Chapter 881: Sisters, Together on the Couch

The joyful morning mahjong session passed quickly.

Li Luo didn't understand what magic mahjong held that his mother could play it every single day all year without getting bored.

More importantly, she wasn't obsessed with winning or losing, the stakes were low—just casual games with family, usually one yuan per round.

If she lost badly, she might lose barely two hundred yuan for the whole day.

More often, it was just dozens of yuan either way.

According to Lin Xiuhong, the amount was too small to feel exciting, but too large would hurt feelings—one yuan was just right.

And if you played mahjong with the same group of friends for long enough, and no one cheated, all four players would end up roughly even.

For Li Luo, playing occasionally was just a pastime; after all, when he was home with nothing to do at night, he liked to drag three girls upstairs to play mahjong.

But his purpose in playing mahjong was far from pure—he played mostly for perks, never one-yuan or two-yuan games; he always played strip mahjong or punishment mahjong.

Hmm… thinking of it, Li Luo actually felt a itch in his fingers, eager to get past the seventh day of the New Year and take the three girls straight back to the villa for some unrestrained fun.

But whether he could even bring all three back this time was still uncertain…

Li Luo sighed again at the thought.

His grandmother, hearing her grandson sigh, asked: "What's wrong? Why are you sighing? Sighing during the New Year is bad luck."

"Just some troubling matters," Li Luo said, sitting beside his grandmother, while Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu had already taken the fruit from the New Year gifts to the kitchen to wash and slice them.

So now only Li Luo and his grandmother remained on the sofa.

"What's troubling you? Tell Grandma," she patted his handback, "I'm useless, probably can't help you much, but saying it out loud might make you feel better."

"Actually, it's nothing much," Li Luo smiled helplessly, but went on, "Just now I said that Xi Xi and the other two are my girlfriends—that's the truth."

At this, his grandmother's face stiffened—she hadn't expected this boy to bring this up.

But Li Luo continued: "Before this, Xi Xi and Zhusheng's parents already knew about our relationship."

"You know Ying Shu, right? He's my dad's childhood friend—he's Xi Xi's father."

"And Yuan Wanqing, Aunt Yuan, is Zhusheng's mother; they just confirmed their second marriage last year, so Xi Xi and Zhusheng are sisters."

"When Ying Shu and Aunt Yuan found out about me and Xi Xi and Zhusheng, they already tacitly accepted that I could be with both of them—but…"

"But what?" His grandmother's mind was still reeling from the idea that this boy had somehow gotten both parents to accept him taking both sisters—she hadn't caught up yet.

So Li Luo went on: "But they don't know I'm also with Sister Youyu."

Hearing this, his grandmother suddenly understood, her head began to throb, and she already felt a headache coming on.

"Xi Xi and the others have already agreed to all four of us being together; for me, it's already an immense honor to have the love of all three girls."

Li Luo continued, "But I still haven't figured out a clear way to convince the elders."

"Sister Youyu told me once that we could just make babies first—once there's a child, parents will have no choice but to accept it."

"Zhusheng is even more eager to get married right away—she says we can just marry all three, so legally, they'll all be my ex-wives."

"I've even thought that since Ying Shu's company now relies entirely on my two TV dramas for revenue…"

"And Sister Youyu's father, Uncle Xu, wants to compete for the Dean position at Qianjiang University—he needs my help behind the scenes."

"If I used these as leverage, would they give in?"

"But after much thought, I still chose not to go that route."

His grandmother listened to Li Luo's words and fell into silent contemplation.

To be fair, the methods Li Luo mentioned were all feasible.

But what was the cost?

His grandmother was old and didn't know what the best course was.

And Li Luo didn't expect any answer from her.

Only after a long silence did she say: "Since the four of you have already decided to be together, no matter how much the elders oppose, it won't matter much."

"I don't understand all the complicated politics—I only know that for two people to stay together long-term, that's the only thing that matters."

"Otherwise, even if the elders agree, over time you'll grow apart and regret it."

"So Grandma thinks the most important thing isn't what the elders think, but whether the four of you are truly ready for this mentally."

"You're all adults—you must bear the consequences of your choices. If you can accept it, Grandma supports you."

Li Luo was moved by his grandmother's words.

At that moment, Yan Zhusheng had finished bringing the fruit back and sat down; Li Luo paused the topic and turned to chat about something else with his grandmother.

Xu Youyu sat beside his grandmother on the other side and soon had her laughing heartily.

The joyful morning passed in the blink of an eye.

As lunchtime neared, his grandmother rose to go cook in the kitchen; Li Luo followed her in and nearly got chased out.

"You're guests today—why should you be helping in the kitchen? Go, go, go sit on the sofa and wait."

"Oh Grandma, I just want to spend more time with you—how can you be so cruel as to kick me out?" Li Luo barged into the kitchen, helping her chop and prepare ingredients.

His grandmother was surprised by his skill: "When did you get so good at cutting vegetables?"

"I'm not just good at cutting—I can cook too. Don't believe me? Let me try," Li Luo said, already preparing the ingredients for braised chicken wings, "Let me show you my skills."

Seeing how skilled he was, she let him go; when the braised chicken wings came out steaming hot, Li Luo picked up one piece and held it to his grandmother's lips.

She took a bite and found the flavor truly excellent.

"When did you learn this?"

"In my last life—I just recently awakened those memories."

"You little rascal, you've written too many novels," his grandmother laughed, then walked to the kitchen door and called out, "Old man! Come carry the dishes! And Xiu Feng! Get moving!"

One dish after another was brought to the table.

Soon everyone gathered around, enjoying lunch.

During the meal, they discussed Lin Xiufeng and Jian Chun's wedding in detail, and also touched on Jian Chun's family situation.

"My father fell ill and passed away last year; now only my mother is back in our hometown." Jian Chun said softly, "My thought right now is, can I bring her here for a while and find a place to settle her down?"

"If your mother doesn't mind, she can just come live with us," Li Luo's grandmother said. "We're just the two of us here most days, no outsiders around, and we've always had spare rooms."

"There are quite a few elderly people in the village; they often gather together to chat and hang out."

"Bring your mother here—our generation can look out for each other, and you and Xiufeng can rest easy."

"It's settled then," Lin Xiufeng said. "After the New Year, I'll go back to her village with Jian Chun, visit her, and if everything's good, bring her straight here."

"Mm." Jian Chun nodded obediently, warmth spreading in her heart as she began to look forward to her happy married life. "Oh, by the way." Li Luo suddenly remembered something and turned to Jian Chun. "Teacher Jian, didn't Uncle Xu arrange some other job for you recently?"

"Other job?" Jian Chun paused, then immediately understood. "Oh oh—you mean the poverty-student scholarship approval?"

"Right," Li Luo smiled. "That scholarship is funded under the name of Chongran Culture. As the top-level approving teacher, you'll receive a corresponding subsidy."

"But what I'm about to say isn't just about that—Uncle Xu is also planning to apply for a Research Center, focused primarily on graduate employment directions."

"My plan is to ask you to take on some management duties, and the approval of the merit-based scholarship will also be entrusted to you."

"There will be additional salary and subsidy funding for these roles, but the workload will be relatively light."

"I've already spoken with Uncle Xu—you just need to prepare for the handover next semester."

Jian Chun listened to Li Luo's long explanation, stunned into silence for a long moment before finally processing it all. She lowered her voice quickly: "Th-thank you…"

Several years ago, when Jian Chun first met Li Luo at Lin Xiufeng's milk tea shop, Li Luo was merely the second author on Xu Rongsheng's thesis, and their relationship was still distant.

Back then, Jian Chun never could have imagined that, years later, she would owe her career advancement entirely to the fact that she was marrying the shop owner's nephew.

To be fair, with Li Luo's arrangement, if Jian Chun stayed in her advisor and Research Center roles for just two more years, plus gained experience approving subsidies and scholarships, her promotion within the college administration would be nothing more than a word from Xu Rongsheng.

Given the relationship between Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng, wouldn't that be effortless?

Thinking of this, Jian Chun saw her professional future ahead as brilliantly bright.

…

After lunch, Lin Xiuhong gathered Jian Chun and Lin Xiufeng to discuss wedding details in depth, establishing a preliminary framework.

When the conversation wound down to around two in the afternoon, Lin Xiuhong drove off with the four children, returning to Li Family Village.

Xu Youyu was already exhausted; she had fallen asleep on the car ride, leaning against Li Luo's shoulder.

Once back at the courtyard, she immediately jumped out of the car and rushed upstairs to the third floor, plopping onto Li Luo's bed to take a nap.

Since everyone upstairs in the living room—Auntie and the others—were already gathered, Lin Xiuhong called for a mahjong game, without needing Ying Chanxi or Yan Zhusheng to join.

So Li Luo led the two girls back to his bedroom, planning to write for a while and chat with them.

There was no need to worry about disturbing Xu Youyu.

She was the type who slept deeply and wouldn't wake unless deliberately shaken; she wouldn't stir until she'd slept her fill.

"I've hit five million followers," Yan Zhusheng said, lying on the floor mat, her long legs propped up and occasionally swaying, addressing Li Luo in his chair. "You only have four million."

"What do you mean 'only'?" Li Luo glanced at Yan Zhusheng's long legs, reached out, grabbed one, and played with it in his palm. "That's already a lot."

"Your friend already has over a million and a half," Yan Zhusheng added. "Be careful—he might overtake you."

"Which friend?" Li Luo asked, puzzled.

"This one."

Yan Zhusheng handed her phone to Li Luo, who glanced at it and realized she meant Tudi.

"Grew that fast?" Li Luo was surprised, but quickly understood.

In his memory, Tudi's previous life had only reached two million followers because he joined Douyin late.

But now, Yuan Zun had only been out for half a year, right at the peak of his nationwide promotional push, backed by the accumulated popularity of his earlier trilogy—The Battle Through the Heavens and others—so this growth rate was perfectly normal.

More importantly, he genuinely had a talent for livestreaming; Li Luo had only taught him once, and he quickly picked up many performance techniques.

Now, every time he went live, thousands of viewers tuned in.

While he was writing, they'd shout, "Enough already, enough already! Go play games!"

But as soon as he started gaming, they'd immediately switch to yelling, "Get back to writing!"

At this growth rate, Li Luo felt he might actually surpass his previous life's Douyin achievements.

As for Li Luo himself, he was just too lazy, and Ying Chanxi's strategy for him was to maintain a high-status image, so he rarely posted anything on his Douyong account.

Even his livestream appearances were just guest spots in Yan Zhusheng's streams.

"By the way," Ying Chanxi, lying beside Yan Zhusheng, saw Li Luo playing with Yan Zhusheng's calf, and quietly lifted her own foot, sneaking a couple of light kicks at him.

When Li Luo reacted and grabbed her foot, Ying Chanxi felt satisfied inside, but kept her face stern, pretending she hadn't meant to do it, and turned to Yan Zhusheng: "Tomorrow is the third day of the New Year, Sunday—will you still livestream?"

"Can I?" Yan Zhusheng asked curiously. "We don't have livestream equipment here."

"Just use your phone," Ying Chanxi said. "Just one hour—chat casually, that's all."

"Will Li Luo join too?" Yan Zhusheng looked at Li Luo. "If it's just chatting, I don't know what to talk about."

"You could sing too," Ying Chanxi said, savoring the warmth of Li Luo's palm, her cheeks slightly flushed, yet still trying to interfere. "It's the New Year—what would it look like if Li Luo showed up in your livestream?"

"I'm coming to Li Luo's house to pay New Year's respects to his family?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head. "What's wrong with that?"

"Better not, if you can avoid it," Ying Chanxi pouted, wanting to squeeze every penny out of her sister for the company, but not wanting the two of them constantly appearing together on screen.

"You're so stingy, sis—then you come too."

"I'm behind-the-scenes—I don't appear on camera."

"But Li Luo isn't behind-the-scenes."

"Ah, fine, normally it's okay, but during the New Year, better not."

"I want to, I want to!"

"You're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

"You can't beat me, sister."

The two sisters rolled around on the floor mat, laughing and wrestling, leaving Li Luo with no foot to play with.

"Stop fooling around, be quiet—Youyu is still sleeping."

Li Luo interrupted their argument, making both of them lie face-down on the sleeping mats and lift their feet for him to play with.

"I'm giving you both a massage. Don't move."

"It tickles~" Ying Chanxi said softly, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Then don't squeeze my sister's—squeeze mine more."

"You get lost."

"You're the one who should get lost."

Li Luo found it amusing and gave each girl's foot a smack, finally making them quiet down.