Chapter 794: Mr. Li, I

Li Luo and the others went to bed early and didn't know when Xu Youyu came in to sleep with them.

When he woke up precisely at six a. m., Li Luo sat up and turned his head to see Xu Youyu fast asleep.

After waking up Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng beside him, Li Luo took them to the bathroom for a quick wash, then went downstairs for a morning run.

After running around the neighborhood for more than twenty minutes, they went to a breakfast shop for breakfast.

"I have to go to the company this morning, but I can come back for lunch," Ying Chanxi said, turning her head. "Are you two eating lunch at home?"

"Mm." Li Luo thought for a moment, then nodded. "I'll buy groceries at noon—I'll cook for once."

"Then I'll go home for lunch," Ying Chanxi said, pulling out her phone to check Douyin and discovering that after a night of buildup, Yuan Wanqing now had nearly nine million eight hundred thousand followers.

She was less than two hundred thousand away from ten million.

And it was barely seven a. m. —still over three hours since her official announcement of joining Douyin yesterday.

Clearly, breaking ten million followers within twenty-four hours was a sure thing.

Thinking this, Ying Chanxi checked Li Luo's official account and saw his followers had also grown quickly—he'd gained over thirty thousand more overnight and now had one million eight hundred thousand followers.

If this momentum continued for a few more days, three million didn't seem out of reach.

Then Ying Chanxi glanced at Yan Zhusheng's account—one million five hundred thousand followers.

Hmm… compared to Yuan Wanqing and Chongran, Yan Zhusheng's influence in public discourse was still smaller; her high follower count came mostly from being Yuan Wanqing's daughter, a few strong performances, and her own looks.

But objectively speaking, Ying Chanxi actually thought Yan Zhusheng's account had slightly higher potential than Li Luo's.

After all, Li Luo's work was mostly behind the scenes—he simply couldn't appear in public too often.

With Li Luo's creative power behind her, Yan Zhusheng would inevitably become a singer as outstanding as Yuan Wanqing.

Combined with her own looks, figure, unique personality, and the gradually cultivated singing style distinct from ordinary singers, she would grow steadily.

Besides, Li Luo was the company boss—the more the company grew, the less Ying Chanxi wanted him to appear publicly.

So Ying Chanxi had gradually formed her own plan: to shift the operational focus as much as possible onto Yan Zhusheng's account.

That little brat was living too comfortably; while she herself was buried in work with no time to stay by Li Luo's side, she needed to give Yan Zhusheng more things to do.

With this thought emerging, combined with her earlier analysis, whether for business or personal reasons, Ying Chanxi had to make Yan Zhusheng work hard and create more value for the company.

"Sister, your gaze is terrifying," Yan Zhusheng noticed Ying Chanxi's slightly malicious glance and asked suspiciously, "Are you plotting something bad?"

"Don't talk nonsense," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes. "I'm just thinking about how to monetize your two accounts."

"You're becoming more and more like a capitalist."

"I'm making money for you two, okay?" Ying Chanxi snapped. "When you become famous like Aunt Yuan, you'll start your own studio—you'll be a capitalist too."

"I don't need a studio—I'll just follow Li Luo's lead," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "Or next year, I can use Mom's studio when it moves over."

"You're so lazy," Ying Chanxi couldn't help but complain.

Meanwhile, Li Luo said: "Train Xiao Wen more—when she has nothing to do, take her with you and let her help you."

"Even if you eventually set up Zhusheng's personal studio, you shouldn't leave her to handle everything alone—you need someone trustworthy."

"Also, you can ask Aunt Yuan's studio team about monetization—you're already familiar with their business department from the Douyin deal, right?"

"They should have plenty of advertising partner channels—just tell Aunt Yuan, and they'll naturally become ours."

"As for Huayue Film and Television, they must have plenty of resources and connections too—just ask your dad."

At Huayue Film and Television, although Yin Zhicheng had previously told Li Luo he'd try to arrange equity so Li Luo could acquire a portion,

this would give Yin Zhicheng's faction over one-third of the equity, granting them veto power and firmly securing their position on the board.

But for Li Luo, this was merely icing on the cake—as long as he kept producing quality works, it was Huayue Film and Television that needed him, not the other way around.

Conversely, if by age thirty-five Li Luo's Reborn advantage vanished completely, that would essentially be his retirement.

From now on, working hard for ten or so years would surely bring him financial freedom.

In fact, Li Luo now didn't even know how to spend his money.

He'd bought the villa; he already had his new home lined up.

Each person had a car—enough to drive was enough.

Aside from the Motorhome, there was little else worth spending heavily on.

He had no interest in luxury goods, and the three girls at home didn't care much about them either.

If he truly wanted to spend big, he'd have to rack his brains.

Li Luo's biggest expense right now was actually Chongran Culture.

Basic office rent, monthly salaries after hiring staff, daily operational costs, plus annual poverty relief payments to Qianjiang University—estimated at several million per year.

But with their current earning power, several million was barely pocket change.

So now, no matter what Li Luo did, he moved with calm ease, unhurried and orderly.

More often than not, he was already beginning to enjoy life.

Especially with the Memory Palace's enhancement—over time, its bizarre capabilities became increasingly evident.

Li Luo could clearly feel that even if he lost his Reborn advantage at age thirty-five, with the Memory Palace, he'd still accomplish things ordinary people couldn't.

At this point, there was nothing left to worry about.

What now troubled him most was family matters.

But just as he thought of this, Ying Chanxi's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"When did you film this video?" Ying Chanxi asked curiously. "I remember yesterday afternoon, Zhusheng's account didn't have it yet."

Li Luo turned his head and saw she was referring to Yan Zhusheng's performance video of "The Sky Has No Limits," so he smiled and said, "I filmed it for fun yesterday."

"Li Luo said filming like this boosts followers," Yan Zhusheng chimed in, leaning forward. "Sister, why don't you film one too?"

"No way," Ying Chanxi shook her head vigorously. "I won't film Douyin videos—I'm already busy enough; I don't have time to play around."

"Just post using my account," Li Luo said. "Didn't we film lots of MVs before? Just upload them all to my Douyin."

"Douyin only allows 15-second videos—even if they've opened 60-second uploads, our MVs still won't fit," Ying Chanxi reminded him.

"It will continue to be opened," Li Luo said. "Douyin's ambitions aren't this small."

After speaking, Li Luo glanced again at the video he'd recorded for Yan Zhusheng yesterday, his expression filled with quiet reflection.

To be fair, the composition, the angle, the lighting—all were nearly identical to how he'd recorded videos for Yan Zhusheng in his past life.

But compared to then, today's Yan Zhusheng was far younger, her skin fair, smooth, and flawless, radiating an indescribable youthful energy.

Yan Zhusheng, over ten years later, was still beautiful—but she carried a touch of maturity and calmness. Though she maintained herself excellently, far surpassing her peers in appearance, she could never match true youthful freshness.

Li Luo stared at the video, his gaze growing distant; then he snapped back to reality and let out a wry smile.

After breakfast, the three returned home.

Li Luo brought breakfast to Xu Youyu; Yan Zhusheng went to the piano room to practice singing and playing; Ying Chanxi grabbed her bag and left for work.

Everyone had a bright future.

Only Xu Youyu was a lazy fish, dragged out of bed by Li Luo, ate breakfast, then collapsed back to sleep until over ten o'clock, when she rubbed her eyes and woke again.

At this moment, Li Luo still sat at his desk, fingers clacking rapidly on the keyboard. Xu Youyu yawned, stretched, rolled over, pulled out her phone, listened to the sound of Li Luo typing on the keyboard she'd given him, and scrolled through her messages.

"I've already sent the recommendation letter for last week's key support project to the Writers Association's secretariat," Li Luo said, turning to her as she woke. "The official results won't come out until year-end."

"Oh," Xu Youyu nodded. "Will winning this let me sell the copyright?"

"It's not that simple," Li Luo chuckled. "Yesterday I had dinner with a Platinum-level senior and he gave me some suggestions."

"What kind?" Xu Youyu asked curiously.

"One is to participate in various evaluations—the current support program, smaller internal awards from the Writers Association, and even the China Writers Association's influence rankings. We can arrange for you to join them all," Li Luo said. "The other is this year's Qianzhou internal annual work evaluation."

"With your current performance, you're qualified. Have Qianzhou push hard for it—it shouldn't be a problem."

It was still 2017; an average subscription of twenty thousand was already quite impressive on Qianzhou.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Li Luo's "Great Patrol Night Corps" had recently climbed to ninety thousand average subscriptions, while Xu Youyu's "Gu Dao Changqing" had only twenty thousand—a full seventy-thousand gap—and think Xu Youyu's performance was mediocre.

In reality, between ninety thousand and twenty thousand, there was a massive gap; among ongoing serials, perhaps only about ten books fell within this range.

If Xu Youyu could match Li Luo's update intensity and consistently maintain a top-ten position on the bestseller list, there'd be zero issue.

But Li Luo never expected her to achieve that.

"Beyond these evaluations, there are other areas to work on," Li Luo continued. "These awards, combined with your book's strong data metrics, form your public-facing image."

"But no matter what, you must make those interested in purchasing the copyright see your book and understand it."

"So I'll have someone prepare a dedicated copyright package—containing your book's data and plot summaries relevant to film and TV adaptations, along with reasons why it's suitable for adaptation."

"The Writers Association regularly hosts copyright-focused salons, inviting major film and television studios to attend."

"As vice-chairman, I can also personally fund special work seminars, inviting these copyright acquisition departments to come and exchange ideas."

"In short, there's always a way around difficulties. Once you sell it once, selling it again will be much easier."

Xu Youyu found it a bit confusing, but quickly grasped the key points and nodded, agreeing to follow the plan.

"Chongran is so good to me—I don't know how to repay you," Xu Youyu grinned mischievously. "What kind of repayment do you want?"

"Finish the remaining ten morning runs at school first," Li Luo rolled his eyes and chuckled. "That'll be your repayment."

"That's my own thing—how can that count as repayment?"

"The more you run, the better your physical condition, the easier it'll be for you to repay me properly," Li Luo raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Otherwise, every time we get halfway through, you scream for help—how's that work?"

"Get lost," Xu Youyu scowled at him. "Stop bringing up morning runs all the time—it ruins my mood."

"Don't forget—we signed a IOU," Li Luo reminded her kindly. "Forget everything else—tomorrow's Monday. Pay your first interest."

"Dear big brother~ Do you want a cold, professional secretary, a delicate ancient-style courtesan who sells art but not herself, or a pitiful widow waiting at home?" Xu Youyu cooed seductively from bed, hoping to change Li Luo's mind.

"I'd prefer a sporty beauty—just finished her morning run, drenched in sweat, about to shower when she gets home," Li Luo slid his chair to the bedside, lifted Xu Youyu's chin with his finger. "Can you satisfy me?"

Xu Youyu: "... Can't we pick something less demanding?"

"You're trying to dodge your debt?" Li Luo clucked his tongue. "I never thought Xu Youyu would be someone who borrows money and never pays back..."

"Hey hey hey, okay okay!" Xu Youyu immediately interrupted, huffing. "Fine, I'll run. Wake me up tomorrow."

"Deal."

"Hmm... Can we move it to Tuesday? Let me prepare mentally."

"Paying interest requires the right attitude."

"Fine... Hey, what are you doing?"

"Shh—you're the secretary now."

"Mmm... Boss Li... I'm not that kind of girl~"