Chapter 696: Didn

At 7:30, after leaving Zhenwei Snack House, Xu Yinghuan linked arms with Zhao Rongjun and walked alongside Jiang Feiya.

On the other side was Song Yu, walking beside Jiang Feiya.

"How long have you and your boyfriend been together?" Xu Yinghuan casually struck up a conversation as they walked.

Jiang Feiya frowned slightly, then corrected: "He's not my boyfriend."

"Right, right, not yet!" Song Yu quickly chimed in, knowing Jiang Feiya hated being called that, "Don't misunderstand."

"Oh, sorry!"

"It's fine." Jiang Feiya had a decent impression of Xu Yinghuan and didn't mind; she brushed it off and changed the subject, "I remember you went to the same high school as Youyu?"

"Yes." Xu Yinghuan nodded with a smile, "We were at the adjacent No. 1 Affiliated High School. Xu Jie was a year ahead of us—when we first enrolled, she was already the Student Union president."

"Hmm, she's quite capable." Jiang Feiya had initially disliked Xu Youyu, but she had to admit the other girl's competence, "So they were already together in high school?"

"I guess you could say that." Xu Yinghuan frowned slightly in thought, "Actually, I'm not entirely sure—they keep their relationship private; we never really noticed anything."

Xu Yinghuan didn't mention Ying Chanxi or Yan Zhusheng; she knew better than to reveal such secrets.

At least until Li Luo and the other three revealed it themselves, Xu Yinghuan wouldn't speak out of turn.

Zhao Rongjun was even more tight-lipped on this matter, especially with outsiders present—he barely spoke at all, leaving Xu Yinghuan to do all the talking.

"At first I thought Li Luo was our senior," Song Yu couldn't resist a jab, "He said he was a sophomore, and I believed him—turns out he's actually a year younger than us."

"Well, he's just far more capable than you," Jiang Feiya glanced at Song Yu with a hint of exasperation, "Age isn't that big a deal."

"True enough," Song Yu sighed and scratched his head, "He writes novels and songs so well—I can't compete."

"Youyu is very beautiful," Jiang Feiya nodded, "But given Li Luo's current achievements, finding a girl of Youyu's caliber wouldn't be hard. Honestly, it feels like Youyu got the better deal."

"You can't say it like that…" Xu Yinghuan felt awkward hearing this, thinking, If you knew Li Luo had three girlfriends like this behind the scenes, what would you think?

But she had a strong fondness for Xu Youyu and now wanted to defend her: "Actually, Xu Jie is really impressive too—she's made a lot of money just from writing her own books."

At these words, Jiang Feiya suddenly stopped walking.

Song Yu beside her gasped in shock: "Writing books?! What books has Xu Youyu written?"

"Huh? You didn't know?" Xu Yinghuan covered her mouth in surprise, suddenly realizing she'd made a mistake.

But Jiang Feiya, always adept at reading the room, noticed Xu Yinghuan's hesitation and calmly controlled her expression: "I knew already. It's normal for Song Yu not to."

"Is that so?" Song Yu blinked in confusion.

Xu Yinghuan suddenly understood: "That's why I thought—Xu Jie has to write every day. How could you, as her roommate, not know?"

"Still, knowing and knowing are different," Jiang Feiya probed gently now that Xu Yinghuan was willing to continue, "I've read her work, but I have no idea how much she earns in royalties."

"Haha~ You've read it too?" Xu Yinghuan burst out laughing, "Xu Jie is amazing! I remember her saying she now earns seventy to eighty thousand a month in royalties."

"…Seventy… eighty thousand?" Jiang Feiya froze at this.

She'd imagined Xu Youyu's royalties might be substantial, but never imagined her monthly income could reach this level.

Is she really still a second-year student?!

She always looked so lazy in the dorm, sleeping in late every morning—yet secretly she's earning this much every month?

As Jiang Feiya's mind reeled, Song Yu was equally stunned.

"Seventy to eighty thousand? Are you sure?" Song Yu refused to believe it, "Do you even know what that means? My dad doesn't make that much!"

"Why would I lie to you?" Xu Yinghuan pulled out her phone, opened Qidian, found Xu Youyu's ongoing novel, *Gu Dao Changqing*, and showed it to Jiang Feiya, "Look, Jie—this badge."

"This is the 'Ten-Thousand Subscription Badge'—it means at least ten thousand people have paid to subscribe to this book."

"Xu Jie's book has over twenty thousand average subscriptions—that means twenty thousand people are paying to read it continuously."

"And that's even though Xu Jie doesn't update much—only about a hundred thousand characters per month, with subscription fees around four or five yuan."

"Wait, if you calculate it that way, her monthly income might be over one hundred thousand…"

"She mentioned her royalties earlier this year."

"I heard during summer break her average subscriptions broke twenty thousand—now her royalties are probably even higher."

As Jiang Feiya listened to Xu Yinghuan, her mind reeling, she instantly memorized the book's title.

But Xu Yinghuan still followed the rules—she only showed Jiang Feiya, not letting Song Yu see what was written.

"Sorry, Senior," Xu Yinghuan whispered, "Xu Jie probably doesn't want too many people to know she writes. I showed you because you're her roommate—please don't tell anyone else."

"Oh, yeah, sure, I won't say anything!" Song Yu waved his hands frantically, still dazed, his mind struggling to process it.

Over one hundred thousand a month in royalties…

That's over a million a year?

Holy shit!

As Song Yu did the math in his head, he suddenly realized—Xu Youyu was a millionaire?

And she wasn't some rich second-generation—she built it all herself, a true self-made millionaire!

A second-year student earning a million a year—who'd believe it?

I thought Li Luo was impressive enough—he's just beyond me.

But now it turns out both of them are amazing?

No wonder their relationship is so strong… they've even met each other's parents… they're truly made for each other.

Song Yu felt a pang of envy—he thought if he were this successful, he might have won Xiao Ya already.

But then he looked at Xu Yinghuan linked arm-in-arm with Zhao Rongjun—and felt even more envious.

That guy over there doesn't even look rich!

How the hell did he get a girlfriend like Xu Yinghuan?

Song Yu was intensely jealous—he glanced instinctively at Jiang Feiya's small hand, wanting to reach out and hold it, but ultimately dared not.

Not long after.

The four of them arrived together at the cinema on Shidai Tianjie.

Although this cinema had only been open for less than two months, its business was already good.

Especially after Qianjiang University's semester began, it gradually became very popular.

Previously, students and faculty from Qianjiang University had to go to the Intime Mall on the south side of Ningshan to watch movies.

Now, with Tianjie, all forms of entertainment were countless times closer, extremely convenient.

The four of them first went to the fifth-floor cinema and headed to the counter to pick up their tickets.

After Song Yu received his ticket, he instinctively glanced at the couple beside him and realized it was Xu Yinghuan picking up tickets.

"What movie are you watching?" Song Yu curiously leaned over to take a look.

"Spider-Man," Xu Yinghuan said with a smile. "Oh? You guys too?"

"Yeah… yeah, it's even the same show." At that moment, Song Yu smiled on the surface, pretending it was a coincidence, but inside he was already souring to death.

Because he realized Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun had bought a couple's seat!

And it wasn't just the couple's seat—the key point was that Xu Yinghuan had paid for the tickets herself.

In Song Yu's memory, Jiang Feiya had never once bought him a movie ticket. That made him feel even worse.

"The movie doesn't start until 8:30. There's still plenty of time," Xu Yinghuan said to Jiang Feiya. "Sis, I'm going downstairs to browse around. What about you?"

"I just ate. I'll just sit here and rest a bit," Jiang Feiya said, completely uninterested in sightseeing. She waved her hand. "Go ahead. See you later."

"Alright, see you later then!"

After saying goodbye, Xu Yinghuan pulled Zhao Rongjun away.

Jiang Feiya silently found a chair in the cinema lobby, sat down, and immediately pulled out her phone to search online for the book "Gu Dao Changqing."

Then she discovered that Xu Youyu hadn't written just this one book—he'd previously written another called "Literary Era."

Seeing there was still time, Jiang Feiya instructed Song Yu to go buy some drinks and popcorn, then opened Chapter One of "Literary Era," determined to see what kind of nonsense her roommate wrote all day.

How could someone earn a million a year?

……

"Huanhuan is also going to watch a movie."

Li Luo drove Yan Zhusheng to the underground parking lot of Tianjie. As soon as he parked, Yan Zhusheng said this.

"Really?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow. "Oh right, she went to watch a movie with Brother Zhao before."

"But they haven't started yet," Yan Zhusheng added. "It's the same show as ours."

As she spoke, Yan Zhusheng handed her phone to Li Luo, showing him Xu Yinghuan's latest WeChat Moments post, which had three photos.

One was a photo of their linked hands, one was a close-up of the movie ticket, and one was a selfie of the two of them.

But what made Li Luo almost crack was the like beneath it from Qiao Xinyan.

So tragic…

As Li Luo sighed, another like appeared above it.

Li Luo clicked to check—it was Ying Chanxi who had liked it…

Yan Zhusheng took back her phone, gave Xu Yinghuan a like, then grabbed Li Luo's hand and took a photo of their clasped hands.

"You're not going to post this too, are you?"

"I'll set proper privacy settings," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "Only a few people like Xixi will see it."

"Fine…"

Li Luo indulged Yan Zhusheng's wish, letting her take several photos of their linked hands, then letting her squeeze into his arms for a group photo.

After finishing this, they got out of the car and walked toward the fifth-floor cinema.

Since there was still plenty of time, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng weren't in a hurry—they slowly rode the escalator, browsing floor by floor.

As a result, at the entrance to the arcade on the third floor, they ran into Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun just as they were coming out.

"Oh? Zhusheng! Over here!"

Xu Yinghuan spotted them first and immediately waved her arms, running over.

"Why are you two here?" Xu Yinghuan asked curiously. "I thought Li Luo went home with Sis?"

"Sis went home," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "Then Li Luo came to pick me up. We came to watch a movie."

"Oh? Me and Ah Jun are just heading up to watch a movie too!" Xu Yinghuan exclaimed happily. "What movie are you watching?"

"The same one as you," Yan Zhusheng said, pulling out her phone and showing the WeChat Moments post Xu Yinghuan had just made.

While the two girls were cooing together, Li Luo walked over to Zhao Rongjun.

"How's it going?" Li Luo asked with a smile. "What's it like having a girlfriend?"

"What's there to ask about…" Zhao Rongjun muttered under his breath.

"How's it going with Huanhuan?"

"Great."

"I can tell."

"It's just…" Zhao Rongjun hesitated.

Seeing his expression, Li Luo immediately sensed something was off.

But after hesitating a moment and glancing at Xu Yinghuan, Zhao Rongjun still didn't speak up, only whispered: "Let's talk about it another time when we're free."

"Do you have some kind of relationship problem?" Li Luo asked, baffled.

"It's not a relationship problem…" Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, frustrated. "I'll tell you later. Let's go watch the movie first."

Seeing his demeanor, Li Luo didn't press further.

The four of them took the escalator upstairs and soon arrived at the cinema entrance.

Yan Zhusheng ran to the counter to pick up the tickets and bought a popcorn combo.

Meanwhile, Li Luo was greeted by Song Yu, and the two began chatting there.

Jiang Feiya also put away her phone, gazing curiously at Yan Zhusheng at the front desk, then asked Li Luo: "Why aren't you accompanying your Youyu to watch the movie?"

"Zhusheng asked me to watch a movie with her, and Youyu wanted to rest at home, so I came out," Li Luo said casually.

From Jiang Feiya and Song Yu's perspective, Yan Zhusheng was still Li Luo's distant cousin, so they didn't worry he'd think too much of them.

Soon.

After collecting the tickets, Yan Zhusheng waved to Li Luo, signaling him to come help carry the drinks; she herself held the popcorn and walked with him to the entrance for ticket check.

The six of them passed through the ticket gate and headed together to Hall Six, ascending the stairs.

Song Yu checked the seat numbers in his hand and led Jiang Feiya to Row 7, Seats 11 and 12.

Before sitting down, he couldn't help turning his head to glance at Li Luo and the other three.

He watched in disbelief as Li Luo took Yan Zhusheng and joined Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun ahead, heading for the back row's couple seats.

What the fuck?!

"Xiao Ya…"

"What?"

"Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng went to sit in the couple seats."

"So what?" Jiang Feiya said offhandedly. "You don't have to be a couple to sit there—they're relatives."

"But…"

Song Yu looked on the verge of tears.

Earlier, when he'd mustered the courage to ask Jiang Feiya if they could buy couple seats, she hadn't said anything like this…

The world.

Comparing people really drives you insane!

(End of Chapter)