Chapter 553: Don

With the official end of the National Day holiday, students from Grade One and Grade Two at Fuyi High School returned to campus.

Although the 8th and 9th were weekends, under the clever planning of school administrators, those days certainly weren't treated as actual holidays—everyone had to return obediently for classes.

And classes would continue straight through to next Sunday, the 16th.

Of course, theoretically, classes should have ended on the 13th, since the three days from the 14th to the 16th are this year's subject selection exam period.

All classrooms in the school would be used as exam venues.

For first-year students, this was actually good news, since selection exam scores are only valid for two years, meaning first-years cannot take the exams.

Thus, for first-years, they could resume vacation on the 13th, gaining an extra day off over the weekend—something to celebrate.

For Li Luo, Ying Chanxi, and Yan Zhusheng—those who either didn't take or didn't plan to take the selection exams—this was also good news.

While other classmates were busy preparing for exams, Li Luo and his two friends remained quite relaxed.

They attended classes and completed assignments as usual, maintaining their problem-solving rhythm, and spent the rest of their time doing things they enjoyed.

For instance, filming music videos.

After all, Li Luo had written nine new songs for Yuan Wanqing, and Ying Chanxi had picked several she liked.

During free moments between classes, she dragged Li Luo around various corners of the school to film scenes.

Simply doing intimate things along the way was enough to make Ying Chanxi feel happy and fulfilled, spending each day in quiet joy and delight.

"You're still going to see Aunt Yuan's concert on the 17th?"

In the evening, after finishing filming, Ying Chanxi followed Li Luo to the school cafeteria to meet up with Yan Zhusheng and others for dinner.

At the dinner table, upon hearing Li Luo mention plans to attend the concert, Ying Chanxi furrowed her brow: "Didn't you already see it once before?"

"This time, Youyu wants to invite her college roommate to come," Li Luo said. "I figured I might as well spare her the cost of tickets—we can just take them along."

"What date is the concert again?" Ying Chanxi asked.

"The 17th."

"Isn't that a Monday?"

"I'll take a day off then."

"Then I—" Ying Chanxi started to say she'd take a day off too, but then thought better of it.

Fundamentally, she was still a good student and didn't want to request leave just for something as trivial as a concert.

Besides, this concert would include Li Luo, Xu Youyu, and Xu Youyu's college roommate—all people Ying Chanxi had never met and wasn't familiar with.

If she went along, they'd have nothing in common to talk about.

After thinking it over, Ying Chanxi realized that her senior, now in college, was spending less time with Li Luo.

So she pursed her lips, turned her gaze away in slight displeasure toward the window, and muttered softly: "Then you two go. I won't be going with Zhusheng."

"I never said I wasn't going," Yan Zhusheng immediately replied from beside her. "I was planning to go anyway."

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi blinked in surprise. "Zhusheng, you're going too? That doesn't seem right—Your senior is bringing her roommate."

Yan Zhusheng shook her head: "I'm going to sing. Mom said after the Beijing concert, audiences liked me a lot, but I didn't appear at the other two cities' shows, and some fans were unhappy."

"But I can't follow Mom on a nationwide tour. Since she's holding a concert in Yuhang City and I'm already here, I might as well go."

"I'll duet with Mom, then perform one solo song."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi fell silent, feeling a twinge of regret.

Both Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng were going—only she wasn't.

So annoying.

But the words were already out, so she couldn't take them back. She could only mutter unhappily: "Then you two go. I'm definitely not going."

"It's just a concert," Li Luo said, patting Ying Chanxi's head gently. "From the 14th to the 16th are selection exams. Zhusheng has to attend rehearsal and attend art student classes."

"As for Youyu, even though she had a pleasant National Day, she still has make-up classes on weekends and department activities."

"That leaves only us two free—we can spend the whole day filming MVs with you."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi's heart lifted, but she kept her face stiff, forcing her lips into a tight line: "Who wants to film MVs all day? We can film them right here on campus."

"Then do whatever you want," Li Luo said. "It's autumn now—let's go buy some new clothes, and maybe catch a movie too."

"I want to go too," Yan Zhusheng said, blinking and turning to look at them.

"You have classes and rehearsals," Ying Chanxi said seriously. "You can come next time."

"Oh." Seeing Ying Chanxi wanted alone time, Yan Zhusheng didn't press it. She nodded in agreement. "Next time then."

Zhao Rongjun and the two others sitting across from them, after listening to this exchange, were completely unfazed by such things.

After hearing it, Xu Yinghuan turned and asked: "Then what about us—"

"We still have to take the selection exams," Qiao Xinyan reminded her.

"But we only have to take two subjects," Xu Yinghuan counted on her fingers. "I checked the schedule—the last day, only you have one exam, in the morning. After that, all three of us will be free."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want to buy new clothes~" Xu Yinghuan grinned. "You have good taste, Qiao—come with me, okay?"

"Alright," Qiao Xinyan nodded.

Then the two girls turned to look at Zhao Rongjun sitting between them.

Zhao Rongjun felt a chill run down his scalp and immediately raised his hands in surrender: "Fine, fine, I'll go—stop looking at me like that!"

Because of their study group, and because Zhao Rongjun was genuinely harmless, the two girls had no reservations around him and had become very close friends.

Now, whenever they went out, they always dragged Zhao Rongjun along.

Li Luo's earlier plan to help his buddy overcome his fear of girls had, in fact, succeeded.

But it seemed to have spawned some new problems.

Still, that was beyond Li Luo's scope of help—he could only hope Zhao Rongjun would manage on his own.

……

The ordinary campus routine passed by in just a few days.

After returning home Thursday night, Li Luo took his usual shower, then began typing, finally restoring his draft count to three hundred thousand words, and finally felt at ease. After finishing, it was already past ten; Li Luo was about to sleep when someone knocked on his bedroom door.

Because he had a private tutor class the next morning, Yan Zhusheng had already gone to bed early.

Ying Chanxi had just gone to take a shower and was still in the bathroom.

So the only person left to knock was Xu Youyu.

She didn't wait for Li Luo to respond; after knocking, she pushed the door open and walked right in, holding her phone, her face barely containing a grin.

"What's up?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow in confusion at her expression. "You finished typing?"

"Just a little left, but something fun came up." Xu Youyu walked over to Li Luo's side, playfully pushed him onto the bed, and sat down herself, then handed her phone to him. "Look."

Li Luo naturally placed his hands on Xu Youyu's slender waist and looked closely—he saw her WeChat chat history with someone.

He glanced at the other person's WeChat name: Yan Yishan, head of the External Affairs Department.

【Yan Yishan】: Youyu, I remember you don't have evening classes next Monday?

【Yan Yishan】: I have two tickets to Yuan Wanqing's concert. I originally planned to go with my roommate, but he stood me up.

!

【Yan Yishan】: I wonder if you're free? Could you go with me? Otherwise, these tickets would just go to waste.

After reading it, Li Luo stared blankly: "... Didn't you say he'd moved on?"

"Mmm~" Xu Youyu flicked her hair, smirked, then feigned helplessness before shrugging and laughing. "Well, Xiao Ya turned him down too. In the end, your dear senior's charm was just too strong."

"Then why show me this? Just reject him outright," Li Luo felt a faint twinge of jealousy.

He knew very well that the three girls around him were all extremely popular, with strong appeal to the opposite sex.

Most of the time, he remained calm.

But seeing a man privately message Xu Youyu, trying to steal her away, he still felt a bit annoyed.

Hearing the tone in Li Luo's voice, Xu Youyu gave a satisfied little smirk, then leaned down and said, "Are you jealous?"

"No."

"Hmph, lying through your teeth." Xu Youyu chuckled twice, clearly delighted. "I'm starting to understand Xiao Ya now—your expression and reaction are kind of amusing."

"You're learning bad habits, aren't you?" Li Luo gave her a few light slaps on the butt as punishment.

"But I'm a little different from her." Xu Youyu snickered, leaned down, and pecked his lips, then wrapped her arms around his neck and rested against him, whispering into his ear, "I only feel happy when the boy I care about is jealous of me. So—are you jealous?"

Li Luo: "... A little."

"Ha! Definitely jealous~" Xu Youyu bounced off Li Luo, spun around happily, then tossed her phone onto his bed. "Then you reply. Say whatever you want."

"I reply?" Li Luo picked up her phone, raised an eyebrow. "I'll say whatever I want."

"Go ahead," Xu Youyu huffed, unafraid. "Let's see how bold you are."

"Then wait." Li Luo got into the spirit, took her phone, sat up straight, thought for a moment, then began tapping the screen.

Xu Youyu leaned curiously beside him, watching his actions.

【Xu Youyu】: She's busy that day. Don't ask again.

As soon as he sent it, Yan Yishan froze for a moment, then realized the reply wasn't from Xu Youyu herself.

【Yan Yishan】: Who are you? A roommate of Youyu's? Or who?

【Xu Youyu】: She calls me husband. Who do you think I am?

Watching Li Luo send that, Xu Youyu gave him a sultry side-eye, barely holding back her laughter, eager to see Yan Yishan's reaction.

【Yan Yishan】: Oh, I see. Sorry—I just invited her as a friend. If she's busy, that's fine.

【Yan Yishan】: But peeking at your girlfriend's phone? I think you should avoid that. It's disrespectful to Youyu herself.

【Yan Yishan】: Women are independent individuals with their own privacy. Nobody wants their private chats seen by others.

"What now?" Li Luo looked at Xu Youyu with an innocent expression. "He says I'm violating your privacy."

"Then go ahead and violate it some more," Xu Youyu grinned.

Li Luo rolled his eyes, then leaned close to her ear and whispered something.

Xu Youyu nearly burst out laughing, nodded vigorously, then jumped off the bed, ran into the bathroom in Li Luo's room, and shut the door.

Seeing this, Li Luo slowly stood up, walked to the bathroom door, held Xu Youyu's phone, and pressed the voice message button.

Then he raised his other hand and knocked on the bathroom door. "Youyu, someone messaged you on WeChat."

"Who is it?" Xu Youyu's voice came from inside. "Just check it. You know the password."

"I'm afraid of violating your privacy."

"Do we even have privacy between us? Hurry up and check the message," Xu Youyu laughed from inside. "I'm still showering."

"Oh, okay." Li Luo said, then stopped pressing the button, released it, and sent the voice message.

"Did you send it?" Xu Youyu flung open the bathroom door, peeked at the screen, then grinned.

But after the voice message was sent, Yan Yishan fell completely silent.

"He's not responding," Li Luo blinked, helplessly shrugging.

"Hmph." Xu Youyu gave him a side-eye. "Satisfied now? Still jealous?"

"Still a little." Li Luo said, then kept tapping his phone, sending another message.

【Xu Youyu】: She's almost done showering. We're about to sleep. Secretary Yan, please stop bothering my Youyu.

Xu Youyu stood beside him, watching him send that, her eyes brimming with amusement.

She took the phone from Li Luo's hand, gave him a tender glance, decided not to send Yan Yishan any more messages, slipped the phone into her pocket, and pounced onto the bed, pinning Li Luo down.

"I'm very happy now. I'll reward you a little." Xu Youyu sat on Li Luo's lap, grinning, then leaned down.

But soon after, footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the bedroom door.

Ying Chanxi, one hand drying her long hair with a towel, the other pushing open the bedroom door, walked straight in: "Li Luo, help me blow-dry my hair..."

She halfway spoke, then her gaze fell upon the bed, and her steps halted instantly.

Her fists itched again.

(End of Chapter)