Chapter 660: Brave Xi Xi, Win Win Win!

At 4:30 p. m., Li Luo stepped out of his writing state, shook his head, and got up to wash his face in the bathroom.

He hadn't written much that afternoon; after quickly finishing one chapter, he spent the rest of the time fiddling with memories inside his Memory Palace.

Since he would be entering seclusion for most of the coming month, Li Luo had specifically reorganized all preparations related to Night Watch of Great Qian in his Memory Palace.

This included the overall outline, the setup for Volume One and Volume Two, and foreshadowing for the later Volumes Three and Four.

He then laid out a timeline, placing every plot event in order, making the writing sequence clear and marking each corresponding emotional arc and climax.

Simultaneously, he refined the character relationship map in his mind, matching every character's appearance in each chapter to their position on the map.

This way, whenever Li Luo selected a character on the relationship map, he could instantly recall every chapter in which that character had appeared.

Such an efficient retrieval system—if other authors knew about it—they'd probably die of envy.

After all, manually constructing such a clear and comprehensive outline and setting would likely leave an author bald and riddled with oversights.

The tendency for long Online Novels to collapse in later stages is tied to this exact problem.

After all, an author's mental capacity is limited; sometimes just maintaining one thread with distant foreshadowing and consistent callbacks is already exhausting.

Achieving Li Luo's level was simply too much to ask of a human.

But Li Luo wasn't satisfied—he planned to spend the next couple days listing out all future chapter outlines in chronological order, creating a chapter outline guided by emotional highs and lows.

That way, when he wrote, he'd only need to follow the chapter outline's logic and sequence, hammering away at the keyboard.

Previously, he'd only written at night, yet still maintained 4,000-word daily updates for I Am Really Not a Star and 10,000-word daily updates for Night Watch of Great Qian.

He also kept at least two to three hundred thousand words of backup drafts for both.

Once he began his seclusion and added daytime hours, writing two or three ten thousand words per day wouldn't be too hard.

In this regard, the existence of the Memory Palace was simply too overpowered.

Li Luo did a quick calculation: a minimum daily update of 4,000 words meant a minimum of 120,000 words per month.

If he wanted to repay his 700,000-word update debt within a month, he'd need to update 820,000 words in total.

That meant averaging over 27,000 words per day.

Hmm… maybe it wasn't impossible.

"Li Luo, it's about time," Ying Chanxi called from outside the bedroom door as Li Luo stepped out of the bathroom, still lost in thought. "We should head out."

"Oh, coming," Li Luo nodded, watching Ying Chanxi enter the room, open the wardrobe, pull out a suitable outfit, and toss it to him.

"Change into something else first," Ying Chanxi said. "Today's a college celebration—dress sharp."

"Alright," Li Luo took the short-sleeve shirt she tossed him and changed quickly.

But after putting it on, he realized something was off—he looked down at his blue shirt with white letters, then at Ying Chanxi's white shirt with blue letters, and couldn't help laughing.

Especially since the letters spelled "FAMILY" in uppercase—clearly a couple's outfit.

"Wasn't this shirt the one you bought me during your high school winter break trip abroad?" Li Luo recalled.

"Yeah," Ying Chanxi smiled at the memory, then grumbled, "Someone was hiding his novel-writing from me while I was overseas buying him clothes."

"Cough… old news, let's drop it," Li Luo slung an arm around Ying Chanxi's shoulders and headed out.

When Ying Zhusheng accidentally exposed his Online Novel writing, Ying Chanxi had gone cold on him.

It exploded fully on the night they returned to China.

It was one of the rare moments Ying Chanxi lost emotional control.

But Ying Chanxi hadn't been angry just because Li Luo hid it from her.

It was because everyone else around him knew—even her father knew—and only she was left in the dark.

This selective, delayed concealment was what truly hurt her.

In Ying Chanxi's heart, her position in Li Luo's heart—aside from his own family—should have been the highest.

"Why did you change into this outfit?"

As Li Luo and Ying Chanxi stepped out of the bedroom, they met Yan Zhusheng coming from the bathroom.

Yan Zhusheng squinted at the two of them in their matching outfits.

"I picked it for him," Ying Chanxi huffed. She'd grown bolder now—daring to wear a couple's outfit to a college celebration.

Xu Youyu stepped out of his room, saw their clothes, and chuckled, "Looks good. Two top-scoring students at a college celebration—this is perfectly fitting."

The four chatted as they walked to the door and put on their shoes.

After going downstairs, Li Luo drove his Audi A6, carrying the three girls, to the hotel where Li Guohong had booked the celebration.

Arriving at the hotel entrance, he parked near the front lot. As he stepped out, he ran into several classmates who had just arrived.

"Holy shit, Class Monitor!" Zhang Guohuang sprinted over, waving. Behind him came Zhu Yufei and others. "You bought a car already?"

"I haven't even gotten my driver's license yet," Zhu Yufei said, envious, circling the car, touching every part. "This is so cool."

"Isn't this an Audi A6?" Lin Yuan inspected it. "I remember it's not cheap."

"For our Class Monitor, it's just pocket change," Zhu Yufei grinned. "You don't know how popular Little Joy is—buying a car is nothing."

"This car isn't mine," Li Luo said calmly. "When Xi Xi's dad heard I wanted to buy one, he just gave it to me."

Zhu Yufei: "…."

Zhang Guohuang: "…."

Lin Yuan: "…."

"Let's go, let's go—no point staring," Zhu Yufei said, his scalp prickling from Li Luo's show-off. "I'm starving—let's eat."

"Exactly," Zhang Guohuang nodded. "Should've invited more classmates to get the acceptance letters. Too soft on the Class Monitor."

"Hey! Stop right there!" Li Luo narrowed his eyes at Zhang Guohuang's remark. "So that's why over sixty of the three hundred extra update names were from Fu Yi High? It was you two pulling strings?!"

"Run!" Zhang Guohuang realized he'd slipped up and bolted.

Zhu Yufei followed instantly, vanishing into the hotel entrance.

Only Lin Yuan remained standing there.

"Aren't you running away?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't done anything wrong to the monitor," Lin Yuan said with an innocent expression. "Besides, I'm waiting for Xiuxiu to arrive. You guys go in first."

"You're calling her 'Xiuxiu' already?" Xu Youyu teased from the side. "Something's going on."

"Cough…," Lin Yuan scratched his head awkwardly. "Don't make stuff up, senior. It's… not even close to what you think."

"I remember Hua Xiuxiu got into finance, right?" Li Luo smiled. "You went to science and engineering? The two schools are pretty close."

"Yeah, really close," Lin Yuan chuckled. "Just a few minutes' walk."

"Look, she's here already," Li Luo nodded toward Lin Yuan's back. "Let's go in together."

At that moment, Hua Xiuxiu and Ren Zheng, along with several other close female classmates, arrived together and joined the group at the hotel entrance.

For this promotion banquet, Li Luo invited all classmates from Class Eight, both before and after the class reassignment. In the end, over thirty classmates showed up, excluding only those who had family matters or were traveling.

He led Lin Yuan and the others into the hotel, to the private banquet hall, Room One.

On the way, Li Luo couldn't help asking Ren Zheng: "Where's Fang Chen?"

"Why ask me?" Ren Zheng rolled her eyes and sat down sullenly. "I'm not close to him."

"Cough…" Lin Yuan leaned close to Li Luo's ear and whispered, "They broke up. Monitor, say less."

"Why did they break up?" Li Luo looked puzzled.

"Ren Zheng's college entrance exam score was excellent—she got into Qianjiang University," Lin Yuan whispered. "Fang Chen tried hard too, but his score was still way behind."

"They originally agreed that Fang Chen should pick a local university, close to Qian University."

"But Fang Chen's family refused—they forced him to pick a provincial 211."

"Monitor, you know—except for Qian University, every other university in Qianjiang Province is worthless. To get into other 985 or 211 schools, you have to leave the province."

"So now it's like this."

Li Luo listened, sighing softly, then glanced at Lin Yuan: "So it's better this way, you and Hua Xiuxiu?"

"Hehe," Lin Yuan laughed happily and proudly, then waved his hand and went to sit with Hua Xiuxiu.

Li Luo watched Lin Yuan sit beside Hua Xiuxiu, then scanned the other classmates, one familiar face after another, his eyes filled with emotion.

Three years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Back in the summer after freshman year, their old Class Eight had organized a class trip to a farmstay.

At that time, Lin Yuan and Hua Xiuxiu, Fang Chen and Ren Zheng—these two couples had already shown signs.

But who could have guessed that, at the threshold of graduation, some would end up together, while others would soon part ways?

And whether Hua Xiuxiu and Lin Yuan could stay together through four years of university, let alone until the very end, remained uncertain.

Life is long and winding—no one can predict how many storms and twists lie ahead.

After scanning the room, Li Luo counted who was still missing, then informed Ying Chanxi and the others before heading back to the entrance to greet more guests.

Besides Li Luo's classmates, there were naturally his family relatives.

Li Guoru and the rest would definitely come—Li Luo's aunts, cousins, and cousin sisters.

The entire extended family of Second Grandpa and Third Grandpa would fill two or three tables.

Then there was Lin Xiuhong's side: Li Luo's uncle Lin Xiufeng, and his maternal grandparents.

As for Ying Chanxi, since the Ying family had moved here from elsewhere in Grandpa Ying's generation, and had only one child—Ying Zhicheng.

So although this was a joint promotion banquet with Ying Chanxi, only Grandpa Ying came from her side, sitting with Li Luo's grandparents.

Seeing Li Luo go to greet guests, Ying Chanxi placed her bag on their table to reserve their seats, then rose and walked to the entrance to join him.

Li Luo's relatives occupied three tables, classmates occupied three tables, and Li Luo's own group—ten people from three families—sat at one table.

"You're here," Ying Chanxi stood beside Li Luo at the entrance of Room One, watching Xu Yinghuan arrive, one arm linked with each of two others.

Xu Yinghuan giggled, released her grip, and waved toward Li Luo and Ying Chanxi at the entrance.

Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan followed closely behind, arriving at the hall entrance.

Qiao Xinyan wore a simple white short-sleeve shirt and long pants today, standing quietly to the side and nodding to Ying Chanxi in greeting.

Xu Yinghuan, still linked with Zhao Rongjun's arm, greeted them both, then walked into the hall and found an empty seat among the classmates' tables.

Their relationship had been officially announced again in the class group chat after their confession during the Qian Island Lake trip.

So now everyone in class knew—when they saw them walking in hand in hand, no one was surprised.

Qiao Xinyan, however, quietly stayed beside Xu Yinghuan, deliberately distancing herself from Zhao Rongjun.

Ying Chanxi noticed this, and her lips tightened slightly with a pang of discomfort.

Li Luo noticed Ying Chanxi's gaze and gently rubbed her head: "Still thinking about Xinyan?"

Ying Chanxi shook her head: "It's all in the past."

Nearly a month had passed; Ying Chanxi had come to terms with it. She only hoped her best friend could soon step out of this shadow.

There are so many men in the world—no need to hang yourself on one tree.

Once they get to Qianjiang University and meet more outstanding boys, better love will surely await her ahead.

Thinking this, Ying Chanxi felt slightly comforted.

Then she thought of Li Luo, glanced at him sideways, and couldn't help letting out a little huff.

"What now?" Li Luo looked at her, baffled.

"Nothing," Ying Chanxi said, then asked, "Are most people here? It's already half past five."

"Yes, let's go in. The dishes are about to be served," Li Luo nodded.

The two turned and walked into the hall.

The next moment, Ying Chanxi voluntarily linked her arm through Li Luo's, gathered her courage, and, right before dozens of people inside, took her seat beside him.

Once seated, feeling the eyes of those around her, Ying Chanxi's face burned red, her heart pounding wildly, as if she might faint.

Li Luo, meanwhile, felt as if needles pricked his back—he sensed Ying Zhicheng's gaze across the table, burning into him.

"Cough... I'll go call the waiter to bring the dishes." Li Guohong coughed twice, glanced at his good buddy's expression, then looked over at Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling's faces, sensing something was off, and quickly stood up to say.

(End of Chapter)