"Does Lord Dumpling eat slippery at?"
"What is slippery at, OW?"
"It's a kind..." Zhou Li thought for a mont, holding a piece of slippery at with his chopsticks. "It's the at of a rare sea creature. It's called slippery at because it's so smooth and slippery."
"I want to eat it! Lord Dumpling wants to eat slippery at!"
"Here you go." Zhou Li placed the slippery at from his chopsticks into Lord Dumpling's bowl. "I treat Lord Dumpling the best."
"Zhou Ni treats Lord Dumpling the best."
"Be careful, it's hot."
"Got it, OW!"
Zhou Li sat in the courtyard, holding his bowl and eating while admiring the little cat devouring its food beside him.
Weather like today is just perfect for eating in the courtyard. The last ti everyone ate together here was probably for last year's hotpot or barbecue.
Enjoying delicious food with a gentle breeze—life's happiness is nothing more than this.
The food cooked by Miss Zheng had a special quality. It wasn't stunning at first bite but rather offered a simple, comforting flavor. It was pleasant to eat and sat well in the stomach. After one bowl, you'd naturally want a second; you could eat it daily without tiring of it. If you went a while without it, you'd find yourself missing it.
Zhou Li had ntioned this to Brother Nan, who said this was called "the taste of ho."
Zhou Li hadn't really experienced "the taste of ho." Aunt Jiang had only started to seriously explore cooking in recent years. Unexpectedly, the first person to give him this feeling was soone his own age.
"Does Lord Dumpling eat water spinach?"
"What's water spinach, OW?"
"It's a type of immortal vine, the kind that grows gourd babies."
"I want to eat it!"
"Here you go..."
Zhou Li patiently told Lord Dumpling, "Eating more vegetables helps you get vitamins."
Brother Nan's mouth twitched. "What on earth does a cat need vitamins for!"
Huai Xu, amidst her own feasting, paused her chopsticks, her mouth glistening with oil, and said to Zhou Li, "This silly little cat will be turned into a fool by you sooner or later if you keep teaching him like this."
"Lord Dumpling is not a fool."
"Lord Dumpling is not a fool!"
"HEHEHE..."
Huai Xu chuckled twice and lowered her head, resuming her al.
In front of her was a large enal bowl brimming with slippery at soup. In her eyes, the soup, the at, and the loofah pieces within were all treated with equal enthusiasm. Aided by her chopsticks, her mouth was like a bottomless pit with an irresistible pull, devouring everything in the bowl.
Lord Dumpling occasionally glanced at her, looking sowhat dazed.
...
Not only that day, but the next day was also cool. However, it heated up again on the third day, fully proving the efficacy of the wish made that day.
On the fourth day, Zhou Li and Brother Nan went down the mountain. After staying ho for a few more days, it was soon the end of August.
It was already the latter half of the seventh lunar month.
The temperature showed no sign of cooling down.
Fortunately, Zhou Li and Brother Nan were about to start school. Once they reached Chunming, it would be much cooler than Yan City, where temperatures consistently exceeded thirty-five degrees Celsius.
"Have you guys finished your driving tests?" Zhou Li asked Zhu Shuang.
"I just passed Subject Three today."
"That's quite fast."
"Not bad!"
Zhu Shuang squinted, outwardly modest but inwardly quite proud. Neither he nor his sister had failed any part of the test, passing everything on the first try and achieving full marks so far. A confident kid's pride could be just that simple.
Zhou Li nodded in praise. "That's very impressive."
"HEHE..."
"Also, when you go back to school for basketball practice, pay attention to your body's limits, especially your ankles and knees. Injuries can be very troubleso."
"I know."
"Your physical attributes are strong: great strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina. Your main weakness lies in technique. Therefore, you should focus on practicing your skills. Lately, I've noticed you trying to use your physical attributes to compensate for your lack of skill. I think... personally, I feel... that's not a good approach. It can easily lead to injuries." Zhou Li paused, quietly observing his determined younger brother's expression. "Moreover, if your opponent, like I was last night, continuously wears down your stamina, you'll struggle to endure and might even get hurt."
"The legendary ankle-breaker, you an?" Zhu Shuang replied.
"Yes. When facing such an opponent, it's best to have a combination of physical endurance, skill, and patience. You also need sharp insight to seize opportunities and turn defense into offense to secure victory."
"Oh..."
"But you're still a genius!" Zhou Li said hurriedly. "It's mainly because you haven't had systematic training before; you've been relying purely on talent. Now that you have a professional coach, and if you pass the selection, you'll definitely have even more specialized coaches guiding you. Your progress will be incredibly fast!"
"What about you then, Brother? What are you?"
"I..."
Zhou Li hesitated. After a mont, he brazenly said, "Actually, I'm also a genius."
Aunt Jiang, sitting nearby watching TV, smiled.
Old Zhou, who had been ntally simulating fishing, was slightly surprised by this. He temporarily exited his simulation, nodded, and said, "Actually, when it cos to talent, genetics play a very large part."
Aunt Jiang shot him a playful glare, then her smile grew even brighter.
...
「August 30th.」
Zhou Li and Brother Nan drove back to Chunming.
The mont they stepped out of the car, Brother Nan exhaled deeply and stretched his arms. "The weather in Chunming is so comfortable!"
"Indeed," Zhou Li nodded in agreent.
In fact, Chunming could also be very hot at tis, especially around noon in sumr when it was both hot and sunny. However, it was different from the suffocating, windless heat of Yan City, which felt as if the world itself was stagnant.
As Zhou Li unloaded their luggage, he said, "I wonder how the flowers I planted are doing."
Huai Xu's voice suddenly piped up, "A while ago, your Yueli roses had a lot of tiny spiders. Really tiny, about this big..."
As she spoke, she tried to gesture with her hands.
But they were too small to gesture effectively.
So Huai Xu gave up and described it instead: "They were smaller than a dot made by poking paper with my pen. A lot of them appeared, crawling densely all over and spinning many webs. I squatted beside them and watched for a while. They were sucking water from the leaves, and many leaves ended up with little yellow spots."
"Red spider mites?"
Zhou Li imdiately felt a sense of unease.
Red spider mites are actually a type of mite, specifically leaf mites. They're called 'spider' mites because they also spin webs. They're notorious for being one of the most troubleso pests when growing Yueli roses.
Outbreaks are rapid, consequences severe, and eradication is difficult. They usually appear in poorly ventilated environnts. Once an infestation becos serious, multiple types of pesticides are needed, applied in rotation, and one must be prepared for a long battle. The slightest oversight can lead to their resurgence, and they can quickly return to peak numbers.
As a result, many garden enthusiasts had given up on treatnt, chanting the slogan, "Red spider mites are eternal!"
"Did you close the windows?"
"How did you know?"
Figures...
"It was raining heavily before. If the windows weren't closed, the rain would have poured in and flooded the house."
"I see..."
Zhou Li's mind quickly formulated a plan.
Red spider mites are afraid of water, so they need to be washed off. I'll have to focus on the undersides of the leaves, which rain usually doesn't reach and where the eggs are laid. Then, I'll need to buy a whole bunch of mite control products and use them in rotation. This plant absolutely cannot die.
"HAHA, don't worry!" Huai Xu said cheerfully. "Although it looked scary, I've already cured it for you!"
"How did you cure it?"
"I caught them all, one by one. I also destroyed all the eggs they laid on the undersides of the leaves. Not a single one was left." Huai Xu paused, then added, "I was also worried those little bugs might spread to my Little Lotus, so I got rid of all of them."
"..."
Zhou Li fell silent for a mont, then slowly gave a thumbs up.
Physical therapy—now that's brilliant.
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