Zhou Li: What's up?
Li Daimao: I'm asking you.
Zhou Li: What for?
Li Daimao: Just answer honestly when I ask you.
Zhou Li: Oh.
After thinking it over carefully and glancing at Huai Xu, who was absorbed in his ga, Zhou Li decided to give a serious explanation.
Zhou Li: I went out for a run this morning, probably covered about twenty-four kiloters. With the walking back and forth, it might have been around thirty kiloters.
Li Daimao: With your height and leg length, it takes a little over ten thousand steps to run ten kiloters.
Zhou Li: Hold on, I also played badminton for an afternoon.
Li Daimao: How far can you run playing badminton?
Zhou Li: For the sa duration of exercise, badminton involves the longest running distance among all ball sports.
Li Daimao: Nonsense. I don't seem to run much when I play badminton?
Zhou Li: Because you're lousy at it.
Li Daimao: [Emoji]
Zhou Li: Sorry.
Li Daimao: Who did you play with?
Zhou Li: Huai Xu, Zhu Shuang, and Zhu Bing.
Li Daimao: Huai Xu went too, huh?
Zhou Li: Yeah, I said he's a friend of mine.
Li Daimao: That's it?
Zhou Li: At night, I went to find a demon and got chased around the track by it for two hours.
Li Daimao: What kind of demon? A female demon?
Li Daimao: White Bone Spirit? Spider Spirit?
Zhou Li: You type so fast.
Li Daimao: Stop beating around the bush.
Zhou Li: It's that demon from our high school. Did I ever tell you about it? It troubled for a long ti. It's a big, furry demon and not too bright.
Li Daimao: Oh, oh, oh...
Li Daimao: Let tell you, Big Brother is concerned about you. The pandemic is severe recently, so don't go running around, alright?
Li Daimao: This concerns your safety.
Zhou Li: I got it.
Li Daimao: Then why haven't you thanked Big Brother?
Zhou Li: Thank you, Big Brother.
Li Daimao: I'm telling you, these next few days, even though it's New Year's, don't go running around, got it?
Zhou Li: I got it.
Li Daimao: During New Year's, there are lots of entertainnt activities, and everyone wants to go out. But we can't joke about the virus. So, if female classmates invite you out, don't go, you hear ?
Zhou Li: Didn't you go on a hike today?
Li Daimao: Did you hear ?
Zhou Li: I heard you.
Li Daimao: When you're walking on the road, if a girl hits on you, don't pay attention to her and keep your distance. Experts say the virus in saliva can fly... well, a long way. So keep well away from them. If they approach you, just step back, got it?
Zhou Li: You sound so earnest...
Li Daimao: ???
Zhou Li: I heard you.
Li Daimao: When you go out, wear a mask. It's best to wear sunglasses too. Cover up well. And don't wear nice new clothes; wear old ones—the rattier, the better—to prevent the virus from corroding them. You hear ?
Zhou Li: Does the virus corrode clothes now?
Li Daimao: Did you hear ?
Zhou Li: I heard you.
For so reason, he felt that Brother Nan was a bit long-winded today, sounding a bit like how he himself usually was—normally, it was he who would go on and on, and Brother Nan would nod in resignation to humor him.
He found it sowhat amusing.
"!!"
Suddenly, Zhou Li realized that at so point, Huai Xu was no longer in front of the computer. Turning his head, he saw Huai Xu standing right behind him, catching him completely off guard and giving him quite a start.
With a sneaky look, Huai Xu stared at the phone screen and grinned foolishly, "Li Daimao is afraid little girls will snatch you away..."
Zhou Li said, completely speechless, "Can you not always appear behind out of nowhere? It's scary."
However, the old monster not only failed to realize his mistake but instead looked at him in surprise. "You still aren't used to this after all this ti?"
Then he shook his head. "I'm disappointed by your adaptability..."
Zhou Li: ...
Huai Xu urged, "Go on, keep chatting. Don't worry. Although I'm standing right behind you, I promise I won't make a sound. You won't even feel my heartbeat or breathing; it'll be as if I don't exist."
Zhou Li: ...
Zhou Li looked down at his phone screen.
Li Daimao: Are you having fun at ho?
Huai Xu's voice whispered nearby, "You should say, 'It's only fun with you here; otherwise, everything's boring.' Then tell Brother Nan to hurry back from his hotown to keep you company... and to play gas with ."
Zhou Li turned his head and silently looked at him.
Huai Xu imdiately closed his mouth, blinking innocently.
Zhou Li: Not fun.
Zhou Li: Even Huai Xu is bored to death.
Zhou Li: For the next few days, apart from going out for a run, I'll probably just stay at ho.
After sending the ssage, Zhou Li paused. He suddenly realized, wasn't this life essentially the one he had before? Aside from occasionally going out for a run or playing badminton with Zhu Shuang, it was just school and ho. After only half a year, he found he was sowhat unaccustod to it.
His cellphone vibrated.
Li Daimao: Then I'll see if I can make it up there in a few days. I only left Pumpkin a week's worth of cat food, although it can probably fend for itself by catching mice and visiting friends.
Li Daimao: Just in case.
Li Daimao: If I can make it, I'll co play with you guys.
Zhou Li: Okay.
Once more, scratching sounds at the door could be heard.
Zhou Li went to open the door and said to Tuanzi, who was still in the midst of scratching, "You're going to scratch through the door at this rate."
Tuanzi just owed softly, then walked past Zhou Li straight into the room. She swaggered, her tail swaying left and right. With a light leap, she jumped onto the bed and lay down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Lord Dumpling is going to rest."
"Oh."
"Tell Huai Xu to stop playing gas."
"You tell him."
"He doesn't listen to Lord Dumpling."
"He doesn't listen to either."
"Lord Dumpling was kept awake by Huai Xu last night; I didn't sleep well," Tuanzi yawned lazily.
"It's all Huai Xu's fault."
"All Huai Xu's fault, ow~"
Huai Xu pretended not to hear.
Just then, Zhu Shuang's voice ca from outside, asking Zhou Li to join him in a ga. After a mont's thought, Zhou Li agreed and gave him Huai Xu's smurf account, 'Little Greedy Demon'. From the way Zhu Shuang repeated it, it seed he found the ID a bit strange.
Indeed, it was strange, awkward, cutesy, shaless, and nauseating—Zhou Li thought so as well.
And so, Huai Xu resud his ga.
Thankfully, he was wearing headphones, so it wasn't too noisy, with only the faint clicking of the keyboard and the flashing of the screen's light.
After Zhou Li put on his eye mask, he was no longer affected. Hugging the tiny Lord Dumpling, his mind grew tranquil, and his consciousness gradually sank into the depths of dreams.
「The second day of the New Year.」
Breakfast consisted of porridge, accompanied by buns and pan-fried dumplings, with one boiled egg per person. Aunt Jiang heated up two dishes leftover from the day before and added the pickled vegetables Zhou Li had brought back from Zheng Zhilan to the al, along with a glass of milk for each person.
Except for Old Zhou, who had soy milk.
He was severely lactose intolerant.
Having eaten rich food for the past few days, they were all a bit tired of it, so a light al like this felt very comfortable. Especially the pickled vegetables Zhou Li brought back, just as he predicted, beca the most popular dish on the table.
On one hand, the pickled vegetables indeed helped cut through the greasiness.
More importantly, they were genuinely well-made. This was not to boast, but while Zheng Zhilan's cooking could be said to be fairly good, her skill with pickled vegetables was definitely top-notch. Not only did Zhou Li and Huai Xu praise them, but even Brother Nan comnded them after tasting so. Her pickled vegetables differed vastly from the famous old-crock pickles of Yi Province. They were more like the common pickles found in Caiyun: ready to eat straight from the jar, moderately salty with a hint of sweetness and spiciness, crispy in texture, novel, and suitable to be eaten as a dish.
Aunt Jiang even expressed a desire for Zhou Li to ask his classmate's parents for the pickling recipe.
It was worth ntioning that Zhu Shuang had overslept and missed breakfast.
After the al, Zhou Li took a few buns and a boiled egg back to his room, saying he'd eat them if he got hungry while reading. As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Huai Xu hunched over his desk, seemingly writing sothing earnestly.
"Here, buns with mushroom and at filling, and an egg."
"Just put them there."
"How late did you play gas with Zhu Shuang last night?"
"Till four in the morning," Huai Xu said without lifting his head. "I already wanted to sleep earlier, but he insisted on playing that late."
"...What are you writing?"
"A weekly journal."
"Let see."
Zhou Li bent over to take a closer look.
BANG!
The old monster quickly covered his little notebook with both hands, his eyes darting around warily.
A few dark lines imdiately appeared on Zhou Li's face; the old monster himself never hesitated to peek at Zhou Li's belongings.
At the sa ti, Huai Xu seed to realize this as well.
A flush of embarrassnt clearly spread across his face. But after thinking for a mont, he regained his solemn expression and said, "This is a weekly journal, just like your diary. It's not for others to see. I've never looked at your diary."
Zhou Li nodded, admitting the point. Then, feigning an epiphany, he said, "Oh, it's *that* weekly journal!"
"What other weekly journal could it be?"
"I thought it was about soone with the surna Zhou, like ."
"Eh..."
"Why did you start writing a weekly journal?"
"The teacher said writing a weekly journal is a good habit. Besides, don't you write in your diary often?" Huai Xu tapped his head with the hand holding the pencil. "Anyway, I can't go out and play these days since the internet cafes and ga arcades are closed. I'm idle, so I had a sudden inspiration."
"...I hope you can keep it up."
"Hey, what if I write about these days when we can't go anywhere in my journal and save it carefully? And what if, many, many years later, it gets included in textbooks or history books? What if, many years after that, when I'm reading, I co across what I myself wrote?"
Huai Xu grew more excited as he thought about it and continued, "What if, at that ti, I've lost my mory again? Then I see it and think, 'Hey, why does this text seem so familiar?'"
Zhou Li silently observed him, his gaze slowly dropping to the pencil in Huai Xu's hand and the eraser beside it.
WHOOSH!
Huai Xu bent forward, continuing to make eye contact, his eyes shining. "What do you think? Is it possible?"
Zhou Li tactfully changed the subject. "I have a fountain pen. Why don't you use that to write?"
"You can't erase mistakes with a fountain pen."
"I see."
"Just tell , is there even the slightest possibility?" Huai Xu likely thought it was improbable himself, but he still clung to his fantasy. "Even just a tiny chance?"
Zhou Li pondered silently.
Obviously, the poor-quality paper and pencil marks wouldn't survive that long. But considering the old monster's recent behavior...
Zhou Li pursed his lips and said, "No, it won't happen. Textbooks don't include cultural dregs."
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