「June 16th, Morning.」

Zhou Li stood on the balcony looking outside. The ground was somewhat damp, speckled with petals and leaves, which suggested it had rained last night.

He was brushing his teeth intently.

Tuanzi stood by the sink, tilting her head to watch him brush. She observed keenly, carefully avoiding the stream of water so she wouldn't get her feet wet.

After brushing his teeth, Zhou Li washed her face for her.

Liu Zhengming was still sleeping in the upper bunk, while Huai Xu unabashedly gnawed on a braised chicken foot in the lower bunk. Perhaps this is what they call the boldness of the talented?

Upon seeing Zhou Li walk in, she glanced at him. "You and Li Daimao are moving quite fast. In some eras, you two would be dunked in a pig cage for this."

?

"Who said I was spying!" Huai Xu defended. "Last night when you came back, I smelled Li Daimao on you—a strong scent of Li Daimao. I've seen too much of you youngsters of this era cuddling and kissing in corners."

Zhou Li remained silent.

Zhou Li would be a fool to believe her.

The more she frantically defended herself, the clearer it became that she had something to hide.

He said nothing, just gestured towards the upper bunk, signaling that Liu Zhengming was about to wake up.

Huai Xu pouted, unconcerned.

Tuanzi approached Huai Xu, sniffed the chicken foot, made a face of disdain, and then returned, climbing the ladder onto Zhou Li's bed.

Everything was still; the dorm room remained quiet.

At 7:50 AM, Zhou Li logged into the course selection system and began to refresh it.

He could no longer choose stone sculpture, as it conflicted with a required course for the next semester. He planned to pick pottery with Brother Nan instead.

Ping-pong was in high demand, and he wasn't sure if he could snag a spot.

To facilitate students who hadn't returned to campus, the course selection system was accessible from the external network, making it very sluggish.

It was somewhat better for the first few minutes, but after 7:55 AM, it began to experience sudden freezes.

At 7:59 AM, Zhou Li made a critical error. Suspecting the interface had frozen, he clicked refresh, hoping the course selection button would appear. However, the webpage icon just kept spinning, and the page wouldn't load.

Huai Xu leaned close and said solemnly, "The computer is broken. Just give it a pat."

Zhou Li ignored her.

At 8:01 AM, it finally refreshed.

Pottery was still available.

Ping-pong, however, was gone. All three instructors' classes were full.

Huai Xu let out an 'oho'.

Zhou Li still ignored her. He was naturally calm and, unhurried, began to scroll through the list, skipping popular courses with few remaining spots. Since there were already few spots, and he had already spent time searching, he figured selecting those would most likely just lead to a 'This course has been filled' message. With the network so laggy, it would be a waste of time.

Huai Xu, gloating beside him, teased, "Oh no, you can't get your courses! You won't be able to graduate…"

She kept trying to distract him. "Pick this one, this aerobics class! I've seen it when you guys have PE—it's all girls."

The old demon's voice also piqued the curiosity of Tuanzi, who had gone back to bed after washing her face. First, she quietly peeked her head out from the upper bunk to observe them. She could see them, but she couldn't understand what was happening. Then, driven by intense curiosity, her sleepy eyes quickly became bright and alert, and she called out:

"Zhou Li, what are you two doing?"

Zhou Li didn't answer immediately.

"Zhou Li, what are you two doing?"

"Selecting courses."

"What is selecting courses?"

"It's just selecting courses."

"Hmm…" Lord Dumpling felt she was being brushed off. She continued to eye the human and the demon below, gradually stepping onto the bed rail.

What could stop a half-grown kitten's curiosity?

PLOP. Tuanzi jumped directly from the upper bunk, landing on Huai Xu's head before tumbling into her arms. Then, as if nothing had happened, she scrambled up, hopped onto Zhou Li's lap, stood on her hind legs, and pawed at his hand, craning her neck to peer curiously at the computer.

Despite so many disturbances, Zhou Li remained focused.

Soccer and swimming were also gone.

Basketball spots were almost gone, and he didn't want to choose it anyway.

Tennis and badminton were quite similar, so he decided to follow Brother Nan's advice and skip them as well.

Martial arts, tai chi, yoga…

Tai chi!

Selected.

Tai chi and pottery.

Course selection successful.

Seeing this, Huai Xu looked extremely annoyed, as if she herself had chosen the wrong course. "You should've picked basketball! Basketball is so much fun, and you could've had Li Daimao teach you; she's good at it. If you didn't want to go, I could even attend for you. For the final exam, I could go help you pass. I can sink a shot from hundreds of meters away and get you a perfect score."

Zhou Li still said nothing. It was just Huai Xu who wanted to play basketball; he wasn't fond of games that required a lot of teamwork.

Screenshot.

Send.

Brother Nan replied quickly.

Li Daimao: How come you chose the same as me?

Zhou Li: It lagged.

Li Daimao: How come it didn't lag for me?

Zhou Li: You were lucky.

Li Daimao: I don't believe it.

Zhou Li: Really.

Li Daimao: People are actually rushing for *silly* sculpture?

Zhou Li: Stone sculpture.

Li Daimao: I see the stone sculpture is still available.

Zhou Li: Conflict.

Li Daimao: I don't believe it.

Li Daimao: You definitely did it on purpose to take the same classes as me, seeing how pretty I am. These are university-wide classes, and you're worried that some handsome guys from other departments might whisk me away.

Li Daimao: I can't believe you, with your earnest-looking thick eyebrows and big eyes, are actually such a scheming boy! Old Li really misjudged you.

Li Daimao: Hmph! You think you can hide it from me?

Li Daimao: Alright, stop trying to argue.

Li Daimao: This conversation is over.

Seeing the last message, Zhou Li felt a bit suffocated. He had already typed out his reply but now could only delete it, character by character.

Is Brother Nan good-looking?

Of course.

But he insisted that his own looks were a cut above hers.

Even if there was a worry about someone being whisked away, shouldn't Brother Nan be more concerned about other girls whisking *him* away?

Zhou Li glanced to the side.

The old monster, Huai Xu, had read his chat with Brother Nan from beginning to end. Only then did she retract her gaze and say leisurely, "Good thing you didn't send that message, or you would've gotten another beating… Though, it's not like you're afraid of being beaten."

Zhou Li remained noncommittal.

After a moment's thought, he sent a message to Baozi:

Zhou Li: Did you finish picking your classes?

Baozi: Still picking.

Zhou Li: Still picking?

He looked at the time; it was already 8:07 AM.

About three more minutes passed.

Baozi: Picked them.

Zhou Li: What did you choose?

Baozi: Just picked randomly.

Zhou Li: All the good ones were gone, huh?

Baozi: Couldn't be bothered to fight for them.

Zhou Li: /Impressive

Baozi: By the way, cousin, I wanted to ask what Lord Dumpling likes to eat and play with.

Zhou Li: Still not giving up?

Baozi: Just asking.

Zhou Li: She likes three types of things to eat.

Baozi: Okay.

Zhou Li: 1. Delicate dishes like boiled Chinese cabbage in supreme broth, Pagoda Meat, Fire Fang Silver Threads, Three-Course Duck, and those made with cordyceps or matsutake mushrooms.

Zhou Li: 2. Raw kitchen ingredients, the food in my bowl—basically, anything I forbid her from eating. The more I forbid it, the more she wants it.

Zhou Li: 3. Fish soup over rice.

Baozi: What about for playing?

Zhou Li: People's emotions.

Baozi: Got it.

Zhou Li frowned, a sudden wave of concern for his cousin washing over him. He looked down at Tuanzi, who was still perched on his lap.

Tuanzi was still staring unblinkingly at the computer screen. Its light reflected in her twinkling eyes. Suddenly, as if sensing something, she turned her head to meet Zhou Li's gaze. Her beautiful features and curious expression made Zhou Li's heart skip a beat.

"Zhou Li, what are you playing?"

"Nothing…" Zhou Li stroked the fine, soft fur on her forehead, his expression helpless.

He had expended so much effort to prevent Tuanzi from actively going out to play with people's emotions. But who would have thought someone would willingly walk right into her paws!

「June 20th, Saturday.」

The academy had suspended classes, and final exams were gradually beginning.

The first exam was University Foreign Language, conducted online. Since it was just writing an essay, there was no proctoring. Zhou Li planned to cobble something together using Google Translate and Youdao Dictionary, submit it, and be done with it. The score wasn't important.

It was worth mentioning that he had surprisingly passed his CET-4 (College English Test Band 4) last semester.

Brother Nan also passed.

It must have been thanks to Brother Nan's good luck rubbing off on him.

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