My Demon Friends-Chapter 468 - 462: Misunderstandings One After Another_2
Today’s temperature was 12-21°C.
The lake water felt slightly chilly.
Taking a deep breath, he cast these thoughts aside. Maybe Brother Nan was just interested in what he’d dreamt about her, or perhaps she just missed him, or maybe it was due to some other bizarre train of thought. It was possible that Brother Nan, the scatterbrain, had already forgotten the harsh words she had uttered yesterday. The secret technique of a salted fish: self-comfort. Exceptionally effective.
So, Zhou Li shifted his chair a little closer to Brother Nan and whispered tentatively, "Last night, Huai Xu and I cooked dinner at home."
"Was it good?"
"It was alright. We followed a video. I don’t think it was bad," Zhou Li said, continuing to watch Brother Nan’s expression. "Huai Xu isn’t picky; she’ll eat anything as long as there’s plenty of meat."
"What did you make?"
"Big Plate Chicken, shredded potato salad, and stir-fried pork with green peppers. We used the chili oil you bought for the shredded potato salad, and it was especially delicious."
"Hehe..." Brother Nan first smiled with satisfaction, then complimented him, "You’re quite capable after all, even managing to make Big Plate Chicken."
"I used a hotpot base to make it," Zhou Li said honestly.
"PFFT! I knew it!"
"But it turned out okay..."
"Of course! Companies invest millions, even tens of millions, in developing those hotpot bases!"
"True."
Zhou Li had been observing Brother Nan’s expression the whole time, wary of when she might bring up his dream. It wasn’t that he was afraid of getting hit. Mainly, if Brother Nan really asked, he’d have to invent a story, and inventing stories was brain-draining, which he disliked. But he couldn’t exactly say that he’d beaten her up. Twice. Because the lake water was really cold.
Brother Nan never asked, which relieved him. He figured he might have been overthinking things and that Brother Nan had likely forgotten all about it.
Brother Nan leaned closer to Zhou Li, their shoulders touching, the contact palpable. "Let me tell you," she whispered, "your cousin might be in a relationship, or at least have a crush on someone."
"How do you know?"
Zhou Li was surprised. Meanwhile, at the table in front of them, Baozi’s ears twitched slightly—a rather cute sight.
"Because she talked in her sleep last night, kept mentioning someone’s name," Brother Nan said. "I heard her while I was playing League of Legends Mobile late into the night."
"League of Legends Mobile is playable now?" a girl’s voice chimed in from nearby.
Zhou Li ignored the voice. "What’s his name?"
"It’s a foreign name, seems to be... Aisir," Brother Nan guessed, rubbing her chin. "Perhaps he’s an international student at our school. Or maybe she met him as a pen pal during elementary or middle school, or even online after bypassing the firewall. But I think it’s most likely a Chinese person from the photography circle. He probably just adopted a foreign name to sound sophisticated, so everyone calls him ’Teacher,’ like Teacher Tony, Teacher Tom, or Teacher Aisir—it sounds very cosmopolitan."
"Is that so..."
Zhou Li couldn’t bear to interrupt Brother Nan’s musing.
In just a minute, Brother Nan had speculated that this person was probably a bit older than Baozi.
She believed that people from different generations experience different eras and are influenced by the zeitgeist, so their thinking differs. Only those born a few decades earlier, when foreign countries were perceived as dominant and China as weaker, would find it fashionable to adopt a foreign name. In contrast, people born after the ’90s, and their own generation from the 2000s, have almost continuously witnessed their country’s revival, prosperity, and strengthening. They would likely consider such a practice rather tacky.
Most of that was her reasoning, verbatim. Her analysis was articulate and sound.
"’It could also be someone she met through my mom,’ Zhou Li suggested. ’My mom is abroad; perhaps he’s from her country.’" He saw Baozi intentionally leaning back from the row ahead, her ears quietly perked up. However, he pretended not to see, enjoying the idle chat with Brother Nan and using it to divert her attention. Anyway, both Brother Nan and he had deliberately kept their voices very low, so no one else could hear. It was just idle chatter between the two of them for entertainment.
"Oh yes, yes! I almost forgot!"
"..."
Sitting in the front row, Baozi finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She turned to face them, her small face still expressionless.
"I’m guessing," she said, "you’re talking about S2."
"How can you hear us?" Brother Nan stared at her in astonishment.
"Because I’m sitting right in front of you," Baozi looked at Brother Nan calmly.
"What’s S2?" Brother Nan asked again.
"Leica S2."
"Whoa! The full name! The full name’s out!" Brother Nan exclaimed, somewhat excited, and tugged at Zhou Li’s sleeve. "Quick, write it down! Write it down and tell your aunt!"
"What is a Leica S2?" Zhou Li asked.
"My dream lover," Baozi said and then paused, adding, "One of them."
"Is that so."
"..."
His cousin glanced at them, then turned back around, continuing to rest her chin on her hand and daydream about rendezvous with her dozen or so dream lovers.
Brother Nan stretched lazily and yawned. Muttering that it was no fun anymore now that it was out in the open, she dropped the topic.
She switched the topic. Brother Nan was clearly in a good mood and very chatty. This let Zhou Li know he had truly dodged a bullet.
The class bell rang.
Brother Nan started to sleep, sleeping deeply.
Watching her peaceful sleeping face, Zhou Li hesitated for a long time but ultimately couldn’t resist. He pretended to tidy her hair, but in reality, he was twiddling her antennae.
Comparing the feel of the smaller and larger antennae.
Withdrawing his hand, he glanced at the Old Monster sitting in the empty seat next to him. He had expected to see a disappointed look on the Old Monster’s face. On the contrary, he saw boundless patience. Perhaps she was like this two thousand years ago when she was scouting and staking out.
