Chapter 84

"Li Luo really knows how to cook." Yan Zhusheng sat at the dining table, watching Ying Chanxi carry out dish after dish of fragrant, colorful, and appetizing food, and couldn't help saying it.

"And the taste is amazing." Xu Youyu hadn't even started eating yet, but he could barely wait—he sneaked a hand out, grabbed a pork rib, shoved it into his mouth, and blew on it noisily.

"When you lived together, did Li Luo cook?"

"Of course he did." Xu Youyu chuckled. "Every night after self-study, he'd make some fried noodles or fried rice for us as a midnight snack."

"You can't cook in the school dormitory." Yan Zhusheng sighed. "But I can't cook either."

"Haha~" Xu Youyu grinned. "By the way, there's still an empty room in Li Luo's apartment—why don't you just move in?"

"I'm already living on campus." Yan Zhusheng shook his head. "If I were to move out, I'd have to tell my mom."

"I was just joking." Xu Youyu grinned. "After all, your place is so big, while the empty room in ours is pretty small—what if you can't get used to it?"

Yan Zhusheng didn't care how big the room was; after all, the school dorm was tiny, and even Li Luo's room, no matter how small, would be more comfortable than the dorm.

And compared to the girls in the dorm, living with girls like Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi might feel easier and more relaxed.

At least she wouldn't have to worry they'd exclude her.

But Yan Zhusheng only thought about it—after all, she'd promised her mom she'd adapt well to school life.

Her mom had finally recovered her health and planned to return to her career; Yan Zhusheng didn't want to hold her back.

"But even if you keep living on campus, you can still come over on weekends," Xu Youyu added. "We've got a piano and a guitar too—you won't get bored."

Yan Zhusheng was slightly surprised, then nodded. "Okay."

Soon after, the six dishes and one soup were all served.

After the four of them sat down, Yan Zhusheng picked up her chopsticks, tasted the food, and her eyes brightened slightly: "Delicious."

"I told you so." Xu Youyu beside her also began eating.

"Good to hear." Li Luo noticed Yan Zhusheng's reaction and nodded in satisfaction.

This time, he still treated everyone equally—he made two dishes each for the three girls, their absolute favorites.

For Yan Zhusheng, in her past life, she'd especially loved his stir-fried eel strips and spicy chicken; now, it was clear she still did.

After dinner, Yan Zhusheng said she didn't need to wash the dishes—just leave them for the cook to clean tomorrow.

So Li Luo and the other two packed up their bags and left.

Looking at the now-empty living room, Yan Zhusheng's expression went blank for a moment, suddenly feeling hollow inside, a little unsettled.

But just minutes after Li Luo and the others left, a noise came from the front door.

The door opened from outside, and Yuan Wanqing walked in, a small bag slung over her shoulder, immediately locking eyes with her daughter on the sofa.

"Mom, you're back?" Yan Zhusheng was surprised, tilting her head toward the door. "Is something wrong?"

Logically, Yuan Wanqing had been busy with her new album—she shouldn't have had time to come home.

"Most of the songs for the album are recorded; only two need a little adjustment—I'll re-record them in a couple days." Yuan Wanqing smiled. "So I came home to check on you—how's school going?"

"Pretty good."

"Are you used to the dorm?" Yuan Wanqing took off her shoes and sat beside the sofa. "How's getting along with your roommates?"

"…Also pretty good."

"What about your homeroom teacher? What's he like?"

"Teacher Kong is great too," Yan Zhusheng said. "He even chose me as the sports committee member."

"Oh?" Yuan Wanqing was surprised, then chuckled. "Why not arts committee? Your music is way better than your sports."

"I broke the school record in sprinting back in middle school," Yan Zhusheng reminded her.

"True enough." Yuan Wanqing nodded. "What else? Let me think—how about your desk mate?"

"My desk mate is great too," Yan Zhusheng blinked. "He's also our class monitor—a very capable person."

"Boy or girl?"

"Boy."

"I see." Yuan Wanqing nodded knowingly, then her gaze fell on the leftover dishes, and she let out a soft "Huh?" "Who cooked tonight? The cook called me this afternoon saying you told her not to come?"

"Yeah, it was my classmate."

"So you really are getting along well with your classmates," Yuan Wanqing smiled. "All this food—there must've been quite a few people?"

"Three people— one's the class monitor, the other two are girls," Yan Zhusheng answered honestly, without hiding anything. "They're all really nice."

"Did you all cook together?" Yuan Wanqing asked curiously.

Yan Zhusheng shook her head: "The class monitor cooked it. It was delicious."

"Better than the cook's food?" Yuan Wanqing teased.

"Yes," Yan Zhusheng nodded seriously. "It's definitely a bit better."

"... " Yuan Wanqing's smile froze. She'd personally handpicked that cook—how could a Gao Zhongsheng's cooking be better?

Could it be…

"What's your class monitor's name?"

"Li Luo."

"Which 'luo'?"

"The 'luo' in 'yingluo'—the character with the 'king' radical and 'ge' meaning 'apart'."

Yuan Wanqing nodded understandingly, then patted Yan Zhusheng's head. "I'm glad you've made friends at school—but if anything happens, I hope you'll share it with Mom, don't keep it bottled up, okay?"

"…Okay."

…

Meanwhile, Li Luo and the other two returned home.

Throwing their bags onto the sofa, Li Luo asked: "What are you doing tonight? Homework?"

"I finished it during Friday class," Ying Chanxi said.

"Same as before." Xu Youyu glanced at Li Luo. "You haven't finished your homework yet? Even if you couldn't finish by Friday, you still had four self-study periods this morning."

"Uh... I still have biology left." Li Luo twitched his lips.

To be honest, with full concentration, two evening self-study sessions on Friday plus three additional self-study periods outside of class elections were more than enough for Li Luo to finish all his homework.

But since his junior high foundation was still weak, he preferred to thoroughly understand each concept while doing homework, which made him a bit slower.

But tomorrow, Sunday evening, he had to return to school for two more evening self-study sessions—just one biology assignment—so it was more than sufficient.

But compared to the class monitor and the top student in the grade, it was completely inadequate.

"Do you even listen to the teacher when you do homework in class?" Li Luo genuinely couldn't understand.

"I do listen." Ying Chanxi nodded, then thought for a moment and said, "I always preview in advance—go through the problem set first and make sure I've mastered all the concepts."

"If I have any questions, I just write them down."

"Then during class, I can do homework while listening. When the teacher reaches a point I'm confused about, I stop and pay close attention. After listening, I go back to writing."

"Something like that," Xu Youyu nodded. "But I do one lesson at a time—balance work and rest. If I really don't understand something, I just ask the teacher after class."

Li Luo: "..."

He suddenly realized that despite having the Memory Palace, he still couldn't comprehend the world of top students.

These guys are truly insane.

Can a normal person like me even live peacefully?

Living under the same roof as these two, my external advantage feels like it's not even activated... Li Luo couldn't help but mentally complain.

"I need to check the letters I received today," Ying Chanxi said, carrying her bag toward the bedroom. "I got so many—I have to reply to each one."

"Xixi, you really reply to every single letter?" Xu Youyu was surprised. "I just ignore the ones I'm not interested in."

"Hmm..." Ying Chanxi smiled helplessly. "I just feel it's impolite not to reply. I'm not saying the senior sisters are bad—this is just how I feel."

"So you're going to be pen pals with all these people?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

At Li Luo's question, Ying Chanxi immediately frowned: "If you think that way, I won't bother explaining further."

Then she huffed, stomping her slippers noisily as she turned and walked back into the bedroom, slamming the door shut with a bang.

"You asked a completely unnecessary question," Xu Youyu clucked. "Now Xixi's mad."

Li Luo: "... Why do you sound so pleased about it?"

"Pfft." Xu Youyu sneered. "I'm the only one who's ever agreed to be your pen pal—none of the others in the literature club got this privilege. You should be grateful."

"You only did it to eat my fried noodles."

"You talk too much," Xu Youyu shot him a glare, picked up his bag, and headed toward the bedroom. As he passed Li Luo, he kicked him, then laughed and dashed into the room, slamming the door shut.

Li Luo shook his head helplessly, thinking this guy was as childish as ever.

Even after graduating from university, he still acted like a joker, and even when sick in bed, he never missed a chance to kick him.

Thinking this, Li Luo decided not to go back to his bedroom. Instead, he carried his bag straight to the living room desk, sat down, and took out the five letters he'd received today.

They were from Liu Shaowen, Hua Xiuxiu, Ying Chanxi, Xu Youyu, and Qin Yawei.

After some thought, Li Luo picked up Liu Shaowen's and Qin Yawei's letters first, deciding to see what they'd written.

【Dear Li Luo: 】

【Hello】

【I'm Liu Shaowen, in the same class as Ying Chanxi】

【Nice to meet you】

【I hope we can have pleasant exchanges in future literature club activities】

【—Liu Shaowen】

【September 6, 2014】

Liu Shaowen's letter was very short.

But the one written to Ying Chanxi must've been long.

This letter to him was clearly just a cover-up.

Li Luo chuckled and shook his head, then picked up Qin Yawei's letter and opened it.

Well... this guy wrote quite a lot.