My Demon Friends-Chapter 502 - 481 Night_2

"There’s a coffee table and chairs!" Mianmian said.

"So nice!" Qian Qian added.

"It looks so expensive," Baozi said, surveying the room’s soft furnishings. She felt they were even prettier than her own bedroom.

"..."

Seeing the three girls heading to the balcony, Mianmian and Qian Qian each took a chair, occupying both. Baozi stood near the coffee table, picked up a book from it, and inspected it curiously. Meanwhile, Zhou Li hurried out and returned to the living room.

Brother Nan was back on the sofa, shoes off, legs crossed, stroking Tuanzi.

Tuanzi lay quietly in her arms, being petted while watching TV.

Zhou Li felt a bit embarrassed. He quickly went to the balcony, took down his underwear hanging there, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket.

He returned to the living room.

Brother Nan tilted her head, looking at him puzzled. "Little Brother, what was that about?"

Her face was still pale, but her eyes were shot with red and glossy—signs of having drunk too much.

Zhou Li ignored her.

Brother Nan then withdrew her gaze, feigning disinterest. "You’re too concerned with appearances, Layman. Our university’s male and female dorms are usually in the same residential area. Haven’t you ever used your phone to zoom in on the girls’ dorm balcony across the way? It’s all this kind of stuff hanging out, and even more varied."

Has ’Little Brother’ become ’Layman’ now?

Zhou Li fell silent for a moment. Considering what Brother Nan had said, he found she actually had a point.

"But that’s pretty creepy..."

"No, no, no..." Brother Nan wagged a finger slowly. "It’s only creepy when guys do it, not when girls do."

"Our dorm faces another boys’ dorm," Zhou Li said.

"I can sense the regret in your words," Brother Nan said with a nod. "So, the reason you’ve never seen girls’ laundry hanging out, or had girls see yours, is simply because your dorm happens to be blocked by another boys’ dorm."

"I can’t be bothered with you."

Zhou Li glanced at Tuanzi, who was sitting quietly between Brother Nan’s thighs, then walked back to the bedroom.

The three girls were still in the bedroom, but only Baozi remained on the balcony.

Mianmian was by his wardrobe. It was closed but not fully shut, leaving a small crack. Out of politeness, Mianmian didn’t randomly open it. However, that didn’t stop her from pressing herself close to the crack, peeking through with one eye open and the other closed.

Qian Qian stood by the trash can in the room, head lowered, eyes wide with curiosity as she peered inside.

"AHEM!"

"AH!"

Both cutesy girls were startled. They quickly averted their gazes, stood up straight, and pretended as if nothing had happened. One looked up at Zhou Li’s ceiling light, while the other looked down at the wooden floor.

Little Cousin came in from the balcony holding a book and quietly asked, "Cousin, why do you like reading these kinds of books?"

"What’s wrong with them?"

"It’s Classical Chinese," Little Cousin said. "I understand a little, but it seems like nonsense."

"This book is *supposed* to be nonsense; it’s just someone’s stream-of-consciousness journal," Zhou Li stated calmly. "But be careful with it. A client gave it to me to translate. It’s an out-of-print heirloom passed down from their ancestors. Don’t damage it; I can’t afford to replace it."

"Client? Translation?"

"Yes."

"So this is how you make money?"

"Yes."

"Does it pay well?"

"What do you think?"

"Cousin!" Little Cousin carefully closed the book and then bowed respectfully. "Please, teach me!"

"No!"

"Okay."

Little Cousin, her expression composed, very carefully placed the book back on the coffee table. Then she walked over to continue exploring the room, imagining the life of a financially independent, wealthy person in their rented apartment.

「Back in the living room.」

Brother Nan was tormenting Tuanzi in a new way—

She crumpled up a piece of toilet paper, tossed it, and Tuanzi scampered after it. Lord Dumpling seemed to thoroughly enjoy fetching it.

"Wow! So quick!"

"MEOW!"

Lord Dumpling was quite proud.

Baozi watched enviously.

But she couldn’t join in. This game was only for Brother Nan and Tuanzi; she could only watch from the sidelines.

Baozi began to quietly observe the apartment again.

Since her last visit, the living room had undergone some changes. The main additions were a robotic vacuum and mop, and a new bookshelf. The bookshelf held some brand-new bestsellers and many old books similar to that ’incomprehensible’ one. The balcony had more plants; on closer inspection, besides decorative flowers and herbs, there were also spring onions and cilantro.

In a corner of the balcony, there was a cat litter box.

Baozi casually strolled over to inspect it. The cat litter inside was undisturbed and smooth, with no odor, looking brand new.

She had noticed this before, ever since Lord Dumpling’s first visit to Dorm 106. Although Brother Nan had prepared cat litter and a litter box for Lord Dumpling, Baozi had never seen Lord Dumpling use it. Nor had she ever seen Brother Nan change the litter. Brother Nan’s excuse was that Lord Dumpling used the human toilet, but the previous cat, Little Rascal, had supposedly done the same.

It’s very bizarre.

So...

Baozi’s eyebrows furrowed, then relaxed. She turned to Zhou Li, who was looking at her, and said, "Cousin, besides translating books, do you also train rich people’s kittens to use the toilet?"

Zhou Li silently withdrew his gaze, ignoring her.

Baozi was left speechless.

The night grew deeper.

As the alcohol took effect, the two cutesy girls started to feel unwell, their heads growing increasingly fuzzy.

Baozi, who rarely stayed up late unless necessary, also began to yawn.

Not wanting them to feel awkward, Zhou Li said, "If you’re tired, go to the bedroom and sleep. You can also wash up. Huai Xu bought new toothbrushes for you when he got back. I also have a clean towel here; you can share it if you need to. And feel free to use my cleanser, toothpaste, shampoo, and shower gel."

"Reporting!" Mianmian raised her hand. "Can we use Huai Xu’s?"

"He uses mine."

"Understood!"

Mianmian went to freshen up first. Baozi and Brother Nan waited their turn, quietly watching Black Cat Sheriff with Tuanzi in the living room. Tuanzi, however, tilted her head curiously towards the bathroom door. She had just seen the two girls go in there, even squabbling to get in first. So Zhou Li must be doing something fun in that little room every time he went in without her.

Zhou Li remained expressionless.

The two cutesy girls assumed the living room bathroom was Huai Xu’s, unaware that the old monster didn’t use a bathroom at all.

So unladylike...

「It was about 11:30 PM.」

In the living room, only Zhou Li, Huai Xu, and Lord Dumpling remained.

The lights had been turned off. Only the TV flickered, making Lord Dumpling’s eyes twinkle.

"Ready for bed?" Zhou Li asked, trying to negotiate. "Let’s turn off the TV."

"HMM?" Lord Dumpling looked back at Zhou Li, then after a moment, at Huai Xu, who was starfished out on the floor. She thought for a bit. "Zhou Ni~~ did you and Huai Xu do something wrong today, meow?"

"No."

"Then why are you sleeping out here?"

"Because they took the bedroom."

"MEOW~~"

Lord Dumpling seemed thoughtful. After a moment, she jumped down from the sofa and headed towards the master bedroom. "Lord Dumpling isn’t sleeping out here! Lord Dumpling is going to sleep in the big bed. Lord Dumpling didn’t do anything wrong..."

In the light from the TV, Zhou Li watched as she walked away, headed towards the master bedroom, jumped up to open the door, and disappeared inside.

CLICK.

She even closed the door behind her.

Zhou Li felt a twinge of bittersweetness.

Turning to look at Huai Xu on the floor, he picked up the remote to turn off the TV and asked, "Why do you love lying on the floor so much?"

"None of your business!"

"The sofa is big enough for two." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I’ll just lie on the floor!"

"Later, when they come out for snacks or drinks, they’ll see you on the floor and think I’m bullying you," Zhou Li said. The faint light seeping in from outside was still enough to see the starfished figure on the floor. "It’s a bad habit."

"I just love lying on the floor!"

"You need to change it."

"PFFT!"

Huai Xu scrambled up, climbed onto the sofa, and lay down, starfished out again.

The sofa was large and L-shaped. It could easily accommodate two people without them touching, and it was even softer than a bed.

Zhou Li picked up a blanket and threw it over him.

Huai Xu didn’t move.

The night here was very quiet. The window was open, and he could hear the wind whistling around the upper floors and the rustling of the curtains. If Zhou Li listened carefully, he could even hear the tires of occasional cars passing downstairs, as well as sounds from the two bedrooms.