Chapter 78: Chapter 76: Nothing Can Stop Us
"Did you take it, did you take it?"
"Took it."
"Did you capture the seagulls?"
"Caught them."
"How is it, do they look good?"
"Pretty good."
"Let me see!"
"Here."
"..."
Brother Nan took the camera from Baozi’s hand and looked it over closely.
The photo featured a mirror-like lake and a sky full of seagulls. The lake surface reflected the quiet afternoon and two eye-catching young people. Zhou Li stood straight while she leaped up high, propping herself on Zhou Li’s shoulder with one hand to jump even higher, her smile particularly radiant.
"Beautiful!" Brother Nan said.
"The screen doesn’t do it justice; it’ll be completely different when loaded onto the computer," Baozi said, pursing her lips. "Wait till I work on it a bit; the result will be many times better."
"That amazing!?"
"It’s a pity it’s still too early now," Baozi’s expression was indifferent. "If it were a few hours later, around seven or eight o’clock, the sunset would paint the clouds red. Their reflection in the lake, along with the tree branches, would be truly beautiful."
"It’s a pity there’s a party tonight."
"Yeah."
Brother Nan and Baozi agreed to come back next time to shoot the sunset glow. Turning their heads, they saw Zhou Li had already sat down on a stone bollard, silently watching them.
Brother Nan snorted with laughter and then held it back. "Alright, alright, we won’t take any more photos, we won’t!"
"Shall we go?" Zhou Li stood up and asked.
"Yes! Let’s go to the supermarket!"
"Oh..."
So, the three of them set off for Wanda again. At Brother Nan’s suggestion, they each scanned a shared bike, and with Baozi leading the way, they leisurely pedaled along Cui Lake.
The Chunming sunlight was scorching, but fortunately, it was cool under the trees.
Upon reaching their destination, they each grabbed an ice cream first; then Brother Nan led the two to roam the supermarket.
She grandly waved her hand and declared, "Buy whatever you want, I’m paying, so don’t be shy!"
She received no response, but Brother Nan didn’t mind.
She really enjoyed wandering around supermarkets, particularly the snack and beverage aisles, though she seldom bought anything. She also loved the grocery section, where she had to squat down to check out the hotpot bases and chili bean paste, pick up the fermented black bean fish and luncheon meat cans, and examine the instant noodles and sesame oil, none of which she would buy.
If there were free samples, she would definitely try them.
She loved looking at the fish, the shrimp, and all the live things.
Zhou Li had purposefully pushed a small cart along, but by the time they checked out, there were only a few bottles of drinks and one Orleans grilled chicken leg in the cart.
It’s worth mentioning that all the drinks were Brother Nan’s.
Brother Nan isn’t here to shop in the supermarket, but to visit an exhibition, he thought.
They roamed around for an hour and spent just over twenty yuan.
Thinking of it that way, Brother Nan’s upkeep is quite low, isn’t it?
Zhou Li once again quietly curled his lips into a smile.
But his smile was soon interrupted by Brother Nan’s voice, "What are you laughing at back there, Zhou Li?"
"Nothing."
"You must be thinking of something sneaky!" Brother Nan was certain.
"Not at all."
"Then why are you smiling secretly?"
"I remembered something happy."
"TCH!"
Brother Nan clearly didn’t believe him. She cocked her head and scanned behind her, trying to find out if there was anything funny, but she found nothing, which only deepened her suspicion.
If she couldn’t figure it out, she decided to forget about it.
Brother Nan took the shopping bags from Zhou Li’s hand. After a few steps, she suddenly turned her head and stared intently in one direction.
"Zhou Li."
"What’s up?"
"There are two claw machines over there."
"?"
"Let’s go and give it a try."
"..."
Zhou Li was quite surprised.
The two claw machines contained different styles of plush toys. Brother Nan looked back and forth, bit her lower lip in thought, and chose the one featuring cats, dogs, and other pets over the animated plushies.
It was quite convenient, as she could simply scan to pay.
Brother Nan placed the shopping bags on the ground and, while talking with Baozi, took out her phone to scan. Then she began to operate the machine.
Zhou Li watched from behind. He heard her say there was a problem with the claw machine, that it rarely grasped anything, probably deliberately rigged by the owner. When Brother Nan scanned multiple times, Zhou Li began to worry she might smash the claw machine.
Fortunately, her mood seemed good that day.
Zhou Li just silently watched. He had almost never shopped with a girl before, but he suddenly found this scenario rather comfortable.
It seemed that even if Brother Nan usually appeared so imposing, there was a soft side to her heart.
After all, no matter how much of a man she seemed on the outside, her essence was still that of a girl, he reasoned.
Thinking this, Zhou Li smiled again.
Brother Nan might have spent ten times the value of the plush toy itself, but she finally snagged a cute, endearingly silly kitten.
Zhou Li truly felt happy for her. Really.
But when Brother Nan turned around to hand the toy to him, for some reason, the mood seemed to have changed.
"Here."
"Why aren’t you taking it?"
"Give it to your Tuanzi to play with."
"Consider it as a reward for your company this afternoon. Look at you, the words ’not happy’ are written all over your face."
"Take it, will you? Or should I carry it back for you?"
"Take it!"
By the time Zhou Li realized it, he was holding the plush toy.
He silently looked down at it for a moment—
Well, it’s pretty good-looking!
「The gathering was at 7:30 PM.」
The one showing up was Zhou Li himself. He was worried that the evening’s intense atmosphere would be too much for Huai Xu, a Demon who had been lonely for who knows how many years, and that Huai Xu might tear the heavens apart.
There were so many people on the scene. All the freshmen who had been training at other athletic fields and various open spaces on campus converged here, filling the soccer field to the brim.
Fifth Camp Fourth Company was stationed near the main gate, where the instructor had them sit. Some time was then spent adjusting their positions and directions as other companies were gradually brought over. Zhou Li looked around. He guessed that with so many companies, they obviously couldn’t all participate together and would probably have to divide into several groups. However, at least four or five companies would need to join forces; otherwise, the evening celebration would lack impact.
Glancing up, the twilight sky was stunningly beautiful. Although it wasn’t very dark yet, the moon was already visible. Snippets of noise floated over the soccer field.
Zhou Li heard people in the company continuously discussing who to mingle with at the party. When the instructor walked over, someone shouted—
"Instructor, we want to play with the girls from the Economics School!"
"Wishful thinking!"
"How about the Foreign Languages School?"
"I see you have quite the imagination!" The instructor laughed. "The celebration tonight is seated by camp, to let students from the same department bond well ahead of time."
"Oh..."
Sighs of disappointment. Everyone from the same camp was essentially from the same department.
The guys had been choosy, and now they were full of complaints.
"Instructor, please don’t!"
"Can’t we figure something out?"
"We want the girls from the Economics and Foreign Languages School!"
"We’ve played with them for so long and have developed deep feelings, close as family, and Mid-Autumn is about reunion!"
"Shut your mouths!"
The instructor scolded them angrily, "Look at you, without a shred of ambition!"
After thinking a moment, he added, "Then let your class leader handle it! Isn’t your class leader incredibly resourceful? Ask him to go, and he can say it’s my idea to invite them over to play. Let them switch with the company from your department. Whether you can pull it off or not, that’s on your own ability now!"
Zhou Li: ...
He felt the whole company looking at him.
Standing up, he dusted off his pants and left.
He found two female class leaders, and the negotiations went smoothly. Their instructor, hearing it was their own instructor’s idea, raised no objections.
When Zhou Li returned, the whole company cheered. The sound made Zhou Li blush; he felt like the leader of a tribe of howling gorillas.
The sky grew darker, making it hard to see the faces of those opposite.
A group of student volunteers came over with boxes, distributing mooncakes, snacks, and canned cola to everyone.
The instructor then took charge, getting everyone to sing. First, they sang in unison to warm up, performing several military songs learned during training. Everyone joined in, competing to see who could sing the loudest.
Song erupted instantly across the soccer field.
After four songs, each company took turns performing. Now, they switched to pop songs. Failing to sing was a minor issue; causing embarrassment was the real problem. Fortunately, having spent over ten days together, the companies were familiar with each other and had become thick-skinned, daring to belt out all sorts of haphazard songs.
Fifth Camp Fourth Company had the least artistic sense, often making several Female Instructors lower their heads to stifle laughter.
Eventually, it turned into a chorus of chaos. Alternating lines, it was like a mountain song antiphony. Although Zhou Li himself remained silent, he found it rather fun.
At some point, the company’s formation had dissolved into disarray, with some even lying down or swapping places. The instructor no longer cared.
The moon hung high in the sky, casting its clear light.
By this time, individuals had started performing their talents up front. Each company took turns sending someone up to compete; whether it was awkward dancing or awkward singing, someone had to go up on stage.
Zhou Li wasn’t worried. Although Fifth Camp Fourth Company was full of rough guys, they were quite bold, especially in front of the familiar girls’ companies. They dared to try anything, so it wouldn’t be his turn.
When someone called for the class leader to go on stage, he simply pretended not to hear.
The moon was truly beautiful. You could even see its craters so clearly.
Suddenly, a figure walked up beside him. He was seated at the end of the last row on the left, and the person sat down next to him, tilting a can for a drink.
Zhou Li took a closer look; she was drinking beer.
"Do you want some?"
"No, where did you get that?"
"I brought it myself, got a few cans. I can give you one if you want," Brother Nan said casually.
"Oh."
Zhou Li thought of her magical shoulder bag and understood. "What are you doing over here?"
"Came to hang out with you."
"Isn’t it fun over there?"
"Is it fun here? Look how bored you are."
"It’s alright."
"The moonlight tonight is so fine."
"True."
"Chunming has such nice weather," Brother Nan stretched lazily. "When I was a kid, the moon on the fifteenth was always like this, so large and round, covering the whole village with its light, and the surrounding mountains also showed their outlines. Sadly, after growing up, I’ve never seen it again."
"I also grew up in the countryside."
Zhou Li felt that Mid-Autumn was truly a wonderful festival, where everyone gathered not to offer sacrifices or celebrate the harvest, nor to commemorate anyone, but mostly because the moonlight was simply beautiful tonight.
Brother Nan must have felt the same, especially with mooncakes to eat.
Oh, that’s right—
Zhou Li quickly fished out the mooncake from his bag. "I ate one, don’t want more."
Brother Nan took it with surprise. As she tore open the packaging, she craned her neck towards the distance, saying, "What are they doing over there? It looks lively!"
Zhou Li also straightened up, stretching his neck to see. Indeed, it was bustling in one direction.
Was a girl performing gymnastics? Tumbling through the air, spinning and turning, eliciting a round of gasps.
After Brother Nan finished the mooncake, she noticed that the gasps from that direction grew louder. She couldn’t help but stand up, realizing it was the same direction, where someone was performing magic.
After a while, song rose from there as well. It was a string of ancient, melodious ballads. The voice wasn’t very loud, but it was extremely pleasant to the ear, causing everyone who heard it to involuntarily quiet down.
Brother Nan blinked, looking down at Zhou Li beside her. "Did you hear that? It’s really beautiful!"
Zhou Li looked up and met her gaze, humming in agreement.
Unconsciously, his gaze drifted higher, and the moon just happened to stop over the tuft of Brother Nan’s hair.
Thanks to his good hearing, he heard many people nearby asking—
"Which company is that miss from?"
"Seems like she came from behind our company."
"That can’t be right?"
"I don’t think so either..."
"After all, we are a male company."
"..."