"Emmm..."
Zhou Li squinted at the smaller Brother Nan in front of him, automatically adopting a child’s mindset. "You have so many boxes of chalk, can’t you lend one?"
This ti, Brother Xiao Nan seed older than before; you could tell just by her stature. Although she was only in third grade, she was already very tall. Rural kids generally had slightly poorer nutrition than city kids, which ant she was much taller than the three classmates who swept the floor in her class, even taller than most sixth graders.
Zhou Li thought about his own height in third grade; matching up to Brother Nan’s nose then would have been considered pretty good.
No wonder she had been the king of children from a young age.
Her attire was ordinary; the knees of her pants were worn through, turning them into holey pants, and she was covered in dust, displaying a playful nature.
Her face was pale and tender, making one want to pinch it, but her expression was fierce, clearly indicating she was not to be ssed with.
But that didn’t matter; Zhou Li wasn’t afraid of her at all.
"You call *that* borrowing? That’s robbery!" This version of Brother Nan seed more arrogant than the previous one. She looked up at Zhou Li and spat. "If you want to rob, just say it. I despise people like you, yada yada yada..."
"I will return it to you..."
"Return? When will you return it? I don’t even know you, how can you return it?" Brother Xiao Nan seed ready to bite. "Return my ass!"
"Don’t swear..."
"None of your business!"
"I really will return it." Zhou Li paused. "I know you. I know your na is Li Nan, you live in Li Family Bay, and your grandmother lives in Xiaoping."
"Holy CRAP!!"
Brother Nan beca more wary. She furrowed her brow as she scrutinized Zhou Li from head to toe and suddenly realized sothing.
"Oh! I rember now! Are you perhaps the third older male cousin from my second granduncle’s family?"
"..."
"No? Oh, then you must be the little uncle from Great Uncle Four’s family!"
"...Neither."
"Then who are you?" Brother Nan stared at him blankly.
"Like I said, I’m your future boyfriend," Zhou Li repeated, sincerely, but with a smile on his face.
"Do you believe I’ll throw you into the pond?" Brother Xiao Nan flared up again. "Don’t think I’m scared of you just because you’re tall and an adult! Let tell you, I’ve never been scared of anyone growing up! Anyone who sses with , whether human or dog, none have ended well!"
"Hmm." Zhou Li laughed. He could see that Brother Xiao Nan didn’t really dare to fight him and was just putting on a fierce front, which was incredibly cute.
"You don’t believe ?" Brother Xiao Nan frowned.
"I believe you. After all, you’re the Child of Destiny; you’ve always been incredibly lucky," Zhou Li kept smiling.
"How do you know?"
"Like I said, you just don’t believe ..." Zhou Li spread his hands. "I also know that when you were very young, you t a Demon who gave you an apple-like Immortal Pill. You ate until you were stuffed, and then you beca incredibly strong and resilient to illnesses!"
"How do you know that? But that was an Immortal!"
"Your future self told ."
Watching the shock on Brother Xiao Nan’s face, Zhou Li didn’t know why, but he felt extrely satisfied.
After a brief pause, to boost his credibility, he added, "You haven’t told anyone else this secret, have you?"
"Not really! The whole class knows! Who did you hear it from?"
"..."
"Forget it, forget it, I don’t care who you are anymore. I’m tired of talking to you. Here’s a damn box for you!" Brother Xiao Nan pulled out a box of chalk and handed it to him, then suddenly pulled her hand back and squinted at him. "You just said you’d return it; is that true? When will you return it?"
"...In about ten years or so." Zhou Li thought for a mont. "At that ti, rember to remind to return it to you, and if I don’t, you can hit ."
"Screw you!"
"Don’t swear... Really, you."
"None of your farting business!"
Having said that, Brother Xiao Nan bypassed him and, clutching the chalk, hastened away.
Her pace quickened, soon turning into a jog. She even turned her head to check if the strange man was following her.
Fortunately, the strange man did not follow.
But Brother Nan’s curiosity was strong. Plain and simple, she loved courting disaster; however, as the Child of Destiny, she could get away with anything. So after establishing a safe distance, she stopped again and turned around to size up this strange man.
It’s hard to say; this guy might be an idiot, but he was quite a looker.
"What are you still doing standing there? School’s out!"
"I don’t know where to go."
Zhou Li stood still; he was reluctant to follow Brother Nan because, despite everything, she was still a little girl, and he was afraid of scaring her, which would be bad.
So he used this sowhat pitiful response, hoping to provoke Brother Nan’s compassion.
"Are you brain-damaged or sothing, not knowing where to go!"
"..."
This kid really had a foul mouth; if it weren’t for divine providence, she would definitely learn her lessons the hard way when she grew up.
Zhou Li organized his words and called out to Brother Nan from a distance, "I say, you believe in Immortals and yourself being blessed by heaven, why can’t you believe in ti travel?"
"Because there really are Immortals!" Brother Nan said. "And there really is a Child of Destiny!"
"I’m real too."
"You look so cowardly. How could I end up with soone like you as a boyfriend when I grow up?" Brother Xiao Nan sneered. "Keep dreaming! I’ve always thought that when I grow up, I certainly won’t get a boyfriend; I’ll just collect little brothers!"
"..."
Zhou Li didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad; his expression was complex. After struggling for a while, he only managed to squeeze out a sentence—
"Maybe you changed your mind."
"How can you prove it?"
"...I can’t make you understand," Zhou Li ca to terms with reality. "Then forget it. I’ll take you ho."
"Do I need you to take ho?" Brother Xiao Nan’s eyebrows lifted.
"I’ll accompany you," Zhou Li chose his words more carefully.
"You think I need your company?"
"..."
Zhou Li felt an imnse struggle.
Unexpectedly, in the end, Brother Nan agreed to walk with him for a while, a decision so sudden that Zhou Li was baffled. But Brother Nan’s thought processes had always been weird, so that was normal.
Brother Nan’s ho was to the right outside the school gate, down a small, sloping path lined with bamboo on both sides, looking sowhat eerie.
The tall boy and the little girl holding the box of chalk walked along, keeping a distance of a ter or two between them.
Zhou Li whispered to her, "A drawer in your ho is filled with marbles. There’s a shoe cabinet stuffed with dried tofu and also cards from ’Yu-Gi-Oh’. When I co over to your place in the future, you’ll excitedly pull open the drawer, fling open the cabinet door, show them to , and look all smug..."
"Where do you live?" Brother Xiao Nan asked.
"Next to Yan City Middle School," Zhou Li said.
"Now that I know this, will I still show them to you if it’s true?" Brother Xiao Nan posed a philosophical question.
"I don’t know."
"If I don’t show you, will you still rember these things?" Brother Xiao Nan was poor at academics, but she was quite good at thinking about such tricky things.
"It’s hard to explain."
"Then tell , how did we et?" Brother Xiao Nan said. "You better make it sound plausible."
"We were high school classmates, later beca deskmates, and then attended the sa university, sa departnt, almost the sa class," Zhou Li explained. He then turned his head, questioning Brother Xiao Nan, "You’re so young. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
"You’re still so la! Why on earth would I fancy you?" Brother Xiao Nan retaliated fiercely. "Answer ."
"Maybe... it’s because I’m good-looking."
"Good-looking my ass... Does being good-looking put food on the table?"
"..." Zhou Li ignored her and dropped the topic. Although he was teasing Brother Xiao Nan, discussing these matters with a little girl in elentary school still felt sowhat odd. So, he changed the subject. "You will go to town for junior high, and you’ll get into Yan City Middle School. Oh right, your elder uncle should beco the principal of Yan City Middle School in a few years. Your second uncle will also strike it rich. And, who was it, the one who joined the army, will also achieve great things."
"What about my dad?" Brother Xiao Nan couldn’t help but ask.
"Your dad’s cooking skills will be amazing," Zhou Li honestly replied.
"That’s good!" Brother Xiao Nan nodded, sowhat relieved. "Having , his life is complete."
"Sounds like it matters to you." Zhou Li habitually agreed, continuing, "When you grow up, your personality will ta a bit. You’ll start to understand who truly cares about you. You’ll know how you want to live your life. You’ll understand boundaries, develop more respect for others, and learn that constantly swearing isn’t the best way to express yourself..."
"Stop nagging..." Brother Nan felt sick of hearing it and curled her lip. "I’d have to be out of my mind to end up with a boyfriend like you!"
"That’s not what you said when you confessed to ."
"What??"
"Yes," Zhou Li remained unfazed. "You were the one who confessed to ."
"You’re making that up..."
"It’s true." Zhou Li spread his hands. "As you can see, I’m quite timid. I’d never dare to confess to you. Only you could be so bold and passionate."
"!! I don’t believe it!"
Brother Xiao Nan turned her head away, gritting her teeth.
Zhou Li withdrew his hand, indifferent. "You already believe it. Otherwise, why would I, a stranger, co to you to talk about such pointless things?"
He continued walking. "Your grandmother is probably about to develop Alzheir’s, intermittently failing to recognize people, but she always recognizes you. When you grow up, every ti you visit her and leave, she will give you five mao to buy an ice pop."
Suddenly, two cat ows rang out near his ear.
Zhou Li instinctively stopped, looking left and right at the roadside bushes, trying to find a lost kitten there.
But right after the ows, he heard soone calling his na. The voice was soft and delicate, with her ’l’s and ’n’s indistinct, and then the world began to ripple. He had a strange feeling that he might disconnect from this world at any mont.
"What’s wrong? Why aren’t we moving?"
Brother Xiao Nan turned her head, puzzled, her voice becoming vague with an echo.
"I have to go."
"Where are you going?"
"I’m going back. Ti is up," Zhou Li said with a smile. "Don’t worry, we’ll et again in the future."
"..." Brother Xiao Nan froze. "Are you really my future boyfriend?"
"Yes."
"What’s your na?"
"My na is Zhou Li." He tried to stay there longer, ignoring the voices in his ears to slow his awakening. "The ’Zhou’ from King Wu of Zhou... or ’Zhou’ as in ’a week,’ and ’Li’ as in ’to part.’"
"When we et, we’ll be the sa age, won’t we?"
"You’re clever."
"I’m gonna beat the living daylights out of you!"
"Alright..."
Zhou Li’s smile grew wider. If it really happened, it would definitely be interesting. Unfortunately, the current Mirror Zone was still far from the level Master Ming described; it was just an extrely realistic ’ga’ at this point.
So, he moved closer to Brother Xiao Nan, patted her head, and also gently touched the small tuft of hair on her head. While she stared in confusion, he lovingly dusted off her clothes. He was about to stop, but seeing that she hadn’t quite understood and was starting to resist, he hesitated for a mont before pinching her soft, tender cheeks.
"Grow up well..."
「Everything went dark, and he was back in his room.」
There was no more light from dusk seeping through the curtain.
Tuanzi no longer called out to him but instead clung to his neck, WHIMPERING and OWING softly, as if crying.
Zhou Li’s heart imdiately softened.
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