My Demon Friends

Christmas arrived as expected.

Early in the morning, Zhou Li opened his eyes. The nearby ceiling gave him a sense of disorientation—these days he often couldn't tell if he was sleeping in his dorm or at home.

Buzzing sounds kept coming from beside him.

Zhou Li turned his head to see Chang Xiaoxiang, who was in the bunk across the aisle, lying inside his light blue mosquito net and chatting with his girlfriend.

That's right!

Zhou Li hurriedly grabbed his phone to check.

It was 7:10 AM. There were three unread messages on QQ, sent about ten minutes ago.

Cai University One-Week Couple: Good morning, classmate! The one-week couple experience starts now. On this sunny morning, be sure to say good morning to your 'love interest' too.

Cai University One-Week Couple: You will receive your first task. This is a fixed task: Every evening for the next week, you need to send her a 'good night' message and remind her to rest early.

Cai University One-Week Couple: Today's task: At noon or after school, have a meal with her in the cafeteria. (If you have time, why not spruce yourself up a bit? It could leave a good impression!)

The first day's tasks were utterly boring.

Zhou Li: Received.

He turned his head to look towards the balcony. Sunlight slanted onto the tree branches, and birds chirped crisply. It was indeed a beautiful day.

Then he found Brother Nan's QQ and hesitated for a moment.

Zhou Li: Good morning.

He quickly turned off his phone, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

He was already very familiar with Brother Nan, and their greetings weren't uncommon. Those were always casual—like when they met on the way to school, or a greeting that popped out naturally during a conversation. But deliberately sending a "Good morning" message on his phone, first thing before even getting out of bed, felt distinctly different.

After a while, he couldn't resist lighting up the screen again.

Brother Nan hadn't replied to his message.

She probably hadn't woken up yet, which is normal. But it should be soon, right? There are classes today.

Zhou Li lay in bed for a while longer, but his phone remained silent.

Time to get up.

Chang Xiaoxiang glanced at him, gathered his energy, and got up too.

After washing up, it wasn't quite 7:40 AM.

Liu Zhengming and Chen Yang were still sleeping soundly.

Chang Xiaoxiang, the human alarm clock, shouted: "Time for class! Second-to-last Calculus, last Organic Chemistry! Time for class!"

The two were jolted awake.

As usual, after opening their eyes, they would look at each other. About five minutes later, they'd finally summon the courage to get up. They'd be dressed by 7:50 AM and then have to run to the classroom, conveniently getting their morning exercise in.

As for breakfast…

In the first month or two after starting university, they would always eat breakfast or buy it before class. Now, they all ate after their first class.

On the way, Zhou Li checked his phone again.

Brother Nan had replied.

It was just two simple words: Good morning.

When he arrived at the classroom, Brother Nan was already sitting in the back row.

Today, she wore light blue denim overalls over a fitted, beige long-sleeved shirt that looked a bit thin for the weather. Her hair was casually tied up in a bun, a few strands escaping rebelliously, as she sat there quietly.

Zhou Li once again saw a hint of sweetness in her.

That was obviously a misconception!

When he sat down beside her, Brother Nan immediately propped her cheek on the hand closest to him and turned her head away, pretending to look at the graffiti on the wall.

Something felt strange...

Zhou Li asked, "Did you get the messages?"

"Whose? What messages?"

"From the official Cai University One-Week Couple account."

"Received them."

"Let me see the messages you got."

"No way."

"What are you looking at?"

"Uhm... looking at the... silly messages on the wall."

"..."

Zhou Li felt Brother Nan was deliberately avoiding his gaze, even using her hand to create a barrier between them.

Meanwhile, when Brother Nan didn't hear a reply from Zhou Li, she slowly, bit by bit, turned her head until she could peek at him. She darted a quick glance and stammered, "Why are you looking at me?"

"I'm also looking at the wall."

"Stop looking! I'm not looking either!"

"Okay."

Zhou Li withdrew his gaze.

Brother Nan finally lowered her hand but still didn't look at Zhou Li. Instead, she faced forward and, after some thought, found a topic. "What kind of car should we buy?"

"It's up to you."

"I only have twenty or thirty thousand yuan. How much can you chip in?"

"Enmmm..."

"Alright, alright, shut up!" Brother Nan understood. "But you can only contribute as much as I do! So together we'd have fifty to sixty thousand. For a used car in that price range... I checked some models with good reviews. They're either really ugly or don't have infotainment screens, and most are old models from several years back. Do you think it's okay if we get one that looks kinda cheap because it doesn't have a screen?"

"I don't think so," Brother Nan replied, as if answering her own question.

"..." Zhou Li nodded. "I agree."

"What a coincidence!"

"Or should we get a domestic car that doesn't have such a great reputation for value or reliability?" Zhou Li asked tentatively.

"I've heard they often have minor problems..."

"For a car that costs tens of thousands, we can't be too demanding."

"That's all the money Brother Nan has."

"..."

"Let's think it over some more."

"Alright."

Zhou Li had originally known nothing about cars, but he'd done some online research these past few days. In their price range, several used cars had excellent reputations and were widely considered great choices for beginners to practice driving. However, the situation was pretty much as Brother Nan described.

As for what to buy specifically, he didn't care.

It was meant for practice and a bit of fun. As long as it met the condition of 'being something Brother Nan found acceptable', any car would do. Maybe they'd even pick a better one than those who scrutinized every detail.

「Noon.」

Zhou Li and Brother Nan headed to the cafeteria as if by mutual understanding.

Each picked up a tray and got two small servings of rice. When it was time to get the dishes, Zhou Li was about to swipe his card for Brother Nan but was refused. Only then did Brother Nan tell him that the message from 'Cai University One-Week Couple' sent to the girls had a note in parentheses specifying they should go Dutch (AA system), while the boys' message didn't mention it.

They sure had thought of everything.

They found an empty table and sat opposite each other, each quietly eating their meal.

Today felt a bit odd.

After eating, on the walk back to the dorm, Brother Nan continued to make conversation. "Guess how many apples I got yesterday?"

"Five."

"Guess again!"

"One?"

Brother Nan didn't answer but let out a long sigh. "Time is a butcher's knife. Back in high school, I used to get boxes of apples every Christmas Eve!"

Zhou Li almost said something but stopped himself.

Brother Nan really wasn't bragging. That was because she'd encouraged everyone to give her apples by the case, saying it was a better deal that way. Then she'd have enough apples for a week—enough for her whole family to eat for a week.

「Back in the dorm.」

Chen Yang and Liu Zhengming hadn't gone out.

Because their respective 'love interests' had morning classes and lived far away, they'd planned to meet them for dinner.

Because of this, both of them started getting ready right after lunch.

Chang Xiaoxiang took Liu Zhengming to the commercial street to get a haircut, specifically asking Tony the hairstylist to give him a style. This made Liu Zhengming scared to even take a nap, afraid he'd mess up his new hairstyle.

Chen Yang spent half an hour choosing shoes, then another half an hour cleaning them.

Zhou Li watched without speaking.

Chen Yang was tall and handsome—about a quarter as handsome as Zhou Li himself, which was already quite an achievement. He'd probably be very popular with girls. Zhou Li was a bit worried about Liu Zhengming. The kid was shy, introverted, not very tall, and his looks weren't outstanding. He also didn't have many hobbies, so it probably wouldn't be easy for him to hold a conversation with a girl.

At 5:00 PM, both of them left, their hearts pounding with nervousness.

Zhou Li also left. He was going to the commercial street with Brother Nan to eat out. Considering his Little Cousin's situation had gone from bad to worse lately, he specifically sent her a message.

Zhou Li: Want to go eat on the commercial street?

Baozi: No

Zhou Li: Why???

Baozi: My pride can't take it

Zhou Li: Am I not your cousin?

Baozi: Still no

Zhou Li: You're not usually this reserved.

Baozi: An occasional meal is fine, but...

Zhou Li: So what are you eating tonight?

Baozi: Apples

Zhou Li: ...

Baozi: If you have any leftovers you can't finish, please pack them up for me. I want to eat them with rice.

Baozi: Will you?

Zhou Li: Will do.

Baozi: Okay, I'll go get some plain rice from the cafeteria then.

Zhou Li: Ok.

He put down his phone and shook his head.

When he and Brother Nan arrived at the commercial street, Zhou Li deliberately ordered chicken with preserved vegetables and bean sprouts, a dish that went especially well with rice. They only tasted a little before packing up the rest to take back for Baozi.

Not long after he returned to the dorm, Chen Yang and Liu Zhengming came back, one after the other.

"That was quick?" Zhou Li was surprised.

"What else? We just had dinner," Chen Yang said.

"After eating, you could have gone for a stroll, or walked around the athletic field, right?" Zhou Li pondered, though he and Brother Nan didn't usually go for walks on the athletic field after eating either. They sometimes went to work out in the evenings, but that usually just involved using the exercise equipment.

"The task didn't say we had to," Chen Yang said with a shrug.

"True. Maybe it'll be in the tasks for the next couple of days," Zhou Li said, then paused. "So, how did it go for you guys?"

"We couldn't find anything to talk about," Liu Zhengming said helplessly.

"Ugh, don't even get me started!" Chen Yang waved his hand dismissively. "The girl stepped on my foot and then said my shoes were ugly! I couldn't take it!"

"Yeah, that's tough to take."

"We definitely agreed on that!"

Zhou Li wanted to try and console Liu Zhengming, but on second thought, he decided to leave it to Chang Xiaoxiang when he returned.

「Night fell gradually.」

Zhou Li, after his shower, sat on his bed. Even though there were no mosquitoes anymore, he still drew the mosquito net closed, giving him a sense of security. Then he took out his phone and pondered.

After a long while, he finally opened QQ.

Zhou Li: What are you up to?

Li Daimao: Just got out of the shower. Eating an apple.

Zhou Li: Not gaming?

Li Daimao: Nope.

Li Daimao: Let me tell you.

Li Daimao: Earlier when I brought back food for your Little Cousin, she was just sitting there, all prim and proper, with a bowl of warm, plain white rice in front of her. She was holding a half-eaten apple, not moving, just staring blankly. She looked so pitiful, heh heh.

Zhou Li: Indeed pitiful.

Zhou Li didn't dwell on that topic. He continued typing: Aren't you going to play games tonight?

Li Daimao: Not tonight.

Zhou Li: How come?

Li Daimao: Just don't feel like it.

Zhou Li: Are you going to study then?

Li Daimao: Won't study.

Zhou Li: Why not?

Li Daimao: Why do you have so many whys?

Zhou Li: You should go to bed early.

Li Daimao: ...

Zhou Li: Your turn.

Li Daimao: You go to bed early.

Zhou Li: Alright.

Li Daimao: Alright. /silly

Zhou Li: Goodnight.

Li Daimao: Send me a selfie.

Zhou Li: Why?

Li Daimao: I want to see.

So Zhou Li opened the camera.

He was wearing a plain white T-shirt with no design. Lying on his bed, he looked at the camera, tried a few angles, and then pressed the shutter.

Message sent successfully.

Zhou Li quickly started typing, intending to ask Brother Nan to return the favor, but before he could finish, her message arrived.

Li Daimao: Goodnight.