My Demon Friends

The closest one was, of course, Cai University Driving School.

However, many people applied to Cai University Driving School, so it generally took longer to get a driver's license. According to online sources, you even had to queue. After considering various factors, Zhou Li chose another driving school near the campus.

This driving school had average online reviews, but the teaching quality was said to be quite good, with a low failure rate and quick licensing.

The downside was that instructors commonly scolded students, and finding one with a good temper was not easy.

Zhou Li did not want to be scolded.

So, he called up Brother Nan.

Brother Nan was lucky and had a chivalrous spirit.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Zhou Li and Brother Nan had paid the driving school; the registration fee made them wince—it was at least a thousand yuan more than in Yan City.

The registration clerk said, "If you haven't specified an instructor, we'll assign one to you randomly. Whichever instructor is available soonest will guide you. You'll get a response in a couple of days. In the meantime, you can start reviewing for the theoretical test."

Zhou Li and Brother Nan nodded.

They also received a book.

Leaving the driving school, they spotted a milk tea shop across the street. Suddenly, Brother Nan declared he couldn't walk any further and insisted on pulling Zhou Li in to cool off and rest.

"A cup of taro balls with grass jelly."

"Lemon juice."

"Is it necessary to read this book?" Brother Nan opened it, and the dense text immediately gave him a headache. "What is this? Why isn't there a single speck of color in the entire book?"

"Do you need it drawn in cartoons for you?"

"Hm? Are you mocking me?"

"No."

"Hmph!"

They had calculus for their first long class period in the afternoon.

After finishing their milk tea and sitting around for a bit, they leisurely biked back to school, arriving just in time.

Before class ended, Zhou Li received a call from an instructor.

The voice sounded quite young, male, and his Mandarin was quite good, even a bit better than Brother Nan's. Although Caiyun was close to Yi Province, it had many ethnic minorities, and Zhou Li genuinely couldn't understand some of their dialects.

After the instructor introduced himself, he asked, "You just signed up with our driving school, right? Two of you?"

"That's right."

"If there are no issues, then I'll be your instructor."

"Okay, Coach."

"Are you in class right now?" The instructor could tell Zhou Li was deliberately keeping his voice down.

"Yes."

"Then I won't interrupt your class. You two are together, right?" Coach Dong paused. "I'll keep this brief so you can pass the message to your buddy later. For the next few days, you two should practice for the theoretical exam on the app. I don't need to elaborate on that. Tomorrow morning or afternoon, come to the driving school's training ground to find me, and we'll start driving lessons."

"We're starting tomorrow?"

"Practice makes perfect!"

"In the afternoon. We don't have class then."

"Alright, two o'clock in the afternoon then. I'll text you the address."

"Thank you, Coach."

After hanging up, Zhou Li relayed the coach's message to Brother Nan, and then the teacher called on him to answer a question.

Unlucky.

「After class, he went straight home.」

Upon connecting to the WiFi, he downloaded a driving test app. Zhou Li didn't start studying immediately. Instead, he tossed his phone aside, intending to tease Tuanzi. However, Tuanzi mercilessly rejected him and even showed disdain.

...

Thus, Zhou Li picked up his phone and began looking at the questions.

Without realizing it, Huai Xu also leaned in. This Old monster was staring intently at the screen, seemingly even more focused than Zhou Li.

Zhou Li: "What are you doing?"

Huai Xu: "I'm learning traffic rules!"

Zhou Li: ...

Seeing their serious expressions, Tuanzi fell into a brief contemplation. Then, without another word, she ran towards them, jumped onto the sofa, and began pawing at the hand Zhou Li was using to hold his phone.

"What are you guys looking at?"

"Lord Dumpling wants to see too."

"Show Lord Dumpling!"

"We're reviewing driving test questions. Do you understand them?" Zhou Li showed her the phone screen.

"Hmm? Driv... test...?" Tuanzi muttered, staring at the phone screen without blinking, her eyes reflecting its light.

"Driving license test questions."

...

Tuanzi stopped talking.

Even though she didn't understand, she looked anyway, staring intently and pretending to be very serious.

Zhou Li let out a sigh and didn't bother with her. This little thing just had some quirks, but he knew her personality; she would find it boring in no time.

As expected, Tuanzi soon averted her gaze from the phone screen... and instead, began to study their expressions.

These two were looking far too serious.

"Is it that interesting...?"

Tuanzi muttered curiously, then placed a fluffy little bayberry on the phone screen.

Zhou Li moved the phone away.

A moment later, Tuanzi put it back again.

Zhou Li moved her paw away. Not long after, Tuanzi climbed onto his arm as if it were a tree branch, rested her head on his wrist, and occasionally glanced at Zhou Li to see his reaction.

When Zhou Li looked at her helplessly, attempting to reason with her, he was met only with her innocent and bewildered expression—

"Meow?"

About ten minutes later, she climbed onto Huai Xu's shoulder and covered his eyes with her paw.

However, Huai Xu remained unmoved. "Why do we drive on the right and not on the left?"

"Some countries drive on the left."

"Then why don't you all drive on the left?"

"If we drove on the left, you'd just ask why we don't drive on the right."

"Oh." Huai Xu nodded, thinking that made sense. But after pondering for a moment, he had a new question: "Why do we stop at red lights and go at green lights, instead of the other way around? Or why not go when it's a rainbow light? I like rainbows."

...

Zhou Li felt that just reading the questions was too inefficient. Actually doing the practice quizzes would be better. Perhaps then Huai Xu would have fewer questions?

Clearly, he was being naive.

Huai Xu wanted to answer the questions too.

He even wanted to have quick-fire answer sessions!

And argue with him about who was right or wrong.

Zhou Li felt so tired.

Stretching lazily, he felt mentally drained. "Let's stop here for today and continue tomorrow. Let's go eat first."

Huai Xu nodded.

Zhou Li opened QQ and asked Brother Nan, "Did you go through the questions? I studied them all afternoon."

Li Daimao: I'll just glance over them on the day of the test.

Zhou Li: ...

In the evening, there was a moral education self-study session. Zhou Li heard from Brother Nan that she had decided to skip class, so he didn't feel like going either. While Huai Xu was at home playing games with Brother Nan, Zhou Li reviewed questions for a while longer, engaging in a battle of wits with Tuanzi.

Later that night, he had already gone to bed when suddenly, a CLICK came from the door, as if someone was roughly trying to force it open.

Then, several more CLICKS followed.

Zhou Li could imagine Tuanzi jumping up, grabbing the doorknob, and trying to open his bedroom door.

But his door was locked, heh heh!

Unfortunately, some little things are destined to be your bane. When Tuanzi realized she couldn't open the door, she wasn't flustered and didn't make a sound. Instead, she started rapidly scratching at the door.

SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH…

The sound was very rhythmic. She was incredibly patient, her energy seemingly boundless.

Zhou Li sighed helplessly, got out of bed, opened the door, and looked down at Tuanzi, who was still scratching at the threshold.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm!" Tuanzi immediately stopped her pawing and looked up. "You opened the door? Why couldn't Lord Dumpling open it?"

"Maybe the door is broken?"

"Oh, Lord Dumpling wants a bedtime story," Tuanzi announced, walking into the room on her own and skillfully jumping onto the bed.