Chapter 651: Why Open the Windows So Early?

The next morning, Xu Youyu got up unusually early.

Before six o'clock, she got out of bed, deliberately closed the door leading to the corridor bathroom, then opened all the windows between the driver's cabin and the living area.

When Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng woke up precisely at six, they opened the locked small door in the corridor and found Xu Youyu quietly sitting in a chair typing, both instantly stunned.

As if they'd seen a ghost.

The morning breeze from the mountains drifted in through the windows, gently stirring Xu Youyu's hair.

Fortunately, the mountain morning was not hot; opening the windows early made the air inside the Motorhome noticeably fresher.

Watching Xu Youyu type with such serious focus, Yan Zhusheng couldn't help asking curiously, "Has our senior been possessed by a ghost?"

"What kind of nonsense are you talking?" Xu Youyu, who wasn't actually typing at all but merely pretending, rolled her eyes at Yan Zhusheng.

"Then why did you get up so early?" Ying Chanxi asked, puzzled. "And why didn't you turn on the air conditioning?"

"Last night I had a leg cramp while sleeping—I suspect it's because the air conditioning was blowing too much," Xu Youyu sat there, deadpan lying. "Besides, aren't we planning to change campsites today? I thought I'd wait for you to wake up before we figure out the route."

Reminded by Xu Youyu, Ying Chanxi no longer questioned the open windows, finished her morning routine, then sat beside Xu Youyu to discuss the day's itinerary.

On the way to Qiandaohu, they picked a moderately distant Motorhome Campsite as a temporary stop; after confirming it, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng had also finished their morning ablutions.

At that moment, Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling from the neighboring Motorhome came over, inviting them for a morning run.

But when Cui Suling stepped inside, she saw her own daughter had actually gotten up—and stared at her in utter shock, exclaiming in disbelief, "Has the sun risen in the west?"

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Xu Youyu grumbled. "Isn't it normal for me to get up early? I've just been tired from traveling these past few days—that's why I slept in earlier."

"Yes, yes, yes," Cui Suling chuckled, thinking if she still believed this girl's nonsense, she'd have wasted her entire life.

But then she changed her mind and cheerfully grabbed Xu Youyu's arm. "Since you're up early today, why don't all six of us go for a rare morning run together?"

"Huh?" Xu Youyu froze, her face paling. She quickly forced a nervous laugh. "I—I still feel a bit sleepy. You guys go ahead. I'll catch up on some more sleep."

Cui Suling, who rarely saw her up this early, refused to let her escape, holding her tight, then turned to Li Luo. "Li Luo, you manage her too. It's not like we're asking her to run every day—just this once, what's the harm, right?"

Li Luo, suppressing a grin, sided with Cui Suling for once.

After all, if Xu Youyu's physical condition didn't improve, he'd never fully satisfy her at night.

Especially with some of his favorite positions—she couldn't last long, always leaving him unsatisfied.

Seizing this chance, Li Luo simply grabbed Xu Youyu's arm and led her out of the Motorhome.

"Since you're up already, if you get tired later, just stop and walk with my mom and the others. Follow behind us."

Hearing Li Luo say that, Xu Youyu gave up trying to go back to bed, though she shot him several resentful glares before reluctantly following along.

After securing the Motorhome windows and locking the doors, the six of them slowly walked out of the Campsite, arriving at the entrance of Zhangjia Village, then began jogging along the village path.

Barely two hundred meters into the run, Xu Youyu was already gasping for breath, hands on her waist.

Beside her, Cui Suling couldn't help nagging, "Look, look—this is your physical condition? I remember Qian Da had a Sunshine Long Run fitness standard. How did you even pass it last year?"

Hearing this, Xu Youyu felt a pang of guilt and quickly tried to muster her courage, stepping up her pace to catch up with Li Luo and the others ahead.

While running, she shouted loudly, "I was just pretending to be tired to match your pace! See? I'm not even that tired!"

If her mother found out her Sunshine Long Run counts were all faked by her roommate, she'd immediately tell her father.

Xu Youyu dared not let her discover this clue.

Although Xu Rongsheng was lenient in raising children, he drew a hard line against favoritism and cheating.

If caught, Xu Youyu suspected her father might assign a supervisor to personally monitor her every single Sunshine Long Run.

But after forcing herself to pretend everything was fine and finishing the entire run with Li Luo and the others, Xu Youyu collapsed completely.

"I'm going to die… I'm really going to die…" On the way back to the Motorhome, Xu Youyu leaned entirely on Li Luo's shoulder, held in his arms, stumbling along.

Seeing this, Cui Suling surprisingly didn't mock her poor fitness—instead, she wore a satisfied smile.

Watching the two young lovers clinging together, Cui Suling couldn't help smiling, thoroughly pleased.

Once back in the Motorhome, the six of them ate breakfast, then drove off toward the next Campsite.

Exhausted from the morning run, Xu Youyu handed driving duties to Li Luo and Ying Chanxi, then collapsed onto the rear seat and fell asleep immediately.

…

Today's temporary Motorhome Campsite was only meant as a brief stopover.

So after arriving in the morning, some people set up the canopy between the Motorhomes, then had no intention of sightseeing—simply stayed inside to rest.

Xu Youyu had slept the whole way; now awake, Li Luo got her started on typing again.

Since today was free time, she'd write more now, making the following days at Qiandaohu easier.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling enthusiastically prepared ingredients in the other Motorhome.

Because the fresh ingredients bought from Zhangjia Village the past two days tasted excellent, they'd specifically gone shopping during their morning run to buy more, saving them for today's meal.

Bamboo shoots and black pork were essential; they also bought local specialty tea leaves, a native chicken raised in the village, and a bag of freshly laid eggs from that morning.

In high spirits, Lin Xiuhong dusted off her old skills and boiled a pot of tea eggs in the Motorhome, just like she used to at her breakfast stall.

In the afternoon, they left Li Luo and Xu Youyu typing inside, then took some dried meat bits and tea eggs as snacks, strolled around nearby, took photos, and wandered.

Soon, night arrived.

Li Luo contacted Zhao Rongjun again, confirming tomorrow's meeting time and location, reminding them to be careful on the road.

That night, Xu Youyu kept typing diligently, writing over ten thousand words in a single day—clearing three days' worth of updates.

Before sleeping, Li Luo couldn't resist teasing, "See? You can do it if you just try."

"Fine for once, but I can't do this every day," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes at him. "My mental energy is completely drained—I can't think of anything anymore."

Xu Youyu slammed shut her laptop, leaned back in her chair with a long sigh, then got up to shower and prepare for bed.

Tonight was Ying Chanxi's turn to keep him company.

After bathing, Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu climbed onto the top bunk to sleep.

Li Luo took Ying Chanxi to the cross bed at the rear of the Motorhome.

Finally, it was Ying Chanxi's turn—once on the bed, she snuggled into Li Luo's arms.

The two of them leaned together, lingering in tenderness for a long while; Ying Chanxi's face flushed crimson, her breath shallow, melting into a puddle in Li Luo's arms.

After resting for a while, Ying Chanxi leaned against Li Luo's chest and resumed talking about what she had planned with him yesterday.

"Tomorrow, Xinyan and the others will meet us at the Campsite at noon; in the afternoon, we'll just stroll around the lake to get familiar with the surroundings," Ying Chanxi said. "For the evening, my senior and I have already arranged it at the Campsite—we'll rent a bonfire."

"We can do our own barbecue at the Campsite."

"When the time comes, find an opportunity to get Zhusheng to distract Huanhuan, then we'll send everyone else away, giving Xinyan her chance—no problem, right?"

Li Luo listened as Ying Chanxi laid out her detailed plan, paused thoughtfully, then slowly nodded.

But then he gave her a warning, tentatively asking: "I mean, hypothetically."

"What if, after Xinyan confesses, she fails?"

"Have you considered that possibility?"

At Li Luo's words, Ying Chanxi immediately frowned, her brow tightening. "Pfft! We haven't even started yet, and you're already saying such things—it's bad luck!"

"I'm just worried."

"What's there to worry about?" Ying Chanxi's expression radiated absolute certainty, even more confident than Qiao Xinyan herself. "If Xinyan confesses, she'll succeed one hundred percent—how could there possibly be any surprise?"

"Uh…" Li Luo thought long and hard, unable to fathom the source of Ying Chanxi's blind confidence. "What if Zhao Rongjun turns her down?"

"Impossible!" Ying Chanxi shook her head vigorously. "You don't understand. Zhao Rongjun never told you, but Xinyan has told me so many things about the two of them."

"Really?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow, now slightly intrigued. "Then tell me."

"Hmm…" Ying Chanxi hesitated. "But after I tell you, you absolutely mustn't tell anyone—it's all stuff Xinyan quietly told me in private."

"Of course not," Li Luo nodded immediately.

So Ying Chanxi pondered for a moment in his arms, then began to speak slowly: "Do you remember how they first met?"

"Back then, he insisted on following my uncle to sell fried rice, so I worried it would hurt his studies—I invited him over on weekends to study with me," Li Luo recalled easily from his memory palace. "Then you and Zhusheng dragged Xinyan and Huanhuan into it too."

Thus, in the second semester of their first year of high school, the seven-person study group was formed.

"Yes, exactly," Ying Chanxi nodded firmly. "You probably know too—Xinyan's home and Zhao Rongjun's grandfather's house are roughly in the same direction."

"For the past two years, every weekend after studying, they've walked home together."

"Isn't that a pretty close relationship?"

"That's just on the way," Li Luo said. "It just gives them more time together."

"But you don't know how many little details there are," Ying Chanxi counted off on her fingers. "I once asked her what exactly she liked about Zhao Rongjun."

"Then Xinyan told me a lot of details."

"For example, every night when they walked home together, Zhao Rongjun would check on his phone to confirm Xinyan had gotten home safely."

"Sometimes, if they got home very late, he'd detour to drop her off first, then go home himself."

"Whenever they planned to meet at our place at a certain time in the morning, Zhao Rongjun almost always arrived ten minutes early, waiting at the intersection."

"If Xinyan's mom asked him to bring fruit or something, he'd always volunteer to carry the bag."

"There are so many little things like this."

"The key is, Zhao Rongjun is extremely shy and careful around girls."

"Xinyan told me she finds Zhao Rongjun's behavior kind of cute, but on important matters, he gives her a strong sense of security."

"For example, once Xinyan forgot her keys, and her parents were working late and couldn't get home."

"Zhao Rongjun went straight to her house to pick her up and took her to her mother's clothing store to wait."

"He stayed with her until past ten at night, only taking her home after her parents finished work."

"Oh, by the way, Zhao Rongjun's mother gave Xinyan a piece of clothing that time—she must really like her."

"Another time, just as they parted ways at the intersection on their way home, it suddenly poured rain."

"That day, Xinyan hadn't brought an umbrella and was thinking of finding shelter or a convenience store to buy one, when she saw Zhao Rongjun running toward her through the downpour."

"He hadn't brought an umbrella either. When Xinyan asked why he'd run out in the rain without one, Zhao Rongjun scratched his head and said he hadn't really thought about it."

"Then Xinyan complained to me that he was silly—but when she said it, she was smiling brightly."

"After hearing all this, I felt they were perfectly matched!"

Listening to Ying Chanxi chatter away in his arms—though the content should have been sweet—Li Luo grew heavier with each word.

I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)