15
The two of them hit it off instantly, regretting not having met sooner.
On her first day at a human school, Yun Li started off sitting properly and listening attentively.
But the teacher’s lecture was far too advanced. After scribbling a bunch of chaotic, ghost-like symbols on the blackboard, he somehow arrived at a number.
Yun Li’s eyes widened in shock. She truly couldn’t understand how the teacher had done it.
She wanted to ask Ouyang Mengyao if she understood, so she quietly turned her head—only to find Ouyang Mengyao already fast asleep behind her textbook.
Good grief. She really was someone who didn’t like studying.
Yun Li decided she shouldn’t make things hard on herself. Following Ouyang Mengyao’s example, she propped a book upright on her desk and fell asleep with her head on her arms.
And so she slept through the entire morning, not a single lesson absorbed.
The teachers wanted to discipline her but couldn’t. These unruly kids were all a handful.
Sleeping in the classroom was fine, except it wasn’t very comfortable.
So much so that Yun Li even had a nightmare—she dreamed she had forgotten her lesson and gone fishing again. Her poop scooper caught her, scolded her harshly, and made her copy books as punishment. She woke up furious.
Just then, the bell rang, and Ouyang Mengyao also woke up.
The two of them looked at each other, both clearly just having woken from a nap, and shared a smile.
As soon as class ended, they perked right up.
It was lunch break. Ouyang Mengyao linked her arm through Yun Li’s. “Come on, let’s go to the snack bar. I’ll treat you!”
What was a snack bar?
But at the mention of food, Yun Li followed without hesitation.
Ouyang Mengyao was quite famous at Pingcheng No. 1 High School. Not for being particularly pretty, but for being particularly fierce. Many people didn’t dare mess with her.
On their way to the snack bar, quite a few passersby turned to look at them.
Zhang Zihan nudged Ouyang Mengyao’s shoulder. “Looks like our new classmate is pretty popular.”
Ouyang Mengyao wrapped her arm around Yun Li’s shoulder with heroic pride. “Of course! Just look at how adorable our little Yun Li is.”
You’d think she was the one being praised.
Zhang Zihan rolled her eyes, then smiled warmly at Yun Li. Looking at someone so beautiful was truly a feast for the eyes.
Yun Li stayed close to her, observing the sea of humans. “There are so many people.”
And why were all these humans staring at her?
Being watched by so many people, she was constantly afraid she hadn’t concealed herself well enough and would accidentally expose her tail.
“They’re staring at you because they think you’re gorgeous. They can’t help but take a few more glances.” Ouyang Mengyao said, “It’s fine. Just pretend they’re cabbages. Pay them no mind.”
The snack bar was the most crowded place on campus. By the time they got there, it was already packed with students.
Ouyang Mengyao pulled Yun Li through the crowd and stopped in front of a shelf. “What do you want to eat? My treat.”
The shelf was lined with all kinds of snacks, none of which Yun Li had ever seen before. Everything looked delicious.
But scanning the shelf, she didn’t see her favorite food—roast chicken.
Feeling a little disappointed, she said honestly, “I want to eat roast chicken.”
“Roast chicken? They don’t sell roast chicken at the snack bar.”
Hearing this, Yun Li felt even more disappointed.
She hadn’t eaten any chicken this morning, nor would she at noon. Her stomach was already growling.
Ouyang Mengyao grabbed several packs of chips and spicy strips, then asked the shop owner for two grilled sausages. She handed one to Yun Li. “Eat this. I’m telling you, this is way better than roast chicken—you have no idea.”
The sausage in her hand was fragrant and plump, but Yun Li was skeptical.
How could there possibly be anything in the world better than roast chicken?
If it wasn’t good, she would spit it out immediately.
Yun Li took a tentative bite of the sausage and chewed carefully. She had braced herself for something terrible, but to her surprise, it was springy and chewy.
She stared at Ouyang Mengyao in astonishment, her expression that of someone discovering a whole new world.
Ouyang Mengyao bit half of her sausage off in one go. The sausage was piping hot, so she sucked in air while saying, “Split-open sausages are the best. So, is it good or not?”
Yun Li nodded repeatedly, her mouth stuffed full of sausage. “So goob!”
Ouyang Mengyao also bought a bottle of cola and handed it to her. “Sausage with cola—it’s a perfect match.”
One sausage had completely overturned Yun Li’s worldview. There was actually something better than roast chicken.
From then on, she believed whatever Ouyang Mengyao said.
Holding the ice-cold cola, Yun Li studied it for quite a while but couldn’t figure out how to open it. Embarrassed, she asked, “How do you open this?”
Ouyang Mengyao was surprised. She couldn’t even open a cola?
She instinctively reached for the cola. “Just pull up on this ring—it pops right open.”
Yun Li took the lesson to heart. Human things were a bit complicated.
She mimicked Ouyang Mengyao and took a sip of cola.
The moment it hit her mouth, she sprayed it right back out. She had choked on it and started coughing repeatedly.
Ouyang Mengyao handed her a tissue. “What’s wrong with you? Choking on cola?”
Yun Li’s eyes were red. “This thing… it’s so strange…”
“Pfft!”
Hearing Yun Li’s description, Ouyang Mengyao couldn’t help but laugh. Then, seeing how serious she looked, she suppressed her smile. “Yun Li, have you never drunk cola before?”
Remembering how Yun Li hadn’t even known how to open it, Ouyang Mengyao grew even more certain of her guess.
Yun Li nodded. “Yes, this is my first time drinking it.”
The demon realm didn’t have these strange things.
Ouyang Mengyao: …How rare. There was actually someone in this world who had never drunk the nectar of the happy, chubby homebodies.
What kind of family did she grow up in?
If her family didn’t have money, she wouldn’t have been able to attend their school.
That left only one other possibility.
Yun Li’s family was very wealthy, but her parents were extremely strict with her and never let her eat or drink junk like this. That was why she seemed so inexperienced.
“So have you ever eaten a grilled sausage before?”
Yun Li shook her head.
“Chips? Spicy strips? …”
Yun Li shook her head to everything. She had never even heard of these things.
“So in your entire life, you’ve only ever eaten roast chicken?”
Yun Li nodded vigorously and said with a smile, “Roast chicken is the best thing in the world!”
“You poor child.”
Ouyang Mengyao shook her head sympathetically. “One of these days, I’ll take you to eat other delicious things.”
“I want to eat roast chicken.”
Other things might be good, but she wanted roast chicken even more.
The longing for roast chicken in Yun Li’s little eyes was so strong that it tugged at Ouyang Mengyao’s heartstrings. She wanted nothing more than to have someone buy a roast chicken and bring it to her right that instant.
Cola was indeed a bit strange at first.
But after a few more sips, once she grew accustomed to the fizzy texture, Yun Li discovered cola was actually very tasty.
Cold, sweet, and leaving her wanting another drink afterward.
No wonder Ouyang called it the happy, chubby homebody’s water.
The news of a new transfer student in their class spread quickly across the entire grade.
As soon as class ended, boys started coming over, hoping to strike up a conversation with Yun Li.
Yun Li didn’t mind making new friends. She greeted everyone very politely, and they even asked for her contact information.
Yun Li watched as they all took out their phones to add her on WeChat. “I don’t have a phone.”
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Someone whispered, “In this day and age, there are still people without phones?”
Yun Li had excellent hearing. She explained, “My phone broke.”
It was precisely because her phone broke that she couldn’t get in touch with her brothers.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here going to school with humans.
Yun Li looked so incredibly innocent and well-behaved that she didn’t turn anyone away.
But Ouyang Mengyao couldn’t stand it anymore. She slammed the table and glared at the boys. “Alright, alright. You people act like you’ve never seen a pretty girl before. Stop trying to hit on my Yun Li!”
Normally, these guys couldn’t stop fawning over Cheng Lulu. Now that they saw Yun Li was good-looking, they wanted to chase after her too—dream on.
One boy protested, “We’re not looking at you. Why do you care so much?”
Ouyang Mengyao let out a cold laugh. “From now on, Yun Li is my best friend. If any of you dare look at her again, believe me, I’ll beat you up.”
Everyone fell silent. Ouyang Mengyao had trained in martial arts since she was little and was notoriously good at fighting.
After warning the boys, Ouyang Mengyao turned back and gently, quietly reminded Yun Li, “Yun Li, if they ask for your contact info, don’t give it to them, okay?”
Yun Li had just arrived and didn’t know what these guys were really like, but Ouyang Mengyao knew all too well.
Yun Li nodded, half-understanding. “Okay.”
It wasn’t just the boys in their own class. When students from other classes heard there was a new little beauty, they came running during break. The bold ones leaned against the windows to stare at Yun Li and even whistled at her.
They asked if she had time to go out and play that night.
Yun Li didn’t even get a chance to speak before Ouyang Mengyao chased all the boys away.
Zhang Zihan watched and laughed. “Anyone would think Yun Li was your own little sister, the way you protect her.”
Ouyang Mengyao just felt those boys had bad intentions toward Yun Li. Such a sweet, well-behaved girl shouldn’t be corrupted by them.
After school, Yun Li reluctantly said goodbye to Ouyang Mengyao.
She swung her backpack, hopping and skipping over to the car, and greeted Yang Qing happily.
Under the setting sun, the little girl’s smile was extraordinarily radiant. Yang Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed she was getting along well with her classmates.
He casually asked a question, and Yun Li immediately opened up like a faucet, chattering about everything that had happened at school.
That evening, Fu Qingheng had work and came home very late.
Yun Li wanted to wait for her poop scooper to come back so they could eat roast chicken together. But she waited and waited, and still, he didn’t return. The roast chicken had already gone cold.
Yang Qing couldn’t bear to watch any longer. “Ah Li, you should eat first. The young master won’t be back until very late.”
“But I want to wait for Brother Fu to eat together.”
She also had so much she wanted to tell him.
Fortunately, after waiting another ten or so minutes, Yun Li finally saw Fu Qingheng come home.
The moment she heard the sound, Yun Li dropped her chopsticks and ran out excitedly.
“Brother Fu, you’re back!”
The moment Fu Qingheng pushed open the car door, he heard Yun Li’s crisp, cheerful welcome.
In the blink of an eye, Yun Li came running over, her bright, smiling face filling his vision.
**