Chapter 537: Aren

September 4th, Sunday morning.

Today is the opening day for Gao Er and Gao San at Fu No. 1 High School; students just need to report to school before 9 a. m.

Still, Li Luo and the other two woke up early from their beds.

Opening his eyes to the ceiling above, Li Luo stretched awkwardly under the covers, then glanced left and right.

Hmm… Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng were both on his bed, but he couldn't cuddle either of them.

Last night, those two girls insisted on coming over to watch a movie with him, and fell asleep halfway through.

Originally, Yan Zhusheng had been sleeping on his right side, but Ying Chanxi always stole the blankets after falling asleep, and with Xu Youyu absent to keep order, Yan Zhusheng's side of the blankets was always pulled away.

In the middle of the night, Yan Zhusheng had no choice but to crawl over Li Luo to Ying Chanxi's side, and together with Li Luo, they pinned her down, finally allowing them all to sleep peacefully.

Now that Li Luo had woken up, he turned to look at Ying Chanxi on his left, smiling as he reached out and pinched her soft cheek.

Seeing Ying Chanxi slightly frown, Li Luo let go, propped himself up, then turned to Yan Zhusheng on the other side, who was sleeping peacefully, and pinched her cheek too.

Both girls woke up from his pinching.

Yan Zhusheng opened her eyes immediately, turning her head to look at Ying Chanxi and Li Luo.

Ying Chanxi, however, struggled for a long time under the covers, mumbling and whining softly, before Li Luo finally dragged her out of bed.

The three of them quickly washed up, changed into their uniforms, and slung their backpacks on.

As Li Luo passed by Xu Youyu's bedroom door, he still felt a bit dazed; although Xu Youyu had already begun her university military training over a week ago, he still felt slightly unsettled.

At this time normally, he would walk into Xu Youyu's bedroom and wake her up in some amusing way, reminding her not to be late for school.

Xu Youyu had a bad temper when waking up; after being roused, she often rolled around in bed, whining and yelling at him to get out.

But sometimes, when she was in the mood, she'd suddenly launch into an ambiguous roleplay.

Now, mornings felt incomplete without that routine.

Thinking this, Li Luo descended the stairs with Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, ate breakfast at a stall by the gated community entrance, then arrived early at Fu No. 1 High School.

After completing the daily morning run on the playground, the three headed to the Gao San teaching building and entered their new classroom for the semester.

Class 8, Gao San.

Time flew by; before they knew it, they were in Gao San.

Ying Chanxi walked into the classroom beside Li Luo and glanced out at the sky beyond the corridor.

Two years ago, standing at the classroom door, she could see the school gate and the dormitory complex across the road.

Now, the view was blocked by two teaching buildings.

Fu No. 1 High School had three teaching buildings total; the Gao San building was the innermost one, and also the closest to the cafeteria.

Moreover, the schedule for Gao San differed slightly from the others.

For example, lunch and dinner breaks ended about twenty minutes earlier than for Gao Er and Gao Yi.

It was only seven a. m. now, and the campus was nearly empty.

The Gao Yi freshmen were still at the Yinjiang District military base, participating in the final day of military training; they wouldn't return until the afternoon.

The Gao Er and Gao San students reporting for school mostly wouldn't arrive until after eight a. m.

Of course, a few especially early arrivals had already come—even earlier than Li Luo and the others.

"What are you two doing?" Li Luo walked into the classroom and saw Fang Chen and Lin Yuan sitting side by side, furiously writing on their desks.

Getting closer, Li Luo chuckled: "Didn't finish your summer homework yet?"

"Class monitor?" Fang Chen spotted Li Luo's face and lit up, exclaiming loudly, "Class Monitor my lord! You're here just in time! Save me! Did you finish the English test?"

Li Luo sighed helplessly, walked to his seat, and pulled a stack of test papers from his backpack.

Fang Chen had already jumped up and followed behind Li Luo, smiling and accepting the papers with both hands, thanking him before rushing back to his seat to create a miracle.

Watching the determined backs of Fang Chen and Lin Yuan, Li Luo sat down, his expression filled with nostalgia.

In his past life, he never would have imagined he'd one day become the academic top student others copied homework from.

Ying Chanxi was already used to this last-minute cramming by Fang Chen and Lin Yuan.

In fact, this scene stirred a sense of nostalgia in her, and she couldn't help saying to Li Luo: "You did the same in middle school—waiting until the day before school started to come begging me for homework to copy, pulling an all-nighter every time."

Yan Zhusheng beside them blinked, turned her head, and looked curious.

After all, in her memory, the Li Luo she met in high school had always been an outstanding student.

She never expected he'd copied homework in middle school.

Probably noticing Yan Zhusheng's gaze, Ying Chanxi suddenly felt a sense of superiority and proudly puffed out her small chest, continuing:

"Every holiday you swore you'd do your homework properly, then slacked off after a few days."

"By the time half the break was over, I'd already finished mine, and even reminded you—but you ignored me, always saying you had plenty of time."

"Then, with only a few days left, you grew even lazier, only moving at the very last minute."

Li Luo listened as Ying Chanxi recounted these memories, a wry smile on his face, the words stirring recollections.

"But you always gave me your homework to copy," Li Luo said with a grin. "Every holiday, you swore you'd never let me copy, yet you always did."

"How can you even say that?" Ying Chanxi blushed slightly, then glared at him. "You've always had a thick skin—shameless."

The two bickered for a few more moments, while Yan Zhusheng sat quietly beside them, unable to interject.

Soon, however, Ying Chanxi checked the time and stood up: "I need to go to the Student Union to prepare for the opening day arrangements."

"Go ahead—I won't come with you," Li Luo also stood, stretching. "The Xiao Huanxi cast will be arriving soon to set up and shoot some small scenes in advance."

"Tomorrow morning's opening ceremony will involve a larger scene to film."

"I need to supervise the crew—hope nothing goes wrong."

"I see," Ying Chanxi nodded. She'd originally hoped Li Luo would accompany her to the Student Union, but now…

Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes casually and asked: "Will everyone from the crew be coming?"

"Yeah, everyone."

"Then…" Ying Chanxi's gaze landed on Yan Zhusheng.

The next moment, Yan Zhusheng stood up and looked at Li Luo: "I want to visit the set too. I'll go with you later."

…

The morning registration for Gao Er and Gao San went smoothly; by nine o'clock, all students from Class 8 of Gao San had arrived.

Li Luo, who had already informed their homeroom teacher Kong Junxiang, delegated all tasks normally handled by the class monitor to Ying Chanxi, who had just finished her student union duties.

Li Luo then took Yan Zhusheng to the set of "Little Joy."

The vice principal of Fuyi High School personally received the production team; Li Luo served as the bridge between both sides, and communication went pleasantly.

Most cooperation details had already been settled beforehand; now it was merely a matter of concrete implementation.

For the filming, the classroom scenes were set in an empty classroom on the top floor of the Gao Yi teaching building.

Daily hallway scenes after class could also be filmed inside the Gao Yi teaching building without significantly disrupting students' lessons.

If efficiency is high, the campus scenes could be shot 70–80% within just a few days.

"Uh… is your sister also studying here?"

On the set, Ruan Lin followed the director to Fuyi High School and spotted Li Luo from afar, which made her happy.

But her expression immediately drooped; after Li Luo finished his conversation, she approached him, glancing at Yan Zhusheng and asking curiously.

"We're in the same class," Li Luo coughed. "And we're desk partners."

Ruan Lin: "…"

Originally, Ruan Lin had assumed that the girl Li Luo claimed was his sister—especially one who sang so well—probably didn't have great grades and didn't attend Fuyi High School at all.

And since she was his sister, she should be at least one or two years younger, right?

How could she be in the same school, same class, and even sit next to him?

Still, Ruan Lin had grown accustomed to the fact that whenever Li Luo came to the set, a beautiful girl always accompanied him.

She wasn't particularly discouraged; instead, she asked Li Luo: "Can I eat lunch in your cafeteria?"

"Sure, I guess," Li Luo nodded. "But doesn't the production team provide boxed meals?"

"Oh come on, experiencing your school life will help me get into character faster while filming!"

Hearing this, Li Luo didn't mind, but he still waved to several other young actors playing student roles and invited them to join him for lunch at the cafeteria.

He would treat them.

…

Okay.

Actually, it wasn't Li Luo treating them.

At lunch, Li Luo stood before the card reader, watching Ying Chanxi pull out her meal card and swipe it to pay for the young actors who had come to the cafeteria; he awkwardly scratched his head.

After not eating in the cafeteria for a summer break, Li Luo had almost forgotten.

Ever since he handed over the rent payments from Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng to Ying Chanxi to manage, he had never recharged his own meal card.

Ying Chanxi had used the rent money to recharge the card and always bought meals for both of them using her own card.

Just now, when Li Luo swiped his own card, he discovered it had only 1.2 yuan left.

Ruan Lin took her tray from the cafeteria lady and glanced at Ying Chanxi swiping the card for Li Luo; her expression grew slightly complicated.

So both your sisters are in the same class as you?

Is your family running the Ministry of Education? You've got connections everywhere—everything's arranged so perfectly!

With Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng as his two guardian generals, Ruan Lin couldn't even squeeze into a seat beside Li Luo; she switched tactics and sat with the other students from Class 8 of Gao San.

Upon learning that Ruan Lin portrayed Qiao Yingzi in "Little Joy," the students of Class 8 became intensely interested in her.

After all, she was Li Luo's classmate; "I Am Really Not a Star" was over five million words—many hadn't even finished reading it.

But "Little Joy," a short novel set in high school, most people had actually read.

In this context, with Ruan Lin having no airs, she quickly bonded with the Class 8 students and gathered plenty of information about Li Luo.

She learned that not only did Li Luo write novels well and compose songs skillfully, but he was also a member of the rock club and played guitar beautifully.

He had good athletic ability and had won medals at the school sports meet.

His academic performance was also exceptionally outstanding—he had consistently ranked second in the grade.

Listening to the Class 8 students describe Li Luo over lunch, Ruan Lin's eyes sparkled brighter and brighter; she felt Li Luo was like a treasure trove.

Every time she thought she understood him a little, she discovered yet another unexplored side.

Ruan Lin knew well that while writing "Little Joy," Li Luo had also maintained steady updates for "I Am Really Not a Star."

Under such circumstances, he still occasionally composed songs and supervised the "Little Joy" set.

And now you tell me Li Luo is second in his grade?

Before coming to Fuyi High School, Ruan Lin had briefly researched the school's academic standing.

Although among the entire province, Fuyi High School might not be among the absolute top tier,

it still ranked within the top five in Yuhang City.

Each year, it consistently sent a handful of students to Tsinghua and Peking University, and continued to send at least seventy to eighty students to Qianjiang University.

As a provincial key high school, this level of achievement was impressive.

And within such a school, Li Luo, after handling all those other tasks, still managed to rank second in the grade…

To be honest, Li Luo's efficiency and energy were downright terrifying.

But this only made him more attractive to Ruan Lin.

After listening to the Class 8 students' stories over lunch, she couldn't help turning to look at Li Luo not far away.

Her gaze landed on his profile, and she thought he looked incredibly handsome.

But the next second, Ruan Lin saw Li Luo pick up a piece of pork rib from his own tray and place it into Yan Zhusheng's dish, then take a piece of braised pork from Ying Chanxi's tray and put it into his own.

They are all just Li Luo's sisters.

Ruan Lin whispered this silently to herself.

But she wasn't truly foolish; when the meal was nearly finished, she couldn't help whispering to the other students:

"Li Luo is so outstanding—surely many girls in your school like him, right?"

"Of course," chuckled Zhang Guohuang, who boasted himself as the know-it-all of Fu Yi High School, adjusting his round glasses and saying to Ruan Lin, "but most girls still have enough self-awareness."

"What do you mean?" Ruan Lin furrowed her brow slightly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Zhang Guohuang pointed toward Li Luo's direction. "Look at the two girls beside him—the answer is clear, isn't it?"

"Aren't those two his sisters?"

Zhu Yufei burst out laughing upon hearing this.

The others looked at her with strange expressions.

Especially Liu Shaowen, who had been sitting in the corner eavesdropping all along—he twitched his eyelid, clenched his fists silently, and gave Ruan Lin a look of utter disbelief mixed with pity.

They say they're his sisters, and you actually believe it?

How stupid can this person be?

(End of Chapter)