My Demon Friends-Chapter 513 - 492

"Have you finished writing?" Zhou Li asked Brother Nan.

"Yeah, I’ve finished," Brother Nan said as if it were a matter of course. "Of course I had to finish."

"You just scribbled something down, didn’t you?"

"Definitely just scribbled something down!" Brother Nan was quite frank. "For the first two major questions, I only spent a minute on each, and the rest were all nonsensical definitions and short answers that took me ten minutes in total. When I finished, you were still buried in deep thought."

"You say it as if you’ve done something impressive." Zhou Li pursed his lips. "Are you proud of that?"

"I’m telling you, with university exams, knowing the answers is one thing, but filling the paper is another. The former is about ability, the latter is about attitude—it’s respect for the teacher," Brother Nan said. "If you fill it up with nonsense, the teacher might give you a few pity points. But if you don’t write anything, even if the teacher wants to give you marks and prevent you from failing, they won’t find an opportunity."

"You make it sound so sophisticated..."

"That’s because it is!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Zhou Li pretended to go for Brother Nan’s shoulder. Instead, his hand reached from the front, sneakily messing with the antenna on top of her head. When Brother Nan glared at him, he acted as if nothing had happened. "Didn’t Baozi and the others hand in their papers first? Where did they go?"

"Right up front. Are you blind?"

"Why are you so aggressive?"

"..."

Brother Nan furrowed her brows and quietly observed his expression. After a few seconds, her brows gradually relaxed, and she found a random excuse. "I’ve been waiting for you for almost an hour. I’m getting impatient."

"Have a little patience."

"I’m doing well not to hit you."

"Is that so..."

Zhou Li let a smile show, but in the blink of an eye, he tucked it away to avoid Brother Nan seeing it.

In the corridor exit ahead, three girls squatted, hands tucked into their pockets, crouched into very small huddles with their heads bowed, as if they were very cold.

They were blocking half of the doorway.

It really was quite cold this month; even Chunming had cooled down several times. A cold front had supposedly hit again. Typically, this time of year would be the coldest in Chunming, but this year was even colder than usual, and it was the same throughout the country.

However, Zhou Li glanced outside. The sun had already come out, its rays piercing through the lush leaves of the Small Ye Rong and casting specks of light on the ground. It shouldn’t be *that* cold.

"Is it really that cold?" he asked.

"Actually, I’m not cold. When I came out and saw them squatting like this, I just followed suit," Mianmian said, looking up at him.

"I’m not cold either. When I came out, I saw Baozi squatting here. I figured waiting for you guys while standing would be tiring, and there was no telling when you’d turn in your papers, so I just squatted down too," Qian Qian said, grinning cheekily. "Isn’t it cute?"

"My stomach hurts," Little Cousin said.

"Take some ibuprofen," Zhou Li suggested. "There are three exams left; ibuprofen is kind of auspicious."

"Got it," Little Cousin said.

"Suddenly, I do feel a bit cold," Mianmian said.

"It is quite auspicious," Qian Qian nodded.

"Let’s get going," Brother Nan said, smiling too. "You’re almost blocking the whole path."

"Not at all."

"Let’s head back to the dorm first..."

Zhou Li and Brother Nan walked ahead, while the three girls stood up in succession, still keeping their hands pocketed, and lined up behind them.

「Noon.」

「Baozi’s Home.」

Not only Zhou Li and Brother Nan came, but also Mianmian, Qian Qian, Huai Xu, and Lord Dumpling. They crowded around the table, filling it completely. The originally quiet house suddenly became lively.

Upon arriving at Baozi’s home, Mianmian and Qian Qian underwent a complete character change, donning an air of docility and understanding, which greatly endeared them to Baozi’s uncle and aunt.

"Ji Ran, look at your roommates! How sensible they are! Now look at yourself!"

"They’re just pretending."

"I don’t even want to talk about you! All day long, you only care about that photography of yours. Look at what you’re wearing—still the clothes you bought in your first year of high school! And then look at others, how nicely they dress up!" The aunt was filled with heartache and worry as she thought about this. "I wonder what you’re going to do in the future..."

"They’re just pretending."

"And look at Xiao Nan!" The aunt conveniently ignored Baozi’s words. "She’s nothing like you!"

"She..."

Baozi glanced at Brother Nan and swallowed her words.

Zhou Li stepped forward and whispered, "Actually, Baozi is quite popular at school too, and there are quite a few boys who like her. It’s just that she doesn’t want to date."

He paused for a moment to prevent his aunt from asking for details, then shifted the topic. "Besides, having photography as a hobby is pretty good. It’s not like she’s being irresponsible. Baozi is also very talented; we all admire her."

Baozi gave Zhou Li an indifferent look, but there was no gratitude in it.

The aunt smiled cheerily at him, but when she turned to Baozi, she frowned. "Look at your cousin, how sensible he is, and then look at you. You can’t even utter a few words after trying so hard..."

Baozi pursed her lips and gave Zhou Li another look, still indifferent.

Now Zhou Li understood—

Baozi: It’s pointless.

Finally, it was the uncle who ended the topic. He held up his chopsticks and said to Zhou Li, "Your mother might be coming back soon. The epidemic overseas isn’t slowing down at all; it’s getting worse. Next time, your sister might have to come back for college. Your mother has always wanted her to study here."

"I know."

"Do you chat with her often online?"

"Sometimes."

"That’s not bad." The uncle nodded, picked up some vegetables, and sipped his drink. "Nowadays, young people are more closed off. They don’t like making phone calls or chatting. Take your little cousin, for example; she wouldn’t reach out to us on her own unless it’s necessary—we’ve gotten used to it."

"Yeah, exactly!" Mianmian and Qian Qian nodded in agreement.

"Right."

"After we finish eating, let Ji Ran take you guys out for a stroll," the uncle suggested. "It’s not fun to just stay at home."

"Emmm..."

Zhou Li looked at Baozi.

Baozi showed no sign of resistance; on the contrary, she seemed enthusiastic. She raised her head and said, "Going out costs money, and I don’t have any."

"I do," Brother Nan said.

"..." Baozi gave her a faint glance, then turned back to look at her own father.

"Come to me for reimbursement afterward," the uncle said, putting down his drink.

"I have three plans," Baozi replied with unexpected speed. "High, medium, and low budget options. Which one do you choose?"

"Spend it however you like," he said.

"Got it."

Baozi bowed her head and earnestly focused on finishing her rice, quickly emptying the bowl. Then she sat waiting quietly for the others to finish. It was at times like this that the benefits of her poker face—Baozi’s face—were evident: no matter how impatient she felt inside, she always appeared cool and collected on the outside.

「An hour later.」

A group of people sat by Cui Lake, watching seagulls soar, each holding a cup of milk tea, listening to Baozi make plans.

"Over there, there’s a big chicken cutlet shop, with Sichuan pepper flavor. I bet you’ve never tried Sichuan pepper chicken cutlet."

"We have eaten it."

"Well, then today I’ll take you to try it out," Baozi said seriously. "Later we can each buy an ice cream and sit here, eating while watching the seagulls. Doesn’t that sound nice?"

"Not really. By the way, which budget option is this?"

"The highest one."

Baozi’s face betrayed an expression that said, ’Isn’t that obvious?’