"Eh? Where did my nail clippers go..." Li Nan murmured to herself, her brow furrowing as she rummaged through her shoulder bag.
She pulled out a banana, two walnuts, a cocoa almond-flavored whey protein bar, and a handful of lollipops; an old cell phone; a mirror and a high-powered flashlight; a small extendable baton; and a packet of MSG.
Fortunately, she soon found the nail clippers and put everything back into her bag one by one.
Zhou Li had long since grown accustomed to this.
Li Nan started to file her nails. Doing such a thing in class always had a unique thrill. Her nails were beautifully shaped and often manicured, and her fingers were slender and pale. A friend of hers who ran a nail salon was always coveting her nails.
While occupied with her personal task, she still managed to handle the teacher perfectly. Nobody else in the class had her skill.
Soon, Li Nan caught something unusual out of the corner of her eye.
She turned her head to glance at Zhou Li, then followed his gaze out the window. A cicada, motionless on the windowsill, came into view.
"Oh!"
The cicada caught classmate Li Nan's attention.
She put down her nail clippers and reached her hand out the window.
Huai Xu, who was outside, slowly released the cicada he was holding and smiled, saying to Zhou Li, "She's really pretty... but too unfocused during class, just like the other kids I've met at school."
Zhou Li also smiled faintly.
Li Nan caught the cicada and brought it inside. Huai Xu ran off, and Zhou Li turned his attention back to the classroom.
Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and glanced toward the row in front.
Wu Yuanliang was turning to look back. He wore glasses during lectures, which made him look refined. He often hosted school events, and Zhou Li guessed he must have had quite a few admirers in his first and second years.
Playing with the cicada, Li Nan turned her head and quietly asked Zhou Li, "It's a holiday tomorrow, what are your plans?"
"Don't know."
"I'm going for mutton soup with a few people from dorm 106; Zhang Hao and Liu Zhonglin will be there. Are you coming?"
"Mutton soup in this hot weather?"
"Yeah, it's an old, well-known place, right next to my house. They're about to close and switch to selling crayfish. If we don't go now, we won't get to have it again until winter." Li Nan couldn't help but smack her lips. It was only during English class that Zhou Li would chat with her. "It's super delicious," she said. "One sip warms you from your mouth all the way to your stomach. It's so fresh. Are you coming?"
"I'm not."
"Oh."
Li Nan had somewhat expected this and didn't press further.
Zhou Li glanced forward again and noticed Wu Yuanliang looking back once more.
"THUMP! THUMP!"
The English teacher knocked on the desk, first eyeing Wu Yuanliang, then sweeping her gaze over the students as a reminder. "If you want to date, wait until after the college entrance exams. There's just one more month left! Can't you focus on your studies? The final battle is upon us; it's beneficial to sharpen your weapons!"
Wu Yuanliang looked somewhat embarrassed.
When class ended, Li Nan took the cicada out to the corridor. A ginkgo tree stood outside, its branches reaching into the hallway.
"If you fly into the classroom again, I'll take you home, cook you, and eat you!"
She placed the cicada on the ginkgo tree.
Then the cicada chirped outside the classroom all afternoon.
At nine in the evening, the bell rang.
Li Nan slung on the bag she had prepared earlier and went to the back to change the countdown to the college entrance exam on the bulletin board. When she turned around, Wu Yuanliang had changed the one on the blackboard at the front too.
Li Nan twitched the corner of her mouth.
What a pain...
Then she took a deep breath and headed for the English teacher's office.
「...」
The neighborhood was especially cool at night. The area beneath the Small Ye Rong tree was an excellent spot to enjoy the cool evening air. Elderly men with tea sets played chess in the pavilion, while groups of older women gathered for mahjong. The sounds of Chinese opera, plaza dance music, and their own hoarse voices mingled, creating a lively scene.
Several stray cats were chasing each other and darting around.
Zhou Li was about to enter his apartment building when he heard two faint, thin voices coming from the trash cans near the entrance.
"A terrifying presence has awakened to the south..."
"Really?"
"Yes! Alas, more and more Great Demons are waking up these days. Who knows when His Highness will awaken? It's truly worrisome!" The voice was very grave, full of concern for the country and its people.
"I heard a bit of gossip."
"What gossip?"
"Why is that human just standing there?"
"Who cares what he's doing!"
Zhou Li, his backpack slung over one shoulder, turned and began rummaging through it, his eyebrows furrowing in growing agitation.
He caught sight of the two little demons out of the corner of his eye.
One was an oddly shaped feline creature. Its robust front body and thick fur made it look incredibly imposing. The other was a round, plump Mouse that walked upright and somewhat resembled a Totoro from the animated films. Both little demons were about the size of ordinary domestic cats, though the Mouse appeared slightly larger due to its rounder build.
The gray cat was rummaging around the trash can, which was full of takeout containers.
The round Mouse sat motionless on the stone steps, a small pile of what looked like freshly scavenged cotton wads beside it. He pondered for a moment before saying, "I've also forgotten who exactly told me, but it seems His Highness might have been tricked by humans and ended up being sealed away!"
The gray cat paused its rummaging, then said seriously, "Don't believe those rumors. It's impossible! Those who spread such rumors surely have ulterior motives! If you repeat them, you'll become their accomplice!"
The round Mouse was quite frightened by this.
Fortunately, after speaking, the gray cat continued its search. It glanced at Zhou Li, noticed he wasn't looking their way, and swiftly pulled out a paper bag containing a perfectly good fried chicken leg.
"Humans are so wasteful! Throwing away a perfectly good chicken leg like this, without even taking a bite!"
"What a haul today!"
"Mmm, it smells delicious! Here, you can have it."
"Let's wait until there's no one around..."
At this point, Zhou Li couldn't hear anything more of substance, so he irritably slung his bag back over his shoulder and went upstairs.
When he thought of Huai Xu, who knew nothing about any of this, the contrast was striking...
He just didn't know who this 'His Highness' was.
After getting home and turning on his phone, Zhou Li realized that today was Youth Day. Right after, he saw an Alipay notification: at eight o'clock this morning, Li Tongzhuo had stolen his 'energy.' As if by coincidence, he immediately received a QQ message from Li Tongzhuo.
Li Daimao: Help me!
Zhou Li paused for a second, then typed back: What happened?
Li Daimao: Which translation app is good? Also, can you explain some math problems to me?
Zhou Li: What's wrong with you?
Li Daimao: That old lecher just gave me ten essay topics! He doesn't just want me to write them, he wants me to memorize them too! Plus, he gave me three test papers—and you won't believe this, two of them are math papers!
Li Daimao: [Image]
Li Daimao: [Image]
Li Daimao: Voice Message 12"
Zhou Li: Oh, then just don't do them.
The Brother Nan he knew was always fearless—her attitude was practically, 'Go ahead, kill me if you dare!'
Li Daimao: The problem is, he asked my mom to supervise me.
Zhou Li: Is your mom very strict?
Li Daimao: So-so. But she'll cut back on my food allowance, stop my dad from making me good food, and change the computer password so I can't get online.
Zhou Li: Understood. Okay, I usually use Google Translate and Youdao Translate, combine their outputs, and then review it myself to see if anything needs correcting. Finish writing them and send them to me; I'll take a look.
Li Daimao: I owe you big time! I'll bring you a helmet-shaped bun the day after tomorrow!
Zhou Li: Okay.