My Demon Friends-Chapter 497 - 477: Nothing Can Stop Modern College Students from Bypassing the Firewall
"That depends on Brother Nan." Zhou Li glanced at the girl playing basketball nearby. "But I guess we’ll be eating... Should I bring some back for you?"
"I want to go too, can I?" Baozi quietly sized up Zhou Li, her voice soft. "I can help you guys... I can help you serve soup and scoop rice... Can I?"
"Well, you can, but we’ll be eating off-campus, which means climbing the fence." Zhou Li also sized up his Little Cousin. "Climbing the fence is not only unseemly, but there’s also the risk of getting caught by security. You probably wouldn’t want to go, right?"
"..."
After a brief silence, Baozi continued to look at Zhou Li with a serious expression. "Cousin, you’re wrong. I love climbing fences the most."
"?"
"Do I need to chip in?"
"No need for that. Brother Nan has plenty of money."
"Okay then, count me in." After Baozi finished speaking, she added, still a little worried, "Remember to call me when it’s time."
"Sure."
"Going back to the dorm?"
"No."
Zhou Li looked towards the group playing badminton in front of him and then at Brother Nan, who was shooting hoops nearby. "I’ll play badminton for a while. I want to be a cheerful, athletic person too."
"Good luck."
"Are you coming?"
"I’ll cheer for you."
Baozi silently walked to the side and sat down, expressionless. She’d turn her head to look at Brother Nan, then at Zhou Li, then back again.
An emotionless machine, just making her presence felt.
A guy and a girl were playing badminton up ahead, and most of those waiting their turn were girls. Zhou Li glanced at the guys nearby, thought for a moment, then headed towards the girls on the other side with a smile.
"Can I join in?"
He joined them without any trouble.
Baozi, at the side, turned her head to look at Brother Nan.
Actually, these were all mechanical actions; she wasn’t really looking. Her mind was full of last year’s mutton soup. That feeling of eating meat until she was completely full was something she missed terribly. Yet, it felt so distant, so remote that she had even forgotten what it was truly like.
Zhou Li started playing badminton.
This group’s skill level wasn’t bad; he heard they were freshmen from the Sports Institute this year. This cohort of Sports Institute students was likely a bit more skilled than previous ones, as the campus lockdown had left them with nothing to do but practice their sports. However, their level was still below Zhu Shuang’s, which meant Zhou Li could only exert himself a little.
Since it was their equipment and court, and Zhou Li had just joined in, he didn’t feel right completely dominating them. So, he controlled his play, going hard against strong opponents and easy on the weaker ones. He also subbed out occasionally to rotate, trying to make sure everyone had fun.
SMACK!
The racket made a crisp sound, the impact echoing.
The shuttlecock shot through the air in a straight line, moving fast, heading right out of bounds.
The girl on the other side wanted to return it but was powerless to do so.
"Phew..." Zhou Li feigned annoyance, shaking his head. He handed the racket to the next girl and let out a long breath.
The exercise hadn’t been too strenuous, but the strong sun that day had caused him to break a slight sweat.
He glanced over casually—Brother Nan was nowhere to be found on the basketball court.
Another glance towards Baozi revealed a tall figure standing next to her. Dressed in cargo pants, hands in pockets, the figure had a nonchalant slouch and was talking to Baozi with his head lowered, causing the cowlick on top of his head to droop down.
"You guys keep playing, I’m done," Zhou Li said to the girl taking the racket, nodding slightly. "Thanks."
"Ah? You’re done already?"
"My girlfriend’s here to pick me up." Zhou Li pointed at Brother Nan. His words instantly quashed any thought the girl might have had of asking for his contact information.
"Oh, okay. Let’s play together again sometime. We’re often here."
"Sure."
Zhou Li checked his watch. Class was about to end, and it was indeed time for a meal; they usually ate earlier than this.
Seeing him approach, Brother Nan looked up, his cowlick springing upright. He smiled and said, "I didn’t even realize! In just a couple more days, it’ll be the Mutton Soup Festival again. Are we going to that same place this year?"
Baozi discreetly averted her gaze.
"Sure, that place is pretty good." Zhou Li nodded. "You can have two more bottles, and I’ll carry you back."
"...I suspect you’re trying to cause trouble."
"Nope."
"Then let’s go to that place; I still remember the address." Brother Nan agreed. Pulling Baozi up, he started towards the cafeteria. As they walked, however, he mumbled under his breath, "It’s not good to always go to the same restaurant. It’s easy to form a habit, and then you’ll miss it after graduation."
"Christmas is in a few days," Baozi suddenly said softly, secretly observing their reactions.
"What about Christmas?" Brother Nan casually placed his palm on her forehead and ruffled her hair, finding it amusing.
"’Couple for a Week’," Baozi said, continuing to watch them furtively, hoping to see expressions of shyness or embarrassment. "Last year’s ’Couple for a Week’ event started around Christmas."
"Selling apples," Zhou Li said. "Ten yuan each. Buy one, wrap it yourself. How about it? Want to buy one?"
"!!"
Baozi instantly whipped her head away, her face expressionless.
Unhappy, she reached up and flicked Brother Nan’s hand off the top of her head. Brother Nan put his hand back, and she impatiently flicked it away again. After this happened a few times, she resigned herself to her fate.
「December 21st, Sunday.」
「The day before Winter Solstice.」
Baozi, Mianmian, and Qian Qian stood side by side at the edge of the campus, looking up at the tall wall, their faces blank.
"It’s... it’s so tall..."
Clearly, the wall was much taller than they had expected.
"You can use this tree." Brother Nan pointed at a small tree growing by the wall. "One foot on the tree, one foot on the wall, and it’s easy to climb up."
"That looks so hard..."
"Don’t say it’s hard before you even try. This is already one of the easiest spots to climb, carefully picked out by everyone. Going off-campus to eat well isn’t supposed to be simple." Brother Nan paused, then added considerately, "If you’re too scared to climb, just go back. I’ll bring some food back for you when I’m done eating. Just tell me what you want."
"..."
Mianmian and Qian Qian exchanged glances. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
While they were hesitating, they happened to glance over and saw Baozi had already stepped forward, hugged the tree, and started to climb.
The two stared, stunned again.
Wasn’t she usually such a slacker? Why was she being so proactive and brave today?
Unfortunately, brave as Baozi was, she clearly hadn’t invested any skill points in tree-climbing or wall-scaling. She was trying very hard to climb the wall, which was over two meters high. Sadly, the results weren’t proportional to her efforts, and she just looked incredibly clumsy.
Brother Nan also walked up and gave her bottom a boost. "Ooh, so soft..."
After quite some time, Baozi finally managed to get over the wall. But when she glanced down, she fell silent again, her lips tightly pursed.
So high...
Then she heard Brother Nan say, "Be careful when you jump. After you land, don’t wait right there; go a bit further away. You can wait at the nearby bus stop. Security patrols here frequently, so you can keep an eye out for us! And if you’re too scared to jump, just come back..."
Hearing this, Baozi immediately jumped.
"AAAHH!"
"What’s wrong?" Brother Nan called over the wall. "I wasn’t finished! If you’re too scared to jump, come back down. I’ll go over first and then catch you."
"I’m fine!"
On the other side of the wall, Baozi wore a resolute expression as she limped towards the bus stop.
Soon after, Mianmian and Qian Qian landed one after the other.
Then it was Brother Nan and Zhou Li. But unlike the first three, these two practically flew over the wall, flipping over it like parkour athletes and landing steadily. Zhou Li was even carrying Tuanzi! This left Baozi utterly dumbfounded.
She started to wonder if she and they were even the same species.
