Chapter 101: Chapter 99: Enviable But Ordinary
Tuanzi transformed into a Little Cat Girl and stood beside the dining table. Her body was still, but her head couldn’t help but twist and turn, peering everywhere. She had a delicate face, big eyes, ears perched atop her head, and a restless tail. She was extremely cute.
"Ah~~"
Zhou Li extended the spoon toward Tuanzi’s mouth, watching as she opened her mouth to drink the soup. He scooped another spoonful and gently blew on it. He had to cool it to a temperature lower than what humans normally consumed before Tuanzi would find it just right.
"Does it taste good?"
"Tasty."
"That bowl of soup cost more than two months’ worth of Zhou Li’s food expenses," Huai Xu commented, watching from the side.
"Is that so?" Tuanzi suddenly found it even more delicious.
"Open your mouth."
"Ah~"
Zhou Li reached out to touch Tuanzi’s ears. She instinctively tried to dodge, even flicking her ears backward. But then she remembered what she had said before and forcefully suppressed her naughty cat nature, standing still for Zhou Li to pet. Her ears were fluffy and warm, and felt very good to the touch.
Zhou Li kept a straight face, lest he be mistaken for a pervert.
Tuanzi drank about one-third of the 1,200-yuan soup and ate half the cabbage, then refused to eat any more, declaring loudly that a small cat could only eat that much. Her naughty cat nature was on full display.
Then she transformed back into a small cat and started parkouring around the room, saying it would help her grow taller. She even earnestly invited Zhou Li to join her.
Zhou Li silently sat on the couch and opened Taobao. He decided to order the hanging chair he had previously taken a liking to, and a little hanging bed for Tuanzi.
Once everything was done, he picked up a stool and sat next to Huai Xu to watch him play games. Huai Xu was still playing the same hero as yesterday, but Zhou Li felt the hero skin looked different, and Huai Xu’s skills had improved significantly. He would occasionally show off his moves to Zhou Li. This hero was a lot like Huai Xu: used daggers and was capable of Instantaneous Movement.
"Want to run? Come back!"
"Quadra kill!"
"I’m impressive, right?" Huai Xu turned his head and glanced at Zhou Li.
Zhou Li nodded, thought for a moment, and then said, "I’ll get you a new four-piece bedding set, a nicer one like mine. We can keep the old set as a spare for laundry days, how about that?"
"Why spend the money?"
"Money is meant to be spent."
"Hmm, that’s true. Then use my money. Anything else you want to buy, use my money for that too."
"Okay."
"I’ll get you another card as well. That way, you can use your phone to pay when you go out," Zhou Li said. As he spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and spotted a piggy bank Huai Xu kept in a compartment beneath the coffee table. Zhou Li had sneaked a peek before and knew it was full of the money he gave Huai Xu for breakfast.
"Yeah!"
"By the way, don’t you have evening self-study tonight? Why haven’t you gone yet? Wow, it’s already half-past eight, class is almost over!"
"Huh?"
Zhou Li wondered how this old monster was so familiar with his class schedule.
Meanwhile, although Huai Xu was still focused on his computer, his eyebrows had furrowed deeply. He effortlessly navigated the team battle while distractedly lecturing Zhou Li, "You can’t keep doing this. You weren’t like this before. I remember back when we were home, you used to read and do homework every day. Now you’re skipping classes..."
...
When he was seriously studying for university, this old monster had always loved to eat snacks and chat with him. Now that he was admitted, well, this stumbling block had transformed and begun supervising his studies!
SWISH! Lord Dumpling used the wall to leap onto his lap, looked up at him, and said, "Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling wants to eat three-bird roast."
Zhou Li yawned, feeling very sleepy.
「The month was coming to an end.」
The Osmanthus trees on campus had blossomed, with golden stars hanging from the branches and a thin layer sprinkled on the benches below. A stunningly attractive young man and woman came by, gently blowing away the petals before sitting down and placing their books and milk tea beside them.
"We’ll have Monday’s classes on Saturday; Thursday’s classes on Sunday; We’ll have..." Brother Nan had repeated into Zhou Li’s ear several times, as if afraid he’d forget. Then she said indignantly, "I always feel like I’m being tricked! Look at this schedule; we hardly get any days off for National Day. The weekends are supposed to be off anyway!"
"What do you think should be done?"
"If I were the principal..."
"The school would be doomed."
"It’s rude to interrupt people!!"
"Sorry."
"Hmph, if I were the principal, I’d keep Saturdays and Sundays off as usual, have classes only on Monday, and then start the National Day holiday on Tuesday!" Brother Nan said, flicking the little osmanthus blossoms from her hair, which also made her cowlick bounce. Her eyes sparkled. "Then I’d skip Monday’s classes too! Hehehe, a full ten days off!"
"That’s a shame."
"How about we skip too?"
"Which day?"
"Three days?"
"That’s not good."
"Hmm..." Another osmanthus blossom drifted down, passing right in front of Brother Nan, her gaze following its descent. "Okay, compromise: how about we skip Sunday and Monday? We could set off for Dali in advance. I’ve been thinking that place is fun, and we could walk all the way to Deqin to see the Meili Snow Mountain, but that would require several extra days... It’ll take us several days just to ride to Dali, and on the first, we have to watch the parade."
"What if we’re called on during roll call? We have so many classes on Monday," Zhou Li pondered.
"We can get someone to answer for us during roll call. Even if we do get caught, it’s not a huge deal. When it’s time for end-of-term gifts, I’ll cover one for you. And during exams, just sit next to me," Brother Nan suggested.
"Alright then," Zhou Li nodded.
"Really?"
"Really."
"I don’t believe it!" Brother Nan blurted out subconsciously, then couldn’t help but snicker.
"What are you laughing at?"
"It’s a meme, hahaha..."
"Why don’t you believe it?"
"I told you, it’s a meme," Brother Nan managed to reply while laughing, then questioned him, "What’s wrong with you? Are you living under a rock, or do you not have a smartphone? Hahaha..."
"...I don’t pay much attention to those things."
"Okay, okay." Brother Nan took a sip of her milk tea to suppress her laughter. "Have you followed that public account we talked about today?"
"I have, why?"
"Our department is always dealing with so much crap."
"True."
"I also heard there’s going to be a sports meet next month. We’ll probably have to sign up after we get back from the National Day holiday. And there’s the welcome party too; I’ve heard that each of our four classes has to prepare a performance. Our class has already decided: we’ll get your cousin to do a piano solo."
"Our arts and entertainment committee member hasn’t notified us yet."
"What kind of program are you guys thinking of doing?"
"..."
Golden osmanthus blossoms drifted down one by one. The path was always quiet. They spoke in hushed voices, and with almost every sentence, another blossom would float down, unknowingly sprinkling their hair with tiny yellow stars. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in shafts, casting dappled patterns around them.
Passersby who happened to glance over couldn’t help but feel that the scene was truly picturesque and enviable. Zhou Li even noticed someone secretly taking pictures of them. He ignored it. Brother Nan didn’t notice.
They further discussed the itinerary for their trip. Brother Nan said she had bought a pannier and told Zhou Li to pack his clothes; they could put them into it when the time came. She would come find him early Sunday morning for rice noodles.
They chatted for a while longer, mostly about ordinary, everyday matters.
When clouds obscured the sun, Zhou Li checked his phone. Huai Xu had messaged that he was about to arrive. So, they got up and returned to their dorms to drop off their books.
Today they had agreed to go out for barbecue. They had just eaten barbecue last week, but this time it didn’t feel heavy or tiresome at all. In fact, with fewer people, they ate more freely and comfortably, leisurely chatting as they experimented with grilling various new items.
Outside, it was gradually getting dark. Brother Nan had only foam left in her cup of beer; she had already downed two bottles of Xiao Bai wine earlier, yet her face remained fair and delicate.
"Burp! That’s about enough. I’ll go settle the bill..."
"I’ll go!"
"Aren’t you broke?"
"I just made some money."
"Oh right, I’d forgotten." No matter how much Brother Nan drank, it never showed on her face, but her tipsy tone was a giveaway. "How much did you make?"
"A lot."
"Oh! You’ve become a tycoon, eh!"
"Not really."
"Does that job pay that well?"
"It’s alright."
"But what if you encounter a thousand-year-old demon, one with a bad temper? What would you do then?" Brother Nan asked curiously, leaning very close to Zhou Li.
"Huai Xu would protect me."
"Hmm?" Brother Nan turned her head to look at Huai Xu, who was continually stuffing orange segments into his mouth. After a moment’s thought, she stretched out her hand, palm open. "Give me a segment!"
Zhou Li pursed his lips and went to settle the bill.
Two humans and a demon stood side by side at the entrance. Brother Nan smelled of alcohol. Zhou Li contemplated the bicycle parked by the road and said, "Should I call you a cab back to school? Huai Xu and I can ride the bicycle back."
"Why?"
"You’re drunk. If you ride your bike, what if..."
"Don’t worry! This Brother Nan only runs into ’what ifs’ when it comes to good things!"
"College Entrance Exam?"
"..."
"Why don’t you come over to my place? It’s closer from here. We can walk the bike over, and you can sleep in Huai Xu’s bed." Zhou Li turned his head; today Huai Xu looked like a handsome young man. "Just pretend he’s a girl."
"What are you saying! Brother Nan can ride a bike without using her hands or her brain!" Brother Nan felt Zhou Li was underestimating her.
"...Then I’ll go back to the dorm too."
"Alright! Let’s go!"
Zhou Li turned to say something to Huai Xu, then quickly followed as Brother Nan wobbled off on her bike. "Stay to the side and go slow! You’re riding in the vehicle lane!"
"Nag, nag, nag!" Brother Nan moved into the bike lane, but instead of slowing down, she stood up on the pedals and rocked the bike, picking up speed.
"VROOM! VROOOOOM!" she yelled, mimicking the roar of an engine.
The night breeze felt wonderful against her face as Brother Nan rode. Glancing back, she saw Zhou Li chasing her with a helpless expression, which she found amusing. She grinned and sped up, trying to leave him in the dust. However, when she realized she couldn’t shake him off, she grew disheartened and slowed down.
Zhou Li stayed with Brother Nan until she reached the dormitory entrance. Only after seeing her laughing and greeting the Dormitory Auntie as she walked in did he feel reassured.
As he turned to walk back, their voices still carried from behind him—
"What’s so great about drinking!" the Dormitory Auntie advised.
"Auntie, you just don’t understand. Alcohol is made from grain; it’s good for the person who drinks it," Brother Nan said.
"Your boyfriend doesn’t even try to control you."
"That’s my Little Brother..."
"..."