The wind in the Bamboo Courtyard remained gentle.

Dry bamboo leaves were blown off by the wind, swirling leisurely in the air before landing on the stone table, only to be whisked away again. Besides the rustling bamboo leaves, the murmurs of two people drifted on the breeze.

"What have you been up to at home recently?" Hong Ran asked, tilting her head towards Zhou Li.

"Online classes, practicing carving, playing around."

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, it's fun."

"During the pandemic, no infections around your area, right?"

"None."

"I heard your city only had two cases, and they were quickly contained."

"You know about that too?"

"I looked it up," Hong Ran smiled. "Things are better now. With your advanced technology, even pandemics can be handled well. If this had happened in the past, it might have become another major epidemic."

"What have you been busy with?" Zhou Li asked in return. He looked at Hong Ran's furrowed brow. "You look tired."

"Meetings," Hong Ran said casually.

"Just meetings?"

"Just meetings," Hong Ran nodded, a helpless smile on her face. "But if you take them seriously, there's a lot to do. It's even more troublesome if a consensus can't be reached."

"With other Your Highnesses?"

"Yes."

"That must be exhausting for you."

"Are you feeling sorry for your big sister?"

"Yes."

Yu Country was one of the largest Demon Kingdoms. Hong Ran held great power as the Demon King's proxy, but she wasn't the Demon King herself. Consequently, her status during conversations with other Demon Kings was clearly not equivalent. Fortunately, she held significant power within her own country. Demons think differently from humans, so even those who initially held a higher status—the ones who had pushed her into power—now listened to her. Otherwise, if she couldn't assert herself even within her own country, her situation would be truly difficult.

But were things difficult for her now?

Zhou Li pondered this as he walked slowly alongside Hong Ran around the Bamboo Courtyard. After thinking for a while, he asked, "What are you discussing?"

"You want to know."

"I do."

"You're still young; you should be playing more," Hong Ran said, her gaze softening with affection. "Like your peers, experiencing things that bring joy at your age. Time doesn't flow backward."

"I want to know what's bothering you so much."

"Well... it's nothing much," Hong Ran smiled, still sounding relaxed. "You've seen how powerful humans have become in this era. We need to find a way to protect ourselves."

"I'll stand by you in the future," Zhou Li said. "I've been working harder at learning spells lately… putting in a bit more effort than before."

"You little lazybones!" Hong Ran heard the hesitation in his voice but found herself wanting to laugh.

"It's not overwhelmingly difficult," Hong Ran said. "In this era, we're not exactly at a disadvantage; at most, we've lost our previous edge. What we need is to prepare for the next era. We've proposed several viable plans, but everyone is sticking to their own opinions. Do you think those elders are calmly reasoning at the table? No, they're not. Some adopt a cold, detached stance, while others act like unruly thugs, each convinced that everyone else is a fool and should just do as they say."

"I don't understand." Zhou Li looked ahead. The courtyard was strewn with fallen leaves.

He had stayed with Xiao Yuan and Lao Hui for over a month. Despite living a reclusive life, these two little demons were well-informed. Lao Hui always managed to gather news from various places and would then casually share it with them.

He had a vague inkling of what was going on.

Across the river, there was a very aggressive Demon Kingdom constantly scheming to annihilate humanity. Fortunately, they were relatively weak.

Another Demon Kingdom was attempting to control human society. Currently, the most powerful human super-empire was within their sphere of influence. It was said they had already extended their reach deep into every facet of the empire's society.

Many of Lin Zhong's ideas were inspired by them.

Compared to them, Yu Country was much more peaceful, but internally, there were many differing opinions due to the lack of a true leader.

These past few days were a small break Hong Ran had allowed herself. Zhou Li didn't want her to keep dwelling on these issues, so he went into the house and started demonstrating the new massage techniques he had learned.

"This outfit looks really good," Zhou Li said.

"Modern fabrics and craftsmanship are so much better than before," Hong Ran said with her eyes closed. "The designs have also seen some improvements."

"I heard that in the Hanfu circles formed by young people nowadays, these modified Hanfu are looked down upon," Zhou Li said, seriously massaging Hong Ran's shoulders as he examined her attire. "I have a quirky classmate who loves wearing Hanfu."

"Why is that?" Hong Ran asked cooperatively.

"I don't know. Maybe to preserve ancient traditional culture," Zhou Li shook his head. "But you don't need to worry about that."

"I'm not sure what you young people are into..."

Hong Ran naturally wouldn't bother with such things; she didn't fuss over them. If she thought something looked good, she wore it—that was all. And as for preserving ancient traditional culture, she herself was a living piece of ancient history.

"A little harder."

"Like this?"

"Mm, that's very comfortable."

"Oh."

Zhou Li's gaze drifted slightly downward and inadvertently caught a glimpse of Hong Ran's figure. He felt a pang of awkwardness and discreetly shifted his gaze away.

Sister Hong Ran is a difficult woman to understand.

Zhou Li then told her about his mother arriving in Chunming by plane that afternoon. He also discussed going to his uncle's house for dinner the next day, how he and his mother had met and spent time together during the pandemic, and finally, the afternoon physical education class for which he'd asked Hong Ran to record him.

Hong Ran's expression was quite amusing then—

In her long life, she had never recorded a video for anyone. Moreover, this was her younger brother's online class assignment.

Homework, huh... That should definitely be taken seriously.

So she immediately agreed. However, she was worried about not doing a good job, and her hesitant demeanor at that moment was nothing like a queen's.

Only Huai Xu sat beside them, looking utterly bored and swinging his legs—

When's dinner?

...

「Later that evening, after dinner,」

Zhou Li, carrying a thermal food container, rode the Ladybug Monster home and delivered food to Brother Nan and Tuanzi.

"Did you have fun at your sister's place?" Brother Nan asked, seemingly offhand.

"Yeah, I had fun."

"Judging by your expression, you really did have a good time," Brother Nan remarked, quietly observing him. She suspected he might be a little starved for motherly affection. "What time are we leaving tomorrow morning?"

"Whenever you wake up."

"Afternoon then?"

"...Eight or nine."

"Alright! Should I dress up a bit?" Brother Nan said. "Do you think elders prefer the sweet and well-behaved type?"

"Not necessarily. My mom isn't conservative, and she's lived abroad for a long time. Just be yourself."

"Okay!"

"Don't overthink it."

"I'm not overthinking it," Brother Nan suddenly said, her tone serious.

"You are."

"I'm not!"

"Hmm, it looks like you are..."

"I! Am! Not!"

"Sorry."

Speaking of clothes, Zhou Li recalled going grocery shopping with Brother Nan the previous morning. They had passed a sleepwear section. Brother Nan's usual pajamas were just some soft or baggy shorts paired with an old, comfortable T-shirt or tank top. He wondered what she would look like in one of those thin, soft-looking nightgowns.

She's tall and has long legs; she'd definitely look great in one.

Zhou Li, perhaps getting a bit carried away, said to Brother Nan, "Brother Nan, you should buy a nightgown!"

Brother Nan paused upon hearing this.

She tilted her head at Zhou Li, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. After a moment, she asked with feigned sincerity, "Mr. Zhou, if I may be so bold as to ask, what exactly were you picturing when you uttered those words?"

As she spoke, she held a fist near Zhou Li's mouth as if it were a microphone.

Zhou Li actually thought back for a moment.

And then... his face turned red.

By the time he snapped back to reality, Brother Nan had already pulled back the "microphone" and then thrust it forward again with even more force.