The conversation lasted over two hours, longer than Zhou Li had expected. Most of the ti, however, they didn’t discuss serious matters but chatted casually, as if they were neighbors enjoying the cool breeze.
Minister Zhang was a person with diverse interests and loved to chat. He was very curious about the relationship between Heavenly Masters, demons, and traditional Chinese mythology. This topic alone took at least half an hour. If anyone else had heard them, they might have thought it was just a few children babbling nonsense. He was also very curious about Zhou Li’s and Yin Le’s childhoods, asking all sorts of questions. It wasn’t clear if he was gathering information, but at least his expression didn’t give the impression that he was probing for news. Instead, his genuine interest easily stimulated a person’s desire to talk.
He was also very interested in ceramics, raising cats, and even the university life of young people.
They even discussed the positive and negative impacts of erging online dia platforms like TikTok on major dia outlets and national information dissemination.
The actual business content accounted for less than twenty percent of their discussion.
This was also not what Zhou Li had imagined.
In his original anticipation, the person accompanying Yin Le might have been a negotiation expert, or at least soone skilled at persuasion. He imagined this person would co ard with all sorts of grand and minor argunts, employing emotion, reason, and temptation to relentlessly persuade Zhou Li to dedicate himself to the developnt of the Heavenly Master Departnt.
He even fantasized that the other party might resort to threats... Young people always have their fantasies.
But Minister Zhang seed to be genuinely there just to understand his intentions, more like he was simply trying to get to know him.
This feeling was sowhat reminiscent of teacher ho visits during his childhood—
Zhou Li rembered being incredibly nervous back then. He had thought that as soon as the teacher arrived, she would imdiately start discussing his unsociable behavior at school, his inattentiveness in class, the howork he hadn’t done the previous Wednesday, and his declining rank from the last monthly test. This was especially true since there was also a woman at ho who was still a stranger to him, and a brother who was annoyingly perfect.
But that wasn’t what happened.
As soon as the teacher arrived, she began chatting with Old Zhou and Aunt Jiang about local school district housing prices, a car accident that had occurred downstairs half an hour earlier, and the many stray cats in the neighborhood. She spent less than a third of the visit discussing his school performance, mostly offering praise with a few subtle suggestions, and carefully avoided any topics that made him nervous.
In short, Zhou Li found his conversation with Minister Zhang very pleasant, so much so that he found himself talking more.
Perhaps Minister Zhang’s earlier self-praise was true.
It was almost noon.
They even shared a bowl of rice noodles downstairs. Minister Zhang praised it profusely, and afterward, Zhou Li gave him a piece of pottery made by Huai Xu as a gift.
This probably doesn’t count as bribery.
After all, Huai Xu had set up a stall in Guandu Ancient Town just a few days before and hadn’t sold a single piece for ten yuan.
As he was leaving, Minister Zhang said to him, "No matter what happens in the future, as long as I’m still at the Heavenly Master Departnt, my door will always be open to you. If you change your mind, I promise to always have an important position waiting for you in the Heavenly Master Departnt."
After a pause, he played with the pottery and chuckled as he said to Zhou Li, "Just in case you change your mind."
Zhou Li could only nod and say, "Alright."
As soon as he got back ho after seeing them off, he was confronted by a frowning Huai Xu, who questioned him, "If you’re giving a gift, give a gift. Why did you take my things to give away?"
"Sorry," Zhou Li apologized smoothly.
"Not accepted!" The old demon turned her head away.
"I’ll give you ten yuan."
"It’s not about the money! You disrespected !"
"So?"
"So, you have to co with to the stall!" Huai Xu demanded, leaving no room for argunt. "Earn this money back! And you have to treat to a donkey at hotpot!"
So that’s how it is...
The last ti Huai Xu had gone to set up her stall, she had wanted Zhou Li to co along, but he’d found the idea boring and hadn’t gone. The old demon had been quite unhappy when she returned, not having sold a single item. Well, she couldn’t bla herself for making ugly pottery, so she attributed her failure to Zhou Li not being there to help her sell.
"Donkey at hotpot, huh?" Zhou Li pondered for a mont. "No problem."
"And the stall!"
"But you were chased away by security last ti!"
"...Then compensate for my pottery jar! And give back my respect!"
"..."
The old demon was on the verge of throwing a full-blown tantrum, which gave Zhou Li a bit of a headache. He had no choice but to agree.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
It was a call from Chang Xiaoxiang.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Dorm Leader! Roll call just happened, and you got marked absent!" Chang Xiaoxiang’s words were imdiately alarming. "In our dorm, only I showed up. I answered for Chen Yang since he’s the class monitor, and if he fails, Sister Qian would have words. So, nobody answered for you."
"Got it."
"I said you were sick and took a leave of absence. The teacher said you need to show her a leave slip next week. Go get one signed by Sister Qian!"
"Um... never mind."
"Don’t! You’ll fail the course! You have a good relationship with Sister Qian; you can definitely get it signed!"
"I’ll think about it..."
"Okay. By the way, Dorm Leader, has your club recruited any pretty, cute, innocent, and gullible first-years? Introduce one to ."
"No..."
"Sigh..."
After hanging up, Zhou Li faced Huai Xu, who was standing beside him, reveling in his misfortune and repeatedly chanting, "You’re dood, you’re dood." Yet, Zhou Li remained calm.
He was already a sophomore, and with Brother Nan’s influence, he had long since beco indifferent to skipping classes.
He was even unwilling to go get a leave slip signed.
After all, getting one signed would an notifying Zhou Qianqian in advance and then running over to the administration building. Just thinking about the hassle was exhausting.
At that mont, his phone pinged.
This ti it was a QQ ssage.
Li Daimao: I’m screwed
Zhou Li: ?
Li Daimao: Just got marked absent in roll call. Screwed.
Zhou Li: too
Zhou Li frowned, sowhat puzzled.
He had expected Brother Nan to skip class, but with her popularity, surely soone would have answered roll call for her, right?
The ssages on the screen kept popping up—
Li Daimao: You got screwed too?
Li Daimao: Did a lot of people answer for you too?
Zhou Li: ...
Li Daimao: Alright, I get it. Say no more, I’ll spare your dignity.
Zhou Li: ...
Li Daimao: [Image]
When Zhou Li clicked on it, he saw several blank leave request forms signed by Zhou Qianqian and stamped with the official seal of the Academic Affairs Office.
Speechless.
He felt his girlfriend was a bit too magically resourceful, but as for what she’d done... he didn’t know whether to praise or criticize her.
After so consideration, he decided to praise her.
Zhou Li: Brother Nan is aweso/cool
Li Daimao: /cool
A few monts later, Brother Nan sent him another picture. The leave slips had already been filled out, in two different handwritings. One cited physical discomfort, and the other poor ntal state—considering she had played gas all night, claiming to be in a poor ntal state wasn’t exactly a lie.
Li Daimao: The leave slips are all signed. Maybe we shouldn’t go to class this afternoon either. Let’s go out and have fun.
Zhou Li: That’s not good.
Li Daimao: Then I’ll tear up the leave slips.
Zhou Li: ...
「Afternoon.」
Guandu Ancient Town.
This was Chunming’s biggest tourist trap, bar none.
The three young people were sitting on folding stools with a half-grown cat crouched beside them, their small stall set up in front, creating a rather conspicuous scene.
There weren’t many people around in the afternoon.
Following Zhou Li’s advice, Huai Xu had also brought her potter’s wheel. She sold finished products while simultaneously working on unfired, semi-finished ones, allowing everyone to see that they were genuinely handmade and not cheap Yiwu commodities. Moreover, they were being crafted by an incredibly handso girl.
This ti, they finally made a sale.
The old monster was thrilled to have sold just one.
Zhou Li’s next plan was to have her switch from bulky ancient culinary and ceremonial utensils to attractively shaped or cartoon-thed mugs, or small clay pots, to better suit custor demand. He felt they could potentially sell for even higher prices.
After all, even though those ancient utensils were larger and used more materials, they were no match for the lack of demand. Who these days would use a Tao Dun to store rice?
They also took up a lot of space.
And they were too heavy to carry back.
Not everyone is a history buff, after all.
They hadn’t been set up for long before a security guard approached them again. Zhou Li imdiately looked to Brother Nan.
Brother Nan turned her head to reassure them briefly, telling them not to be nervous. Then she stood up and went forward to speak with the security guard.
Zhou Li quietly pricked up his ears.
Brother Nan didn’t say much. She rely explained that they were all students from Cai University, currently completing a course project, and not trying to make money by setting up a stall... Zhou Li had thought of these excuses before, but perhaps Brother Nan’s way of speaking was more skillful, because she quickly convinced the security guard not to pursue the matter of their unauthorized stall in the scenic area. The guard even allowed them to move to a busier intersection to set up, next to Zhengxin Chicken Cutlets.
The effectiveness was extraordinary, far beyond what he’d imagined.
Perhaps that was the art of speaking.
Brother Nan returned, clapping her hands with the swagger of a gang leader.
"All sorted!"
"How are you so amazing?"
"Want to learn?" Brother Nan glanced lightly at Zhou Li, her deanor like a character from *Kung Fu*. "I’ll teach you."
"No need..."
"Hm?"
"Having you around is enough."
Zhou Li, fully embracing his slacker persona, figured that freeloading was always easier than working for a living.
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