Chapter 738: Zhu Sheng Kills Xixi

Around nine in the morning, Li Luo led three girls out the front door of villa A08 and onto the streets of Sky Ridge Elegant Residence.

Motor vehicles are not allowed in the open areas of Sky Ridge Elegant Residence, so the asphalt road in front of the villas is narrow—just wide enough for one car to pass.

After exiting the villa's courtyard gate, opposite lies a green belt; stepping along a stone path deeper in, you see benches scattered throughout.

If you go past the row of villas ahead, you can see a man-made lake and a pavilion in the center of the community, beside which is a children's play area with slides and similar equipment.

In addition, there are some fitness equipment for the elderly.

If I were to retire here later, walking daily in the community with such beautiful surroundings would be quite comfortable.

Outside the main gate of Sky Ridge Elegant Residence is Ningshan Avenue.

The rear gate near the south leads directly to the entrance of Ningshan's newly built ring mountain road.

Climbing the mountain from there is very convenient—ideal for daily exercise or leisurely walks.

But Li Luo and the others had no intention of strolling; after walking through the stone path past the row of villas, they arrived at Xu Yinghuan's front gate and rang the doorbell.

After a short wait, the screen beside the courtyard gate displayed Xu Yinghuan's image inside the house.

"You're here? The door's open," Xu Yinghuan said from inside. "Just walk in—it'll close automatically."

"OK."

Li Luo pushed open the door and stepped into the front courtyard, with Ying Chanxi and the others following behind.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Xu Yinghuan opened the main door of the villa on the steps ahead.

Xu Yinghuan smiled sweetly at the four by the door, stepped aside, and prepared slippers for them.

"Where are Zhao Rongjun and the others? Haven't they arrived yet?" Li Luo glanced around the living room and noticed no one besides Xu Yinghuan.

"They're on the fourth floor, waiting for you," Xu Yinghuan said. "Let's go."

After putting on slippers, Li Luo and the three girls followed Xu Yinghuan up the elevator to the fourth-floor entertainment room.

Li Luo and the others had been here before; it had a mahjong table and a KTV. The mahjong room on the fourth floor of Li Luo's villa was modeled after this one.

As the five of them walked in, they saw Hua Xiuxiu and Ren Zheng sitting on the sofa by the KTV, singing.

Zhao Rongjun sat in a corner with another person.

"Lin Yuan?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow and walked over to them. "You're here too?"

"Long time no see, class monitor," Lin Yuan grinned. "I came with Xiuxiu."

"Oh, that explains it," Li Luo glanced at Hua Xiuxiu, then at Lin Yuan, feeling genuinely pleased.

Besides Li Luo's own odd pairing, there were two other couples in Class Eight.

One of them, Ren Zheng and Fang Chen, had broken up at graduation.

But Hua Xiuxiu and Lin Yuan had always gotten along well; after graduation, they officially became a couple and have stayed together since.

Although they attend different universities, their campuses are next to each other—almost like being on the same campus.

It's very convenient for them to meet and date regularly.

Now, there's also Xu Yinghuan and Zhao Rongjun as a couple.

This surprised many people.

After all, quite a few in the class had guessed Zhao Rongjun might end up with Qiao Xinyan.

But now, Qiao Xinyan sat quietly on the seat beside Hua Xiuxiu and Ren Zheng, as far away from Zhao Rongjun as possible.

When they saw Li Luo and the others enter, Hua Xiuxiu and the others greeted them.

Li Luo nodded in response, then told Ying Chanxi and the others to go play, while he sat beside Zhao Rongjun, slinging an arm around his friend's neck and whispering with a chuckle:

"I heard someone was too scared to come alone, so Xu Yinghuan had to invite all of us over to hang out?"

"Really?" Lin Yuan was surprised, then turned his gaze to Zhao Rongjun and immediately wore an expression of understanding.

"Don't make things up," Zhao Rongjun muttered. "It's a holiday—we're all getting together. I already spend plenty of time alone with Yinghuan; one more day doesn't matter."

"Sometimes you just need to be more open-minded," Li Luo patted Zhao Rongjun's shoulder. "Is it really embarrassing to visit your girlfriend's house alone?"

"You don't get it," Zhao Rongjun whispered. "What if I meet her dad? I wouldn't know what to say."

"So you think you'd know what to say if we were here?" Li Luo gave him a sidelong glance.

"If you're here, I don't have to say anything," Zhao Rongjun muttered.

Li Luo: "... Can you at least show some backbone? All you're doing by acting like this is making Uncle Xu look down on you."

"Then what should I do?"

"Just greet him politely," Li Luo said. "You're not the boyfriend Uncle Xu picked—you're the one Yinghuan chose herself."

"As long as you act normally, her parents won't openly criticize you to your face."

"Your only job is to act normally—at least don't show fear. Otherwise, you're only making it harder for Yinghuan to convince her parents."

Zhao Rongjun fell silent.

Beside him, Lin Yuan couldn't help but whisper: "I've been wondering—why did Rongjun end up with Yinghuan? I remember he was pretty close to Xinyan too."

Zhao Rongjun: "..."

As soon as he said it, Zhao Rongjun instinctively glanced toward Qiao Xinyan, then immediately looked away.

Li Luo slapped Lin Yuan on the head: "Don't bring up what's already closed. Say this only here—don't repeat it to the girls later."

"I know that," Lin Yuan rubbed his head, looking helpless. "I'm just curious."

"Xu Yinghuan's family is so well-off—it must put huge pressure on Rongjun."

"Qiao Xinyan's family is much better off—it feels more evenly matched."

Li Luo actually agreed with Lin Yuan's point.

Although in idealized stories, love ignores social status, wealth, even race—if two people truly love each other, they can overcome all obstacles and end up together.

But precisely because people love such dramatic tales, it reveals something important.

Throughout history, those who made it to the end solely through love were always an extremely small minority.

More people bow before reality; only families of equal standing are truly suitable.

Even couples who initially came together out of love often clash and quarrel over daily trivialities like rice, oil, salt, and vinegar after marriage, ending up in chaos.

Thus, the tragic yet beautiful love stories passed down through generations—even those with happy endings—are merely concluded with marriage.

Almost none detail life after marriage.

Therefore, from a purely rational perspective, Zhao Rongjun's choice of Qiao Xinyan seems the more suitable one.

But in this world, there are no "what ifs."

Xu Yinghuan, a girl bold enough to love and hate, always easily wins over boys once she takes the initiative. Moreover, her family background isn't particularly extravagant.

Xu Rongbin runs an investment company, but its scale is limited only within Yuhang City—it's not an exceptionally top-tier household.

The gap between Zhao Rongjun's family and Xu Yinghuan's is naturally vast.

But at least it's within reach through personal effort.

"You still have four years of university; you don't need to think about so much yet," Li Luo said soothingly, "aren't you working hard now? Any chance with Zhu Academy?"

"I can't say for sure—the competition is fierce," Zhao Rongjun scratched his head, uneasy. "But I'll do my best."

In truth, Zhao Rongjun and Xu Yinghuan were still far from discussing marriage.

Thinking about family backgrounds at this stage was premature.

Yet certain things are still influenced by family pressures.

For instance, Zhao Rongjun's earlier worry—that his family's allowance wasn't generous.

Xu Yinghuan didn't mind his frugality; she even spent her own money on their dates.

But this only made Zhao Rongjun more sensitive, allowing his inner inferiority to spread.

After discovering this, Li Luo lent a small hand, though it only eased things slightly.

Looking at Zhao Rongjun before him, Li Luo even had a vision of his past-life self.

In his previous life, he and Xu Youyu had ultimately parted ways for similar reasons.

"What are you two talking about?" Xu Yinghuan leaned forward, peering curiously at Zhao Rongjun. "Come sing with us."

"How about a love song, the two of you?" Li Luo teased with a smile.

"Sure~" Xu Yinghuan giggled, grabbing Zhao Rongjun's arm. "Come sing with me, Ah Jun~ Look, Li Luo said so."

Zhao Rongjun had no choice but to stand and walk to the big screen, sharing a microphone with Xu Yinghuan to sing "Little Dimples."

Watching Zhao Rongjun go sing, Li Luo sat down with Ying Chanxi and joined the karaoke group.

When they reached noon, Xu Yinghuan's housemaid entered to say lunch was ready.

Xu Rongbin and Liu Xianmei weren't home, so none of the things Zhao Rongjun feared occurred.

After eating and drinking, they gathered again in the fourth-floor entertainment room by afternoon.

They sat in a circle and began playing Werewolf.

Thanks to his Memory Palace, Li Luo found it easy—he clearly remembered everything everyone had said and easily spotted inconsistencies.

After all, none of them were professional players; they all easily gave themselves away.

But after a few rounds, Ying Chanxi couldn't take it anymore.

She slammed her role card onto the table, disgruntled: "Why does the werewolf always kill me? Who picked me? I'm always the first to die!"

"It wasn't me," Zhao Rongjun quickly explained. "Zhu Sheng pointed at you the moment he woke up—I couldn't stop him."

"Last round Zhu Sheng pointed at you too—it's got nothing to do with us," Xu Yinghuan, the werewolf from the last round, laughed.

"Cough… First round too," Qiao Xinyan whispered softly.

Ying Chanxi: "？？？"

Now that the real culprit was revealed, Ying Chanxi burst with anger: "Zhu Sheng, what's your problem? Are you deliberately targeting me?"

"I think Xi Xi is smarter," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "If you'd lived, you'd have figured out I was the werewolf—so I killed you. I'm respecting your ability."

"Uh… is that… really how it is?" Ying Chanxi was left speechless. Yan Zhusheng's logic sounded almost reasonable, yet her frustration remained pent up, now stifled.

"How about we stop playing Werewolf for now?" Xu Yinghuan, as host, stood up. "Let's split into four to play mahjong. Others can try Three Kingdoms Kill—I've got it at home."

"Fine," Ren Zheng nodded and stood. "I'll play mahjong."

Ying Chanxi feared that even if Yan Zhusheng drew the Loyalist card in Three Kingdoms Kill, he'd still target her as Lord—so she quickly stood too. "I'll play mahjong too."

Then Qiao Xinyan and Hua Xiuxiu also rose and went to the mahjong table; the rest sat down to play Three Kingdoms Kill.

Time spent with friends always flies by.

Before they knew it, it was past four in the afternoon.

Li Luo got up and wandered over to Ying Chanxi's side to watch her play mahjong.

Seeing Ying Chanxi was one tile away from winning, he extended his hand: "Let me draw for you? I guarantee a self-draw!"

Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes, utterly unconvinced, but nodded anyway. "Fine, draw. Then discard it right away."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The tile you draw for me has never been good," Ying Chanxi muttered.

"That's superstitious nonsense—it's all about luck. Watch." Li Luo reached out, and when it was Ying Chanxi's turn, drew a tile for her. "Self-draw!"

Pah!

A mahjong tile slapped onto the table.

It was unmistakably the East Wind.

"Damn!"

Ying Chanxi gave him a "told you so" look and chuckled. "You drew the last East Wind? I don't know whether that's luck or bad luck."

"Next round I'll play! I don't believe it!" Li Luo grumbled. "Let you see the true Mahjong Immortal."

"Whatever," Ying Chanxi didn't care.

After this round, he got up and yielded his seat to Li Luo for a few hands.

But half an hour later, Li Luo got up dejectedly and let Ying Chanxi take his place again: "Cough… today's luck's terrible—why don't you take over?"

"I think your luck's fine," Ren Zheng said. "You've got a whole hand of wind tiles."

Li Luo: "... This thing's cursed for me—it's definitely not my fault!"

Another round of mahjong ended.

With dinner still a while off, everyone gathered again on the KTV sofa to sing.

As they sang, they chatted casually.

"Huanhuan said you also bought a villa here," Ren Zheng asked curiously. "Has it been renovated yet?"

"Almost done," Ying Chanxi nodded. "We'll be able to move in by the end of this year."

"We can get together again during the New Year's holiday," Li Luo said. "Come to ours then."

(End of Chapter)