CHAPTER 404: CHAPTER 400 DEPARTURE

"It’s nearly one o’clock, isn’t Lord Dumpling going to sleep?" Zhou Li gently rubbed Tuanzi’s forehead with his index finger. He liked doing this because the fuzz on Tuanzi’s forehead was light, fine, soft, and warm to the touch, making it very comfortable.

"One o’clock..."

Tuanzi turned her head to look at him, a hint of confusion in her eyes—a little parrot indeed.

Zhou Li thought for a moment and explained to her, "In short, it’s very late."

"Hmm, Zhou Li, are you going to sleep?"

"..."

Why did Zhou Li detect a hint of excitement in her tone?

He lightly flicked Tuanzi’s forehead. When she meowed in response and then quickly covered her head with her little paws, staring at him in shock as if he had used a handmade brain-busting Divine Artifact, Zhou Li couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated.

"How bold!"

"..."

"How bold, Zhou Li! To attack Lord Dumpling!"

"..."

"Someone! Someone come!"

Tuanzi’s voice was clear and crisp. After calling out twice and receiving no response, she looked around the room, pondered for a moment, then quickly straightened herself, turned her head, and asked Zhou Li with a wronged expression, "Zhou Li, why did you hit Lord Dumpling again?"

"That wasn’t a hit..."

"It was!"

"I didn’t even use any force!"

"You did! You used force!" Tuanzi said with a serious expression, about to try and convince Zhou Li again.

"No, I didn’t. Lord Dumpling, don’t talk nonsense." Zhou Li was unwavering. "This is a sign of my affection for Lord Dumpling."

"Meow?"

"Yes."

Zhou Li nodded at Tuanzi, patiently explaining, "If you don’t believe me, look. Doesn’t Brother Nan often hit me?"

Tuanzi tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then nodded.

So Zhou Li asked further, "Doesn’t she like me?"

Tuanzi thought again and continued nodding, her eyes unwaveringly fixed on Zhou Li—she felt that the female human indeed liked Zhou Li.

"See?"

Zhou Li smiled at her. "That’s how you show you like someone. Because there’s no force, it doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t Lord Dumpling sometimes pat me too?"

"Lord Dumpling is very small~~"

"So it doesn’t hurt, right? It means it’s affection."

"Oh~~"

Tuanzi still stared at Zhou Li without blinking, her little head trying hard to digest this new knowledge.

Zhou Li gently rubbed her head again, coaxing, "Sleeping early and waking up early is good for your health and helps you grow tall. If Lord Dumpling wants to become a Great Demon, you must go to bed early and rise early."

"Go to bed early and wake up early..." Tuanzi repeated.

"Right," Zhou Li’s demeanor was very much like that of a doting father, "and tomorrow, we’re going to Tengchong to have fun."

"Going to have fun..."

"Right."

"Travel by car..."

"Yes, because it’s far away."

"Traveling by car makes me dizzy..."

"Right."

"Dizzy... then I’ll fall asleep..."

Tuanzi’s eyes lit up, and she said delightedly, "Lord Dumpling won’t sleep tonight!"

Zhou Li almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

「October first, morning.」

The ground outside the residential complex was a bit damp, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of osmanthus. Zhou Li carried a bag on his back, standing by the roadside with Huai Xu, waiting for Brother Nan’s car.

Because the Old Monster was incredibly resourceful, they hadn’t brought much luggage. Zhou Li only packed a few undergarments and toiletries in his bag—after all, he couldn’t very well ask Huai Xu to go back and fetch his personal clothes. He also put Tuanzi in the bag, leaving the zipper open a little so she could stick her little head out; she liked being in such small spaces.

Before long, the car arrived, slowly pulling up to the curb.

"Do you want to have breakfast?" Zhou Li leaned in and asked.

"No need, I’ve brought breakfast for us." Brother Nan waved at them. "Get in the car, we’ll eat on the way. The traffic is pretty bad; I saw on the map that many sections are red turning black. Let’s try to get there before dark."

Zhou Li found this strange. Usually, whenever Brother Nan came over, she would definitely go to the cross-bridge rice noodle shop at the intersection, never tiring of it. Why was she not planning to eat there today?

But he didn’t say anything, just gave an "Oh," opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

"Baozi..."

Huai Xu’s voice came from the back seat, momentarily making Zhou Li think his Little Cousin was also in the car.

Turning his head, Zhou Li saw Huai Xu holding up a large plastic bag filled to the brim with baozi, enough to feed an entire dorm room for two meals.

"Just eating baozi?" Zhou Li was a bit surprised. When had Brother Nan ever been so casual about food?

"I made them!"

"My apologies..."

Only then did Zhou Li take a closer look at the baozi. Their appearance was indeed a bit rougher than the machine-made ones from the baozi shop, but they still looked very good.

"When did you make them? How did you steam them?"

"I spent all morning making them in the dorm yesterday," Brother Nan said while driving. "I borrowed the Dormitory Auntie’s pot to steam them, then reheated them this morning. The rice cooker in my dorm is too small."

"I see."

Zhou Li carefully took two baozi from Huai Xu’s hands as if receiving sacred relics; they were still hot.

"Eat up!" Brother Nan urged.

"Okay."

It seemed Brother Nan had a lot of confidence in her cooking skills. But then again, her family was practically half-professional baozi makers, so this skill was bound to be well-honed... Hmm, thinking about it this way, Brother Nan actually seemed quite capable!?

Zhou Li took a bite of the baozi.

It was filled with minced pork and shiitake mushrooms, with a thin skin and generous filling, more meat than the ones sold in shops. Under some mysterious enhancement, he instantly felt it was the best baozi he had ever eaten in his life.

"You skipped class yesterday just to make baozi in the dorm?"

"Yeah!" Brother Nan replied nonchalantly. "As the Head of the Family, of course, I had to prepare provisions for our journey today."

"One day’s worth..."

Zhou Li turned to look at the large bag of baozi, then at Huai Xu in the back seat, who was stuffing them into his mouth at an alarming rate—a baozi vanishing in practically two bites. He couldn’t help but worry about the day’s provisions.

After a moment’s thought, he reached into the bag for two more baozi and held them in his hand, lest he not get any later.

"Are we still taking the expressway?"

"Of course." Brother Nan was already in line. "It’s a free expressway; it’d be a waste not to take it."

"Oh."

"Hopefully, it won’t be too congested."

"Yeah."

This expressway actually headed towards Dali, but not to Dali City itself. It turned off near Dali, heading further west.

Perhaps Brother Nan’s ’prayers’ worked, as they encountered little traffic congestion all the way past Xiangyun County, at most slowing down. They occasionally stopped, which provided a perfect opportunity to eat baozi. However, they had only covered a little more than half the journey by then. It was in the latter half that they encountered severe traffic, the entire route showing up on the map as a line that was red turning black.

This was normal.

After all, Brother Nan had wished for it ’not to be too congested,’ not for no congestion at all. No congestion at all would be somewhat difficult to arrange, the cost too great, and Brother Nan rarely made such wishes.

Unfortunately, the baozi were all gone.

The traffic in their lane seemed to have come to a standstill, while vehicles in the adjacent lane flowed continuously.

Many drivers turned off their engines, got out of their cars to stretch their legs and wander about. There was no end in sight ahead, and in the blink of an eye, an equally endless line of vehicles had formed behind them.

Brother Nan was restless by nature. She also got out of the car to stroll around, sometimes walking ahead a bit, sometimes looking back, or kicking the highway guardrail, chatting with other drivers, and playfully disturbing the wildflowers and weeds. When she got utterly bored, she would sit back in the car and talk with Zhou Li, or gaze wistfully at the cars in the opposite lane as they whizzed by, stirring up gusts of wind, her envy palpable.

"Why isn’t it congested over there?"

"No idea."

"There must have been an accident up ahead!" Brother Nan was extremely bored. "If only we had a drone, we could fly it up and see what’s happening at the very front."

"Most likely a car accident."

"Then let’s go watch the commotion."

"You just want to watch the commotion, don’t you?"

"Yeah! You got a problem with that?"

"..."

"Oh, right! Where did Huai Xu go?" Brother Nan only then realized that Huai Xu had disappeared from the back seat at some point. "Did he get out to relieve himself on the roadside?"

"He went to watch the commotion..."

"That guy..."

Brother Nan immediately frowned and clenched her fists. The feeling of someone else easily accomplishing something she wanted to do but couldn’t was truly uncomfortable. So, she feigned disdain, "It’s just some commotion. What’s so interesting to see..."

No sooner had her words fallen than there was a POP.

Huai Xu appeared out of thin air, saying excitedly, "Guess what happened up front!"

"What happened?" Brother Nan immediately asked.

"Several vehicles crashed together, all big trucks, with only one small car caught in the middle—it was crushed flat!" Huai Xu’s voice was filled with excitement. "The people inside were turned to mush! What a tragic sight! The trucks are all overturned on the road too. I reckon we won’t be moving for a while. We can have a meal of dry-pot spicy shrimp in the car first!"

"Really?"

"Really! Why would I lie to you?"

GASP.

Although Brother Nan’s gasp seemed sympathetic, her expression clearly showed her eagerness to witness the spectacle.

Zhou Li couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on from dealing with these two.