My Demon Friends

"Let's pull over up ahead. You've all been driving for a while now. Let's get out, stretch our legs, clear your minds. When you start driving again, you'll find—hey! You're driving much better than before!"

"Slow down, slow down..."

The parking spot was very close to West Mountain. Demons were walking by, which put Su Jue under a lot of pressure. But to avoid looking out of place, he clenched his jaw and got out of the car, standing with Qu Xiaogao.

He glanced back. The figure that had appeared on the hood hadn't left; it had moved to sit on the car roof!

And it seemed to be... staring right at him?

Su Jue discreetly looked away.

At that moment, Zhou Li glanced at Brother Nan, then at Su Jue and Qu Xiaogao. Everything was understood without words.

Brother Nan pursed her lips, immediately walked over to Qu Xiaogao, and clapped a hand on his shoulder, looking at him coolly.

Brother Nan was a bit taller than Qu Xiaogao. Her looking down at him, combined with her somewhat roguish air, instantly reminded Qu Xiaogao of the upperclassmen who used to extort protection money from him in middle school.

"Which department are you in, buddy?"

"Com-Computer Science department," Qu Xiaogao stammered, a bit bewildered, nervously swallowing. "Why?"

"Oh, Computer Science! So, your department has more guys than girls, and the girls are, shall we say, a bit hard to describe?" Brother Nan asked.

"Ye-Yes, a bit."

"Don't be nervous!" Brother Nan offered a seemingly kind smile that made Qu Xiaogao's eyelids twitch. "I'm just chatting with you. The three girls in our dorm are always clamoring for boyfriends. We could, you know, connect."

"Oh, so that's what this is about... Okay, sure!" Qu Xiaogao visibly relaxed.

"Come, come, let's talk over here. Don't want to expose my 'ugly side' in front of Zhou Li..."

"Um!! Sure!"

Qu Xiaogao and Brother Nan walked a few steps to the side. Although they hadn't moved far, the wind was picking up by Dian Lake. The howling wind and the crashing of waves against the shore blurred all other sounds.

Zhou Li quietly walked up to Su Jue and said straightforwardly, "We've met before, haven't we?"

"When?"

"I used to be just like you, only my act was even more convincing." Zhou Li surveyed their surroundings. "You can see them too, right? A powerful Great Demon lives in these mountains, so you'll see a lot of demons around here. However, they're not evil; you can just ignore them."

"What are you talking about..."

"Hm?"

"I... don't understand."

"You hesitated," Zhou Li shook his head. "Are you afraid of me? Or of them? There's no need. We're the same kind. And honestly, they aren't scary either. Look at me; I get along quite well with a demon."

"..."

Su Jue watched him, and after a moment, his gaze shifted past Zhou Li to the figure sitting on the car roof.

"His name is Huai Xu, a very mischievous Little Demon," Zhou Li introduced at the perfect moment.

Su Jue remained silent.

Meanwhile, Huai Xu, still on the car roof, asked what 'mischievous' meant.

Zhou Li told him it was short for 'handsome,' then continued, "Haven't you met others like us before?"

"No," Su Jue shook his head.

"I see." Zhou Li nodded, managing a smile. "Well, now we've met."

"Yes."

Su Jue remained rather quiet. Zhou Li figured it was just his personality, so he didn't press further.

The two of them stood in silence.

The coach squatted downwind, smoking a cigarette.

The strong wind carried Brother Nan's slightly distorted voice: "Oh, so they're all just gaming nerds, huh? Tch, what a pity. The three girls in my dorm all want guys who can go shopping with them and take them to anime conventions. Looks like this isn't going to work out."

Zhou Li turned his head and saw Qu Xiaogao's face etched with regret.

Coach Dong hadn't lied to them. Although they had only stopped for a brief rest and hadn't done anything in particular, when they got back into the driver's seats, everyone was indeed driving better than before. This was mainly because they had loosened up from their previously tense state.

It was six in the evening when they returned to the driving school.

The driving school had its own shuttle buses—one large and one mid-sized—that ferried students to and from the school in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, free of charge. By this hour, however, the shuttles had already departed, so Qu Xiaogao and Su Jue had to call a taxi.

Brother Nan and Zhou Li headed to the bicycle parking area.

Zhou Li had barely taken a few steps when he felt Brother Nan suddenly grab his sleeve. He was taken aback.

"How dare you order Brother Nan around with just your eyes! You're in trouble now!" Brother Nan gripped his sleeve tightly, faint veins visible on her fair little fist from the force. "The act itself is minor, but the audacity behind it really ticks Brother Nan off!"

"Wh-What?" Zhou Li's mouth twitched.

"It means you're finished!"

"I'll treat you to rice noodles."

"You think a bowl of rice noodles can smooth this over?"

"I've been learning to make milk tea online. I even bought black tea from Taobao. How about I make some and bring it over to you?"

"Alright, this matter is settled!"

Brother Nan casually tossed the keys to him, eyeing him sideways. "Unlock my bike."

Zhou Li was very obedient.

After unlocking it, he even carefully looped the lock under the seat and secured it there before respectfully handing the keys back to Brother Nan.

Brother Nan was quite satisfied.

But she couldn't let it show on her face; otherwise, this little brother wouldn't treat her as the 'Big Brother' next time. So, she just hmphed lightly, kicked up the kickstand with a sharp movement, and swung onto the bike.

"Let's go!"

Her voice was soft.

The driving practice range was built on a relatively remote small hill. The road conditions were average; it was a tough climb up, but the descent was exhilarating.

The sky was dimming, dark clouds swirling overhead. The two of them stood on their pedals, racing down the hill with the wind. If they wanted to say anything, they had to get close and shout.

「Dinner was rice noodles.」

During the meal, they finalized their plans for the theory test. The earliest they could schedule it was for the following week.

Zhou Li, worried Brother Nan's luck might be as erratic as it was during her college entrance exams, reminded her to at least skim through some practice questions when she got back. But judging by Brother Nan's dismissive agreement, he figured she'd forget all about it the moment she walked away.

When they got home, both demons were there.

Tuanzi immediately trotted over, looking pitiful. "Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling wanted to eat canned beef for lunch, but you weren't home! Lord Dumpling tried for ages but couldn't open the can~~"

Zhou Li comforted her for a long time.

Then he heard Huai Xu ask, "Was driving fun?"

"Not fun," Zhou Li answered instantly.

"Why not? I actually thought it was quite fun!" Huai Xu sounded intrigued. "I thought operating that thing would be really hard, but you guys just drove it off today like it was nothing!"

"It's not fun, and driving well is actually quite difficult."

"Right, you didn't drive very well." Huai Xu, from his perch on the car roof, had a clear sense of it.

"If you hadn't been sitting on the hood, or lying on the roof talking to me, I would have driven much better," Zhou Li said, his face expressionless. "How is it that you didn't get thrown off?"

"Hmph! Who do you think I am!"

"..."

"Hey, Zhou Li! How about I learn to drive for you? You don't find it fun anyway!" Huai Xu suggested.

"...No way!"

"Then how about we take turns learning?"

"That's not happening either!"

"Stingy!"

Huai Xu muttered to himself and went back to his phone.

Seeing Huai Xu had no intention of disturbing his studying, Zhou Li sat down some distance away and pulled out his phone to take a practice test.

During this time, apart from Tuanzi, who would deliberately run over to try and stop them from using their phones, Huai Xu sat quietly on the sofa. He didn't look like he was playing games; it was unclear what he was so engrossed in.

Zhou Li completed one set of practice questions with a score of 96.

He did another and got 92.

Easy!

Zhou Li stretched lazily, closed the driving test study app, and, in a good mood, went over to sit next to Huai Xu. He turned his head and saw—

Huai Xu was puzzling over a question from the theory test!

What on earth?

Zhou Li even heard him mutter softly, "What should you do if you encounter a child like this while driving... Obviously, get out of the car and give them a beating, duh."

Zhou Li finally couldn't hold back. "When did you download a driving test study app?"

"Today. Why?"

"Why did you download that...?"

"To do practice questions. What's wrong?"

"..."

"Oh, I noticed you didn't seem too happy about me looking at the questions with you, so I downloaded one for myself. What's the big deal?"

"You can't even get a driver's license..."

"I never said I was going to get one. Problem?"

"...Nothing."

Zhou Li suddenly found he had nothing to say. He just felt a bit exasperated.