Emmm...
Zhou Li fell into brief contemplation before turning his head towards Brother Nan and tugging at the sleeve of her shirt, as if he wanted to say sothing.
In that instant, he clearly saw a flicker of panic in the eyes of the cafeteria lady. She quickly bowed her head and abruptly intensified her movents, starting to scoop at onto his plate frantically until it could barely hold any more.
That wasn’t all; she rummaged through the dishes and found a chicken drumstick and so chopped chicken wings, which she also scooped into Zhou Li’s bowl.
Only then did the cafeteria lady look at Zhou Li, her eyes still holding a hint of inquiry.
But this ti, it was obviously different from the last.
Zhou Li nodded slightly.
Baozi let out a sigh of relief. A consensus had been reached.
However, her unusual behavior had already caught Brother Nan’s attention. Brother Nan began to frown and stare at her intently, without blinking.
"Why does this food server look kind of familiar?"
Baozi imdiately tensed up again. However, she forced herself to stay calm and sneakily sent a pleading look to Zhou Li. She hoped her cousin would lend a hand, considering their alliance—she often reported (or rather, tattled on) Brother Nan’s activities to him.
"Let’s go, Brother Nan," Zhou Li whispered. "There’s a line forming behind us, and it seems there aren’t many spots left in the cafeteria."
"Wait a sec! I think that food server..."
"Let’s go."
Zhou Li carried his tray with one hand and grabbed Brother Nan’s arm with the other. Without much effort, Brother Nan followed him.
He glanced back one more ti.
Baozi was expressing her gratitude with her eyes.
Zhou Li felt very speechless inside.
He had realized that his Little Cousin was truly mischievous. When she acted out, she never considered the consequences. She only started to fear the aftermath once the fun was over and she realized trouble was imminent. Only then would she panic.
Such a noob...
But she didn’t seem to be too afraid of getting hit.
No, that wasn’t right; she was scared of getting hit. Every ti it happened, she was extrely frightened, and the aftermath was always upsetting. But within the ti it took to drink a cup of milk tea, she’d forget about it. The next ti she felt like acting out, she wouldn’t rember the beating she had received before, nor would she think about the possibility of getting hit again. As long as she wasn’t about to be hit imdiately, she wouldn’t fear it.
Enjoy the mischief today, worry about the consequences tomorrow.
Zhou Li and Brother Nan found a spot and sat down.
Last sester, they had to sit with an empty seat between them in the cafeteria, but not anymore. The sa rule supposedly applied to classrooms, but almost no one followed it.
Zhou Li placed the tiny chicken leg into Brother Nan’s bowl.
"You’re not eating?" Brother Nan frowned.
"I prefer vegetables," Zhou Li said, anticipating Brother Nan’s next move. He quickly cut her off, "I’m not skinny."
"TSK..." Brother Nan rolled her eyes and then suddenly rembered, "I really think that food server looked familiar. At first, I didn’t pay much attention to her, but the more I looked, the more familiar she seed. Don’t you think so?"
"Eat up."
Zhou Li responded vaguely, not daring to give a clear answer.
Brother Nan was occasionally oblivious but not stupid. She had already pressed him this far with her questions. If he bluntly said, ’I didn’t notice,’ she might connect his reaction with the possibility that he and Baozi were deceiving her. That, in turn, could implicate him as well.
It wasn’t worth the risk for Baozi’s sake.
After pondering for a mont, Zhou Li sniffed and pointed to the vegetarian dishes on his plate. "This tiger-skin green pepper is a bit spicy, and they’ve added tomato to it."
This topic ignited Brother Nan’s eagerness to share. She quickly abandoned her previous thoughts and began to enlighten Zhou Li. "This isn’t tiger-skin green pepper, but the preparation is similar. Qian Province uses this thod more often. The main difference is that we prefer to use large green peppers for tiger-skin green peppers, while they use spicier thin peppers and replace the sourness of vinegar with the acidity of tomatoes..."
Zhou Li nodded continuously as he listened.
After she finished, he looked at her with an admiring gaze and complinted her extensive knowledge. This was enough to make her vanity and satisfaction soar.
She was so easy to please...
As for the previous matter, she had already completely forgotten about it.
After they finished their al, Brother Nan asked Zhou Li in detail about Tuanzi’s taste preferences. Although Zhou Li answered her seriously, the answers still frustrated her.
"What does ’picky yet not picky’ even an?"
"And what’s this about ’she’ll love anything as long as you fool her properly’?"
Brother Nan muttered softly and took a small bowl to get Tuanzi three cents’ worth of rice. She had planned to get her so fish soup as well, but there was none today. Reluctantly, she had to settle for a portion of braised loach instead. She asked the lady to put in less loach and more soup, fearing the bones might choke the Little Trash Cat.
Just as she was about to walk out with the bowl, gazing at the two loaches on top, she suddenly fell into deep thought.
A minute later, Brother Nan ran to the clay pot stand, shalessly asked for a quail egg, and placed it between the loaches. Looking at the arrangent, she finally seed satisfied.
Carrying the bowl back to the dorm, she found Little Trash Cat waiting at the door for her.
"OW~~"
"Look what Brother Nan brought for you!"
Brother Nan didn’t just put the bowl on the ground. Instead, she placed it on the table and picked up Tuanzi, exclaiming, "Ta-da! Double Dragons Playing with a Pearl! These are two dragons that I, Brother Nan, specially caught for you from ’Heavens Above’! How about that?"
"OW??"
"Eat up!"
Brother Nan propped her chin on the table and yawned as she watched Tuanzi devour her al, unable to resist asking her, "What do you really like to eat?"
"Slow down, there are bones..."
"I just asked Zhou Li, and he doesn’t know anything other than fish soup with rice. Don’t you think he’s unqualified? You must have sothing you love to eat, right? Like my Pumpkin, who loves outer cabbage leaves, strawberry ends, cilantro stems—oh, and waterlon rind too."
"I told you to slow down, don’t choke."
"W W..."
Tuanzi was already beyond words, just burying her head in her food. She would slow down a bit whenever Brother Nan warned her, but soon after, her pace would pick up again. Occasionally, she made a aningless W from her mouth as a response to Brother Nan.
Brother Nan was speechless, stroking Tuanzi’s errant cowlick while saying, "If Zhou Li saw this, he would think I’m mistreating you, not giving you breakfast."
Tuanzi continued to W while eating.
「Around 12 o’clock, Cotton Swab returned, accompanied by Mianmian.」
By then, Tuanzi had just finished eating, and Brother Nan was wiping her mouth when she spotted the two. She asked in confusion, "Where’s Baozi?"
"She hasn’t co back yet."
"She didn’t co back with you two?"
"She’s at a work-study job."
"Oh, is she helping out in the office, like sweeping and doing odd jobs for the teachers?" Brother Nan nodded. "It’s pretty good to earn money just by sweeping."
"’That can’t be right,’ Mianmian said uncertainly. ’Those work-study spots were filled up a long ti ago.’"
"Baozi seems to be serving food in the cafeteria," Qian Qian said.
"Serving food!?"
"Yeah!" Qian Qian blinked at Brother Nan, not understanding why she was so excited, a little frightened. "She ntioned it last night~~"
"How co I didn’t hear about it?"
"You were... on a video call~~"
"Oh!"
Brother Nan’s face imdiately burst into a brilliant smile. She casually crossed one leg over the other, her raised foot jiggling as her eyes half-closed, as if pondering what ti the cafeteria food-serving job would end.
The two roommates, Mianmian and Qian Qian, trembled nervously.
Tuanzi, oblivious, had just jumped from the table onto Brother Nan’s lap, full and content, and began a new round of ingratiating behavior.
「1 PM.」
Baozi returned to the dorm.
At that mont, Brother Nan was pacing back and forth in the room.
The half-grown cat faithfully followed behind her, weaving around in circles. It seed to be getting a bit dizzy, or perhaps was scrambling to avoid Brother Nan’s feet, causing it to trip over its own paws and tumble now and then. It would quickly scramble to its feet and continue following Brother Nan, appearing adorably clumsy.
"HISS!"
Baozi suddenly drew in a sharp breath, finding it hard to breathe, forgetting the uneasiness she had felt on the way back.
"HISS!"
Baozi’s breath hitched again, and her heart skipped a beat.
It was a sunny mid-October afternoon in Chunming. The sun cast mottled shadows through the trees. Stray cats lay basking in the road. Beauty-conscious girls shielded themselves with parasols, while cheerful boys in vests, carrying basketballs, headed towards the sports field. The whole scene exuded a warm and cheerful vibe.
Perhaps because their dorm room didn’t get any sun, Baozi felt a chill run through her at that mont. She stood there blankly, her eyes wide and her small hands clasped tightly together.
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