My Demon Friends-Chapter 715 - 676 "Embarrassing

"Mianmian and Qian Qian should be arriving too," Brother Nan said after dinner, looking at his phone. "One has just reached the school gate, and the other is still on the bus."

"Your dorm is all here now," Zhou Li commented.

"Yeah... we agreed to arrive today," Brother Nan replied, then asked, "What about your dorm?"

"They won't be here until tomorrow."

"Hmm..."

"Have they eaten yet?"

"I don't know. They probably had something on the plane, or maybe they didn't eat at all," Brother Nan said with a yawn. "Even if they did, it wouldn't be filling. They'll probably just grab something to eat on the commercial street later, or buy some snacks."

"I see."

"Let's find a milk tea shop on the commercial street to sit and wait for them after we're done eating."

"Sounds good."

Zhou Li glanced at Little Cousin sitting across from him.

Little Cousin was still eating. It was evident that she was full, but there was still a lot of food left in her bowl. She didn't want to waste it and forced herself to continue. Hearing that they would go have milk tea later, she increased her eating pace, looking even more reluctant.

"If you can't finish, don't force it," Zhou Li advised helplessly. "Overeating is bad for your stomach."

"I can finish it."

"..." Zhou Li thought for a moment. "If you eat too much, you won't be able to enjoy the milk tea later."

"I can."

"Suit yourself."

Zhou Li didn't bother nagging her anymore and just watched her eat.

Eventually, Little Cousin couldn't finish her food. She picked out only the meat from her bowl to eat, feeling disheartened and regretful about it.

「In the milk tea shop.」

Little Cousin hugged a cup of milk tea, happily sipping it while sneakily watching the new students and their parents coming and going outside. She wondered if she had looked as green and silly as them when she first enrolled.

Milk tea uses a different stomach; it doesn't conflict with the food eaten earlier in the cafeteria.

"Ah, Brother Nan~" one of them cooed, her voice full of playful affection.

"Baozi!!" the other exclaimed.

"Handsome Zhou! Lord Dumpling!"

Two figures appeared in front of the shop, holding bags of pies with preserved vegetables and braised pork. They greeted Zhou Li and the others with flushed faces and beaming smiles, quickly approaching. "We've missed you so much! Boo hoo hoo! Brother Nan, we've missed you~~"

"Watch your image!"

Brother Nan dodged their hugs with a look of disdain.

Mianmian, not minding at all, just giggled. "I can't help it, darling! I missed you too much!"

Then she turned to Baozi, continuing to whine, "Baozi, I missed you too. Did you miss me?"

"Yes."

Baozi held her milk tea with a blank expression, looking down, her mouth never leaving the straw even while speaking.

Mianmian and Qian Qian sat down beside them, borrowing an extra stool from the neighboring table. They opened the bags of pies.

"Didn't the plane meals fill you up?" Brother Nan asked.

"Mine was so small—just a little roll and a bottle of water," Mianmian said, munching on her pie. "I bought a budget ticket."

"Mine didn't even include a meal, just a bottle of water," Qian Qian complained, even more indignant. "And mine wasn't even a budget ticket."

"That's rough."

"Yeah, boo hoo! You don't even feel sorry for us..."

"Shut up."

"Okay!"

"Are you two going shopping later?" Qian Qian, who was slightly more sensible than Mianmian, or rather less overt about her silliness, asked. "I need to buy toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a towel."

"I need to buy toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a rinsing cup!" Mianmian raised her hand and said loudly. "Qian Qian broke my rinsing cup at the end of last semester!"

"I don't need to," Zhou Li said.

"Me neither," Brother Nan yawned.

"I brought everything from home," Baozi said, still hunched over her straw.

"You're so lucky. If my home were this close, I'd have brought everything too," Qian Qian sighed.

"Hmm..." Baozi acknowledged. She couldn't argue with that; she indeed lived close to home.

"Then let's go to the supermarket later."

"Sure."

"By the way, how was your rural volunteer program?" Qian Qian looked at them curiously. "From what I've seen of others who went, it seems really hot and challenging, with poor conditions, but very meaningful."

"It was alright," Zhou Li said.

Brother Nan just gave another yawn.

"We had all sorts of organic, free fruit to eat, desserts and cold drinks every day, and plenty of fish and meat." Baozi finally let go of her straw, lifted her head to speak at greater length, and, looking at Mianmian and Qian Qian, added, "And Huai Xu was with us too."

"!!"

"??"

The two giggly girls were utterly shocked.

"You should have said so earlier!"

"Does that mean the handsome Huai Xu was living and eating with you every day?"

"Yes," Baozi nodded calmly. "After it ended, we even went on a trip together. He modeled for me, and I took lots of photos."

"You absolutely must send them to me!" Mianmian demanded.

"..." Baozi looked down, silent.

"Name your price!" Qian Qian said.

"..."

Baozi finished the last sip of her milk tea, the straw making a gurgling sound as it sucked up air.

Then she lowered her head again, closing one eye and squinting the other, carefully aiming the straw at the bottom of the cup to suck up any remaining solids. She even tore off the plastic film from the top of the cup and popped the ice cubes into her mouth to chew.

Throughout all this, she didn't respond to the two giggly girls' unreasonable requests.

「Twenty minutes later.」

The group arrived at the supermarket to shop.

Zhou Li didn't have much to buy but strolled around the supermarket with Brother Nan anyway. Occasionally, Brother Nan would pick up a bag of potato chips, some chicken feet, or a bottle of soda, and Zhou Li would carry it all.

The two giggly girls chattered happily, remarking on how powerful Mixue Ice Cream City's marketing was. "Before the summer vacation, there were rumors that singing would get you free milk tea," one said. "Then, just over the summer, the Mixue Ice Cream City on campus launched a new promotion: sing a song, get a free ice cream cone! These days, with so many new students registering, lively and bold young men or women are singing at the shop entrance every day to get their cones. Some are just in it for the freebie. Others don't particularly care for the treat or the bargain; they simply enjoy singing. It's attracted a lot of attention!"

Zhou Li sometimes envied these people. No matter their reasons, they could all confidently express themselves. Even if they weren't particularly good, they seemed happy. He couldn't do that.

"Here, hold this."

Brother Nan passed him another bag of dried shiitake mushrooms and then looked impatiently at Cotton Swab. "Have you two decided yet? Why are you dawdling so much?"

"Almost! Almost done!"

"Any second now! Don't rush us!"

The two giggly girls replied sweetly, but their actions didn't speed up. They continued to pick and discuss things leisurely, clearly having figured out Brother Nan's temperament.

"Where's Baozi?"

"She was squatting at the entrance."

"No, she's not there."

"Huh? She was there just a moment ago."

Zhou Li placed all the snacks and drinks on the counter. While the cashier was scanning them, he turned to look towards the entrance. Indeed, he didn't see Baozi...

Wait, there she was!

Baozi reappeared at the entrance, holding an ice cream cone and licking it in small bites, gazing expectantly at Zhou Li.

Zhou Li asked in confusion, "Where did you go?"

Still licking her cone, Baozi pointed in a direction with her other hand and said softly, "Over there, Mixue Ice Cream City is having a promotion—sing for a free cone. A lot of people were singing. I saw you guys were going to be a while, so I went to check out the commotion..."

"Was it any good?"

"Not really. It was embarrassing."

"I see."

Zhou Li paid for the items. Carrying the bags, he walked out of the store and glanced in the direction Baozi had pointed. He could still faintly hear a girl's singing voice.

It was loud and incredibly catchy.

Zhou Li turned to look at the girl beside him. She was cradling the cone with both hands, silently licking it, quiet and cat-like. He felt a headache coming on. "You ate so much food, then had milk tea, and now an ice cream cone," he said, exasperated. "If you go hungry again in a few days, can your body even handle it?"

Baozi acted as if she hadn't heard a word.