Chapter 707

After finishing the elective class with Ying Chanxi, Li Luo persuaded her to take him to the dormitory cafeteria at Zhulu Xuan, claiming he had never been there before.

In reality, he now had a bit of psychological trauma, fearing he might run into acquaintances again while eating with Ying Chanxi in the school cafeteria.

If his classmates, department mates, or Xu Youyu's roommates saw him eating with another extremely beautiful girl, laughing and chatting intimately, it would be disastrous.

Could he really make Xi Xi play his cousin again?

With this cautious mindset, Li Luo nudged Ying Chanxi into taking him to the dorm cafeteria at Zhulu Xuan, where they had a simple meal.

After lunch, the two parted ways, each heading to different classrooms for their next classes.

After several days of university life, Li Luo had gradually grown accustomed to this rhythm.

He had to admit, university life differed vastly from the junior college experience he'd had in his past life.

In his previous life, he'd spent two and a half years studying to be a chef—his entire junior college experience was vastly different from his current life at Qianjiang University.

From a lifestyle perspective, the biggest difference was the management system.

Li Luo remembered clearly how, when he thought he'd finally graduated high school, he assumed university would be easier.

But in junior college, dorms still locked and lights turned off at 10:30 p. m., and the dorm supervisor still did nightly inspections.

Attendance checks, uniform curfews, phone restrictions…

It felt like he'd gone through high school all over again, except the subjects had changed.

But here at Qianjiang University, although the dorms officially locked at 11 p. m., if you begged the dorm auntie nicely, coming back late was no problem.

No one cared whether you turned off your lights—if all four roommates agreed, you could keep the lights on all night without anyone interfering.

Not to mention you could just drive home to spend the night.

Although the school officially forbade staying overnight off-campus, as long as no one deliberately reported it, nobody cared.

Thinking about this, Li Luo hummed a tune as he arrived at the classroom building, met up with his roommates, found a seat, and prepared for class.

Before the class bell rang, Cheng Xin curiously asked Wen Zexuan, "How's it going with the girl you met at the gym yesterday?"

"There were a few hiccups, but overall it's going smoothly," Wen Zexuan chuckled. "But I'll share the details with you once I have something more concrete."

Hearing this, Li Luo assumed Wen Zexuan was pursuing the two new girls he'd met after yesterday's encounter.

Confirming that this guy had given up on Jiang Lai, Li Luo breathed a sigh of relief.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

…

Living university life calmly, writing novels in his spare time, and shuttling between Ying Chanxi and the others, Li Luo was living quite freely.

On Thursday afternoon, Li Luo met Xu Youyu again at the classroom building entrance, and they headed together to their class: "Online Novel Appreciation and Research."

"I've been looking forward to this for ages," Xu Youyu said with a grin as she approached Li Luo and hooked her arm through his.

"I remember your aunt knows you write novels, right?" Li Luo said casually as she led him inside. "Then as your father's disciple, does Teacher Si know you write books too?"

"How could he possibly know?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Only my dad and aunt know—I made my dad promise not to tell anyone."

"That's strange," Li Luo said. "In your high school class, surely quite a few people got into Qianjiang University—why hasn't anyone spread the word about you writing novels?"

"What are you thinking?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes again. "Most people from our school who get into Qianjiang University don't even choose the College of Literature—it's a dead-end major."

"Is that appropriate coming from the Vice Dean's daughter?"

"It's the truth," Xu Youyu chuckled. "In our major, grad school and civil service exams are the norm—the job market is way too narrow. Some professors are even wondering if they should recommend graduates to write online novels."

"Pushing students into a fire pit? That teacher's terrible."

"If writing online novels is a fire pit, then what are we?"

"We're the Great Sage Equaling Heaven inside Laozi's alchemical furnace—true gold fears no fire."

"You've got a whole speech prepared."

"Otherwise, how do you write online novels?"

As they chatted, they reached the classroom door.

Several students had already chosen their seats.

Xu Youyu pulled Li Luo into the classroom, instantly drawing many glances.

As a second-year student, Xu Youyu was fairly well-known in the College of Literature—many had heard of this golden flower from the External Relations Department.

Too bad she already had a boyfriend.

Li Luo actually enjoyed the attention and sat with Xu Youyu in a corner at the back of the room.

After scanning the classroom with his Memory Palace, confirming none of the students present were familiar, Li Luo relaxed.

Normally, it's uncommon for first-year students to enroll in electives.

On one hand, fun, interesting, or easy-to-pass courses are usually snatched up early by second- and third-year students.

On the other hand, first-year students in their first semester mainly focus on adapting to university life.

So, besides Li Luo, the only students attending "Online Novel Appreciation and Research" were all second- and third-years.

"Say, what if the teacher brings up your book during class?" Xu Youyu whispered with a grin. "Wouldn't it be super cool if you just stood up and told the teacher, 'I wrote that book'?"

"How embarrassing are you?" Li Luo said flatly. "I'd just tell the teacher, 'The book you mentioned? Meh—it doesn't even compare to one hair of Gu Dao Changqing.'"

"Get lost!"

"We're just hurting each other—you started it."

"Everyone in your class already knows you write novels—what's the big deal?"

"But everyone in your high school class knows you write novels too," Li Luo chuckled. "Why hide it in university? Why not be open about it?"

"Nope," Xu Youyu huffed. Just as the class bell rang, she dropped the subject and turned to look at Teacher Si Huanian, who had just entered. "Hey, you know what? Teacher Si is pretty hot."

At that moment, Si Huanian stepped into the classroom as the bell rang, wearing a light brown trench coat over jeans and knee-high boots, her short hair giving her a sleek, effortless air.

"She's pretty, with a kind of androgynous vibe," Li Luo nodded. "How old is she?"

"Looks like she's in her thirties?" Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow. "Not young at all."

"I asked about your age."

"Haha~ Twenty-five." Xu Youyu grinned. "She just graduated with her master's degree, so she's not that old."

"Hello everyone." At this moment, Si Huayuan had already walked onto the stage, turned on the classroom computer, plugged in a USB drive, opened the lecture slides, greeted the class, then turned to the blackboard and wrote her basic information, giving a simple self-introduction.

Then she wrote a string of numbers.

"This is our QQ group—everyone add it." Si Huayuan said. "I'll post all notices in the group. If you have questions, just message me directly there." "Now, let's get straight to the point."

Saying this, she opened her PPT and went straight to the table of contents.

"For this elective course, according to this semester's plan, there are sixteen weeks and thirty-two class hours total. The main content is divided into the following sections."

"First, an introductory understanding of online novels—systematically learning about the history and current state of online literature."

"Second, research on online novels—determining our research tools, directions, and perspectives."

"Third, the case study section. Here, we'll divide into groups of no more than four students each, with free grouping."

"Each group will choose one online novel to analyze and present on stage."

"We have over forty students in this class, so there will be at least a dozen groups."

"So starting from the week after next, we'll schedule group presentations in order."

"Presentation grades count toward your daily score."

"The fourth part is the current creative ecosystem of online literature—including platform rules, the status of writers, and so on."

"For this section, our other instructor, Xu Rongsheng, has some connections in this field. He may invite some well-known online novel authors to share industry insights with us."

Here, Si Huayuan smiled slightly: "I know you all chose this course because you've read online novels at least a little in your daily lives."

"If any of you are particularly interested in a certain author, let me know in the QQ group—I'll see if Professor Xu Rongsheng can get them to come."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu nearly burst out laughing, clapping a hand over her mouth, stifling her giggles until she was barely holding back.

"What are you doing?" Li Luo asked, exasperated.

"My dad doesn't have any connections in the online novel world." Xu Youyu whispered, smirking. "It's all our connections—mostly yours."

"Well, that still counts."

"Si Teacher probably hasn't even thought of it." Xu Youyu chuckled softly. "My dad's biggest connection is already sitting in her class."

Si Huayuan didn't know that two famous online novel authors were sitting right in this classroom—she was still on stage explaining the course structure.

"After discussing the creative ecosystem, we'll cover the reader ecosystem."

"Then we'll move on to social criticism and appreciation of online literature—holding a discussion on value conflicts."

Here, Si Huayuan paused, then smiled: "For the final assignment, you'll write a discussion on the values of online literature—minimum three thousand words."

"A formal thesis format is best."

"But…"

"I have another option."

As she spoke, Si Huayuan clicked her mouse, and the PPT advanced to the next slide.

Several icons appeared on screen.

"These are the major online novel platforms currently on the market."

Si Huayuan said, "If you independently write an online novel this semester and get signed by any one of these platforms, you can bypass the assignment entirely."

"You won't need to write the essay—and you'll get full marks from me."

At this, the classroom erupted into murmurs.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu exchanged glances below the stage, then couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

"What do we do?" Li Luo asked. "I don't care—I could just submit my own book and get full marks right away. Then I wouldn't even need to come to class anymore?"

"You wish." Xu Youyu glared at him. "You're here to keep me company, not to skip out."

"Then pull out your 'Gu Dao Changqing' too, Great Sleep God." Li Luo teased cheerfully. "Get signed, then we can skip class and do something else afterward."

"No way." Xu Youyu gritted her teeth. "If you expose me, you're dead."

"Then let's just use a pseudonym," Li Luo said, smiling. "Writing a three-thousand-word essay is such a hassle. Better to just draft a quick opening and give it to a pseudonym—have Qianzhou get it signed."

"That's not impossible." Xu Youyu muttered after hearing this. "But does this count as cheating?"

"Signing is no challenge for us." Li Luo spread his hands. "But for newcomers who've never written online novels, it'll filter out 99% of them—that's why Si Teacher made such a bold claim."

Getting signed as an online novel author has little to do with education level—anyone who can type is on equal footing.

The key is whether the author can shift their mindset from the traditional student essay perspective to the online novel perspective.

If they can't make that shift, getting signed becomes nearly impossible.

Many highly educated humanities students with broad reading backgrounds are more likely to be trapped by this mental barrier—they simply can't adjust, and get stuck here.

It has little to do with raw writing skill.

If you show your opening to an industry online novel author and they only compliment your prose, the problem is almost certainly here.

"Okay, that's the main content for this semester." Si Huayuan clapped her hands, pulling everyone back from their fantasies of signing deals, then clicked her mouse to begin today's actual lesson.

The screen changed.

The top line appeared—Definition of Online Literature.

"To understand online literature, we must first know where it came from." Si Huayuan clicked again, beginning to recount the origins and evolution of online literature.

Well then… Li Luo pulled at his mouth, suddenly recalling the common complaints about domestic education in the future.

No matter what you study, you always start with definitions.

"Feels kinda boring…" Xu Youyu yawned. Afternoon first class was already sleepy, and now she had even less energy.

To perk herself up, Xu Youyu glanced around at her classmates and the teacher, then quietly took Li Luo's hand and placed it on her thigh.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm dead tired. Need some stimulation."

"Then how about I tell Teacher Si and let you go up to share 'Gu Dao Changqing'?"

"Heh, there's a difference between seeking thrills and seeking death—I think you're just itching for a beating."

"I don't know if my skin itches, but someone else's definitely does."

"Hmph~ Then after class, you're going home?"

"I made plans with Zhusheng—I'm going to meet her after class."

"Tsk, dog man." Xu Youyu gave him a light kick. "Don't get drained dry by Zhusheng."

(End of Chapter)