Chapter 879: It

Compared to Xu Youyu, Ying Chanxi was far more reserved in bed.

Snuggled in her sleeping mat's quilt, a soft, petite figure clutched in his arms, she leaned quietly against Li Luo's shoulder without fidgeting.

It seemed that merely breathing in Li Luo's scent was enough to satisfy her completely.

But after Yan Zhusheng reminded her to be quiet when kissing, Ying Chanxi—who had never intended to do such a thing—now couldn't help sneaking glances at Li Luo's lips.

The more she looked, the more her heart raced, yet she dared not initiate it herself, afraid Yan Zhusheng would spot her and tease her again.

Thinking of this, Ying Chanxi quietly tugged at Li Luo's collar, signaling him.

But Li Luo didn't understand her hint; he thought she wanted to snuggle closer, so he tightened his hold on her shoulder, having no thought of kissing at all.

This made Ying Chanxi anxious, so she tugged his collar again.

This time Li Luo sensed something was off; he opened his eyes and looked at Ying Chanxi, but before he could speak, she placed her hand over his mouth, not wanting him to draw Yan Zhusheng's attention.

Li Luo reluctantly fell silent, tilted his head slightly, and gave her a puzzled look.

Ying Chanxi blinked, glanced around nervously, then gently tapped his lips twice before immediately pulling back and pressing her head against his shoulder.

Li Luo finally understood and couldn't help smiling.

They were already like an old married couple; though they hadn't gone all the way yet, they had seen each other naked countless times during baths.

And yet, she still blushed at the thought of kissing—how adorable.

But this was exactly why Li Luo loved Ying Chanxi.

So he rolled over, pulled her into his arms, and leaned in.

Ying Chanxi instantly understood, closed her eyes, tilted her face up slightly, appearing tender and yielding.

But she waited long without his kiss—so long she even pouted unconsciously—until she finally realized and snapped her eyes open to find Li Luo grinning mischievously at her.

This made Ying Chanxi furious; she punched him twice inside the quilt, grumbled, and rammed her head into his chest to vent her annoyance.

At that moment, the rustling on the sleeping mat drew Yan Zhusheng's attention again.

The good little sister poked her head over and, seeing this scene, said flatly: "Sis, are you an earthworm? Why are you always butting your head against Li Luo? I thought you two were doing something."

"Go back to sleep," Ying Chanxi snapped at Yan Zhusheng. "Why are you always looking under the bed? Move to the wall side first—so our senior can get in when she comes."

"It's only because you're too noisy," Yan Zhusheng replied, then pulled back and rolled obediently to the wall, but added, "Our senior's parents are right next door—don't make any weird noises again."

"There's nothing weird going on!" Ying Chanxi retorted, sat up, peeked over to confirm Yan Zhusheng had settled against the wall, then angrily flipped over and straddled Li Luo, leaning down to kiss him.

Let's be honest—when fired up, Xixi was still very bold.

Only at moments like this could one see Ying Chanxi taking the initiative.

Li Luo wrapped his arms around her slender waist, one hand gliding up her spine to gently cradle the back of her head, stroking her hair as he savored this delicious midnight snack.

Just then, the door was quietly pushed open.

Xu Youyu, having just finished writing and bathing, slipped silently in from the hallway and, under the moonlight, saw two figures huddled together, wriggling under the quilt.

Hearing the noise behind her, Ying Chanxi immediately sat up and turned toward the door.

Seeing it was Xu Youyu, she first sighed in relief, then blushed furiously, scrambled off Li Luo, and buried herself entirely under the quilt, face and all, refusing to show herself.

"Keep going, don't mind me," Xu Youyu laughed as she climbed onto her bed, then leaned over to peek at the quilted bundle. "Come on, it's not like I haven't seen it before—remember when we played mahjong on Li Luo's birthday, you even…"

"Stop!" Ying Chanxi shot out of the quilt, frantically reaching to cover Xu Youyu's mouth, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Xu Youyu burst out laughing, rolled onto her back, pulled the blanket over herself, and said: "Goodnight—tomorrow we have to wake up early to visit Li Luo's uncle's place."

"You guys better wake me up at six."

"I'm coming with you for morning run."

At this, even Yan Zhusheng opened her eyes in surprise and stared at Xu Youyu: "Senior, what's wrong with you? Did a ghost possess you?"

"What ghost?" Xu Youyu grumbled. "Can't I suddenly want to exercise?"

"Do you believe me—or do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?" Li Luo chuckled dryly.

"Actually, it's more plausible that Li Luo is Qin Shi Huang," Yan Zhusheng nodded seriously.

Xu Youyu fumed, stuck her foot out toward the sleeping mat, and kicked Li Luo squarely in the kidney.

Then she turned around, grabbed Yan Zhusheng, and started tickling her.

After the commotion died down, Li Luo asked: "So why the sudden interest in morning runs? Are you going to join us every day now?"

"No way," Xu Youyu huffed. "Just tomorrow. Don't bother me the day after."

"We're waking up early anyway to visit your uncle's place—might as well get up early instead of sleeping till noon."

"Plus, I can show my parents I'm being responsible, so Mom won't nag me all day."

Li Luo stared at her in disbelief: "You're really calculating."

"Is that calculating?" Xu Youyu snorted. "I'm not talking to you—go kiss Xixi. I'm going to sleep with Zhusheng."

"Fine," Li Luo said, rolled over, pulled Ying Chanxi into his arms, and teased her: "Shall we continue?"

"No way…" Ying Chanxi pushed him away immediately; remembering Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng were right above, she feared they might peek down at any moment.

So she snuggled back against his shoulder, rested her head on his arm, and whispered: "Sleep now, sleep—we have to wake up early tomorrow."

"Alright," Li Luo said, feigning sleep; after a while, he pretended to shift position, then rolled sideways to pull Ying Chanxi tightly into his arms.

By the time Ying Chanxi realized where his hand was going, it was too late to stop him.

"You…"

"Shh…" Li Luo pressed a finger to her lips, smiled, and whispered into her ear, "Just don't moan out loud."

"Mmm…" Ying Chanxi instinctively clenched his collar, her body heating up, her gaze growing hazy.

Long after, a muffled moan echoed beneath the quilt.

Ying Chanxi lay limp in Li Luo's arms, tears glistening in her eyes—she wasn't sure if she was crying or just overwhelmed.

"You're terrible…"

…

At six o'clock the next morning, Li Luo's alarm clock rang on time.

When Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng heard the alarm, they obediently opened their eyes and sat up on their own.

Only Xu Youyu was still fast asleep, as if the alarm were merely her lullaby.

Li Luo found it amusing, so he said to Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng: "You two go back to the adjacent room to wash up. I'll wake up Youyu."

"Okay." Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently, rolled over Xu Youyu, climbed off the bed, and followed Ying Chanxi out the door, returning to the adjacent room via the rooftop to wash up.

Li Luo sat on the edge of the bed and gently patted the quilt, shaking Xu Youyu awake.

"Wake up. Didn't you say last night you'd come jogging with us?"

"Mmm…" Xu Youyu opened her eyes drowsily, recognized Li Luo's face, and immediately groaned, burying her face deep in the quilt. "Can't we skip it?"

"Who was the one who said that last night?"

"It was me, but I was possessed by a ghost then—what I said doesn't count." Xu Youyu mumbled from under the quilt.

"Where's that ghost? Let it possess you again and make you go for a run." Li Luo chuckled.

"If only such a thing existed," Xu Youyu sighed. "I'd have it help me jog, write my novels, and even attend my classes."

"There's no such ghost in this world," Li Luo said. "Or rather—you're the ghost yourself."

"That's actually kind of philosophical…" Xu Youyu retorted. "So now I've become a ghost, have I?"

"Then why do my readers scream 'I saw a ghost!' every time I write ten thousand words a day while multitasking?"

Xu Youyu laughed, snorting under the quilt, and finally lost her sleepiness.

At this point, when Li Luo pulled back the quilt, Xu Youyu offered no resistance—he simply tugged and pulled her up from the bed.

Somehow… this was probably one reason Xu Youyu had fallen for Li Luo.

He always managed to gently coax her out of bed, unlike her own mother, who only knew how to make noise first thing in the morning.

Thinking of this, Xu Youyu couldn't help but squint at Li Luo, liking him more with every glance.

"Still staring? Are there flowers on my face?"

"There are," Xu Youyu smiled, stepping forward, tiptoeing to kiss him on the lips. "This flower is sweet too."

After a while of dawdling, they finally left the room, washed up in the opposite bathroom, then went downstairs to meet the two sisters who had already been waiting.

The four of them walked out the courtyard gate and began jogging slowly around Li Family Village.

To match Xu Youyu's pace, the other three jogged easily, stopping and walking intermittently, finally returning home just after seven.

Upstairs, at the dining table, Grandma had already prepared white porridge and side dishes.

Watching the four children eat breakfast at the table, Li Luo's grandmother smiled warmly, deeply satisfied.

After breakfast, Xu Youyu's drowsiness returned, so she quickly stood up, waved her hands, and headed upstairs: "I'm going back to sleep. Wake me at nine."

Li Luo and the two sisters weren't sleepy at all. With nothing else to do, they helped Grandma clean the courtyard.

Midway, Li Luo was called over by his grandfather, who set up two stools and a square table in the courtyard, placing a Chinese chessboard on it. The two began playing.

Soon after, Ying Zhicheng woke up, followed by Xu Rongsheng and Li Guohong, who gathered around, pointing and commenting.

"You should've moved the chariot to block his horse."

"That cannon can't leap like that—now how are you going to stop his chariot?"

"Why aren't you moving the advisor? You'll get checkmated if you don't!"

Li Luo had been playing well with his grandfather, but these three started chattering nonstop, making him annoyed.

"Can you guys just shut up? If you're so eager, finish this game and take over—I'll see how good you really are."

"I'll play! I'll play!" Li Guohong said first. "You're terrible. Let me show you how it's done."

But as soon as he sat down, he was even worse than Li Luo—his pieces were wiped out in minutes by Li Luo's grandfather.

"You're no good either," Li Luo's grandfather chuckled. "Li Luo plays better than you. Zhicheng, you're better than Guohong—let's see if your skills have rusted."

Ying Zhicheng smiled, sat down, and played a fierce, evenly matched game with Li Luo's grandfather, eventually winning by a narrow margin.

"Old man, looks like I still have the edge," Ying Zhicheng chuckled. He and Li Guohong had grown up together in the countryside and had played Chinese chess with Li Luo's grandfather countless times since childhood—they knew each other's style well.

Li Luo's grandfather wasn't upset; he turned to Xu Rongsheng beside him: "Want a game too?"

"Sure," Xu Rongsheng smiled, took Ying Zhicheng's seat, and began playing slowly with Li Luo's grandfather.

The game was equally tense, but Xu Rongsheng ultimately "missed one move" and was checkmated by Li Luo's grandfather.

Xu Rongsheng remained calm, smiling as he praised Li Luo's grandfather's profound skill—the atmosphere remained harmonious.

At this moment, Cui Suling came downstairs and stood on the second-floor balcony looking down. Seeing the group gathered together, with Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng nearby but no sign of her daughter, she asked Li Luo: "Li Luo, where's Youyu? Still sleeping?"

"Yeah, she's catching up on sleep," Li Luo replied. "I'll wake her at nine."

"It's already past eight—do you really have to wait until nine?" Cui Suling grumbled. "I'll go wake her up right now."

"No no no!" Li Luo rushed upstairs to stop her. "Auntie Cui, this morning Youyu got up with us and went jogging. After returning, she ate breakfast and felt sleepy again—let her sleep a little longer."

"She went jogging?" Cui Suling's expression turned astonished, as if seeing her daughter for the first time. "There's no school morning run anymore—how did she even get up?"

"Well, I'm here," Li Luo chuckled. "And now she's actually joining our workouts—she's made great progress."

"Really?" Cui Suling nodded approvingly. "You really know how to handle her. I've tried talking to her at home, but she never listens. Only your words work."

After calming Cui Suling, Li Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Because Cui Suling knew Xu Youyu was sleeping in Li Luo's room upstairs, she naturally would go straight upstairs to call her.

But from Ying Zhicheng's perspective downstairs, Xu Youyu was supposed to be staying at his house—so if Cui Suling really went to wake her, why wouldn't she come downstairs to his place instead?

If Ying Zhicheng noticed these inconsistencies and exposed the secret early, it would be disastrous.

Fortunately, it passed without incident.

At nine in the morning, Li Luo went upstairs to wake Xu Youyu. The four of them, along with Lin Xiuhong, got in the car and drove toward their grandmother's house.

(End of Chapter)