Chapter 656: Signing Event, Flanked on Both Sides

August 1st.

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Li Luo walked out of the neighboring hotel with three girls and entered Hall Three of the Jing'an Exhibition Center.

Fans who had arrived early were already filing in, signing in at the entrance before finding seats inside the hall.

Many turned their gaze instinctively toward Li Luo and the four of them as they entered.

Those who came in person to the signing event were surely core, loyal readers.

They knew every detail of Chongran's exploits and were certainly no stranger to his face.

After all, whether at Wenxue Group's annual meetings or various promotions and events, Li Luo had long since stopped maintaining the mystery he once had when he first started writing—he had long since stepped into the public eye.

Not to mention his multiple appearances at Yuan Wanqing's concerts.

Add to that his youthful, handsome face—his promotional photos online had not been heavily edited, so in person, he was instantly recognizable.

Unlike some online novel authors who, in private, had grown so fat their eyes were nearly hidden, yet still used artistic photos from years or even decades ago for promotion.

Time, indeed, is a butcher's knife.

Even male-domain grandmasters still carried some idol baggage.

But Li Luo had no such concerns.

Since his rebirth in this life, he had consistently exercised and remained in excellent physical health.

Added to that, he was constantly surrounded by three girls who made sure he diligently used all sorts of skincare products—his skin care was now quite impressive.

Compared to his past life, when his complexion was sallow, his skin dull, and his dark circles heavy, though his facial features hadn't changed much, he now looked far more handsome overall.

Combined with his current inner-outward confidence, any girl who glanced his way found it hard not to look again.

"Chongran!"

"Is that Chongran?"

"It really is!"

Many fans, upon seeing Li Luo pass by, froze for a moment, then immediately recognized him.

Li Luo waved left and right, smiling in greeting, then signaled them to take their seats and led Ying Chanxi and the other two to the backstage area at the front of the hall.

"The girl beside him—is that Yan Zhusheng?"

"Who's Yan Zhusheng?"

"Yuan Wanqing's daughter! The one who sang 'Under the Sea' recently, and also 'Don't Waste the Good Years'—that song you loved most before your college entrance exam?"

"Holy shit! That's her?"

"You listen every day and don't even know who sings it?"

"I just listen to the songs—who cares who sings? As long as it's good, I listen. All I know is Chongran wrote the songs."

The fans in the hall buzzed with chatter.

Most of the discussion centered on Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng.

After all, in terms of public appearances, they were by far the most visible.

In contrast, Ying Chanxi, though she had appeared in many music videos—some even posted on music platforms—few actually paid attention to her identity as an actress.

Xu Youyu was even less visible, terrified someone might discover her real-life identity.

Except for that one time at the annual meeting, when Wenxue Group's operations staff betrayed her by posting a photo of her with Li Luo, Xu Youyu had never exposed herself again.

"Teacher Chongran, hello hello!" Zhang, the manager handling the event for the publisher, stepped forward warmly to shake Li Luo's hand.

"Manager Zhang, hello." Li Luo responded politely.

After some small talk, Zhang got to the point, leading him to the long table at the front of the hall and said: "You'll sit in the center seat here."

"We'll have a professional host seated beside you to guide the signing event's flow."

"You probably already know the schedule, but let me go over it again in detail so we can confirm."

After listening to Zhang clearly outline the entire signing event's arrangement, Li Luo nodded in agreement.

But Yan Zhusheng, after hearing it, suddenly asked: "You said that during the signing, staff will sit beside you to hand out merchandise—could I do that?"

"Huh?" Zhang blinked, looked at Yan Zhusheng, then turned to Li Luo.

"She's Yuan Wanqing's daughter," Li Luo coughed and explained. "She sang all the soundtrack songs for 'Little Joy.'"

"Oh! So it's you!" Zhang's face lit up with a warm smile. "If you're interested, then please take charge of handing out the merchandise."

"Just hand out the gifts when fans come up to get their signed books and are leaving."

"We'll seat you to the left of Teacher Chongran—how's that?"

Yan Zhusheng nodded happily, agreeing without issue.

But Ying Chanxi, beside her, was less pleased—she quietly tugged at Li Luo's sleeve and gazed at him with a pouty, wounded look.

"Cough." Li Luo couldn't bear that look—he turned to Zhang and pointed to the empty seat on his right. "Let my friend sit here."

"And this one is…" Zhang hesitated, unable to help asking.

"She's the real-life prototype of Qiao Yingzi in my novel," Li Luo said. "Manager Zhang must have watched the recent drama, right?"

"Oh! So that's why!" Zhang's eyes sparkled, nodding eagerly. "Perfect! No problem! Let's arrange it this way—it's great!"

After saying that, Zhang glanced at Yan Zhusheng, then at Ying Chanxi, and finally couldn't help his gaze settling on Xu Youyu—whose looks and figure matched the other two perfectly—and he instinctively asked Li Luo: "And this one…"

"No no no!" Xu Youyu quickly waved her hands in refusal. "I don't need to go on stage—just give me a front-row seat."

She had just heard this signing event was being streamed live simultaneously online.

If some reader asked who she was and Li Luo replied, "This is the real author of 'Sleep Early, Grow Taller,'" Xu Youyu's world would collapse entirely.

She was hiding perfectly at Qianjiang University—she couldn't let her hard-earned reputation be ruined in an instant!

The tragedy at Fuyi High School must never be repeated!

Li Luo beside her chuckled: "Just give her a front-row center seat."

After the seating was arranged, the time quickly arrived at 1:30 p. m.

The fans who had rushed to the signing event were mostly seated, and after taking their places, they began whispering among themselves, chatting with friends who had come together.

Only when the host and Li Luo's trio took their seats and the host, facing the microphone, briefly took control of the stage, did the entire venue fall silent.

"Dear readers here today, good afternoon," the host greeted warmly with a smile. "Welcome to the national launch signing event for 'Little Joy'!"

"Today, we are honored to have the original author of 'Little Joy,' Teacher Chongran, here with us."

"Let's give Teacher Chongran a warm round of applause to welcome his arrival~"

Hearing this, Li Luo slowly rose from his seat, smiled, and waved to the enthusiastic applause from the audience below.

After Li Luo sat back down, the host continued smiling: "Regarding Teacher Chongran, I'm sure none of you here are unfamiliar with him."

"His ongoing serial, 'I Am Really Not a Star,' has long held a top position on Qidian Chinese Website's charts."

"His new book, 'Night Watch of Great Qian,' has consistently held the number one spot on both charts to this day."

"And today's main subject, 'Little Joy,' was actually written by him during his sophomore year, and was successfully adapted into the most explosive, phenomenon-level TV drama we've seen recently."

"Before inviting Teacher Chongran to speak, let me briefly outline today's signing event schedule."

"First, there's Teacher Chongran's sharing segment—he'll spend about ten minutes talking to you about the behind-the-scenes story of writing 'Little Joy.'"

"Second, there's our interactive Q&A segment."

"We'll select readers who raise their hands to ask Teacher Chongran questions they're curious about, and he'll answer them."

"Finally, there's our on-site signing segment."

"We'll have everyone line up in order, come up one by one, and get your books signed and take photos with Teacher Chongran."

"So now, let's once again give a warm round of applause to invite Teacher Chongran, the creator of 'Little Joy,' to share with us the behind-the-scenes story of 'Little Joy'~"

The audience of fans and readers clapped enthusiastically, watching Li Luo adjust the microphone toward him, their faces filled with anticipation.

Some, however, glanced curiously at the two beautiful girls sitting beside Li Luo, wondering who they were.

A few recognized Yan Zhusheng and excitedly shared this with their companions, but still, hardly anyone recognized Ying Chanxi.

The host made no introduction; everyone could only guess among themselves.

At this moment, Li Luo spoke.

"I'm glad to see all of you here."

"I looked at the friends who came today—I feel most of you are quite young, probably mostly college students?"

"There are also parents who brought their children?"

"Just seeing you all makes it clear to me who my target readers were when I wrote this book."

Li Luo spoke slowly on stage.

He briefly recounted the realistic-themed writing contest launched by Wenxue Group, explaining his original motivation for writing this book.

It was simple enough… In his past life, there were many blockbuster TV dramas, but few suited Li Luo's own circumstances.

He could have forced himself to choose other TV dramas with both critical acclaim and commercial success, but if there was a choice better aligned with his personal identity, that was naturally best.

Moreover, 'Little Joy' held a special meaning for Li Luo.

Because in his past life, 'Little Joy' aired during the summer of 2019—exactly when Li Luo was a sophomore.

It was also the most depressed and insecure period of his youth in that past life.

Many of the plotlines deeply moved him; he had even shed tears at one point.

Looking back now, there was much he could say—and fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

After Li Luo finished sharing, the host immediately took over, smiling: "Thank you very much, Teacher Chongran, for that heartfelt sharing. I'm sure everyone now has a better understanding, yet still has a few small questions."

"So now, let's move into our interactive Q&A segment."

"If you have a question, please raise your hand."

No sooner had he finished than several hands shot up.

The host scanned the crowd and selected a lively-looking girl.

A staff member immediately handed her the microphone; the girl, wearing a white cartoon-print shirt, stood up, looked at Li Luo, and grinned: "Teacher Chongran, whether in the book or outside it, parents always say, 'Once you get into college, things will be easy.'"

"You're now a provincial top scorer—so tell us, just how easy is it now?"

Hearing this question, Li Luo lifted his right hand and shook his wrist, laughing wryly:

"For this signing event, the publisher gave me 300 collector's editions and 1,000 standard signed editions to sign by hand."

"That's a total of 1,900 signatures—all signed by me personally."

"Today is August 1st, but they only shipped the physical books to me on the 25th of last month, and gave me just three days to finish, because packaging and shipping time must be accounted for."

"Do you think I'm relaxed?"

The audience burst into laughter.

Soon, it was the second reader's turn to ask.

"Teacher Chongran, I'm curious—why were you so closely partnered with Yuan Wanqing in the past, but for 'Little Joy,' except for the re-arranged version of 'Under the Sea,' all the songs were given to her daughter to sing?"

"Well, she's right here," Li Luo pointed to Yan Zhusheng on his left. "She choked me into it."

The audience erupted in laughter again.

Yan Zhusheng frowned and immediately picked up the microphone: "You're the one who said I was more suitable than Mom."

"Just kidding," Li Luo laughed, then added an extra explanation for the audience: "Zhusheng's voice is younger and clearer—songs like 'Don't Waste the Splendor' suit her better."

Watching the interaction between Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng, Ying Chanxi bit her lip slightly, feeling a pang of envy.

But soon, a reader asked the question she most wanted to hear.

"Teacher Chongran, was the character Qiao Yingzi in 'Little Joy' inspired by your own experience of being forced by family to study?"

"Ah, this one," Li Luo smiled, turned his head toward Ying Chanxi, and winked at her.

Ying Chanxi immediately blushed, turned her head away shyly, and dared not look at him.

But inside, he hoped he would explain quickly.

So Li Luo continued: "Qiao Yingzi does have a real-life prototype, but it's certainly not me."

"As for who the inspiration was, isn't she sitting right next to me?"

As he spoke, Li Luo pointed to Ying Chanxi on his right, smiling as he introduced her: "There she is—the girl who lived across the street from me since childhood, and also this year's top scorer in the Qianjiang Province college entrance exam."

"Thanks to her, the day my exam results came out, I was forced to add one hundred thousand words."

"The prototype of Qiao Yingzi is her."

"When she heard I was holding a book signing, she insisted on coming along, so I let her sit here."

"Hey…" Ying Chanxi, hearing this last part, blushed deeply and secretly slapped him, whispering in protest: "What are you talking about? Don't make things up!"

"Eh? You're hitting me?" Li Luo deliberately dodged with exaggerated flair, sending the audience below into fits of laughter.

Meanwhile, in the official live stream room, a crowd had already begun shipping them.

It even sparked fierce debates between rival factions.

(End of Chapter)