"CREAK~"

"Are you heading back to Caiyun in a few days?" Huai Xu's head peeked out from the upper bunk, spying on Zhou Li.

"I'm almost asleep," Zhou Li said with his eyes closed.

"You're not asleep," Old monster stated confidently.

"...I see." Zhou Li opened his eyes. "Wait until the day after tomorrow. I'll stay at Brother Nan's home for two days, then I'll move the tree to the Yin Yang Temple to plant it, and then I'll leave."

"So your next visit won't be until the New Year?"

"Yeah, winter break."

"Are you sad to leave?"

"What?"

"That mountain, you seem to really like it there," Huai Xu continued to probe, "Don't you feel reluctant to leave?"

"Do I?"

"You do. You kept looking back every three steps when you left," Huai Xu had a 'you can't fool me' look, "and although you complained about being tired, hot, and sunburned from working in the small village every day, you secretly enjoyed it."

"Emmm..." Huai Xu pondered and then concluded, "I suspect you are a masochist."

"Nonsense."

"This is a conclusion I've drawn from synthesizing various pieces of information!" Old monster frowned, making it look very professional and undeniable.

"..."

"You're not arguing!"

"A little."

"A little what?"

"A little reluctant to leave."

"KUKUKUKU!"

Hearing his laughter, Zhou Li immediately felt exasperated.

It didn't bother him that Huai Xu was laughing, but the fact that he had an 'I knew I was right' look while laughing made Zhou Li feel like he was at a disadvantage.

So Zhou Li emphasized, "First, I am not a masochist. Second, it's not just the place I'm reluctant to leave, but the lifestyle there; it felt very quiet and peaceful, where I didn't need to think about anything. Third, there is no third point."

"KUKUKUKUKU…"

Old monster was even more delighted.

Zhou Li suddenly felt extremely stifled, almost as if he was making a futile excuse.

Since Old monster didn't respond, he couldn't continue arguing and thus had to say, "Anyone would feel a bit reluctant to leave after staying there for so long, right?"

Old monster instantly said, "I wouldn't!"

Zhou Li: ...

It hurt. It really hurt.

He simply pulled over the thin blanket, covered his head, and stopped responding to anything Old monster said above him.

After a while, he called Mr. Xiong.

Mr. Xiong was the developer in charge of the demolition and reconstruction of this residential area. After a brief conversation, Mr. Xiong said that someone would come over tomorrow. He assured Zhou Li that they were very professional in handling such matters and guaranteed that the tree would not die.

He also mentioned that the 'deity statue' Zhou Li had given him was very useful. Now, whenever he and his wife entered their bedroom, they just wanted to sleep, lacking the mood for anything else.

Zhou Li was very relieved.

That evening, they did not cook at home but went out for a hotpot meal paid by Zhou Li.

After Zhu Shuang's exam results were out, his family should have gone out to celebrate. With Zhu Bing visiting, they were also supposed to dine out. A meal wasn't particularly costly, but Aunt Jiang insisted on waiting for Zhou Li to return before going out.

This was actually quite understandable.

When their family sat around the table, eating hotpot and chatting casually, that feeling was irreplaceable by anything else.

「Two days later.」

Zhou Li was somewhat restless on the sofa.

This morning, just as he got up, he officially received a notice from Brother Nan about using the 'Obedience Card.' Today, he was going to Brother Nan's family home. Now he was considering how to broach the subject to Aunt Jiang.

After all, he had just returned two days ago.

Then, Zhu Shuang, who had been pondering for a while, suddenly spoke up, "I've noticed something really strange!"

"What is it?" Zhou Li asked casually.

"The snacks in our fridge keep mysteriously disappearing," Zhu Shuang said seriously. "You might not believe it, but it's true. For example, I went to grab some ice cream just now. I saw there were two pieces left, and then I sat down on the sofa to eat..."

"Eating ice cream first thing in the morning," Zhou Li paused his thoughts.

"Oh, that's not the point!" Zhu Shuang said, somewhat disgruntled. "The main thing is that I was sitting right here, observing everyone's comings and goings. You just woke up, Brother, and my sister is still in her room; she hasn't come out yet. But guess what I saw when I opened the fridge again?"

"You ate one serving and were planning to eat a second?" Zhou Li looked at him in astonishment.

"Don't interrupt!"

"It's not good for your stomach."

"The ice cream is gone, can you believe it!?"

Of course, I believe him, Zhou Li thought, then asked, "How could something like this happen?"

"But it happened!"

As Zhu Shuang spoke, his eyes widened. He solemnly said, "It's not just today. I've noticed this pattern for a while now, and I find it quite unbelievable. That's why I seriously observed and recorded everything before telling you all today."

He paused. "You don't snack often, do you?"

Zhou Li hesitated slightly, "I do eat them."

"How could you!"

"I do eat them."

"You clearly seldom snack, you always eat so little, you don't really like them, you never eat snacks when I offer them to you," Zhu Shuang blurted out in his urgency, his tongue almost tying itself in knots.

"I do eat them."

After saying this, Zhou Li noticed Tuanzi, who was lying in the center of the living room sleeping, raised his head and glanced at him as if displeased.

Zhu Shuang still asserted confidently, "Anyway, this is very strange. I've observed you; you often stay in your room and don't come out. If you were to open your door, I'd hear it. So, I've ruled you out."

"Is that so..."

Zhou Li stretched lazily and said to him, "Don't be so paranoid all the time. There's no one else at home. Maybe it was me who ate them."

Zhu Shuang opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Aunt Jiang called them to have breakfast.

So at the breakfast table, he brought up the matter again.

Zhou Li, appearing indifferent, continued to sip his congee while covertly observing everyone's reactions at the table.

He noticed Zhu Bing initially looked a bit unnerved. That was normal; Zhou Li had experienced this feeling himself, though it was many years ago. She relaxed only after hearing Zhu Shuang mention that this had happened before.

Old Zhou also appeared a bit stiff at first.

Hmm?

Hmm!

Zhou Li continued discreetly, picked another shrimp from his congee, and put it in his mouth. He said, "Maybe Old Zhou sneaked them."

Old Zhou: "?? "

However, upon hearing this, Aunt Jiang displayed a subtle expression.

Zhu Shuang was rather naive, still confusedly saying, "But he doesn't like snacks!"

"He likes them," Zhou Li corrected.

"He does? Since when?" Zhu Shuang was stunned again.

"He often eats them, sneaks them," Zhou Li spoke calmly. "He usually doesn't eat them in front of us. Only when we're gone does he sneakily eat a bit, so that's why you think he doesn't like snacks."

"Really?!" Zhu Shuang began to doubt his life.

"Yes."

"But I..." Zhu Shuang was still reluctant to accept this fact. "I didn't see them come out either! Nobody came out!"

"If he's sneaking them, how would you discover it?" Zhou Li spoke nonchalantly. "For instance, you never realized he loves snacks."

"This..."

Zhu Shuang opened his mouth, looked left, and right, but didn't say anything.

Old Zhou was also quite distressed.

He wanted to defend himself but didn't know what to say. Facing Zhu Shuang's incredulous gaze and Zhu Bing's secretly amused glances, he already foresaw the collapse of his 'dignified parent' image.

"I only eat a little occasionally, just to pass the time when I'm bored," Old Zhou mustered up. "Anyway, you all don't finish them."

"Go ahead and eat," Zhou Li said. "Just eat when you feel like it, no need to sneak anymore."

"I really only ate a little bit, not nearly as much as Xiao Shuang said," Old Zhou became increasingly aggrieved. "Besides, I never eat ice cream."

"All right," Zhou Li was very understanding.

"..."

Old Zhou continued to hang his head down, took a spoonful of congee intending to eat, but suddenly realized he wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.

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