The Female Instructor walked back with a bottle of water in hand. She saw Brother Nan hitting Zhou Li but appeared very calm.

"Domestic violence, huh?"

Her tone was as casual as if she were asking, "Have you eaten?"

Brother Nan was just as calm, nodding. "Yeah..."

After all, family scandals should not be publicized. She retracted her fist, walked back to the instructor, and said, "I just punished a loudmouth by sending him to run laps, just like you did to me last year..."

"Fun, huh?"

"Not bad."

"Keep it up, I could use a break!"

"No way!" Brother Nan turned to look at Zhou Li. "I'm not helping you get sunburned! If the Battalion Commander sees you, you'll get scolded too!"

"...Go be with your boyfriend!" The Female Instructor rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Such excuses!"

"Heh, dinner date tonight?"

"That won't work; there are rules. However, we get two days off halfway through the weekend, so we could plan something then. We should go somewhere far so the students don't see us."

"Okay!"

Brother Nan waved her hand slightly, said no more, and turned to sit back down next to Zhou Li.

She pointed towards the opposite side of the track and field. "That seems to be your former instructor over there. His voice sounds similar, like a duck's."

"That's him."

"Are you going to check it out?"

"Better not." Zhou Li felt embarrassed and saw no point in looking.

"You're so emotionally detached."

"That's why you seem exceptionally unique and precious," Zhou Li said faintly.

"Holy shit!!"

Brother Nan's eyes widened as she stared at Zhou Li in utter shock. "Come clean! Where did you steal these skin-crawling lines from? Hey, you're not Huai Xu in disguise, are you?"

Dark lines appeared on Zhou Li's forehead.

To be honest, Brother Nan's reaction had exceeded his expectations.

He had struggled to utter such an affectionate sentence; in the entire world, how many girls would respond with those two words at a time like this?

Luckily, he had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

Facing Brother Nan's scrutinizing gaze, he remained silent for a moment, then stood up holding Tuanzi.

"Let's go back."

"No, say a couple more lines!"

"Didn't you get goosebumps?"

"Yeah!" Brother Nan nodded, her expression earnest. "But I feel like it sort of helps with my toothache. If you say a bit more, maybe when I wake up tomorrow morning, my wisdom tooth won't be inflamed anymore."

"That won't do..."

"Stingy!"

Brother Nan remained seated, looking up at him.

Forced, Zhou Li had no choice but to sit back down and watch the freshmen finish their military stance and begin their recreational activities.

It wasn't until the Female Instructor started recounting Brother Nan's and Zhou Li's heroic deeds from the previous year that they, hearing it from afar and feeling rather awkward, finally got up and left the athletics field.

Huai Xu manifested her form from a hidden spot and approached them.

"Hmm!" Brother Nan nodded, looking at Zhou Li with mock seriousness. "It seems you really are the genuine article."

"Childish."

"...You're so boring."

"Oh."

Zhou Li nodded indifferently, then turned to Huai Xu and asked, "Have you finished writing that trial operation report for the club I asked you to write?"

"Not yet," Huai Xu said.

"Hurry up."

"You really want me to write it?" Huai Xu blinked.

"Yeah." Zhou Li glanced at her and said encouragingly, "Don't be afraid. Believe in your literary skills. Besides, the advisor is Zhou Qianqian, and you'll be submitting the report to her for review. She's already witnessed your literary talent."

"Oh, it's her!" Huai Xu often impersonated Zhou Li to help carry her and Brother Nan in games.

"So..." Zhou Li looked at her.

"I'm not afraid of writing it badly," Huai Xu hesitated. "It's just... it's a full fifteen hundred words. I've never written anything that long before. Just thinking about so many words makes my head hurt."

"Don't sweat the details."

"Then tell me, what did we even do during the trial operation period?" Huai Xu asked.

"Don't worry too much about it."

In any case, Zhou Li was unwilling to write it.

He was very lazy.

Huai Xu, on the other hand, was the opposite.

This Old monster was interested in everything; with a little coaxing, she would happily go off and do it.

「The supermarket.」

Brother Nan, holding tongs, was picking through items in the fresh food display, muttering to herself, "Get a big piece, cook more meat..."

Turning her head, she asked Zhou Li, "What do you think?"

Zhou Li remained silent.

In the end, he had caved.

They had agreed on chopped pepper crucian carp and soy-braised pork bones, but then Brother Nan had unconsciously acted a little coquettish... It wasn't even truly coquettish, just a slightly drawn-out tone at the end of her sentence and a tiny hint of complaint in her voice, and he, to his own frustration, had softened and agreed to cook at his place.

They planned to make a rich bone soup, so she could get more oil.

They would also cook a preserved egg and lean pork congee with extra meat to make up for Brother Nan's regret over eating too plainly these past few days.

Making soup was simple, and so was cooking congee.

Once home, they got started. The two humans and one demon squeezed into the small kitchen, their tasks clearly divided: Zhou Li looked up recipes online for reference, Brother Nan did the actual cooking, and Huai Xu handled everything involving knife work. The Old monster had exquisite knife skills.

Tuanzi squatted at the kitchen entrance, supervising. She didn't dare go in; the people inside were too frantic, and she was afraid of being stepped on.

「Two hours later.」

Brother Nan tasted the bone soup for saltiness, clapped her hands, and said, "That should be about right."

Time to eat.

The congee was very thick, with so much meat that it affected its texture, but perhaps that was exactly what Brother Nan needed right now?

A lot of bones had been stewed as well.

Zhou Li thoughtfully ladled a bowl of soup for Brother Nan—all broth.

Looking at the layer of oil floating on top, he said earnestly, "This certainly has enough richness. And with so much meat in the congee, don't you dare say I'm mistreating you again..."

With that, he picked up a large bone and dipped it into a saucer full of chili peppers, instantly staining one side of the bone red.

He brought it to his lips and slurped loudly...

The aroma of the meat was intense!

Brother Nan stared at him, dumbfounded.

After a long moment, she tentatively asked, "Is it... is it tasty?"

"Tasty."

"Is it... is it spicy?"

"Spicy."

GULP!

Brother Nan lowered her head and looked at the snow-white soup in her bowl... Suddenly, it didn't seem so satisfying anymore.

「That evening.」

Zhou Li was lying on the balcony reading a book, while Tuanzi mauled his slippers at his feet.

Huai Xu's voice came from the living room, "Your phone's ringing!"

Zhou Li immediately frowned.

He had intentionally left his phone in the living room to prevent himself from getting distracted from reading—a simple yet effective disciplinary measure. He had just managed to get into a reading mood, and now, his concentration was broken.

After a long internal struggle, he closed his book and went to the living room to get his phone.

He shot the Old monster a glare before unlocking it.

Baozi: Cousin, hi

Zhou Li: …

Baozi: ?

Zhou Li: If you have something to say, say it directly.

Baozi: What did you have for dinner?

Zhou Li: Bones, congee.

Baozi: I had malatang.

Zhou Li: What do you want?

He believed Baozi wouldn't contact him just to show off that she had malatang for dinner. And if that were the case, she definitely wouldn't call him Cousin.

Sure enough, a new message appeared on the screen—

Baozi: [Video]

Baozi: I'm a bit helpless.

Zhou Li clicked on it, puzzled.

The video was obviously filmed secretly; most of the frame consisted of floor tiles, with only a small part of Brother Nan visible in the top-left corner, taking up no more than 20% of the screen.

For a keen photography enthusiast to film a video like this showed a strong will to survive.

In the video, Brother Nan was holding a plastic takeout container. It looked like it had once held something like spicy simmer-pot or malatang, judging by the red broth, which was now all that remained. Brother Nan kept dipping the very tip of her chopsticks into the broth and then sucking it off, a look of satisfaction on her face.

Zhou Li suddenly fell silent.

He suddenly felt very guilty.

So heartbroken.

So self-reproachful.

So hard to watch.

And yet, he really wanted to laugh.

Baozi: I'm a bit scared.

Zhou Li: Don't worry, she's just having a craving.

Baozi: Unless it's absolutely necessary, please don't let Brother Nan know I sent you this video, or I'll get beaten.

Zhou Li: [I understand completely.]

Zhou Li: [Red Envelope]

Your friend Baozi has claimed your red envelope.

And then there were no more replies.

Zhou Li pondered for a moment. He hesitated between 'immediately starting a video call with Brother Nan to interrupt her' and 'forwarding the video to Brother Nan to expose her.' After a long while, he decided to act as if he knew nothing and simply sent Brother Nan a message.

Zhou Li: What are you doing?

Li Daimao: Nothing much /zoning out

Li Daimao: /zoning out

Zhou Li immediately smiled.

He could almost picture Brother Nan's expression in her dorm room, and for no particular reason, he found it very cute.

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