Today is September 6th, the eighth day of the eighth lunar month.
The crescent moon hung in the sky, outlining the shapes of the clouds.
It was late. Zhou Li, carrying a marker, walked to the front of the dormitory building. He glanced left and right; hardly anyone was entering or leaving.
So he turned on his phone’s flashlight and said to Huai Xu, "Keep an eye on the Dormitory Auntie."
"What will happen if we get caught?"
"We’ll probably get scolded."
"Won’t we get arrested?"
"Then wouldn’t beating up an instructor get us beheaded?"
"Got it~~" mumbled Huai Xu, then pouted at the phone. "Hurry up and draw."
"What’s this about beating up an instructor?" Tuanzi stood on the railing, looking at them. "It seems that in Lord Dumpling’s absence, you two have been up to some quite interesting things!"
"Everyone, be quiet."
On the phone screen was a simple, very cute doodle of a cat.
Tuanzi had proudly told them she couldn’t read human script, nor did she recognize demon script. So, after some thought, Zhou Li decided to make a pretty mark on the building facade and the dormitory door.
Make it small, less likely to be discovered. Make it pretty, less likely to be wiped off.
"Sorry, I can’t hold back anymore!"
"Did you draw it too round?"
"Hurry, wipe it and redraw!"
"You should have just drawn it to look like Lord Dumpling!" Tuanzi also criticized. "This doesn’t look like Lord Dumpling at all."
"You guys draw then," Zhou Li said, speechless.
To Zhou Li’s amazement, Huai Xu grabbed his pen and, guiding Zhou Li’s hand, began to draw on the wall, occasionally glancing down at the drawing on Zhou Li’s phone screen.
He really drew it much better than I did! So much better!
Soon, the mark was finished. It looked just like an adorably dazed little cat, completely different from before.
He then looked at Zhou Li and asked, "How’s that?"
"Shall we head back?"
"Lord Dumpling doesn’t want to walk."
Zhou Li then picked up Tuanzi and casually asked, "Where have you been staying these days?"
"I’ve been staying at a rich woman’s house."
"Much wealthier than you two paupers."
"..." Zhou Li decided to change the subject. "Chen Yang was saying that you’ve changed, that you look a bit different from last time."
"Where have I changed?"
"Your fur’s gotten longer..."
Zhou Li described it to her in detail.
Tuanzi didn’t seem to care. "Don’t worry about that. Lord Dumpling isn’t like Huai Xu, who’s always sneaking around. How could I remember what I looked like last time... At most, I can change into something similar."
"Can’t remember, huh..."
"Lord Dumpling doesn’t often look in the mirror."
Although military training was tiring, time flew by quite fast.
Zhou Li wasn’t afraid of getting tired; whenever he felt it, Huai Xu was there to take his place, and Chang Xiaoxiang could also fill in effectively. Once he got used to it and became familiar with the instructor, military training really wasn’t tiring anymore.
It was even quite fun at times.
「In the blink of an eye, the afternoon of the 12th arrived.」
Zhou Li, braving the scorching sun, arrived at the football field. After assembling, he neatly placed the green shoulder bag along the side in order.
"You’ve all heard, right? Tomorrow’s Mid-Autumn Festival, you’re off for one day. Happy?" The instructor grinned, showing his teeth.
"Happy!" everyone responded.
"But I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" the instructor surveyed the crowd and said, "Squad leader, answer."
"You still have to assemble here at the football field tomorrow night."
"What ’hmm’? If you want to ask something, can’t you speak up?" The instructor always enjoyed teasing Zhou Li, trying to get back at him verbally.
"Instructor, what’s the good news?"
"The good news is, although we’ll assemble, we won’t train. We’ll all enjoy the moon together," the instructor said. "Following tradition from past years, we should be preparing some drinks and snacks for you. So have fun!"
"Don’t ’WOW!’ yet!" The instructor said, chin raised. "Think about it when you go back tonight. Prepare some performances, because if other companies come challenging us and you let me down, you’ll suffer the day after tomorrow!"
"Look at how spineless you all seem! Did you hear me?"
The training for these past two days had actually become more relaxed.
As it was nearing the end, the training was mostly in preparation for the final review performance, so the intensity wasn’t high. There was lots of playtime. When Zhou Li was present, he would usually invite the female companies from the School of Economics or the School of Foreign Languages to play, according to the guys’ requests. When Huai Xu was present, he usually resisted all opposition, insisting on playing with the companies from their own ’backyard’.
After walking around the football field twice, sitting down to shoot the breeze, and joking with the girls, the afternoon passed.
After dismissal, Baozi approached Zhou Li. Since they weren’t very familiar, her expression was a bit stiff. "Um, I told my dad. Instead of dinner, we’ll have lunch tomorrow. I’ll come get you in the morning."
"Alright, we’ll contact each other online."
"Also, I said I would bring a roommate with me," Baozi continued, pausing. "So you won’t be so nervous."
The roommate naturally referred to Li Daimao.
Speaking of whom, Li Daimao popped out from behind Baozi. "I originally planned to take you for Bai Clan spicy and sour fish tomorrow, but now I have to change plans. We’ll postpone the fish until National Day."
"Thanks for your trouble," Zhou Li nodded.
"I plan to cycle to Dali on National Day to eat the authentic stuff. How about it? It’s your turn to accompany me."
"Not far, just a few hundred kilometers." Brother Nan had already planned the trip. "You have good stamina. If we’re quick, it’ll take three days; if slow, four. Once we’re in Dali, we can have fun for a few days before coming back. Of course, we won’t cycle back; we’ll have the bikes shipped."
"I don’t have a bike."
"No problem. I’m going to buy a new bike after military training. If you agree to come, I’ll ask my dad to ship my old bike over for you to ride." Brother Nan said, then paused. "That bike is worth several thousand yuan too. You can use it around campus. Constantly using those shared electric scooters can get expensive."
"Why not take a bus there?"
"Biking is fun. You get to see the scenery." Brother Nan looked at Zhou Li. "You think so too, right?"
Brother Nan seems to have planned everything for me already.
So he turned to look at Baozi. She was still staring straight ahead, her baby-fat face expressionless, yet it somehow made one want to pinch her cheeks.
"How far is your house?" Zhou Li asked.
"’It’s close by subway, very quick.’"
"Alright." Zhou Li pondered, then said to Brother Nan, "I’ve already found a rental apartment; it’s over by Tianruikang Garden."
"Why are you telling me this?" Brother Nan was baffled for a moment.
"Doesn’t it sound familiar?"
"It does sound a bit familiar..." Brother Nan paused, then reached into her bag, fumbling through many snacks and fruits to pull out a notebook. "I think I’m starting to remember... Isn’t there a rice noodle shop over there that’s really good?"
"It really is..." Brother Nan, staring at the notebook, abruptly snapped it shut. "Decided! We’re going there tomorrow morning for breakfast!"
Zhou Li parted ways with them and returned to the dorm.
Tonight, Huai Xu would take his place at military training while he went to have dinner with Hong Ran. Hong Ran had contacted Zhou Li a few days ago, inviting him to spend Mid-Autumn Festival with her, but due to a schedule change, they moved it to tonight.
Regarding this, Zhou Li had another consideration—
Tuanzi is really too much. For Mid-Autumn Festival, she had brought Huai Xu and me two loose mooncakes, the kind that cost twenty yuan per catty. Yet, she wanted to eat wild hilsa herring, a fish that had been virtually unobtainable for decades. Wild is obviously impossible. Farmed might still be possible. But I checked; even farmed ones aren’t cheap, and they’re even more expensive in restaurants. Plus, ordinary restaurants are hard to find them in. If I go to a big hotel, I can’t just order one dish, can I? I’m a pauper.