Chapter 552

On the evening of October 7, Xu Youyu was typing in her bedroom at Bihai Lanting.

When the alarm rang at five p. m., she stopped what she was doing and checked her phone messages.

Seeing the message Li Luo had sent five minutes earlier, Xu Youyu smiled, leaned back in her chair, stretched out with a long yawn, and soon heard the sound of the door opening.

Today was the last day of National Day holiday; since she had no classes, Xu Youyu had been sleeping at Bihai Lanting these past few days.

After finishing her writing in the afternoon, Li Luo had arrived, and they were preparing to go to the restaurant where Song Yu was treating them to dinner.

"Hurry up and change your clothes," Xu Youyu said, stepping out of the bedroom and seeing Li Luo dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform.

She swung a set of car keys by her index finger, humming a cheerful tune, while pushing Li Luo gently toward his bedroom with her other hand.

"You're driving?" Li Luo glanced at the BMW key in her hand and raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that car at my mom's?"

"I asked Lin Yi for it," Xu Youyu said. "Song Yu booked the restaurant south of Ningshan—we definitely need to drive there. It's rare we get to go out, so I'm definitely taking my own car."

"Hmph." Li Luo smiled, walked into the bedroom, and nodded in agreement. "You really do love driving."

"Hmph." Xu Youyu walked to Li Luo's wardrobe, opened it, and began picking out clothes for him. "Take off that school uniform right now."

"Actually, I could just wear it," Li Luo said with a grin. "Let them all see how Youyu-jie is gobbling up the young grass—even a Gao Zhongsheng isn't safe."

"Shut up!" Xu Youyu glared at him, pulled out the clothes she'd picked, then stepped right up to Li Luo and started yanking off his uniform.

"Hey hey hey!" Li Luo stepped back quickly. "I can do it myself—just go wait outside."

"What's the big deal? I've seen it before," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "I've even touched it."

Li Luo was momentarily speechless: "... Then don't touch me. I'll change myself."

Right in front of Xu Youyu, Li Luo quickly stripped off his uniform and put on the outfit she'd chosen.

After both were ready, they left Li Luo's bedroom and went to the entrance to put on their shoes.

As they slipped on their shoes, Xu Youyu asked with a smile: "So how did you explain to Chanxi and Zhusheng that you were skipping out?"

"I said I met a senior at Qianjiang University who got along well with me, and he invited me to dinner, so I'm going out and will return for evening self-study," Li Luo said with an innocent expression. "Everything I said was true."

"Yes yes yes, all true," Xu Youyu chuckled. "Then why didn't you say you were coming as my boyfriend?"

"You know why," Li Luo rolled his eyes, then took Xu Youyu's hand and walked with her into the elevator.

Xu Youyu, delighted to be holding Li Luo's hand, pulled out her car key once they stepped out of the elevator and pressed it outside the building; the red BMW beside the road flashed its lights in response.

"Come on, get in!" Xu Youyu hadn't driven her beloved car in over a month; today, finally using it again, she felt a little excited.

Li Luo sat in the passenger seat, watching Xu Youyu settle into the driver's seat, fiddling here and there, adjusting the seat height and distance, and couldn't help laughing. "Is it really this complicated?"

"You wouldn't understand," Xu Youyu glanced at him, then said softly, "It's my car, but my mom and Lin Yi have driven it—so the seat settings aren't right for me. Of course I need to re-tune it. Don't you agree?"

Li Luo: "..."

Li Luo had the strange feeling that Youyu-jie meant something deeper—he couldn't think of a reply.

The car started.

As Xu Youyu drove the BMW toward the southern gate of Qianjiang University, she continued talking to Li Luo: "Aunt Yuan is going to hold a concert in Yuhang City too, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Li Luo nodded. "Next month, the 17th and 18th."

"Oh?" Xu Youyu nodded thoughtfully, glancing at Li Luo while waiting at a traffic light. "Do you remember my roommate? Xie Xiuying?"

"Mm, of course."

"She loves two of Aunt Yuan's songs. I was thinking—why not invite her to the concert with us?" Xu Youyu suggested. "What day of the week is the 17th again?"

"Monday."

"Perfect—we don't have evening classes."

"Sure," Li Luo smiled. "Easy. Just ask Aunt Yuan for a few tickets."

"Can we not get front-row inner-circle tickets?" Xu Youyu thought for a moment. "Just regular seats are fine."

"Aren't front-row seats better?" Li Luo asked, puzzled.

"I'm afraid she'll feel too much of a burden and refuse to go," Xu Youyu said.

"Just say they're free," Li Luo tapped his chin. "Hmm... say they were given to my uncle, but he can't go, so he passed them to me."

"Does your uncle even know about this?" Xu Youyu covered her mouth and laughed.

"It's a white lie," Li Luo said with a grin. "My uncle wouldn't mind."

As they chatted along the way, Xu Youyu soon arrived at the southern gate and picked up Xie Xiuying and Zhao Letian, who were waiting.

"You're driving?" Zhao Letian exclaimed in surprise when she saw Xu Youyu behind the wheel.

But she didn't ask about the car's origin—during military training, she'd already seen Li Luo's mother pick up Xu Youyu in this same car.

Naturally, both Zhao Letian and Xie Xiuying assumed the BMW belonged to Lin Xiuhong.

Now that Xu Youyu was driving it, it was obvious: Li Luo's mother had clearly accepted Xu Youyu as her daughter-in-law.

She even let Xu Youyu drive it whenever she wanted.

These two families were so close—it wouldn't be strange to say Li Luo and Xu Youyu were already engaged.

"Of course I'm the one driving to pick you up," Xu Youyu grinned. "Shall we go?"

Saying that, Xu Youyu started the car and drove toward the restaurant location Jiang Feiya had sent her.

On the way, Xu Youyu mentioned the concert; Xie Xiuying initially tried to politely decline.

But when she heard the tickets were free and would otherwise go to waste, she finally nodded happily. After about fifteen minutes, Xu Youyu parked by the roadside, and the four of them got out and walked to the entrance of the restaurant Song Yu had booked.

The restaurant had a retro interior, elegant in style, but reasonably priced—not too expensive, perfect for Song Yu, who was tight on cash.

The four entered the private room and saw Song Yu and Jiang Feiya already waiting.

"You're here?" Jiang Feiya smiled as her roommates and Li Luo walked in, handing over the menu. "I've already ordered some dishes—check if you want anything else."

At this, Song Yu's expression twisted slightly with pain, but he said nothing.

Even Zhao Letian, usually the least polite about ordering food, glanced at the menu and didn't add anything.

After circling the menu once and returning it, Song Yu let out a sigh of relief, then handed it to the server with a wave: "Bring the dishes."

After everyone was seated, Jiang Feiya began chatting casually with her three roommates.

Li Luo sat beside Song Yu, seeing he couldn't join Jiang Feiya's conversation, he asked proactively: "What did you do for National Day?"

"Nothing much, just went home for a bit," Song Yu shook his head, then raised an eyebrow, "but I went to a high school reunion with Xiao Ya."

No error in content at all!

"You don't know—only Xiao Ya and I from our class got into Qianjiang University."

"Some guys who used to have a crush on Xiao Ya are totally jealous of me."

Li Luo: "..."

Watching Song Yu's face light up like this, Li Luo couldn't see what was so admirable.

Song Yu didn't notice the pity in Li Luo's eyes and asked back: "What did you do for National Day, Senior?"

"I traveled to Jingzhao City with Youyu for a few days," Li Luo took a sip of his drink and said simply, "came back on the 4th; the rest of the days were quiet."

"Traveling..." Song Yu's face lit up with envy at this, then he sighed regretfully, "Too bad, besides the reunion, I didn't get a single private date with Xiao Ya during National Day, let alone travel together."

As they chatted over dinner, the waiters soon began serving the dishes.

Everyone ate and talked; Li Luo mostly stayed silent, listening quietly.

Occasionally Song Yu struck up small talk with him, and then he'd say a few words; otherwise, he spent his time serving Youyu food or letting Youyu feed him.

Just as the meal neared its end, Jiang Feiya checked her phone, glanced at Song Yu and Li Luo, cleared her throat twice, and suddenly said: "Do you know Yuan Wanqing is coming to give a concert here?"

"Of course I do!" Zhao Letian suddenly remembered Li Luo had offered to take them to the concert.

Now that Jiang Feiya reminded him, he was just about to tell her.

But Jiang Feiya shook her phone and continued: "I heard it's the third Monday next month—the head of the External Relations Department told me."

"He said he just happened to have two tickets to Yuan Wanqing's concert and asked if I wanted to go with him."

"I really like Yuan Wanqing's songs—I'm thinking about going."

This kind of thing might be fine to say in the dorm with roommates.

But right now, Song Yu is treating us to dinner—saying this in front of someone who's pursuing you is a bit too much.

Hearing this, Li Luo frowned, glanced at Song Yu beside him, saw his fists clenched but his mouth shut tight, and sighed helplessly.

Brother, look closely—she's stringing you along, enjoying your pursuit while still flirting with other guys.

But after clenching and unclenching his fists, Song Yu forced a smile: "No need to go with your department head—we can buy our own tickets."

"He said these are inner-circle tickets—they're super expensive," Jiang Feiya glanced at Song Yu, clearly enjoying how this guy struggled for her, and smiled smugly, "You'd better not buy them."

"Uh... Xiao Ya," Zhao Letian couldn't take it anymore, "if you really want to go, just come with us."

"Huh?" Jiang Feiya blinked, confused.

"Li Luo said he can treat us," Zhao Letian pointed at Li Luo, "and they're front-row inner-circle tickets—ask him if you don't believe me."

"My uncle's friend gave us tickets—they weren't going, so they gave them to me," Li Luo cleared his throat, scanned the table, and said plainly, "There are six tickets total—if you're interested, we can all go together."

Instantly, Song Yu's expression brightened—he felt Senior Li Luo was truly his lucky star!

But Jiang Feiya couldn't quite cheer up; in front of her roommates, she couldn't say much—she couldn't possibly refuse front-row inner-circle tickets just to go alone with Yan Yishan, could she?

She wasn't actually going to accept Yan Yishan's pursuit.

But the feeling of triumph she'd wanted was now ruined by Li Luo and Xu Youyu as a couple, leaving Jiang Feiya with a small pang of annoyance.

After dinner ended, Xu Youyu first drove the roommates back to their dorm, then headed with Li Luo toward Bihai Lanting.

In the car, the two complained about Jiang Feiya's behavior.

Li Luo simply couldn't understand this kind of person's mindset.

But Xu Youyu gave a precise analysis: "It's simple—Jiang Feiya isn't preparing to date anyone; she's just enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by guys."

"Probably spoiled since childhood, and because she's beautiful, she's always been popular with boys."

"Growing up always in the spotlight made her accustomed to being chased."

Here, Xu Youyu paused, then looked at Li Luo with a half-smile: "Someone may not be as nasty, but seems to enjoy being surrounded by the opposite sex too."

"Cough... don't make things up—I'm fundamentally different from Jiang Feiya," Li Luo cleared his throat, unflinching, "She enjoys being chased—I don't."

"Then what do you enjoy?"

"I'm aiming for a normal life."

"Living with three girls—that's normal?" Xu Youyu chuckled.

As Xu Youyu pulled into Bihai Lanting and stopped the car, Li Luo reached out, took her small hand, and sighed softly: "I don't like multiple-choice questions."

"I noticed," Xu Youyu turned off the engine, turned to face him with a smile, then leaned in and kissed him, "Someone prefers fill-in-the-blank questions, right?"

Li Luo: "... Youyu, don't start the car right after turning it off."

(End of Chapter)