"Zhou Li! Look!"

Zhou Li had just woken from his afternoon nap and washed his face when he heard Tuanzi's voice. He turned his head and saw Tuanzi perched on the desk, her little paw frozen mid-swipe at his water cup, which now teetered precariously on the very edge.

"Don't, Lord Dumpling!" Zhou Li panicked.

"MEOW?" Tuanzi tilted her head to look at him.

"I've had that water cup since I was a kid!" Zhou Li exclaimed. "Don't break it."

"Are you scared?"

"I'm scared!"

"HEEHEE! Lord Dumpling is just teasing you!" Tuanzi giggled, then nudged the water cup back with her paw.

"You scared me to death," Zhou Li said, playing along.

"No need to be afraid! Other cats might do that, but Lord Dumpling is definitely not a cat!" Tuanzi earnestly admonished him. "Lord Dumpling is just a considerate little cutie."

"..." Zhou Li picked her up. "Lord Dumpling, you're too narcissistic. No one calls themselves a cutie."

"Why MEOW?"

"Just because."

At this moment, Zhou Li's phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Zhou Qianqian: All class psychological committee members, please come to the Academic Affairs Office before six o'clock this evening.

Zhou Li was somewhat puzzled. He hesitated for a moment before starting to type, but before he could finish, he noticed that someone had already asked the question he wanted to ask—

Li Daimao: Is there work?

Zhou Qianqian: Yes.

Li Daimao: Huh, isn't the psychological committee supposed to be an easy job?

Zhou Qianqian: The school has been placing more importance on this area in the last two years, and with the impact of the pandemic, a report is needed.

Li Daimao: Is it troublesome?

Zhou Qianqian: The workload isn't light.

Li Daimao: My two cousins are going to blame me. I told them last year that being on the psychological committee meant doing nothing, and that's why they volunteered.

Zhou Qianqian: You could consider helping out.

Li Daimao: I'm busy with my stall...

Zhou Qianqian: !! I just realized this is the Class Three group! How did you, the Class Four president, end up in the Class Three group chat?

Zhou Li saw more and more people replying in the group, mostly about him and Brother Nan. He felt it was inconvenient to chime in, so he exited the group chat and found Little Cousin's QQ—

Zhou Li: Where are you now?

Zhou Li: Zhou Qianqian is calling us to the office.

Zhou Li: Before six o'clock.

Baozi: ?

Zhou Li: The psychological committee has work to do.

Baozi: ??

Baozi: Oh, I forgot I was on the psychological committee.

Zhou Li: ...

Baozi: I'm at Mingyuan Building taking photos right now. I'll try to finish before five. Cousin, wait for me.

Zhou Li: I'll go ahead then.

Baozi: Cousin, wait for me.

Baozi: I'm too embarrassed to go alone.

Zhou Li exited QQ. After a moment's thought, he said, "Xiao Ai, set an alarm for four o'clock."

"Alright, I've set an alarm for you for four o'clock in the afternoon."

"MEOW?"

Tuanzi's eyes suddenly lit up.

She scampered over to Zhou Li on her short legs, pawing at the hand holding the phone. She leaned in to get a better look at the phone, then turned her head to stare curiously at Zhou Li. "Zhou Li, why does it want to talk to you?"

"It's supposed to talk to me."

"Say it again!"

"Xiao Ai."

"I'm here."

"Can you talk to me?"

"Sure. What would you like to talk about?"

"MEOW??"

Tuanzi's eyes were wide as saucers. She looked back and forth between the phone and Zhou Li, an incredulous expression on her face. Seeing this, the corners of Zhou Li's mouth couldn't help but curl into a smile.

"Is its name Xiao Ai Tongxiu?" Tuanzi asked quickly.

"Xiao Ai Tongxue," Zhou Li corrected.

"Xiao Ai Tongxiu!" Tuanzi shouted at the phone, then promptly sat down, her gaze fixed on it, her tail swishing left and right. She waited in anticipation...

But she was doomed to receive no reply.

After a long while, she blinked. Unwilling to give up, she called out again, her expression gradually turning a bit dejected.

"Why is it ignoring me?"

"It doesn't understand what you're saying."

"Will Lord Dumpling's phone talk too?"

"It will."

"Can it understand Lord Dumpling?"

"It can't."

"HMM..." Tuanzi lowered her head and fell silent.

Seeing this, Zhou Li thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's just too dumb. Try calling it again."

"Really MEOW?"

"Try it."

"Xiao Ai Tongxiu?"

Zhou Li silently pressed and held the lock screen button.

Tuanzi's eyes widened. "It BEEPED!"

The phone recognized Tuanzi's voice, and the words 'MEOW MEOW MEOW' appeared on the screen, followed by—

"Caught a little cat!"

"!! It's talking to Lord Dumpling!"

"Caught a little cat!"

"You didn't catch Lord Dumpling, you know!"

"Caught a little cat!"

"You didn't…"

"Caught a little cat!"

"Haha, it really is so dumb! It only knows one sentence!" Tuanzi turned her head and looked at Zhou Li happily.

"Indeed."

"Then will it play with Lord Dumpling?"

"It's too dumb."

"Oh..." Tuanzi hopped into Zhou Li's lap, just staring at the phone, not saying anything.

「At four o'clock, the alarm went off.」

Zhou Li reopened QQ, found Little Cousin, scrolled up through their messages, then copied and pasted his earlier unsent message.

Zhou Li: Sorry, I was on my phone and forgot to reply. *(bows)*

Baozi: …

Zhou Li: I'm heading out now.

Baozi: Wait for me.

Zhou Li: ?

Baozi: Cousin *(bows)*

Zhou Li: Hurry up.

Baozi: Okay.

Around 4:50 PM, Zhou Li and Little Cousin met at the dormitory entrance.

Zhou Li discreetly observed Baozi.

She wore a baseball cap that made her round, bun-like face particularly conspicuous. She seemed to have just come back from outside, as her cheeks were still a little flushed. She had on a pair of slightly faded denim overalls, a cartoon T-shirt, and what looked like very cheap canvas shoes—the typical attire of a middle school student. Yet, when Zhou Li mentally Photoshopped a camera and photography gear onto her, the image somehow became surprisingly harmonious.

"You must have gotten quite a bit of sun, huh?"

"It's alright, just a bit hot."

"...Aren't you afraid of getting a tan?"

"Brother Nan put sunscreen on me."

"...He's really good to you."

"Cousin," Baozi suddenly tugged Zhou Li's sleeve and pointed to the nearby supermarket. "Look, do they sell ice cream there?"

"..."

Zhou Li fell silent.

He seriously suspected that the reason Baozi had asked him to wait was just for that ice cream bar.

Baozi continued to plead, "Let's buy an ice cream bar."

「Five minutes later.」

The two cousins, each holding an ice cream bar, ambled towards the Academic Affairs Office. Little Cousin savored her ice cream, unhurried, showing no sign of the 'embarrassed to go alone' she had claimed.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!"

"Come in."

Zhou Li and Baozi walked in.

Several teachers from the Academic Affairs Office were present. Zhou Li quickly spotted Zhou Qianqian, with Baozi trailing behind him.

"Handsome Zhou is here! Come on, let me feel those pecs!" Zhou Qianqian greeted him with a wide smile.

"..."

Zhou Li had assumed that with so many teachers present, Zhou Qianqian would be more restrained. However, a glance from the corner of his eye revealed that not only did the other teachers seem unfazed, but one female teacher was even looking at him, seemingly eager to try something herself? Terrifying...

"During the pandemic, let's maintain some distance."

"HEHEHE..." Zhou Qianqian chuckled, took a stack of documents from her desk, and handed it to them. "These are interview report forms. Your task is to talk to each of your classmates individually. Find out what they've been doing at home during this period, what their thoughts are, how they got along with classmates last semester, if they're satisfied with university life, any difficulties they're facing, and if their perspectives have changed after half a year of university. Then, you'll write it all down."

"Let me see."

Zhou Li took the stack of papers. It looked like a bundle of exam answer sheets, with various questions similar to a survey, but it seemed to require a lot of writing.

"Why not hand them out for everyone to fill in themselves?"

"It's the school's directive," Zhou Qianqian explained. "If they fill it out themselves, they'll just write whatever. You two have to do the writing. Furthermore, you need to maintain strict confidentiality regarding the interview content to earn everyone's trust. The school is taking this very seriously."

"This is a huge amount of work!"

"There's no rush. Just submit it before the end of the semester. Interviewing one or two students a day should be enough," Zhou Qianqian said.

"Understood."

On the way back, Zhou Li was sure of one thing: Baozi hadn't just been after his ice cream bar.

There was also milk tea.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.