zero o'clock

【Fanwai · It's another year of winter⑥】

After leaving the tea room, Li Huan stood in the snowy yard with Ali, who weighed forty to fifty kilograms, with his arms hurting from the pressure. When the cold wind blew, his whole body was frozen, but he could still feel the open door behind him. The breath emanating from the door is much more gloomy than this snowy day.

I don't know if I can live well this year?

"What's the situation?" Ari tilted his head to look at him with a face of confusion, "Who is that little boy in the room?"

Li Huan was afraid that the thousand-year-old monsters in the house would hear him, so he took Ari through quickly, went back to the side room and closed the door, and then said lightly: "It's the boyfriend brought back by the senior brother, I guess he wanted to give it to the teacher. Take a look, taking advantage of the Chinese New Year when the old man is in a good mood, he decided on this matter."

"Oh." Ari replied foolishly.

Two seconds later, this rough-natured fox wakes up from the boredom.

"What the hell are you talking about?!!!" Ah Li frowned instantly, and said frantically, "Is the young master crazy? He dared to bring monsters back casually!"

Li Huan rubbed his ears that were hurt by the shock, looked outside again worriedly, then looked at Hu Ling, and warned in a low voice: "Be quiet, didn't you see that the teacher's face was not good just now?"

As soon as Ah Li heard it, her ears shrunk into a bunny shape, and she leaned close to Li Huan's legs, and asked cautiously but very gossip, "What do you think of this?"

"I don't think the teacher should care about it," Li Huan said.

Ari was shocked: "Are you crazy too?!"

Li Huan rubbed his frozen red hands, went to the glass cabinet and found a bag of dried fish, then turned around and walked towards the back room without looking back, "You don't even think about how old senior brother is this year, as a normal A man with physical needs...cough, I mean a male monster, so it’s not too much to keep a cat monster at home, right?"

Ah Li said it too much!It's just too much, okay? !Laozi has lived for thousands of years and is still a virgin!Thinking about it this way, you guys who are in love, abuse dogs and raise goblins are simply outrageous!

While thinking, Ari followed Li Huan into the back room.

The inner room of this side room has been remodeled once, and a pool was dug deep inside, filled with seawater, with a constant temperature all year round, 24-hour continuous filtration, and fresh seawater is replaced every month.

Li Huan went to the edge of the pool and squatted down on one knee, and put one hand into the water to stir it gently. After a while, a black shadow appeared at the bottom of the deep water, swaying towards the edge of the pool.

Ari squatted beside Li Huan, wagging his tail sadly, and said, "Have you had contact with that little demon?"

Li Huan let out a "hmm", followed the black shadow in the water with his eyes, and said: "After chatting for a few words, my personality is not bad, but I'm a little afraid of me."

"Of course," Ari said, "young master, you are now Qingluan Huofeng. That little demon didn't scare you, which means that the young master did not do less ideological work before he came."

Li Huan was quiet for a few seconds after hearing the words, and then said: "I feel that the teacher has become more enlightened in the past two years. This incident is a bit sudden. He is most angry that Senior Brother Sheng brought him here without saying anything in advance. Now sit Come down and have a good talk, it should still make sense."

Ah Li nodded: "That's right, he even accepted the Demon Subduing Master, so Meow is still a demon anyway."

Li Huan glanced at him, and said coolly, "Brother Yi is in the kitchen, I don't mind if he stews you."

Ali: "..."

Well... Ever since this guy has a boyfriend, he really can't make any jokes~ Ahri felt a little depressed when he thought of this, and then somehow thought of the Samoyed who was locked up somewhere.

Ali: "..."

Ari was immediately taken aback by his subconscious association!

Is it really necessary to accept a male Satsuma cat?This grade is too low!At any rate, cultivate the human form! ! !

The more Ari thought about it, the more depressed he became, and the whole fox was very depressed.Seeing it like that, Li Huan thought he was speaking too seriously, so he stroked the furry head of the other party flatteringly.I haven't had time to speak comfortingly.

At this moment, there was a sound of "crash" and the silvery white fish tail flashed away on the water.Immediately afterwards, a head was exposed not far from the edge of the pool. After seeing who was coming, the guard on the little shark's face was swept away, and the dark eyes were bent with a smile. over here.

Li Huan tore open the package and took a piece of dried fish, rinsed off the seasoning in the pre-prepared water cup, and handed it to Du Qiu.Du Qiu held Li Huan's wrist with a pair of small webbed hands, opened his mouth to squeeze the dried fish and gently tore off a piece.

It has been more than half a year since this little guy was brought back. He was very shy at first, but after getting to know him gradually, he gradually got closer to Li Huan and Ari who often come into contact with him. However, his behavior is so demonized that he still can't speak.

When Li Huan saw Du Qiu like this, he was often in a bad mood. Ari knew that he was not feeling well, so he didn't talk, and the two of them just fed one by one and kept the other company until the bag of dried fish bottomed out.

Du Qiu came up to the surface of the water to eat out of instinct, and waited by the pool for a while after eating. Seeing that there was indeed nothing left, he dived back to the bottom of the pool and did not come out again.

Seeing that it was almost time, Ari poked Li Huan lightly with his paw, and whispered: "Okay, young master, the lanterns and paper-cuts in the tea house haven't been hung yet, let's go out and decorate them?"

Hearing this, Li Huan suddenly came back to his senses, and nodded absently after a while.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, the sky in Beijing was already so dark that you couldn't see your fingers, but there were hundreds of red lanterns, big and small, floating in the tea house on the other side.

When the flying snowflakes shuttled through the dark red and magnificent light and shadow, the fireworks exploded, and the hustle and bustle descended, Li Huan turned his head to look at the warmly lit tea house—the four seasons change in this world, and the time flies by, and the demons are exiled in time. The loneliest traveler in the world can recall this short life, and can't help feeling how lucky he is.

Ari hopped around, wagging his tail, and hung the last two lanterns under the eaves of the main entrance of the teahouse with a magic trick.

At the end of the alley, footsteps sounded.

Ji Qingci held a black umbrella, with a raven resting on his shoulders, came through the snow, and called from a distance: "Brother Huan."

Li Huan turned his head when he heard the sound, his face was filled with joy, he ran over to hug Ji Qingci, and said with a smile: "Senior sister, you are back!"

Ji Qingci turned the umbrella towards Li Huan, brushed off the snow falling on his shoulders and hair, and finally couldn't help but scolded: "You too, you don't know how to use an umbrella to hang a lantern, and if you catch a cold, the teacher will be in a hurry again." Already!"

"He can't take care of me right now, he's talking to his senior brother and their cat inside." Li Huan said as he entered the door with his shoulders on his senior sister.

The raven flapped its wings consciously and flew up to the courtyard wall opposite the alley, and quietly stopped under a shelter to avoid the snow.

Ari glanced at it, didn't say much, trotted behind his young master and lady, and also entered the courtyard.

It so happened that the door of the tea room opened at this time, Shen Chixiu and the cat demon went out, and the four met.

Li Huan quickly glanced at the faces of the two, and felt that they seemed to be quite normal, so he couldn't help asking: "What do you mean, teacher?"

"I asked about the situation, but didn't say anything in the end." Shen Chixiu said.

"You guys talked inside for more than three hours, but you didn't say anything in the end?!" Li Huan supported his forehead and sighed, "I really don't worry about wasting time if I live so long."

Ji Qingci smiled, poked him on the forehead, and pretended to be angry: "Did you say that about the teacher?" After speaking, he looked at Shen Chixiu, and his voice dropped instantly, "Brother, you too, I don't know that you were in front of the teacher in advance. Vaccinations are given there, and you are usually so steady, why didn’t you think of it when you were on the doorstep?”

Hearing this, Li Huan raised the corners of his mouth with a sly smile, and said meaningfully: "Brother, if you go to a nightclub or something next time, remember to take me with you."

Shen Chixiu: "..."

"What nightclub?" Ji Qingci suspiciously looked at the two in turn.

Li Huan said: "It's the place where I met kittens~"

Ji Qingci: "..."

"Brother," Ji Qingci frowned beautifully, with a slightly tangled expression, "You told me that you met at Starbucks, and that this place also provides evening entertainment?"

Shen Chixiu: "..."

"Cough--" The elder brother who felt that he had lost his image cleared his throat, tried to change the topic, and said, "Before we came out, the teacher asked about the New Year's Eve dinner, let us go to eat and help, so that Xing Yi will not be busy alone. .”

"Xing Yi is cooking?" Ji Qingci looked at Li Huan in surprise, "I can't tell, your guy is quite virtuous."

Li Huan's heart was filled with depression, thinking that labor and capital had already shown their affection in the circle of friends, okay?As a result, the monsters who took the opportunity to flatter the Nine Tails swiped the screen every time, it was just a pain in the ass!

"Do you want to go now?" Li Huan asked.

"You don't want to go," Shen Chixiu said, "Teacher and Mr. Yan peeled walnuts for you and asked you to eat them."

Li Huan nodded, thought for a while, and said to the cat demon: "Don't go too, go back with me to eat walnuts. After a while, remember to toast the teacher with two more glasses of wine. They are all fox monsters like this, with a knife mouth and a bean curd heart. I didn’t say anything just now, it’s actually acquiescing, but I’m just embarrassed to say it.”

The cat demon still hesitated, and looked at Shen Chixiu questioningly.Shen Chixiu patted him on the shoulder, meaning it's okay.

Then the four separated and went to where they should go.

Li Huan pushed open the door of the tea room to let the cat demon enter.

When Qi Jingyu heard the sound of the door opening, he thought it was the little apprentice who came in, but when he saw the person who came in first, he continued to drink tea indifferently.The little hamster spread out on his lap, and its round body flattened evenly, turning into a soft mouse cake.

Li Huan closed the door with his hand back, then took the demon cat and sat down on the sofa opposite the teacher, and called obediently: "Teacher."

Qi Jingyu put down the tea cup, and when he looked up again, there was a smile on his face. He pointed to the small enamel bowl on the coffee table, and said, "Mo Luo peeled some walnuts for you before you came, eat them quickly, so as not to get wet. gone."

Li Huan immediately opened his eyes wide when he heard the words, and looked at a maliciously cute monster spread out like a mouse cake in great surprise: "I didn't expect Mr. Yan to be very kind to me?"

"Don't dare to take it." Yan Mo said, "I accidentally ate a walnut that Jing Yu peeled for you when I came out, and he peeled a plate as a punishment."

Li Huan said "Oh": "Then I won't thank you." After finishing speaking, he leaned forward and took the small bowl containing walnuts, and put it in the cat demon's hand, and said, "Eat~"

Qi Jingyu: "..."

Yan Mo: "..."

Cat demon: "..."

The little cat was holding the hot bowl, and Nine Lives was half scared instantly.

Seeing that he was not moving, Li Huan had to personally pick up a walnut and bring it to his mouth, and said with a smile: "This is a walnut peeled by Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and Yan Moluo. You can only eat it in this tea house, and you will enter the door after eating this~"

This time, the other half of the kitten's life was also scared away.

Li Huan looked sideways at Qi Jingyu who was opposite, and said, "Teacher, he is a little afraid of you, and he may only dare to eat with your permission. What do you think?"

Qi Jingyu lowered his eyes and remained silent, his gaze lightly swept over the empty teacup on the coffee table.Seeing this, Li Huan quickly and calmly poked the cat demon with his elbow, reminding him in a low voice, "Pour tea."

The cat demon was stunned for a second before realizing what he was talking about. He hurriedly put down the bowl of walnuts, got up and took the teapot, and filled Qi Jingyu's cup with water respectfully.

Qi Jingyu didn't look at him either, but picked up the teacup and opened the floating leaves with the lid, then took a shallow sip of the hot tea, and said calmly, "Xiaohuan told you to eat it, so eat it quickly."

Not knowing what the other party meant, the cat demon sat back beside Li Huan tremblingly, took the walnuts and put them in his mouth.

"As for the matter between you and Chi Xiu—" Qi Jingyu said again, "My apprentices are all grown up, and Chi Xiu and Qingci can be regarded as going out to set up their own families. I don't want to care about this kind of thing. Look at it Just do it."

As soon as these words came out, Li Huan and the cat demon were relieved.

Li Huan bypassed the tea table and sat beside Qi Jingyu, and also squeezed a walnut for him to eat.Lord Jiuwei was upset that his apprentice didn't sit next to him after entering the door, and he was healed in an instant, so he simply picked up a small bowl and fed walnuts to Li Huan one by one.

After another ten minutes, the New Year's Eve dinner was served.

Li Huan waited on the teacher and took the main seat. Qi Jingyu took out the red envelopes prepared in advance and distributed them to the three apprentices and Xing Yi, and then wrapped a new one for Shen Chixiu to give to the cat demon.

After everyone received the red envelopes, they took their seats. Li Huan opened a bottle of Wuliangye and filled everyone's glasses one by one.

The sound of firecrackers outside the window was deafening, and amidst the din, someone knocked on the courtyard door for the third time.

Everyone present was startled, the tea room was full of people at this time, and the monsters would not choose to visit the tea house on New Year's Eve, so who would be the people outside the door?

Li Huan had a faint guess in his heart, but his rationality told him that that person shouldn't be so bold, so he put down the bottle and said simply: "You guys eat first, I'll open the door."

After speaking, he quickly walked out the door.

Xing Yi got up and looked at Qi Jingyu, and walked out without saying anything.

The dense sound of firecrackers sounded even more chaotic outside. Through a gate, Li Huan could clearly feel the emptiness outside, as if the previous knock on the door was an illusion born in the snowy night.

Standing behind him, Xing Yi put his hand on his left shoulder and said softly, "I'll open the door."

"But... there's no one outside."

Li Huan pressed his palm against the door panel, and Li Huan didn't know how to describe his mood at the moment.

Back then, Teacher and Chong Ye were both rare high-level monsters in the world, but they also searched hard for thousands of years to gather together the three souls of Qingluan.Now the two strands of Suzaku souls are missing, but Xing Yi doesn't have that long time to wait.

Li Huan didn't know what he was expecting, but he gently pushed in anticipation.

The door opened, and the firelight of Yin Hong in the courtyard escaped, quietly spreading on the snow in front of the porch.

There are no traces of walking within a few meters, but there is a package wrapped in a black tarpaulin at the door, and a vermilion bird feather is pinned to the top of the package. The tip of the feather pierces the tarpaulin, and a note The paper was stapled there.

Li Huan bent down to take off the note, only to see that it said——

【Junior brother, please tell Nine Tails that Yunhe has personally delivered the generous gift promised that day. 】The sticky note was heavy, Li Huan turned the paper over after reading the content, only to find that there was a toffee stuck on the back with tape.

Xing Yi squatted down near the package, ready to check whether it was safe.Perhaps disturbed, the living creatures inside chirped and made a sound of flapping wings.

"Is it a bird?" Xing Yi didn't know why, so he quickly removed the layer of rainproof cloth, revealing the protected golden nanmu birdcage and the pair of fiery red birds in the birdcage.

"It's a bird..."

Li Huan's voice trembled slightly, and he fixed his eyes on the pair of little things in the cage. For some reason, he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

——I really didn't expect that the guy who likes to coax him with toffee would risk himself to come to the door tonight, and use this last and most precious toffee to coax him once and for all.

It's really not a loss to call out the senior brother.

——End——