Chapter 895

February 24th, Saturday.

There was only one week left until the new semester at Qianjiang University began.

Li Luo rose early as usual, went jogging with Yan Zhusheng, had breakfast, then typed a little before heading to work.

Ying Chanxi, far away in the city, kept the same schedule; by the time Li Luo arrived at the company, she had already prepared today's remote work tasks.

Li Luo only needed to follow them—no great difficulty.

Even so, Li Luo missed the days when Ying Chanxi was by his side.

If Ying Chanxi were still here, he'd now be tired from typing and go upstairs to find Yan Zhusheng in the piano room.

They could sit together playing piano, or he could nap on the sofa while Yan Zhusheng took down various instruments from the wall and played for him.

Sometimes Yan Zhusheng liked pulling him to the piano and straddling his lap.

Time slipped away quickly like this.

Near noon, Li Luo would drift to the bedroom to check if Xu Youyu had woken up.

Sometimes Xu Youyu would linger in bed, awake but refusing to get up, curled under the covers scrolling on his phone.

Li Luo would crawl into the blankets and tease him.

They'd tussle on the bed for a while until Butler Liu announced lunch was ready, then finally got up.

Occasionally Xu Youyu would pout and refuse to rise unless Li Luo carried him to the bathroom to wash up.

They'd get up like that, doting and affectionate, eat lunch, then head to the study to type.

But Xu Youyu mostly slacked off—no, he petted cats, and uh—sometimes touched other things too.

In short, he didn't type diligently.

He often hung out in author groups, saw someone recommend a game, and dragged Li Luo to try it.

Sometimes when Yan Zhusheng had nothing to do, he'd come over to join in.

Xu Youyu had given everyone in the house a computer, so they'd sit together in one room and play games.

When Ying Chanxi returned home in the evening, the four of them would eat dinner, then go upstairs to play mahjong or sing.

Around ten, Xu Youyu had to sit down and type earnestly to meet his deadline.

Li Luo would then hug Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng and take them to bathe.

This kind of life—what more could one ask for?

Unfortunately, for now, there was no point dreaming of enjoying these things.

Li Luo sighed in his office, finished his daily tasks at top speed, then leaned back in his chair imagining his future happy life.

His WeChat voice message was still open.

Ying Chanxi heard his long sigh and laughed: "Already tired?"

"Not exactly tired," Li Luo yawned. "Just a bit bored."

Writing novels was certainly more interesting than the dull routine of office work.

"Don't worry," Ying Chanxi said softly. "When I come back, you won't have to go through all this anymore. You've worked hard lately."

"I'm not the one working hard—you are," Li Luo shook his head. "You're managing remotely and giving orders online—that's way more exhausting than what I do."

"I don't feel tired at all," Ying Chanxi smiled. "Didn't Aunt Yuan tell you? The thing the day after tomorrow."

O

"Yeah," Li Luo nodded. "We've made plans to have dinner in the evening. Will you come?"

"I won't be going," Ying Chanxi shook her head, a hint of regret in her voice. "Mom said it was a business meeting, and since that incident last time, Dad won't let me attend any work dinners—he definitely won't allow it."

"That's true," Li Luo nodded, feeling disappointed.

He hadn't seen Xi Xi in days and missed her terribly.

Just thinking about not being able to hold her soft, petite body while sleeping each night made him restless.

He didn't know when he'd finally convince Ying Zhi Cheng to let Xi Xi come back home.

They chatted on WeChat voice for a long time, finally hanging up when lunchtime arrived.

Li Luo got up, drove home, and had lunch with Yan Zhusheng.

In the afternoon, he continued working in the study and kept track of the editing progress for "The Beginning."

Director Wang Jun, following Li Luo's instructions, controlled the entire editing process and cut the sample precisely as Li Luo demanded.

At this pace, they'd likely finish editing by April.

After wrapping up "The Beginning," Li Luo kept typing and glanced at the current status of "The End of the Sequence."

Since the book was released on the 20th, only four days had passed, yet its data kept rising daily.

On one hand, it was due to Li Luo's own fame—as Qidian's hottest current white-gold author, he had no history of abandoning or botching novels and consistently maintained dual serializations with explosive updates.

Thus, among readers, his reputation was always strong.

Anyone who saw him launch a new book would at least collect it; those interested would definitely open it to take a look.

On the other hand, Qidian itself had provided strong support, allocating ample resources early on and launching aggressive promotion even before Li Luo published his book.

That new book campaign was entirely unique to Qidian.

Never before had any major author received promotional campaign support before even releasing a new book.

Now, with only thirty to forty thousand words written, "The End of the Sequence" already had nearly three hundred thousand collections.

This would have been unimaginable in the past.

Although the collection count was full of water, the sheer volume was undeniable.

This "water" wasn't fake collections—it was readers who typically read only novels over a million words, who, having learned of this book in advance, chose to collect it anyway.

But they collected without following, leaving it neglected, which lowered the new-book follow-up ratio.

Still, for Li Luo, these were trivial matters.

Currently, the follow count has already exceeded thirty thousand; according to editor Qianzhou's estimate, if this trend continues, Li Luo might even set the all-time highest first-subscription record in Qidian's history!

After setting the highest average subscription record, Li Luo is about to break another new record—this significance is immense.

Though now, at this stage, Li Luo no longer cares much for such minor honors.

But as an editor, Qianzhou was wildly excited.

Recalling how he had believed in Chongran's "I Am Really Not a Star," and despite learning the author needed parental consent to sign, he still decisively supported him, Qianzhou couldn't help feeling a little moved by himself.

Who could have imagined that three years ago, he, a mere intern still unconfirmed in his role as an associate editor, would, early in his career, sign someone destined to become a future Platinum giant?

And not just any giant—the undisputed #1 on Qidian's main site today.

As for copyright development and such matters, Li Luo still can't compare with those supreme deities.

But when it comes purely to performance on Qidian's main site, he more than surpasses them.

Especially since the copyright for "Night Watch of Great Qian" is currently under negotiation; eventually, Li Luo catching up to those senior authors is merely a matter of time.

If Li Luo maintains this momentum, and if Qianzhou's other authors give just a bit more effort,

Qianzhou felt he might even have a chance to be promoted to chief editor.

But this was no longer something Li Luo cared about.

Only after Qianzhou reminded him did he remember the matter of the "Night Watch of Great Qian" film and TV rights, so he asked Ying Chanxi about it.

【Ying Chanxi】: Don't worry—I've been keeping up with it. Just focus on your company's daily affairs.

【Li Luo】: Got it.

Far away in Yinjiang District, Ying Chanxi leaned back in her bedroom chair, staring at her phone, letting out a quiet sigh.

Just four or five days since parting from Li Luo, her longing had already spread like moss after the rainy season—impossible to stop.

After seeing Li Luo's message about writing, Ying Chanxi forced herself not to disturb him further, rose, walked to the bed, and plopped face-first into the covers.

On the bed were the panda plushie and small blanket she had specifically requested from her dorm; lying down, she rolled onto her side, curling into the plushie's arms as if nestled in Li Luo's embrace.

She truly envied Zhu Sheng.

Too bad even if Yuan Wanqing agreed, as long as Ying Zhicheng was still alive, she couldn't return to find Li Luo.

Back in the countryside, before the confrontation that night, the four of them had already made a pact.

Their top priority must be convincing their parents—minimize conflict, absolutely avoid anything that might escalate tensions.

If only Dad were as easygoing as Mom.

Curling under the covers, Ying Chanxi thought this, silently wishing the 26th would come quickly so Li Luo and her father could meet.

But if this dinner doesn't go well, who knows how much longer this will drag on?

Today, Xu Youyu had retrieved her phone and become active again in their four-person WeChat group.

According to her, Xu's uncle and Cui's aunt seemed to have softened their stance.

Thinking of this, Ying Chanxi felt even more envious, and, almost spitefully, punched the panda plushie twice.

Suddenly, she remembered something and couldn't resist opening her phone to send Li Luo a message.

【Ying Chanxi】: Do you know what day next month is?

【Li Luo】: Huh? What?

【Ying Chanxi】: Guess.

【Li Luo】: Of course I know—it's my dearest Xixi's birthday.

【Ying Chanxi】: Hmph~

【Ying Chanxi】: You know, right? You get what I mean?

【Li Luo】: Don't worry—if I can't sort it out before your birthday, I'll just show up and take you back by force.

【Ying Chanxi】: But what if my dad still refuses?

【Li Luo】: Then I'll just punch him.

【Ying Chanxi】: Hahaha~ You're so bad—how can you hit my dad?

【Li Luo】: Would you stop me?

【Ying Chanxi】: I'll pretend to help Dad, shouting loudly for you to stop, to stop fighting.

【Li Luo】: And then?

【Ying Chanxi】: Then I'll look helplessly resigned as you carry me off.

【Li Luo】: Won't Uncle Ying cry his eyes out when he finds out?

【Ying Chanxi】: It's fine—he'll never find out.

They chatted on; Ying Chanxi lay on the bed, kicking her feet happily, swinging them back and forth, her mood bright again.

Time passed slowly, until two days later.

On the 26th.

Yuan Wanqing stood before the bathroom sink, turned on the tap, silently flushed away the vomit, wiped her lips with water, her expression suspicious as she unconsciously touched her stomach.

Only when her assistant Xiao Xuan reminded her of the evening dinner did Yuan Wanqing snap back to reality, immediately nodding and turning to leave the bathroom, heading toward Huayue Film and Television next door.

Yuan Wanqing found Ying Zhicheng in Huayue Film and Television's office; he was still bent over his desk, so she knocked and said, "Let's go—I promised you, you're taking me to dinner."

"Oh." Ying Zhicheng looked up at Yuan Wanqing, set down his things, tidied his desk briefly, stood, put on his coat, and walked straight over, "Alright, I'm done here."

"Good." Yuan Wanqing nodded, walked out of the office shoulder-to-shoulder with Ying Zhicheng, headed to the parking lot, and got into the front passenger seat of his car.

In the car, Yuan Wanqing stared out the window, still dazed.

Seeing this, Ying Zhicheng asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing." Yuan Wanqing shook her head, unconsciously touched her stomach again, then said, "Just thinking about Li Luo and the others."

At the mention of this, Ying Zhicheng fell silent immediately. After a long pause, he said, "Try not to mention him anymore—"

At the mention of this matter, Ying Zhicheng fell silent at once, and after a long while, he said, "Let's try not to mention him anymore—"

"Don't you have any plans at all?" asked Yuan Wanqing.

"What plans could I possibly have?" Ying Zhicheng rubbed his temples as he waited for the traffic light, "6

I just don't want Xixi and the others to end up like this————"

"Even accepting that Xixi and Zhusheng are both with him was already my absolute limit."

"Even this, I feel I've failed as a father—how much more so now that another girl has joined?"

"Would any parent in the world agree to this?"

Hearing this, Yuan Wanqing guiltily turned her head away, thinking: Wasn't she herself a parent?

But she couldn't say that to Ying Zhicheng, so she switched tactics and probed further: "But keeping Xixi locked at home every day—is that really better?"

"I never said I was locking her up—I just won't let her go back to see Li Luo. If she has other things to do, I won't stop her," Ying Zhicheng insisted.

"But do you think that helps?" Yuan Wanqing sighed helplessly. "The longer you keep them apart, the stronger their feelings for each other might become."

"Are you saying you plan to approve of this?" Ying Zhicheng frowned, eyeing Yuan Wanqing skeptically. "By the way, how's Zhusheng these days?"

"S-she's fine," Yuan Wanqing grew even more guilty, coughing twice. "I told her to stay home. The nanny's with her—she can't sneak out behind my back."

"Hmm." Ying Zhicheng nodded, didn't dwell on it, and drove to the restaurant they'd agreed on, entering the private room with Yuan Wanqing and sitting down.

But barely had they sat down when not a single person came to discuss the project—instead, an unexpected guest pushed open the door.

When Ying Zhicheng saw the visitor's face, his expression darkened instinctively; he turned to Yuan Wanqing, then to Li Luo at the door.

"What is this?"

"Uncle Ying, don't be angry," Li Luo smiled, pulling out the chair across the table and sitting down. "Let's eat first."