Chapter 813

Originally, Li Luo thought Ying Chanxi's luggage was already plenty.

But only after he started packing himself did he realize his own belongings were also quite a lot…

Not to mention the closet was filled entirely with clothes bought for him by Ying Chanxi and the others—far more than what he had back at his own home.

Just over these past three years, the gifts given to him by three girls had piled up to the point he couldn't even count them.

For instance, the photo frame Ying Chanxi gave him, the watch she bought him after returning from abroad, or the various small trinkets she picked up casually over time.

Even Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu, who rarely bought things, had given him quite a few items.

The laptop Li Luo used most often was the ASUS notebook Yan Zhusheng had brought from her own home.

The keys he carried daily were hung on a miniature harmonica keychain made by Yan Zhusheng herself.

For example, the blue armrest pillow Yan Zhusheng won during the first New Year's Eve party.

As for Xu Youyu, her belongings weren't many at all.

Just the mechanical keyboard she'd used for over three years, the slightly embarrassing Doraemon underwear, and the clay handmade wish token she'd crafted herself.

Aside from that, what Xu Youyu bought the most were various types of lingerie.

These items could never be placed in Li Luo's master bedroom—they were all secretly stored in Xu Youyu's own closet, only used when needed.

After packing these scattered items, Li Luo then organized the bookshelf.

On it were historical books he had specifically purchased as reference material while writing The Grand Patrol.

Also the complete set of collector's edition physical volumes of Little Joy, and the birthday gift Xu Rongsheng had given him on Li Luo's birthday—The Versions of Us.

Li Luo had flipped through this book once before; now, picking it up again and reviewing it in his Memory Palace, his expression turned slightly odd.

The book's content, in summary, was simple: it told of the male and female leads in three parallel worlds, whose lives diverged into three completely different paths due to certain circumstances.

Hmm… how to put it…

Li Luo glanced at Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, then pictured Xu Youyu in his mind, and chuckled, shaking his head.

If only one could truly split a person into three.

After packing away these scattered, trivial items, Li Luo had nothing else left to organize.

What remained were merely the shoes in the shoe cabinet by the front door, and the guitar in the piano room.

Come to think of it, that guitar had originally been given to Yin Zhicheng by Yuan Wanqing… but Ying Chanxi had taken it for him to use.

Now it was being used by Yan Zhusheng in the band—they would be performing at Qianjiang University's New Year's Eve gala this year, with Li Luo as lead vocalist and Yan Zhusheng as guitarist.

"That should be about it, right?" Ying Chanxi clapped her hands after finishing packing, turned around in a circle to double-check, "We bought new bed sheets and pillowcases, so no need to bring them."

"Yeah, that's all." Li Luo nodded, then looked at the bed, smiling as he picked up the Pikachu and Doraemon from the nightstand, "Don't forget these two."

"Aren't these two over three years old?" Yan Zhusheng leaned in to examine the Pikachu she had given Ying Chanxi, asking curiously, "They look pretty worn out—should I buy you a new one?"

"No need." Ying Chanxi pulled both plushes close to her chest, then walked toward her room to pack them into the suitcase, "These feel better. I'm not used to new ones."

"By the way, where's your panda plush?" Li Luo asked, watching Ying Chanxi's back.

"You forgot?" Ying Chanxi turned her head to reply, "I already took it to the dorm."

Since Ying Chanxi always slept in the same bed with Li Luo at Bihai Lanting, she had no need for the panda plush or the small blanket.

So she brought them to the dorm, where they comforted her on nights without Li Luo.

After placing Pikachu and Doraemon away, Ying Chanxi returned to the master bedroom.

At this point, Yan Zhusheng had already taken off her clothes, completely naked, and tilted her head toward Ying Chanxi: "Sister, want to take a shower together?"

"Don't strip naked right inside the room!"

"What's the big deal? You've seen it all already." Yan Zhusheng said without a hint of shame, then took Ying Chanxi's small hand and wrapped her arm around Li Luo's, leading both into the bathroom.

The gentle patter of water in the bathroom lasted over an hour before finally stopping.

The three of them, now in pajamas, returned to bed and prepared to sleep early.

At this time, Xu Youyu had also finished writing, taken a shower in the corridor bathroom, and walked into the master bedroom holding a box.

The master bedroom was already dark; Ying Chanxi hadn't noticed, leaning against Li Luo's chest, and called out to the back: "Senior, you're here?"

"Mm." Xu Youyu responded, leaned closer to examine Ying Chanxi's profile, saw she didn't seem particularly angry, and finally relaxed, grinning as she pressed the box against Ying Chanxi's cheek, "Here you go."

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi froze, turned around to take the box, and under the glow of the bedside lamp, recognized what it was—her cheeks instantly flushed, "Senior, you… how could you…"

"Cough… This isn't for…" Xu Youyu coughed, about to say something.

"Stop talking!" Ying Chanxi cut her off mid-sentence, hurriedly scrambled off the bed, and shoved the item into Li Luo's suitcase, "Senior, you're ridiculous… I wasn't even planning to bring it."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu paused, momentarily confused: "This is…"

"Alright, alright." Ying Chanxi interrupted again, "That's enough. Let's sleep."

Climbing back onto the bed, Ying Chanxi burrowed into Li Luo's arms, unwilling to discuss such a risqué topic further.

After all, she wasn't ready yet, and having the item didn't serve any purpose now.

Besides, she'd already talked it through with Yan Zhusheng—no need to repeat it.

In Li Luo's presence, Ying Chanxi still felt too embarrassed to delve deeply into such topics.

Seeing this, Xu Youyu said no more, assuming Ying Chanxi simply didn't want to bring it up.

Though she accepted it inwardly, she must still feel a bit disappointed, right?

Thinking this, Xu Youyu simply lay down and went to sleep obediently—otherwise, continuing the topic would feel like showing off.

…

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Xu Youyu woke up unusually early, pulled out of bed by Li Luo and the others.

Unlike usual, Xu Youyu was unusually energetic today.

After washing up, she quickly changed into sportswear and joined Li Luo and the others, heading to the school's south gate to participate in the morning run.

Since Xu Youyu began running in the morning to pay off her interest, she had already joined Li Luo and the others three times—today was the fourth.

Including the six runs before National Day, Xu Youyu is about to complete ten morning runs.

Just six more to go to meet the school's requirement of sixteen.

After the slow jog, Xu Youyu was breathless and half-collapsed onto Li Luo's shoulder, barely making it back to the breakfast shop at the community entrance.

"When you see my mom today, do you know what to say?" Xu Youyu panted slightly as he ate breakfast, still reminding the three.

"Senior Xu has been working hard lately, jogging with us regularly—she's already completed all the school's required morning runs," Yan Zhusheng said seriously.

Hearing this, Xu Youyu snapped his fingers, nodding in approval: "Good, good—Zhusheng really understands me."

"Actually, you've only run four times in the past twenty days," Li Luo shook his head with a smile. "I'm reminding you—the school's morning run deadline is next month fifth."

"The next two weeks are final exam period, so they don't count toward morning run requirements."

"That means you've got roughly two and a half weeks left—excluding weekends, that's thirteen days."

"If you don't finish six morning runs in those thirteen days, you'll fail."

"Huh?" Xu Youyu froze, counting on his fingers, then gasped in shock. "How did time fly so fast? Don't final exams count toward morning runs?"

"Everyone's studying—how can sports department students stand guard for you?" Li Luo chuckled. "Take it easy—you don't want to be just one or two runs short, do you?"

"Run in half a month?"

"Then all ten runs you did before are wasted?"

"Enough," Xu Youyu lifted his head with a mournful look. "I'm definitely not running tomorrow—it's your birthday."

"The day after tomorrow we're bringing the kittens home, so we can't run then either."

"So if you count it all up, there's hardly any time left this week."

Li Luo: "... When will you ever fix your procrastination?"

"Stop nagging and eat your food," Xu Youyu huffed, grabbing chopsticks and shoving a steamed bun into Li Luo's mouth.

After breakfast, the four returned home.

Xu Youyu collapsed onto her bed like a pile of mud.

Li Luo followed in and reminded her: "Remember to pack—organize everything you're taking. We leave after lunch."

"Got it~" Xu Youyu called from the bed, rolling over and pulling the blanket up. "Wake me at ten—I'll nap first, then pack."

Seeing her laziness, Li Luo had no choice but to leave the room and close the door.

He then returned to the living room to help Ying Chanxi tidy up the living room and piano room.

"We're not taking any of these," Ying Chanxi said, glancing at the scattered items on the coffee table. "Let's just organize the shoe cabinet at the entrance."

"Some shoes are too old—no need to bring them. Buy new ones to wear."

"You all pick through them—anything you don't want, toss it with my clothes—we'll donate it all."

The three worked hard and finished organizing the shoe cabinet.

Soon after, three large plastic bags sat by the door, filled with old clothes and shoes to be taken to the donation drop-off point.

In addition, Ying Chanxi dragged the two into a quick deep clean, clearing out useless items and throwing them all away at once.

By the time the doorbell rang, the house was nearly ready.

Li Luo opened the door to find Yin Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing standing outside.

He welcomed them in, stepping aside as Yin Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing entered, glancing at the pile of old clothes and trash by the door.

"Are all these things being taken with us?" Yuan Wanqing asked curiously.

"We're throwing them all away," Ying Chanxi said beside her. "Our packed luggage is in the bedrooms—Mom, sit on the sofa for a bit."

"Mm, okay," Yuan Wanqing smiled warmly at being called "Mom," and sat down happily.

Yin Zhicheng looked around, nodded slightly, then turned to Li Luo: "What's the plan today?"

"Uncle Yin and Aunt Yuan, rest here. We'll have lunch here, then leave in the afternoon," Li Luo said simply. "My parents should be arriving soon—they're going to buy groceries first."

"Alright," Yin Zhicheng nodded understandingly, then looked at Ying Chanxi. "All packed?"

"All packed," Ying Chanxi nodded obediently, pulling her father into her bedroom.

"Need any help?" Yin Zhicheng glanced at the neatly packed suitcase and cardboard boxes, thinking there was nothing left to do, and asked.

Ying Chanxi thought a moment, then said casually: "Dad, check the room again—see if you spot anything I missed."

"I need to go help Zhusheng pack."

"She's so lazy—refused to pack last night, said she'd do it today."

With that, Ying Chanxi left the room to help Yan Zhusheng.

Seeing this, Yuan Wanqing followed into Yan Zhusheng's small room to help her daughter pack.

Yin Zhicheng stayed in Ying Chanxi's room—not intending to truly check for missed items, but curious, he surveyed the bedroom.

This was where his daughter had lived for three years during high school.

Most nights, she had slept on this bed.

Thinking of this, Yin Zhicheng walked to the window, sat on the bed facing it, and ran his hand over the mattress.

He felt a pang of emotion.

Then his gaze fell on the desk. Following Ying Chanxi's instruction, he idly pulled open a drawer, glanced inside, and confirmed it was empty.

He reached for the bottom drawer, intending only to glance and close it again.

But the next second, he froze—he noticed something inside.

Curious, Yin Zhicheng reached in and pulled out the box.

The box was surprisingly light—he could tell from touch alone that it was empty.

No wonder she didn't take it.

Thinking this, he looked down, glanced casually at the box's exterior, and instinctively prepared to put it back.

But the next second, his eyes locked in place.

His expression grew stiff, and soon this stiffness spread throughout his entire body.

Ying Zhicheng trembled as he held his wrist, carefully studying the text and its description.

The room fell silent, broken only by Ying Zhicheng's muttering.

"Fifty…"

"Fifty…"

"Fifty…"