My Demon Friends-Chapter 514 - 493: The Last Day of the Year

It was still so pleasant sitting by Cui Lake. A gentle breeze touched my face, flowers blossomed all around, and every step offered a splendid view. The tree branches overhead provided just enough shade to block out the harsh ultraviolet sunlight and, conveniently, bird droppings too.

Zhou Li, holding Tuanzi, didn’t have to do anything to feel utterly comfortable in these moments.

Cotton Swab was next to them, constantly changing poses for selfies.

Brother Nan stood at the lakeside, looking up at the distance silently. From this angle, her silhouette appeared very tall, as if she were planning the future of the city.

Huai Xu, having found a packet of bird food from somewhere, was feeding the seagulls.

"Zhou Ni~~"

Tuanzi squirmed in Zhou Li’s embrace, turning over to look up at him with a delicate and tender expression, her voice soft. Then she glanced at the milk tea in Zhou Li’s hand. "Lord Dumpling wants another sip of milk... milk tea."

"Lord Dumpling doesn’t have a virus, does she?" Zhou Li asked, offering the milk tea straw to Tuanzi and watching her small, delicate mouth.

"Lord Dumpling won’t get sick, nope!"

"Then does she have bacteria?"

"Bacteria..." Tuanzi paused, blinking. "Lord Dumpling feels like eating enoki mushrooms."

"As long as there’s none of that, go ahead and drink," he replied.

"Okay!"

Tuanzi leaned toward the milk tea straw but then seemed troubled. Everyone knew milk tea straws were quite large; it was impressive enough that Tuanzi’s small mouth could hold one, let alone drink from it. Perhaps she could only manage the tiny straws accompanying the smallest bottles of probiotic drinks.

Zhou Li watched her intently without blinking.

Only when Tuanzi sought his help did he pretend to suddenly realize. Just as before, he pulled out the straw and let the milk tea on it drip into Tuanzi’s mouth, his expression focused and patient.

"Does it taste good?"

"It’s yummy~"

"Do you want more?"

"Yes, please~"

"Alright!"

Overhearing their conversation, Brother Nan took a moment from her busy schedule to glance back at them before turning away again.

A small figure bounced toward them from a distance, carrying a large bag.

"The chicken cutlets are here, Sichuan peppercorn flavor."

Baozi approached and took out small bags from the big one, one for each person, her face betraying no emotion. "They also gave a free plum drink. Had I known, we wouldn’t have needed to buy milk tea. Drinking too much liquid can make you cold if you sit for too long."

"That makes sense," Zhou Li said with a slight smile, feeling his Little Cousin was quite happy at the moment.

"Um, Baozi..." Mianmian said hesitantly, raising her hand. "Could we possibly go to Jinbi Square and have some rice noodles later?"

"Mianmian and I have both been wanting to go there," Qian Qian added.

"Hm?" Baozi’s expression instantly turned serious as she warned them honestly, "The rice noodles there are expensive, a rip-off, and not tasty at all. Don’t believe me, ask Zhou Li and Brother Nan. If you just want to eat rice noodles, I can take you to the place I usually go."

"Call me ’Cousin’," Zhou Li said, exasperated.

Brother Nan sighed about something, not turning her head.

"We mainly want to check in there," Mianmian explained.

"Yeah, yeah! To take a photo for our Moments!" Qian Qian chimed in.

"If that’s the case, you really don’t need to waste that money..." Baozi pondered for a moment. "I’m good at photo editing. I can Photoshop a 200-yuan Jianxin Garden set meal for you when we get back. If you feel bad about it, you can each pay me twenty yuan for the ’bargain’ editing fee."

"That’s..."

The two budget-conscious cuties looked at each other, troubled, before finally relenting, "Then we’ll have to trouble you..."

"Don’t mention it."

After distributing the chicken cutlets, Baozi sat down beside Zhou Li. Her posture was proper, but she twisted her head to observe the entertaining spectacle of Zhou Li feeding Tuanzi, listening to their conversation in silence.

「At three in the afternoon, dark clouds covered the sun.」

At the rice noodle shop Baozi frequented:

Cotton Swab sat dumbfounded, staring at the eight-yuan bowl of ’small pot rice noodles’ in front of her. Her heart was full of emotions she wished to express, but having neglected her language arts studies for so long, she found herself at a loss for words.

They had always believed there were no such cheap small pot rice noodles in the city center.

Baozi, meanwhile, was focused on taking photos of them from across the table, reminding them, "Watch your expressions. Once I finish editing, your table will be covered in dishes..."

Cotton Swab was speechless.

Baozi frowned, but her expression soon softened.

It’s okay, a good photographer doesn’t pick her models; she’ll just have to put more effort into editing the photos later.

...

Dinner was as lavish as lunch had been.

Since there were absolutely no leftovers from lunch, Auntie had remade all the dishes. Except for the two or three most popular ones from lunchtime, almost none were repeats, and she had increased the portions.

Zhou Li pondered how hard it must have been for his aunt and uncle; they must have gone grocery shopping again in the afternoon.

I won’t bring Huai Xu next time, he thought.

But from the expressions on his aunt and uncle’s faces, it was clear they were very happy to have so many young people in their home.

Especially Brother Nan and Huai Xu.

Brother Nan had a way with words, which kept Auntie grinning from ear to ear.

Huai Xu had an impressive appetite and an exaggerated way of eating, which garnered Auntie’s concern. Following Brother Nan’s advice, Huai Xu claimed Auntie’s cooking was so delicious he had never tasted anything so good in his life. This left Auntie somewhat questioning her own existence.

「Nine in the evening.」

After helping tidy up the aftermath, Zhou Li said goodbye to his aunt and uncle and left.

Baozi saw them off to the car. Once back home, she went straight to her uncle. She looked down at him with a steely gaze, saying nothing, just staring.

Until her uncle couldn’t bear it anymore and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Requesting reimbursement."

"Oh, how much did you spend?"

"Just give me a thousand."

"What do you mean, ’just give you a thousand’?" Uncle laughed. "Isn’t this reimbursement? Reimbursement should be precise. You tell me how much you spent, and I’ll reimburse you exactly that amount. Otherwise, it’s just asking for money."

"Oh." Baozi nodded. "Asking for money then."

"How much in total!"

"1,043.72 yuan. I rounded down the change for you. Just transfer a thousand to me, and that’s enough," Baozi said without batting an eyelid.

"What’s that number again?" Uncle asked casually.

"..." Baozi fell silent.

"Alright, alright, what did you do with them?" Uncle, crossing his legs in a relaxed manner, took out his phone. "Fine, I’ll let you make a small profit then."

"We sat down and had some food, drank tea, had ice cream, and also rice noodles."

"All that cost so much?"

"The rice noodles were from Jianxin Garden."

"Oh..."

DING!

Baozi received the transfer. She quickly checked her phone and was internally very pleased, but she maintained a poker face. She hurriedly turned and walked briskly back to her bedroom, careful not to give anything away.

However, for some reason, she felt a bit guilty.

After some thought, Baozi decided she wouldn’t charge for retouching their photos. Unless they insisted on paying...

Just then, she heard her mother’s voice: "Your other two roommates who came today were also very nice—obedient, polite, with such sweet words, and quite pretty too. Honestly, Ji Ran, you need to learn from them. Be more talkative; that’s how you’ll find a boyfriend in the future."

Baozi stayed silent, just looking down at her phone.

Her mother exclaimed again, "Oh right, that Huai Xu is quite handsome, isn’t he..."

Baozi furrowed her brows.

Huai Xu? Impossible.

Huai Xu might be good-looking, but he eats way too much. I still owe more than a hundred yuan on my credit bills from the Double Twelve Shopping Festival. If I had known, I would have claimed 1,132.30 yuan earlier.

Baozi felt disheartened again and slumped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the time on her phone.

Waiting for 2021. So she could wish everyone a Happy New Year...