Chapter 720

Li Luo typed while simultaneously paying attention to the movements on the bed.

Although the two girls were whispering to each other on the bed, sometimes speaking in hushed tones, sometimes sounding excited, Li Luo, from this distance, couldn't clearly make out what they were saying.

Still, once he confirmed they weren't arguing, he let out a small sigh of relief.

Then again, it made sense.

Chanxi was the type who wouldn't care no matter how much she was teased, unless she was truly angry.

As for Zhusheng, she probably didn't even have the concept of an argument in her mind.

So after being shut down by Ying Chanxi, Li Luo stopped paying attention to them and immersed himself once more in his writing.

Until just after eleven at night, when Li Luo stretched, shut down his computer, got into bed between the two girls, and pulled them both into his arms—one on each side.

"What were you two talking about just now?" Li Luo asked curiously.

Seeing Yan Zhusheng about to speak, Ying Chanxi immediately leaned over and cut her off: "Zhusheng, you're not allowed to say anything!"

"What's the harm?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head and asked.

"It's just not allowed to say it," Ying Chanxi said firmly, her little face stern. "You can't just blurt out things like that."

"Then I won't blurt it out," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "I'll say it carefully and seriously."

Ying Chanxi stared at her, veins twitching: "... Shut up."

Seeing Ying Chanxi was truly angry, Yan Zhusheng obediently fell silent.

But a few seconds later, she couldn't help adding: "Look, Li Luo, your sister's mean."

"You're the mean one!" Ying Chanxi snapped, reaching out to hit her—but Yan Zhusheng reacted swiftly and dodged.

This infuriated Ying Chanxi so much she wished she'd brought the Pikachu from the bedroom.

Just as the two were wrestling, the bedroom door was pushed open from outside.

Xu Youyu, freshly showered and wearing a light sleepwear, climbed onto the bed beside Ying Chanxi and asked curiously, "What are you doing? Why is Chanxi hitting someone?"

"She always picks on me," Yan Zhusheng said. "I'm used to it."

Ying Chanxi pulled at her lips: "You just love to misrepresent things—never a truthful word out of your mouth."

Xu Youyu was clearly accustomed to their sisterly dynamic and found nothing strange about it.

So she didn't press further, only turned to Li Luo and asked: "Have you told Chanxi yet?"

"What?" Li Luo blinked, momentarily confused.

"About going to see the cats tomorrow," Xu Youyu reminded him. "Zhusheng's going today—will Chanxi be free tomorrow?"

"Oh right," Li Luo remembered. He turned to Ying Chanxi in his arms and briefly explained the reason for visiting the cats, then asked, "Do you want to come along?"

"Sure," Ying Chanxi agreed happily, nodding. "What time should we go tomorrow?"

"In the afternoon?" Xu Youyu quickly said. "I'm sleeping in the morning."

"That works," Ying Chanxi nodded. "I've already arranged with Senior Meng to help at the secretary's office tomorrow morning. If you're going in the afternoon, just call me—I'll slip away and join you."

"OK," Xu Youyu snuggled against Ying Chanxi. "We'll decide together which kitten we like best."

"How many cats are there?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously.

"There are several stray cats, but we'll only pick the kittens," Xu Youyu said. "Adult strays are hard to tame; kittens bond more easily."

"There's a pregnant female who just gave birth to five kittens."

"One pure black, one gray-and-black mottled, one brown tabby, one orange, and one silver-and-white striped."

"Oh," Ying Chanxi nodded, having a clear picture now. "Then let's all go tomorrow—by the way, the villa's almost done renovating."

"The villa's renovation was finished this month," Li Luo said. "We just need to gradually buy and bring in a few large pieces of furniture."

"No rush on that—I told Butler Liu to wait."

"When we're free during National Day, we'll go together, pick out the big furniture, have it delivered and installed."

All three girls readily agreed, seeing no issue at all—like they'd already silently accepted they'd always live together, and found nothing odd about discussing furniture purchases as a group.

…

The next morning.

Li Luo woke at six as usual, taking Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng downstairs for a morning run.

Xu Youyu stayed in bed, sleeping in.

After the run, the three ate breakfast outside, then Ying Chanxi went to school to meet Senior Meng.

Li Luo took Yan Zhusheng to buy breakfast for Xu Youyu and bring it home.

One went to practice piano and vocal training; the other returned to the room to feed Xu Youyu, then began typing.

Xu Youyu ate breakfast and went back to sleep, not waking until just after ten in the morning.

"You've been clacking away nonstop since dawn—it's torture."

After waking, Xu Youyu rolled onto her side, squinting at Li Luo typing at his desk. "I feel like your thoughts never stall—how do you even do that?"

"Just plan out what you're going to write in advance," Li Luo said, tapping his temple with a smug grin.

Only he could pull this off.

Human minds have limits; unless you have a memory palace, most writers still need outlines and other writing tools to plan properly.

Xu Youyu was usually lazy and wrote only sketchy outlines, so when it came time to write, she had to wait for inspiration—and once stuck, she'd struggle for hours to produce just four thousand words.

"You're not even human," Xu Youyu rolled over like a salted fish, sighing deeply. "We should swap brains."

"Your brain's full of porn garbage—I'm not taking it."

"Huh? You're one to talk?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "We're practically even."

"Zhusheng says she learns from your books—your books are more useful than mine."

"That's because you only write clean stuff," Xu Youyu chuckled. "But when you chat with me casually, you drop brilliant lines all the time."

"You don't understand," Li Luo said cryptically. "I'm planning ahead. You should tone it down too—otherwise you'll have to revise later."

"What do you mean?" Xu Youyu sat up straight on the bed upon hearing this. "Did you hear some rumors?"

"Cough… I'm not sure." Li Luo shook his head. "Just be careful these days."

"And it's not just about edgy driving or stuff like that—those are still minor issues."

"If you're writing about modern settings with Qi revival, remember to portray official institutions as noble and righteous. Avoid or omit any sordid, scheming details."

Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, seemingly grasping the implication, and nodded. "Alright, I get it. I never wrote anything like that anyway." "Mm, I know," Li Luo smiled. "Otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it only now."

Speaking of which, in Li Luo's memory, it was only recently that a strict cleanup campaign swept through the Online Novel circle.

Many once-popular novels were banned.

Depending on severity, they received either revisions or complete bans.

When Li Luo began writing Online Novels in his past life, it was already long after the review system had tightened considerably.

Unlike our current era, where many things can still be written.

But genres like officialdom fiction and gangster fiction had already been almost entirely purged.

Afterward, supernatural fiction also suffered heavily, with any novels involving bloodshed or violence being caught in the crossfire.

In addition, many novels that weren't officialdom fiction but still carried subtle allusions also received bans.

Although Li Luo, as an author, never lived through this era, he had heard plenty of rumors back when he was just a reader.

Now that he's living it again and has chosen to write Online Novels, Li Luo certainly prefers to avoid unnecessary risks.

So while his content skirts the edge, it contains virtually no real explicit material—full of ambiguity, yet utterly bland.

All of this is to minimize risk as much as possible.

Even Li Luo himself, as the author, has already felt the consequences: the protagonist of I Am Really Not a Star, Li Yang, is still a virgin after six or seven million words.

All one can say is: suffer, little brother. Endure this phase, and better days will come.

After a brief chat with Xu Youyu on this topic, Li Luo temporarily stopped typing.

Once Xu Youyu had woken up and washed up, he took her and Yan Zhusheng out to buy groceries at the market, cooked lunch at home, and invited Ying Chanxi to join them.

After finishing lunch, the four quickly cleaned the dining table and kitchen, then set out from Bihai Lanting to visit the cats at Qingxi Dormitory.

1:30 p. m.

Li Luo drove the three women to the entrance of Building Five at Qingxi Dormitory and found a parking spot.

Xu Youyu got out first, met the head of the Qingxi Stray Cat Management Team, exchanged greetings, then led Li Luo and the other two to a small storage room in the basement parking area of the first-floor dormitory.

"The dorm supervisor here is kind-hearted. She can't bear to see sterilized stray cats wearing Elizabethan collars being bullied by other strays, so she lent us this small storage room."

The team leader explained to Li Luo and the others. "Inside, there are currently two sterilized strays recovering, plus the mother cat and her kittens."

Saying this, the leader reached the storage room door, pulled out a key, and unlocked it.

Inside was a space of only seven or eight square meters.

The floor was concrete, un-tiled, but swept spotlessly clean.

Along both walls, three-tiered cages were installed—nine compartments on each side, totaling eighteen.

It looked like a stray cat detention center.

Two of the strays were placed in the two corner compartments on the right-hand side.

Upon hearing people enter, they immediately began meowing.

"Are they hungry?" Ying Chanxi, hearing the meows, crouched down to ask with concern.

"All campus strays behave like this," the leader said. "Don't reach out to the one on the left—it's a bit aggressive. The one on the right is gentler."

"They've gotten used to begging for food on campus. They know if they meow twice at people, someone will buy them something to eat."

"So they meow whenever they see anyone. Don't pay attention to them—we feed them on a schedule."

Ying Chanxi nodded in understanding. "I see."

After speaking, the leader led the four of them to the topmost compartment on the left side, near the window.

She pointed inside and said, "The mother cat and her kittens are all in here. You can take a look."

"Wow~ So cute." Ying Chanxi leaned close to the cage, saw the tiny kittens inside, and felt her heart melt.

Xu Youyu chuckled beside her. "Cute, right?"

"Mm!" Ying Chanxi nodded vigorously.

On the other side, Yan Zhusheng also peered curiously. Though she didn't show as much excitement as Ying Chanxi, she clearly found them interesting and likable.

The three girls crowded around the cage, observing. Li Luo was pushed aside entirely, forced to tiptoe and peer through the gaps between their hair, then used his Memory Palace to scan and record everything.

Soon, Li Luo noticed something odd.

"Didn't you say there were five kittens? Why do I only see four?"

"Hmm…" The leader sighed and nodded. "There was one more—a gray-and-black kitten. It was very weak at birth, couldn't even nurse properly. We took it to the pet hospital, but couldn't save it."

"Ah?" Xu Youyu's face showed regret. "That's too bad—it didn't make it."

"Are the remaining four all healthy?" Li Luo asked again.

"Yes," the leader smiled. "These four are all lively and in good health. They just opened their eyes two days ago."

"That brown tabby seems especially active—doesn't even fear people." Xu Youyu pointed to the kitten curiously watching them. Seeing it crawl to the edge of the cage to peek, she couldn't resist extending a finger to gently stroke its head.

Ying Chanxi, meanwhile, stared intently at the orange kitten in the corner, then asked hesitantly: "Can I open the cage and hold it?"

"Of course," the leader nodded. "Which one do you want?"

"That little orange one," Ying Chanxi pointed to the corner.

"Okay." The leader swiftly opened the cage, grabbed the orange kitten, and placed it in Ying Chanxi's palms. "Hold it carefully."

"Wow! You, you put it down gently…" Ying Chanxi clutched the tiny kitten—smaller than her palm—with both hands, her eyes already filled with adoring tenderness.

At the same time, Yan Zhusheng leaned close to the cage, peered around, then pointed to the silver-and-white striped kitten: "I want to see that one."

"Alright." The leader caught another kitten and placed it gently in Yan Zhusheng's palm.

Then Xu Youyu also pulled out the small brown tabby kitten and played with it gently in his palm.

Li Luo saw this and stared blankly at the remaining black kitten in the cage: "Look at you, all black and dirty—none of the girls seem to like you?"

The black kitten tilted its head, not understanding what this guy was babbling about.

"So which one do you want?" Li Luo asked, looking at the three girls who were fondling the tiny kittens in their hands.

Hearing this, Ying Chanxi and the other two immediately looked down at the kittens in their palms, then exchanged glances and hesitated.

(End of Chapter)