My Demon Friends-Chapter 578 - 552: The Mark Left at Home

The night was already very deep.

When Zhou Li arrived, Aunt Jiang and Zhu Shuang were surprisingly still awake, watching television. Tuanzi, too, was lazily napping beside them, preparing for a midnight parkour session.

"You're still not asleep?"

"Very normal."

It was said that every night after Zhu Shuang got home, he would watch television until very late before going to bed and then struggle to get up in the morning. Aunt Jiang, on the other hand, stayed up because she found Tuanzi adorable and wanted to spend more time with her. Moreover, she had been on vacation since yesterday, not needing to get up early for work, so there was no need to sleep early either.

Completely reasonable.

They were watching a roast comedy show.

Zhu Shuang rubbed his eyes, and Aunt Jiang yawned.

For a moment, Zhou Li couldn't figure out if the program was very touching or just boring.

He glanced at the television, only to see a young man with a buzz cut going all out while the audience reaction was very lively. Although he hadn't seen the beginning and had only listened to a few sentences, Zhou Li couldn't help but smile. It might have also been related to his good mood that day.

Aunt Jiang's voice came from beside him, "Did you and Xiao Nan go out for a late-night snack?"

No sooner had her voice dropped than Zhu Shuang immediately offered a different conjecture, "It's impossible to spend this long on a late-night snack! You definitely went to karaoke, that's why it's so late!"

"Oh my," Aunt Jiang looked at Zhou Li with surprise, "I've never heard you sing."

"I've never heard brother sing either, only hum."

"When should our family go to the KTV together for some fun?"

"Sure, sure."

"COUGH, COUGH."

Zhou Li had to cough twice before he got a chance to insert his words, "We went to an internet café and played games all night."

Aunt Jiang turned to look at Zhu Shuang.

Zhu Shuang also turned to look at Aunt Jiang.

They looked at each other, speechless.

Tuanzi, however, hazily opened her eyes, seemingly awakened by their chatter. Then she rubbed her eyes with her little paw, and upon seeing Zhou Li, she put her paw down immediately, staring at him with wide-open eyes, not blinking, "Zhou Ni, you're back~"

"I'm back," Zhou Li replied.

"Why didn't you take Lord Dumpling out to play?" Lord Dumpling seemed a bit saddened. "They said you might not come back tonight. They were here waiting to see if you would, so Lord Dumpling also waited here with them."

"Is that so~~"

"Yes!" Tuanzi nodded her head and licked her paw before rubbing her face. "Next time you go out to play, take Lord Dumpling with you!"

"MEOW."

"MEOW??"

"I'm going to wash up."

Zhou Li turned and headed to the bathroom.

An unpleasant smell tended to cling to one's body after leaving an internet café, making a shower necessary.

While he was taking a shower, it was a given that Lord Dumpling would scratch at the door. After scratching so many times without result, she had gotten lazy, only symbolically scratching a few times and meekly calling for Zhou Li to open the door. When that failed, she would sit at the door and wait for him.

So, during Zhou Li's shower, if the door had frosted glass, one could almost always see the silhouette of a well-behaved cat sitting at the very bottom edge of the door.

Sometimes she was motionless; sometimes she licked her paws; sometimes she stretched a paw through the gap under the door to swipe at the air; and sometimes she tilted her head, listening to the sound of the water.

In any case, it all looked very pitiful.

Sometimes Zhou Li would feel so sorry for her, he had the urge to let her in, but reason always took over in the end.

After his shower, he came out to find the TV already off, and the living room was very quiet. They had left the dimmest light on for him, the one with a switch by his bedroom door. As for the mother and son duo from before, they had apparently, in their disappointment, lost the will to fight off sleepiness and had probably both fallen asleep by now.

Zhou Li returned to his room and switched on the light.

The bunk bed felt so familiar.

The Old monster was lying on the top bunk, legs crossed, engrossed in a mobile game. Without even turning her head, she asked, "Did you and Li Daimao really play games all night?"

"Could I deceive you?"

"I didn't come to peep, I was just afraid you guys might do something I shouldn't see. Although I've seen plenty of that kind of stuff... But you do indeed reek of an internet café, especially when you just got back." Huai Xu commented, wrinkling her nose, but her gaze never left her phone. "Truly disappointing."

"You're so annoying."

"Aunt Jiang and Zhu Shuang think so too," Huai Xu complained. "And Old Zhou, he seemed to have gone to sleep early, but actually, he's been on his phone in his room all along."

"You're just annoying."

"You're the annoying one, not calling me to play games."

"You're the most annoying."

"Childish... Are you going to sleep now?"

"I still have to write in my journal."

Zhou Li glanced at the Old monster lying on the top bunk.

The Old monster had turned into a woman again, despite having been a man during the day.

By now, Zhou Li had grown numb to 'sharing a room with a friend of the opposite sex,' but sometimes he still couldn't stand this Old monster.

Take this moment for example—

The Old monster was wearing a set of pink pajamas, a very cute style, and her form was that of a young girl, probably only fourteen or fifteen years old, looking utterly pure and adorable. Her raised foot was as white as jade, its sole a tender pink. Truly unbearable to behold.

Zhou Li's face scrunched up.

He hurriedly looked away and sat down at his desk, not forgetting to check behind him to make sure the Old monster wasn't peeking, before he picked up his pen to write.

The Old monster didn't care at all and even started humming a song.

「The next morning.」

Zhou Li was diligently helping in the kitchen.

So was Lord Dumpling.

Last month, Aunt Jiang had bought a lot of free-range eggs from somewhere, and they had been taking up space in the fridge for a while. Taking the opportunity of Zhou Li's return, they needed to use some up. So, today's breakfast consisted of egg fried rice, tomatoes and eggs, green peppers and eggs, and steamed eggs.

There were two frying pans at home, one non-stick and one seasoned iron pan, which Aunt Jiang had acquired long before her cooking skills had improved.

Aunt Jiang handed Zhou Li the non-stick pan for the tomatoes and eggs.

Zhou Li knew how to cook this dish.

Aunt Jiang used the other pan for the green peppers and eggs.

The green peppers were very spicy; the moment they hit the pan, the fumes were choking. Tuanzi sneezed repeatedly from the spice, and Aunt Jiang, feeling sorry for her, kept telling her to go outside, but to no avail.

She was intent on staying at Zhou Li's feet; wherever Zhou Li's feet went, she followed. If Zhou Li stood still, she would sit down too.

Unless Zhou Li moved just a little to the side, she would twist her head to look at him. The moment he moved even slightly further away, she would immediately follow. Sometimes she would get a little confused because there were two pairs of feet moving around the kitchen, making it chaotic, and she couldn't tell which pair belonged to Zhou Li without looking up to make sure.

Zhou Li was genuinely afraid of stepping on her.

Having finally managed to serve the dishes, Zhou Li felt a wave of accomplishment and immediately hurried to call Old Zhou and Zhu Shuang.

Tuanzi's light footsteps followed closely behind him.

In the living room, Zhu Shuang's door had just opened. Zhu Shuang stood at the entrance, his hair messy, yawning and scratching his ear. Old Zhou, meanwhile, stood alone on the living room balcony, holding a pair of binoculars and looking towards the Tuo River, though what he was looking at wasn't clear.

"Breakfast's ready."

"Mhmm, got it."

"You woke up just in time."

"I smelled the food."

"Quick, go wash your face."

Having said that, Zhou Li walked towards the balcony.

Old Zhou had already raised the binoculars even higher, aiming towards the opposite bank of the river, moving them left and right as though surveying his domain.

Zhou Li approached, "What are you looking at?"

Old Zhou pointed across the river, saying wistfully, "When we first bought this place, the other side was all farmland, and we could see the rapeseed flowers blooming. Now it's all filled with buildings... I heard that Yan City's development focus is shifting over there. We should have bought a few more properties on that side back then."

"Let me see through the binoculars," Zhou Li reached out his hand.

"Time to eat," Old Zhou refused.

"Oh."

It didn't really matter. Zhou Li's current vision, though far from matching the Old monster's, was still much better than an average person's.

So, he looked in the general direction Old Zhou had been observing, and after a short search, he found two figures sitting by the riverbank amidst the hazy fog, bundled up in thick clothes, watching over their fishing rods.

TSK...

It was really childish.

The most childish part was his inability to admit it.

The clinking of bowls and chopsticks came from the dining room. Zhou Li didn't expose Old Zhou, simply said lightly, "Breakfast's ready," and turned to leave.

The tableware was already set.

Zhou Li's sense of accomplishment returned.

Because the chopsticks were carved by him.

The small spoons in the dishes, which made serving easier, were also carved by him.

The wooden spoon for scooping rice was also his work. Because of it, Aunt Jiang had even discarded the more convenient original plastic spoon that came with the rice cooker.

There were also wooden spatulas for the non-stick pan and long chopsticks for frying.

Since Zhou Li had learned carving, the house had acquired quite a few such items, all exceptionally exquisite.

Even when his carving skills were not exceptional at first, he spared no expense, often using the best wood for his creations and taking his time, starting over if he failed. Take the rice spoon, for example; he had carved it into the shape of a small fish, complete with scales. He had also carved patterns on the chopsticks and etched characters into them.

Seeing everyone use things he had made by hand, and using them every day, Zhou Li felt... quite amused.