CHAPTER 426: CHAPTER 422 CAN’T YOU SEE SUCH A BIG LORD DUMPLING?

"How about we arrange three rooms for you?" Director Zheng asked tentatively.

"A standard room is enough," Zhou Li said, turning his head to glance at the gracefully poised Huai Xu. "It would be nice for us to have a chat in the evening."

"All right."

The room was quickly booked. Director Zheng led them there, with Yin Le still following. That chubby guy named Fang Yuan had left at some point, which Zhou Li found rather odd.

"You gentlemen can rest for a while, or catch up. I’ll come find you later."

"All right."

"Then I’ll take my leave." Director Zheng took two steps back, nodded at Huai Xu with a smile, and said again, "I’ll excuse myself now."

"Take care."

Zhou Li watched them both expressionlessly.

Yin Le also found it strange. Looking at Director Zheng’s departing figure and then at Huai Xu, he said, "It seems Director Zheng really likes you."

Huai Xu didn’t reply but just walked to the center of the room. With his back to the bed, he let himself fall onto it.

Putting on that act was exhausting!

Yin Le didn’t care much about this and turned to Zhou Li, sizing him up from head to toe.

"You’re wearing just this?"

"What’s wrong?"

Zhou Li looked down at his own attire.

Jeans, a T-shirt, a jacket, sneakers.

All very basic styles, without any fancy decorations. Even the jeans had no rips. They weren’t formal, but they were far from inappropriate.

"I’m just a college student."

Zhou Li had a clear understanding of himself, so he didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest. "And I don’t have any formal clothes."

"Are you going to change your clothes for tomorrow then?"

"Do I have any?"

"If you need to change, there will be clothes."

"Then I should change," Zhou Li thought for a moment.

"You should," Yin Le nodded. "Although tomorrow’s meeting won’t be televised, there will definitely be photographs for keepsakes, and it might even be documented in history. Once all this becomes public in the future, posterity will surely see them."

"Oh."

Zhou Li had been mentally prepared but still felt its weight increasingly. Fortunately, he wasn’t involved in any of that heaviness.

A salted fish cannot bear weight.

Zhou Li paused, and then asked, "About that guy just now?"

"Who? Fang Yuan?"

"Mhm."

"That’s the guy I mentioned, the one with the explosive temper, who really wants to fight with Demons." Yin Le pointed at his own head and lowered his voice. "He’s got some issues."

"What was he doing here today?"

"Like I said, he’s got issues." Yin Le curled his lip. "He heard you’re considered the best of our generation, and he wasn’t convinced. He wanted to see for himself what you look like and what virtues and abilities you possess to be chosen as the top individual, and all that. Oh, and he knows you love peace, so he despises you quite a bit."

"So why did he disappear?"

"How should I know!" Yin Le paused, letting his imagination run wild. "Maybe before he came, he had a novel-like scenario in his head, but when he arrived, he found out reality was nothing like it, so he just left!"

"...You’re not very friendly toward your colleague."

"...Only toward him," Yin Le was taken aback by Zhou Li’s comment, feeling like Zhou Li’s punch was in a completely different direction than he expected. "I wouldn’t normally show it."

"Oh."

"Was it Director Zheng who came to pick you up today?"

"Obviously."

"...And he picked you up from Chunming?"

"Obviously."

"...What do you think of Director Zheng as a person?"

"He’s nice," Zhou Li nodded, then looked up at Yin Le. "Why do you always like to gossip about others?"

Yin Le felt extremely uncomfortable. His face flushed red before he explained, "I just don’t have anyone to talk to here, so I talk a bit more when I see you!"

He paused for a moment, then continued his explanation. "And the reason I asked about Director Zheng is that he might be dealing with us frequently in the future. Higher-ups have high hopes for him. You can also tell he’s quite young, so I wanted to ask your opinion of him."

"He’s nice."

"You’re not just being polite, are you?"

"I’m not," Zhou Li thought for a moment and said, "Director Zheng is pretty efficient. He’s from the ’90s, right?"

"Seems like he was born in ’90."

"I see."

Zhou Li and Yin Le exchanged a glance. Both of them were born after 2000. Specifically, born in ’01. Director Zheng, born in the 90s, was nearly a full generation older than them. He could obviously be considered an uncle.

But then again, every generation has its characteristics, not just in life but also in work. Dealing with people from the 90s generation was very comfortable for him. Take Old Zhou’s business friends, for instance. Whenever they saw him, they liked to chat, offering either pleasantries or prying questions. This annoyed him, but they were hard to refuse. He couldn’t really engage with those uncles and aunts like Zhu Shuang could.

Director Zheng was different.

Throughout the day, aside from being somewhat awed by the Old monster, Director Zheng hadn’t engaged in any false pleasantries. He maintained an attitude of, ’I don’t want to deal with anything outside of work.’

Which was very comfortable for Zhou Li.

Just then, Huai Xu, who was lying on the bed in a starfish position, sat up again, straightened his tie, and looked at them warmly, smiling. "Okay, you two kids, stop gossiping about others behind their backs."

Zhou Li suddenly felt a few dark lines form on his forehead. He figured Director Zheng must have returned.

Yin Le was confused. "What’s with him?"

Zhou Li shook his head to indicate he had no idea.

Just then, the doorbell rang from outside.

Yin Le went to open the door.

Director Zheng arrived with two others. They entered the room and began discussing the itinerary, details, and points of caution for that evening and the next day.

Zhou Li’s task was very simple: to accompany them to welcome the Great Demons, build a bridge between the two sides, make introductions, and ensure their first meeting wasn’t too awkward.

This task wasn’t considered crucial, not exactly indispensable, but its impact was not insignificant either. Throughout history, many meetings between famous figures involved a middleman coordinating things. Even now, when two countries with little prior interaction want to collaborate, a middleman often plays a role. If that middleman is particularly successful, the benefiting party might even offer a bonus in some form or another.

The team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would meet with him tonight.

At precisely ten o’clock tomorrow morning, they would formally welcome the Demon Kingdom Delegation. The location was set outside the Capital, where the Demon Kingdom had established a presence in ancient times; they would appear directly from there.

Then would come the much-anticipated dining segment.

Over the following two days, they would visit a famous Master of painting and calligraphy. It hadn’t yet been decided whether Zhou Li would accompany them; it would probably depend on his performance. If Zhou Li got along exceptionally well with the opposing officials, he would likely join them.

After everything had been discussed and confirmed multiple times, Director Zheng and his group hurriedly left.

The Old monster then collapsed back onto the bed, contemplating life.

Zhou Li then glanced at Yin Le, who was still in the room, and asked doubtfully, "Are you really that free, or have you been ostracized? Is that why you have nothing to do?"

Damn it!

Yin Le, all smiles, emphasized repeatedly, "I specially requested to come over and keep you company today! I’ll accompany you tomorrow to meet the Demon Kingdom Delegation! And! It’s! Just! Me!"

Why the heavy tone... Zhou Li muttered to himself, his expression still indifferent. "Oh, well, you seem to be doing quite well. It seems you’re the best off among your peers."

"Hard to say."

"So that’s roughly correct."

"Right—"

Yin Le looked at him earnestly, narrowing his eyes. "Where’s the Demon King’s Close Attendant you promised me? When does he arrive?"

"Lord Dumpling is here!"

Tuanzi struggled in Zhou Li’s arms, seeming to want to stand up, to fill the entirety of this human’s field of vision with her tiny self.

Zhou Li pursed his lips, soothing Tuanzi while saying to Yin Le, "You wouldn’t believe it, but the reason Tuanzi is called Lord Dumpling isn’t because of me. It’s what nearly all Demons call her, including the Demon Kingdom elder Lin Zhong. You’ve heard of Lin Zhong, right?"

"A name of great renown... So..."

"So, Lord Dumpling is the Demon King’s Close Attendant! She has been by the Demon King’s side for over two thousand years. Even Lin Zhong pays her respect, letting her ride on his head and pull his hair."

"Are you kidding me?" Yin Le was dumbfounded. "Are you seriously going to let a cat sit at the table, have everyone greet her, and have the minister respectfully feed her cat food?"

"Meow! Shut up, human!"

"You’re overthinking it."

Zhou Li raised three fingers. "First, Lord Dumpling doesn’t like cat food. Second, Lord Dumpling can take on another form, that of a little girl. At that time, she will be invisible to all humans but visible to Demons, who also recognize her status. Thus, she can still provide the necessary stabilizing presence. Besides, humans not recognizing her form is merely prejudice. Lord Dumpling is indeed very noble..."

Zhou Li, speaking, looked down. "Isn’t that right?"

"Lord Dumpling is super awesome!"

Hearing Tuanzi’s childish and tender voice, Yin Le found it hard to equate her with the Demon King’s Close Attendant he had imagined.

But at this point, there was nothing he could do about it.

Looking at Zhou Li’s remaining unflexed finger, he pondered for a moment before asking, "And the third?"

"The third is, you’ve annoyed Lord Dumpling."

Fuck...

"Seriously."

"Meow, you’ve annoyed Lord Dumpling!" Tuanzi also chimed in threateningly. In fact, she and Yin Le had shared a meal before and were acquainted. "Tomorrow, Lord Dumpling will badmouth you in front of that puny official and order him to hit you!"

"...Can I apologize then?"

"Then Lord Dumpling forgives you, meow!"

"...Is it really that simple?"

"Lord Dumpling is magnanimous! A ship can sail in my tummy! I won’t stoop to bickering with a puny human like you!" Tuanzi hummed lightly and then hugged Zhou Li’s arm, starting to clamor about what they should eat for dinner, acting completely like a child.

Yin Le, his face etched with dark lines, could only pray in his heart, hoping that what Zhou Li said was true and that the leader of the Demon Kingdom Delegation indeed recognized this cat.

Otherwise, he was done for.