Chapter 927: Explanations

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

But as soon as she heard "buy groceries," Xu Youyu immediately hopped out of bed, dragging 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 his arm tightly clasped by Xu Youyu's grip, felt the heavy pressure and walked toward the nearby market.

"It's 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 attended the same junior high, though Xu Youyu was a year ahead; Li Luo had never known this senior during his junior high years.

Ying Chanxi, however, had met Xu Youyu earlier because they both entered a composition contest in junior high—they were merely nodding acquaintances.

Later, when both moved into Bihai Lanting, they were both surprised to meet again for the first time there.

"Yeah, over there," Li Luo pointed toward the street entrance, then gestured to the tunnel beside it. "Past 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 a look of envy. "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, reborn, truly remembered what a brat he'd been as a child.

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

This current life is already the most beautiful state he could ever hope for.

"When I was in elementary school, this spot was a small convenience store; the grandparents 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 time 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 grandparents adored her and often gave her ice cream popsicles."

"But she never shared them with me—yet every time 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, right?"

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

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

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

On the way, they passed Lin Xiuhong's new game room, built where her old breakfast stall once stood; Li Luo took Xu Youyu inside for a quick look.

Upstairs in the game room, Xu Youyu peered over and spotted the person at the front desk, then smiled warmly and greeted: "Auntie Er~"

"Auntie Xiao~ Good afternoon~"

Li Xuefeng and Li Xuemei sat behind the counter, 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 stood up to greet them, laughing as they pulled the two into empty seats at the counter.

"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 home 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 waved him off, saying they'd eat something light here 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 them 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's bedding, she felt deeply at ease; she'd planned to scroll on her phone for a bit, but drifted into a half-asleep, half-awake state.

Only because she'd slept well that morning did she not fall into a full sleep.

When Li Luo opened the door at just after noon, Xu Youyu heard the noise 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 delicious~"

"Time to eat," Li Luo nudged her slippers toward her with his foot, patted her head, and was immediately hugged tightly by Xu Youyu, now wearing the 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, carry her to the living room table, and gently lower her into her chair.

The table was filled with steaming, delicious dishes.

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

The others—potato-braised beef brisket and 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 fare.

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

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 she did.

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 stared 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 wine glasses they used for beer were the ones Xu Youyu had picked out back then.

At that time, Li Luo was still in his inferiority 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 person was still a chasm.

Especially after Xu Youyu invited him to attend an event hosted by Wenxue Group, where nearly all the authors present 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 nobody.

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

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

But—

Looking at Xu Youyu, who was happily devouring her meal, Li Luo 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.

Making money was secondary; what truly mattered was that he had finally fulfilled his wish and made amends for the regrets of his former life.

Now, bringing Xu Youyu back 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, noticing he hadn't picked up his chopsticks. "Hurry up and eat."

"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 him a sultry smile, kicked his foot 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 their studies or fear failing their final exams.

As for chasing high GPAs, it was unnecessary 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 mentored 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.

Ying Chanxi's college itself was uniquely structured, allowing flexible course arrangements based on individual circumstances.

After understanding her situation, her professor assigned her an easy schedule, mostly practical courses with simple requirements: simply summarize her real-world experience in company management and operations into a thesis.

This free and flexible arrangement suited Ying Chanxi perfectly.

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

As for Yan Zhusheng, with her talent, music came effortlessly.

Especially now that she had released a new album with outstanding results—particularly the two different versions of "Chi Ling" released around Youth Day, which sparked nationwide online debate.

With her current achievements, the question wasn't whether she could pass her final exams—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 absurdly powerful Memory Palace, 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 special 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, meanwhile, simply loved it—raised since childhood in an environment steeped in literature, her passion for it was deeply saturated.

? ￠o

It would be difficult to make her fail.

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

In Qingxi Dormitory, after finishing his last exam, Li Luo returned with his roommates and was about to pack his belongings when Cheng Xin asked.

"I'm going on a trip," Li Luo replied simply. "Why?"

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

"What's going on?" Wen Zexuan glanced over suspiciously, sizing them up. "You two have something going on—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're going to visit historical sites across the country during summer and tie each location to famous historical events—don't know how it'll turn out."

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

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

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 to 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 go to Xuwen Port, take the motorhome on a ferry, and tour Qiongzhou City."

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

"A motorhome—" Wen Zexuan heard this and clicked his tongue. "You're not planning to—"

"Yeah, all four of us," Li Luo nodded. He didn't need to pretend with his roommates and admitted frankly. "What? On a trip, 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 practiced boxing, the three of them would've already punched him senseless.

【Author's Note on Future Updates】:

Since many readers don't read the monthly vote lottery chapters, I'm including this update in the main text to explain the current situation.

The concluding part of the main text isn't finished yet, and it's still uncertain how far it will go; updates on the situation will be announced in the full-subscription group.

The outline and detailed outline for this ending have already been written, with no issues in content, but the originally estimated word count differs somewhat from reality—

I originally thought that by the end, just a few ten thousand words would suffice to wrap it up, but as I wrote, the word count began to spiral out of control.

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