Chapter 717: [Side Story: Xu Youyu] (6) The Chasm Between Us

Facing Li Guohong's sudden return home, Li Luo, caught off guard, responded with deep inner unease.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized this excuse didn't hold up, so he quickly added: "Zhao Rongjun's coming over later—we're going to eat together, so I'm preparing some dishes."

"Oh, I see." Li Guohong nodded in understanding, didn't think much of it, and simply walked into the kitchen to take a quick look.

Having cooked often himself, Li Guohong instantly recognized it looked like four dishes—exactly the portion for two people.

But Li Luo rarely cooked at home; seeing him do so now felt oddly novel to Li Guohong.

"Why are you home now, Dad? Nothing wrong at the breakfast shop?" Li Luo shifted the topic, asking Li Guohong.

"Oh, nothing much—I just came back to grab something." Li Guohong waved his hand and returned to the front door.

As he passed Li Luo's bedroom, Li Luo's heart pounded, fearing his father might suddenly get curious and open the door to peek inside.

Fortunately, nothing happened. Li Guohong picked up two umbrellas at the door and prepared to leave: "The weather forecast says it'll rain this afternoon, so I came back early to get the umbrellas."

"If Zhao Rongjun comes over later, remind him to bring an umbrella."

"And clean up the kitchen after you eat."

"Got it." Li Luo walked him all the way to the door, watched Li Guohong's figure vanish around the stairwell corner, then slowly closed the door, trying not to seem too eager.

Once the front door was fully shut, Li Luo rushed to the balcony to confirm Li Guohong had left the stairwell and headed toward the compound gate—only then did he finally exhale in relief.

At that moment, Li Luo remembered there was still someone in his bedroom—he hurried back, flung open his door, and peeked inside.

Xu Youyu was sitting on the edge of his bed, curiously examining the wall certificates, looking utterly unfazed.

"Aren't you worried at all?" Li Luo groaned, pressing his palm to his forehead. "I was terrified just now."

"Why worry?" Xu Youyu laughed. "If Uncle had found out, I'd just say I'm your girlfriend—what's the worst that could happen?"

The words floated casually from Xu Youyu's lips.

She didn't realize how devastating they were to Li Luo—his heart surged violently, his chest tightening with shock.

But outwardly, he forced a wry smile and waved his hands. "Don't joke like that."

"At least it's better than you calling me a guy," Xu Youyu blinked, grinning.

"Cough… I only said that out of desperation." Li Luo sighed helplessly.

Besides being his best friend and brother, Zhao Rongjun had always been Li Luo's lifelong scapegoat.

Whenever something was hard to explain, just dragging Zhao Rongjun into it would usually get him out of trouble.

After some playful banter, Xu Youyu resumed touring Li Luo's room.

Li Luo's bedroom was simple.

On the left stood a bed and a double-door wardrobe against the wall; on the right, a desk, a chair, and a trash bin—that was all.

On the desk sat a laptop Li Xiuhong bought him when he first entered university.

He'd never used an external keyboard or mouse—only the laptop's built-in ones.

The walls were plastered with several certificates, clearly old, all won during Li Luo's elementary school years.

Since middle school, Li Luo had been completely out of touch with such awards.

"Your room's pretty clean—slightly different from what I imagined," Xu Youyu said, scanning the room before returning her gaze to Li Luo with a smile.

"What difference?" Li Luo shifted his gaze, slightly guilty.

Knowing Xu Youyu was coming, he'd done a thorough cleaning yesterday.

Of course, Li Xiuhong regularly cleaned his room, so it wasn't usually messy.

But Li Luo often tossed clothes around, and his desk was cluttered with snack wrappers and drink bottles—so last night he'd specifically tidied up.

"I thought there might be some contraband," Xu Youyu grinned. "Like pulling out a stack of magazines from under the bed."

"You've watched too many anime," Li Luo groaned, covering his face. "Who still buys magazines these days?"

"True," Xu Youyu nodded, raising a finger. "So maybe I should check your browsing history—that'd be more reliable."

"I advise you to be kind," Li Luo's eye twitched as he instinctively stepped toward his computer, fearing she might actually act.

"Haha~" Xu Youyu noticed his reaction and burst into laughter. "Got it, got it—I'll write this into my novel later."

Li Luo: "..."

"By the way," Xu Youyu, now satisfied with her research, turned her gaze to Li Luo's laptop and asked, "Why don't you get a better computer? Doesn't it hurt to type on this every day?"

"It's fine—I'm used to it," Li Luo shook his head, unwilling to spend much on a new one.

Xu Youyu asked again: "Don't you play games? This laptop probably can't run anything."

"I only play mobile games," Li Luo chuckled. "I haven't touched PC games in years."

"What a pity," Xu Youyu sighed. "I was hoping to queue up with you."

"What games do you play?" Li Luo asked.

"Whatever's popular," Xu Youyu smiled. "LOL, PUBG, Valorant, CS: GO—I play whatever's trending."

"Since I write male-audience novels, I need to understand what boys like."

"Even if the story doesn't involve these things, slipping in a few relevant memes while writing can have great effect."

"Otherwise, if you stop engaging with them for too long, you'll quickly fall out of touch with today's readers."

"In online novels, you must keep evolving—otherwise, every new book is a gamble, and one misstep and you're left behind by the times."

Li Luo listened, stirred by her words, but made no promise in the end.

The two sat in Li Luo's room, chatting idly.

Though doing nothing, the conversation never stalled.

As noon neared eleven, Li Luo ended the topic and stood up. "I'll start cooking now."

"So early? Didn't you say eleven-thirty?"

"Cough… better to start early—I'm afraid the beef brisket will overcook and lose its flavor."

Offering a flimsy excuse, Li Luo hurried out of the room toward the kitchen.

Actually, he was just worried that if something happened again and his parents had to come back, he really couldn't handle it.

So it's better to finish lunch early.

Luckily, it was Li Guohong just now, not Lin Xiuhong.

If Lin Xiuhong had come back to get the umbrella, with her sharpness, she might have actually noticed something.

Thinking of this, Li Luo quickly went to the kitchen, made a dish of Maple Tofu, stir-fried garlic sprouts with twice-cooked pork, and finally brought out the braised beef with potatoes and tomato egg drop soup—three dishes and one soup, perfectly complete.

Xu Youyu sniffed the aroma and hurried to the dining table, her face wearing a satisfied expression.

Li Luo brought out bowls and chopsticks, then took a bottle of beer chilled all morning from the fridge. At that moment, Xu Youyu followed him in and pointed to the wine glasses in the nearby glass cabinet: "Can we use those?"

"Sure." Li Luo nodded, reaching for two glass wine glasses. "But we need to wash them first—wait a second."

"OK, I'll take the beer over first." Xu Youyu carried the beer to the dining table and sat down.

Li Luo washed the wine glasses clean, then joined her at the living room table and handed her one.

Then each poured themselves a glass of beer; the golden liquid flowed, rippling as they clinked glasses, finally sliding into their lips.

"Ahh~ So refreshing." Xu Youyu sighed contentedly, picked up her chopsticks, and tasted Li Luo's cooking. After one bite of Maple Tofu, she was moved: "Yes! This is exactly the taste! I've been craving it for so long."

Since the last time she ate Maple Tofu made by Li Luo, Xu Youyu had been longing for another bite.

During these past few months traveling outside, she couldn't find Maple Tofu anywhere near Li Luo's level—it drove her crazy with hunger.

"If you like it, eat more." Li Luo smiled warmly.

The two drank and ate, and only when they'd gone through half their beer did Li Luo finally give in to curiosity and ask Xu Youyu: "So what was this big news you mentioned earlier?"

"Haha!" Xu Youyu burst into laughter. "You finally couldn't hold back, huh? I was about to burst, and you waited this long to ask!"

Li Luo: "... I thought you'd just tell me."

"I was just guessing how long you'd hold off asking me," Xu Youyu chuckled.

Li Luo was speechless—he thought this was so childish.

But he also felt a little envious of Xu Youyu's attitude.

"So what's the good news?"

"It's definitely a huge deal," Xu Youyu grinned, pulling out her phone from her pocket, tapping something, and showing it to Li Luo.

Li Luo stared closely.

On the phone was a document.

At the top, the title clearly read—

《Wenxue Group Exclusive Authorization Agreement with Master Author》

The long string of words made one dizzy, but Li Luo instantly caught the most critical piece of information.

"Master?!"

"Exactly~" Xu Youyu beamed. "The editor told me the competition was fierce, it wasn't guaranteed, but I actually got it."

"Congratulations!" Li Luo genuinely rejoiced for Xu Youyu and immediately raised his glass: "Incredible!"

"Hehe, thanks!" Xu Youyu raised her glass, lightly clinked it against his, and drained it in one gulp.

After sharing this news, Xu Youyu ate even more happily.

The two ate and drank until past one in the afternoon, finally ending lunch.

After finishing, Xu Youyu said: "This is just the electronic contract, but they recommend signing in person, so I have to go to Changning City tomorrow morning."

"Oh, you definitely should go," Li Luo nodded.

"So I was wondering," Xu Youyu said, "would you come with me tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Li Luo hesitated at this.

Xu Youyu seized the moment: "You can meet the editor too, and tour Wenxue Group's office."

"Besides, several other authors are going to sign contracts too—we'll all get together, and you can meet them."

"Aren't you almost done with your current book?"

"Come with me, chat with the editor and other authors—maybe you'll get ideas for your next novel."

"And we can just stroll around Changning City too—what do you say?"

After hearing all this, Li Luo's heart stirred, and he asked: "How many days?"

"Just two or three," Xu Youyu held up three fingers. "Signing won't take long—you can sign tomorrow. The main point is meeting others and touring Changning City."

"Alright…" Li Luo ultimately couldn't resist the temptation and agreed. "What time's your high-speed train tomorrow?"

"Pull out your phone—I'll buy the ticket for you."

"OK."

…

After agreeing to Xu Youyu, Li Luo bought the high-speed train ticket under her guidance.

But once he actually followed Xu Youyu to Changning City the next day, Li Luo began to regret it.

Without any achievements to back him up, facing the other master authors who had come to sign contracts, Li Luo had absolutely no confidence.

Especially when Xu Youyu dragged him to the dinner gathering and others asked what book he wrote and what his pen name was.

Every time he gave his book title and pen name, and noticed a flicker of confusion in their eyes, followed by forced politeness as they patted his shoulder and said, "Oh, it's you," Li Luo felt terrible inside.

After meeting, everyone exchanged WeChat friends, and some authors politely accepted his request.

But one author at the table, after scanning his QR code, never accepted his friend request—not even after Li Luo returned home—clearly not regarding him as someone on the same level.

Though the man still maintained basic social etiquette on the surface.

But this subtle disregard made Li Luo feel even worse.

So much so that on the final day in Changning City, when Xu Youyu dragged him around sightseeing, he had no energy at all.

After returning to Yuhang City, whenever Li Luo wanted to casually chat with Xu Youyu privately, he suddenly realized—she was now a Master Author.

And he was merely an ordinary LV5 author with a monthly subscription of only five to six thousand.

Forget about big gods—even kings were out of his reach.

Whether his next book could even match this level of success was uncertain.

So Li Luo unconsciously reduced his communication with Xu Youyu.

Usually, it was Xu Youyu who reached out to him first.

However, after signing the big god contract, Xu Youyu entered seclusion to prepare his new book and barely communicated with the outside world.

Li Luo thus naturally reduced his communication with Xu Youyu as well.

Though the past one or two years had been wonderful, Li Luo had come to realize that he and the other man did not inhabit the same world.

But if… Li Luo looked at his computer screen, thinking of the new book he was preparing, his heart pounded.

If his new book could improve—say, reach the ten-thousand-subscription goal, or even go further—it might give him a little courage.