Rekindling the Youthful Era

Chapter 781 Mom, when can I be with Li Luo...?

Starting Wednesday, Yan Zhusheng and Yuan Wanqing got busy and spent the next two days in the recording studio.

It's not because their singing skills are bad, it's simply because Douyin has invested too much money in it.

Even though the recording engineer, arranger, and other staff felt that the recording was already quite perfect, they still spent an extra day polishing it.

After all, it's a job, and you can't let your boss think that your work is easy. You have to spend more time on it to show that you are working very hard.

Yan Zhusheng and Yuan Wanqing didn't care about this, after all, they were getting a lot of money, and it was only for a day or two, so they might as well sing.

On Friday, Li Luo, along with Director Wang, finalized the selection of one of the five male lead candidates who had stood out from the auditions—a male actor who had just graduated this year.

The details of the contract signing were then handled by lawyers Ying Chanxi and Tian.

These past two days, Yan Zhusheng and Yuan Wanqing have been busy recording songs, while Ying Chanxi, who has nothing to do, has been dragging Li Luo around to many places in Jingzhao City.

They didn't visit any of the famous tourist attractions; instead, they specifically sought out places with a traditional old-style hutong atmosphere, wandering through the streets and alleys, taking photos, and eating at street stalls. They had a very pleasant time.

Unfortunately, such moments are always short-lived. Once Ying Chanxi got busy, she couldn't take Li Luo out for a stroll anymore and could only devote her energy to her work.

In this way, Yan Zhusheng, who had just finished recording a song, finally seized the opportunity and took Li Luo out to play while Ying Chanxi was busy.

Unlike Ying Chanxi, Yan Zhusheng specifically sought out famous scenic spots, taking Li Luo to Tiananmen Square and then climbing the Great Wall.

After taking some time over the weekend to complete the short video recording required by Douyin, I basically spent the rest of the time with Li Luo visiting tourist attractions.

On Sunday morning, after Ying Chanxi and lawyer Tian finalized the male actor's contract, Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng didn't return to the hotel until three or four in the afternoon after their visit to the Summer Palace.

At this moment, Ying Chanxi had already packed all three people's luggage, and sat on the living room sofa with his arms crossed, waiting for the two to arrive.

"You're back?" Ying Chanxi heard the noise at the door and saw her little sister walking in from outside, clinging to Li Luo's arm. She said calmly, "Your flight is at 5:30. You two are really good at timing things. You got the timing just right."

"Sister, stop talking." Yan Zhusheng sniffed, pretending to sniff the air. "There's a strong smell of vinegar in the room, it's so pungent."

"Hmph." Ying Chanxi snorted. "I'm not jealous. I'm just reminding you to be mindful of the time. If I hadn't helped you pack your luggage, we could have left for the airport right now. Otherwise, you two would still be rushing to pack your things."

“Yes,” Yan Zhusheng nodded and said, “We knew that you would help us tidy up, so we came back at this time. Thank you, sister.”

Ying Chanxi: "..."

"Alright, alright, Xixi, you've worked hard." Li Luo released his arms from Yan Zhusheng's slender waist, walked to the sofa, picked up Ying Chanxi, patted her head, and said softly, "Let's go, Aunt Yuan is waiting downstairs."

"You think you can just dismiss someone with a simple 'thank you for your hard work'?" Ying Chanxi muttered softly, leaning against Li Luo's chest.

The next second, Li Luo lowered his head and sealed her lips with his.

Ying Chanxi's eyes widened in surprise, then gradually softened, and she was soon dazed by Li Luo's kisses.

Only after Li Luo let go did she blush and take a half step back, muttering softly, "That's all I know how to do."

"As long as it works," Yan Zhusheng, who was watching from the side, said. "Sister clearly enjoyed the kiss, so what else is there to say?"

"You..." Ying Chanxi only then realized that her naughty younger sister had been watching the whole time, and her face immediately turned red. "Why were you watching?"

“You didn’t say I couldn’t see,” Yan Zhusheng said, then deliberately hugged Li Luo’s neck and kissed him in front of Ying Chanxi. After the kiss, she turned to Ying Chanxi and said, “Then I’ll let you see now, and we’ll be even. But you kissed me for so long, so I…”

"No need!" Ying Chanxi quickly grabbed Yan Zhusheng's arm, pulled her aside, picked up her phone to show the time, and said seriously, "It's getting late, let's go downstairs quickly, don't keep Aunt Yuan waiting."

"You didn't say that when we were kissing just now." Yan Zhusheng glanced at her older sister, but still dragged her suitcase and walked towards the door.

The three of them set off, arrived at the hotel, met up with Yuan Wanqing, and then headed to the airport.

The staff, including Xiaowen, all bought economy class tickets reimbursed by the studio. After arriving at the airport, they rushed to security and queued up.

Since Li Luo and his three companions were in business class, they didn't need to rush. After checking their luggage, they entered through the dedicated security checkpoint for business class and sat in the VIP lounge for a while.

Only after the plane started boarding did I leisurely head towards the boarding gate.

As they boarded the plane, Yan Zhusheng turned to Ying Chanxi and asked, "Sister, would you like to sit with Li Luo?"

Asking such a question in front of Yuan Wanqing made Ying Chanxi feel a little embarrassed, and he couldn't bring himself to say "yes".

Even though Yuan Wanqing pretended not to hear at all and didn't even glance at the three young people, Ying Chanxi still felt very shy.

This gave Yan Zhusheng an opening, and she continued, "Since you don't want to sit with me, then I'll sit with Li Luo, and you can sit with Mom."

Upon hearing this, Ying Chanxi immediately became anxious.

Yuan Wanqing couldn't help but glance at the three of them. Seeing Ying Chanxi's face turn red, she looked helplessly at Yan Zhusheng.

Originally, Yuan Wanqing thought that if Yan Zhusheng and Ying Chanxi were together, based on her daughter's personality, Ying Chanxi would probably take the lead.

After all, Ying Chanxi had good grades and was the former student council president in high school. She was mature, sensible, and well-behaved.

Upon closer inspection, it seems as if Zhusheng is the one bullying Xixi.
Seeing this, Yuan Wanqing sensed that Ying Chanxi was getting impatient, so she couldn't help but say to Li Luo, "Li Luo."

"Ok?"

"I'd like to talk to you about the aftermath of Douyin. Why don't you sit down next to me in a bit?"

"Oh, no problem." Since his mother-in-law had invited him, Li Luo dared not be negligent and immediately nodded in agreement. Then he looked at the two women beside him and said, "Then you two can sit together."

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhusheng glanced at her mother with some dissatisfaction.

Ying Chanxi, however, revealed a hint of schadenfreude and immediately nodded in agreement: "Sure, then I'll sit with Zhusheng."

After saying that, she took Yan Zhusheng's arm and pulled her to the front.

Yan Zhusheng had no choice but to accept the arrangement.

Once inside the cabin, Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng took their seats in the two business class seats on the left, while Li Luo and Yuan Wanqing sat on the other side of the aisle.

Yuan Wanqing sat by the window and didn't talk to Li Luo about Douyin after she sat down. She just pretended that she hadn't said anything and quietly looked at the scenery outside the window.

Seeing this, Li Luo pretended not to know anything and sat quietly to the side.

It wasn't until all the passengers had boarded and taken their seats, and the plane had taken off and entered a stable flight, that Yuan Wanqing began chatting with Li Luo while eating her dinner, as the flight attendants served the business class passengers a delicious meal.

"Zhusheng has already told me about the matter involving the three of you." Yuan Wanqing calmly ate her steak with a knife and fork, bringing up the matter directly with Li Luo for the first time.

Li Luo lowered her head and ate her food, nodding slightly and humming in response, waiting for Yuan Wanqing to continue. "I am not a good mother," Yuan Wanqing continued softly. "Zhusheng grew up abroad and never went to school before junior high school. She was always homeschooled by a private tutor."

“She lacked fatherly love and social interaction. After returning to China, I was worried about how she would feel at school, but things seem to be much better than I expected.”

"Later I realized that this was all thanks to you."

Yuan Wanqing paused for a moment at this point.

Li Luo then spoke up at the opportune moment, continuing the conversation: "Although Zhu Sheng may have some flaws in her personality, these are also part of her unique characteristics."

“She doesn’t only have me as a friend at school. For example, Xu Yinghuan, whom you’ve met before, is also very close to Zhu Sheng.”

"Even without me, Zhusheng won't have too much of a problem."

Li Luo wasn't entirely sure he could guarantee what he was saying.

Judging from the situation in their previous life, Yuan Wanqing and Yan Zhusheng did seem to have a rather bad relationship.

This may also be related to Yan Zhusheng's high school experience at the affiliated high school.

Thinking back to when Yan Zhusheng dealt with the girls in her class lying about their periods during military training at the beginning of her first year of high school, Li Luo fell into deep thought.

Yan Zhusheng is indeed lacking in social skills and interpersonal relationships.

Being isolated would likely exacerbate this situation.

Thinking about it this way, Li Luo suddenly realized that in this second life, he might have really protected Yan Zhusheng very well, so much so that she was able to retain that innocence and purity.

This is probably a kind of meaning behind his rebirth.

Li Luo said those words partly in the hope that Yuan Wanqing wouldn't feel too burdened.

After hearing this, Yuan Wanqing's expression softened considerably, and she continued, "Deep down, I'm not particularly opposed to your situation."

"Especially after seeing how you two get along, it's clear that Xixi and Zhusheng are indeed acting voluntarily."

"Their own wishes are naturally the most important factor."

"But your Uncle Ying and I have a very simple idea: if Xixi and Zhusheng are willing to be with you, then we will not object."

"I just hope you won't let them down."

Yuan Wanqing spoke with great sincerity. After pausing for a moment, she continued, "Li Luo, you are outstanding. Among boys your age, there is practically no one who can compare to you."

"If only Xixi or Zhusheng were to come together with you, it would be their own good fortune."

"But if it's the two of them together, and they're going to spend the rest of their lives with you, I hope you can really sort out the differences that might arise in the future."

"Living life well is more important than anything else."

At this point, Yuan Wanqing's expression became complicated, as if she were recalling something.

In fact, if Li Luo hadn't tailored a hit album for her, Yuan Wanqing might have already been living a semi-retired life.

She occasionally takes on small commercial performances, and as long as she doesn't spend money extravagantly, this income is enough for her to maintain a relatively decent life.

Getting together with Ying Zhicheng, having a child for him, and staying at home to be a wife and mother might not be a bad choice.

However, by a twist of fate, with Li Luo's help, her career was given a second spring, and she gradually got to where she is today.

It has to be said that Li Luo was a lucky star for her and Ying Zhicheng in their careers.

The price they paid was that their two beloved daughters were kidnapped by this guy.

“Aunt Yuan, I know words are useless, but I still have to say it.” Li Luo looked at her earnestly and said sincerely, “I will definitely not let them down.”

“In this respect, I still believe in your character,” Yuan Wanqing said, adding in her mind—but Ying Zhicheng didn’t seem to have much faith in a man’s character in this regard.

The two talked for a long time, and Yuan Wanqing had a frank and open conversation with Li Luo, finally putting her mind at ease.

However, Li Luo was still a little guilty. He opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but felt that it was not appropriate to do so on the plane, so he had to hold back.

He finally understood that Aunt Yuan and Uncle Ying seemed to only know about him, Xixi, and Zhusheng, and were unaware of the strangeness on Xu Youyu's side.

After all, theoretically speaking, Xu Youyu is a tenant of Bihai Lanting, and his good relationship with them is due to being a fellow alumnus of the same school.

Furthermore, Xu Youyu was quite low-key most of the time when Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing were present, which made Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing overlook Xu Youyu's presence.

Li Luo didn't know how to explain this to Yuan Wanqing for the time being, so he could only put it aside for now.

After finishing their meal, the two had chatted enough, so they asked the flight attendant to clear away the trays, and Yuan Wanqing closed her eyes for a short rest.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhusheng, who was sitting across the aisle, had been secretly observing this side. After her mother and Li Luo finished talking, she tugged at Li Luo's arm, signaling him to change seats.

Li Luo turned to look at her, and seeing her resolute attitude, got up and went to the restroom.

Taking the opportunity, Yan Zhusheng got up and sat in Li Luo's seat, then went to Yuan Wanqing's side.

"What are you doing here?" Yuan Wanqing noticed that there was a different person next to her and couldn't help but ask.

"Mom, did you say something to Li Luo just now?"

"We were talking about TikTok."

"is it?"

"You do not believe?"

"Then let's leave it at that." Yan Zhusheng nodded, then asked in a low voice, "I came here to ask about that."

"what?"

"When can I sleep with Li Luo?"

Yuan Wanqing: "..."

(End of this chapter)