My Demon Friends-Chapter 681 - 642 Breakthrough

At that moment, the waiter walked over with the menu and said, "Sorry to disturb you. The eight of you have ordered quite a bit. Currently, there's a crackdown on excessive spending, so I'll serve the first few dishes now. We can hold off on these last five until you see if you need more. Is that okay? If you can't eat them, you can return them."

Even though they had big appetites, this suggestion was reasonable.

"But..."

Brother Nan was about to agree when Zhou Li interjected, "Please cancel the spam, shrimp dumplings, fish balls, fish tofu, and handmade beef balls that I ordered."

Huai Xu: o(>﹏<)o

The waiter responded with an "Okay" and left.

Zhou Li sneaked a glance at the Old monster, keeping a straight face. He felt very pleased inside. He slowly sipped his tea.

The waiter set up the hot pot base and lit the burner.

The group started chatting.

With Brother Nan around, the conversation never died down. Today, she didn't even need to lead the topics herself; the two chatty cute girls kept babbling on and on. It's just that Su Jue was really shy and sometimes needed Brother Nan to nudge him a bit to keep him from feeling left out. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

They were all students from Cai University and had many common topics to talk about.

From the flower cakes introduced in the cafeteria two months ago to the fitness meal launched last month, Brother Nan mentioned she had tried the fitness meal just yesterday, while Su Jue and Xiao Hua still hadn't tried it.

Baozi listened quietly, her slender index finger lightly tapping the empty teacup, making it wobble and spin on the table. Her gaze remained fixed on the cup. To an outsider, she might have seemed bored, just playing with something aimlessly, but her eyes occasionally showed ripples of thought.

The topic then naturally transitioned to final exams.

Xiao Hua sighed and said, "We've taken three subjects, and I'm not confident about any of them. Whether we pass will completely depend on luck..."

"Ah, we're about the same..." Mianmian said.

"What about Su Jue?" Qian Qian asked curiously.

"I... I'm also doing poorly," Su Jue said weakly.

"Looks like we're all academic slackers. So, at today's meal, the power of us slackers forms the vast majority!" Mianmian felt much more comfortable. "For yesterday's exam, Qian Qian and I only finished thanks to Baozi and Zhou Li. We don't even know if we'll pass, but as long as they pass, we should be fine..."

"Didn't you guys prepare any cheat sheets or anything?" Qian Qian curiously looked at them. "A4 paper, printed with six or eight pages to a sheet—some people in our class do that."

"No..."

"We just wanted to give it a shot and see what our actual level is, hahaha..."

Then, Baozi withdrew her hand. The empty teacup spun a couple of times on the table, making a soft whirring sound before stopping. She lifted her gaze, quietly observing Su Jue and Xiao Hua, and spoke for the first time, "I heard you're often not at school. Are you working part-time off-campus? Is that why your grades are so bad, and you don't even know the cafeteria launched a fitness meal?"

Mianmian said, "Baozi is a top student!"

Qian Qian also added with a sweet smile, "She probably wanted to ask what part-time jobs you have, whether they're easy, and if they're still hiring..."

Baozi glanced at her cousin again.

She saw him busily pushing the beef tallow down into the pot with a spoon to make it melt faster, seemingly uninterested in their conversation...

Su Jue, meanwhile, looked towards Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua covered her mouth with a giggle, somewhat shyly responding, "Senior Brother Su and I do have part-time jobs, but that's just one aspect. Mainly... we've been dating, so we don't feel like returning to school. Plus, with the campus still in lockdown, going in and out is such a hassle..."

Cotton Swab also nodded understandingly.

Baozi nodded as well, her expression unchanged.

The pot started boiling, and the dishes were served. Everyone got up to prepare their dipping sauces.

Baozi temporarily put aside those trivial matters. Clutching her chopsticks tightly, she watched her cousin and Brother Nan add food to the pot. She was preparing to go all out today and eat enough meat for the entire month; otherwise, she didn't know how long it would be until their next hot pot meal after the exams. Maybe next semester? The semester after next?

「Twenty minutes later.」

Baozi was full. She put down her chopsticks, expressionlessly watching Huai Xu and Brother Nan feasting heartily.

「An hour and a half later.」

Zhou Li carried Tuanzi to pay the bill.

The waiter observed them and said, pursing her lips, "The total bill is one thousand five hundred twenty. Let's make it an even fifteen hundred."

"Okay..." Zhou Li replied, taking out his phone to scan the QR code.

Tuanzi squirmed in his arms, tilting her head back to look at him. "Zhou Ni, one thousand five hundred..."

"Yes," Zhou Li said softly. "Lord Dumpling is really impressive."

"Lord Dumpling is really neat!" Tuanzi repeated, then chirped, "How much money has Lord Dumpling earned from working, MEOW?"

"Quite a lot, I guess."

"Can we eat that special boiled cabbage dish now, MEOW?"

"It should be possible, but I'm not sure exactly how much there is since Brother Nan is holding it. You should go ask Brother Nan."

"Hmm!"

Tuanzi hesitated, then rubbed against him, cooing and pleading, "Can you go ask Brother Lan for Lord Dumpling..."

"Is Lord Dumpling afraid to go?"

"O-of course not!"

"Oh..."

What a peculiar feeling, Zhou Li thought.

After leaving the hotpot restaurant, Su Jue and Xiao Hua said their goodbyes and left. The remaining group discussed it and decided not to take a taxi. Instead, they opted for a leisurely walk back to the school to help digest their meal.

The two chatty cute girls (Mianmian and Qian Qian) walked at the very front.

Zhou Li carried Tuanzi, walking alongside Brother Nan and Huai Xu, while Baozi could only trail silently behind them.

After a while, Lord Dumpling was set down and started running around them joyfully. However, her obvious favorite was still Brother Nan. She would always stop in front of Brother Nan, MEOWING, until Brother Nan joined her in chasing butterflies by the roadside. Huai Xu also parted ways with them then, heading back to his own school.

Baozi's gaze flickered. After hesitating for a long time, she subtly quickened her pace to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with her cousin.

Up ahead, Brother Nan seemed to be treating Tuanzi like a basketball, tossing her high towards the butterflies. Tuanzi would spread her paws in mid-air, trying to cup a small butterfly in them, but failed repeatedly.

POOF!

An Old monster, invisible to ordinary people, appeared beside Zhou Li and laughed heartily. "I knew it! Your little cousin has been watching you all this time..."

Zhou Li pretended not to see or hear him.

Baozi pursed her lips and whispered, "Cousin, what do you think... those demons look like?"

Huai Xu interjected, "Tell her they look very pretty!"

"I don't know."

Zhou Li shook his head and answered, "Maybe they have sharp claws and fangs, with bright red bodies, looking quite terrifying. Or perhaps they're huge, winged monsters that fly in the clouds all day. They might also transform into the shape of a harmless animal. You'd have to see one to truly know."

The Old monster walked backwards in front of them, facing them, glancing first at Zhou Li, then at Little Cousin.

Little Cousin just said, "Oh," and didn't say anything more.

About a minute later, she suddenly spoke up. Her face was expressionless, but her hands, hanging by her sides, had already clenched into small fists. "Cousin, you're so rich... it couldn't be from catching demons, could it?"

Zhou Li was speechless.

With a helpless expression, he rubbed her head. Seeing her squint her eyes but neither resist nor dodge, he sighed and said, "A 'salted fish' like me usually doesn't have such strong curiosity."

"Oh."

Baozi nodded and fell silent again, continuing to watch Tuanzi being repeatedly tossed in the air up ahead.

She could figure out many things just by guessing.

It wasn't until they returned to the school that Baozi tugged at Zhou Li's sleeve again and quietly asked, "Cousin, how can someone become a demon catcher?"

Her face clearly screamed, "Take me with you!"

It was a longing for those sweet, sweet riches.

Zhou Li said helplessly, "You're not cut out for it."

"Oh."

Baozi gave up instantly.

After a brief hesitation, she asked again, "Then, can I join you for the rural outreach program now?"

Zhou Li sighed, a helpless tone in his voice. "You're really clever, aren't you..."

"Mhm."

Baozi hummed softly, acknowledging it without any shame. She continued to look up at her cousin, earnestly adding, "I'll be very obedient.

"And I'll be very diligent too."

She thought for a moment, then added further, "Going on the rural outreach with the department is so far away. Besides, that volunteer teaching program takes up the children's summer vacation. I heard from a senior brother that the kids really don't like it..."

"...I'll discuss it with the others."

"Great! Cousin, would you like some milk tea?" Baozi asked, trying to curry favor, not forgetting to add, "From Happy-Lemon!"

"...I'm not that fond of milk tea."

"Then how about ice cream?"

"...I suggest you don't try to bribe me with things *you* like."

"Oh."