Chapter 621: Xixi, the Little Maid

On the way back, the motorhome stopped by a vegetable market, where the four of them bought some groceries before returning safely to Bihai Lanting.

After confirming she had parked properly, Ying Chanxi exhaled, resting her head against her arm as she said wearily, "Driving a big vehicle is way harder than a regular car."

"Just drive it a few more times and you'll get used to it," Xu Youyu patted Ying Chanxi's shoulder, then added, "The owner will come to pick up the vehicle—we can just go straight upstairs and make sure not to leave anything behind."

After taking all their personal belongings, Li Luo and the others got out of the motorhome and returned to 1502 to tidy up.

After the college entrance exam ended, the study group naturally disbanded.

Lin Xiuhong learned they had gone out to play right after the exam, so she didn't come over to cook for them today—she went out to play mahjong with Cui Suling.

Li Luo carried the ingredients into the kitchen, and Ying Chanxi hurried after him to secure a good position and help him cook.

Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu had no intention of competing with her for the spot.

After all, Xu Youyu had nearly devoured Li Luo last night.

This morning, Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo had slept together on the headboard bed.

This quiet, private chance to cook together could just as well be given to Xixi.

"Call me when dinner's ready—I'm going to type a bit," Xu Youyu called from the kitchen doorway, then slipped back to her room.

The novel Gu Dao Changqing was uploaded shortly after university orientation ended last year, and now nearly nine months have passed.

Thanks to Xu Youyu's daily effort of writing four thousand characters, the word count has successfully surpassed one million.

Unlike Li Luo, the binge-posting maniac, Xu Youyu writes exactly four thousand characters daily—no more, no less—steadily growing her story.

Readers have grown accustomed to her punctual, clockwork updates—except for occasional complaints about her low output using Chongran's numbers, there are no other issues.

The plot is progressing at a steady, unhurried pace.

Mount Fenghuang, being one of the first places where spiritual energy revived, has become the protagonist's and heroine's cultivation base, gradually expanding in influence.

The authorities have handled the matter specially, establishing a dedicated department to manage abnormal events nationwide and building good communication channels with cultivators like the protagonist.

The personalities of Xu Youyu's male and female leads are nearly identical to her own and Li Luo's.

As a contemporary-to-fantasy crossover, her progression arc isn't as clearly defined as in professional cultivation novels.

Instead, the style leans more toward a cultivation slice-of-life farming novel.

Based at Mount Fenghuang, they slowly develop their domain, and like collecting Pokémon, the protagonist and heroine take in numerous strange and extraordinary individuals, bringing them under the mountain's protection.

Their daily interactions mirror exactly how Xu Youyu treats Li Luo in real life.

As a result, when Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng secretly read Xu Youyu's new novel, the sense of déjà vu was even stronger than in her previous book.

Yan Zhusheng enjoyed reading it thoroughly and occasionally took notes.

Ying Chanxi hasn't read it for a while—she feels worse the more she reads, and prefers reading Li Luo's novels instead.

Although I Am Really Not a Star also contains traces of Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu, at least the sweet interactions between the protagonist and his childhood friend are still enjoyable to read.

Especially recently, with the upcoming release of Little Joy, Shen Dongdong—the protagonist of this arc—has been given substantial screen time, which Ying Chanxi finds very satisfying.

【Qianzhou】: The list of top-tier authors is preliminarily finalized.

【Qianzhou】: I've submitted your name—I'll arrange two more recommendations during summer break to see if we can break 20,000 average subscriptions.

【Qianzhou】: If you have one original novel hitting 20,000 average subscriptions as a foundation, your top-tier contract will be much more secure.

Receiving the editor's message, Xu Youyu perked up immediately and replied promptly.

【EarlySleepWillMakeYouTaller】: Got it! Thank you, editor!

【Qianzhou】: Just part of the job.

【Qianzhou】: But you—you should use more off-the-record tactics, don't be so concerned with face.

【EarlySleepWillMakeYouTaller】: Huh?

【Qianzhou】: What's your relationship with Chongran? You should make good use of it—don't waste it.

【Qianzhou】: Especially with his new novel's momentum—he's only been on sale for a week and his average subscriptions are already over 30,000, and rising fast.

【Qianzhou】: Ask him to promote you regularly, and go interact more on his new novel's page.

【Qianzhou】: Use the chapter comments—pop up often on his page. Once his readers get familiar with you, some will naturally get curious and check out your book. That's traffic.

【Qianzhou】: Get him to interact with you in the chapter comments—it'll definitely work well.

【Qianzhou】: You could even hint a little at your real-life relationship—I remember you're his senior, right?

【Qianzhou】: A senior and junior both being online novel authors with such strong results? The topic potential would be huge.

The editor sent a long string of messages, speaking with deep concern—this was truly her heart-to-heart advice.

Xu Youyu nodded repeatedly, assuring her it was fine.

But when she reached the end, her nerves suddenly tightened.

Senior and junior relationship?

Can this really be exposed?

Although her online novel writing is already known among her high school classmates,

many of her university classmates still don't know about it.

Even though there are a few classmates from Fu Yi High School in the Literature Department, none would publicly announce such a thing.

So far, Xu Youyu has remained safe, undiscovered.

But the safer she is, the more cautious she must be.

So although Xu Youyu verbally agreed, in practice she would definitely have to tone things down.

【EarlySleepWillMakeYouTaller】: No problem—I'll talk to him later.

【Qianzhou】: OK.

【Qianzhou】: Also, your names have been submitted for this year's salon—hotel details will be sent to you soon.

【EarlySleepWillMakeYouTaller】: Got it.

After finishing her chat with the editor, Xu Youyu began typing, writing only a few hundred characters when Ying Chanxi came to call her for dinner.

At the dinner table, Xu Youyu and Li Luo mentioned the matter brought up by the editor from Qianzhou.

Li Luo laughed: "If you really don't mind, just say you're a top student from Qianjiang University."

"Everyone already knows you're a female author—add the label of 'top student' on top."

"You love driving in your book anyway; maybe it'll break out of the circle then?"

"I don't want to." Xu Youyu glared at him. "Don't you dare pull any tricks—if you expose my identity, just see if I don't bite you to death."

"Scary." Li Luo chuckled. "But the editor's right—getting two ten-thousand average subscriptions is definitely the safest bet."

"Won't Qian Da be on summer break after the end of this month?"

"Why not take advantage of Qianzhou's recommendation slot and try a big update?"

"You don't have to write ten thousand words a day like me—just add two thousand extra words daily would be fine."

Hearing Li Luo, who usually spoke at thirty-eight degrees, utter such cold words, Xu Youyu let out a dry, bitter laugh: "If you want me dead, just say it outright—why beat around the bush?"

"My new novel is already four hundred thousand words long." Li Luo told Xu Youyu a horror story. "Yours is a million words, and you started over half a year earlier than me."

"If things keep going like this, in three months you'll be overtaken by me."

"Oh wait—if my college entrance exam results come out and those people actually send me my scorecard demanding extra updates."

"Then maybe just one or two months will be enough."

Xu Youyu couldn't stand such absurd talk—she covered her ears with both hands, shaking her head violently and yelling "Aaaah!" to make him shut up.

"If you write like this, won't your plot collapse?"

"With an outline, it's not too bad."

Actually, it had little to do with the outline.

The main reason was that he had the Memory Palace at his disposal—Li Luo's thinking efficiency far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Even someone like Ying Chanxi, a genius-level intellect, would find it hard to match him in this regard.

Especially when writing long-form Online Novels, the more intensely Li Luo wrote, the more he realized just how much the Memory Palace helped him.

The hundreds of thousands of words from earlier chapters were etched into his mind like a precise computer hard drive.

Setting up long-term foreshadowing, planting subtle clues across vast distances, designing character arcs over extended periods—all these were far easier for him than for ordinary authors.

On this foundation, updating ten thousand words daily had little impact on the quality of his writing.

"By the way, if you're still going to school, why haven't you attended class these past two days?" Ying Chanxi suddenly thought of this.

"Oh, I took yesterday off." Xu Youyu waved her hand. "But I have to go back to class this afternoon."

Although none of the students in the college knew Xu Youyu's father was the Vice Dean, the class advisor did know.

So when Xu Youyu applied for leave, the advisor approved it immediately—no difficulty at all.

"No class this morning either?" Li Luo suddenly asked. "I checked your schedule before—wasn't today supposed to be..."

"Cough, cough..." Xu Youyu cleared her throat awkwardly. "My dad definitely won't call my name."

"That's true." Li Luo couldn't help but laugh and sigh.

He just imagined how Xu Rongsheng would feel when he called roll in class and found his own daughter absent.

What if he knew his daughter had been savoring Li Luo's taste deep into the night, then slept soundly in the Motorhome the next morning?

The thought made Li Luo feel slightly guilty—but soon a thrill surged through him. He couldn't help glancing at Xu Youyu's lips, still glistening with oil from the braised pork, looking especially alluring.

His pants instantly bulged.

"So what else do you have planned in the coming period?" Ying Chanxi asked while eating. "Xuejie still has class, Li Luo needs to keep updating—what about Zhusheng?"

"I might go with Mom to attend a concert." Yan Zhusheng thought for a moment, recalling the upcoming concert schedule. "There are a few in the Yuzhong area this first half of the month."

"I'll probably go on the weekend, then have to fly around with Mom."

"The second half of the month we'll go to Xijing, and before 'Little Joy' airs at month's end, we'll have one more show in Changning."

After the college entrance exam ended, Yan Zhusheng was freed from academic duties and could finally travel nationwide with Yuan Wanqing.

This time, Yuan Wanqing's nationwide "A Letter, A Promise" concert tour, which began last October, will end at the end of August, lasting nearly a year.

Previously, Yan Zhusheng had only appeared at key performances.

Later, as people's affection for her grew, demands for her appearances increased.

At the most recent concert, Yuan Wanqing had already announced that her daughter was taking the college entrance exam and would appear after it ended.

"I'll go to the Changning concert too," Li Luo said. "I remember it's on the 25th this month?"

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded. "And 'Little Joy' airs on the 30th, right?"

"Yes." Li Luo said. "And the recorded broadcast of the Changning concert will be rebroadcast on Eastern TV and Qianjiang TV on the 29th as a buildup."

"So it seems everyone's going to be busy these next few days," Ying Chanxi suddenly realized. "Why does it feel like I have nothing to do?"

"What do you mean nothing to do?" Li Luo smiled. "I need to stockpile drafts so I won't fall too far behind later."

"Xuejie has to go to class and write, and Zhusheng will be away with Aunt Yuan for a while."

"Only you have time to check on the villa renovation progress."

"Oh right, you can also pick up groceries on the way home and cook for us too? And do the cleaning, laundry..."

Ying Chanxi listened and grew increasingly suspicious—she scowled and said, "Are you treating me like a maid?"

"You can also warm Li Luo's bed at night," Yan Zhusheng added with a raised hand. "So you're turning sister into a housemaid."

"Hahaha~" Xu Youyu laughed at Yan Zhusheng's remark and teased, "I could buy you a maid outfit, you know—I really think you'd look perfect in it."

"Xuejie..." Ying Chanxi gave her a blank look, then glared at her sister. "Fine, I'll find something to do myself."

"What do you want to do?" Li Luo asked.

"Your sister is definitely trying to get you to film an MV," Yan Zhusheng predicted, jumping in first. "It's just an excuse to kiss you."

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed red: "Don't make things up! Who said I'd do that?!"

Whether it was because she'd been guessed or simply because Yan Zhusheng was slandering her, Ying Chanxi reacted with a touch of stress.

But when Yan Zhusheng asked her sister what she intended to do, Ying Chanxi immediately stammered and couldn't speak.

Li Luo watched this scene with a smile, and after finishing the meal, he stretched and told Ying Chanxi, "Little maid, the dishes are yours?"

"Go die! Don't call me that!" Ying Chanxi puffed out her cheeks in anger and punched him twice—soft thuds against Li Luo's chest.

Li Luo felt no pain at all; in fact, it felt somewhat pleasant. He grabbed Ying Chanxi's small hand and began playing with it.

Then he turned to the three girls and said, "Before Zhusheng leaves this weekend, let's find a time to go check on the renovation progress at the villa."

That will be the new home for all four of us— the renovation can't be taken lightly.

(End of Chapter)