Chapter 873: Loving Is Better Than Reading Web Novels

Three girls squeezed together on Li Luo's small bed and actually fell fast asleep.

Probably because they slept together every day, they didn't mind each other on the bed—they'd grown used to it.

Li Luo looked at their sleeping faces and felt inner peace; afraid the keyboard noise would wake them, he pulled out his phone to write.

By four o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Youyu had slept well and was the first to wake up.

Soon after, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng also woke up; the three girls stretched on the bed, and Li Luo said, "Wake up, wash your faces, then let's go downstairs."

Ying Chanxi rubbed her eyes and obediently replied, then got up first and headed toward the bathroom across from the door.

Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu followed one after another; after washing their faces, they followed Li Luo downstairs to the second floor.

It was now the kitchen's busiest time; the three girls, with nothing to do, went in to help, but were quickly shooed out by Lin Xiuhong, who told them to rest properly on the sofa.

So Li Luo took them all again, went downstairs, left the courtyard, and walked to the small shop across the street owned by Second Grandpa, where they picked up some fireworks and firecrackers.

At this time, Li Luo's grandmother was sitting in the neighboring courtyard chatting with several other elderly women; seeing her beloved grandson, she called out to him.

Li Luo, using his memory palace, politely greeted each one, and the elderly women all responded with smiling faces.

The three pretty young girls quickly drew the elderly women's attention; Ying Chanxi stepped forward first to greet them, and Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu followed suit.

The elderly women were familiar with Ying Chanxi—she was the girl from the Ying family, well-known in this area, where her grandfather would often start a chess game with "my granddaughter."

Even if he lost at chess, he could still win back the game through his outstanding granddaughter.

But Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu were slightly less familiar.

Only two elderly women living next to Li Luo's home had a faint memory—they'd seen these two girls perhaps two years ago.

Li Luo's grandmother had clearly been briefed by Lin Xiuhong and didn't openly state the girls' relationship with her grandson in front of him, only calling them classmates and friends.

But once Li Luo left with the three girls, the grandmother couldn't hold back anymore and began subtly boasting to her old friends.

The meaning was simple: it wasn't a good thing that her grandson was too outstanding—he had too many fluttering butterflies around him, and she couldn't choose among them.

The other elderly women nodded in agreement, but secretly rolled their eyes—they were used to Li Luo's grandmother's boasts.

Ever since Li Luo achieved success in both career and studies, his grandparents had become unbeatable in the village and surrounding areas.

With their grandson finally home for the New Year, how could they miss the chance to boast a few more times?

Li Luo was unaware of his grandparents' undefeated record; when he returned with Ying Chanxi and the others to the second floor, the large round table in the living room was already piled high with offerings for ancestral worship.

Two tall candles were lit at the front, and around the table sat small wine cups and chopsticks, symbolizing that the ancestors should eat first, blessing them with peace and health in the coming year.

After returning, Li Luo was called over by Li Guohong to pay respects.

As for the three girls, since they hadn't yet married into the family, they were not allowed to worship—only to watch from the side.

The Ying family had moved here from elsewhere, and Ying the Elder was too lazy to observe such rituals, so the Ying household had no tradition of New Year ancestral worship.

Xu Youyu's family did hold similar ancestral ceremonies, so it wasn't strange to her; only Yan Zhusheng, who had rarely seen such customs abroad, found it unfamiliar.

Even though she'd seen it several times at Li Luo's home in the past few years, each time she still felt curious.

She asked why she couldn't step forward to worship, and after receiving the answer, she whispered, "So if I marry Li Luo someday, I'll be able to worship during New Year too?"

"Theoretically, yes," Ying Chanxi whispered back. "But it's still too early—at least not until after we graduate from university."

"Why?" Yan Zhusheng asked again. "Can't you get married in university?"

"Technically speaking…" Xu Youyu reminded her, "the legal marriage age for men is twenty-two; Li Luo won't meet that until his senior year."

"But rural customs don't care about marriage certificates," Ying Chanxi whispered. "What matters is after the wedding banquet is held and relatives have witnessed the ceremony—then you're officially part of the Li family, and naturally you'll join in the New Year ancestral worship."

The three girls sat on the sofa whispering; when Li Luo returned and sat down after worshiping, Yan Zhusheng blurted out impatiently, "Li Luo, when are we having the wedding?"

Li Luo: "...?"

…

After everyone had paid respects two or three times, Li Guohong brought out a pile of spirit money, gold ingots, silver ingots, and the Buddhist sutras Li Luo's grandmother recited daily.

He placed them all into a large black pot, carried it to the balcony, lit it with a lighter, and the family gathered in a circle, silently paying respects until the spirit paper burned out.

By then, it was already past six in the evening.

Lin Xiuhong and the others busied themselves again, bringing the ancestral offerings back to the kitchen to reheat them.

Everyone else sat around two round tables; when Li Luo's grandfather poured himself a cup of baijiu, took a small sip, and picked up his chopsticks for the first bite, the New Year's Eve dinner officially began.

Li Luo sat beside his grandfather and, unusually, poured himself a small cup of baijiu.

But he wasn't used to it; one sip made his throat burn, so after sharing that small cup with his grandfather, he quickly switched back to his fruit juice.

The living room TV had long been on, but since the Spring Festival Gala hadn't started yet, everyone ate and chatted casually.

At this moment, Li Luo's grandmother asked everyone, "How long are you all staying?"

Traditionally, returning home for the New Year meant staying until the seventh day of the first lunar month.

But the Li family members were all busy.

For example, Li Dao and Chen Yonglin had to leave after just two or three days—their factory had too much work requiring their presence.

Chen Sijia had to return to work overtime on the fourth day of the New Year to earn extra pay.

Li Xuemei said she'd have to return with her daughter and open the mahjong parlor early.

During the New Year holiday, many people were idle, so the mahjong parlor's business would surely be good—arriving one day earlier meant one more day of profit.

Lin Xiuhong hadn't opened the mahjong parlor to make big money; she'd done it mainly because leaving the shop empty was a waste.

So the monthly profits from the mahjong parlor were split: Lin Xiuhong, as landlord and owner, took 50%, and the remaining 50% was divided equally between Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei.

To Lin Xiuhong, this was a small sum, but for Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei, it was far more than they'd ever earned in their previous jobs.

And it was easy.

All they had to do was work the front desk, clean the place, and serve customers.

Aside from these few, everyone else could stay until the seventh day of the New Year.

Only Li Xuexian and Chen Hailin needed to visit relatives in Chen Village in between, but otherwise had no obligations.

As they chatted, the New Year's Eve dinner drew to a close.

At the table next door, after Ying Chanxi and the others finished eating, they moved to the sofa to watch TV and waited for the Spring Festival Gala to begin at eight p. m.

As for Lin Xiuhong and the others, they immediately went to the mahjong table and happily began playing mahjong.

Li Luo wasn't fond of drinking; after drinking with his grandfather for a while, he excused himself, claiming he was full, and let the group of men continue drinking and boasting, while he himself went over to the sofa and invited Li Xiang and Chen Sijia to play cards.

Li Xiang, still single in his senior year of college, played cards while watching his three aunts, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

A few years ago, when he first entered university, he had seen these three women come to the countryside with Li Luo to play.

Now, several years had passed, and he never expected his young uncle could actually keep three girls getting along so well, accepting each other's presence.

This was even more absurd than the plot in his uncle's own Online Novel, I Am Really Not a Star.

Novels still needed some logic to convince readers; in reality, there was absolutely no logic at all.

This made Li Xiang feel a pang of envy, wondering why he could never meet such wonderful girls.

So during a break in the card game, Li Xiang quietly asked Li Luo for advice.

"Uncle, I need to pick your brain."

"Go ahead."

"How do I find a girl I like?"

"Why ask me? How would I know where your ideal girl is?"

"Then how did you find yours?" Li Xiang pressed. "All three aunts are so outstanding—surely they didn't just throw themselves at you?"

"What if they really did?"

"Just tell me the truth," Li Xiang said, exasperated.

"The truth is divine favor," Li Luo leaned close to Li Xiang and pointed at Ying Chanxi. "You know Xi Xi—she's my childhood friend."

"Hmm…" Li Xiang nodded helplessly. "I know that, but I don't have a childhood friend or anything like that."

"Then look at her," Li Luo pointed again at Xu Youyu. "My parents bought the school district house from Grandpa San's family for me to live in; Youyu was renting there at the time."

"Coincidentally, she was also an Online Novel writer. We got to know each other over time."

"Shared interests, compatible tastes, same school, living under the same roof—over time, feelings naturally developed."

"Hmm…" Li Xiang clicked his tongue. "I can't go back to high school and beg my dad to rent me a school district house now."

"Then look at her," Li Luo pointed to Yan Zhusheng. "My high school desk partner—we were in the same class on opening day, and she chose the seat next to me. For three years, we were always desk partners."

"Hmm…" Li Xiang fell into deep thought, as if remembering someone.

"You had a desk partner?" Li Luo asked curiously. "Did you feel something for them?"

"... My desk partner was a guy."

"Then forget it… otherwise Dao Ge would come after me with a knife. Better not even think about it."

"I'm perfectly heterosexual!" Li Xiang snapped.

"Then why are you deep in thought?"

"I'm just feeling sad," Li Xiang sighed wearily. "I'm graduating this year, and I've never dated anyone—not even held a girl's hand."

"What have you been doing these four years of college?" Li Luo asked, puzzled. "You seem pretty idle."

"Reading Online Novels," Li Xiang gazed at Li Luo with a mournful look. "I just lie in the dorm reading Online Novels—no time to meet girls."

"Then that's your own problem," Li Luo refused to take the blame. "You can read Online Novels, but occasionally going out to socialize and meet girls isn't that hard, is it?"

"Mainly, the thought of approaching or flirting with a girl feels like such a hassle," Li Xiang sighed. "I'd rather read Online Novels—after all, the heroines in novels are far more wonderful than real girls."

"Really?" Li Luo blinked. "I think Xi Xi and the others are much better than the heroines I write."

"Don't say that," Li Xiang said, exasperated—he couldn't stand his uncle's constant bragging.

Every time his uncle showed off, Li Xiang felt like punching him in the face.

Fortunately, it was now eight p. m., and the Spring Festival Gala began.

As the Gala aired on TV, everyone's attention turned toward the screen.

"By the way, Wanqing is going to appear on the Gala again this year," Grandpa Ying remarked as the Gala started.

Ying Zhicheng immediately nodded. "Yes, Wanqing went to Jingzhao City two days ago; she'll perform around ten tonight, singing a song written by Li Luo."

"Oh?" Li Luo's grandfather perked up and asked Li Luo on the sofa, "You wrote a new song?"

"Not a new song," Li Luo smiled. "It's just the one I just released, 'Misaligned Space-Time,' but with revised lyrics—the melody is the same."

"That's fine," Li Luo's grandfather nodded. "When Wanqing comes on, remind us—we'll all listen."

"Definitely," Li Luo chuckled. "The revised lyrics this time? You'll love them, Grandpa."

"Is that so? Then I'll pay close attention."

Since it was still early before ten p. m., the topic was only mentioned briefly at the dinner table.

The men continued drinking and eating, the mahjong players kept playing, and Li Luo's group pulled out a board game; six of them sat in a circle, tried it out, and two hours passed in a flash.

When it reached ten p. m., it was finally Yuan Wanqing's turn to appear.

"Mom's going on stage," Yan Zhusheng pulled out her phone and showed Li Luo a notification from Yuan Wanqing's assistant, Xiao Xuan.

Li Luo immediately stopped the board game and smiled at the others. "Aunt Yuan's about to perform—come take a look."

(End of Chapter)