The night breeze was gentle.

In the direction of Dian Lake, a hint of fiery red still lingered in the sky.

Zhou Li sat on the balcony lounge chair, holding a piece of sour branch wood and a carving knife, carefully sculpting a little mouse.

Tuanzi stood on his stomach, her little feet equipped with paw pads like plum blossoms, making him itch. One of her paws occasionally reached forward to touch the not-yet-shaped little mouse, causing Zhou Li considerable trouble in his carving work.

"The knife might cut Lord Dumpling," Zhou Li frowned.

"It won't!" Tuanzi vehemently argued, "Lord Dumpling is a Great Demon, and Great Demons can't be cut by knives!"

"Impervious to swords and spears, huh?"

"Exactly! Just like that, MEOW!"

"Is that so..."

Zhou Li pretended to poke Tuanzi's little paw with the carving knife.

WHOOSH!

Tuanzi quickly withdrew her foot.

Realizing something was amiss, she quickly looked up and explained to Zhou Li, "Lord Dumpling was just showing you a Great Demon's reflexes!"

"I see," Zhou Li nodded.

"Also... you can't do that, can't do that!" Tuanzi told him again.

"Why?" Zhou Li paused, baffled. "Because it might expose Lord Dumpling?"

"Because... you just can't!"

Unable to find a reason, Tuanzi simply repeated her earlier statement, staring at Zhou Li with a serious and earnest expression, trying to make him back off and not pursue the matter further.

Zhou Li just shrugged his shoulders and didn't argue with her.

The old monster sat in a hanging chair, swinging his legs, contentedly munching on a Hami Melon. PFFT. He turned his head and spat out a seed, landing among the wood shavings. Then he glanced at the piece of wood in Zhou Li's hand. "After you graduate, you could open a shop specializing in wood carvings. Looking at you and Li Daimao, I doubt you'll find jobs after graduation."

"I'm opening a pet shop," Zhou Li looked down at Tuanzi and said in a tone used to coax children, "and then Lord Dumpling will be the boss inside, how about that?"

"Good~~"

"Really?" Huai Xu asked.

"Just spitballing."

"Oh..."

"SIGH."

Zhou Li let out a long sigh, temporarily set aside his wood carving, and looked up at the ceiling again. The balcony lights were bright, but they were no match for natural light. After a while, his eyes began to feel a bit sore.

So, rubbing his eyes, he picked up Tuanzi, set her down beside him, and then stood up.

"Zhou Li, are you not playing anymore?" Tuanzi asked.

"No more carving."

"Why, MEOW?"

"Lord Dumpling keeps disturbing me!"

"But it's fun!" Tuanzi's eyes were pure innocence, even slightly perplexed.

"Only Lord Dumpling thinks it's fun."

"MEOW~~"

Zhou Li walked into the living room, put away the half-finished wood carving and the knife, picked up a broom, and returned to sweep up the balcony's wood shavings.

PFFT.

PFFT PFFT PFFT...

Several Hami Melon seeds hit the ground in quick succession, spraying out like a machine gun. Some even flew into Zhou Li's slippers.

Zhou Li turned his head, speechless.

Blinking his eyes, Huai Xu explained, "I thought I'd finish spitting out the seeds before you finished sweeping."

He really wanted to hit him.

Huai Xu, for his part, remained completely unaware and kept nibbling and muttering, "I've heard that seniors don't take classes, so college is really only three years. After this term, you and Li Daimao will have finished half of your college years. Just look at what you've learned... Sometimes, when I see you two skipping classes and playing games every day, it worries me."

This old monster seemed to be getting more and more knowledgeable.

Still, Zhou Li ignored him.

「Half an hour later.」

Tuanzi burrowed into Zhou Li's blanket on her own accord, naturally crawling forward. Then, her fuzzy head popped out near Zhou Li's neck, "Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling wants to hear a story..."

"Great Demons don't listen to stories before sleeping," Zhou Li was already a little sleepy and sounded somewhat dismissive.

"I want to hear one!" Tuanzi corrected.

"No Great Demon needs a story to fall asleep."

"Children want to hear them!" Tuanzi changed her plea, then looked at him and repeated, "Lord Dumpling wants to hear a story."

"How about I tell you a story about a woodpecker, is that okay?"

"What's a bamboo wood bird?"

"Woodpecker," Zhou Li corrected. "It's a bird with a very long beak. The old books say they were doctors of the forest. If a tree was sick or infested with insects, they would use their long beaks to peck open the tree and catch the bugs."

"Woodpecker~," repeated Tuanzi.

"Once the story's done, will Lord Dumpling go to sleep nicely?"

"MEOW~"

"..."

What did that meow mean?

Zhou Li mulled it over for a bit, then began to make something up. "So, one day, a woodpecker was pecking at a tree, TAP TAP TAP, and the tree got a bit mad. It said, 'Why are you pecking me? I'm not sick...'"

He had just finished this sentence when he yawned. After pausing for two seconds, he continued, "Then the woodpecker said, 'If there's no illness, take a walk.'"

Tuanzi blinked and stared at him.

"Story's over, good night."

"MEOW MEOW MEOW?"

"Go to sleep, Lord Dumpling," Zhou Li's voice got lower and lower. "Lord Dumpling needs to break the habit of parkour at night and cultivate the habit of getting up early."

"Why wake up early?"

"Because when you get up early, you can do a lot of things..."

"Like what?"

"You can have a morning snooze..."

"MEOW?"

This silly cat, once full of energy, was like a hundred thousand whys, always brimming with curiosity about everything, endlessly asking questions. Normally, Zhou Li would answer patiently, and he was quite willing to help Tuanzi understand the world. However, Tuanzi's active hours seemed to be the exact opposite of his. When she was energetic, he was drowsy. This was quite troubling.

「The next day.」

Zhou Li still went to set up the recruitment booth with Brother Nan, but today, the number of people joining clubs was noticeably lower. Even the staff in the recruitment tents of other clubs had diminished, making it all a bit perfunctory.

However, this morning, there were a few more freshmen willing to join the Probability Society than yesterday—

Some who had seen Brother Nan's videos;

Some who were charmed by Tuanzi;

Some who recognized them as the stars of last semester's viral 'Hot Pot Video'.

Unfortunately, Brother Nan's screening criteria were as stringent as ever. Additionally, the membership fee for the Probability Society was much higher than other clubs', so most people were weeded out. Only two members were recruited... It felt like they wouldn't be very active in club activities later on.

「In the afternoon.」

A dessert shop near the school.

Tuanzi was lying on her back on a glass coffee table, playing with Zhou Li. Soft music drifted through the air, making the afternoon feel exceptionally tender. Soon after, the roar of a motorcycle could be heard from outside.

Yin Le walked into the shop, quickly spotted them, and strode over, looking around and lowering his voice, "Why'd you pick a place like this? I'm almost embarrassed to speak loudly. It feels like the kind of cutesy spot girls would come to hang out and take photos."

Zhou Li withdrew his hand from Tuanzi, pretending not to hear, and stood up, saying, "Let me introduce you. This is Senior Yin Le."

"Hello, Senior..."

"Su Jue, Xiao Hua."

"Hello!"

"You can grab whatever you want to eat," Zhou Li said to Yin Le. "It's on me."

"Emmm..."

Yin Le turned his head to survey the cabinets beside him. They were full of colorful and beautifully presented cakes and desserts, which looked irresistible, making him purse his lips.

"What kind of man eats this stuff..."

"Straight man," Zhou Li declared, and scooped a spoonful of cake into his mouth. He had chosen a blueberry lemon cake, which tasted slightly sour and refreshingly light.

Of course, it also looked pretty.

Good food needs to look good too.

After a pause, Zhou Li decided to save this straight man's understanding of desserts. He got up, ignoring Yin Le's protest, forcibly grabbed a piece of the same cake and, along with the milk tea he had bought on the way, pushed it in front of him. "It's better to chat while eating. It's awkward for us if only we are eating."

Yin Le furrowed his brow slightly, picked up a small spoon, scooped up a bit of cake, and put it in his mouth.

Zhou Li watched his expression. "How is it?"

Yin Le put down the spoon, unaffected. "It's sourish. Don't see what's so tasty about it..."

"Emmm..."

Zhou Li shrugged. "Let's get down to business then."

He paused for a moment, then fished out four ancient books from a bag beside him and placed them on the table. "I brought a few books. Two of them cover the basics. They'll be able to understand some things just by reading, which will save you a lot of trouble. The other two are for laying the foundations, but it's too hard to learn just from the books; you'll still need to guide them."

"No problem..."

Yin Le agreed while flipping through the books, his eyes gradually brightening. "These books are good! They can be used as textbooks..."

"They're from Mr. Jiang. If you're interested, you can talk to him about making copies."

"Hmm..."

Yin Le seemed to be considering the feasibility of this.

He turned another page and continued reading.

At the same time, he scooped up a spoonful of cake and put it in his mouth. Since his eyes were fixed on the book, he accidentally scooped right into the lemon sauce. The sourness made him squint his eyes slightly.

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