My Demon Friends

Today was December 18th, Wednesday.

There were calculus and organic chemistry classes in the morning, neither of which could be casually skipped. Especially since it was the end of the term.

After washing up, Zhou Li glanced at Brother Nan, who was still sleeping soundly, and decided not to wake her. Instead, he walked to Huai Xu's room, cracked the door open, and peeked inside.

As expected, Huai Xu was not asleep but sprawled on the bed playing with her phone. Hearing the noise, she turned her head to look at him. "Why didn't you knock?"

"...Why have you become a girl again?"

"Brother Nan said girls are good."

"...I'm off to class. If you two get hungry, just order takeout. I bet Brother Nan won't wake up until noon. Don't wait for me if I'm not back by then," Zhou Li said.

"Got it."

"I'm leaving."

Zhou Li checked his books and keys, then headed out.

Just as he reached the door, he suddenly caught the sound of light footsteps, so he stepped back and turned to look. A half-grown cat scurried out of his room in tiny steps. It glanced at him, rubbed against him briefly, then jumped onto the sofa, landing next to Brother Nan's head.

Seeing Brother Nan fast asleep, the cat quickly raised its little paw.

Hesitated.

Hesitated.

The paw finally came down, but so lightly that Brother Nan seemed to ignore it.

Zhou Li smiled.

There were only two weeks left in December. Then there would be a few days off to prepare for exams before New Year's Day. Believe it or not, the exam preparation period combined with New Year's Day was almost as long as the National Day holiday. Then came the exams, followed by the winter vacation.

There was a physical education exam that week.

The following week, three papers for 'review-based courses' had to be handed in: Military Theory, Ideological Morals, and Current Affairs & Policy.

One required 1,000 words.

The other two required 1,500 words each.

To be honest, Zhou Li hadn't started writing any of them.

As for other 'examination courses', some teachers were more conscientious. In the last one or two weeks, they usually gave some hints about the questions or at least defined the rough scope. In the last couple of classes, they would also touch on content related to the exams. Whether you could absorb it depended on your own aptitude. These teachers were all both beautiful and kind-hearted.

Of course, there were also some less conscientious teachers.

This was all information Senior Sister Wang Dan had told Zhou Li, which Chang Xiaoxiang later reiterated in the dorm; Zhou Li remembered it all firmly.

The first class was calculus.

Teacher Liu was haughty, believing she taught so well that her students, by rights, should have a solid foundation. They should easily handle even the toughest papers set by any math department.

So, the students from classes three and four tried everything—begging, throwing tantrums, acting cute—but could not shake her resolve.

Instead, they incurred several reprimands from her.

After class, the classroom was filled with moans and wails.

The second class was organic chemistry.

They had to change classrooms.

Zhou Li arrived early at the new classroom and sat alone in the back row.

Little Cousin and Cotton Swab walked into the classroom and headed straight for him, eventually sitting in the row in front of him. A few seconds later, all three turned around to look at him—one expressionless, the other two full of gossip.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Li asked.

"Brother Nan didn't come back last night!" Mianmian whispered, as if uttering a secret passphrase.

"Ummm..."

"Brother Nan was at your place, right?" Qian Qian asked.

"Uh..."

"Is that a yes by default?" Mianmian asked, picking up the conversational thread. "And Brother Nan didn't come to class today!"

"..."

"Is it... inconvenient?"

"You guys are too much!" Zhou Li exclaimed.

"Then what's the deal?"

Their eyes were filled with curiosity, like Mages driven by the pursuit of knowledge.

Little Cousin calmly stared at the tabletop. Though she hadn't spoken a word, she exuded an air of quiet leadership.

Zhou Li felt he needed to explain before it was too late. "She played games all night with Huai Xu and only went to sleep this morning. She's now lying on my couch, sleeping like a log."

Mianmian and Qian Qian exchanged glances.

"Ooooh..." they drawled.

It was Little Cousin, however, who withdrew her gaze. She casually glanced at Zhou Li before turning back around.

Zhou Li thought he saw something in her eyes...

Disappointment?

He must be seeing things!

Zhou Li quickly shook his head.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chang Xiaoxiang approaching. Since Brother Nan hadn't come to class that day, Chang Xiaoxiang took the seat beside Zhou Li.

"Dorm Leader, I'm going to sit next to you," Chang Xiaoxiang said.

"Okay," Zhou Li replied.

"What were you guys just talking about?" Chang Xiaoxiang asked curiously.

"Nothing much. Class is starting," Zhou Li said, gesturing for Mianmian and Qian Qian to turn back around, using Chang Xiaoxiang's arrival to escape their interrogation.

The chemistry teacher was more conscientious than the calculus teacher. Halfway through the last part of the class, he turned off the projector. He then stood at the podium holding a book and chuckled as he looked at everyone, conveying everything without words.

"WOAH!!"

"Teacher Wei, I love you!"

"Teacher Wei is awesome!"

The students below erupted, quickly grabbing their books and pens, staring intently at Teacher Wei.

The highlighting of key points had begun.

And he was so thorough that he pinpointed specific questions.

This moved everyone deeply...

When the dismissal bell rang, Zhou Li rushed out of the classroom, mounted his bicycle, and sped home against a strong wind.

When he opened the door and stepped inside, everything became calm.

The curtains were drawn, making the room dimly lit. Brother Nan had already woken up. She was sprawled on the sofa playing with her phone, with Tuanzi lying on top of her. The human and the Demon looked surprisingly reconciled?

"You're back." Brother Nan glanced at him.

"Have you had lunch?" Zhou Li asked.

"Not yet."

"Why haven't you eaten yet...?"

"Just woke up."

"Oh, the chemistry teacher highlighted the key points today," Zhou Li said as he put down his books. "Don't skip class next week. He's definitely going to take attendance."

"Got it meow~~" Brother Nan said, stretching so languidly that tears welled in her eyes. She casually wiped them away and then gently rubbed Tuanzi with her hand. "Have you written your paper?"

"Nope. You?"

"I haven't written mine either. I posted on a forum to see if I can find someone to write it for me—fifty bucks a piece."

"You..."

Zhou Li was completely at a loss with Brother Nan.

He ordered some takeout, including the Old Granny Potato that Brother Nan wanted, and added two side dishes. Zhou Li cooked the rice himself. He had specifically bought an electric rice cooker and the same type of rice they usually ate at home. After eating, Zhou Li moved his laptop to the balcony. He took out paper and a pen, found a suitably long paper online, and began to copy it.

Brother Nan didn't leave but lay on the sofa, yawning and watching him copy until his hand ached.

Thursday's classes included basic physics and calculus.

Friday was college English and physical education.

After a semester of playful PE classes, a sudden physical fitness test caught many off guard. This was especially true for the boys' one-kilometer and the girls' 800-meter runs, which most people found unbearable.

Many ran until they were utterly exhausted.

Only a few savvy and bold ones ran half a lap before ducking to the side. They then calmly strolled, pretending to be passersby, as the PE teacher couldn't tell his own students apart anyway. When the main group had run one lap, these students would rejoin them and run to the finish line.

Zhou Li didn't need such tactics.

Neither did Brother Nan.

Both of them scored full marks.

Once the test was over, they were dismissed. Zhou Li saw Little Cousin hobbling ahead and quickly caught up to her. "Are you going home this weekend?"

"What's up?" Little Cousin turned to look at him.

"It's the Winter Solstice on Sunday."

"What about the Winter Solstice?"

"You have mutton soup for Winter Solstice."

"I don't have plans to go back for the time being," Little Cousin replied, then asked, "Did you want to go back with me?"

"No, I mean if you're not going back, come have mutton soup with me. Brother Nan will be there too," Zhou Li explained. "Don't you have the tradition of having mutton soup for Winter Solstice in Caiyun?"

"We do. I forgot."

Little Cousin furrowed her brows. "I don't know if my family will have it this year. We don't have it every year."

If her family was planning to have mutton soup this year, she would definitely go back. After all, she hadn't eaten much meat for over a month. The last time she had a proper meat meal was the steam pot chicken Brother Nan had treated her to, which was already more than half a month ago.

"If your family isn't having it, come with us. Brother Nan found a well-reputed old restaurant," Zhou Li said.

"Is it going to be Dutch treat? If it is, I'm not going," she stated.

"...I'll treat," Zhou Li offered.

"Then it's a deal," she said.

"It's a deal?" Zhou Li was somewhat astonished. "What if your family ends up having it? You're still not going back?"

"I'm not going back," Little Cousin said calmly.

After all, getting home from school involved renting a shared bike, taking the subway, and then either renting another shared bike or taking a bus, costing over ten bucks for a round trip. She couldn't afford to overlook that amount; she didn't even dare to rent an electric shared bike.