Chapter 723

September 18, Monday morning.

Li Luo and the other two woke up precisely at six o'clock.

Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng got out of bed first to wash their faces and brush their teeth in the bathroom.

Li Luo stayed in bed, leaned over to Xu Youyu, gently shook her awake, and patted her cheeks: "Wake up, let's go for a morning run together."

"Mmm…" Xu Youyu mumbled in bed after being woken, then heard the devil's whisper.

Upon hearing the words "morning run," Xu Youyu reacted like a mouse seeing a cat—her eyes, barely half-open, snapped shut immediately.

The next second, she yanked the blanket over her head, turned her back to Li Luo, and pretended to be dead.

Li Luo watched this with a faint smile, tapping her blanket: "Stop pretending to be dead. Didn't you promise? Today's morning run—you can't break your word."

"Can't hear, can't hear," Xu Youyu muffled from under the blanket. "You guys go. I'll sleep a little longer."

"Really not getting up?"

"Not getting up."

"Then I'm pulling out my ultimate move."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu, though unsure what his ultimate move was, grew slightly panicked and hurriedly said, "Don't bother me—I really can't get up… Ah!"

No sooner had she finished begging than she felt Li Luo invade her blanket.

Li Luo crawled entirely beneath the blanket, slipped past her waist, and emerged in front of her side-turned body.

Then Xu Youyu felt herself being turned over; Li Luo traced upward along her slender waist until he fully pinned her beneath him.

The buttons of her pajamas were undone one by one.

Xu Youyu's face flushed crimson, her breathing quickened, and she instinctively hugged his head through the blanket.

"No… it's too early… Chanxi and Zhusheng are still in the bathroom… don't touch…"

Xu Youyu said no, and Li Luo immediately stopped.

His head emerged from the blanket, grinning as he kissed her lips, then asked: "Feeling more awake now?"

Xu Youyu: "... Get lost."

"What a heartless woman," Li Luo pinched her cheek. "Looks like I need to keep going?"

"No! No no no!" Xu Youyu grabbed him, face twisted in distress. "I'm getting up! I'm up!"

With Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng present, Xu Youyu still couldn't be fully relaxed.

At such moments, she dared only to tease Li Luo verbally or sneak a little mischief.

But if Chanxi and Zhusheng actually caught her, she'd feel embarrassed.

Now seeing Li Luo still planning to torment her, Xu Youyu finally raised her hands in surrender and obediently climbed out of bed with him.

At this point, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng had finished washing up and stepped aside to make room.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu took over the sink to brush their teeth and wash their faces.

Since the four of them had been sharing Li Luo's master bedroom every night, his bathroom now always stocked all four of their toiletries—no need to go outside for them anymore.

After waking up, Xu Youyu became much more compliant; after washing her face, she was fully alert and had no desire to sleep again.

Since she was already up, she might as well check out the spot Qian Daxin had mandated for morning runs.

After washing up and putting on her sportswear, Xu Youyu followed Li Luo and the other two downstairs.

"Aren't we driving?"

Seeing the three head straight for the gated entrance of the compound, Xu Youyu paused and couldn't help asking.

"What's wrong?" Ying Chanxi asked in confusion. "We always walk for morning runs—why would we drive?"

"Of course we should drive," Xu Youyu quickly grabbed them.

"It's such a short distance—just a few steps," Li Luo laughed.

"Try walking two steps yourself?" Xu Youyu glared at him. "One step, two steps—see where you are?"

Li Luo: "... It's just a few minutes walking normally."

"At least fifteen minutes!" Xu Youyu pouted to correct him. "If I walk there, I still have to run two kilometers—do you want me dead?"

"Fine, fine," Li Luo gave up, half-laughing, half-sighing, and led the three girls to the car, driving toward the south gate of Qianjiang University.

It was the first morning run after the semester began, and the first under Qianjiang University's revised rules—yet even at just past six in the morning, Li Luo saw crowds of students flooding the streets as he arrived at the south gate.

Most were first-year freshmen, with a few second- and third-year students mixed in.

During the first three weeks after enrollment, even upperclassmen still felt a temporary surge of determination, thinking this semester they'd work hard—starting with this first morning run!

So the first day of morning runs always drew the largest crowd.

Li Luo parked the car beside the east playground and walked with the three girls toward the starting point of the morning run.

Qianjiang University had installed eight facial recognition check-in points across campus, each with five facial recognition scanners.

When connected, these points formed a roughly rectangular running route.

Starting from the first check-in point on the western sidewalk beside the east playground near the south gate, the route passed by the Entrepreneurship Center building, the entrance to the eastern cafeteria, then the fitness center to the north, before turning left.

After passing the north playground, it reached the Lover's Slope in the northwest corner, turned left again, passed behind the library, continued straight, and ended at the final check-in point on the eastern sidewalk of the west playground.

Li Luo scanned the posted route map beside the check-in point in the crowd, memorized it instantly, and recited it to Xu Youyu and the others.

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly called out: "Youyu! You actually came? So it was Li Luo who dragged you here."

Li Luo turned his head and saw Zhao Letian, tall and unmistakable in the crowd, waving at them.

Beside him was Xie Xiuying.

Xu Youyu's two roommates approached together and greeted the four of them.

"You two came too? Where's Xiao Ya?" Xu Youyu waved, and as they drew closer, asked curiously.

"Haha~ She said you wouldn't come, so she wasn't in a hurry—she just needs to finish more runs than you," Zhao Letian laughed heartily, his smile bright. "Didn't expect you to show up on day one." "She couldn't get up alone," Li Luo muttered beside them. "I had to drag her out of bed this morning—otherwise she'd still be sleeping."

"No need to say that," Xu Youyu kicked Li Luo's shin. "What matters is the result, the result—why explain the process in such detail?"

"Alright, alright, alright, shall we start running now?"

"Wait, wait... I think we should warm up first." Xu Youyu, noticing the crowd, led them to the playground to stretch their legs and loosen their ankles and wrists.

The others didn't mind; with so many people around, it was better to queue for facial recognition and wait a bit.

Zhao Letian, while warming up, leaned over to Xu Youyu and asked in a low voice, "I know Yan Zhusheng—who's the other girl?"

Hearing this, Xu Youyu instinctively glanced at Ying Chanxi.

The words "cousin" nearly slipped out, but she held back her smile and said simply, "She's Li Luo and Zhusheng's high school classmate, and also the successor to my high school student union president—good friends all around."

"Oh, I see!" Zhao Letian nodded in understanding, then casually approached Ying Chanxi, pulled Xie Xiuying over, and greeted her; they briefly got to know each other.

Once the check-in point grew less crowded, the six of them returned to the facial recognition machine, completed check-in, and began jogging.

To accommodate Xu Youyu's pace, everyone ran slowly.

Even so, Xu Youyu was already gasping for breath; after running four or five hundred meters, she could barely hold on.

"The worst thing in long-distance running is stopping and starting," Li Luo said, gripping her arm to keep her moving. "Even if you walk at a running posture, don't stop—otherwise, when you try to run again, you'll feel even worse."

Xu Youyu gritted her teeth as Li Luo dragged her along, her chest burning like a spinning fan, her breaths coming in ragged, wheezing gasps.

But the fixed check-in points during morning runs had one advantage: they provided staged goals.

Each check-in point was only a few hundred meters apart, splitting the two-kilometer distance into seven or eight segments—achieving one goal at a time made it far easier than running the whole thing at once.

At least psychologically, the difference was significant.

Starting at half past six, the six of them accompanied Xu Youyu all the way, finally reaching the check-in point at the west playground around six fifty, completing their first morning run.

After finishing, Xu Youyu panted heavily, leaning against Li Luo's chest, her face flushed, her chest heaving violently.

"You did great today—I didn't think you'd actually make it to the end," Li Luo said, no longer teasing her about her weak stamina, instead switching to praise mode.

Sure, it took twenty minutes to run two kilometers—slightly embarrassing—but it was better than sleeping in every day.

Xu Youyu caught her breath against Li Luo's chest, slowly recovering, then began walking at a sluggish pace.

"Are you going back to the dorm or home?" Zhao Letian asked, walking beside her.

"I'll go back to the dorm," Xu Youyu considered, then replied. "Want to come with?"

"Yeah, I need to head back too," Zhao Le said. "What about Xiuying?"

Xie Xiuying shook her head softly. "I need to go to the library."

"Oh right," Zhao Letian nodded. "Then go ahead—I'll take Youyu back."

"Mm, bye," Xie Xiuying murmured, nodded, waved goodbye, then turned toward the library in the opposite direction.

Watching Xie Xiuying's back, Xu Youyu took Zhao Letian's arm and followed Li Luo into the car.

"I'll drop you two off at the dorm first, then take Zhusheng across," Li Luo said, starting the car.

"Got it," Xu Youyu replied, leaning against Zhao Letian.

In the car, Zhao Letian kept chatting with Yan Zhusheng; since Yan had applied to join the badminton club, Zhao Le said, "Zhusheng, want to play badminton next time? But your campus is across the river—might be a hassle."

"Sure," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "I'm taking my driver's license test now—I'll be able to drive next month."

"Oh, great! Then let's plan a badminton session," Zhao Letian grinned. "There's an indoor badminton court at the north playground—great facilities, our club's exclusive venue."

"Oh," Yan Zhusheng nodded in agreement.

At that moment, Li Luo turned to Xu Youyu. "How's Xie Xiuying doing now? After getting the financial aid, her living situation should be fine, right?"

"Don't worry—Xiuying's doing great," Xu Youyu waved her hand. "Isn't she just heading to the library?"

"The library's always recruiting assistants—it's a school part-time job."

"My mom works there and has hiring authority, so I asked her to pick Xiuying."

"Huh?" Zhao Letian was startled. "I didn't know that—I thought Xiuying applied on her own."

"She probably would've been picked anyway, but I just added a little insurance," Xu Youyu smiled.

"That's still great," Zhao Letian hugged Xu Youyu's arm. "I didn't even know your mom works at our library."

"Library work is pretty easy, and the pay isn't much," Xu Youyu said offhandedly, then changed the subject. "Xiuying also took a private tutoring job on weekends—after tutoring, she works part-time as a server at Uncle Li's hotpot restaurant."

"She owes this to your dad—otherwise, the hotpot place wouldn't hire students like her for part-time jobs."

"Her monthly income's not bad now—her daily expenses are definitely covered."

"It's just exhausting—I see her juggling so many jobs, yet she hardly spends any money."

Zhao Letian lowered his voice. "You're often not in the dorm—you might not know."

"Xiuying hardly spends anything herself. Aside from her financial aid, most of her earnings from part-time jobs go home."

"I once overheard her calling her family from the balcony."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu froze, surprised by this revelation.

But it was Xiuying's own choice—she couldn't say much.

"We're here," Li Luo said, pulling up to Qingxi Dormitory, addressing Zhao Letian and Xu Youyu in the back.

After they got out, Li Luo took Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng home to change into casual clothes.

He dropped Ying Chanxi off at the campus gate, then drove Yan Zhusheng across the river to her campus for class, before returning.

He had an 8 a. m. class in the morning—Xu Rongsheng's Modern Literature—and as class representative, he couldn't be late.

(End of Chapter)