My Demon Friends

"Wow, Zhou Li, you can make milk tea too! But why do you only bring some to Brother Nan's dorm and not take care of the girls in your own class?" Class Leader Zhong Xin teased Zhou Li as she deliberately turned her head.

"I'll bring some for you next time."

"Forget it. I'm afraid Brother Nan will hit me."

"What are you talking about?" Brother Nan's eyes widened.

"Brother Nan, I was wrong."

"Naughty!"

Brother Nan sipped a little more milk tea, just moistening her mouth, slowly savoring the richness and smoothness between her lips and teeth.

"COUGH, COUGH."

"Are you catching a cold?" Zhou Li turned to look at her; Brother Nan had already coughed several times that morning.

"No," Brother Nan responded without a second thought. "It's not that easy to catch a cold!"

"Then what are you doing?"

"Just a cough. Maybe I choked, or maybe your milk tea is poisoned," Brother Nan awkwardly defended.

"Wear something thicker."

"Really! It's just a tickle in my throat..."

"Still making excuses? Look at what you're wearing!" Zhou Li pinched the fabric of Brother Nan's shirt between his index finger and thumb, rubbing it a couple of times. The weather had been bad for a few days. Everyone in the classroom was wearing a jacket; some even wore down jackets in the morning and evening. Only Brother Nan was in a thin long-sleeved shirt for the sake of looking good.

"It'll warm up by noon."

Brother Nan coughed again before continuing, "And I'm not cold. I never really feel the cold."

At that moment, Baozi turned her head with a calm face and said to Zhou Li, "She even takes cold showers at night, kicks off her covers while sleeping, and still plays games in her pajamas after lights out."

Zhou Li looked at Brother Nan.

Brother Nan stared at Baozi incredulously. "Are you turning into a little tattletale? Snitching on me?"

Baozi calmly averted her gaze.

"You really are... something else!" Zhou Li didn't know what to say. "I've never seen a girl who loves cold showers."

"It's not like I have a choice. The past few days there's been no sun, and the water heater is solar-powered. I'm too lazy to go to the public bath... Unlike you, who can go home to use a gas-fired water heater, and your bathroom even has a bathtub."

"So you just take cold showers? It's so cold at night."

"How is that cold?" Brother Nan cocked her head and thought for a second. "Look, even great people swim in the winter!"

"I can't argue with you..."

Suddenly, Baozi began packing up her books and pens and stood up.

Brother Nan quickly asked, "Where are you going?"

With a calm expression and a soft voice, Baozi answered, "I don't want to sit here listening to you two talk."

They exchanged glances.

Brother Nan: You need to keep a closer eye on your cousin.

Zhou Li: I'm powerless here.

「...」

By noon, the sound of thunderous footsteps came from overhead. Chen Yang teasingly reminded the teacher that other classes had already finished, making the teacher impatiently wave them off.

The crowd surged out of the narrow classroom door, squeezing into the hallway and stairwell.

After lunch, Zhou Li made Brother Nan go back to her dorm to put on another jacket. Then the two rode their bikes toward the driving school.

Brother Nan had already gotten quite familiar with the instructor. He had offered to drive them a few days ago, but Brother Nan declined. So, they still had to bike there, while Su Jue and Qu Xiaogao had to take the school bus, and often even the public bus on the way back.

Suddenly, Brother Nan squeezed the brakes.

Zhou Li passed her, but then he also stopped and looked back, asking, "What's wrong?"

Brother Nan motioned with her lips toward a glass display cabinet hanging on the roadside wall. "See that? The photography competition they held a while back, the winning entries are all there... Your Little Cousin also participated!"

Zhou Li focused his gaze.

There were two such walls in the school, both as long as a whole street.

This wall was filled with glass display cabinets and rain shelters, usually used to display art students' painting works.

The other was just a wall, meant for artistically inclined students to paint murals, which were regularly updated and covered, with only a small tile overhang for a rain shelter.

Zhou Li had seen the photography competition in the class group chat because there were credits to earn. Brother Nan had submitted two photos for the contest. She had been quite excited when she told Zhou Li about it, seeming very confident, but she hadn't mentioned it since then.

Zhou Li didn't dare ask.

His eyes quickly scanned over landscape photos, still-life images, and portraits of beautiful women, soon finding Little Cousin's submissions. Each participant could submit three photos, and all three of Little Cousin's were conspicuously grouped together.

One was of an old man sitting quietly on a bluestone slab, his skin dark and wrinkled, with deep-set eyes and a profound gaze, sunlight filtering through the leaves casting mottled shadows on him.

Another captured an evening on a green train, with several elderly people together—some chatting, one turning to look quietly out of the window, his face reflected on the pane, and another holding a child.

There was also a photo of a stray cat in the residential area.

"Baozi took really good pictures," Brother Nan whispered.

"Yeah." Zhou Li glanced at Brother Nan and almost blurted out to ask if she had won any awards, but thankfully, he stopped himself just in time.

"If I had a DSLR, I could take pictures like this too!"

Zhou Li held his tongue.

Brother Nan turned her head. "That expression of yours is quite interesting, huh?"

Zhou Li was unfazed. "I wanted to ask if this contest had any prize money, but then I thought, it's none of my business anyway."

"Nope, just extra points."

"I see."

Since Brother Nan had been speeding all the way, they arrived at the driving practice area before one o'clock. Brother Nan found a car and got in. She seemed much more excited than when the instructor was around, fumbling around inside the car.

"No way, I really need to buy a car!"

"Try getting a loan from some illegal online lender. They'll be under investigation by the Public Security Bureau the next day," Zhou Li suggested.

"Bad idea!"

Brother Nan fiddled with the radio and frowned at the crackling noise. "This car doesn't even have a screen. I need to buy one with a display; it looks nicer."

Zhou Li ignored her, but she kept talking to herself. "You know, I never realized driving could be this fun. There's a driving practice area right behind my house..."

Occasionally, she would look at Zhou Li, and he would nod.

「A few hours later.」

Brother Nan didn't return to school but took Zhou Li to a small fishing village by Dian Lake.

They rode slowly along the earthen road beside the dam. The road was rough and cratered, and next to it was Dian Lake, with the evening breeze whipping up waves that crashed against the concrete dam, splashing high.

Seagulls flew in flocks, chirping cheerfully.

Brother Nan stopped her bike and sat by the roadside. Her hair was whipped about by the strong wind, even causing her cowlick to bend. "Such strong wind!"

"Aren't you cold? You already have a cold."

"Not cold!" Brother Nan sniffled. "Let me tell you a joke."

"Hmm."

"So Xu Xian gave the White Snake Lady a hat. She was very happy, but as soon as she put it on, she felt her head was extremely heavy. Guess why?" Brother Nan said. "Guess wrong, and you're bringing me milk tea tomorrow."

"Didn't you say milk tea is poisonous?"

"?"

"Okay, okay, what if I guess right?"

"?"

"Because it was Fa Hai's hat."

"Wrong!"

"Hmm?"

"It was a baseball cap! HAHAHA..." Brother Nan laughed so hard she leaned back, her feet kicking up. "I'll give you another chance."

"Alright."

"So, during the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a man named Lu You—you've heard of him, right? When the Jin Army invaded, the common people suffered greatly, but the state and government at the time were a bunch of incompetents. Oh, Lu You was so angry! Guess what happened next?"

"Did he go to war?"

"HAHAHA, wrong again!"

"What's the answer then?"

"The answer is... everyone lost their WiFi connection! HAHAHA..." Brother Nan laughed happily and proudly.

"I see."

In fact, Zhou Li had heard this lame joke before.

Brother Nan continued chattering in his ear while Zhou Li listened out of habit, occasionally chiming in. He looked up. Through the hazy water vapor, he could see the outline of West Mountain.

Suddenly, he felt a bit of longing for Hong Ran.

Zhou Li smacked his lips.

They sat there for over an hour, and it had gotten quite cold. Brother Nan still didn't want to leave, so Zhou Li dragged her away. They had some barbecue on the street outside the fishing village before heading back.

After getting home, he pulled out his phone—

Zhou Li: Sister, I miss you.

Hong Ran: What do you want to eat?