Chapter 78: The True Meaning of the Lyrics

It was past nine at night.

Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi washed the dishes in the kitchen, then returned to their respective bedrooms.

After a quick shower, Xu Youyu sat down at her computer and, before starting to write, opened the official QQ group for contracted authors of Qidian's Urban category, lurking to read the chat logs.

Then she remembered—it was the day the previous month's royalty was announced.

She quickly opened her author backend to check her royalty income.

——1408.97

Hmm… with her mere 1200 average subscriptions, earning this much after ten days of serialization was normal.

After all, she wasn't as insane as Chongran, who kept posting over ten thousand words daily until month's end after serialization.

Xu Youyu had only forced out ten thousand words from her saved drafts on the first day of serialization, then immediately reverted to her usual four thousand words per day.

She feared accidentally burning through her hard-earned twenty-thousand-word backup.

With school starting, her schedule would gradually get busier—she needed to plan her saved drafts carefully.

At this income rate, if she maintained four thousand words daily, earning three or four thousand a month was guaranteed.

A high school student, writing novels in her spare time, making three or four thousand a month.

To an ordinary worker, that might just be a normal salary.

But for a high school student like Xu Youyu, it was an astonishing figure.

While most high school students received only pocket money for meals and sometimes nothing extra, Xu Youyu now had an additional three or four thousand yuan to spend each month.

Just imagining it made ordinary people feel delighted.

But Xu Youyu had always come from a decent family, so she didn't feel particularly impressed—she was simply glad to receive the royalty.

Unfortunately, no one in real life could share this joy, so Xu Youyu had to seek someone online to share it with.

【SleepEarlyTall】: Boss, look! My royalty last month—how much did you get?

Li Luo, in the master bedroom, was currently writing when he received this message.

【Chongran】: Over seven thousand.

Sigh… Xu Youyu felt a pang of envy.

Just thinking that the person on the other end was Li Luo made her still unable to comprehend it.

Seven thousand a month.

We're all high school students—can't you at least act a little happier?

These days, it's incredibly hard for an ordinary person to find a job paying seven thousand a month.

【SleepEarlyTall】: Boss, what are you planning to do with this money? Buy a new computer? Upgrade your phone?

【Chongran】: Pay the mortgage. What else?

Seeing this, Xu Youyu froze.

She vaguely knew Li Luo's parents had bought the apartment on loan, so there must be a mortgage.

But she'd unconsciously assumed paying the mortgage was his parents' responsibility—she'd never once considered it might be his.

Yet Li Luo said it so naturally, as if it didn't bother him at all.

He usually talked such nonsense… Xu Youyu pursed her lips, struggling to connect the Li Luo she knew with this guy who mentioned paying a mortgage.

You're making me look like a total brat.

Xu Youyu shook her head, deciding to find a few more authors to share her royalty joy with.

But after reopening the contracted authors' QQ group, she found many discussing I Am Really Not a Star.

【Have you read the latest chapter of this book? Chongran pulled off a slick move】

【Is it that new song? Someone in my reader group is also sharing it】

【What? What new song?】

【It's from I Am Really Not a Star—the one Chongran wrote】

【He mentioned a song in his book before, called "Year Rings." Everyone thought he just made up a few poetic lyrics for flair, but turns out he actually composed a full new song】

【It's on music platforms—available on QQ Music】

【Holy shit, it's kinda good?】

【Meh? It's decent, I guess. The originality's impressive, but the song's just listenable】

【Just being original is impressive enough. But now do all cultural works have to be this demanding? Haha】

Watching the group chat, Xu Youyu's expression turned curious.

Earlier, when Li Luo and others were in military training, she'd been frantically writing and saving drafts at home—and even after school started, she hadn't had time to catch up on Li Luo's novel.

Now, seeing this, she immediately opened Li Luo's book, checked the end of the latest chapter, and confirmed it was true.

She then searched for "Year Rings" on QQ Music and clicked play.

Singer: Yan Zhusheng

Lyrics: Chongran

Composition: Chongran

Arrangement: Luo Fei

Yan Zhusheng… could that really be Yan Zhusheng?

Xu Youyu speculated this in her mind, and already the melody of the song filled her ears.

"Circles trace into fingerprints~"

"Imprinted on my lips~"

Reading the lyrics and listening closely, Xu Youyu was quickly drawn in.

After one listen, she reopened Li Luo's book, found the chapter where "Year Rings" appeared, and read through it carefully.

After more than ten minutes, Xu Youyu let out a long breath, her gaze growing more complex.

She glanced toward the master bedroom and thought: What else doesn't this Li Luo know?

Is there really such an amazing guy in this world?

Why does it feel like Li Luo is good at everything he does?

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: I just listened to your original song—I think you're incredibly talented, it's so beautiful.

【Chongran】: Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: By the way, I know a friend who writes songs too, but his style is quite different from yours.

【Chongran】: Really? That's impressive too.

Watching Li Luo's replies, Xu Youyu found it strange—she always felt this guy was completely different online from how he was in real life.

How to put it… online, Li Luo always seemed mature, fitting her earlier guess that "Chongran is an older man."

It was like night and day compared to his real-life humor and erratic style.

【GoToSleepAndGrowTaller】: By the way, who is Yan Zhusheng? The voice is so beautiful—I feel like I've heard it before.

【Chongran】: Hmm… he's a friend of mine. I asked him to record this song.

So it must be Yan Zhusheng?

Xu Youyu remembered last night—Li Luo said Yan Zhusheng called him, and the guy even took time off to come home, probably to record this song.

Xu Youyu was still smugly proud of having uncovered the truth, while Li Luo in the master bedroom was already drenched in sweat.

With all these questions from Xu Youyu, he feared she might recognize his real identity.

But then Li Luo thought again: Under normal circumstances, without concrete proof, no one would ever guess that the author of I Am Really Not a Star could be a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Gao Zhongsheng.

Once he realized this, Li Luo felt slightly relieved.

But Xu Youyu's interruption had shattered his writing flow, so Li Luo opened his own novel and glanced at the comment section.

【WTF? No way… you're serious?】

【666, really an original song?】

【That guy who said last time, "If the author can write original songs, why's he still writing novels?"—come out! I wanna ask: What the hell is this song "Year Rings"?】

【Pretty good, impressive! In my entire life, I never thought I'd see an author's original song in a cultural entertainment novel.】

【I re-read that scene and suddenly realized—the lyrics about tree roots and year rings connect perfectly with the plot of the fictional TV drama. The author put real thought into this.】

【Feels like the song was written first, then forced to rhyme with words like "tree roots," then they invented a TV drama about a tree spirit falling in love with a flower bud.】

【No no no—the imagery of tree roots, year rings, and fingerprints is used brilliantly; they're visually interconnected. I think there's real depth here.】

【Tree roots carry a bitter taste, especially when cut cleanly across—the year rings inside resemble human fingerprints. It's quite clever.】

【You mentioned "cut cleanly across"—it just hit me: In the main text, the tree spirit TV drama ends with the spirit severing its own body, extracting its essence to save the female lead, then dying, right?】

【Then the female lead counts the tree's year rings every day, remembering the fingerprint that once touched her lips? Holy crap—it all connects!】

Watching the comments grow more heated, Li Luo fell into deep thought.

So that's what the lyrics of "Year Rings" really mean?

He only just realized it now.