My Demon Friends

"Let's not go for driving practice tomorrow, okay? Stay at home, rest up, and let the instructor know," Zhou Li said as he sat beside Brother Nan, watching her eat.

"Why? I'm all better!" Brother Nan lifted her head.

"..."

"What's with that expression?"

"Nothing. It's just that I feel like I've heard that phrase somewhere before."

"Oh, you're being sarcastic."

"You've misunderstood."

"That's mockery... COUGH, COUGH..."

"Eat slower." Zhou Li thought for a moment and then said, "Tomorrow is already the tenth. Let's use the day to prepare for Double Eleven."

"Eh? That makes sense!"

"What's Double Eleven? Why do you need to prepare for it? Is it some kind of game?" Huai Xu also sat with Zhou Li, eagerly watching Brother Nan eat while peeling an orange for himself.

"A shopping... festival."

"What's a shopping... festival?" Huai Xu imitated her pause, still brimming with curiosity.

"It's an annual event," Brother Nan explained after swallowing what was in her mouth. "Ma Yun started it, and it gradually spread from online to offline. Every year around this time, things become especially cheap, so it's a national shopping spree."

"Oh..." Huai Xu was stupefied, his mind full of question marks.

"Give me a segment of that tangerine." Brother Nan stretched out her hand and continued to explain, "For instance, how much did that PS4 of yours cost?"

"With an extra controller, it was over three thousand yuan."

"If you wait until the day after tomorrow to buy it, it will be a lot cheaper."

"Really?"

"Really."

No sooner had Brother Nan finished speaking than Huai Xu stood up and packed his game console into its box.

"What are you doing?" Brother Nan was stunned.

"I'm going to return it!"

"Will they even take it back?"

"I have special persuasive techniques."

"But you've already bought games for it."

"Ah... right!"

WAH! Huai Xu cried out in frustration, collapsing onto the floor and staring blankly at it.

By this time, Brother Nan had finished eating, thoroughly cleaning her plate. She patted her belly contentedly and let out a satisfied belch.

"How come you eat so much but don't get fat?" Zhou Li asked.

"Hmph! I, Brother Nan, am incredibly strong. Doesn't that come at some cost?" Brother Nan glanced at her watch, realized it was just past ten o'clock, then stood up with the insulated container and made a show of going to wash the dishes.

"I'll do it," Zhou Li hastily said.

"I should do it. I ate your food, so how could I let you wash the dishes too?" Brother Nan clutched the insulated container and headed straight for the kitchen. Upon seeing the multitude of pots, pans, ladles, neatly arranged bottles of soy sauce, vinegar, cooking oil, and wine, as well as seasoning containers, she looked surprised.

"You're quite well-stocked here!"

"Bought them on a whim."

Zhou Li followed her into the kitchen.

Conveniently, there were two sinks, so they stood shoulder to shoulder, one washing and the other rinsing.

"Can you cook?"

"No."

"Then why buy all these things..."

"They look nice."

"Weirdo!"

"What about you?"

"I can stir-fry a few simple dishes; I learned from my dad, but I haven't cooked much. At home, it's never my turn to cook, and frankly, I don't enjoy eating my own cooking," Brother Nan said, her head bowed as she diligently washed the dishes, a few strands of hair falling to cover her face.

"You're better than me."

"That's debatable. Men often have more natural talent for cooking; women usually end up cooking because the men don't want to."

"There are also many girls who cook very well."

"Anyway, that's just how it is in our extended family. My own family is an exception, but in my eldest uncle's, second uncle's, and fourth uncle's families, the women's cooking only guarantees you won't starve to death. Men still have to cook during festivals and holidays. For New Year's, my dad is always in charge of the stove," Brother Nan said, handing the cleaned sections of the insulated container to Zhou Li. "Who knows? If you keep practicing like this, you might become a great chef by the time you graduate."

"I wish."

After washing the dishes, Brother Nan wanted to ride Zhou Li's bicycle back. However, Zhou Li refused, saying, "You've just started feeling a bit better, and you're already eager to go out gallivanting! What if you catch a chill and your cold gets worse?" Zhou Li then walked her downstairs.

"Where did you park your bike?" Brother Nan was curious.

"Over there, in the shed." Zhou Li pointed casually in a direction. There was indeed a shed there for non-motorized vehicles, though it was hard to see clearly in the dim evening light and through the obstructing trees.

"Oh."

Zhou Li watched her get into a car before going back inside.

After Huai Xu let him in, he went back to sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, his phone resting on it.

"Zhou Li, what's an allowance?"

"Zhou Li, help me 'build floors'."

"How come there's a discount for spending four hundred and also for spending two hundred? If you spend four hundred, do you get the two-hundred-off discount twice, and then the four-hundred-off discount as well?"

"What if I paid a deposit and then changed my mind?"

"Wow, this is so cheap! Could it be fake?"

"Blah blah blah..."

After answering a few of his questions, Zhou Li picked up his clothes to take a shower. He soaked in the bathtub for a long time. However, it was no use; as soon as he stepped out, he was bombarded with another slew of questions.

This Old Monster talks too much.

He had no choice but to hide in his room.

As far as he could recall, the living room lights were still on at midnight, and Zhou Li even heard the clicking sound effects of Taobao in his sleep. Tuanzi, however, didn't complain about Huai Xu disturbing her sleep; after all, she was better at staying up late than humans were.

...But not as good as Huai Xu.

The next day, Huai Xu was still bursting with energy, frantically scrolling through Taobao, while Tuanzi dozed off in a corner of the couch.

He wasn't just shopping for himself; he was also enthusiastic about helping Zhou Li pick things out.

For instance, he never bought clothes, but he'd still browse clothing, shoes, and even small accessories. Then he'd either make a note of them or take a screenshot and send it to Zhou Li's QQ, enthusiastically recommending Zhou Li buy them.

The shopping cart kept getting fuller and fuller.

From snail rice noodles (luosifen), various instant noodles, and the 'ranmian' (burning noodles) recommended by some popular blogger, to Sprite, Coke, iced tea, milk, yogurt, Wahaha...

Then came all sorts of trending internet snacks.

Next were necessities like toilet paper and trash bags.

In the end, he was tempted by anything cheap.

Then, to meet the minimum spending for a discount, he'd add more items. Miraculously, after adding a little more, he'd qualify for yet another tier of discount. Wouldn't it be a loss not to add more then?

Until Huai Xu turned to Zhou Li with a horrified expression and said, "I was only buying cheap stuff! How did it amount to thousands of yuan? Oh, I see, this is showing the original price!"

So, he started calculating it himself.

Even more frighteningly, after he finished his own calculations, although it was indeed much cheaper, the total still left him utterly dumbfounded.

So Huai Xu decided to remove some items.

However, after scanning the shopping cart from top to bottom and back again several times, he couldn't bring himself to delete a single thing.

Agony!

Zhou Li had no choice but to comfort him, "There's just this one day a year. Buying it is earning it. The more you buy, the more you earn. You've made a huge profit! Look, my shopping cart total is even a bit more than yours."

Huai Xu nodded, took a deep breath and let it out, quickly calming his emotions.

As soon as it struck midnight, the human and the demon began to snatch up deals.

Zhou Li planned to buy two coats, a pair of pants, and a pair of shoes. The shoes had a steep discount and would be hard to snag, so he had to go for them first. He also wanted to get a better water dispenser; the one he bought before was too cheap, didn't heat water well, and had a plastic smell.

Lastly, there were a few cute little outfits for Tuanzi and a new phone.

The days that followed were filled with the long wait for deliveries.

Huai Xu had filled in Zhou Li's name for the deliveries, so he had been changing into Zhou Li's appearance these past few days, which made Tuanzi a bit dizzy. Whenever a delivery arrived, he would excitedly manifest and rush out to get it, rummaging through the numerous packages, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Every day, he would also go through each item, checking which ones hadn't shipped and the shipping status of those that had.

He'd urge those that needed urging.

Occasionally, he would complain about slow shipping, and when he encountered sellers who were very slow to dispatch, he even threatened to go find them in person.

Zhou Li came to a profound understanding— It wasn't just women who went crazy for shopping. There were also demons.