The night deepened.

Zhou Li had Huai Xu prepare a bottle of mouthwash for him. It had strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, and he hoped it would prevent his condition from worsening.

Indeed, it was effective and worked quickly. After using it, his pain soon subsided.

Zhou Li went back to his room to sleep.

Huai Xu's room was the secondary bedroom, but it was quite spacious. The main differences from the master bedroom were its orientation and the lack of an en suite bathroom.

Of course, Huai Xu didn't mind that.

The Old Monster's room was pretty tidy. Aside from a cellphone, computer, gaming devices, snacks, and drinks, there was almost nothing else. The bedding and pillows on the bed were neatly arranged, almost as if he'd folded them into perfect squares, like tofu blocks.

This Old Monster clearly had too much time on his hands.

Zhou Li mercilessly messed up Huai Xu's sheets, pushed them to one side, then lay down on the other side, hugging Tuanzi and closing his eyes.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK…

He had just lain down when he had to get up again.

Outside the door, Zhu Bing, who had just taken a bath and changed into pajamas, stood timidly. She held out her hand, saying, "I have ibuprofen sustained-release capsules here. They can treat toothaches…"

"Are they effective?"

"Effective... I think they're effective."

"Then thank you," Zhou Li said as he took the capsule from her pale palm, looking at her curiously. "Do you also have a toothache?"

"I, I don't…"

"Then why do you have toothache medication?"

"This…"

The young girl's face suddenly turned red. She looked left and right, her gaze wavering, clearly not knowing how to answer.

Seeing this, Zhou Li became even more curious.

But at that moment, Brother Nan's voice came from the living room, "Why the heck do you have so many questions! Take the medicine, be a good boy, close the door, and go to sleep!"

"Hmm?"

"Hmm my foot!"

"Oh."

Zhou Li scratched his head.

The young girl quickly said, "Take one pill. It should work in about half an hour and lasts for twelve hours. Good night, Zhou Li."

After she spoke, she turned and left quickly.

Zhou Li said good night to her retreating figure, then said good night to Brother Nan. After Brother Nan replied in an impatient tone, Zhou Li finally closed the door with satisfaction, ready to search online for the mystery behind Zhu Bing's medication.

But as he turned around, he got a fright—

There was now a figure on the bed!

Tuanzi was pressing her two little paws against the figure, trying hard to push him off, but to no avail.

"Damn it! Get off!" Tuanzi shouted.

"Lord Dumpling is sleeping here tonight!"

"This is Lord Dumpling's bed!"

"Only Zhou Li and Lord Dumpling are allowed to sleep together!"

Tuanzi was still struggling against Huai Xu, using all her might, but she seemed so small and helpless.

Zhou Li then lowered his voice and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" Huai Xu responded, feigning confusion.

"Weren't you supposed to sleep back in Yan City?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you lying on my bed?"

"This is my bed!" Huai Xu stopped pretending to be clueless and corrected him seriously, then retorted, "Why are you lying in *my* bed?"

"...Whatever."

"...MEOW!" Tuanzi cried out, exhausted. She pulled her little paws back from Huai Xu, turned her head to Zhou Li, and said, "Zhou Li, hurry up and chase Huai Xu away! Lord Dumpling is too weak to push him away~~"

"Is that so?"

"Yes!!" Tuanzi affirmed.

"Then let's not bother with him."

Zhou Li squeezed Huai Xu's original blanket into a long strip and placed it in the center of the bed as a boundary. He pointed at Huai Xu, then at that side, and then at himself and his own side, indicating that each should stay on their respective halves.

Huai Xu scoffed.

Zhou Li finally lay down.

The sustained-release capsule was also effective. Shortly after he took it, his pain diminished again, and he practically couldn't feel it as long as he didn't touch the sore spot.

But falling asleep was still rather difficult.

The chatterbox Old Monster kept talking to him.

The little cat started to get active.

The two of them would occasionally bicker, so their voices rose and fell around Zhou Li's ears.

「The next morning.」

Brother Nan was still sleeping on the sofa, but Zhu Bing had already gotten up. She had tidied up her blankets and pillows and was sitting quietly on the balcony swing chair.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Zhu Bing turned her head, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Does it still hurt? Do you need more medicine?"

"I'll take some if it hurts again."

"Okay."

"What time did Brother Nan go to sleep last night?" Zhou Li walked over to Brother Nan under Zhu Bing's gaze. He nonchalantly reached out to flick a stray strand of her hair. Seeing Brother Nan's eyebrows twitch, he quickly withdrew his hand, his expression remaining calm. "She sleeps like a log."

"I'm not sure."

We need to wake her up, Zhou Li muttered to himself but hesitated for a long time before acting.

After much hesitation, he finally moved closer and pinched Brother Nan's cheek.

Brother Nan's face was fair, her skin smooth and delicate to the touch.

He pinched it once, then again.

Finally, just as he reached out to play with her cowlick again, a fist hit him in the stomach.

Brother Nan woke up.

Zhou Li quickly adjusted his expression, ignored the anger on her face, and said calmly, "Time to get up. Let's have breakfast and then go out."

Only then did Brother Nan rub her eyes and sit up.

The plan for the day was to explore Chunming City.

The city didn't have that many tourist spots. They only went to Cui Lake and Jinbi Square to "check in," ate some local crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, and then strolled around Dian Lake. This took up most of the day. These places were nothing new to Zhou Li and Brother Nan, as they had visited many times before. However, for the two youngsters, Zhu Bing and Zhu Shuang, the scenery of Cui Lake and Dian Lake, as well as the flocks of seagulls flying everywhere, were sights they had never seen.

Notably, when they arrived at Cui Lake, they called Little Cousin to join them. She then acted as their photographer for the entire day.

Her payment was two vanilla ice creams, with meals included.

In the evening, they went out for a wild mushroom hot pot to experience the local flavors of Caiyun.

Zhou Li's toothache seemed to have worsened, possibly from eating grilled skewers and ice cream during the day. He had been fine while eating the rice noodles earlier, but now, even the similarly mild wild mushroom hot pot caused his teeth some discomfort. It was also possible the painkiller was wearing off.

Little Cousin quietly observed Zhou Li. She didn't know for sure about his toothache, but she had her suspicions.

To test her theory, she picked a few strands of small chili peppers from her dipping sauce and stealthily added them to Zhou Li's bowl, then quietly watched his reaction.

THUMP!

Baozi felt as if someone had flicked her on the forehead. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut, her head ducking down sharply. A moment later, she opened her eyes, quickly glanced at the scowling Brother Nan beside her, then swiftly averted her gaze, pretending nothing had happened.

Brother Nan said to Zhou Li, "You probably have an impacted tooth. Using mouthwash and painkillers only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. You still need to go to the hospital."

"I'll go tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Little Cousin confirmed her guess was correct.

So, she lost interest in Zhou Li's teeth and focused on eating her mushrooms, partly to avoid getting into further trouble.

Brother Nan served Zhou Li a bowl of soup and ordered a portion of century egg and lean meat congee for him. However, Zhou Li didn't have much of an appetite. He just rested his cheek on the tabletop, watching them eat while chatting with Zhu Shuang and Zhu Bing about their plans for the next few days.

The most popular tourist destinations from Chunming were either towards Zhongdian or Banna.

He and Brother Nan had visited both.

Since it was high summer, only someone out of their mind would choose to go to Banna; Dali, Lijiang, and Zhongdian were much cooler. So, this travel route was essentially the same as the one they took last National Day holiday, just with more time allocated, which would allow them to make up for missing Yulong Snow Mountain and Yubeng.

Revisiting these old places, the experience will probably be somewhat different, Zhou Li mused. After all, when they visited Dali last year, most of the couples they saw in the ancient city were holding hands. Back then, they were too shy to even look at them for long. But now, he and Brother Nan can also casually hold hands while strolling through the ancient city. Emmm... Still a bit embarrassing, though, especially with the younger siblings around.

As Zhou Li was thinking about this, he glanced down, and suddenly several dark lines appeared on his forehead.

Lord Dumpling, having finished eating, was lying on a nearby chair. She also had one little paw covering half her face and was staring unblinkingly at him.

Seeing him look over, she even blinked at him and said, "Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling has a bit of a toothache too~~"

Zhou Li took a deep breath, exhaled, and smiled at Lord Dumpling.

If you have a toothache, you should avoid spicy and greasy food, huh...

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