Chapter 787

【Interest Agreement】: Interest-free loan, but must provide proof of at least one morning run per week.

【Repayment Method】: Principal due in full upon maturity; interest must be collected weekly on schedule.

Xu Youyu watched Li Luo write these two passages, eyes widening, then immediately wore an expression of utter disbelief.

"To squeeze every ounce of strength out of me, you're really leaving no stone unturned," Xu Youyu muttered, "Who ever heard of a loan requiring this kind of interest? Is this even interest?"

"Why not?" Li Luo chuckled, "Go ask around—borrow eighty thousand and the lender asks for nothing but one morning run per week. Plenty would happily sign that IOU."

"Hmph, you're just trying to bully me," Xu Youyu grumbled. "What if I don't run?"

"If you don't run, you haven't paid interest—so punishment's due," Li Luo said offhandedly.

But Xu Youyu's eyebrows shot up at once—she sensed a loophole—and grinned, snatching the pen from Li Luo's hand and bent over to add clauses to the IOU.

【Note】: If the borrower is unable to pay interest, the following alternatives may be used.

1. One free car ride.

2. One free role-play session.

3. Or fulfill the lender's any one request in any way desired.

Li Luo watched her write with such enthusiastic focus, utterly clueless what she was scribbling.

When Xu Youyu finished, Li Luo glanced down—and immediately wore a look of helpless amusement: "This isn't legal. Write an IOU like this and no court will recognize it."

"So what? You think I won't pay you back?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "You already transferred eighty thousand straight to my account. If I hadn't signed this IOU, you couldn't touch me now."

"But I can see you have no intention of repaying interest the way I wrote it," Li Luo sighed. "I just wanted you to exercise more, and now you've turned it into… flesh payment. Feels weird."

"Don't you like it?" Xu Youyu pressed against Li Luo, blowing warm breath softly against his ear with a grin. "My lord—whatever you want, I'm all yours~"

"I feel like I'm not collecting interest," Li Luo said, arms around her slender waist, helpless. "You're clearly enjoying this—why does it feel like I'm paying the interest?"

"What? Don't you enjoy it too?" Xu Youyu grabbed him, then grinned. "Look—your mouth says one thing, but your body? That's the truth."

"Then at least one morning run per month?" Li Luo sighed, stepping back half a pace. "If you always substitute like this, my entire interest repayment clause becomes useless."

"Hmm…" Xu Youyu hadn't expected him to still want running after all that temptation. Finally, she conceded—once a month wasn't too much. "Fine. I'll do it your way."

Thus, through friendly negotiation between lender and borrower, a brand-new IOU was written.

It was called an IOU, but it was practically useless—just a playful custom between a young couple.

After all, those special alternative clauses Xu Youyu wrote? If submitted to court, the entire IOU's legal validity would be in serious doubt.

"Come on, sign here," Xu Youyu said, finishing the last blank spaces, signing her name, then handing the pen to Li Luo with a cheerful nudge.

Li Luo leaned down to sign. After signing, he saw Xu Youyu slide the red inkpad she'd prepared over and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're being awfully formal," Li Luo laughed, pressed red ink onto his thumb, and stamped it over his signature.

Xu Youyu followed suit, pressing her fingerprint.

Soon, two identical copies of the IOU were signed and sealed.

"You keep one, I keep one. Don't lose it," Xu Youyu grinned. "Remember to come collect your interest!"

"Heh," Li Luo smiled, set the IOU aside, pulled her into his arms, flipped her onto the bed. "Why wait? Let's pay today's interest now?"

"Huh? Now?"

"What? Can't you?"

"Then, my lord, which clause shall you choose?"

"This way is fine already," Li Luo grinned, tilting her chin up and slipping into rhythm. "Your monthly debt's still unpaid—what'll you do?"

Xu Youyu's expression instantly turned pitiful: "C-can I have a few more days? My salary hasn't been paid yet."

"You said that a few days ago. How much longer do you plan to delay?"

"But—but please, I really don't have any money now. As soon as my salary comes, I'll pay you back, okay?"

"Then those extra days must accrue interest," Li Luo sat up against the headboard, watching her. "Add five hundred to your repayment."

"W-what? That's impossible!" Xu Youyu panicked, clutching his arm and shaking it pleadingly. "I have parents to support, a younger brother in college, so many expenses at home—I can't pay five hundred more!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Li Luo countered. "Pay now—or pay more interest. There must be a cost, or everyone will just default without consequence."

"This…" Xu Youyu's face twisted in distress. After hesitation, she finally extended her hand. "H-how about… this?"

"…You're sure?"

"If you'll just give me a few more days…"

"You said it."

"Mm… ugh~ no~"

"So? Want it or not? If not, forget it."

"N-no… I didn't mean it… you… you go ahead… mm~"

…

At dawn, Ying Chanxi lay in the master bedroom, scrolling on her phone until sleep overtook her and she dozed off.

Only when the door opened did she jolt awake, blinking at Li Luo and Xu Youyu entering from the hallway, and mumbled a sleepy greeting.

"You're back? I fell asleep."

"Mm, sleep," Li Luo climbed into bed, pulled Ying Chanxi into his arms, and stroked her head.

But Ying Chanxi, now awake, couldn't fall back asleep. She checked her phone—already past midnight.

She vaguely remembered Li Luo leaving to meet Xu Youyu at just past ten…

Why did it take two hours to come back? She grumbled softly: "What were you two doing over there?"

"Discussing her house purchase," Li Luo kissed her forehead. "She's planning to buy a unit at Sky Ridge Elegant Residence too—so her dad and Aunt Cui can move in."

"Oh…" Ying Chanxi nodded, then couldn't help asking, "Will you buy one too? Or…"

"She's financing it herself," Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu, who had just lain down. "I wouldn't mind buying it for her—but someone refuses."

"I'm buying a house for my parents—I'll pay for it myself," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then rolled over and hugged Ying Chanxi, grinning. "But I'm short eighty thousand—barely enough for the down payment—so I borrowed it from Li Luo."

"Someone even forced me to sign a wicked IOU—so nasty."

"We were just arguing over the terms of the IOU, had a huge fight with him."

"Yeah, yeah." Li Luo glanced at Xu Youyu. "Definitely a huge fight."

The bedframe nearly wore out from the shouting.

"Why argue over an IOU?" Ying Chanxi asked, puzzled.

"I wanted to pay him interest, but someone refused," Xu Youyu explained simply.

"Oh oh." Ying Chanxi realized, nodding rapidly. "Then interest really isn't necessary—it's all..."

She was about to blurt out "we're family," but immediately cut herself off.

Ying Chanxi's face tightened; she realized she'd gradually accepted this setup. She let out a soft hum in Li Luo's arms, then refused to say more, simply closing her eyes to sleep.

Xu Youyu naturally guessed what she'd been about to say, and let out a quiet laugh, saying nothing more.

On the other side, Yan Zhusheng, Ying Chanxi's good little sister, stepped in to fill the gap she'd left, leaning forward to say: "We're family—interest really isn't necessary."

"Go to sleep!" Ying Chanxi reached out and pushed Yan Zhusheng's head back down, telling her to say less.

Li Luo immediately skipped past the IOU topic and asked Xu Youyu: "So when are you planning to look at houses?"

"I'll wait until next month, when we move over there," Xu Youyu said. "First, I'll take my parents to visit our place, then pick a suitable one nearby."

"Will your parents agree to you buying a house?" Li Luo asked hesitantly.

"Buying a house is my own business—I'm not asking them for money," Xu Youyu chuckled. "Don't worry—only my mom will feel bad about it. My dad? As long as I can reason with him, he's easy to handle."

"Really?"

"It's true," Xu Youyu said, then sighed. "But a villa over there isn't cheap—even with your eighty thousand, it's barely enough for a down payment."

"I'll need to write at least two more long novels with this kind of performance to pay off the loan."

"If my next book flops, it'll be terrible."

Li Luo laughed at this: "If it flops, just borrow money from me to pay off the debt."

"Tsk. Is someone thinking of some sweet deal again?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then added, "Plus there's renovation costs—renovating a villa isn't cheap either. All the royalties from this book will go straight into that."

"If you add it all up, you really need a lot of money," Li Luo said, stroking his chin as he began calculating in his mind.

After a moment of thought, he gradually formed a plan—but he wasn't yet sure how to execute it, so he didn't mention it to Xu Youyu outright.

…

The next day, another Monday.

After finishing Xu Rongsheng's course on contemporary literature, Li Luo followed Xu Rongsheng to his office to briefly check the progress on the poverty-student grant program.

The overall plan had already been approved by the university party committee, but the subsequent procedures still needed to be formally completed.

Xu Rongsheng handed Li Luo all the required documents and forms, asking him to fill them out under Chongran Culture's name, then return them to him.

Li Luo said no problem, then immediately sent the materials to Ying Chanxi and Lawyer Tian to handle.

After lunch, Li Luo pulled out his phone and called the white-level author he knew, who also served as vice-chairman of the Writers Association.

After some pleasantries and small talk, Li Luo got straight to the point: "My friend has a novel with twenty-thousand average subscriptions, hoping to sell the rights through WenYue—but that could take forever. Are there any viable channels within the Writers Association that could help push it?"

"This kind of thing... depends mostly on how you sell it," the white-level author mused, then said, "The Writers Association has plenty of resources to connect with, but the key is how you pitch the book to them."

"For example, hasn't the provincial Writers Association just launched a program to support key cultural projects?"

"Use your position as vice-chairman to write a formal recommendation letter and submit it to the secretariat."

"Rights are all about hype—buyers don't understand content; they can't tell a good book from a bad one."

"You can only talk about titles and awards, so whether it's real or not, you've got to throw everything at them."

"Also, Qidian should have an annual book selection by year-end—twenty-thousand average subscriptions isn't low. She could aim for that too."

"Plus, the Writers Association regularly holds rights salons, roadshows, or symposiums—you'd need to organize those yourself and pay for them."

"There are plenty of ways—just depends on how you operate."

Li Luo listened as the white-level author laid out dozens of methods; his own thoughts grew clearer. When the man finished, he quickly thanked him.

"Are you free this week? I'll treat you to dinner."

"Sure," the white-level author chuckled. "It's easier to talk face-to-face—some things are hard to say over the phone."

"Alright, how about this Saturday?" Li Luo asked. "I've got classes normally."

The white-level author fell silent for a moment after hearing this: "... Damn, I forgot you're still a college student. What a shame."

"Cough cough... you were also a prodigy—you're way more impressive than me."

"Save the flattery, Zhou."