Chapter 909: The Road Ahead Is Long

Eating at the Xu family's home, the entire meal passed unusually smoothly; Cui Suling didn't mention anything about getting married at the table.

The four of them chatted about family matters, then shifted to talking about the Research Center, and before long, the meal was finished.

When Cui Suling stood up to clear the table, Li Luo had already accompanied Xu Rongsheng back to the sofa, sat down, and said: "Uncle Xu, today I've come to take Youyu home."

"Mm." Xu Rongsheng had no objection, merely nodding casually. "I know. Go ahead."

"What about the marriage certificate—"

"Don't take it too seriously." Xu Rongsheng glanced at him. "Your Aunt Cui just said it offhand. Besides, you're not old enough yet. If you really want to get married, it'll be at least by your senior year."

"A marriage certificate is merely a legal safeguard—it protects both spouses' interests if problems arise in the marriage."

"But if there are no problems, the certificate has only symbolic value."

"Put plainly, this thing only has practical significance when dividing marital assets, but by the time that happens, emotionally, the two of you are hardly even husband and wife anymore."

Xu Rongsheng said no more, picking up a book beside him and flipping through it.

Li Luo understood Xu Rongsheng's attitude—he always spoke plainly, never beat around the bush—and accepted this explanation, turning to look at Xu Youyu.

At that moment, Xu Youyu's lips couldn't help but curl upward. Seeing her father say no more, she winked at Li Luo and pulled him up from the sofa.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to pack my things. Come help me." Xu Youyu said, pulling Li Luo toward her bedroom.

Once inside the room, Xu Youyu immediately shut the door and secretly locked it.

Li Luo didn't notice—he was curiously scanning Xu Youyu's bedroom, finding it oddly novel.

To be honest, though he'd visited the Xu family in his past life, he couldn't recall ever entering Xu Youyu's bedroom before.

Back then, he was just a guest; walking into a daughter's private room would've been impolite.

Now, they were practically family—entering his wife's room was perfectly legitimate.

Li Luo sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the room's arrangement, feeling a quiet pang.

To be frank, Xu Youyu was never a tidy person.

Her pajamas from that morning were just tossed carelessly on the bed.

The laptop on the desk sat crookedly, along with its keyboard, mouse, and wrist rest; beside them lay empty snack wrappers she hadn't bothered to throw away.

Even her socks were just dropped on the floor—no wonder Cui Suling always nagged her.

Li Luo was used to it and didn't mind at all.

In his past life, he'd spent time every day at Xu Youyu's rented apartment, cooking for her, writing with her, and gaming together.

Though he'd never entered her bedroom, sometimes when she left the door open, he'd catch glimpses of the inside while passing through the hallway.

In short: messy.

Xu Youyu was the type who either did nothing at all, or suddenly mustered all her energy to clean everything thoroughly.

After cleaning everything, she'd immediately return to her lazy state—lying down if she could, sitting if she could, never standing.

Crucially, she didn't even bother pretending around Li Luo—the living room was always cluttered with stuff everywhere.

This level of tidiness in her bedroom was already quite good.

"Hehe~" After locking the door, Xu Youyu walked up to Li Luo, straddled him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and grinned: "Isn't this your first time in my room? How does it feel?"

"What's there to feel?" Li Luo chuckled, gripping her slender waist. "Didn't I come into your room every day at Bihai Lanting?"

"That's different," Xu Youyu wiggled her hips. "This is where I grew up—don't you feel something different?"

"Like what?"

"Like… more thrilling?" Xu Youyu raised an eyebrow, pushed him back slightly harder, and lay atop him, whispering into his ear: "This time, my parents are really outside."

Li Luo: "—Didn't you say you needed to pack?"

"What's there to pack?" Xu Youyu chuckled. "The laptop, keyboard, mouse—all just backups here. Clothes? You've got plenty at Bihai Lanting. I just need to show up, right?"

That made sense.

After all, at Sky Ridge Elegant Residence, Xu Youyu's bedroom was already full of clothes—she had more than enough to wear.

As for writing tools, the computer on the second-floor study was far superior to this one.

Besides that, there really didn't seem to be anything else to bring.

"Then why'd you call me in?"

"I've been starving for ages. You've got to feed me first."

"Can't you wait until we get back? Look where we are—"

"I don't care." Xu Youyu bit down. "I've wanted to try this for a long time. Today, you're not leaving until you finish."

"Are you sure? What if you can't hold back and scream out loud?"

"I can hold it."

"Wait—maybe we should wait until next time?"

"Brother~ You're not weak, are you?"

"—This is on you."

At around two in the afternoon, Li Luo held Xu Youyu's small hand as they left the Xu family home, bid farewell to Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling, then drove her toward Sky Ridge Elegant Residence.

Xu Youyu's legs trembled as she barely managed to climb into the car; only then did she exhale deeply, gazing at Li Luo with a pouty expression: "You did that on purpose."

"Of course I did." Li Luo smiled. "Did I finally feed you?"

"I'm exhausted," Xu Youyu glared at him, rubbing her lower back. "You kept forcing me into high-difficulty moves—I can't take it!"

"Looks like your morning runs haven't improved at all," Li Luo raised an eyebrow.

"Morning runs? Forget it," Xu Youyu slumped lazily in the passenger seat. "I've already won over my parents. From now on, unless it's for school's mandatory sunshine run, don't you dare wake me up early."

Li Luo looked at her with amusement: "I was hoping you'd at least form a good habit of morning running—you're already giving up?"

"I'm not running at all. Sleeping in is the real secret to longevity," Xu Youyu bluffed. "You can run if you want—just don't drag me along."

"Fine." Li Luo had wanted to say a few words of advice, but remembering Ying Chanxi's combat power, he swallowed his words.

There were three girls at home who needed feeding, and if Xu Youyu really took to morning runs and got stronger and stronger, he'd truly be overwhelmed.

Thinking of this, Li Luo said no more and let her be.

After driving home, Xu Youyu retrieved her car keys from Li Luo.

As they went upstairs, Xu Youyu asked, "Are XiXi and ZhuSheng both home?"

"ZhuSheng is home. XiXi went to the company."

"XiXi really is dedicated," Xu Youyu grinned. "Yesterday was XiXi's birthday—didn't someone have a great time?"

"Yeah," Li Luo said helplessly. "Didn't XiXi already post it in the group?"

"XiXi showed you the group?" Xu Youyu's expression changed, slightly embarrassed. "You saw it all?"

"Only part of it," Li Luo said. "The rest was shown to me by ZhuSheng."

"What about earlier yesterday? Did you see it then?"

"What do you mean by 'earlier'?"

"Around evening."

"No, I didn't see it then."

"Oh."

"What's with that sigh-of-relief tone?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow, sensing something off. "Hand it over. Let me see."

"No way!" Xu Youyu immediately bolted away.

Too bad she was a fitness novice—she stood no chance against Li Luo. She hadn't gotten far before he caught up and pinned her to the sofa.

In the end, Xu Youyu raised both hands in surrender and obediently handed over her phone.

Mainly because if Li Luo really wanted to see it, he could just go to Yan Zhusheng—ZhuSheng certainly wouldn't hide it from him.

Once she realized this, Xu Youyu gave up and pouted as she lay on the sofa, panting: "Fine, look all you want. It's really nothing—just gave XiXi a few little tips."

"You call that a 'little tip'?"

Li Luo scrolled to the evening chat logs from yesterday, reading the trio's conversation in their 【Sisters' Strategic Council】 and couldn't help pressing his palm to his forehead, utterly speechless.

In short, they'd thoroughly discussed what to pay attention to in bed.

Of course, if it had just been normal advice, fine—but Xu Youyu and Yan Zhusheng had even discussed in detail which positions Li Luo liked best, which spots were most sensitive, and what kinds of things he liked to hear them say.

And only after comparing notes did the three girls realize that Li Luo seemed to prefer different things with different girls—

Quite targeted.

Li Luo felt his cheeks flush, wondering how XiXi had even mustered the nerve to ask.

No wonder XiXi had felt strange last night—her movements were awkward, unskilled.

Yet her insight was exceptional, and she always managed to do exactly what he wanted.

So she'd been taking online classes?

So you three were sharing tactics behind my back?

"Don't look so closely," Xu Youyu said, snatching her phone back as she blushed. "It's not like we're hurting you—didn't it all end up benefiting you?"

"I just never thought you three could secretly create a WeChat group without me," Li Luo still found this hard to swallow.

But Xu Youyu grinned: "Some things can only be discussed among girls. I think it's great."

"Think about it—girls always have best friends."

"Other men's wives? Their best friends are someone else's. Talk about bedroom secrets, and if the best friend's mouth isn't tight, won't someone else's husband hear?"

"But you're different—your wife's best friend is still your wife. You don't even know how lucky you are."

Li Luo fell silent, thinking Xu Youyu's logic was, damn it, actually reasonable.

With that thought, Li Luo let the matter drop.

He stood up from the sofa, patted his backside, and said to Xu Youyu: "I'm going upstairs first. I'll be working on the new album with ZhuSheng—I'll join you for writing later tonight."

"Got it~" Xu Youyu replied from the sofa. "Go ahead and get busy. I'm going back to my room for a nap."

Saying that, Xu Youyu got up, leapt onto Li Luo's back, wrapped her long white legs around his waist, and demanded he carry her back to her room.

Li Luo carried Xu Youyu up the elevator to the third-floor bedroom, laid her on the bed, kissed her a few times, tucked her in, then left the room and went to the fourth-floor piano room.

Yan Zhusheng was practicing vocals and didn't stop when she heard the door. Only after finishing her song did she turn toward the sofa and see Li Luo sitting there.

She jumped up, ran over, and threw herself into his arms: "You're back! Where's Senior?"

"Back in her room for a nap," Li Luo said, first placing his hands under Yan Zhusheng's armpits for a buffer, then embracing her.

If it had been Xu Youyu—who naturally had her own cushioning—he wouldn't have needed this extra step.

"Are we recording this afternoon?" Yan Zhusheng asked brightly. "You said you're making a new album too—I want to hear you sing."

"I'll sing a bit," Li Luo said. "The backing track still needs to be finished by Aunt Luo Fei, but I can sing it to you first."

"Mm," Yan Zhusheng nodded obediently.

Li Luo picked her up, carried her to the piano, and sat down without disturbing her. His hands moved across the keys, playing and singing simultaneously.

With the Soul-Infusion skill, he wasn't worried about singing poorly—he simply loaded recordings of past singers' performances into his Memory Palace and replayed them repeatedly in his mind.

With Yan Zhusheng's long-term training, his vocal skills were no longer an issue.

In fact, thanks to the Memory Palace, his pitch was terrifyingly precise.

Yan Zhusheng sat on his lap, swaying gently, lost in Li Luo's music.

Only at around four in the afternoon did Li Luo finish singing. He took Yan Zhusheng to the basement gym for their daily workout.

After finishing, Butler Liu came to announce dinner was ready.

Li Luo showered with Yan Zhusheng in the gym's bathroom, then returned to the first-floor dining room.

Xu Youyu had woken up and was waiting there; Ying Chanxi had also returned from the company. For the first time in nearly a month, all four gathered together. Li Luo looked at the three girls' faces and smiled.

"Today's quite a special day—how about we have a little drink?" Xu Youyu suggested.

"Sure," Ying Chanxi nodded in agreement.

Yan Zhusheng had no objection and got up to help Xu Youyu fetch the alcohol.

After all four had poured themselves a glass of cocktail, Li Luo raised his cup and said, "Let's toast—"

"To our four-person reunion~" Xu Youyu smiled, raising his cup.

"And to Sister's first victory," Yan Zhusheng said, face stern.

"What are you talking about?!" Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed red; she gave Yan Zhusheng a punch, annoyed. "Don't say nonsense."

"You posted a video already—still embarrassed?" Yan Zhusheng glanced at her, rare to catch a hint of jealousy in her tone. "What's wrong with celebrating?"

"Hmph! Fine, do as you like!" After last night's trial, Ying Chanxi had gained a bit more thickness in her skin; she stuck out her neck and raised her cup. "Regardless, we're back together now—everyone must get along well from now on."

"Of course," Yan Zhusheng added. "Just as long as Sister doesn't overeat."

"Alright, alright," Li Luo realized Yan Zhusheng was still bitter about not eating earlier that morning; he quickly interrupted. "Come on, clink glasses, clink glasses."

Xu Youyu, who had sneaked a snack in the afternoon, said nothing more, stole a glance at Zhusheng, then grinned and raised his cup to clink. "Exactly, let's clink and celebrate first."

They drained their glasses.

Li Luo looked at the three girls, a satisfied smile on his face.

Now that the elders were settled and the three girls had been brought back, it was a complete success.

There's plenty of time ahead.

The rest of our lives will be nothing but enjoyment.