My Demon Friends-Chapter 709 - 670: What could be more leisurely than watching the rain?

「Mid-August.」

In a small mountain village, Zhou Li sat under the eaves on a small stool. He fanned himself with a little palm-leaf fan in one hand and gnawed on a chilled pear with the other.

The sun had made a brief appearance today before being quickly hidden by clouds. Now, the sky was a uniform white, with only a few patches of blue visible in the west. Eagles circled overhead. The occasional breeze did little to alleviate the discomfort of the sultry weather.

Brother Nan had tasked Zhou Li with observing the weather. One might think Brother Nan would just assign the task and be done with it, but no, he had to add that Zhou Li was good for nothing else, suited only for this kind of thing.

Really...

Zhou Li bit fiercely into the pear.

CRUNCH!

He fanned himself a few times, then took another bite. The juicy, cool pear was refreshing and thirst-quenching, making waiting for the thunderstorm quite pleasant.

A slight noise came from behind him. He turned his head.

A half-grown cat approached, a long foxtail grass dangling from her mouth, its tuft wobbling with her steps.

"MEOW!"

"Hmm? Isn't Lord Dumpling taking her afternoon nap upstairs?"

"Nope." Tuanzi placed the foxtail grass by Zhou Li's foot. "Brother Lan and the others are asleep. Lord Dumpling brought this little grass down to play with you."

"How are we going to play with it?"

"You hold this." Tuanzi lowered her head, gently nudged the grass stem with her little paw, then looked up at Zhou Li, her eyes sparkling. "Hold it, Ni, and then wave it, wave it! Lord Dumpling will play with you here. It's just like using that other thing, only we don't have that other thing here."

"A cat teaser stick."

"That's right! A cat teaser stick!"

Oh... Zhou Li picked up the foxtail grass. "Thank you, Lord Dumpling, for bringing grass to play with me."

"You're welcome!"

"Alright, I'll start then."

Zhou Li began to wave the grass from side to side.

Tuanzi started to pounce at the grass tuft, hopping left and right. Sometimes she would stand on her hind legs, pawing at it earnestly, her movements adorably clumsy.

Zhou Li waved the grass with great concentration. Every time Tuanzi was about to catch it, he would quickly swing it to the other side, making her miss. He then watched as she pawed at the air, her head lowered in confusion as she searched for the elusive tuft. Sometimes, he would even tell her where it went.

This continued until Tuanzi turned her head and solemnly scolded him, "Zhou Ni! That's not how you do it! This isn't fun at all!"

Zhou Li lowered the grass tuft and asked sincerely, "Then how should I do it to make it fun?"

"Wave it a little slower."

"But then you'll catch it, won't you?"

"And that'll be fun!"

I see...

Zhou Li nodded, indicating he understood.

Starting over, he waved the grass a little slower. Learning from her feedback, he adjusted the difficulty so Tuanzi could catch it, but not too easily.

Sure enough, Tuanzi was overjoyed each time she caught it, brimming with a sense of accomplishment. It made him happy too.

Until the sound of a window creaking open came from above—

CREAK...

"Zhou Li! There's a huge dark cloud in the sky! Are you blind or something?"

Zhou Li quickly stood up, stepped out from under the eaves, and looked up. He saw Brother Nan leaning halfway out of a window. In the adjacent window, a petite loli sat on the sill, looking down at him with unconcealed schadenfreude, her jade-like legs swinging back and forth.

Overhead, a massive dark cloud loomed, black as ink.

BOOM!

Thunder rumbled.

Zhou Li's expression remained unchanged; he was calm and collected. "I was just about to come up and call you all."

"Idiot!"

Zhou Li was speechless. How can he talk to people like that?

"Cut the crap!" Brother Nan frowned. "Hurry up and come get the corn!"

"But..." Zhou Li hesitated, the foxtail grass still in his hand. "I'm playing with Lord Dumpling."

"Play my ass! Hurry up!"

"Coming!"

Such beautiful language is always so persuasive.

Zhou Li didn't dare delay any longer. He quickly tossed the foxtail grass aside, apologized to Lord Dumpling, who was gazing at him eagerly, and then ran upstairs.

With Brother Nan, a strong worker, plus the Old Monster and Qinghe helping, it was just a matter of bringing in the corn before a shower. Zhou Li really didn't understand the rush, but he didn't dare to ask or say anything. As soon as he reached the rooftop, he eagerly grabbed a bamboo broom and began sweeping the corn.

「Three minutes later.」

All the corn kernels on the rooftop had been swept to the side, piled high against the wall, covered with a tarp, and weighted down with bricks. They would stay dry even if it rained, meaning they had successfully brought in the corn before the downpour.

The rain hadn't actually started falling yet.

See? Zhou Li thought. I knew there was no need to rush...

Glancing at Brother Nan, who stood at the edge, hands on his hips, wiping away sweat, Zhou Li thought, It's all his fault for interrupting my game with Lord Dumpling. An unforgivable sin!

Zhou Li quickly picked up a palm-leaf fan and trotted over to Brother Nan. "You've worked hard, Brother Nan."

"You're a sensible kid."

"It's what I should do, what I should do."

Zhou Li glanced up. Brother Nan's normally stubborn cowlick had drooped, probably because the roots were damp with sweat.

"It's so stuffy and hot," Brother Nan said, looking up at the sky. "Let's go down. It looks like it's about to rain. It might cool down a bit after it starts."

"Alright."

Zhou Li was an honest and loyal little subordinate.

「Back downstairs.」

Lord Dumpling was still squatting under the eaves by the doorway, guarding the foxtail grass on the ground. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned her head, then looked up at Zhou Li, her voice crisp.

"Zhou Ni, you're blind!"

Zhou Li walked closer in silence and crouched down. Only then did he lower his voice. "No, I'm not... Brother Nan is the one who talks nonsense. You can't believe anything he says, understand?"

"Id...iot..."

Tuanzi hadn't quite mastered that phrase yet.

Zhou Li was even more speechless. People like Brother Nan... are truly a terrible influence.

Sighing inwardly, Zhou Li patiently explained, "You shouldn't say things like that. It's a swear word, an insult. It sounds very ugly. Only vulgar people say it often. Lord Dumpling is an adorable little lady of high status. You mustn't learn such words from Brother Nan, understand?"

Tuanzi tilted her head, staring at him. "Meow?"

Phew...

Zhou Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been genuinely afraid Tuanzi might blurt out "Play my ass!" next.

Miss Zheng silently brought them some watermelon. It was freshly cut and placed on a small stool, a refreshing reward for their efforts.

Zhou Li picked up a slice and started eating.

The heat quickly subsided.

This watermelon was grown by Miss Zheng herself. They were perfectly round, almost spherical, not oval, and generally about the size of a volleyball, the largest ones no bigger than a basketball.

Miss Zheng didn't know anything about grafting, so these were all grown from native seedlings. Watermelons sold in the market were mostly grafted varieties. Because of this, her native watermelons actually tasted better and had higher sugar content than those from the market. Grafted watermelons needed meticulous care and had to be fully mature to even come close to the taste of native ones. The downside was that the same patch of soil couldn't be used to grow watermelons for two consecutive years; it needed to rest for three years after each planting. This consumed a lot of land for a relatively low yield, and the plants had lower disease resistance. However, Miss Zheng owned several mountains and also benefited from the positive influence of the Evil God, so these weren't concerns for her.

"Would Lord Dumpling like some?"

"Eat what, meow?"

"Watermelon."

"It's all watery; it disappears as you chew..." Tuanzi complained.

"It's super tasty! Evil God brand Qilin Melon. It's even better than the watermelons sold outside."

"Then Lord Dumpling will have a taste..." Tuanzi conceded.

So Zhou Li broke off a small piece and fed it to her.

The thunder rumbled again, accompanied by the roar of the Evil God. A tremendous sound erupted from the mountain summit as it beat its wings, charging towards the low-hanging thunderclouds. Its figure flickered in and out of sight amidst the lightning and dark storm clouds.

PLOP...

The first raindrop fell, as big as a marble. It left a clear mark on the dry, pale ground of the yard.

Countless raindrops quickly followed.

PATTERING...

Countless wet spots quickly dotted the ground, rapidly becoming denser. In the blink of an eye, the ground was thoroughly soaked. Another moment, and puddles began to form.

The chickens and ducks had returned to their coops.

Two dogs ran back under the eaves and sat beside Zhou Li to take shelter from the rain, gazing out at the endless curtain of rain, seemingly lost in thought.

Just then, Brother Nan also brought over a small stool. He let out an "Aiya!"—though what he was sighing about was unclear—and sat down beside Zhou Li and Lord Dumpling, leisurely eating watermelon and watching the rain.

The line of figures sitting under the eaves gradually grew.

The petite loli joined them.

Miss Zheng, too.

Qinghe leaned against the doorframe.

They were all holding watermelon slices and watching the rain, as if it were the most fascinating sight.

Occasionally, a gust of wind would sweep in, spraying rain under the eaves and onto them. It was cool and refreshing. When this happened, Brother Nan would let out a "WOO!" but wouldn't try to avoid it, his face alight with excitement.

A late-arriving storm, wind and rain together, had washed away the heat.

For Zhou Li, the most vivid memory of this summer was fixed in this very moment.