Chapter 536

September 3, Saturday evening.

Since Fuyi Middle School would reopen tomorrow, Zhao Rongjun and the other two didn't join the study group today and took their final day off.

After dinner at Bihai Lanting, it was Ying Chanxi's turn to wash dishes, so she rose to clear the table and obediently went into the kitchen.

Yan Zhusheng, as usual, entered the piano room to continue practicing, fully preparing for the provincial exam at year's end.

Li Luo, with nothing to do, received a message from Xu Youyu inviting him to Lin Xiu's milk tea shop.

So Li Luo went downstairs with Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling, rode in Xu Youyu's BMW X3, and was dropped off at the street corner near the milk tea shop.

"Don't they still have a week of military training?" Cui Suling said as Li Luo prepared to get out of the car. "Tell her to take it seriously—use this chance to at least get some exercise."

"Yeah, I know," Li Luo nodded with a grin. "But tonight's probably their department's recruitment drive—Youyu probably needs to go sign up for interviews."

"That's good—encourage her to get involved more," Cui Suling nodded in agreement. "Then go ahead. Your mom and I will leave first."

Li Luo politely took his leave, watched his mother drive off, then turned and walked toward the milk tea shop.

As he neared the shop entrance, Li Luo was surprised to find the place unusually busy—at least ten or so people were waiting for milk tea.

And he noticed that everyone leaving the shop either carried a large bag with eight or nine cups of milk tea, or hugged a foam box full of them.

Almost all were bulk orders.

This gave Li Luo a moment of surprise.

When he stepped inside, he discovered that besides Lin Xiu and Jian Chun, even Xu Youyu was helping make milk tea.

One cup after another was made, sealed, packed—eight or nine, then ten or more—before being handed off all at once to some student present.

Is this business too good?

Li Luo stared at the scene, momentarily stunned.

Just then, Xu Youyu caught sight of Li Luo entering through the door amid her busy work and waved vigorously at him: "Come over here quick! Help out! There are still so many people waiting!"

Li Luo pulled at his lips but walked straight into the counter area, where Xu Youyu helped him put on the staff apron and gloves.

Thanks to his Memory Palace ability, he scanned the process once and immediately handled it without hesitation.

Yet even after joining in, Li Luo couldn't help internally grumbling: here he was, a millionaire earning millions a year, now working at a milk tea shop—how absurd.

Fortunately, with enough hands, production sped up; after more than half an hour of frantic work, the four of them finally cleared all the orders and could finally catch their breath.

Li Luo couldn't help asking: "Did my suggestion really work this well? Did business suddenly explode like this?"

"The past couple of days were fine," Jian Chun said, also exasperated, shaking her arms to relieve the ache. "After we handed out flyers, we got one or two bulk orders daily—not many, but steady, mostly from classes."

"But today's different," Xu Youyu added. "Tonight's the university-wide student union recruitment—many departments are buying milk tea for their new members."

"Since we're the only place offering bulk discounts, lots of departments came here to order."

"Just this evening alone, over ten bulk orders came in."

Lin Xiu, busy tallying accounts, wore tired satisfaction on his face: "Even with heavy discounts, milk tea has high profit margins—we made at least a few thousand tonight."

Normally, during non-holiday periods, his milk tea shop made a profit of only ten to twenty thousand a month.

Thanks to Li Luo's bulk discount campaign, he earned a third of his monthly profit in one night.

Though temporary, it was still great.

"So why are you here?" Li Luo, indifferent to the shop's success, turned to Xu Youyu with a puzzled look. "Aren't you supposed to be attending department recruitment?"

"I've already been pre-selected," Xu Youyu grinned. "I joined the political work group during military training—our class assistant is the deputy head of the External Relations Department."

"We got along well. When she heard I was former president of Fuyi Middle School's student union, she invited me to join."

"I just came along to pick up the External Relations Department's order, saw my uncle so swamped, and decided to stay and help."

"I see," Li Luo nodded understandingly, sizing up Xu Youyu, then smiled. "But your class assistant probably didn't invite you because of your student union president title."

"Then what else could it be?" Xu Youyu huffed, crossing her arms. "It's obviously because of my outstanding abilities!"

"Indeed, outstanding abilities," Li Luo nodded, his gaze landing on Xu Youyu's face and chest, utterly convinced.

The External Relations Department's main task was to secure sponsorships—cash and materials—for the student union.

Usually, they targeted nearby businesses, offering them naming rights and promotion during campus events in exchange for support.

College students aren't exactly master negotiators.

Sometimes, it's less effective than sending someone like Xu Youyu—a pretty girl—to make the pitch.

A soft-hearted shop owner might agree to sponsor after just a few sweet words from a girl like her.

But if you sent over some big, burly guy, they might not even look at him.

Xu Youyu wasn't a fool—she saw where Li Luo's eyes lingered and knew exactly what he meant, so she rolled her eyes at him.

She didn't mind these advantages; her looks were innate, and even without deliberate use, they naturally granted her benefits.

On this front, Xu Youyu was pragmatic: she accepted these advantages openly but never took them for granted.

She preferred earning what she wanted through her own abilities.

Like writing Online Novels.

"Uncle, we're off now—I need to check on my class assistant at the teaching building," Xu Youyu said, removing her apron and gloves, then coming to Li Luo to take off his too.

"Oh, take these few cups," Lin Xiu pointed to the extra milk teas beside them. "Bring them to your roommates."

"Got it, thanks, Uncle!" Xu Youyu packed the milk teas into a bag, waved at Li Luo, and signaled him to follow.

Li Luo waved goodbye to his uncle and followed Xu Youyu's steps.

Entering Qianjiang University through the west gate, the two walked toward the Literature Department's teaching building, where department recruitment was underway.

Along the way, Li Luo occasionally sipped from Xu Youyu's milk tea and asked: "Why join the External Relations Department? Don't you still have to write Online Novels?"

"Writing doesn't conflict with college life," Xu Youyu said, slipping her hand into Li Luo's palm, savoring the evening breeze along the campus path. "Now that we're in college, you've got to join a department and experience it."

"I figured, since I write novels, I'll inevitably need to portray all kinds of characters—so interacting with more people of different personalities and backgrounds can only help."

"I realized this problem while writing my last book—there were many characters on paper, but very few truly came alive."

"Of course, most Online Novels have this flaw—but I want to try harder, so my next book lets readers remember a few more vivid characters."

In this regard, Li Luo still supports Xu Youyu quite a bit.

Compared to Xu Youyu, Li Luo's ability in this area is somewhat weaker.

However, after his rebirth, with the help of the Memory Palace and the conditioning from I Am Really Not a Star, Li Luo's current skill level is actually not bad.

Especially after writing Little Joy, even though it was based on the TV drama plot in his mind, every word was his own careful crafting—effectively a form of training.

If Li Luo were willing to put in real effort now, his skill wouldn't be lacking at all.

"By the way," Xu Youyu said after explaining her plans, turning to look at Li Luo with curiosity, "are you really planning to drag out this book until the end of time? Don't you have any ideas for a new one?"

"Ideas? Well… I've got plenty." Li Luo thought for a moment, and countless golden concepts, tested by the post-rebirth market, surfaced in his mind.

If he were to write them, he couldn't perfectly replicate them, since he hadn't read some of those books—or had only skimmed the first few dozen chapters during trend-chasing.

But borrowing their ideas and concepts? That's no problem at all.

"What kind of ideas?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

Earlier, when she mentioned wanting to try apocalyptic themes, he'd recommended the unconventional concept of Spiritual Qi Revival.

Now, hearing he had even more ideas, Xu Youyu's appetite was instantly whetted.

"Just some interesting power systems," Li Luo smiled. "For example, collecting negative emotions—when others generate negativity, you gain benefits."

"Or the chat group model that's already being written, but adapted to xianxia-style otherworldly settings."

"Or an urban system that backfires— the more you lose money, the more you gain."

"Or start with the protagonist's personality: design one unlike typical online novel heroes—calm, cautious, willing to retreat when possible, and always avoiding danger."

Xu Youyu's eyes grew brighter with every word, her curiosity itching, until she couldn't help saying, "Then why don't you write them?"

"Ideas are just ideas," Li Luo shrugged with a smile. "I might not be able to use them well."

Seeing his attitude, Xu Youyu clicked her tongue. "Have a little more confidence, okay? I'm already sick of this book of yours."

"After all, it's five million words already," Li Luo chuckled, then paused, thinking of something. "Actually, writing a new book isn't out of the question."

"Really?" Xu Youyu's face lit up with anticipation. "You said that!"

"Cough… but let's take it slow," Li Luo said, struck by a sudden idea.

Mainly because since starting Gao San, he's different from other Gao San students.

First, his target university isn't Tsinghua or Peking—just Qianjiang University. With his current level, even if he didn't study for a year, he'd still get in easily.

Second, he has the Memory Palace. He's already planned out most of the plot for I Am Really Not a Star. Writing four thousand words a day, as he does now, takes maybe an hour.

This means that although Li Luo is about to enter Gao San, he's still extremely free.

As for the third point, Li Luo realized his current income and savings mean he'll never have to worry about food or shelter for the rest of his life.

If that's the case, trying something he finds interesting—even slightly challenging—isn't a bad idea.

In his past life, writing Online Novels and producing Short Dramas was because he genuinely enjoyed storytelling.

If that's true, why not give it a try?

Just for fun.

"Let's wait until I sign the Platinum contract at year-end," Li Luo thought, then said, "I signed an exclusive contract with Wen Yue and got back part of my film and TV rights—we'll co-develop them now."

"Also, if I write another Short Drama like Little Joy in the future, and Uncle Ying can directly buy it, I won't need to go through Qidian."

"But they do have some requirements—like continuing to write new books during the contract period."

"The contract is five years. I wasn't in a hurry, but if you want to read it, writing a new book sooner isn't impossible."

After hearing Li Luo, Xu Youyu nodded vigorously and grinned. "Then I'll be eagerly waiting!"

The two chatted idly all the way until they reached the teaching building for club recruitment.

The first and second floors were filled with freshmen in military training uniforms; classrooms held upperclassmen in casual clothes.

Xu Youyu sent a message to her roommate, waited for her at the door, and handed out the bubble tea she'd brought.

Song Yu, who always followed Jiang Feiya, spotted Li Luo and happily greeted him: "Senior Li Luo!"

From Song Yu's expression, the earlier bubble tea gesture must have had some effect.

Though it was unclear what benefit she'd gained from Jiang Feiya.

Thinking this, Li Luo turned his gaze to Xu Youyu's other roommates, nodding and greeting each one.

Zhao Letian and the others were still waiting for club interviews and soon left.

Xu Youyu was heading to the External Relations Department to find a senior, and Jiang Feiya was called over by a senior for an interview—leaving only Li Luo and Song Yu in the hallway.

"I really owe you thanks for your bubble tea strategy, Senior," Song Yu beamed, thanking him.

"Was it really useful?" Li Luo asked curiously.

"Of course it was!" Song Yu couldn't help tilting her chin up proudly. "Xiaoya agreed that after military training, the first weekend, she'll go on a date with me!"

"Just the two of you?"

"Of course not," Song Yu shook her head seriously. "Her high school best friend will come too—but this is still a huge step forward!"

Li Luo: "..."

Is this even a date?

Then what would you call the times I go shopping with three girls?

(End of Chapter)