Chapter 773

Night.

Because Bai Haoran maintained a healthy routine, the lights in Room 310 were always turned off early.

By ten-thirty, the room was already pitch black, save for the moonlight seeping through the curtain gap, casting a thin veil over the interior.

Cheng Xin lay in bed; the topics they'd discussed upon returning to the dorm in the evening now quietly resurfaced in his mind amid the deep silence of night.

Thinking of Li Luo juggling three girlfriends—Xu Xuejie, with her outstanding figure; Ying Chanxi, petite, cute, and sweet; and Yan Zhusheng, tall and exquisitely beautiful—Cheng Xin couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Something he'd never dared dream of was happening right beside him, to his own college roommate.

Recalling it now filled him with a sense of unreality.

It felt like a dream, and he kept doubting whether it was even real.

Mostly because it was just too absurd.

Juggling three girlfriends wasn't unheard of—Cheng Xin would be surprised, but not stunned.

But on weekends, he'd clearly heard from Xu Xuejie that Li Luo and the other three had been sharing an apartment since high school, living under the same roof.

One guy, three girls, sharing one apartment—and yet this bastard had somehow pulled off juggling all three.

And the two younger girls were cousins…

Holy shit!

The moment Cheng Xin thought of it, his scalp prickled, like he was reading some absurd romance novel.

Wait…

Fuck, even novels wouldn't dare write this!

It was too dreamlike.

Compared to that, his own college life was utterly dull, utterly uneventful.

The most exciting part of it all was just gossip.

At first, it was gossip about their roommate Wen Zexuan—he seemed so impressive, effortlessly interacting with girls, landing a sophomore senior in just a few days.

His girlfriend-switching routine was like changing clothes—every one or two weeks, a new girl, never repeating.

Cheng Xin had assumed this was the peak of college life.

Then he discovered there was an even more insane guy hiding right in his own dorm.

Thinking of it, Cheng Xin sighed again.

This sigh was too much for Bai Haoran across the room.

"Can you stop sighing all the time? Broke up with someone?" Bai Haoran grumbled.

"He can't even talk normally to girls—where's he supposed to get a relationship to break?" Wen Zexuan chuckled. "Probably thinking about our Brother Luo's glorious exploits again."

Wen Zexuan hit the nail on the head. Cheng Xin sighed again: "I don't want to think about it, but the moment I lie down, it just pops into my head—I can't stop it."

"Alright, alright," Wen Zexuan said, scrolling on his phone while chatting with a girl, leaning against his bedhead. "Look who you're talking about. If you could write books and songs that all went viral, you could do this too."

With that reminder, Cheng Xin finally snapped to.

Mostly because Li Luo was so low-key around his roommates—he always made Cheng Xin forget he was anything but an ordinary college student.

It wasn't until someone reminded him that he'd remember: this guy had already paid in full for a villa in Yuhang City.

A property worth several million, nearly ten million—Li Luo would casually say, "My new place is almost done decorating, come over sometime," but only after thinking about it did Cheng Xin realize what that truly meant.

The more Cheng Xin thought, the more he felt the gap between people was too vast—he grew momentarily lost, and couldn't help asking Li Luo: "Brother Luo."

"Hmm?" came Li Luo's voice from his bed.

"We're humanities majors—sure, we're at Qianjiang University, but what's the point? What can we even do after graduation?" Cheng Xin asked. "What's the future for us?"

"You never thought about it?" Li Luo laughed.

"No…" Cheng Xin sighed again, as if exhaling all the breath he'd held in the past week. "In high school, I just studied—I never had time to think about this."

"What about you, Hao Ge?" Li Luo asked Bai Haoran instead of answering. "You're always in the library—do you have a plan?"

"Civil service exam," Bai Haoran said, calm and natural. "My sister and I both aim for that. Civil service first, postgraduate second—if we can land civil service, that's best."

"What about you, Xuan Ge?" Li Luo asked again.

"Never thought about it," Wen Zexuan said, still scrolling on his phone, shaking his head lazily.

"So you won't go back home after graduation?"

"Nope," Wen Zexuan chuckled. "My dad said if you've got talent, settle in a big city. First, fight hard—take a shot. If you've got nothing by thirty, then come home and live off your parents."

Here, Wen Zexuan turned to look at Li Luo, pausing his phone for once. "Brother Luo, what's your plan? Take us with you when you make it."

"If you just want to make money, download TikTok," Li Luo said, smirking. "Honestly, you're perfect for this."

"Can you actually make money from this?"

"I have a friend who runs a couple's account with his girlfriend—they've got over thirty thousand followers," Li Luo said, smiling. "One sponsored post pays five thousand. Just shoot a short video, slap on an ad. What do you think?"

Wen Zexuan had heard Li Luo recommend TikTok to Jiang Lai before, but he'd never taken it seriously.

Now, hearing a real example, his expression turned stunned, his eyes hungry. "Really? We work summer jobs and make two or three grand a month—they make five thousand per sponsored post?"

"If you got one a day, that'd be one hundred and fifty thousand a month!"

"That's over a million a year!"

"What are you imagining…" Li Luo said, exasperated. "Getting two or three sponsored posts a month is already great—don't exaggerate."

"Still great," Wen Zexuan said, stroking his chin. "Two or three posts mean twenty to thirty thousand. If followers keep growing, the prices go up too, right?"

"Yeah," Li Luo nodded. "And if you're genuinely interested, I've got a great idea I can recommend to you."

"What?"

"I'll tell you later," Li Luo smiled, then turned his gaze to Cheng Xin across the room. "What do you like doing?"

"Uh…" Cheng Xin was caught off guard, scratching his head awkwardly. "I don't really have any special interests."

"There must be," Li Luo said. "Besides eating, sleeping, and attending classes—what else do you do?"

"This… I just check the news, then go to the library with Hao-ge to read books or something." Cheng Xin sighed. "Is that counted?"

"How isn't it?" Li Luo chuckled. "What news and books are you reading?"

"Politics and stuff, plus some domestic and international history and unofficial records," Cheng Xin whispered. "Because I like it, I chose this major—but now I think, aside from taking civil service exams, it's really hard to find a job."

"It's already impressive that you're thinking about this in your first year," Li Luo said. "If you really want to plan long-term, I can recommend some directions for you to pursue."

"What?" Cheng Xin looked at Li Luo with anticipation.

"What books have you read? What history have you studied? What political news have you watched?" Li Luo said simply. "Summarize them, then write an article based on your own thoughts and views."

"And then?" Cheng Xin paused, confused about the point.

"Then record it as a video and post it online," Li Luo glanced at him. "If you can stick with it for three months, until finals, at least one video a week, I guarantee you'll make money."

Cheng Xin had been hesitant, but hearing Li Luo's final words, he instantly became resolute.

After all, whatever Li Luo told him to do was never hard—what did he have to lose by trying?

So he nodded firmly, full of determination: "Alright, I'll give it a shot."

At that moment, Wen Zexuan beside him was still itching to ask. Seeing Li Luo finish speaking to Cheng Xin, he couldn't help but say: "You haven't told me mine yet."

"Yours is simple," Li Luo said offhandedly. "Record your dates with girls on camera, edit them, and post them online."

"Huh?" Wen Zexuan blinked. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"Will it work?" Wen Zexuan asked skeptically. "What's so interesting about date footage?"

"Ask Cheng Xin," Li Luo chuckled. "Want to see the full video of how to charm a sweet girl?"

"T-this isn't interesting at all…" Cheng Xin mumbled, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Oh, I see," Wen Zexuan looked at Cheng Xin and slowly nodded.

"What do you 'see'?!" Cheng Xin panicked. "I never said I wanted to watch!"

"Hao-ge is the one who really doesn't want to watch," Wen Zexuan sneered. "I get what Luo-ge means now—I'll try it when I have time."

"Yeah, I just said it casually," Li Luo lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "But just like when I wrote Online Novels—if you don't try, how do you know if it'll work?"

Without action, you'll never bear fruit.

This is true for everything.

What Li Luo told his roommates tonight was just a small experiment.

If it proves feasible, his future plans will proceed more smoothly.

…

Early Friday morning, Li Luo received from Zhao Rongjun the design application form for the automatic identification software for impoverished students.

Li Luo immediately forwarded it to Xu Rongsheng, asking him to submit it on his behalf.

After morning classes ended, Li Luo had lunch with Ying Chanxi, then got into her car and headed to Yuan Wanqing's studio.

On the way, Ying Chanxi asked Li Luo: "Director Wang Jun has already gone to Jingzhao City—aren't you planning to follow him too?"

"Yes, why?"

"Perfect," Ying Chanxi smiled happily. "Originally, we were going to sign the contract directly with the Douyin team."

"But they want to invite Aunt Yuan to Jingzhao City to record songs and arrange a series of follow-up activities after signing."

"So I thought, why not just handle the contract signing at Douyin's headquarters in Jingzhao City?"

"And then…"

"And then you'll go with me?" Li Luo smiled at Ying Chanxi as she drove.

Ying Chanxi's secret thoughts were exposed; her face flushed red, and she stammered, "N-no it's not! Why are you so self-absorbed?"

"I just think, watching how big companies operate firsthand will help me learn."

"This trip will broaden my horizons—I'll be better at managing our company in the future."

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Li Luo nodded vigorously, grinning. "Little CEO is absolutely right—I'm almost moved to tears. I never expected you'd think this far ahead for the company's development."

"Hmph~" Ying Chanxi, though knowing he was exaggerating, couldn't help but smile. "You'd better know—I've been working hard lately."

"Mm," Li Luo agreed wholeheartedly. Recently, Ying Chanxi had been running around tirelessly for the Douyin project, saving him plenty of energy and time.

He added: "But driving around the city every day isn't sustainable."

"After we return from Jingzhao City, I'll find you an office building near campus and rent a proper office space."

"You can pick wherever you like."

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi blinked. "No need—we don't even have that many people. Why rent an office building?"

At present, Chongran Culture, excluding nominal staff like Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong, had only Ying Chanxi as CEO, Ruan Lin and Yan Zhusheng as contracted artists, and Xiao Wen as the agent.

Then there was Li Luo as boss, and Li Xiang as the finance intern.

And after getting his internship certificate from Chongran Culture, this kid had no intention of staying—he'd likely return to his father's factory to inherit the family business.

So in total, only Ying Chanxi actually needed office space—there was truly no need to rent a building just for that.

But Li Luo said: "We'll start hiring soon. Not many people, but like Aunt Yuan's studio."

"We need finance staff, someone for external business coordination, a recording department, and a position to handle film and TV production coordination."

"Even a sparrow needs all its organs—once the Douyin project settles down, you'll be busy with these things."

"First, build the company's basic framework."

Ying Chanxi listened and found his logic sound, so she stopped resisting and nodded obediently: "Alright, I'll start recruiting new staff after this is done."

"Mm, you handle it."

"So trusting me already?" Ying Chanxi parked the car and huffed. "Be careful—I might steal all the company's money."

"Steal it all," Li Luo grinned at her, reached over, and unfastened her seatbelt, then pulled her into his arms. "You're mine entirely—what difference does it make if you steal?"

"Ah!" Ying Chanxi shrieked as he suddenly pulled her close, her cheeks flushing. She punched his chest playfully. "You scared me! Are you planning something dirty in the car?!"

"Can't we do it in the car?" Li Luo bent down and kissed her tiny lips, making her whimper and go limp.

Ying Chanxi had still been trying to struggle, but then she recalled Yan Zhusheng's boasts to her—how her own little sister often interacted with Li Luo in the car—and her body melted completely.

She let Li Luo take advantage of her.

"Xixi…"

"Th-this… this isn't allowed!" Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed red, and she finally escaped from the car. "Can't you wait until we get home…?"

"... You didn't agree last time when I was bathing either," Li Luo said, still unsatisfied.

"Look at me, and I'll feel shy," Ying Chanxi said, her face burning red. When she saw Li Luo getting out of the car, she stepped forward and hugged his arm, whispering softly, "Can we wait until next time—in bed, under the covers?"

"But what if I want to look?"

"No!"

"Why is your face so hot?"

"I already said I'm shy…" Ying Chanxi said, deeply embarrassed. "It feels weird when you're watching me…"

"Alright…" Li Luo didn't press. Or rather, slowly testing and breaking through a girl's psychological defenses was a kind of unique pleasure.

"Are you still uncomfortable?" Ying Chanxi sneaked a glance at him. "Maybe…?"

"Never mind," Li Luo hugged Ying Chanxi and gave her cheek a firm kiss. "We'll wait until we get home."

"I'm sorry," Ying Chanxi hugged his arm as they walked toward the elevator, whispering, "I know Zhusheng…"

"Stop," Li Luo cut her off, raising a hand to cover her lips. He smiled, bent down, and pulled her into his arms, whispering softly in her ear, "It's exactly because you're like this that I love you."

"If you hurt yourself and keep imitating Zhusheng, you won't be the Xixi I know."

Ying Chanxi was held tightly in his arms, listening to Li Luo's words, and instantly felt at ease. A faint smile crept onto her lips, her heart sweet and warm.

"It's not that we absolutely need to cover up with the blanket," Ying Chanxi whispered. "Just don't let you see my face."

"What if we cover up with a coat then?"

"Y-yes, that's fine…"

"What about a mask?"

"But then your eyes are still exposed! No!"

"Use the mask to cover your eyes, and leave your mouth open."

"... You're perverted!"

"Hey hey hey! Why are you hitting me? I was just joking!"

"Hmph~"

…

The elevator rose, and the two fell silent again inside.

Just before reaching the fourth floor, Li Luo heard Ying Chanxi whisper softly in his ear:

"Actually… if you really want to, the mask… isn't out of the question."