Chapter 539: Imperial Massage Therapist

I wonder if it was just to show Xu Youyu that she also had guys chasing after her.

Jiang Feiya approved Song Yu's request to join the table for meals.

After receiving Jiang Feiya's approval, Song Yu happily punched the air, then couldn't help glancing at Li Luo and thanking him: "Senior, you're my lucky star! Every time you're around, I make breakthrough progress!"

Li Luo: "... Don't say more, go eat something yourself. By the way, did you have lunch?"

"Nope." Song Yu scratched his head. "Military training was so exhausting, I went back to the dorm, took a shower, and passed out for a nap. I just woke up a little while ago."

"Then eat more, don't be polite." Li Luo pushed the guy's shoulder toward the table.

This poor kid was too deeply poisoned; Li Luo had no solution.

Thinking about it, my good buddy Zhao Rongjun still has hope.

And whether it's Qiao Xinyan or Xu Yinghuan, they're at least much more reliable than Xu Youyu's roommate.

Back at their seats, Li Luo invited Song Yu to sit down and told him to sit beside Jiang Feiya.

Zhao Letian just ate meat and didn't mind an extra person; Xie Xiuying had no objections either, only burying her head in her vegetables.

Only when Zhao Letian or Xu Youyu handed her meat did she whisper a thank-you, then put the meat in her mouth and chew for a long time.

After lunch, Li Luo took Xu Youyu out of the restaurant and, with several roommates, walked back to the dormitory complex entrance along Ningshan Avenue.

But today was Sunday; classes wouldn't officially start until tomorrow, so Xu Youyu had no intention of returning directly to the dorm.

After saying goodbye to her roommates at the dormitory complex entrance, Xu Youyu followed Li Luo back to Bihai Lanting. As soon as they got home, she flopped onto her bed and let out a contented groan.

"I didn't ask at lunch—how's your new book coming along?" Li Luo walked into Xu Youyu's room, crossed his arms, and leaned against the doorway, staring at the plump, lifeless fish on the bed. "You should be ready to upload in the next couple of days?"

"Yeah, I already told Qianzhou." Xu Youyu buried her head in the pillow, her voice muffled. "I'll release the book this Friday."

"Is the opening finalized?" Li Luo asked again.

"The fifth version I sent you before." Xu Youyu turned her head to look at Li Luo. "You said the pacing was too slow, but I still like writing this way. I revised the sixth and seventh versions according to your suggestions—the pacing did get much faster, but it lost the flavor I wanted."

"It's fine, stick with the fifth version." Li Luo shook his head with a smile. "It's your book—your own feeling matters most."

In his past life, Li Luo had read Xu Youyu's "Gu Dao Changqing." Honestly, he'd read the opening of that book many times.

For Li Luo personally, as a reader who prefers tight pacing, if the opening is too slow, he easily loses interest.

But Li Luo also knew that authors like Xu Youyu, who prioritize plot texture and buildup, rarely accept jumping straight into a chain of satisfying moments.

How to put it.

The advantage of Xu Youyu's style is that the reputation will be excellent, but the performance may not be better.

Most readers' aesthetic standards are limited; books emphasizing buildup and plot texture are naturally higher quality, but impatient readers won't bother investing their time to immerse themselves.

In the paper book era, books were limited by production capacity—the absolute number wasn't large.

Good books were even rarer.

But in the information age, the internet caused a flood of novels.

For readers, the problem isn't lack of books to read—it's that there are too many, causing countless mediocre works to hog traffic, making finding good books like panning gold from a mountain of shit.

Simply put, a good book alone isn't enough.

If a book's quality is good enough, seventy out of a hundred readers will stay.

But if only a thousand readers see your book on the site in a month, you'll only have seven hundred readers.

Another book has average quality—only thirty out of a hundred readers stay—but it gets ten thousand views in a month.

Then it can have thirty thousand readers.

It's simple math.

The website's new book PK system isn't flawless.

Books like Xu Youyu's, which are slow to warm up, are inherently disadvantaged.

Books that gain new book exposure through gimmicks and early chains of satisfying moments rarely make it to a million words—or even if they do, the plot collapses early.

But since Xu Youyu dislikes that model, Li Luo won't force her.

After all, Xu Youyu isn't a new author; she has a fanbase built from her previous book, and with Li Luo's help, her new book period won't be too disadvantaged.

"I think the spiritual energy revival theme you gave me already has enough appeal."

Xu Youyu lay on the bed, speaking with confidence. "Those books that rely on gimmicks in the opening? I think they're far less attractive than your worldbuilding design."

"This kind of appeal needs to gradually unfold through the writing." Li Luo shook his head with a wry smile, but said no more. "Anyway, you've decided—now focus on stockpiling drafts."

"Ahh~ Don't talk to me about writing!" Xu Youyu groaned at the mention of stockpiling. "I just finished military training—I haven't even recovered yet!"

"There are only five days until Friday." Li Luo walked from the doorway to the bedside, raised his hand, and slapped the girl's firm butt. "At least write four thousand words a day—by release day, with your opening already written, you'll have around thirty thousand words in reserve."

"You're so annoying." Xu Youyu turned her head away, huffing in protest.

The next second, she felt weight settle on her waist. Turning her head, she realized Li Luo had literally climbed onto her.

"W-what are you doing?"

"You're tired, right? Let me give you a massage." As he spoke, Li Luo had already placed his hands on Xu Youyu's shoulders and began gently kneading.

"Mmm..." The massage felt wonderful; Xu Youyu lay face-down on the bed, letting out soft sighs, closing her eyes to savor it.

But after a while, Xu Youyu opened her eyes, rolled them around a few times, then turned her head and said: "Stop."

"What's wrong?"

"This way feels uncomfortable."

"How can it be uncomfortable? You were moaning just now!"

"Ugh, you talk too much." Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then said, "Get off first. I'll take off my shirt, then you can massage me—through clothes it's uncomfortable."

Li Luo: "..."

Li Luo had nothing to say. He immediately got off her, watching as she removed her top and lay back down.

Now Xu Youyu's upper body wore only a small piece of clothing, but in this context, it wasn't really small—even lying face-down, its size was clearly visible from the side.

Li Luo stood by the bed, unavoidably glancing twice more. When he looked up, he met Xu Youyu's half-smiling, knowing gaze—and immediately coughed, rubbing his nose to hide his embarrassment.

"Then I'm coming?"

"Come on." Xu Youyu winked at him. "You've seen me in a swimsuit before."

"How's that the same?"

"How isn't it the same?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Just because a swimsuit is meant for swimming, it's somehow better than this?"

That was actually true.

So why is it fine to wear little when swimming, but not otherwise?

Li Luo pondered this question, returned to the bed, sat on Xu Youyu's waist, and resumed massaging her.

"My neck hurts too." Xu Youyu hummed in pleasure, directing Li Luo. "Go lower, massage along the spine more—mm~ so good~"

Xu Youyu rarely exercised, and after half a month of military training, her body was truly exhausted.

Especially since she spent long hours typing at her computer, she always had some stiffness in her neck and back.

It wasn't obvious now, being young, but if she kept sitting for hours into her twenties and thirties, all sorts of little problems would surface.

In his past life, Li Luo often massaged Xu Youyu's neck and knew exactly where she felt the best.

Now he applied all those techniques, and Xu Youyu immediately sank into the blissful massage.

But the thin straps across her back were annoying, so she flipped her right hand behind her, hooked a finger, and undid them.

The straps instantly split apart, limp against Xu Youyu's fair, jade-like back, making Li Luo freeze for a moment.

"Wait… what are you doing?"

"It's more convenient this way." Xu Youyu shifted slightly, and the straps slid down her sides.

Thus, her entire slender, snow-white back was fully exposed before Li Luo.

"What are you staring at?" Xu Youyu whispered, and Li Luo snapped out of it, silently extending his hands.

As his palms traced down her spine, passing over the small patch of skin previously covered, Xu Youyu let out a soft hum.

Faint marks from the straps still lingered; Li Luo, as if compelled, rubbed them longer, and the marks faded quickly.

Compared to her own hands, Li Luo's were noticeably rougher, larger, and warmer, radiating heat against her back.

Xu Youyu's cheeks flushed slightly; countless novel scenes she'd read flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help shifting her legs.

But Li Luo's hands were perfectly respectful, not sneaking a touch anywhere else.

After about twenty minutes of massage, Li Luo stopped and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Mm~" Xu Youyu hummed, lifting her hips slightly. "Do my legs too? I've been standing all day in training—it's exhausting."

"Alright."

"Wait." Xu Youyu saw Li Luo rolling off, so she lifted her hips slightly, keeping her upper body pressed flat to the bed, and reached behind to pull her jeans down partway. "You take it from here."

If she tried to remove her jeans completely by herself, her upper body would inevitably lift.

Although Li Luo really wanted to see, Xu Youyu wasn't that open yet—her cheeks were already blazing red, and she didn't dare look at Li Luo.

So the rest of the task fell to Li Luo's hands.

He placed the removed jeans aside and looked down.

Long hair spilled, a jade body laid bare.

Only the red item he had personally picked out at noon remained.

He sat quietly on Xu Youyu's waist, this time facing away from her head, his hands resting on her smooth, delicate thighs.

…

After returning from their summer trip to Chongqing, Yuan Wanqing had enrolled Yan Zhusheng in a private music tutoring class.

So Yan Zhusheng went out for lessons in the morning, returned home only after eating lunch at her teacher's place.

Around one in the afternoon, Yan Zhusheng returned to Bihai Lanting, glanced at the shoes by the door, and immediately knew Li Luo and Xu Youyu were home.

But no one was in the living room or kitchen.

Looking down the hallway toward Li Luo's master bedroom, the desk chair was empty.

So Yan Zhusheng turned her gaze to Xu Youyu's room.

Since no one had been home earlier, and Li Luo had originally entered just to talk about her new novel,

the door had remained open.

Yan Zhusheng walked straight to Xu Youyu's bedroom door and saw the scene inside—her eyes narrowed.

"Sister, what are you and Li Luo doing?"

At the sound of Yan Zhusheng's voice, Li Luo jumped—but when he realized it was Zhusheng, not Chanxi, he exhaled slightly.

"Nothing much." Xu Youyu's face was flushed, but having faced a gun with Yan Zhusheng before, she didn't mind being seen. "Military training killed me—Li Luo's giving me a massage."

"Why take off your clothes for a massage?" Yan Zhusheng stepped into the room, glanced at Xu Youyu's fair back and legs, and asked seriously.

"It's uncomfortable through clothes." Xu Youyu said, then turned her head. "Don't stop."

"Oh, okay." Seeing Yan Zhusheng wasn't reacting strongly, Li Luo refocused on Xu Youyu's calves, gently kneading.

Yan Zhusheng watched this, then walked to the foot of the bed, staring at Li Luo.

Li Luo felt uneasy under her gaze and couldn't help asking, "Why are you standing there?"

"I'm tired too—from practicing piano." Yan Zhusheng held out her hands. "Give me a massage too."

"Sure, I'll massage you after I finish with her." Li Luo nodded, then sighed inwardly.

After taking on the role of Tony's assistant, he'd now become their official masseur.

But as Li Luo agreed, Yan Zhusheng quietly tugged at her shirt hem, pulled off her short-sleeved top, and moved to unbutton her pants—Li Luo's eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing?!"

"For the massage." Yan Zhusheng said seriously.

"You only have tired hands from playing piano—why take off your clothes?"

"It's uncomfortable through clothes." Yan Zhusheng replied honestly.

"You're not even wearing your clothes on your hands!" Li Luo stared in exasperation, thinking, Don't you even check the assignment when you copy homework?

"I don't care." Yan Zhusheng took off his pants, mimicked Xu Youyu's posture, and flopped onto the bed.

Looking at the two beauties sprawled on the bed, Li Luo fell into deep thought.

Just then, Li Luo's phone vibrated.

He pulled out his phone and saw it was Ying Chanxi, who was still at school, calling.

"Hello? What's up?"