My Demon Friends

Zhou Li held his mobile phone in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other.

He picked up a bean sprout, took a bite, and then showed the meat from inside the bean sprout to the camera.

A moment later—

Zhou Li: [Video]

Zhou Li: How extravagantly must those ancient nobles have lived to come up with stuff like this.

Li Daimao: ⊙▃⊙

Zhou Li gave a slight smile, stopped replying, turned off his phone, and began to savor his food. He asked Tuanzi, "How did you manage to move all these things over here?"

Tuanzi jumped onto the couch and nestled in, saying disdainfully, "Do you think Lord Dumpling doesn't have little demons to command?"

As she spoke, she suddenly sniffed.

Sensing something wasn't quite right, she lay down again and sniffed earnestly. After a moment, she looked up at Zhou Li, puzzled. "Why does Lord Dumpling's bed smell so much like you?"

"Isn't your bed that cardboard box?" Zhou Li countered.

"That's Lord Dumpling's other bed."

"I see." Zhou Li nodded. "Then I temporarily slept in your bed for a couple of days."

"Why would you sleep in Lord Dumpling's bed instead of your own?" Tuanzi asked, puzzled.

"Because I missed Lord Dumpling."

"Hmm..."

Tuanzi raised a small paw, licked it, wiped her face, then ran from the couch onto Zhou Li's lap. Lying down, she looked up and asked him, "Do you like Lord Dumpling the most?"

"Yes, I do."

"I knew it, MEOW!"

From the side, Huai Xu suddenly let out an "UGH!", shook his head vigorously, and hastily lowered his head, wolfing down his food.

「At night.」

Tuanzi struggled to drag her phone over to Zhou Li. "Zhou Li, why won't Lord Dumpling's phone turn on?"

As she spoke, she stepped on the large circular button.

Zhou Li picked up the phone and looked at it. "Because you haven't turned it on."

"Lord Dumpling doesn't know how."

"I'll teach you."

"Okay!"

"But it's not convenient for Lord Dumpling to use a mobile phone in this form; paws can't hold a phone steady," Zhou Li said, looking troubled. "How about Lord Dumpling transforms into a Little Cat Girl, and then I'll teach you?"

"Lin Zhong told me not to become little cat fodder."

"Why?"

"He said humans are all bad and told me not to listen to you."

"Don't listen to him."

"Hmm?"

Tuanzi was stumped. She stared blankly at Zhou Li, her brain capacity unable to support such complex thought.

Zhou Li had no choice but to think for her. "Is Zhou Li bad?"

"...Not bad."

"See? That settles it."

"Oh, Lord Dumpling will now become little cat fodder."

"It's 'niang.'"

"'Niang.'"

"Listen: N-I-A-N-G. 'Niang.'"

"N-I-A-N-G. 'Niang.'"

"Little Cat Girl."

"Little cat fodder."

"...Let's leave it at that."

So a Little Cat Girl appeared on Zhou Li's lap.

Zhou Li picked her up, sat her beside him, and tilted the phone. "Press and hold here, and the phone will turn on. See, it lit up, right?"

"It lit up," Tuanzi repeated vacantly.

"New phones need to be set up. I'll help you with that." Zhou Li finished the initial registration and connected to the Wi-Fi. "What does Lord Dumpling want to learn?"

"I want to learn everything."

"That'll be very difficult."

"Lord Dumpling is super smart."

"That's true too." Zhou Li nodded in agreement, thought for a moment, and then said, "But we still have to proceed step by step."

"Shoon-shoon-joon-joon~~" Tuanzi repeated.

"Step by step," Zhou Li corrected.

"Shoon-shoon-jin-jin~~"

"...That's right."

Zhou Li didn't press her further.

Teaching Tuanzi to use a mobile phone was not easy, perhaps even harder than teaching Zheng Zhilan. Although Tuanzi had sharp eyes, she was illiterate, and her intelligence and way of thinking were somewhat different from humans. Miss Zheng, at least, knew some characters.

So tonight, Zhou Li did only one thing—

He downloaded TikTok for her, set it to youth mode, and taught her how to open the app and swipe up, down, left, and right.

Tuanzi had a blast.

Zhou Li kept her company.

It wasn't until he received a text from Miss Zheng that he rubbed Tuanzi's head and got up to take a shower.

He had intended to change the bedsheets and quilt cover today but forgot because he was preoccupied with playing with Tuanzi. Zhou Li couldn't be bothered with the hassle, not wanting to work up a sweat again, so he simply lay down on the bed and pulled the quilt over himself. Instantly, he was enveloped by a subtle fragrance.

Mmm~~

「Tuesday, morning.」

After washing his underwear, Zhou Li hurried to school without even having time for breakfast and entered the classroom just as the bell rang.

The first class was English Audio-Visual.

The multimedia classroom was large, with desks that shielded people from view. Zhou Li walked toward the back, looking for Brother Nan. Spotting a fair arm raised high in the air from the back rows, he quickly made his way over.

Brother Nan, in a tracksuit, had rolled up her sleeves to her elbows and was frowning deeply, engrossed in a book.

"What are you reading?" Zhou Li asked, curious.

"English."

"??"

"I'm preparing for the CET-4 next month."

"Carry on."

Zhou Li took the headphones from the side of the desk and put them on. But after listening for a while, he realized he couldn't understand, so he took out his phone to look at it instead.

'Three idiots in the dorm' kept popping up with messages.

This was the group chat name for dorm 502, chosen by vote; apparently, everyone thought it was appropriate.

Zhou Li tapped in to take a look.

It turned out Chang Xiaoxiang had gotten himself a girlfriend; no wonder the chat was so lively.

Indeed, it wasn't easy!

Zhou Li scrolled through the chat history and found out that Chang Xiaoxiang's new girlfriend was from the Economics faculty. What did that imply? It implied that Zhou Li's help during the military training had indeed had an effect—the guilt that had never really existed in Zhou Li's heart faded even further.

Zhou Li: Shouldn't you thank me?

Chang Xiaoxiang: My utmost thanks, Brother Li!

Chen Yang: Brother Li, help me out too.

Liu Zhengming: Same for me.

Zhou Li chuckled. A glance from the corner of his eye revealed Brother Nan sprawled asleep on the desk, her book closed and set aside. The wind, flowing in through the open windows and carrying the fresh scent of the trees, gently stirred her hair, painting a serene and beautiful scene.

「And so November passed.」

「Early December.」

It was time for the road test for the driver's license. Compared to the previous test, the practice time for this one was much shorter, and it felt easier. A few days ago, their coach had secretly taken them to the test site for a few practice runs, so they had a better idea of what to expect.

Golden Driving School was still scheduled towards the end. Although Zhou Li and his group arrived at the site early, they didn't take their test until after midday.

Brother Nan was first in line.

She passed on her first try, which was a great way to start.

Zhou Li was second. The equipment had some issues on his first attempt, so he had to do a second lap. Fortunately, he passed on that try.

The third was Su Jue.

Su Jue had always been prone to nervousness, and the coach was most worried about him. As expected, he forgot to signal when starting the car. The safety officer coughed twice and patted his leg as a kind reminder, but it just made him more nervous.

He ultimately failed during the straight-line driving portion.

On his second attempt, he failed the straight-line driving portion again.

This made the young man very upset.

Qu Xiaogao also passed on his first go.

They were the last ones to complete the test. As the safety officer drove the car back, he complimented their coach on his teaching skills. He also mentioned that Su Jue was a little too tense and reminded Su Jue to look further down the road when driving straight, not to focus on the ground right in front.

Su Jue just nodded repeatedly, his face flushed red.

When they found their coach, he didn't blame Su Jue but simply said, "Don't be nervous, and don't feel bad. Just drive more, and you'll be fine. Even if you had luckily passed today, you wouldn't dare to drive on the road. It's better to spend a bit more money before getting your license than having to pay later."

"Alright."

Su Jue's face was still very red. He felt utterly useless. Out of four people, he was the only one who failed. It was embarrassing.

Zhou Li hesitated for a moment, then suggested, "Why don't we go get something to eat? We've been together for some time now, and once the test is over, we probably won't see each other much at school."

Qu Xiaogao nodded. "Sure!"

Zhou Li then patted Su Jue on the shoulder. "Failing is no big deal; it just takes a bit more time."

"Yeah."

Along with their coach, the five of them went for a meal.

This time, Su Jue paid.

Zhou Li didn't send a red packet to the group to split the bill but instead added Su Jue as a friend, sent him a personal red packet, and then checked out his Moments.

It was spotlessly clean.

Afterward, the coach dropped Qu Xiaogao and Su Jue off, while Zhou Li and Brother Nan rode bicycles, even stopping by Chunming Institute of Technology for a spin.

Back at their school, while passing a teaching building, Brother Nan suddenly pointed to the side and shouted, "Look!"

Zhou Li turned his head to look.

Through the first-floor glass, he could see a spacious classroom filled with students—some were scattered about standing, others sat casually on the floor, and a few were dancing.

Brother Nan explained, "They're from our faculty, rehearsing for the welcoming party. Baozi is there too. Let's go check it out!"

With that, she pedaled her bike rapidly towards it.

She didn't slow down even when approaching the stone steps, riding straight up them.