After changing his shoes, Zhou Li was ready to head out.

Tuanzi, dressed in the little clothes Aunt Jiang had made for her overnight, sat primly by Zhou Li's feet, looking down as he put on his shoes.

The little girl, Zhu Bing, was quite flustered and hurriedly knocked on Zhu Shuang's door.

She also had a habit of running. Even though she was busy with her senior year studies, she insisted on running daily. This helped maintain her figure, allowed her to relax, and helped regulate her mood and mental state. For those who loved running, it could indeed bring a sense of pleasure. This feeling was even more satisfying than smoking or eating sweets—it wasn't an exaggeration to say it was addicting.

The little girl had planned to go running this morning with her brother and Zhu Shuang; they had agreed on it the day before.

She also really wanted to see how Tuanzi obediently waited in place for her owner and how she tricked fishermen into giving her little fish.

But now, Zhu Shuang still hadn't gotten up, and her brother was about to leave.

She had tentatively asked, "Brother, are you going out for a run?" He had merely nodded in acknowledgment, making her unsure whether he had forgotten about yesterday's plan or simply didn't want to go running with her.

Finally, just before Zhou Li left, Zhu Shuang came out rubbing his eyes. He immediately spotted Zhou Li, ready to leave.

Then, glancing at his sister, he understood the situation.

Aunt Jiang sat on the couch with her legs crossed. "There's food left on the table. Go eat."

Zhu Shuang nodded but still looked at Zhou Li. "Bro, why didn't you wait for us? Didn't we agree to run together?"

"Oh, right!" Zhou Li slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot."

After a pause, he hesitated and looked at Zhu Shuang. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? You can't run on an empty stomach, can you? And it's not good right after eating either."

Zhu Shuang grinned. "No worries, I'll just eat a little. Just wait for us for a moment."

"Alright."

So Zhou Li sat down to wait for him.

Although Zhu Shuang was well-behaved at home, at school he was practically a campus heartthrob—handsome, with good grades, a love for sports, and he had even been some kind of club president before, with adoring fangirls all over the school.

This young heartthrob spent half a minute brushing his teeth. He then used a towel from yesterday that still hadn't dried to wipe his face, considering his washing up complete. Next, he simply grabbed two dumplings and stuffed them into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. He then took a Baozi, finishing it in three bites. Strangely, he spent more time in the toilet than on all the previous steps combined.

"Okay, I'll be ready once I change my shoes," Zhu Shuang said as he came out of the restroom.

"Not having the congee?" Zhou Li pointed to the table.

"No, it'll make me feel bloated. I'll get a stomachache if I run after drinking it," Zhu Shuang said casually as he grabbed his shoes and put them on.

"Face mask."

"Oh."

Zhu Bing was already waiting outside with her shoes on.

Three people and one Demon headed out.

This neighborhood was quite a distance from the riverbank, so they walked slowly, allowing their food to digest a bit and doing some warm-up exercises along the way. Although all three wore masks, their tall figures in athletic gear still drew the attention of passersby.

"Bro, why did you wake up so early?" Zhu Shuang asked. "Doesn't that mean you only got three hours of sleep?"

"I'm used to it."

"You're so intense when you play games! I had no idea you were that good. I thought you didn't play games at all," Zhu Shuang said, amazed. In his memory, his brother really wasn't into gaming. He had even prepared himself for the possibility that his brother was worse than him. But in infinite chaos battles, whether you were good or bad didn't really matter. However, who would've thought that last night his brother had practically dominated all night? Sometimes, even when Zhu Shuang himself played terribly in the early game, he could still enjoy himself in the late game by riding his brother's coattails.

"Occasionally, just occasionally," Zhou Li said.

"Oh."

When they reached the riverbank, the entire path was empty.

Zhou Li let Tuanzi down and told her to go play by herself. He then did some stretches and put on his Bluetooth headphones. "I run very fast."

Zhu Shuang's smile was radiant. "I'm not slow either. I'll try to see if I can keep up. Anyway, just run at your own pace. If I can keep up, running with you will be easier for me."

"You two run your own race; I'll run mine," Zhu Bing said, looking ahead. "This road is straight, right?"

"No detours."

"Good."

"I'm starting now."

"Me too."

Zhou Li started his music and began to run.

Zhu Shuang quickly followed.

He soon felt the distance between himself and his brother steadily increasing…

Before long, his brother was out of sight.

Actually, Zhou Li ran relatively slower during this initial stretch because Zhu Shuang was behind him, making it inconvenient to go all out. But even at this pace, he could easily shake off Zhu Shuang unless Zhu Shuang sprinted.

Only after that did Zhou Li increase his speed.

From the underpass of the bridge to the end, the one-way distance was exactly four kilometers. Along the way, they would pass a junction near the high-speed rail station. Many runners wouldn't run to the end of this path, turning back at this junction instead. After returning to the underpass, one could actually continue running further ahead. However, that stretch wasn't near the river and had a bit of an incline, making it less comfortable for running.

Zhou Li ran to the very end before turning back, but he told Zhu Shuang to turn back at the high-speed rail station junction. Zhu Shuang would do so, and would assume Zhou Li had done the same.

After returning to the underpass, he also continued to run further, using the extra distance to make up for the time difference.

Thinking about all this was really exhausting…

Today, Tuanzi didn't go play by the river. Instead, she quietly squatted by the roadside, waiting for them. Whenever someone passed by her, she would meow and playfully chase them for a short distance, but she would quickly give up and return to her original spot.

「An hour or so later.」

Zhu Bing only ran one round trip, a little over six kilometers, which was already a lot compared to her usual exercise volume. Then, she squatted by the roadside, teasing Tuanzi while waiting for them.

However, Tuanzi was aloof and generally wouldn't let her pet her, nor did she pay her much attention.

But the more aloof Tuanzi was, the more fascinated Zhu Bing became. She grew more determined to win Tuanzi's affection, hoping Tuanzi would treat her the way she treated Zhou Li.

Zhu Shuang ran two round trips, around thirteen kilometers. Zhou Li still ran three round trips, and each of his was much longer.

Finally, they both arrived under the bridge at the same time, surprisingly.

"You should join the national team, win glory for the country," Zhu Shuang panted, bending over.

"Not interested," Zhou Li pretended to gasp for breath.

"...Let's head back."

Zhu Shuang sighed deeply and secretly resolved to seriously practice long-distance running in the coming days.

The three of them walked back slowly, idly kicking their legs.

Zhu Bing was already feeling cold. She had dressed lightly for the run and had then waited for them for so long. She said, "You two can really run. Tuanzi and I got bored waiting here."

"You just wanted to pet Tuanzi," Zhu Shuang said.

"So what if I did?" Zhu Bing retorted.

"Nothing, nothing..." Although he was only half a minute younger than her, Zhu Shuang still greatly respected his sister.

Zhou Li listened to their chat and took out his phone to check it.

There was a message from Brother Nan—

Li Daimao: The sun will come out today

The message had been sent half an hour ago.

Zhou Li looked up at the sky. Indeed, there was sun, but it was momentarily hidden by the heavy winter fog.

Zhou Li replied with an emoji.

Li Daimao: I heard today that there are confirmed cases in the town next to my hometown, someone who came back from Jiang City. Don't go to crowded places.

Zhou Li: Oh

He always took Brother Nan's advice.

He felt that as long as he listened to Brother Nan, took proper precautions, and had Brother Nan watching out for him, he could live a safe life. This wasn't just true for the relatively secure small city of Yan City; he felt he'd be safe even if he were in Jiang City.

「Back home.」

Huai Xu was sitting by the window, staring blankly out of it.

Zhou Li thought for a moment, then took out an ancient book and, steeling himself, began to study it seriously.

He felt that since the college entrance examination, his motivation to study had been declining. Now, although he could still engage fully once he started (unless the Demon interfered) and not break off easily, every session began with a struggle.

As for his learning efficiency, it was considerably higher now.

This was due to his powerful ability to read ancient texts. Now, when reading ancient literary works, he faced almost no obstacles, except for the allusions. If there was something he didn't understand, he would look up resources, ask Huai Xu, or send a message to Zheng Zhilan. With Huai Xu's slowly recovering memory, he could now solve some of Zhou Li's problems.

「A moment later.」

SWISH!

Zhou Li turned a page and heard Huai Xu, still sitting by the window lost in thought, say, "The sun will come out today."

Without lifting his head, Zhou Li replied, "Brother Nan said the same thing."

"Do you think all of Yan City's sun has been stolen by Chunming over there?"

"Possibly."

Zhou Li scratched his head and added, "I've decided! During this pandemic, I'm going to read every day. I'll strive to master all the minor applications of Spiritual Power recorded in this book before school starts again. Otherwise, if I keep being idle like this, I'm going to waste away. You have to supervise me!"

Huai Xu nodded in deep agreement, then said, "Then I've decided too, enmmm..."

He fell deep into thought.

After a long while, he said, "I'll write in my weekly journal every day. Hmm, that doesn't seem like enough. I also need to..."

"Then it becomes a daily journal," Zhou Li interrupted.

"It's still called a weekly journal."

"...Don't learn from Tuanzi."

"Hey, stop interrupting!" Huai Xu thought for a moment. "I'll also get out your old language textbooks. I'll read one lesson each day—no, I'll copy one!"

"How about also learning twenty new words and ten idioms? And only playing five games a day?" Zhou Li, ever the schemer, continued, "You can't just copy it; your handwriting has to be good too. It's best if you show it to me for checking when you're done. It only counts if I say it passes... Your handwriting really could use some practice!"

"Okay, you supervise me!"

"And what if you don't do it?"

"What about you?" Huai Xu quickly retorted.

"Enmmm... then penalize me with a day of not going out, not using my phone, not eating, and everything that I'm supposed to do, you do in my stead, by transforming into me. How about that?" Zhou Li said.

"Huh??"

Huai Xu's eyes suddenly sparkled!

"Your turn," Zhou Li said.

"Me? If I fail, then... I'll be penalized by not eating for a day. How about that?" The mere thought was terrifying to Huai Xu.

"But I wouldn't know if you secretly ate. You're always zipping around."

"Zipping around..." Huai Xu mulled over the phrase. That's probably not an idiom. "Then how about I also can't play games? And I have to give you my phone."

"Agreed."

The two of them made a pact.

In the following days... at least for the next few days, they both adhered to their commitments very well.

Even when Huai Xu kept trying to tempt Zhou Li with "Stop reading, that thing's not that interesting," "Isn't it more fun to chat with Brother Nan?" "That thing you're looking at is really useless," "How about I turn into Brother Nan and we go out? Or turn into Zheng Zhilan? Or Hong Ran? I can also turn into a Little Cat Girl..." Zhou Li remained steadfast in his resolve and ignored it all.

And Zhou Li returned the favor: "Your handwriting is too sloppy. Rewrite it!"

And so, time passed quickly.

「In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day of the new year.」

Brother Nan was returning to Yan City today.

Currently, Yan City had two confirmed cases, and the threat of the pandemic was at its peak. Everyone was starting to get scared but hadn't yet had enough time to calm down. Word was that in the countryside, not only had bus services been suspended, but even the roads were blocked. Brother Nan's entire family urged her not to return to the city. But there was really no helping it; Pumpkin and Zhou Li were both in Yan City, and she missed Pumpkin terribly.

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