My Demon Friends-Chapter 695 - 656: Smartphones Go to Rural Areas

Afternoon. The ceiling fan above whirred endlessly.

A group of beings had gathered around the Eight Immortals table. They included three college students on a rural teaching program, a vision-impaired young girl needing assistance, Lord Dumpling (who was only pretending to participate), and the old monster who was enjoying the spectacle. Also present were two bamboo worms caught by Brother Nan. Meant for tonight's dinner, they were impaled on two small bamboo sticks and buzzed ceaselessly.

Brother Nan held one of the bamboo sticks in his hand and knocked on the table with the other. "Alright then!" he declared.

"It's decided!

"Today's theme is—Smartphones Go Rural!

"Our task is to teach Little Zheng how to use a smartphone."

Miss Zheng sat with her hands neatly stacked on the table, staring earnestly at Brother Nan.

Upon hearing that today's task was to teach her to use a smartphone, Little Zheng, who had already mastered the device, nodded. So that's what this is about, she thought.

Brother Nan looked around, pleased with everyone's earnestness, including Huai Xu's and Lord Dumpling's. The two bamboo worms on their sticks kept trying to fly but couldn't escape. "Of course," Brother Nan continued, "Zhou Li already taught her two years ago, but that doesn't matter. We're just going through the motions, understand?"

"Understood," Zhou Li nodded.

"Understood," Baozi responded eagerly.

"I understand too," Huai Xu added, playing along.

"MEOW!" Lord Dumpling wouldn't be left out.

"But..." Miss Zheng looked from one person to another, seeming to be the only one confused. "What should I do?"

"Pay close attention."

"Oh."

"Places, everyone!"

Brother Nan took on the air of a director.

Baozi switched to a portrait lens, lifted her camera, and found the perfect angle. She took a close-up shot of Miss Zheng, observing the pretty, fair-skinned young girl and her milky-white eyes. Baozi fell silent for a few seconds before nodding to Brother Nan. Then, at Brother Nan's cue, Zhou Li began his demonstration.

"This is the messaging app," Zhou Li said, holding up the phone and opening it.

Miss Zheng's inbox was far from empty. It was filled with messages from her mobile carrier and her bank, but most were various advertisements, spam, and scam messages. Meaningful texts came from only two people: Zhou Li and Brother Nan.

Her world was very small.

Zhou Li paused and scrolled through the messages. He noticed that Brother Nan texted her much more frequently than he did—they exchanged messages almost daily. This made him feel a bit ashamed.

Moreover, his texts with Miss Zheng were free as long as he had an internet connection; Brother Nan's were not.

Miss Zheng tilted her head, looking at Zhou Li.

Brother Nan also spoke up, "What are you looking at? Lost in thought?"

Baozi, observing through her camera's viewfinder, openly watched her cousin's expression change. She enjoyed this because she knew he wouldn't notice her scrutiny.

Zhou Li snapped back to reality and said calmly, "I see a lot of scam messages. You shouldn't believe these."

Miss Zheng nodded slightly, her voice soft and gentle. "Mm, they can't fool me. I don't even know how to do a bank transfer; I need a teller to help me withdraw money. As for those links, even if I clicked on them, I wouldn't know what to do next."

"Then let's continue."

"Okay."

So Zhou Li continued his demonstration, explaining as he went, fully committing to the act. "Nowadays, phones can be operated by voice. You can also use voice input for text messages..."

Miss Zheng listened attentively, nodding from time to time.

Zhou Li had taught her this way before.

Unconsciously, a faint smile touched her lips. But she quickly remembered she was supposed to be playing a role and mustn't break character, so she quickly suppressed her smile and refocused her attention.

Baozi was also very serious, her camera's shutter clicking constantly as she photographed Zhou Li speaking into the phone, explaining things to Miss Zheng, handing her the phone, and then watching her use it...

After the "lesson," Baozi also took photos of other materials, mainly Miss Zheng's identification card, disability certificate, and Five Guarantees support certificate, to verify her identity.

Then, she had to write a work report.

Perhaps because the small mountain village suited her so well, she had been unusually energetic and proactive since arriving.

The ceiling fan continued to spin, so papers had to be weighed down. In front of Baozi sat a pitcher of iced black tea and a bowl of mountain loquat ice jelly—a treat you couldn't find anywhere else. She buried her head in her work, writing seriously: "Learning to use a smartphone to send text messages has greatly helped Zheng Zhilan communicate with the outside world, significantly improving her quality of life... Tomorrow, we will teach her how to make voice calls using voice commands."

"Done writing!" Baozi announced, beaming with satisfaction.

Wait, that's not right! she thought. My cousin tricked me into writing this, so why do I feel so satisfied?

Baozi forcibly pushed that feeling away. She picked up the bowl of dark red ice jelly beside her, scooped up a spoonful, and popped it into her mouth. The refreshing, fragrant taste instantly filled her senses, making her squint her eyes in pleasure.

Now, *this* is truly satisfying.

She'd heard there were only a few mountain loquat trees in the entire village, all planted by the original inhabitants. Because they grew at different elevations, their fruit ripened at slightly different times. In any case, one could only enjoy them a few times a year. Little Sister Zheng had deliberately not picked the fruit from this particular tree; she was saving it for when her cousin and Brother Nan came.

So I guess I'm benefiting from their visit, Baozi thought.

「Upstairs.」

Brother Nan was scrolling through Miss Zheng's phone. Miss Zheng lay on her side next to him, her eyes open, watching him.

Suddenly, Brother Nan's eyes lit up. "You're still listening to *The Lost Tomb*?"

Miss Zheng's eyelids drooped slightly as she whispered, "I've been listening to it recently."

"Aren't you scared?"

"No."

"And *Ghost Blows Out the Light*, and *Zhang Zhen's Ghost Stories*..." Brother Nan's lips twitched. "Weren't you listening to those 'Overbearing CEO' audiobooks last time? Why the switch to ghost stories?"

"They're quite interesting."

"I love them too... Hey, what are you doing?"

Brother Nan suddenly noticed Little Trash Cat pawing at the bamboo-worm skewer—his intended evening snack.

But Little Trash Cat seemed not to hear him, continuing to bat at the skewer with her paw, leaning closer to observe it thoughtfully.

Brother Nan couldn't help but call out sharply, "Little Trash Cat!"

"MEOW!"

Startled, Tuanzi jumped, whipping her head around to stare blankly at Brother Nan.

"What are you doing?"

"Lord Dumpling..." Tuanzi hesitated, then tried to deflect, "Brother Lan, weren't you just talking to Little Zheng, meow?"

"Don't change the subject."

"MEOW?"

"Are you trying to eat my bamboo worms?" Brother Nan asked warily.

"No, no, that's not it, meow!"

"Then what is it?"

"MEOW~~."

"Speak human."

"Lord Dumpling..." Tuanzi lowered her head, her voice growing faint. "Lord Dumpling... thinks the bamboo worms are pitiful. They keep flying and flying, but they can't get away... Lord Dumpling wants to set them free."

"Pitiful?"

"Yes! They're pitiful, meow!" Tuanzi insisted, then added after a thought, "Their mamas are waiting for them to come home." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Oh really? Then were the fish we ate pitiful? Were their mamas waiting for them to come home?" Brother Nan's lips twitched. "What about the chicken we had for lunch? Was it pitiful? Was it delicious?"

"AW?"

"I'm asking you, was it delicious?"

"Delicious..." Tuanzi answered, looking dazed.

"Was the fish soup with rice delicious?" Brother Nan pressed.

"Delicious..." Tuanzi replied, her little pink tongue peeking out, making her look even more dazed.

"Well, there you go," Brother Nan said, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll share one with you tonight. You'll find it delicious too."

"But..."

BUZZ!

Brother Nan's phone vibrated. It was a message from Zhou Li.

Zhou Li: You shouldn't talk to Lord Dumpling like that.

Brother Nan: ...

Putting down his phone, Brother Nan rolled his eyes. He plucked the two bamboo worms off the skewer and handed them to Tuanzi impatiently. "Here, take them. Take them away..."

"MEOW!"

Little Cat Girl appeared!

Holding one of the bamboo worms, Little Cat Girl quickly trotted to the window, tossed it out, and whispered, "Hurry, little bamboo worm, run! Or Brother Lan will eat you..."

She spoke so softly that Brother Nan almost couldn't hear her.

Brother Nan just pursed his lips.

Turning over, he hugged the soft Miss Zheng and whispered, "Zhou Li just sent me a message. Told me not to talk to Tuanzi like that, said I should protect her loving heart and childlike innocence... So, it turns out that pervert is listening to every single thing we say in this room."

Miss Zheng had been smiling softly at the first part of his explanation, feeling the warmth in it. But when she heard the second half, she blushed and pursed her lips, saying nothing.

It was something everyone knew, yet hearing it said aloud made it feel different.