My Demon Friends-Chapter 525 - 504: Let Lord Dumpling In

Brother Nan changed into trousers and came out, still hunching her shoulders and inhaling the cool air, with a half-grown cat bounding along beside her, circling around her.

She was wearing granny pants, the kind old ladies in the countryside often wear, very rustic in style. Yet strangely, they didn’t make her look outdated at all. In fact, she looked quite good in them. Her long legs made the pants seem too short, turning them into capris.

Meanwhile, Zhou Li and Miss Zheng were sitting side by side on a long bench, neither speaking, seemingly silent for quite some time now.

"Hmm? Why aren’t you talking?" Brother Nan asked, puzzled.

"Don’t know what to say," Zhou Li replied calmly.

"Hmm..." Miss Zheng lowered her head.

"Zhou Li, were you saying bad things about me?" Brother Nan turned to look at Zhou Li without thinking.

"..." Zhou Li was silent for a moment. He had very sharp hearing and had stopped talking as soon as Brother Nan had changed her pants and opened the door upstairs. With Brother Nan’s poor hearing, there was no way she could have heard him bad-mouthing her from this distance, so he quickly felt reassured. "You’ve misunderstood. I didn’t."

"You definitely did!" Brother Nan asserted. "Though I didn’t hear it, I can guess!"

"..." Zhou Li fell silent again. "Then what do you want to do about it?"

"??" Brother Nan looked at him incredulously. "You’re actually admitting it?"

"Sorry," Zhou Li said. He shouldn’t have admitted it.

"When I get warm, I’ll sort you out." Brother Nan sat down, putting her feet near the foot warmer to heat up, but she wasn’t particularly concerned about it.

"Still very cold?" Miss Zheng asked.

"Do you want to soak your feet in hot water or take a hot bath? You’ll warm up quickly. I can go boil some water for you," Zhou Li suggested eagerly. "Take a bath to chase away the chill, lest you catch a cold."

"I’ll stop being cold in a moment."

"Better safe than sorry. If you catch a cold from this little outing, it wouldn’t be worth it. And if you get a fever, you’d even have to take a nucleic acid test."

"Then I’ll take a bath."

"Good!"

Zhou Li immediately stood up and went into the kitchen.

He had become quite familiar with Zheng Zhilan’s kitchen. Seeing that the big pot was clean, he scooped up water with a calabash ladle, about half a bucket’s worth. He planned to heat the water a little and then mix it with cold water. That would be enough for an undemanding person to take a bath. But Zhou Li pondered a moment, then continued to scoop.

Girls use more water.

Brother Nan is particular.

Brother Nan is cold.

He muttered a phrase with each ladle he scooped, finding enough justification for his actions.

Then he sat down in front of the stove.

A lot of firewood was piled up in front of the stove, looking freshly fetched. There were about four types: wood chopped from whole logs, suitable for long durations of burning, like for simmering soup or cooking many dishes during the New Year; cornstalks twisted into bunches, good for making a quick, hot fire for everyday stir-frying; strips of bamboo and small branches, long enough to burn without much tending—just needing a push deeper into the stove when the inside burned out; and his favorite, dry pine cones and corn cobs, set in a basket.

Zhou Li grabbed a bunch of cornstalks, using a cornhusk for kindling. He expertly lit the fire, and once it was burning vigorously, he began to throw in pine cones and corn cobs.

He still arranged them into a regular shape. The left and right sides had to be symmetrical.

Corn cobs burned more efficiently than pine cones, but the pine cones were more pleasing to the eye when burning, glowing red and translucent like a tower. Balancing the two, he opted for what looked better.

The fire warmed Zhou Li pleasantly, casting his silhouette against the mottled wall behind him. Listening to the subtle crackling and popping sounds from the stove, Zhou Li felt extremely at ease. From an evolutionary perspective, this sense of security could perhaps be traced back to primitive times when wild beasts roamed the earth and humans lacked adequate clothing. As long as they slept by the fire at night, they didn’t need to worry about the cold or danger. Zhou Li didn’t know why someone like him, who had spent over a decade in the city, enjoyed making fire so much. But as long as he sat in front of the stove, he could truly think of nothing else; no worries bothered him. Just adding firewood was enough.

Zhou Li took out his phone to check it. 3G signal... It would have been even better if he could play with his phone.

But the lack of signal didn’t matter. Zhou Li continued to sit quietly in front of the stove, listening to its sounds and the conversation outside between Brother Nan and Miss Zheng, feeling quite leisurely.

The pine cones would occasionally burst with a light snapping sound, making his eyebrows twitch. Outside, Brother Nan, being the old lecher she was, occasionally said something shocking. She had already turned Miss Zheng into a personal heater, holding her in her arms. Miss Zheng’s attempts to persuade her to join Zhou Li by the stove fire were to no avail.

Regrettably, even though there was a lot of water in the pot, it didn’t take long to heat it until it was very hot.

"Brother Nan, the water’s ready," Zhou Li called out.

"Coming, coming!" Brother Nan walked in quickly, seemingly warmed up already. She stretched her neck to look into the pot. "You didn’t need to heat this much."

"Take your time, have a longer wash," Zhou Li suggested.

"Eh~~"

Brother Nan’s lips twitched. She began ladling the hot water, causing the kitchen to fill with steam.

Zhou Li then got up and walked outside, as he heard guests arriving. Once outside, he greeted each of them, "Long time no see, Lord Xing Hui, Lord Ji Bai, Lao Hui! Long time no see, Xiao Yuan! Am I seeing things, or have you put on a little weight?"

"Long time no see, Zhou Li."

"Lord Zhou Li."

"Lord Zhou Li..."

"The food’s pretty good here~~" Xiao Yuan added.

Several voices rose one after another, making Zhou Li feel somewhat dazed. He hadn’t realized until now that the small mountain village had become so lively.

"I was planning to visit you all right away. I didn’t expect you to come over."

"We usually drop by for a visit, scrounging meals and drinks," Xiao Yuan said with a shy smile.

"It’s more like everyone often helps me out," Miss Zheng interjected.

"I should have visited you all right away, or at least let you know when I arrived, but there were some minor issues on the road..." Zhou Li pursed his lips, an expression on his face as if he couldn’t bear to speak of it, and said with his head lowered, "My girlfriend fell into a roadside puddle in this cold weather. I just heated a pot of water for her to take a hot bath."

"No need to mention these things..." Lao Hui said.

"Yes, yes." Zhou Li was actually mainly addressing Xing Hui and Ji Bai, as he wasn’t as well acquainted with them as he was with Lao Hui and Xiao Yuan.

"I think I heard Lord Dumpling calling for help from inside," Xing Hui said, suddenly looking towards the inner room. "I hope nothing’s wrong?"

"Don’t worry about her."

"Is that... okay?"

"It’s fine."

"Alright then."

Only then did Zhou Li amble to the doorway, carefully examining Lao Hui and Xiao Yuan’s old tree nearby. Perhaps it was the abundant light and rain on the mountain, the lack of pruning, or something else, but ever since being moved here, the tree had grown even more lush. Not far from it was the residence of Xing Hui and Ji Bai. Besides these, the small mountain village had also undergone numerous subtle changes.

He had been rushing on his way here earlier, and then became absorbed in tending the fire, so he was only just noticing these things now.