Chapter 922: Explanations

Originally, Li Luo had thought he could let Xu Youyu sleep in a little longer and go downstairs to buy groceries himself.

But as soon as she heard they were buying groceries, Xu Youyu immediately hopped out of bed, scurrying after Li Luo, slipped on her shoes, and headed out with him to buy food.

"So eager just to buy groceries? Don't you want to lie down a bit longer?" Li Luo, with Xu Youyu tightly gripping his arm and pressing hard against it, walked toward the nearby vegetable market.

"This is my first time coming to your place," Xu Youyu clung to his arm, glancing curiously left and right. "So you walked to school every day before high school? I remember junior high was just two blocks ahead, right?"

Xu Youyu and Ying Chanxi went to the same junior high, but Xu Youyu was a year ahead; Li Luo had never known this senior during his junior high years.

It was Ying Chanxi who had met Xu Youyu earlier, since they both entered an essay contest in junior high—they were merely acquaintances who nodded to each other.

Later, when both moved into Bihai Lanting, they were both quite surprised when they first met.

"Yeah, over there," Li Luo pointed toward the street entrance ahead, then gestured to the tunnel beside it. "After you pass through this tunnel, turn left, and you'll reach People's Square; next to it is the elementary school Ying Chanxi and I attended as kids."

"That's all pretty close," Xu Youyu nodded understandingly, still gazing around curiously, then showed an envious expression. "Ying Chanxi is so lucky—she gets to go to school with you every day."

Being with someone you love always brings some kind of regret.

For Xu Youyu, the regret was never having been part of Li Luo's childhood.

If only she had known Li Luo's family when she was young.

But if Li Luo knew what Xu Youyu was thinking, he'd probably find it both amusing and exasperating.

After all, only Li Luo, who had returned from rebirth, truly remembered what kind of brat he had been as a child.

Don't end up alienating Ying Chanxi again and losing Youyu too.

The life he now lived was already the most beautiful state he could hope for.

"When I was in elementary school, this spot was a small convenience store; the old couple who ran it lived in the neighborhood and were especially kind to me," Li Luo pointed to a flower shop on the street, recalling the past. "Too bad, they passed away during our junior high years—Ying Chanxi cried for a long time then."

"Every day after school, when Ying Chanxi and I passed by, I'd beg her for pocket money to buy potato chips."

"Ying Chanxi was polite and beautiful—the old couple adored her and often gave her ice cream pops."

"But she never shared them with me—yet when we got home, she'd reluctantly shove one into my pocket."

Xu Youyu listened to Li Luo's memories and sighed helplessly: "You brought me here to eat, just to reminisce about the past?"

"Cough— I talked too much by accident," Li Luo realized his mistake; after all, he was with Xu Youyu now, and it was better to speak less about Ying Chanxi.

But Xu Youyu wasn't upset—only thoughtful, gripping his arm even tighter.

The two walked to the nearby vegetable market, bought all the ingredients needed for lunch, then returned home.

On the way, they passed Lin Xiuhong's new game room, opened in the former breakfast shop's location; Li Luo took Xu Youyu inside for a quick look.

Upstairs in the game room, Xu Youyu peeked in, spotted the woman at the front desk, and smiled brightly as she approached: "Auntie Er~"

"Auntie Xiao~ Good afternoon~"

Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei sat behind the front desk, snacking on sunflower seeds and scrolling through a drama; hearing the familiar voice, they looked up and burst into laughter.

"Oh? What brings Li Luo and Youyu here?"

Auntie Er and Auntie Xiao rose to greet them, chuckling as they pulled the two into empty seats at the front desk.

"Yesterday was my birthday, and Li Luo spent the whole day with me out and about; today I came over to his place to hang out—we just bought groceries and are heading back to cook," Xu Youyu sat beside Auntie Xiao and briefly explained.

After some small talk, Li Luo asked the two aunts if they wanted to join them for a meal.

The aunts knew he was just being polite; they both waved him off, saying they'd just grab something light at the game room and needed someone to stay and watch.

So Li Luo picked up the groceries in one hand, took Xu Youyu's hand in the other, bid farewell, and returned across the street to Jincheng Community.

After walking back and forth, Xu Youyu was finally tired.

Watching Li Luo head into the kitchen, Xu Youyu wandered back to his room, flopped onto his bed, and pulled the covers over herself.

Breathing in the scent of Li Luo on the sheets, Xu Youyu felt deeply at ease; she'd planned to scroll on her phone for a bit, but drifted into a half-asleep, half-awake state.

She'd slept enough this morning, or she'd have fallen fully asleep.

When Li Luo opened the door at just after noon, Xu Youyu heard the sound and instinctively opened her eyes.

Before Li Luo even spoke, Xu Youyu smelled the aroma drifting in from outside and immediately scrambled out of bed: "So good~"

"Time to eat," Li Luo nudged the slippers beside the bed toward her with his foot, patted her head, and was immediately hugged tightly by Xu Youyu, now wearing her slippers.

"Pick me up~"

"You're becoming more childlike by the day."

"Can't I be? Hurry up~"

Li Luo had no choice but to laugh, crouch down, scoop her up, turn, and carry her to the living room table, bending to set her gently on the chair.

The table was filled with steaming, delicious dishes.

One was Maple Tofu—Xu Youyu's favorite, never tiring of it.

The others—potato-braised beef brisket, garlic sprout stir-fried with twice-cooked pork—she'd seen Li Luo make before, but didn't eat often.

Tomato and egg drop soup was standard.

At a glance, it was just ordinary home-cooked food.

Xu Youyu didn't think much of it—she assumed Li Luo had simply felt like cooking for her today.

But Li Luo, seated across from her, felt far more complex emotions than Xu Youyu.

He took out two bottles of beer and poured a glass for each of them.

After clinking glasses, Xu Youyu downed her glass in gulps, set it down with a sigh of satisfaction, raised an eyebrow at Li Luo, signaling him to refill, then picked up her chopsticks to savor the food.

Watching Xu Youyu eat, Li Luo didn't rush to eat himself—he simply propped his chin on his hand and gazed at her.

Memories surged in his mind.

In his past life, the first time Xu Youyu came to his home for a meal, the dishes on the table were exactly the same.

Even the stemmed wine glasses they drank beer from were the very ones Xu Youyu had picked out back then.

At that time, Li Luo was still in his self-doubt phase, but having known Xu Youyu for so long, he'd always felt a faint glimmer of hope.

Until that meal, when Xu Youyu told him good news and showed him the contract from the Great God's agency.

He suddenly realized that the gap between him and the other remained a chasm.

Especially after Xu Youyu invited him to join an event hosted by Wenxue Group, where nearly all the attending authors were newly risen greats.

Li Luo trailed behind Xu Youyu, while everyone else exchanged pen names and works effortlessly—Li Luo felt like an invisible speck.

Even with polite friend requests, some authors, due to disdain or other reasons, would accept the request yet never approve it—until Li Luo returned home, the request remained unaccepted.

At that moment, Li Luo truly felt he and Xu Youyu belonged to different worlds.

But————

Li Luo looked at Xu Youyu, who was happily devouring her meal, and couldn't help but smile tenderly.

No matter how things had been in his past life, at least in this one, he had seized the chance of rebirth.

Earning money was secondary; what truly mattered was that he had finally fulfilled his wish and made amends for his past life's regrets.

Now, bringing Xu Youyu here to eat this meal from his past life was his way of making peace with his former self.

"You should eat too—why just stare at me?" Xu Youyu blinked at Li Luo across the table, seeing he hadn't picked up his chopsticks.

"Your beauty is enough to satisfy hunger," Li Luo chuckled. "Just looking at you fills me up."

"Smooth talker," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then flashed a sultry smile, kicked him under the table, and added, "Stop flirting—eat up. I can't finish all this by myself."

"Mm."

After Xu Youyu's birthday, Qianjiang University entered the final phase of the semester.

Li Luo and his three roommates didn't worry about studying—or about failing their final exams.

As for chasing high GPAs, it was pointless for all four of them.

Ying Chanxi was already CEO of Chongran Culture and had long entered the practical phase; her advisor knew her situation and had arranged for her to be supervised by one of the school's most renowned professors.

Her starting point was far higher than that of any other undergraduate.

Even so, it was the result of fierce competition among several famous professors.

Her college itself was uniquely structured, allowing flexible course arrangements based on individual circumstances.

After understanding Ying Chanxi's situation, her professor assigned her light coursework—mostly practical classes—with simple requirements: simply write a paper summarizing her knowledge and experience from company management and operations.

This free, flexible arrangement suited Ying Chanxi perfectly.

Thus, many of her courses didn't require written exams for finals—only a few actually did.

As for Yan Zhusheng, her talent made music effortless.

Especially since releasing her new album, which performed exceptionally well—particularly the two versions of "Chi Ling" released around Youth Day, which sparked nationwide online debate.

With her current achievements, the question wasn't whether she'd pass her finals—it was that even if she failed, her professors would scramble to make her pass.

As for Li Luo and Xu Youyu, there was no need to elaborate.

Not to mention Li Luo's Memory Palace was absurdly powerful—just having Xu Rongsheng stationed in the College of Literature gave them enormous leeway.

Still, their skill level didn't require them to ask Xu Rongsheng for favors.

After all, Chinese Language and Literature was their own chosen major.

Li Luo chose it because he needed to write historical fiction like Night Watch of Great Qian and would inevitably have to conduct historical research.

Xu Youyu simply loved it—raised in an environment steeped in literature since childhood, her passion for it was deeply saturated.

? ￠o

It would be hard to make her fail.

"What are your plans for summer vacation, Brother Luo?"

Back in Qingxi Dormitory after finishing their last exam, Li Luo was packing his belongings when Cheng Xin asked from beside him.

"I'm traveling this summer," Li Luo replied simply. "Why?"

"No reason—just curious," Cheng Xin scratched his head. "I'm going on a trip too, with Hao Ge."

"What's going on?" Wen Zexuan glanced over suspiciously, sizing them up. "You two are up to something—why 'go on a trip together'?"

"What are you thinking?" Bai Haoran saw the look in his eyes and rolled his eyes. "We're just planning a video series."

"Exactly," Cheng Xin quickly explained. "We plan to visit historical sites across the country during summer, pairing each location with stories of famous events from its past—don't know how it'll turn out."

"Good," Li Luo nodded with a smile. "No matter the outcome, traveling is always worthwhile."

Cheng Xin's Bilibili account had already achieved modest success, accumulating over two hundred thousand followers.

And since Bilibili launched its video incentive program this year, even without ads, Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran's videos—each with baseline viewership in the hundreds of thousands—earned them substantial income from incentives alone.

With their current financial comfort, they decided to travel across the country during summer.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared spend the money.

"Our first stop will be Jinling," Cheng Xin said. "What about you, Brother Luo? Where are you traveling this summer?"

"Me?" Li Luo finished packing his things and replied casually. "Xu Youyu bought a motorhome—we're driving it from Yuhang City along the coast toward Tianhe City."

"Then we'll head to Xuwen Port, take the motorhome on a ferry to Qiongzhou City, and take a look around."

"After that, we'll fly back here and have someone drive the motorhome home."

"A motorhome—" Wen Zexuan's eyes widened as he heard this, then couldn't help asking, "You're not telling me you're going with————"

"Yeah, all four of us," Li Luo nodded. He didn't need to pretend in front of his roommates—he admitted it plainly. "What? When traveling, you can't just hang out with one person."

Cheng Xin: "————"

Bai Haoran: "————"

Wen Zexuan: "————"

Is that even human speech?

If Li Luo didn't work out daily and train in boxing, the three of them would've already punched him into next week.

【Author's Note on Future Updates】:

Since many readers don't read the monthly ticket lottery chapters, I'm including this note within the main text to explain the current situation.

The concluding part of the main text isn't finished yet, and I'm still unsure how far it will go; updates will be posted in the full-subscription group.

The outline and detailed outline for this ending section are already done, with no content issues, but the original estimated word count differs somewhat from reality—

I originally thought it would take only a few ten thousand words to wrap up, but as I wrote, the word count got out of control.

In short, it won't be abandoned, it won't be left unfinished—I still guarantee that.