Yi Province’s climate was certainly different from Caiyun’s.
By Mid-Autumn in September, the vegetation on the mountains had already begun to wither. Many insects had disappeared, and it had become much quieter. Qinghe had mentioned that recently every morning and evening was foggy, and Zheng Zhilan could feel the moisture in the air.
Tonight was exceptionally clear.
She sat on the rooftop, looking up, feeling the moonlight, when suddenly it dimmed as the huge figure of the Evil God passed by.
In Zheng Zhilan’s imagination, the moon was a glowing silver disc, not as dazzling as the sun, and very gentle. But just now, Qinghe had told her that one could see mountains and large craters on the moon, with areas of light and dark.
She tried hard to imagine it.
Before long, Qinghe came back up from downstairs, holding a thin jacket.
"Aren’t you coming down?"
"The signal is bad downstairs," Zheng Zhilan lowered her head and smiled at him. "It’s better up here, but it often cuts out."
"Let me see." Qinghe took the phone from her hand and checked it. "The signal’s fine. Hasn’t he replied to you yet?"
Zheng Zhilan hummed softly and then said, "They have a party tonight, so they can’t use their phones, right? Military training involves so many people. If only I could go to college too."
"You wish to be an ordinary person."
"But then I wouldn’t have met you all."
Qinghe vanished from sight.
Zheng Zhilan put on her jacket, bent down, propped her chin with her hand, and waited for the phone to ring as time passed silently.
Under the moon, the sea of clouds churned, the Evil God undulating within them.
「At nine-thirty, the party ended.」
Zhou Li dusted himself off and got up from the ground. Compared to the other guys, who were still buzzing and wanting more, he was much calmer.
As he exited the soccer field, he saw their company’s instructor standing in a shadowy corner, being scolded by the company commander. He listened intently. It seemed to be about unauthorized changes of position during the party.
Zhou Li slowed his pace but was then glared at by the instructor.
Zhou Li continued walking.
He didn’t return to the dorm but instead rode a shared electric scooter back to Tianruikang Garden.
He had bought a water dispenser a few days ago, which had arrived that afternoon and was waiting at the Rookie Station by the door. He went to pick it up.
Just as he entered the door with the large box, a kitten suddenly leaped out at his feet. He ignored it and continued walking. Meanwhile, Tuanzi followed him closely, looking up and asking—
"Zhou Li, did you get scared?"
"Lord Dumpling pounced out with a ’RAWR!’, did that scare you?"
Tuanzi was extremely satisfied.
Zhou Li placed the box in the center of the living room. Tuanzi then jumped onto the coffee table, stretched her neck to look, and tried to reach out with her short little legs to touch it. But the mere twenty-centimeter distance seemed an insurmountable chasm; she pawed at it several times without success.
"You can’t eat it; it’s for drinking water."
"Really? Let Lord Dumpling see." Tuanzi jumped down from the coffee table and ran to the side of the box, standing up and pawing at it.
"Where’s Huai Xu?" Zhou Li asked.
"In the room? Why isn’t she coming out?"
"What do you need Huai Xu for?"
"Why not ask Lord Dumpling for help? Lord Dumpling can do it too!" Tuanzi looked at him. "Lord Dumpling is super awesome!"
"Then you unpack it."
Zhou Li looked down at her.
Excited, Tuanzi meowed and immediately started scratching at the cardboard box, making SWISH, SWISH, SWISH sounds. Although small bits of cardboard drifted down, the process seemed highly inefficient.
Zhou Li couldn’t help but think of something called a scratching post.
Watching Tuanzi earnestly scratching faster and faster, eventually putting in all her effort, he silently took out his keys.
One minute later, the unpacking was done.
Tuanzi wasn’t unhappy. Instead, she seemed to think that most of the credit was hers. She avoided the cardboard and styrofoam and began trying to climb onto the water dispenser, her eyes full of curiosity.
Just then, Huai Xu finally came out. As expected, she was in a female form, wearing jeans and a cartoon t-shirt.
She looked pretty but not astonishing.
"Zhou Li, you’re back?"
"Did you also bring back the water dispenser?"
"Was military training fun?"
"It was okay." Zhou Li picked up Tuanzi. "The instructor gave everyone an apple and two fish."
"That’s a lie. Clearly..."
Zhou Li silently looked at her.
Huai Xu’s smile wavered, her expression stiffening as she began to explain, "Clearly... Mid-Autumn Festival has always been about mooncakes, since ancient times! Who gives out apples and fish? Are you taking me for a fool?"
"Are mooncakes tasty?"
"Oh, so you found out!" Huai Xu’s face turned shy. "It was really fun, and tasty too."
"You, oh you..." Zhou Li was exasperated.
"Me, oh me..." Huai Xu echoed.
"And where did you get this appearance from?" Zhou Li asked.
"Found it at the school next door."
Then Zhou Li collected the cardboard and styrofoam. Annoying tiny particles of foam were scattered on the ground. What annoyed him even more was that Tuanzi, seeing him picking up the foam particles, leaped down from the couch without a word and started competing with him for them.
He picked up a piece of foam, and Tuanzi immediately rushed over to snatch that very one.
When he turned around to pick up another, Tuanzi didn’t hesitate to charge at it, swiping it away with a tiny paw.
She dashed so fast that she even drifted on the floor.
He simply stopped picking them up.
Tuanzi paused, then earnestly lifted her head, eyes fixed on him. "Zhou Li, why did you stop picking them up?"
What else could he do but forgive her?
He continued picking them up.
Ten minutes later, he pried open Tuanzi’s clenched paws and retrieved the last foam bead from the center of her paw pads.
"PHEW..." Zhou Li felt quite exhausted.
Tuanzi was satisfied too. She jumped onto the sofa and quietly lay down, watching him pace around the room.
While Zhou Li thought about the things at his home in Yan City, he discussed with Huai Xu, "The coffee table looks too empty. We should buy some plates to hold fruits, dried fruits, and other snacks to offer guests when they come over."
"I want to buy glass ones. They look nicer."
"We also need to buy some bowls," Zhou Li continued. "And a pot, or else even cooking instant noodles will be inconvenient."
"I also want to plant a flower." Zhou Li remembered Zheng Zhilan had planted many flowers, and his uncle’s balcony also had some. "On my way back this afternoon, I saw a lot of flower shops. The climate in Chunming should be good for growing flowers. It would add some life to the place."
"You just agree with everything..."
"Oh!" Huai Xu thought for a moment. "I saw a place at your school where they’ve planted a lot. I’ll go pull one up for you, just wait a moment..."
"Why?" Huai Xu had already stood up. "Oh, you’re worried about not having a pot? I’ll get one for you too!"
"I don’t like that kind."
"What kind do you like? I’ll go pull it for you."
"Stealing isn’t good."
"How can flowers and plants be considered stealing? They can’t be eaten." Huai Xu frowned, correcting his flawed thinking. "They’re part of nature!"
Zhou Li gave up on the idea of conversing with her.
Looking at the time, it was already half-past ten. It would take twenty minutes to get back. The dormitory wasn’t closed yet, but he didn’t want to return. He walked over to the sofa and crouched down. "You go to military training tomorrow, and the day after too."
"Okay... What are you doing?"
Huai Xu stared wide-eyed at Zhou Li’s actions.
Actually, Zhou Li was just curious. Why could Baozi be so engrossed playing with Tuanzi’s tail? And why could Zhu Shuang skimp on his own meals just to improve the food for the cats under the building? He struggled to understand.
He decided to study it.
Starting with the tail. What was so fun about this thing anyway?
So he reached out and grabbed Tuanzi’s tail. It felt fluffy, but underneath there was actually a slender bone. It was soft, yet occasionally it seemed to resist him, sometimes even slipping from his grasp.
It slipped away again!
Zhou Li slightly lifted his eyelids, glancing at Tuanzi.
Tuanzi also lifted her head to look at him.
Suddenly, she tilted her head, and her tail voluntarily settled back into his palm, twitching a little.
Tuanzi continued to look down, focused.
Zhou Li took the cue and continued playing.
He seemed to faintly hear Huai Xu’s voice calling him a creep, or maybe he didn’t. It was just a buzz in the background anyway; he didn’t care...
Half an hour later, Zhou Li withdrew his hand and stood up.
Turning around, Huai Xu was staring at him expressionlessly, mechanically uttering, "I, want, to, buy, a, phone."
"I’ve said it three times."
"Is that so." Zhou Li was unconcerned. "What kind of phone do you want to buy? But you can only play with it at home."
"Sometimes I can take it out. How much money do I have left?"
"You still have over four thousand, that should be enough."
"I want to buy that one... that one... that Apple 11?" Huai Xu scratched her head, thinking. "I heard someone say it’s good."
"...Can’t afford it."
Huai Xu discovered for the first time that her funds were tight.
Zhou Li felt the same.
He had thought his finances were becoming more comfortable. In his original estimation, rent would be higher than tuition. Now that this expense seemed to be off the table, the money saved would be more than enough to pay for driving school twice over.
Mainly, the house was already well-decorated, so the items they bought for it couldn’t look cheap, right?
The man and the demon exchanged a look, neither uttering a word.
The next day was the last day of military training. Everyone gathered on the football field, rehearsing the drills to ensure no mistakes on the following day. Huai Xu led the entire company excellently, so the day was very relaxed.
「September 15th: Military Training Showcase.」
It was Huai Xu participating again.
Apart from the parade inspection, there were also companies performing military boxing, knife drills, and campus anti-riot exercises. Zhou Li had never seen them before and didn’t know if they were any good. So that morning, he slipped into a lightweight hoodie, the long-sleeved kind with a hood, put on a face mask, and quietly went to the spectator stands of the football field, standing and waiting at the very back.
With his hood up, even Aunt Jiang wouldn’t recognize him.
Zhou Li was very pleased!
Fifth Camp Fourth Company was close by. Zhou Li saw ’himself’—Huai Xu in his form—standing at the forefront of the company, head high and chest out, while a school newspaper photographer up ahead was furiously snapping pictures of ’him’. He found this incredibly amusing.
And who would have guessed that he himself was actually standing just a few dozen meters away, calmly watching it all?
His gaze drifted to the side—
At the front of a girls’ company, a tall figure stood, her head constantly tilted up, staring fixedly in his direction.