Chapter 888

In the dim room, though he couldn't see who it was, when the figure slipped into bed and slammed into his chest, Li Luo immediately knew who it was.

He rubbed his chest, then opened his arms and pulled the slender figure close, murmuring in confusion, "Why did you come over? Didn't Uncle Ying keep an eye on you?"

Yan Zhusheng nuzzled against Li Luo, whispering, "After we got back, Dad was so scary—I've never seen Sister raise her voice at someone like that before."

"Huh?" Li Luo blinked, unable to imagine what Ying Chanxi yelling at someone would even look like.

Even back in his past life, when he broke up with Ying Chanxi and dumped her on the school gate right before the high school entrance exam, she never screamed or fought with him.

Who would've thought this time she'd actually have a huge fight with Ying Zhicheng?

That made him uneasy, so he asked, "Then what happened?"

"Then Sister said she didn't want to argue anymore and went to bed, but then—what did Dad say to you?"

"What?"

"He said, 'Don't think I don't know—you two sneak into his room every night.'" Yan Zhusheng leaned close to Li Luo's ear and whispered, "Turns out Dad's known all along."

Li Luo: "————"

Hearing this, Li Luo felt a flush of embarrassment—he never expected Ying Zhicheng had already found out.

He thought Ying Chanxi and the others had covered it up perfectly.

"Sister was shocked at first, then kept arguing with Dad, and finally stormed off to her room and locked the door," Yan Zhusheng said. "Then Dad pulled me aside and talked to me for a long time—but he couldn't outtalk me~"

"I told him I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but Mom followed me in and said she'd sleep with me."

"Actually, she was just afraid I'd sneak over in the middle of the night~"

Hearing this, Li Luo grew even more confused: "Then how did you sneak over? Did you slip out while Aunt Yuan was asleep?"

"Nope." Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "I convinced Mom to let me come."

"Huh?" Li Luo was utterly stunned. "What did you convince her of?"

Had Yan Zhusheng really got such a silver tongue that she'd convinced Yuan Wanqing to accept all four of them?

Was Yuan Wanqing really that easygoing?

"I told her I wanted to come see you," Yan Zhusheng said.

"You can't just say that and expect Aunt Yuan to say yes," Li Luo said flatly.

"Of course not," Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "Mom obviously said no, so I asked her, 'Isn't Li Luo alone right now?'"

"She said yes."

"Then I asked, 'Aren't Senior Sister and Ying Chanxi both gone? Senior Sister taken away by Uncle Xu, and Ying Chanxi locked up by Dad?'"

"She said that was right."

"So if Dad and Uncle Xu both refuse to let the two sisters be with you, then I'm the only one left."

"So if I just stay by your side the whole time, and both sisters are locked away and can't come to you, then won't I be the one who gets to marry you?"

Li Luo:

Li Luo listened to Yan Zhusheng's logic and felt his head spin—he was nearly dizzy from how absurd it was.

"So then Aunt Yuan let you come?"

"Yeah," Yan Zhusheng nodded. "But Mom's worried Dad will get mad, so she only let me come at night—I have to go back before morning, and I can't let Dad find out."

Now Li Luo was truly baffled—he had no idea what Yuan Wanqing's real stance was.

But Yan Zhusheng didn't care. She just started pulling off Li Luo's pajamas and crawled under the covers.

"Wait—what are you doing? Now's not the time for this!"

"That's exactly why we have to do it now," Yan Zhusheng popped her head out from under the covers, blinking her big eyes at him. "Tomorrow Dad's taking us back to the city—he'll probably ban us from seeing you entirely."

"If we won't be able to see you for a long time, we've got to make the most of it now."

"Please? I really want to~"

Thinking he might not see her again for a long while, Li Luo exhausted himself half the night.

When Li Luo woke again the next morning, Yan Zhusheng was gone.

To avoid being caught by Ying Zhicheng, she'd slipped back before dawn.

Li Luo stared at the ceiling, feeling hollow—he didn't know how long he'd be separated from the three girls.

But he quickly shook himself off, slapped his face hard, sat up on the bed, and checked the time.

It was still a few minutes before six.

He opened the Reading App and glanced at the status of his new book.

"The End of the Sequence" had been preheated for nearly half a month before release, accumulating over a hundred thousand pre-orders.

After the book launched, all those who had pre-ordered automatically had "The End of the Sequence" added to their shelves.

After Li Luo posted the opening chapters last night, the new book campaign for "The End of the Sequence" officially began.

In just half a day, "The End of the Sequence" had already secured the number one spot on the new book chart.

Favorites surged past two hundred thousand—truly terrifying.

The chapter comments for the first three chapters had already exceeded five thousand in just half a day; it looked like they'd hit ten thousand within two days.

The pull of the pen name "Chongran" was now plain to see.

As he thought about this, Li Luo opened the comment section—and his eyes widened slightly.

Realizing something, he immediately opened his fan leaderboard: three golden patrons blazed at the very top.

【Ying Chanxi Not Laughing】

【SleepEarlyGrowTaller】

【YanZhushengNeverCeases】

Below them were half a dozen silver patrons from loyal longtime readers.

Further down were dozens more patrons—some old fans, others friends who were authors themselves, giving friendship patrons.

With so many tips, Li Luo's new novel, The End of the Sequence, had already topped today's bestseller list—even though it hadn't even been released for paid reading yet.

It surpassed his other hit, Night Watch of Great Qian.

At sixth place on the bestseller list, I Am Really Not a Star was still hanging on.

Three such novels simultaneously entered the top ten bestsellers, with two of them occupying first and second place respectively.

Such a scene was unprecedented; in Qidian's history, nothing so absurd had ever happened.

The key point was that all three novels were still ongoing!

Li Luo let out a bitter laugh, looking at the three Gold Patron nicknames displayed on the fan leaderboard, his heart warming.

Even though the four of them were temporarily apart, their feelings could not be blocked by distance.

Li Luo's expression softened, his chest warm, his innermost self eager to see them again.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

He opened WeChat and immediately saw a message from Ying Chanxi.

【Ying Chanxi】: Morning run, village entrance.

【Li Luo】: OK.

Upon receiving Ying Chanxi's signal, Li Luo instantly rolled out of bed, quickly washed up, and put on his coat before rushing downstairs.

Considering this morning run was different from usual and required higher secrecy, Li Luo slipped out through the back gate, unseen by anyone.

When he reached the village gate, he finally saw a slender, petite figure crouched behind the gate wall, carefully scanning the surroundings, like a secret agent making a covert handoff.

Li Luo stepped forward and eagerly opened his arms.

The next moment, Ying Chanxi crashed into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Fortunately, the cushioning was good this time—Li Luo felt only softness against his chest, wishing he could crush the girl in his arms into his very body.

"Are you alone?" Li Luo asked softly.

"Who else did you want to see?" Ying Chanxi asked, leaning against him, pretending ignorance, and huffing, "That brat sneaked back from the rooftop this morning—I caught her red-handed."

"Last night I was the one holding off Dad's wrath, and she? She slipped off to your place in the middle of the night."

」

"She didn't even tell me."

Hearing this, Li Luo's expression turned slightly odd—he thought that if Ying Chanxi had been there last night, he and Zhu Sheng could never have done what they did.

Zhu Sheng's plan was perfectly calculated—why would she notify her own sister?

Still, Li Luo smiled and said, "So you didn't let her come?"

"I'm not that petty," Ying Chanxi whispered. "She offered to stay behind herself—so I came out this morning, and she's keeping watch at home for me. She'll text me the moment Dad wakes up."

"Does your dad usually wake up around seven or eight?" Li Luo asked softly.

"But sometimes he's up at six-thirty. We still have to be careful."

"Mm—" Li Luo nodded lightly, then couldn't help asking, "So after you got back yesterday—"

」

"Don't talk about that," Ying Chanxi lifted her face against his chest, eyes hazy, tiptoeing to kiss him suddenly, "Those don't matter."

The two stood in the winter morning mist behind the village gate, tightly embracing and kissing passionately.

They didn't know how long they kissed—until their lips were swollen, they finally pulled apart, breathing white puffs of air.

Ying Chanxi took off her down jacket, unzipped Li Luo's down jacket, slipped inside it, then had him zip it back up.

The two pressed even closer together.

Feeling the warmth of Li Luo's embrace, Ying Chanxi whispered, "Dad said that after lunch today, he's taking us back."

"Mm." Li Luo nodded. "Zhu Sheng told me."

"Dad won't let me see you," Ying Chanxi added. "He's really angry this time—he said a lot of harsh things."

"Like what?"

"Like immediately shutting down the project, The Beginning."

"Oh, that's definitely just anger talk," Li Luo said, barely holding back a grin. "Even though your dad's CEO, if he tries to force a shutdown, the board wouldn't mind replacing him."

"You're so arrogant," Ying Chanxi muttered, but her lips couldn't help curving upward. "Careful—he might invite you to another boxing match."

"You know I've been letting him win all along," Li Luo chuckled. "If I went all out, I'd be afraid of sending your dad to the hospital."

"Hmph~ You're so strong," Ying Chanxi tiptoed again and pecked his lips, then continued, "So when I go back and can't see you, will you miss me?"

"I'll miss you to death," Li Luo lowered his head and kissed her again, teasing her a little before continuing,

"Just one night apart, and I'm already going mad."

"Is that so~" Ying Chanxi huffed again, her jealousy thick. "Aren't you having fun with Zhu Sheng? I thought you'd forgotten all about me."

"All three of you are irreplaceable to me," Li Luo whispered. "Don't leave me, okay?"

"I—I know, alright—" Ying Chanxi blushed, whispering back, then added, "I won't give up. As long as we stay firm, they'll eventually have to accept reality."

"Now it's just a matter of wearing them down," Li Luo sighed. "I don't know how long it'll take."

"I think it won't be hard," Ying Chanxi whispered. "After all, Dad already approved me and Zhu Sheng—adding one more is just more mental preparation. But about Senior Yu—"

"Mm, I'll handle Senior Yu's side," Li Luo said. "You don't need to worry about that."

"Mm-hmm," Ying Chanxi nodded vigorously, then pulled out her phone to check the time, shoved it back immediately, and tiptoed again. "No more talking—I'm going to use up all the kisses I've saved for this time."

"As you wish," Li Luo chuckled, turning to pin her against the wall.

More than half an hour later, the two walked back toward the village hand in hand.

Li Luo mentioned his new novel, expressing how surprised he was to see the Gold Patrons.

Ying Chanxi smiled sweetly, then added with a hint of regret: "I wanted to be first, but Senior Yu beat me to it—I only got second place."

"But that idiot Zhu Sheng was probably just thinking about how to sneak over to you, so she tipped you this morning."

"I left you a chapter note—don't forget to give me a like."

"Mm." Li Luo nodded, watching the two households' courtyards draw nearer, and finally released her hand voluntarily.

Ying Chanxi stopped instantly, looked down at Li Luo's hand, then up at the nearby courtyard, and softly pressed her lips together.

Her reluctance grew stronger; she took Li Luo's hand again and led him back through the back gate into the house.

Then she pinned him against the doorframe and kissed him fiercely, as if it could never be enough.

But time always has an end.

Yan Zhusheng's phone call made her phone vibrate incessantly.

Fortunately, Li Luo still retained his composure; he gently pushed her away and whispered into her ear: "Good girl, go back now—there's still a long future ahead."