Chapter 662: Yan Zhusheng: Even Secretly Is Fine

At the graduation banquet.

While Li Luo was taking Ying Chanxi around to toast guests, the three families at the head table were chatting casually.

Lin Xiuhong feared they might drift to other topics, so she brought up the recently concluded TV drama "Little Joy," praising Ying Zhicheng's team for their excellent work.

Ying Zhicheng smiled and nodded: "It was thanks to Li Luo for providing a great script, and the theme happened to align perfectly with current societal trends—timing, geography, and human harmony all came together."

"Indeed," Xu Rongsheng also nodded in agreement at this point, "Our college professors have all been watching it. The journalism and communication faculty even said they'll have fresh material to use in next semester's classes."

"The promotional campaign around 'Little Joy' before and after its broadcast was exceptionally well done."

"Plus, its content matched the college entrance exam theme extremely well, and airing it during summer vacation yielded outstanding results."

"Li Luo played a role in this too," Ying Zhicheng said without hesitation, since Li Luo and his daughter were away, "Many of the promotional strategies were built around his suggestions."

"Oh?" Xu Rongsheng found this quite interesting, "His suggestions?"

"For example, he went to Wanqing's concerts several times before," Ying Zhicheng said simply, "All the songs in 'Little Joy' were composed by him. Leveraging the popularity of Wanqing's concerts helped promote the drama's new songs, letting audiences become familiar with them in advance."

"Oh, by the way, the song 'Don't Waste the Prime of Life' was originally just a background track during the finale, when the main characters took the college entrance exam."

"It was used only once in the entire drama."

"But Li Luo tied it to this year's college entrance exam support campaign and promoted it as an anthem of encouragement."

"You probably know about this."

Saying this, Ying Zhicheng turned to look at Xu Rongsheng.

"Oh, I remember now," Xu Rongsheng nodded in sudden realization.

Because earlier, to fully promote the song, Ying Zhicheng had specifically approached Xu Rongsheng and asked him to use his connections to contact officials at the Ministry of Education.

Soon after, "Don't Waste the Prime of Life" was quickly added to the daily playlist in many high school broadcast rooms.

After the song spread across campuses, when "Little Joy" reached its final episode and the main characters took the exam with the song playing in the background, the live comments instantly flooded the screen.

Many of this year's college applicants, as well as high school freshmen and sophomores, flooded the comments section.

This was the power of resonance.

But while the two fathers chatted, Cui Suling beside them felt somewhat annoyed.

Watching Li Luo take Ying Chanxi around to toast guests, then glancing at her own daughter who only ate and ate, Cui Suling was speechless.

"Don't just keep eating," Cui Suling whispered.

"What else am I supposed to do at a dinner?" Xu Youyu looked at her mother in confusion, then picked up a chicken leg for her, "Mom, eat too."

"I'm not eating," Cui Suling's face darkened, shoving the chicken leg back at Xu Youyu, "Just eat. The more you eat, the more useless you become."

Xu Youyu glanced at her mother's expression and noticed her glancing repeatedly toward Li Luo—suddenly she understood what her mother was thinking.

So her mother hadn't even gotten jealous yet, but had already swallowed the sourness on her behalf?

Xu Youyu found it amusing, but dared not truly anger her mother, so she whispered soothingly, "Come on, today is Li Luo and Xixi's top-scorer graduation banquet—they're the stars. We're just supporting actors; just enjoy the food and drinks."

"But look at what they're wearing…" Cui Suling whispered.

As for Li Luo's three tables of relatives—his second and third uncles' families—most had low education levels, couldn't read English, so that was understandable.

Besides, one wore blue with white letters, the other white with blue letters; the older generation might not even register it—they probably didn't even have the concept of "matching outfits."

But Cui Suling had once been a college student who'd studied with Xu Rongsheng; her English was fine—how could she not recognize they were wearing matching outfits today?

But after glancing at her mother, Xu Youyu's eyes rolled, then she whispered, "We both have the same outfits as them—this is called a family outfit. You don't get it, Mom."

"Huh?" Cui Suling blinked, hearing this for the first time, "What do you mean?"

"It means family," Xu Youyu scoffed, as if her mother was hopelessly outdated, "Can't you see the word 'family' on it?"

"Do you know 'Running Man'? It's a super popular variety show."

"The cast members call themselves 'family'—meaning they're like a family."

"They're wearing merch from that show, not romantic matching outfits."

Cui Suling was stunned by her daughter's explanation. Though she'd never watched "Running Man," she'd heard of it—and after thinking it over, she actually believed it.

"So that's how it is…" Cui Suling nodded in realization.

No wonder her daughter was so calm.

Cui Suling silently nodded, easily accepting this explanation.

After all, in her mindset, if Xu Youyu, Ying Chanxi, and Yan Zhusheng all liked Li Luo, they were naturally rivals.

And her own daughter was already in that kind of relationship with Li Luo… how could she possibly remain unmoved seeing her man wearing matching outfits with another woman?

So the truth was this.

After hearing her daughter's explanation, Cui Suling's previously uneasy mood instantly cleared.

So when Xu Youyu reached for the chicken leg in her bowl, Cui Suling reached over and snatched it back, biting into it with relish.

Xu Youyu: "...?"

"What are you staring at?" Cui Suling shot her a sideways glance, "What else are you supposed to do at a dinner? We've got to eat and drink—it's only polite to the hosts."

Xu Youyu rolled her eyes at her mother and gave up speaking further.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhusheng, sitting beside Xu Youyu, nodded repeatedly, firmly memorizing her friend's explanation.

Soon after, Yuan Wanqing stood up to use the restroom and invited her daughter along.

As they exited the bathroom, Yuan Wanqing washed her hands and looked at her daughter in the mirror, asking casually, "Zhusheng."

"Hmm?"

"What do you think of Li Luo now?"

"What do you mean?" Yan Zhusheng blinked, tilting her head at her mother.

"I mean…" Yuan Wanqing paused, then said, "Romantic feelings between a man and a woman?"

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded, "I like him."

"But Ying Chanxi likes Li Luo too, right?" Yuan Wanqing, hearing her daughter's affirmation, suddenly looked troubled, "They're wearing matching outfits today…"

"Mom, you're overthinking it," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "They aren't wearing matching outfits—that shirt I have too, along with my senior. It's a variety show merchandise item."

"Huh?" Yuan Wanqing blinked, then went through nearly the same process as Cui Suling, left stunned by Yan Zhusheng's explanation.

But after accepting this explanation, Yuan Wanqing still took Yan Zhusheng's hand and whispered, "But you and Chanxi both like Li Luo—that hasn't changed, has it? Tell me, what are you really thinking now?"

Yan Zhusheng pressed her lips together, wondering why her own mother wasn't as easy to fool as Aunt Cui.

"My thoughts are simple," Yan Zhusheng thought for a moment, then looked at Yuan Wanqing and said softly, "Aren't you with Uncle Ying too?"

"What do you mean?" Yuan Wanqing didn't understand.

"If Aunt Yan had agreed for you to join them back then, would you have been willing to be together as three?" Yan Zhusheng asked calmly, but posed an extremely dangerous question.

Yuan Wanqing was instantly speechless.

Yuan Wanqing fell silent, as if recalling something.

Back then, when Ying Zhicheng brought her into Huayue Film and Television, she had struggled step by step—and deep inside, she had long developed feelings for him.

But she knew Ying Zhicheng was Yan Ruqing's husband, so she never dared act on them, carefully hiding her emotions.

Yet Yuan Wanqing never imagined that, at Yan Ruqing's deathbed, she learned that Ruqing had already seen through her hidden feelings.

But to accept a three-person relationship… it was just too…

Yuan Wanqing's gaze settled on Yan Zhusheng's face, watching her serious expression, her eyes growing distant.

"Do you know what you're saying?"

"I know."

"Does Chanxi know what you mean?"

"She knows too."

"Huh?" Yuan Wanqing froze again, stunned by this answer.

She had thought this was only Yan Zhusheng's idea—so Chanxi knew too?

"Then… what does Chanxi think…?"

"Sister sleeps with me every night—in Li Luo's room," Yan Zhusheng said, blinking.

Yuan Wanqing fell completely silent.

"If Uncle Ying finds out, I'm afraid he'll chase Li Luo down with a kitchen knife."

"But you wouldn't do that, would you?" Yan Zhusheng took Yuan Wanqing's hand and added, "When I agreed to you and Uncle Ying, I said before—you have to support my decisions too."

Yuan Wanqing: "…"

So you've had this idea all along?

Yuan Wanqing admitted Li Luo was extremely, extremely outstanding—but that her own daughter would become so obsessed she'd rather share him than let go still left her struggling to accept it.

"Then what about Li Luo…" Yuan Wanqing started to ask what Li Luo thought, but then realized it probably didn't matter.

After all, who in his right mind would pass up the chance to have two women beside him?

Yuan Wanqing wore a helpless expression. The thought of Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi both sleeping in the same bed as Li Luo every night left her speechless.

But the next second, she suddenly realized something and hurriedly asked, "Then… you and Li Luo… you just sleep together at night?"

"We kiss and hug too," Yan Zhusheng answered honestly.

"Oh… just that?" Yuan Wanqing breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"What else would there be?" Yan Zhusheng blinked, remembering the little knowledge Xu Youyu had given her recently, then pulled a small square object from her pocket. "Are you talking about this?"

Seeing her daughter pull out such a thing with such ease, Yuan Wanqing's face froze.

"You and Li Luo… you've already used it?"

"No," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "I only have one. I haven't used it yet."

"Oh… that's… that's good…" Yuan Wanqing exhaled again, feeling as if her heart might give out.

After confirming this, Yuan Wanqing fell silent again, weighing what to say next.

The mother and daughter sat in silence until another guest came to use the restroom, at which point Yuan Wanqing pulled Yan Zhusheng back.

"I can temporarily ignore what's going on between you two," Yuan Wanqing stopped at the entrance to the lobby and said seriously to Yan Zhusheng, "but you must promise me one thing."

"What?" Yan Zhusheng blinked, tilting her head.

"This," Yuan Wanqing reached into Yan Zhusheng's pocket and pulled out the object again. "Don't let this happen until your relationship with Chanxi and Li Luo is fully settled, okay?"

"If I promise you this, will you accept our situation?" Yan Zhusheng asked in return.

"I'm just afraid you'll regret it later," Yuan Wanqing pressed her lips. "What if you stop liking him someday?"

"I won't."

"What if Uncle Ying refuses and forces Li Luo to choose between you two—and he doesn't choose you?"

"Then I'll sneak around," Yan Zhusheng rolled her eyes cleverly. "I can be his mistress too."

Yuan Wanqing: "…?"

How… how did she raise her daughter to be like this?

When she first brought Yan Zhusheng back to China, her daughter wasn't like this at all!

Who on earth turned her into this?!

Yuan Wanqing was so flustered she didn't know what to say.

She couldn't tell Ying Zhicheng outright—after all, Ying Chanxi was the girl who had grown up with Li Luo since childhood.

If Ying Zhicheng found out Yan Zhusheng had these thoughts, would he develop negative feelings toward her?

Yuan Wanqing grew worried, so she only warned: "Just promise me this—consider it my request."

Yan Zhusheng pouted slightly, but for the sake of their future happiness, she nodded: "Fine, I won't use it."

"Good," Yuan Wanqing nodded firmly, finally relieved. "As for your feelings, I think there's no need to rush."

"You've just started university—you haven't experienced much yet."

"By the time you graduate from university in four years, a lot of things will be completely different."

"So don't make a final decision too soon, okay?"

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently and put the small square piece back into her pocket.

But in her heart, she was thinking that she had only promised her mother she wouldn't use it.

When she got back, she'd have to ask her senior—without using this, could she still do bad things with Li Luo?

(End of Chapter)