinned. "But won't you sing 'Shi Mama Shi Nü'er'?"

"The setlist is already finalized, but it can still be changed," Yuan Wanqing mused, looking at her daughter. "Zhusheng, do you want to get on stage and sing?"

Yan Zhusheng immediately nodded: "Yes."

"Then it's settled," Yuan Wanqing smiled at Xu Youyu. "Looking forward to your parents coming to support us."

After dinner.

Everyone rested on the sofa for a while, played a few rounds of cards, and after digesting a bit, took the cake out of the fridge.

They lit the candles, turned off the lights, and sang the birthday song happily—this time, Li Luo played the guitar, and Yan Zhusheng was the Birthday Person.

After making a wish before the cake's candles, Yan Zhusheng received the birthday gifts others had prepared.

Once Yuan Wanqing and Lin Xiuhong, the two adults, tactfully left, Yan Zhusheng eagerly told Xu Youyu to fetch the board game Monopoly from the bedroom.

A pleasant night descended.

After Yan Zhusheng's birthday, time passed quickly.

The filming of "Little Joy" proceeded smoothly. Director Wang Jun was surprised to find that, following the script exactly, the post-production editing was surprisingly easy.

In fact, when Li Luo wrote "Little Joy," he structured the content exactly episode by episode.

Unlike novel-to-TV adaptations, where a single line in the novel is often expanded by screenwriters and directors into several episodes.

Meanwhile, major plotlines that were deeply detailed in the novel were reduced in the TV series to a brief line spoken by a character.

Sometimes they were cut entirely.

But Li Luo's original novel "Little Joy" and his adapted screenplay complemented each other perfectly, making Director Wang Jun's filming process much easier.

Originally, they thought it would take three or four months to finish filming.

Now it seemed that, after school reopened, using the school's campus to shoot remaining scenes, they could wrap up in about another month.

There was a chance they could finish perfectly before National Day.

Thinking of this, Wang Jun, before school reopened, invited Li Luo to dinner and went over the arrangements for filming on the campus of Fuyi Middle School.

As filming for "Little Joy" progressed steadily, the start of the semester drew nearer.

Because of military training, Xu Youyu's start date was nearly a week earlier than Li Luo's.

On August 27th and 28th, this year's freshmen at Qianjiang University had to report to campus, and on the 29th, military training began, lasting about half a month.

As the semester approached, Xu Youyu sighed heavily.

The thought of facing military training—and temporarily saying goodbye to her beloved car—made her heart ache.

But when she thought of something else, a sly smile appeared on her face.

So on the evening of August 27th, after Li Luo finished writing and took a shower, got into bed, and was about to sleep, someone quietly pushed open his door.

Li Luo leaned against the headboard, watching Xu Youyu walk gracefully to the bedside, and said helplessly, "You're starting school tomorrow, Youyu. Go to sleep early tonight."

"The deadline for reporting is until tomorrow evening," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Even if I sleep until noon tomorrow, it's fine." Then she smirked seductively, lifted Li Luo's blanket, and slipped under it.

The next second, Xu Youyu's head popped out from beneath the blanket near Li Luo's chest, grinning mischievously at him: "Remember the bet you lost to me? It's almost time for you to fulfill your promise and accept your punishment."

"... So what exactly is the punishment?"

"Hmm~ It's actually very simple."

(End of Chapter)