My Demon Friends-Chapter 689 - 650: Deceiving Oneself is Equivalent to Deceiving the World

"Brother Nan..."

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing..."

Baozi withdrew her gaze, hung her head low, and fixated on something arbitrary, her hands clasped tightly together, not daring to look around.

Could it be... she had encountered another Demon?

Perhaps it was one of her cousin's old enemies from when he was catching ghosts in Yan City, who didn't dare go after him and instead targeted his girlfriend for revenge.

What should I do, what should I do...

Baozi's mind was filled with wild thoughts.

Her heart was in turmoil, but she feigned composure.

"VMM..."

The vibration of her cellphone startled her so much that she dropped it onto the bed.

After regaining her composure, she sneakily glanced at Brother Nan out of the corner of her eye and grabbed the cellphone as if it were a lifeline. Her face, however, remained expressionless, only conveying a sense of seriousness.

Zhou Li: Open the door.

Baozi: Okay.

With a stiff turn of her head and in the faintest whisper, Baozi said, "Cousin's here."

Brother Nan waved his hand. "Go open the door."

"!"

Baozi quickly rolled out of bed, slipped on her slippers, and dashed out the door, moving faster than when she jostled for a spot with the old Mages during the golden hour.

"CLICK."

The door opened.

Her cousin stood in the doorway, holding Lord Dumpling in his arms, with Huai Xu standing behind him, munching on candied hawthorns.

"Morning."

Her cousin's smile was so gentle. He also handed her a skewer of candied hawthorns. "Bought them on the way."

"!!"

This was the first time Baozi realized how handsome her cousin was!

She stretched out her delicate little hand, took the candied hawthorns, and hesitantly whispered, "Brother Nan just woke up, but he seems a bit strange. Cousin, go check on him quickly!"

"What's strange about him?"

Zhou Li looked at her curiously.

Hearing her say Brother Nan was strange, he could roughly guess that the Elm King had woken up. But how did Baozi notice it?

Baozi shook her head weakly. "I don't know..."

"Mysterious," Zhou Li remarked. It truly was mysterious that she hadn't noticed for so long and then suddenly did. He stepped inside.

Baozi quickly made way, then followed closely behind them, craning her neck to see ahead.

Frightened, yet curious.

She saw her cousin head straight into Brother Nan's bedroom, clearly familiar with the place. Before he even reached Brother Nan, Tuanzi managed to wriggle out of his arms, meowing as she ran over and finally leaped onto the bed to burrow into Brother Nan's embrace, meowing along.

Her cousin then offered the last skewer of candied hawthorns, calmly stating, "Bought these on the way. Have a taste."

Have a taste...

Baozi hid behind the door, only poking her head out.

From the conversation between her cousin and Brother Nan—their wording, tone, and demeanor—she keenly detected more oddities, yet she felt it wasn't what she had imagined.

Peeling off another candied hawthorn from the skewer, Baozi chewed it slowly and quietly, careful to make no sound. She resembled a child sneakily snacking behind the curtains, fearful of being caught by an adult, the candy shifting from the left side of her cheek to the right, puffing up her face like a squirrel.

But her expression remained serious.

Observing intently...

The following twenty minutes were for Brother Nan to eat candied hawthorns and to chat and play with Tuanzi. After that, she played video games with Huai Xu and Zhou Li. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

They also had breakfast in between.

Baozi really wanted to keep peeking from behind the door. She hid her entire body behind it, with just her head sticking out, ready to retract it quickly. This gave her a great sense of safety. As for the possibility of Brother Nan catching her lurking, she didn't consider it for the moment.

However, peering out like this was exhausting.

So, she took a small stool and sat at the foot of the bed to continue observing them. Her body was in plain sight, but her expression was furtive.

Something was really off—

It seemed like they knew each other, yet didn't appear close.

Baozi silently let her thoughts run wild. She neither spoke nor asked.

Until Brother Nan fell asleep again.

「Afternoon.」

Today was still cooler than yesterday.

Taking advantage of the fine weather, they went out to watch a movie and then went hiking, whiling away the day.

It didn't matter to Baozi either way. Whether watching movies or hiking, there was milk tea and ice cream. Besides these, there were also ice jelly, chilled rice noodles, squid, potatoes, and barbecue – she was content.

Only when faced with Brother Nan, who kept pinching her face and teasing her, did she feel something was off.

Of course, even if it felt strange, she didn't dare to resist.

「Fangxi Town, Puzi Village, by the Tang River Bend.」

Under a large tree, Old Zhou sat quietly on a folding chair, fully equipped. His wide-brimmed fisherman's hat had a drape that completely obscured his face and neck. Combined with sunglasses and gloves, even Aunt Jiang might not recognize him.

Old Zhou's mood was complicated.

Today was the first day of testing his fishing skills. Before coming, he had prepared himself mentally: it was normal to catch no fish on the first day, especially since he didn't know how to fish.

It was just a trial, anyway.

Besides, he had already told them he was going to the office.

But...

Old Zhou stiffly turned his head.

Inside the fish bucket next to him were several big fish.

What to do now?

He had toiled hard to catch them; he couldn't bear to throw them back into the river.

To avoid Zhou Li, he had traveled so far to this remote place. There wasn't even a noodle shop, so he had only eaten a self-heating clay pot rice for lunch. It tasted fine but wasn't filling. Plus, he had been tormented by mosquitoes and ants all day. After enduring such suffering, these fish were worth their weight in gold.

For an instant, he actually entertained the idea of coming clean. But he feared that today's catch might just be a stroke of luck—if he confessed and then couldn't catch anything tomorrow, how embarrassing that would be!

"Sigh..."

In the midst of his dilemma, the float on his fishing line started moving again.

The previous thought vanished for some reason. Old Zhou got up without hesitation, grabbing his fishing rod, an excited expression hidden beneath his mask.

The sky was gradually darkening.

If he didn't return soon, there would be hell to pay.

Reluctantly, Old Zhou reeled in his line. Looking down, he saw the fish bucket was brimming. His mouth twitched.

He felt both proud and uncomfortable.

"Sigh..."

「Half an hour later.」

Dressed in fresh clothes, Old Zhou carried a heavy bag of fish in each hand. It was a significant burden for his gradually weakening body, but only his hands felt the weight, not his heart.

Aunt Jiang opened the door for him. "You're back so late! We've been waiting for you for dinner... Eh, what are you carrying?"

Old Zhou didn't rush to answer but peeked inside first.

Zhou Li, Huai Xu, and Tuanzi were all there.

Old Zhou chuckled. "On my way back from work, I ran into a guy selling fish by the roadside, carrying them on a shoulder pole. The city enforcement officers chased him away. I felt bad for him, and since Lord Dumpling is back, I bought all his fish. I thought I could make fish soup with rice for Lord Dumpling."

"So many?"

Aunt Jiang looked at Old Zhou, astonished. "You usually don't buy groceries. Today..."

Is he out of his mind?

Aunt Jiang was, after all, a cultured person.

Old Zhou nodded and bowed, lowering his voice. "Haven't I explained? Oh, I just felt a bit soft-hearted..."

Aunt Jiang thought for a moment, then her face showed understanding.

But she didn't expose him.

At that moment, Tuanzi had already run over. Hearing Old Zhou's words, she looked up and kept chirping, "Fish soup with rice! Lord Dumpling wants fish soup with rice..."

Aunt Jiang said helplessly, "This much fish will be enough for Lord Dumpling until next year. You can give some to your friends."

"Sigh..." Old Zhou replied, then said, "I'll go put the fish away first."

Old Zhou put the fish in the kitchen, keeping them in the sink with water.

Zhou Li followed Tuanzi over, picked her up, and peeked into the two sinks. "They're quite big. What kind of fish are they?"

Old Zhou calmly replied, "According to the fisher— I mean, the fish seller, they're grass carp and silver carp."

"I see," Zhou Li nodded. "A big harvest."

Old Zhou: !!

Why couldn't this kid understand plain speech? He had explained everything perfectly, seamlessly, and still, he was making such remarks!

Old Zhou asked in surprise, "How did you know the man selling fish had caught them himself?"

Zhou Li just smiled and didn't answer.

Old Zhou's expression turned stern.

So disrespectful! So disrespectful! He wouldn't even play along. It truly made a father's heart ache.

「Sunday morning.」

Aunt Jiang was up early, busy cleaning the fish.

After dinner the night before, while out for a walk, she had Old Zhou carry the fish to visit some friends and give away a few. She also posted in the neighborhood residents' chat group, but only two neighbors each asked for a fish. If it had been their old neighborhood, she wouldn't have even needed to post in the group; just carrying the fish downstairs would not have been enough for all the elderly folks seeking respite from the heat.

Still, two fish remained.

That morning, Aunt Jiang made fish head and tofu soup, following a video tutorial because she hadn't made it before.

Zhou Li and Brother Nan were also forced to change their departure from morning to after lunch because Aunt Jiang was making sauerkraut fish for Lord Dumpling to have with rice.

With Baozi and Brother Nan, plus Huai Xu, the fish were indeed swiftly devoured.

Yet Aunt Jiang still fretted—

Old Zhou had said he had company business again in the afternoon.

"We're leaving."

Zhou Li said goodbye to Aunt Jiang and Old Zhou. Tuanzi, in his arms, also waved and meowed twice.

"What did Lord Dumpling say?" Aunt Jiang asked with a smile.

"I'm not sure. She might be saying goodbye to you," Zhou Li pondered. "Or maybe she's saying the fish soup with rice at lunch today was very delicious."

"Today's fish was indeed delicious," Old Zhou nodded.

"Yeah," Zhou Li nodded too. "Next time, catch some Black Fish. I like eating Black Fish."

"..."

Old Zhou turned to look aside.

Meanwhile, Aunt Jiang's face lit up with a brilliant smile.

Although she was somewhat unhappy that Old Zhou hadn't spent the weekend with her and had lied about going to the office, only to go fishing instead, seeing Zhou Li's personality gradually changing lifted her spirits. She had planned to give Old Zhou a piece of her mind once the "kids" left, but she decided to let him off the hook for now.

Old Zhou, utterly unaware that he had just narrowly avoided a scolding because of Zhou Li, mentally lowered his assessment of Zhou Li and began to fantasize about today's potential catch.