Zhou Li tried to learn about the experience Old Master Ma had when he encountered that demon in his youth, but Old Master Ma just chuckled and said nothing, so Zhou Li stopped asking.

Still, he couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

Huai Xu said many humans who saw this kind of demon became obsessed with it, unable to extricate themselves. Zhou Li didn't know if Old Master Ma had ever felt this way in his youth, but from what he could tell now, he had clearly moved on. After all, so many years had gone by, and he was quite old. He should have realized long ago how unattainable that chance encounter was. Perhaps from that point on, he kept it deep in his heart, hidden for a lifetime, not to be shared with others.

Who says a fleeting meeting isn't fate?

Those beautiful enough things will remain deeply etched in memory, no matter how much time passes.

Approaching noon, Zhou Li received a message from Brother Nan—

Li Daimao: Come over to my place for lunch.

Zhou Li: (Spacing out)

Li Daimao: Don't worry, my parents aren't home. They're eating at the shop. We have lots of leftover crawfish from yesterday. I peeled them to make you crawfish noodles.

Zhou Li: [Mmm]

Li Daimao: Chicken.

Zhou Li: [You're right.]

Just then, Old Master Ma rubbed his lower back with one hand and asked Zhou Li, "Are you heading home for lunch?"

"I'm going to Brother Nan's place."

"It's almost noon..."

"I'm off then."

"Alright."

Old Master Ma also stood up.

He usually didn't eat at home because he was too lazy to cook and his spouse was often not around, so he would usually dine out.

The old gentleman had plenty of money.

Now older, with both his teeth and appetite not what they once were, he liked to eat at a porridge restaurant owned by one of his nephews. He would only take a small side dish; the porridge was complimentary. Zhou Li had joined him for a couple of meals there; it was quite suitable for middle-aged and elderly people, or for eating on summer evenings.

The door to Brother Nan's home wasn't closed.

Zhou Li walked in carefully, hearing the sound of stir-frying coming from the kitchen, sizzling away.

Suddenly, a voice came from beside him—

"What are you doing? Acting like a thief?"

"?"

"Why are you looking at me like that again? Didn't I tell you I'm here to play video games at Brother Nan's place!"

"..."

Zhou Li peeked into the kitchen.

A tall figure with an apron and a casual bun bustled about. It was summer and they were at home, so she was dressed quite coolly and casually, with grandma-style floral shorts showcasing her pale and slender legs, which, surprisingly, looked pretty nice. She wore a T-shirt that seemed a bit small for her, likely bought while she was still growing.

Zhou Li was taken aback for a few seconds.

Looks weren't the point. In terms of appearance, this Old monster beside him was the pinnacle; perhaps only the demon Old Master Ma had seen in his youth could compare to her. The point was that he actually saw a touch of domestic grace in Brother Nan.

Zhou Li rubbed his eyes—

It must be an illusion!

Just then, Brother Nan turned around abruptly, "Huai Xu, go buy some beer for me... Oh, you're here. You go buy it!"

As she spoke, she wrinkled her brow in confusion, "What are you standing there staring at?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Go and buy the beer."

"Oh, yeah."

See, it was definitely just an illusion.

Brother Nan turned back to continue cooking.

Zhou Li and Huai Xu exchanged glances and then walked out, just in time to see Old Master Ma strolling leisurely out of the residential area, hands clasped behind his back.

「Ten minutes later.」

On the table were a plate of spicy and sour shredded potatoes and one of green peppers with preserved egg; it seemed Brother Nan only knew how to cook these few dishes. But today, there was also fish-flavored eggplant, which must have been a new recipe Brother Nan had just unlocked. Coupled with a crispy duck and canned chicken she had bought, there were five dishes in total. Instead of rice, the main course was a small bowl of crawfish noodles for each person—mostly peeled crawfish with a few strands of noodles.

Zhou Li and Huai Xu looked at each other again.

The Old monster picked up a piece of eggplant, put it in her mouth, then slowly furrowed her brows and asked, "Brother Nan, are you sure this is your first time making this dish? I don't believe it!"

"What's with the sudden Chen Luyu impression?" Brother Nan was baffled, then said, "It's my second time."

"Incredible!" Huai Xu exclaimed.

"Really?" Brother Nan asked doubtfully, looking at her.

"Really. Zhou Li, you try it too," Huai Xu said, looking at Zhou Li.

"Sure," he replied.

So Zhou Li also picked up a piece of the fish-flavored eggplant, chewed carefully, and after a moment of silence, said, "Brother Nan, I'll be honest, and please don't get mad."

"Are you crazy?"

"..." Although the response differed from what he expected, Zhou Li didn't mind. He simply swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "I used to envy your carefree nature, your freedom, your worry-free life, but none of that made me admire you to the point of worship. Today, however, your cooking..."

"Culinary skills," Zhou Li emphasized.

"I'm starting to really admire you," Zhou Li said. "Your talent in this area is just too great."

"???"

Brother Nan was completely bewildered.

She glanced at Zhou Li, then at Huai Xu, growing even more confused. After taking a sip of beer, she squinted her eyes and scrutinized the human and demon, "Wait, what are you two up to? Are you trying to butter me up?"

The human and demon looked at each other again, puzzled.

Ideally, Brother Nan's reaction should have been to be over the moon, completely reveling in it...

Zhou Li's expression turned somewhat helpless. He gave Huai Xu a look that clearly said: See? I told you this wouldn't work on Brother Nan.

Huai Xu's gaze retorted: It's because your acting is too over-the-top! Look, Li Daimao didn't notice anything amiss when I said it.

"Speaking in riddles?"

Brother Nan's voice sounded again. Thankfully, she didn't pursue it further, simply picking up her bowl to wolf down some crawfish, "Eat, eat, stop blabbering on."

Zhou Li and Huai Xu both sighed in relief.

「After the meal.」

The two stood side by side at the sink washing dishes.

One was in charge of washing, the other of rinsing.

"Do you really like yuxiang eggplant?" Brother Nan asked Zhou Li.

"I love it," Zhou Li replied, then paused. "But the yuxiang eggplant at lunch today was indeed delicious."

"I deep-fried the eggplant."

"I see." Zhou Li showed a timely expression that said, 'Whoa, I didn't know you could do that!'

"You also like mapo tofu, right?"

"Right."

"That one's harder to make well..."

"Huai Xu said you're a culinary g—"

"Shut up!"

"Got it."

Zhou Li fell silent, focused on washing dishes.

Though it seemed Brother Nan had seen through his and Huai Xu's ploy, looking at it now... who was to say it hadn't been effective after all?

「In the afternoon.」

Brother Nan stretched languorously in front of her computer desk. The movement revealed the slight curve of her chest. She scratched her head and said, "I don't feel like playing anymore. I'm going to check if my keycaps are dry."

The sun was very strong today.

The keycaps were dry. After Brother Nan returned, she began placing them face up on the desk one by one.

"Can you put them back without looking at the laptop?" Zhou Li asked.

"That would be tough."

"Your keyboard is so pretty. How much was it? I want to buy a set too," Huai Xu said. Brother Nan's keycaps were in the quirky otaku style, and as everyone knows, 'gaining the recognition of otaku' is always the highest praise for electronic products.

"Over a thousand, I guess," she replied.

"That's expensive."

"Pretending to be poor again..."

Brother Nan began installing them, referring to her laptop's keyboard, but she quickly realized that the layout of her laptop's keyboard was slightly different from that of her new keycaps.

Of course, the difference wasn't huge; it was acceptable.

Brother Nan started scratching her head.

Zhou Li watched silently from the side as she carefully compared, tried to recall, but still ended up putting some on wrong.

At first, Brother Nan got confused with the orientation of the keycaps, mixing up W and M, Z and N. When she realized that all the letters were printed slightly towards the top, she avoided this mistake. She got things like the greater-than and less-than symbols correct.

But the number keys on her new set were different from her laptop's, making it easy to mix them up, and then she'd have to pry them off again.

The left Shift key on this keyboard set was a bit shorter than the right one.

Plus, some keys were overly cartoonish and cute, making them hard to identify.

From scratching her head, she was beginning to get a little annoyed.

Because Zhou Li was beside her, she started to get a bit testy.

She was just too cute.

Zhou Li couldn't hold back any longer and laughed out loud.

As soon as he laughed, Brother Nan became angry from embarrassment, not allowing him to explain, and punched his shoulder.

THUMP!

She was still fuming, grinding her teeth like a fierce little cat.

Zhou Li pursed his lips, put on a serious face, and continued to watch her struggle with the keycaps. However, it didn't seem to help much; Brother Nan took out her frustration on him when she made a mistake, even though he wasn't laughing then.

That's how domestic abuse starts.