Chapter 863

January 30th, 6:00 a. m.

Li Luo woke precisely at his biological clock's call, staring for a moment at the slightly unfamiliar ceiling above him.

Only when he came to his senses did he realize he was in someone else's home.

Turning to look at Xu Youyu, still asleep beside him, Li Luo smiled helplessly, recalled the previous night's tenderness, and leaned down to kiss her forehead lightly.

Then Li Luo rolled out of bed, tidied himself up, washed his face and brushed his teeth, and stepped out of the room.

Potato and his wife were both night owls; even though they had to catch a flight for vacation early today, they wouldn't be up this early.

Fortunately, Li Luo had warned Potato the night before about his morning jogging habit, so now, at the door, he slipped on his shoes and headed straight out, leaving the residential complex.

He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he reached the edge of Xihu.

One could only say Potato knew how to enjoy life—no idea how expensive this property must be.

As he thought this, Li Luo began jogging slowly along Xihu, breathing in the fresh air by the shore; when he returned to his starting point, he bought some breakfast from a roadside stall.

There was no point expecting Potato and his wife to get up and make breakfast.

Just after seven, Li Luo returned to Potato's house, used the temporary password he'd been given to open the door, and happened to bump into Potato just waking up.

"You really went out for a morning jog?" Potato looked at Li Luo in surprise. "No wonder you're still in such good shape."

"You work out regularly too, right?" Li Luo asked Potato, who looked to be around thirty. "Otherwise, in our line of work, by your age, you'd probably all be fat."

"Yeah, but I'm definitely fatter than when I was young," Potato sighed, patting his belly, then added with a laugh, "Still, better than a few other guys."

"Some of them still use their old handsome photos for promotion, but in person they've turned into balls of fat, hahaha!"

"Compared to them, I'm already doing pretty well."

As the saying goes: not as good as the best, but better than the worst—that's exactly Potato's situation.

One could only say that without Li Luo, Potato was a rare good-looking guy among online novel writers.

"Here, I brought back some breakfast," Li Luo handed over part of the food. "I already ate on the way back—these are for you and your wife. I'll take some up to Youyu's room."

"Wow," Potato took it with a grin. "I'm a lousy host—I made the guest go out to buy breakfast."

Li Luo rolled his eyes: "Then why don't you get up and make it yourself?"

"Getting up early is impossible," Potato chuckled, carrying the breakfast to the table.

"Where's your wife?"

"Still putting on makeup," Potato replied. "What about Youyu?"

"Sleeping in," Li Luo shrugged. "She won't wake up now. By the way, what time's your flight?"

"Ten o'clock," Potato checked the time. "My wife takes forty to fifty minutes to get ready—she won't be down until eight."

"We'll have to leave then—this breakfast can stay for her to eat in the car."

"Your meeting's at nine in the morning—roughly the same timing?"

"Yeah," Li Luo nodded. "I'll go wake Youyu up in a bit."

"No harm in letting her sleep a bit longer," Potato chuckled. "My wife and I will leave first—you two can leave later."

"Aren't you afraid I'll steal all your stuff?" Li Luo joked.

"You're joking," Potato glanced at him. "You're a person of standing now—I'm not worried you'll do anything."

Still, Li Luo wouldn't linger unnecessarily in someone else's home.

So at half past seven, he went upstairs and pulled Xu Youyu out of bed.

Xu Youyu knew they were in someone else's house, so unusually, she didn't throw a morning tantrum—she quietly came downstairs, ate breakfast, then sat quietly listening as Li Luo and Potato chatted.

At eight o'clock, Potato's wife finished dressing, and the four of them left together.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu bid farewell to Potato and his wife, drove out of the garage, and headed toward the Provincial Writers Association.

A twenty- to thirty-minute drive brought them there before the meeting started; Li Luo checked the time and first took Xu Youyu to Director Li's office to kill some time.

Also to chat about the work seminar.

Last night he'd filled out the application form for the seminar; now Secretary Wang had printed it out and it would be discussed at the meeting at nine.

After chatting with Director Li in his office, at nine o'clock Li Luo brought Xu Youyu along and followed Director Li to the adjacent hall for the Provincial Writers Association's regular meeting.

This regular meeting had far fewer attendees than yesterday's—ordinary members didn't need to come, since they had no voting rights.

Of course, if someone wanted to come just to observe, that was fine too.

During the meeting, Secretary Cao and the Chairman of the Provincial Writers Association ran the proceedings, reviewing and deciding on each small matter one by one.

Naturally, Li Luo's application for the seminar on "Gu Dao Changqing" passed smoothly.

With Li Luo's current influence and fame, and Secretary Cao backing him, it was impossible for it to fail.

After the morning meeting ended, Secretary Cao called Li Luo to join him for lunch.

Over lunch, Secretary Cao said: "Approving a work seminar is simple enough, but deciding who to invite requires early planning."

"Different people attending naturally carry different weight."

"Do you have any acquaintances in the Writers Association?"

Secretary Cao's question stumped Li Luo.

"What about Potato?"

"Li Hu? No," Secretary Cao laughed. "You're both online novelists—this seminar isn't meant for you two to attend."

"Put plainly, whether an online novel is good, and why, ordinary people might list reasons one through five, but they'll never convince most people."

"But if certain respected, authoritative experts speak on it, the work naturally gains a degree of endorsement."

"That's the whole point of a work seminar."

Secretary Cao made it clear; Li Luo nodded in understanding.

Seeing Li Luo's reaction, Secretary Cao realized this kid had clearly never cultivated connections within the Writers Association.

It wasn't Li Luo's fault.

If you really want to say he has connections in the Writers' Association, the only one is his uncle Li Guoru.

But Li Luo surely knows what kind of person Li Guoru is in the Writers' Association.

"Then let's do this," said Secretary Cao. "There are a few teachers in the Writers' Association who are free before the New Year—I'll ask around and see if anyone's interested." "Thank you so much, Secretary Cao," Li Luo quickly raised his cup in thanks.

"Don't mention it," Secretary Cao laughed as he clinked his cup against Li Luo's. "You young people are the future of the Writers' Association. You don't need to be so formal with me—anytime you need something, just come straight to me."

It was clear Secretary Cao genuinely admired Li Luo and had at least some intention of mentoring him.

Having accompanied Ying Zhicheng these past few months, Li Luo had gained some experience and naturally had some sense of propriety—he kept thanking people at the table.

After a round of toasts and clinking cups, lunch ended, and Li Luo and Xu Youyu followed Secretary Cao back to the Provincial Writers' Association.

The lobby had been completely transformed into the venue for the Youth Literature Competition award ceremony.

Just as Secretary Cao was guiding Li Luo to a front-row seat reserved for honored guests, Xu Youyu exclaimed in surprise:

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

Hearing this, Li Luo turned to look and saw Xu Rongsheng seated in another honored guest's chair.

The group exchanged glances, all wearing expressions of astonishment.

"What's going on here?" Secretary Cao asked, intrigued. "I remember—three years ago, when Li Luo and his group came to collect their awards, Professor Xu was there too, right? But…"

"Secretary Cao," Xu Rongsheng first greeted Cao Qibin, then chuckled. "This is my daughter. Back then, she secretly wrote a novel, won an award, and found out I was an award presenter—so she had her editor come up to collect it for her, thinking I wouldn't notice. It caused quite a few laughs."

"Dad~" Xu Youyu pouted at hearing her father bring up her embarrassment.

"Hahaha!" Secretary Cao laughed twice. "But I must say, like father, like daughter—Professor Xu's daughter has made quite a name for herself in literature."

"Oh no, no," Xu Rongsheng shook his head repeatedly. "I've only written some humble, unworthy works—nothing to make Secretary Cao laugh."

After some polite small talk, Xu Youyu took a seat in the row behind Li Luo.

After Secretary Cao sat down, he suddenly turned to Xu Rongsheng and said: "By the way, Li Luo asked me to apply for a symposium on your daughter's work."

"If that's the case, why not invite Professor Xu here to join the discussion?"

"A professor from Qianjiang University's literature department—that's a prestigious title indeed."

Hearing this, Xu Rongsheng turned to Li Luo in confusion. After Li Luo explained, he nodded in understanding, then shook his head again. "No, it's better if I don't get involved in my daughter's symposium."

"But if we're short on participants, I can recommend a few teachers from the university."

"I still need to avoid even the appearance of favoritism."

"Hmm," Secretary Cao nodded. "That makes sense."

The matter was thus temporarily settled.

When the award ceremony began, Li Luo took a moment to chat casually with Xu Rongsheng.

"Why are you here for this award ceremony, Uncle Xu?"

"Qianjiang University was cooperating with the Ministry of Education for this Youth Literature Competition. As a literature professor, isn't it natural for me to come and present an award?"

Xu Rongsheng glanced at Li Luo, then asked in return, "But you—how did you end up as an award presenter?"

"Originally, another online novel author was supposed to present," Li Luo said helplessly. "But he had an emergency and asked me to take his place. I never expected to run into you here, Uncle Xu."

"Haha," Xu Rongsheng smiled. "Three years ago, I presented your award. Now, three years later, you're standing beside me presenting awards to others. Your progress is truly astonishing."

"Uncle Xu, we're family—no need to praise me so heavily."

Hearing the words "family," Xu Rongsheng looked at Li Luo with deep meaning, then glanced sideways at his own daughter.

The award ceremony soon reached the online novel segment.

As the winners stepped onto the stage, the host announced that Chongran and Professor Xu would present the awards. Both rose simultaneously to hand out certificates to the recipients.

Xu Youyu sat below, pulled out her phone, and filmed the scene. Then, propping her chin on her hand, she gazed at it with quiet happiness.

Soon, Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng returned to their seats.

With no further duties for Li Luo, he continued chatting with Xu Rongsheng.

"Uncle Xu, are you leaving right after the meeting? Why not have dinner together?"

"No," Xu Rongsheng shook his head. "Attending this ceremony was just incidental—I'm mainly here to meet with Ministry of Education officials and discuss serious matters."

"What serious matters?" Li Luo asked curiously.

Xu Rongsheng glanced at him. He'd originally thought a young man shouldn't meddle, but remembering how deeply involved Li Luo was in this matter, he hesitated, then said:

"It's about the Ministry's funding for humanities and social science research."

"I'd already given up on competing for it, but… you helped me out significantly this semester."

"So now that the chance has come, I'm going to give it a try."

Hearing this, Li Luo raised an eyebrow and asked tentatively, "Could it have something to do with competing for the Dean of the College of Literature?"

"You're sharp," Xu Rongsheng laughed. "It's very much related—or rather, whoever secures this funding will almost certainly get the dean's position."

Since he'd spoken, Xu Rongsheng decided to explain fully to Li Luo.

Although the current Dean of the College of Literature still had two years left in office, competition for the next dean had already reached a fever pitch.

Originally, Xu Rongsheng's seniority was slightly weaker than that of the other Vice Dean.

But after Li Luo provided a large sum of financial aid to impoverished students in the College of Literature, Xu Rongsheng's standing rose significantly.

Yet even that was far from enough.

Ultimately, who would become dean still depended on who had contributed most to the college's development.

Upon hearing this, Li Luo fell into deep thought, ideas forming in his mind—but still unclear.

Only when the meeting ended, and Xu Rongsheng rose to take his leave to meet with Ministry officials, did Li Luo snap back to reality, sorting through some interesting thoughts in his Memory Palace.

"Where's Dad going?" Xu Youyu walked around to the front row and asked Li Luo. "Isn't he coming with us?"

"He seems to have other business," Li Luo checked the time and said frankly. "Shall we wait for him?"

"Sure," Xu Youyu nodded.

At that moment, Secretary Cao walked over. Seeing Li Luo still waiting for Xu Rongsheng, he glanced toward the Ministry officials and smiled.

"Why not go over and join the fun? I'm old acquaintances with Old Pei over there."