My Demon Friends

The room was pitch black, with virtually no light, so Zhou Li turned on the small bee-shaped lamp by the bed and dimmed it to its lowest setting. The dim, warm yellow light barely filled the room.

Turning around, he saw Tuanzi sitting right in the middle of his bed, sitting bolt upright and staring straight at him.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Zhou Li asked.

"Lord Dumpling can't sleep."

"...That attitude of yours isn't really fitting for sleeping, is it?"

"I don't understand..."

"Go to sleep now. Early to bed, early to rise makes you grow tall." Zhou Li bent down and vigorously rubbed Tuanzi's round face back and forth a few times.

"Lord Dumpling wants to hear a story." Tuanzi slightly lifted her chin to show her stubbornness.

"...So what story do you want to hear?"

"Anything."

"All right, move over a bit."

"Oh!"

Obeying, Tuanzi shifted to the side. Her eyes still sparkled brightly, reflecting the dim light, and she asked, "Zhou Li, wouldn't humans catch a cold being so smooth and bare?"

"That's why we need to cover up with blankets."

Zhou Li got back under the covers and lay down, with Tuanzi sitting to his left. As he contemplated, he said, "What story to tell... How about a ghost story! Recently, when I went to the Supernatural Society with Brother Nan, I heard many interesting ghost stories from our fellow members."

"What is a ghost story?" Tuanzi asked.

"You can think of them as demons. When people die, they turn into ghosts," Zhou Li explained softly and patiently. "A story about ghosts is called a ghost story. It's very scary, and children love it the most."

"Will it scare Lord Dumpling?"

"I'll tell one that's not too scary then."

"Oh!"

"You see, in the early Tang Dynasty, about a thousand years ago, there was a great, kind man in Yi Province named Chen. This Chen Dashanren saw that there were many tombs of Han Dynasty soldiers near his home, all of them desolate and with no one to offer sacrifices, so he felt pity..."

"What is sacrificing?"

"It's when the living burn things for the ghosts, so the ghosts can receive these things."

"Can demons receive them too?"

"They can't."

"Oh."

"So, this Chen Dashanren, he would burn things every year to console those soldiers. Then one day, he dreamed that there were over a hundred people standing at his door, vague and shadowy, which frightened him a lot."

"But those people told him not to be afraid, saying, 'We are the ancient soldiers you often worship, blessed by your kindness. Right now, an evil demon is lurking near Jin Palace, and it's about to come here. We've decided to protect you, but we lack weapons, so we hope you can burn us some paper armor and weapons. We will fight that demon to the death.'"

"Upon waking the next day, Chen Dashanren hurriedly made inquiries and indeed found unrest near Jin Palace, so he burned the items needed."

"But in the end, Chen Dashanren was still killed by the demon."

"Why is that?" Lord Dumpling, lacking any patience, couldn't help but interrupt before the story was finished.

"Let me finish." Zhou Li gently touched Lord Dumpling's fluffy little forehead, which felt warm and soft. "Chen Dashanren went to confront those soldiers after his death. Angry, he asked, 'How could you do this to me? I clearly burned you armor and weapons, and I come to worship you every year, yet you deceived me!'"

"The soldiers cried out their innocence, saying, 'You did burn weapons and armor for us, but soon after, a group of people came. They said all supplies should be unifiedly received and allocated by them, and we still haven't gotten anything yet!'"

"Then what happened?" Lord Dumpling's eyes sparkled brightly.

"There's nothing more."

"That story isn't nice."

"Oh, then I'll tell you another..." Zhou Li considered Tuanzi's intelligence level, readying his improvisational storytelling skills. "What about a story of a little pig and a little dog fighting? Would that be good?"

"That's for little kids."

"Isn't Lord Dumpling a little child?"

"Not at all!"

"Oh, I see! In that case, how about I tell you a story of a human child raised by gorillas?"

"Good."

"Once upon a time..."

Zhou Li didn't even realize when he had fallen asleep, only faintly remembering having told one children's story after another. Partway through, Tuanzi even took a break, went out, and brought back her little cat doll to listen with her. He was so thirsty afterward.

...

「On the balcony of a men's dormitory at Cai University.」

A short young man was making a phone call in his regional dialect, covering the phone with his hand. "Today, a roommate asked me to sign up for driving school, and after thinking it over, I decided to go with him."

"Didn't you say you would come back during the winter break to take the test? The instructor was already contacted, right?"

"I've already signed up."

"What if that instructor scolds you?"

"It's okay."

"Then take care. If you feel wronged, avoid clashing with the instructor; just quit."

"I know."

"Alright then. It seems you get along well with... I just knew you would definitely get along well with your roommates," the voice on the other end of the phone said. "These days, we've started wearing down jackets here. What about over there?"

...

「Morning.」

Zhou Li woke up to the sound of the wind howling outside.

The room, however, was very quiet. He slightly raised his upper body to take a look: a white kitten was curled up on his blanket. Last night had probably been Zhou Li's most restless sleep in nearly half a year, as he always worried about crushing the little creature or waking it up as it dreamt of diving deep into the sea or perhaps swinging in a primeval forest.

Zhou Li usually slept very well. The last time he had such unrestful sleep was the day he met Huai Xu. It was too difficult.

Zhou Li carefully peeled back the blanket, first dangling his feet off the side of the bed and slowly sliding out. But as he stood at the side of the bed with slippers on, he saw that Tuanzi had already slightly opened her eyes.

Looking up at him, she stretched out a little paw to rub her eyes and muttered softly, "You can't hide it from Lord Dumpling..."

Zhou Li took a breath and then slowly exhaled. He calmed his emotions and turned to leave.

Breakfast was Sweet Osmanthus Cake with milk, quite simple. After leaving home, Zhou Li's living standard had dropped significantly, and he even complained about it to Aunt Jiang. He thought it would make Aunt Jiang happy, but he didn't really mind.

"It's a bit cold today," Zhou Li said to Huai Xu.

"It's a cloudy day."

"You have that ability?"

"My phone shows it, not just for today, but tomorrow and the day after too!" Huai Xu was somewhat proud. "Doesn't yours show it?"

"Mine shows it too," Zhou Li said calmly.

"Oh..." Huai Xu was instantly disappointed.

"Do you want to wear more clothes? Are you cold?" After finishing his milk, Zhou Li went back to his room and put on a jacket. "By the way, how do your clothes just appear like that? I'm curious."

"I'm not telling you!"

"Stingy."

Zhou Li didn't bother with the dishes and left the house with his phone and wallet.

He had a full schedule this morning: College English and Basic Physics.

In the afternoon, he was supposed to go for his driving lessons, and today was the first meeting with the instructor, which made Zhou Li a bit nervous. Although he had researched online and found out that the atmosphere in driving schools had greatly improved, he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any bad apples still around.

What if he encountered a bad instructor and Brother Nan ended up fighting with him? What should he do then?

Watching the excitement seemed like an option, but he feared Brother Nan would beat him up afterward.

Breaking it up was a possibility, but he also feared getting beaten by Brother Nan as well.

Helping out was another option, but Zhou Li had rarely been in fights from a young age and lacked experience in this area. Brother Nan was quite measured in his actions and even knew a bit about disability assessments and relevant criminal laws, but Zhou Li did not.

"Sigh..."

By half-past two in the afternoon, Zhou Li and Brother Nan had arrived at Golden Driving School's practice field.

The afternoon was still sunless. They stood under a tree, the temperature feeling much like the deep autumn in Yan City, with leaves continuously being whisked by the wind, fluttering and spinning in the air.

"Why don't you wear a thicker coat?" Zhou Li saw Brother Nan quietly tightening his clothes.

"I'm in good health!" Brother Nan was stubborn. "Anyway, I only catch a cold once a year; thick or thin, it's all the same!"

"Aren't you cold?"

"Not cold!"

"Ooh..."

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm not laughing!"

"How many people are in our car?" Brother Nan changed the subject.

"Four."

"That's quite a few."

"It's a university town."

"Wonder if there are any cute little girls to be my junior," Brother Nan grinned and suddenly caught a glimpse of two people standing by the roadside in the distance, seemingly also waiting for the instructor.

"Aren't those two also from our car?" Brother Nan blinked and pointed.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Li followed his gaze and, with his good eyesight, easily made out the two figures. They were young men.

One was of average build, wrapped in a down jacket, boredly kicking leaves. The other, not very tall with somewhat long hair, had his hands tucked in his pockets, quietly waiting.

That person...

Zhou Li suddenly let out a chuckle.

Should this be called fate, or luck?

Brother Nan, next to him, was a bit baffled, waving his hand in front of Zhou Li's eyes. "What are you laughing at? Do you know those two?"

"Yeah."

"Who? Where did you meet them?"

"Do you remember the paper ball last week?"

"OH!! What a coincidence?" Brother Nan's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a vertical oval.

"Exactly."

"Aren't you going to talk to him?"

"Don't rush, it might scare him. We'll get to know each other eventually," Zhou Li said, pausing for a moment. "Do you think we are in the same car?"

"I guess... yes!"

As they were speaking, an instructor's car drove up. Zhou Li looked at the license plate and quickly waved. The instructor slowed down but did not stop, just told them to walk a bit further ahead.

The instructor was quite young, looking only in his twenties, which made Zhou Li relax a lot.

No offense, but younger people just tend to have higher standards.

The instructor's car passed by the two people ahead, and Zhou Li saw that they also followed the car forward. He pursed his lips, wondering what the reaction of that kindred spirit would be upon seeing him.

Brother Nan was a bit disheartened. "No little juniors then."

The instructor's car stopped.

The two ahead got there first. The instructor got out of the car and waved to Zhou Li and Brother Nan, signaling to the slowly approaching pair to hurry up.

So, Zhou Li and Brother Nan broke into a jog.

The instructor's eyes brightened, and he grinned. "Well now, a handsome lad and a fair maiden!"

The shorter young man's expression momentarily changed, turning from white to red. Zhou Li even felt his breathing quicken. After a moment, the young man averted his gaze and forced himself to calm down, pretending as if nothing had happened.