My Demon Friends

Chapter 733 694: Planting Flowers Requires Skill

"Rebound."

"I rebound too!"

"I rebounded first."

"Yeah, and I rebound it back onto you!"

"...Your brain reacts quite fast." Zhou Li, not to be outdone, declared, "All rebounded onto Huai Xu, and the game is over."

"You... you don't get to decide that!"

"The game is over."

Zhou Li wore an expression that said, I've already won; nothing you say matters now, and calmly walked past him. He went straight to the balcony, leaning on the railing to look down.

The environment here was quite nice. The room was on the third floor, and in front of the balcony was the top of a coconut tree, though it had no coconuts. Below, silk trees were planted. Looking further, he could see the entrance of the guesthouse where his classmates were staying, its courtyard illuminated by strip lights at night.

It was just next to the national highway, so the dust was a bit heavy.

If it were daytime, with ample sunlight streaming in, this room would be very spacious and bright. Plus, with a desk and a sofa, it would meet all my needs.

Zhou Li withdrew his gaze. As soon as he turned around, he saw Huai Xu standing behind him, staring at him angrily.

At this moment, if I open my mouth to say even a single word, even just to express some doubt, this Old Monster will latch onto my words and unleash a second round of childish competition, hoping to reclaim victory... The best approach is to remain silent, ignore him, and act as though I have no thoughts or emotions. That'll frustrate him to no end.

As if he hadn't seen him at all, Zhou Li returned to the room and picked up Tuanzi, who was aimlessly rolling around on the floor.

"Lord Dumpling, it's exam time again. Are you ready?"

"MEOW!"

Tuanzi's expression gradually changed from confused to determined and serious.

"Take this, Lord Dumpling! What's one plus one?"

"TWO MEOW!"

"HISS! I didn't expect Lord Dumpling to answer so easily!" Zhou Li gasped, furrowing his brows. He decided to go all out. "Then what's one plus two?"

"MEOW..."

"Can't remember all of a sudden, can you?" Zhou Li showed a triumphant smile. Lord Dumpling was indeed stumped by me. "Let me remind Lord Dumpling: Lord Dumpling had one candy, then I gave Lord Dumpling two more candies. How many candies does Lord Dumpling have now?"

"Lord Dumpling has... some candies..."

"That's right."

"Some candies..."

"That's right."

"MEOW..." Tuanzi met Zhou Li's gaze without any fear, her expression becoming serious again. "Lord Dumpling has some candies, OOH!"

"Then let's switch it up. If I owed Lord Dumpling one meal of weakfish, and later I owed Lord Dumpling two more meals of weakfish, how many weakfish meals should Lord Dumpling get now?"

"Three meals!!"

"Correct." Zhou Li looked at Tuanzi expectantly. "Then what's one plus two?"

"MEOW..."

Zhou Li's expectant expression froze on his face.

Tuanzi, completely unaware, was still excitedly asking him, "When does Lord Dumpling get to eat weakfish soup with rice?"

"..."

Seeing her expression, Zhou Li sighed.

"Tomorrow then."

"YAY!"

After wild coilia, Lord Dumpling had fallen in love with weakfish, which, according to Your Highness, was even more delicious than coilia. The so-called weakfish, also known as grass carp, common carp, or silver carp, was commonly used to cook boiled fish dishes. Zhou Li had already taken Lord Dumpling to eat it a few times in Chunming, earning very high praise from her.

However, this also depended on the region. For example, in Banna, weakfish might refer to tilapia.

"Your way of teaching kids is too inefficient; she doesn't use her brain at all," Huai Xu egged on from the side. "And she's not even afraid of you. If you ask me, you should give her a beating. Let her know she'll get hit if she does something wrong or keeps failing to learn. After a beating, I guarantee she'll learn it all in one day."

"Huai Xu is stirring up trouble between us again," Zhou Li whispered to Tuanzi, completely ignoring Huai Xu. "Lord Dumpling, don't learn from him."

"Lame," Huai Xu pouted.

"Huai Xu is the worst," Tuanzi murmured softly.

"Indeed," Zhou Li agreed wholeheartedly.

"It's all Huai Xu's fault!"

"Exactly."

Exposed, Huai Xu didn't feel embarrassed at all; instead, he flashed a smile. He knew Zhou Li wouldn't do as he suggested; that's why he said it.

Zhou Li lay down on the bed. "I'm going to sleep now. The Internship starts early tomorrow."

"Why sleep so early?"

"Goodnight MEOW~~"

"Goodnight."

Zhou Li pulled the covers over himself and closed his eyes.

But the Old Monster didn't care about his intentions and still asked, "I saw that this hotel has breakfast. Is it included in the room cost? What time do they start serving breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"I only got one breakfast coupon," Zhou Li said, his eyes still closed.

"Why?"

"Because I only registered myself."

"Why didn't you register one more person?"

"You don't have an ID card."

"Oh, then give me the coupon. You can go out and eat with Li Daimao; that would be a better deal," Huai Xu calculated. "I'll send you a two yuan red packet."

"..."

"Did you hear me?"

"..."

"Pretending to be asleep?"

"..."

「The next day, in the morning, there was a thin fog.」

Zhou Li and Brother Nan had a bowl of noodles on the road. By the time they arrived at the botanical garden entrance, everyone had already gathered there.

It wasn't even eight o'clock yet.

The botanical garden was considered a relatively popular tourist spot in Banna. However, winter was the off-season, and the winter break hadn't started yet, so it would likely only get crowded with visitors after 10 a.m. Currently, there was only one tour group of elderly travelers on a tight schedule, with no individual visitors.

Zhou Li and his group were part of an educational collaboration between the Life Science Department of Cai University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden, so they didn't need to buy tickets. When it was time, their guiding teacher took a headcount, and they entered the garden.

The garden administration had arranged an eco-friendly vehicle to take them directly to the research institute.

There was a large classroom here, specially prepared for visiting students. Life Sciences Institutes from various universities across Caiyun Province took turns visiting, so it was never idle.

Teacher Liu, a female instructor, stepped up to the podium, "Alright everyone, let's take some time to form small groups of eight to ten people. All future learning, discussions, and the final projects will be group-based. You'll also need to elect a group leader, as the daily Internship reports will require the leader's signature. Please take this seriously. Once the groups are formed, the academic representatives from both classes will hand me the group assignments and member lists."

Eight to ten people...

Zhou Li looked toward his roommates, who were also looking at him, their smiles brimming with unspoken words. He then turned his head to look at Baozi and Cotton Swab.

Isn't this a golden opportunity for a dormitory social, handed to us on a silver platter? And for me, it's also a prime chance to slack off. I definitely can't miss this. If dorms 502 and 106 team up, we'd have Baozi, the academic powerhouse; Chang Xiaoxiang, the jack-of-all-trades and always-eager participant; and Brother Nan, a formidable figure who knows how to navigate any situation... Of course, a perfect lineup can't be without a slacker, and I'm the most suitable candidate for that role.

Just then, Qian Qian smiled sweetly at him, "Shall we group together?"

Mianmian nodded incessantly, "Me too!"

Brother Nan maintained a composed expression.

Baozi, however, appeared hesitant.

Clearly, she anticipated the significant responsibility she would have to bear if they teamed up. For her, also a slacker at heart, this was quite a predicament. She would much rather join a group full of top students where she could just coast along, ideally doing nothing while others handled everything.

Her cousin's sigh floated over, just loud enough for her to hear, "Sigh... it's still so hot in Banna even though it's winter. I heard it feels like summer in the afternoon. It's fine indoors, but it must be sweltering outside, and we can't even leave the garden. I can't imagine how other groups will get through the afternoons without iced milk tea."

"Let's be in the same group, Cousin!" Baozi exclaimed.

"You better think this through," Zhou Li furrowed his brows, not wanting to drag down his high-achieving Little Cousin. "We're not very capable."

"It's okay!"

"Sigh..."

Seeing his Little Cousin's resolute and unwavering expression, Zhou Li couldn't say much more.

Forming groups took longer than expected. Zhou Li had thought it would take ten minutes, but it ended up taking over half an hour to finalize. Immediately after, Teacher Liu gave them a brief explanation of the tasks and study content for the Internship period, outlining the learning objectives they needed to achieve. Then, she led them out of the classroom to begin the tour of the botanical garden.

This was not only a publicly accessible scenic area but also a botanical conservation area and a scientific research base.

The students from the two classes seemed to transform into a tour group, complete with their own guide. However, their tour was much more in-depth, and Teacher Liu's explanations were far more detailed and professional than those of a typical tour guide.

Tourists usually look at the flowers and fruits, focusing on whatever is vibrant and eye-catching. That's pretty much what Brother Nan and I did on our previous visits. Now, however, we're looking for the underlying principles. We need to delve into the inner workings of what is perhaps the nation's most formidable plant cultivation and research base, since we have to submit an assignment later.

The morning passed in the blink of an eye, and they had toured half of the garden.

With a teacher leading the way, everyone felt that knowledge was everywhere, so much so that they couldn't absorb it all. There was a pervasive feeling that they had learned more in half a day here than in a month's worth of classes back at school.

"Everyone, you're dismissed. Go have lunch. Afterward, you can return to the classroom for a nap. We'll meet back here at two o'clock. You're free to use the sightseeing trams within the park; just be mindful of the transfer points. If a driver asks for your ticket, just tell them you're an Internship student."

The large group dispersed noisily.

By then, the sunlight was already scorching, genuinely like summer, making everyone sweat profusely.

Zhou Li had just turned around when he saw a tall, leggy young woman sitting not far away on a wooden bench. She was gnawing on a sausage wrapped in a plastic bag, and while eating, she curiously watched the chattering group of students, looking every bit the tourist.

At her feet, a small black cat sat poised, continuously licking its paws.

One by one, the sightseeing trams arrived, picking up the students. Zhou Li and Brother Nan were among the last, expressionlessly watching the stunning young woman inelegantly gnawing on her sausage.

It was well past noon. After a morning of walking, everyone was famished.

Zhou Li even recognized a familiar aroma.

Unsurprisingly, the sausage is from Miss Zheng.

When only they remained, the leggy, stunning young woman finally turned her head and curiously asked, "Hey, students, are you all here to study?"

Zhou Li didn't want to answer.

Brother Nan's mouth twitched.

The young woman, as if she had received an answer, nodded to herself and said, "Studying is good, studying's great. You'll become scientists later on… Look at those scientists. They grow Little Lotuses too, just like the ones in my tank at home, but theirs grow better than mine. However, I've got an idea—if I just keep swapping the Little Lotuses in my tank with the ones in their pond, won't mine start to grow just as well as theirs?"