Chapter 667: Surprise?

Li Luo found it hard to describe his current state and feelings.

For the past half-month or so, he had been consistently writing thirty thousand words per day.

Yet now, he seemed to have completely lost that Gao Chao writing ability, turning entirely into a wooden statue, motionless in his chair.

He sat with legs spread before his computer, hands resting obediently on the keyboard, eyes fixed on the screen, yet not a single thought of writing entered his mind.

Logically, all he needed to do was open his Memory Palace, faithfully fill in the plot according to his outline—writing should have been effortless for him.

Even when he wrote thirty thousand words daily, the worst he felt was restlessness from sitting too long; he never experienced mental fatigue or dizziness from excessive mental strain.

After all, the Memory Palace's function was simply too powerful—recalling something already memorized consumed negligible energy.

But at this very moment, Yan Zhusheng would instantly sever his neural link to the Memory Palace, plunging him into a state of total mental paralysis.

He couldn't help lowering his head to look.

Then immediately lifted it again, too afraid to look again.

"Li Luo," Yan Zhusheng suddenly stopped and spoke toward him.

"Hm?" Li Luo's hum came almost entirely from his nose; his body involuntarily trembled.

"What time is it now?" Yan Zhusheng asked.

"Let me check." Li Luo snapped back slightly, forcing himself to glance at the time, then said, "Eight twenty."

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng nodded, then immediately resumed nodding.

Li Luo took a deep breath, forcing himself not to look beneath the table again, shifting his focus to the computer, wondering whether he should write a few words.

At that moment, the QQ account logged on the computer began flashing.

Someone was messaging him.

Li Luo moved the mouse, clicked the avatar, and found it was a message from his editor, Qianzhou.

【Qianzhou】: You're about to start school soon, right? How's your condition now?

His current condition… Li Luo tugged at the corner of his eye; with the editor asking this, he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

Yan Zhusheng sensed Li Luo twitching slightly, feeling it distinctly, and mistook it for her own doing.

So she redoubled her efforts.

Meanwhile, Li Luo replied to the editor.

Finally, he began typing, tapping the keyboard—papapapa—outputting text onto the screen.

【Chongran】: Back to school the day after tomorrow. My condition's fine. What's up?

【Qianzhou】: I'm just worried about your health—after all, your body is the foundation of everything, right? You don't need to push yourself so hard with updates.

Logically, as an editor, one would naturally hope their authors write and update as much as possible.

Especially for a top-tier Platinum author like Li Luo, editors usually dare not even urge him—they secretly wish he'd push even harder.

But even so, Qianzhou had never seen anyone write as intensely as Li Luo.

Not even the chief editor or general editor had ever encountered such a monstrous update beast as Li Luo.

At first, they worried Li Luo might ruin such a great novel by overworking, so they monitored his daily updates closely, checking for any signs of declining plot quality.

If there was any risk, the general editor would rather halt Li Luo's explosive updates immediately than let such a great novel be destroyed.

After all, from Qidian's perspective, even the highest subscription fees for a novel amounted to only an ordinary ten-million-level sum.

But a novel like Night Watch of Great Qian—perfect for period drama adaptation and with explosive performance—was exceedingly rare.

So they preferred Li Luo refine it carefully rather than ruin the entire book's quality through such extreme over-updating.

But after reading for several days, the editorial team discovered that, for Li Luo, plot quality seemed unrelated to daily word count.

Not only was the standard still high, but the more he wrote, the more enjoyable it became.

This was terrifying.

You have to understand, "Daqian Night Patrol Bureau" has now officially broken through the milestone of 80,000 average subscriptions.

Qidian has been operating for over a decade since its founding, and in all that time, only a handful of works on the main site have ever surpassed eighty thousand average subscriptions.

Piracy was rampant in the early days, and though it still exists today, a sizable base of legitimate users has now accumulated.

Even so, creating such a breakout hit after becoming a Platinum author left the editors awestruck.

After all, Li Luo is only eighteen years old.

His future is undeniably bright.

【Chongran】: Don't worry—I still have over two hundred thousand words in reserve, more than enough to cover remaining backlogs.

【Chongran】: After school starts, there's military training—I'll gradually reduce my explosive updates and aim to bring daily output down to ten thousand words by next month.

After chatting with the editor, Li Luo managed to slightly break free from Yan Zhusheng's mental grip.

The inner energy that had felt on the verge of collapse seemed to recede slightly, no longer rushing toward losing control so quickly.

【Qianzhou】: Good to hear you're not just forcing yourself.

【Qianzhou】: Wishing you a pleasant start to school—I won't disturb you further.

【Chongran】: Thanks for your concern.

After finishing the chat with Qianzhou, Li Luo instantly shifted his attention back from above to below.

He simply scrolled through his QQ list, found his target, and sent a message to his best friend.

【Li Luo】: What are you doing?

【Zhao Rongjun】: What do you want?

【Li Luo】: Can't I message you if I have nothing to say?

【Zhao Rongjun】: Uh… I'm kind of busy right now. If you've got something, say it fast.

【Li Luo】: Are you on a date with Huanhuan?

【Zhao Rongjun】: Mm… she told you not to bother us.

【Li Luo】: Fine, fine, fine—now that you've got a girl, you've forgotten your bros.

【Zhao Rongjun】: What? Of course not. So what's this about?

【Li Luo】: Nothing.

Saying this, Li Luo promptly picked a random topic to keep talking.

【Li Luo】: I just wanted to ask—you guys planning to report to campus on what date?

Qianjiang University's registration dates are August 26th and 27th—this coming weekend.

Logically, since you're so close to campus, you could just show up on the 27th without rushing with everyone else.

But Zhao Rongjun said:

【Zhao Rongjun】: We should go on the 26th. Yinghuan said we can meet our roommates early.

【Li Luo】: What about Xinyan?

【Zhao Rongjun】: Xinyan's probably with Chanxi, right? Aren't both of them going to Zhu Institute?

【Li Luo】: Oh, right.

Had Zhao Rongjun been alone, Li Luo might've teased him further—but since Xu Yinghuan was right beside him, it felt inappropriate, so he dropped it.

At that moment, Li Luo saw his phone vibrate twice, ended his idle chat with Zhao Rongjun, and reached for his phone.

Someone had messaged him on WeChat.

He opened it and found it was his uncle, Lin Xiufeng.

That was unusual.

【Lin Xiufeng】: Busy?

Busy…

Li Luo really wanted to reply that.

But he answered honestly instead.

【Li Luo】: No, what's up?

【Lin Xiufeng】: Nothing much, just wondering—aren't you starting school the day after tomorrow?

【Li Luo】: Yeah.

【Lin Xiufeng】: You applied to Qianjiang's College of Literature, right?

【Li Luo】: Sort of. Technically it's the Department of Humanities—you'll be split into specific majors in the College of Literature later.

【Lin Xiufeng】: I don't really get all that, but on opening day, there'll be a little surprise waiting for you.

【Li Luo】: What? What surprise?

【Lin Xiufeng】: If I tell you, it's not a surprise anymore.

【Li Luo】: Don't you dare hang up a banner saying "Warm Welcome to Famous Online Novel Author Chongran!"

【Lin Xiufeng】: Do I look like such a boring person? Definitely not something like that.

【Li Luo】: Then is it some milk tea package you're planning to hand out to my classmates to help me make friends?

【Lin Xiufeng】: You can do that yourself—why would you need me?

【Li Luo】: Then what is it?

【Lin Xiufeng】: I'm not telling. You'll find out when you start school.

Damn!

Li Luo was speechless—his uncle was still refusing to spill the beans.

You might as well not have said anything.

But now, Li Luo was feeling it more and more.

He could barely hold back.

So when his phone vibrated again, he didn't even check it—he assumed Lin Xiufeng was just teasing him, and fully immersed himself in Zhusheng's world.

Because of that, Li Luo didn't even hear the sound of the front door opening.

As footsteps drew closer down the hallway, the bedroom door suddenly flew open.

At that moment.

Li Luo jolted forward, dragging his chair into the space beneath the desk, using the desk to completely conceal his guilty act.

Ying Chanxi walked in wearing slippers, glanced around the bedroom, saw nothing unusual—not even Yan Zhusheng herself—and relaxed slightly.

But she found Li Luo's posture strange.

"Why are you sitting like that?" Ying Chanxi walked over to Li Luo and asked, puzzled.

At this moment, Li Luo's chest was pressed flat against the edge of the desk, and most of the chair beneath him was tucked under the desk.

Beneath the desk, to the right near the bed, was the computer tower.

To the left near the bathroom was the built-in drawer cabinet.

Ying Chanxi stood right where the drawer cabinet was—she couldn't see beneath the desk at all, only wondered why he was sitting like that.

"Played all day, eyes are tired, so I sat closer—it makes the screen look bigger," Li Luo said, breathing rapidly but forcing himself to make up an excuse.

At this moment, Li Luo felt as if he were floating in heaven, yet also standing on the edge of hell—like walking a tightrope.

But Ying Chanxi noticed nothing odd. As she walked toward the bathroom to use the toilet, she casually asked, "So where's Zhusheng? Why did you come home and start writing?"

"She's had enough after a full day at the amusement park—we gave her a birthday celebration," Li Luo stared fixedly at the screen, trying to distract himself. "She's probably practicing piano now."

"Oh." Ying Chanxi believed him without doubt, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door to use the toilet.

Now, Li Luo finally exhaled deeply, pushed hard with his legs, and quickly pulled the chair back, revealing the space beneath the desk.

"Hurry, hurry!" Li Luo whispered urgently. "Get out quick—Chanxi will come out of the bathroom any second."

Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently and scrambled out from under the desk.

Li Luo saw the sweat on her forehead and her rosy lips, immediately pulling out a tissue and holding it to Yan Zhusheng's mouth.

"Hm?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head in confusion, glanced at the tissue Li Luo offered, then reached out to take it and wiped her sweat-drenched forehead.

In that instant.

Li Luo froze.

He stared blankly at Yan Zhusheng's thin lips, his breath quickening—he guessed the possibility, and instantly his whole body burned with heat.

"You—you…" Li Luo struggled to speak, "you didn't…"

"Oh… you mean that?" Yan Zhusheng noticed the way Li Luo was staring at her mouth, slowly realizing, then nodded and said, "I swallowed it. Can't I eat it? Is it poisonous?"

"It's not poisonous…" Li Luo tugged at his lips, then took a deep breath to calm himself, though his head still buzzed.

After all, even Xu Youyu had never made him swallow before—only ever let him release.

And yet Yan Zhusheng had just swallowed it…

"Good thing it's not poisonous." Yan Zhusheng blinked innocently, "When your chair suddenly came in, I nearly choked. If I hadn't swallowed it, I was afraid I'd cough out loud."

"Mm… it's my fault."

"Li Luo is the best." Yan Zhusheng threw herself into his arms and hugged him, "But my mouth is so sore."

"What are you two doing?" Ying Chanxi stepped out of the bathroom and saw the scene before her—her face darkened instantly. "Why are you hugging already?"

"Just finished practicing the qin, came to Li Luo to recharge." Yan Zhusheng poked her head out from Li Luo's arms and said to Ying Chanxi, "Today's my birthday, sister, don't be so stingy."

"Hmph, I'm not stingy." Ying Chanxi huffed, completely missing Yan Zhusheng's odd state, thinking her little sister's flushed cheeks were just from hugging Li Luo.

"Cough…" Li Luo cleared his throat, worried Ying Chanxi might notice something, so he patted Yan Zhusheng's back and said, "Go take a shower after practicing. Wash up—I still have to write."

"Okay." Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently and turned toward the bathroom. "I'll go shower first. Sister, can you bring me my pajamas?"

"Got it." Ying Chanxi waved her hand.

"Want to shower together?"

"I just finished my spa—can't shower yet. Go by yourself." Ying Chanxi turned to fetch Yan Zhusheng's pajamas.

But Yan Zhusheng suddenly remembered something, hurried out of the bathroom, and beat Ying Chanxi to the door, heading for her own room: "Never mind—sister, just go cut some fruit for Li Luo. I'll get my pajamas myself."

"Oh, fine." Ying Chanxi didn't think twice and nodded in agreement.

(End of Chapter)