Rekindling the Youthful Era

Chapter 859 An Accidental Encounter with My Father-in-Law
January 30th, 6:00 AM.

Li Luo was woken up by her biological clock on time. She stared blankly at the somewhat unfamiliar ceiling above her head for a moment.

After I came to my senses, I realized that I was in someone else's house.

Turning to look at Xu Youyu, who was still fast asleep beside him, Li Luo smiled helplessly. Recalling the enchanting moments of the previous night, he leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.

Li Luo then got out of bed, tidied herself up quickly, washed up, and left the room.

Potato and his wife are both night owls. Although they had to catch a flight to go on a trip early this morning, they don't usually get up this early.

Fortunately, Li Luo had informed Tudou in advance the night before that she had a habit of jogging in the morning. After changing her shoes at the entrance, Li Luo left directly and walked out of the community.

It was only a short walk before we arrived at the West Lake.

All I can say is that the potatoes know how to enjoy life; I wonder how expensive the houses here must be.

As she thought about it, Li Luo started jogging along West Lake, breathing in the fresh air on the shore. After running back to the starting point, she bought some breakfast at a roadside breakfast shop and went home.

It's impossible to expect the Potato couple to get up and make breakfast.

A little after seven o'clock, Li Luo successfully returned to Tu Dou's house, opened the door with the temporary password Tu Dou had given him, and happened to run into Tu Dou, who had just gotten up.

"You actually went for a morning run?" Potato looked at Li Luo with some surprise. "No wonder you're in such good shape."

"You must work out regularly?" Li Luo asked Potato, who was around thirty years old. "Otherwise, in our line of work, people your age are probably all quite overweight, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm still a lot fatter than when I was younger." Potato patted his belly helplessly, then said with a smile, "But I'm much better off than the other guys."

"Some people still use handsome photos of themselves when they were young in their promotional photos, but in reality they've become as fat as a ball, hahaha!"

Compared to that, I'm already doing pretty well.

As the saying goes, "It's not the best, but it's better than the worst," which perfectly describes the situation with potatoes.

It can only be said that if it weren't for Li Luo, Tudou would be a rare handsome guy among online novel authors.

"Here, I brought back some breakfast." Li Luo handed over some of the breakfast in his hand. "I already ate on the way back. You and your sister-in-law can eat this. I'll take it to Youyu's house."

"Goodness." Potato took it without hesitation, then laughed, "I've been a bit inadequate as the host, making the guest go out to buy breakfast."

Li Luo rolled her eyes at him: "Then why don't you get up earlier and make breakfast?"

"Getting up early is out of the question." Potato chuckled as he carried breakfast to the table.

"Where's my sister-in-law?"

"Still getting ready," Potato replied. "Going to bed early, huh?"

"Sleeping in." Li Luo shrugged. "There's no way I can wake you up now. By the way, what time is your flight?"

"It's ten o'clock." Potato glanced at the time. "My wife takes forty or fifty minutes to put on makeup, so she won't be down until eight o'clock."

"We'll have to leave soon, so let's save this breakfast for her to eat in the car."

"Your meeting at nine in the morning, is that about the same time?"

"Okay." Li Luo nodded. "Then I'll go wake Youyu up in a bit."

"It's okay to sleep a little longer," Potato chuckled. "My wife and I will go first, you can stay a little longer if you want."

"Aren't you afraid I'll steal all of Potato Boss's assets?" Li Luo joked.

“You’re joking.” Potato glanced at him. “You’re a big shot now, so I’m not worried about what you’ll do.”

That's what they say, but Li Luo wouldn't actually stay at someone else's house for too long.

So at 7:30, he went upstairs and dragged Xu Youyu out of bed.

Xu Youyu knew they were at someone else's house, so surprisingly he didn't throw a tantrum when he woke up. He obediently went downstairs, ate breakfast, and then sat down to listen to Li Luo and Tudou chat.

By eight o'clock, Potato's wife was all dressed up, and the four of them went out together.

Li Luo and Xu Youyu said goodbye to the couple, Tudou, and drove out of the garage, heading towards the Provincial Writers Association.

The two arrived before the meeting started, after a 20-30 minute drive. Li Luo glanced at the time and then took Xu Youyu to Director Li's office for a stroll.

Let's also talk about the workshop on the artwork.

Last night, he took some time to fill out the application form for the seminar on his works. Secretary Wang has already printed it out for him, and he will take it to the meeting to discuss it when it starts at nine o'clock.

After chatting with Director Li in the office for a while, at nine o'clock, Li Luo took Xu Youyu with him and followed Director Li to the next hall to attend the routine meeting of the Provincial Writers Association.

There were fewer participants at this routine meeting than yesterday; ordinary members were not required to attend because they did not have voting rights.

Of course, it's fine if you insist on coming to listen in.

During the meeting, Secretary Cao and the chairman of the Provincial Writers Association controlled the meeting's flow, summarizing each small matter and making decisions one by one.

The seminar on "Gu Dao Chang Qing" submitted by Li Luo was naturally approved smoothly.

With Li Luo's current influence and fame, and with Secretary Cao backing him up, it would be difficult for him not to pass.

After the morning meeting concluded smoothly, Li Luo was invited by Secretary Cao to have lunch together.

At the dinner table, Secretary Cao said, "Approving the seminar on the works is quite simple, but we need to make plans as soon as possible regarding who to invite to participate."

"The value of the award varies depending on the participants."

Do you know anyone in the Writers' Association?

Secretary Cao's question stumped Li Luo.

Does the potato boss count?

“Li Hu… he’s no good.” Secretary Cao said with a laugh, “You are both online novelists, this seminar on your works was not invited to you.”

"To put it bluntly, whether online novels are good or not, and what makes them good, is something that most people can probably explain in detail, but it's ultimately difficult to convince the majority of them."

"But if it's a relatively high-ranking and authoritative expert, then this work will naturally gain a certain degree of endorsement."

"This is the purpose of the workshop."

Secretary Cao explained it very clearly, and Li Luo nodded in understanding.

Seeing Li Luo's reaction, Secretary Cao realized that this young man hadn't really been cultivating relationships within the Writers' Association over the years.

This is not Li Luo's fault.

If we're really talking about connections he has in the Writers' Association, then it's only his uncle, Li Guoru.

But how could Li Luo not know Li Guoru's position within the Writers Association?
"Well then," Secretary Cao said, "There are a few teachers at the Writers' Association who don't have much to do before the New Year, so I'll ask around to see if anyone is interested." "Thank you in advance, Secretary Cao," Li Luo quickly raised his glass in thanks.

"You're too kind," Secretary Cao said with a smile, clinking glasses with him. "You young people are the future of the Writers' Association. You don't need to be so polite with me in this regard. If you need anything in the future, just come to me directly."

It's clear that Secretary Cao genuinely admires Li Luo and intends to groom him for a future role.

Having followed Ying Zhicheng for the past few months, Li Luo has gained some experience and naturally has a good eye for things. He thanked him repeatedly at the dinner table.

After a round of drinks, lunch ended, and Li Luo and Xu Youyu followed Secretary Cao back to the Provincial Writers Association.

The hall had been completely transformed into the awards ceremony venue for the youth literature competition.

Just as Li Luo was being led by Secretary Cao to sit in the front row of the invited guest seats, Xu Youyu exclaimed in surprise:

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

Upon hearing this, Li Luo immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xu Rongsheng sitting in the seat of another invited guest.

The group of people looked at each other, their faces showing surprise.

"What's going on here?" Secretary Cao asked curiously upon seeing this. "I do remember, Li Luo and his group came to receive an award three years ago, and Professor Xu was with them too, right? But..."

"Secretary Cao." Xu Rongsheng greeted Cao Qiwen first, then chuckled and said, "This is my daughter. She wrote a novel without my knowledge, and when she won an award and found out I was the presenter, she had her editor help her go on stage to accept the award. She thought I hadn't found out, which caused quite a few laughs."

"Dad~" Xu Youyu said in a spoiled tone as soon as her father mentioned her embarrassing moments.

"Haha!" Secretary Cao laughed twice. "But I must say, like father, like daughter. Professor Xu's daughter is also quite accomplished in literature."

"Not at all," Xu Rongsheng shook his head repeatedly. "It's just some humble work that's not worthy of serious consideration. I'm afraid it's embarrassing for Secretary Cao."

After exchanging pleasantries, Xu Youyu sat down in the row behind Li Luo.

After Secretary Cao took his seat, he suddenly said to Xu Rongsheng, "Speaking of which, Li Luo asked me to apply for a seminar for Professor Xu's daughter's work."

"In that case, why not just invite Professor Xu to come and participate in the discussion?"

"A professor in the Literature Department at Qianjiang University, that's a very prestigious title."

Upon hearing this, Xu Rongsheng looked at Li Luo with a puzzled expression. After listening to his explanation, he nodded in understanding, but then shook his head and said, "It's not appropriate. It's better for me not to get involved in her work seminar."

"However, if there aren't enough people, I can help recommend a few teachers from the school."

"I still need to avoid suspicion a bit."

"Hmm." Secretary Cao nodded. "That makes sense."

So the matter was temporarily settled.

After the awards ceremony began, Li Luo took a moment to chat with Xu Rongsheng for a bit.

"Why is Uncle Xu here at this awards ceremony?"

"Qian Da University was originally cooperating with the Ministry of Education in this youth literature competition. As a professor in the literature department, isn't it normal for me to come and present an award?"

Xu Rongsheng glanced at Li Luo, then asked in return, "But what about you? How come you're a presenter?"

"Originally, another online novelist was supposed to present the award," Li Luo said helplessly. "But he had something come up at the last minute, so he asked me to fill in. I didn't expect to run into Uncle Xu here."

"Hehe, that's quite interesting." Xu Rongsheng chuckled. "Three years ago, I presented you with an award, and three years later, you're here with me presenting awards to others. Your rapid progress is truly astonishing."

"Uncle Xu, we're all on the same side, so there's no need to praise him so much."

Upon hearing the words "one of our own," Xu Rongsheng gave Li Luo a meaningful look, then turned to glance at his own daughter.

The awards ceremony quickly moved on to the online literature section.

As the winners took to the stage, the host announced that Chongran and Professor Xu would be presenting the awards. The two then stood up at the same time to present the certificates to the winners.

Xu Youyu sat in the audience, took out his phone, and snapped a picture of the scene. Then, he rested his chin on his hand and watched the scene with a happy expression.

Soon, Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng returned to their seats.

After Li Luo was no longer involved, he continued chatting with Xu Rongsheng.

"Uncle Xu, are you leaving right after your meeting? How about we grab a bite to eat together?"

"No, thank you." Xu Rongsheng shook his head. "Attending the awards ceremony was just a side thing. The main purpose was to meet with the leaders of the Ministry of Education and discuss some serious matters."

"What important matter is it?" Li Luo asked curiously.

Xu Rongsheng glanced at him, initially intending to say that children shouldn't be bothered with, but then he remembered that it was Li Luo, and that this matter was quite related to him, so after hesitating for a moment, he said to him:
"It concerns the Ministry of Education's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Fund."

"I had originally given up on competing, but... you did me a lot of help this semester."

"This opportunity just happens to come, so I'll give it a try."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo raised an eyebrow and asked tentatively, "It's not related to the competition for the deanship of the Faculty of Arts, is it?"

"You're quite clever," Xu Rongsheng said with a chuckle. "It really is very important. Or rather, whoever can secure this funding this time will basically have their position as dean secured."

Since Xu Rongsheng had already spoken, he might as well explain it clearly to Li Luo.

Although the current dean of the Faculty of Arts still has two years left in his term, the competition for the next dean has already reached a fever pitch.

Originally, Xu Rongsheng was slightly less qualified than the other vice dean.

However, after Li Luo provided a large sum of financial aid to the School of Literature, it did indeed significantly improve Xu Rongsheng's situation.

But that alone is far from enough.

Ultimately, the position of dean will depend on the individual's contributions to the development of the college.

Having learned this, Li Luo fell into deep thought, some ideas popping into his mind, but none of them quite formed yet.

It wasn't until the meeting ended and Xu Rongsheng got up to say goodbye, preparing to talk to the leaders of the Ministry of Education, that Li Luo came back to her senses and sorted out some interesting ideas in her memory palace.

"Where did Dad go?" Xu Youyu walked around to the front and asked Li Luo, "Isn't he coming with us?"

"He seems to have something else to do," Li Luo said, glancing at the time. "Should we wait for him?"

“Sure,” Xu Youyu nodded.

At this moment, Secretary Cao walked over and saw that Li Luo was still waiting for Xu Rongsheng. He glanced at the leaders from the Ministry of Education and smiled.

"Why don't we go over and join in the fun? I'm an old acquaintance of Old Pei over there."

(End of this chapter)