"Why do you have to follow me to Brother Nan’s home too?"
"I just want to follow!" Huai Xu said and then added, "I won’t steal any food!"
"But aren’t you just making it difficult for yourself?"
"Being alone is even more difficult. When I’m alone, I start overthinking, and I can never seem to remember," Huai Xu sighed. "It seems fighting really is a truly terrible thing."
"Who likes war anyway?"
"Later, remember to tell me how the food at Brother Nan’s home is. I’ll stand by and watch you all eat."
"That’s too cruel, isn’t it?"
"I can’t possibly eat and describe it to you at the same time, can I?"
Right after Huai Xu asked, she suddenly looked to the side, her eyebrows furrowed. "Isn’t that the little demon from your student’s house?"
Zhou Li turned his head to look, but shook his head and said, "No, it isn’t."
This is a little black cat.
Huai Xu yawned. "Don’t get confused by these superficial things. This is clearly the same one, with exactly the same scent that was on you when you came out of your student’s house! I specialize in this; I won’t make a mistake."
Zhou Li stopped walking.
He watched as the little black cat crouched on a roadside fire hydrant, sizing up the passing pedestrians with its clever and spirited eyes.
After a while, it chose its target—
It was a young woman wearing wide-legged lotus-colored trousers and a short vest, carrying a dark red leather bag, with delicate makeup and sunglasses. The little black cat ran straight towards her, lay down at her feet, and rolled around.
The woman lowered her head, pulling off her sunglasses.
Her beautiful face was full of surprise.
Next to Zhou Li, Huai Xu said, "If you keep standing there stupidly, you’ll miss dinner. If you like that thing, should I go catch it for you? You don’t have to worry about it running away; I’ll catch it every time it runs!"
Zhou Li withdrew his gaze and stepped forward again.
This city was about to have one more heartbroken person.
Arriving at Brother Nan’s home, he hadn’t missed dinner and saw several classmates who had just arrived too.
Those classmates arrived together and greeted him.
Next to him, Huai Xu said, "Aunt Jiang really thinks of everything. Look, everyone has brought gifts. If Aunt Jiang hadn’t reminded you, how embarrassing it would have been for you to come empty-handed."
Zhou Li didn’t make a sound.
He indeed had not planned to bring a gift; just the thought of picking one out was enough to give him a headache. Wouldn’t sending a QQ red envelope have been better?
But in the morning, Aunt Jiang had suggested it was better to bring something, so she packed two items in a plastic bag for him.
Zhou Li accepted them in a daze.
Looking around, he saw that everyone else had beautiful gift boxes, most likely filled with delicate ornaments or dolls.
He was carrying a bottle of wine and a carton of cigarettes.
Kang Xue’er from his class approached him. "Zhou Li, did you find the way? Let’s go together!"
Zhou Li nodded and followed them.
Brother Nan’s family had owned this house for decades. It was said that they had other properties but had always lived in this one. It was an old courtyard building, only five stories tall, resembling a heightened quadrangle.
Four buildings enclosed a courtyard, with four units per floor in each building.
Brother Nan’s family lived in the third building, on the first floor.
Interestingly enough, all four units on the first floor were occupied by their extended family. They were close-knit; even though each household had other properties, those were generally left to the younger generation, while the older ones would likely spend the rest of their lives here.
Zhou Li saw that a few round tables were already set up in the courtyard, and some young people he didn’t know were seated and chatting.
Brother Nan, however, was not there.
Kang Xue’er had been here before. She walked up to the entrance of Brother Nan’s home a bit hesitantly, peering inside. Just then, Brother Nan came out. Zhou Li distinctly saw her lips smacking and a tuft of her hair quivering slightly.
"You’re here! Why didn’t you send a message? I would have come to meet you!"
"We didn’t want to bother you if you were busy, and we found the way, so we just came over," Kang Xue’er said, handing over her gift box. "Happy birthday! I hope Brother Nan is always this happy."
"Ah! You read my mind!"
"Happy birthday, Brother Nan. Is this your eighteenth or nineteenth?" another person asked, offering their gift.
Several people stepped forward one by one to present their gifts.
Zhou Li was last in line. His plastic bag seemed plain yet sincere compared to the other lavish gift boxes. He said honestly, "I was going to send you a QQ red envelope, so I didn’t prepare a gift. Aunt Jiang asked me to bring this."
Brother Nan smacked her lips. "Actually, I don’t like receiving gifts either. It’s so annoying, makes me feel like such a fusspot!"
After speaking, she looked down. "Oh, a carton of cigarettes."
"Right, they’re my dad’s. People occasionally give them to him, but he doesn’t smoke, so they just pile up at home."
"My dad smokes. What’s this liquor called?" Brother Nan struggled with the English letters on the bottle. In these matters, only multiple-choice questions were her strong suit.
"I don’t recognize it either."
"How do you drink this?"
"With your mouth, I guess."
"I’ll look it up on Baidu later and open it in a couple of days."
"Go have a seat, go play. I’ll call Jiang Han over to hang out with you guys." Brother Nan motioned with her hand. "Some other classmates have arrived too. Wu Yuanliang, Zhang Hao, and the others are in my uncle’s room playing cards. If you want to play, you can go there. Otherwise, just go sit down. We’ll be eating soon."
Everyone then went into the nearby room to take a look and say hello; Zhou Li followed along. Afterward, two of them stayed to play cards, while the rest found a table outside to sit and chat.
Soon enough, Jiang Han came out from her own home—she lived right above Brother Nan—to help welcome guests.
After all, as classmates who hadn’t seen each other since graduation, there was plenty to talk about. They even asked Zhou Li, who rarely interacted with them, what he had been up to lately and which university he had applied to.
As it neared midday, the dishes began to be served.
People like Wu Yuanliang, Jiang Han, and Kang Xue’er, seeing they were busy, spontaneously started helping out.
In total, there were five tables. Brother Nan’s classmates and friends occupied two tables, two more seemed to be her relatives, and the last one appeared to be filled with neighbors from upstairs and the adjacent buildings.
This kind of neighborly relationship was novel to Zhou Li.
And the feeling of sitting under a canopy in an old residential courtyard, enjoying a banquet, was quite comfortable for him.
The seating was quite cramped, voices merged into a cacophony, and cats scurried under the tables, their fur brushing ticklishly against his legs.
The tables quickly filled up with dishes that were on par with those from a restaurant.
Brother Nan sat at Zhou Li’s table. Behind her was another table of young people, so she could easily attend to both.
"Let’s eat! Try my dad’s cooking! My mom suggested booking a hotel and inviting more people, but neither my dad nor I agreed. We just wanted to show off his skills to you all!" Brother Nan called out. "If you can’t reach something, stand up and grab it, or move around to get it. Don’t stand on ceremony."
Everyone responded in unison and started eating.
After sampling most of the dishes within reach, Zhou Li heard Zhang Hao, who was next to him, say, "Brother Nan’s dad is a really great cook!"
Zhou Li nodded and placed the piece of pork knuckle he had picked up with his chopsticks into his mouth. "Yeah, this pork knuckle is tender, flavorful, and melts in your mouth. The sauce on top is unexpectedly sour and spicy, with a hint of sweetness, making the texture very delicate and smooth."
"You describe it so... vividly!"
"Yes, this steamed pork belly is also excellent. It’s slightly spicy, but you can’t see any chili. It’s steamed perfectly—fatty but not greasy..."
Zhang Hao was thoroughly confused but dared not ask.
Brother Nan’s dad, a discerning man, went over to the neighbors’ table with a drink in hand once the meal was well underway, toasting them and thanking them for coming. From their conversation, it was clear they had been neighbors for many years, shared a deep affection, and had built a strong friendship during their joint efforts in resisting demolition some years ago.
As for Brother Nan’s classmates and friends, he also held them in high regard but didn’t insist that the young people drink anything in particular.
He, for his part, was drinking baijiu.
The young folks could have baijiu, yellow wine, fruit juice, or soymilk.
On the contrary, some students who ordinarily didn’t drink much felt embarrassed and spontaneously swapped their soft drinks for alcohol. Wu Yuanliang, for instance, was one of them.
Zhou Li discovered that Brother Nan’s dad seemed to know everyone at his table. He had thought he was an exception, but to his surprise, Brother Nan’s dad came up to him with a grin. "You’re Zhou Li, right? You and Li Nan are going to the same university, same department. Li Nan can be careless, so when you get to university, you’ll need to look after her. She has a bit of a temper and likes to fight. If she bothers you, don’t take it to heart."
Zhou Li could only nod. "Mhm."
Wu Yuanliang, beside him, looked as if he’d been struck by lightning.
Once Brother Nan’s dad had moved on, Wu Yuanliang’s expression returned to normal, and he casually asked, "Zhou Li, you applied to Cai University too?"
"The Faculty of Life Sciences?"
"What a coincidence..."
At that moment, Brother Nan looked up and said, "We got the exact same score on the exam. I couldn’t be bothered to choose, so I just applied to the same program as him. Heh heh, when we get to university, we can continue to be deskmates!"
"Are you in the same class? Or just the same general major?"
"The same major. Cai University just started enrolling by major this year."