Chapter 10

Ruan Qing’s job doesn’t require her to go to the office every day, but today she had a meeting, so she had to head in. Technically, there was no need to get up so early since the meeting wasn’t until 9:30 a.m., and she had plenty of time. But she still woke up early. When there’s something on your mind, it’s hard to sleep, and you tend to wake up early.

And right now, Ruan Qing’s issue was—there was a man from a thousand years ago living in her house! How could she sleep soundly with that?

As soon as she opened her eyes, she sat up, put on her loungewear, slipped into her slippers, and opened her bedroom door to look out into the living room. Thankfully, it wasn’t a dream. That man really existed. He was wearing the loungewear she had bought for her “little wolf pup” boyfriend. It fit him quite well, and he was standing on the balcony, looking out at the scenery. His hair was down, flowing smoothly behind him. The only thing a bit funny was his posture—he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. If he were wearing traditional clothing, this pose would look dignified and upright. But in a T-shirt and shorts, he looked more like an old man out for a morning stroll.

Hearing a sound, he turned around. The morning sunlight cast a golden glow on one side of his face, making his nose look particularly striking.

In Ruan Qing’s overly romantic teenage dreams of traveling back in time, she had always imagined finding a handsome and upright ancient man like this to fall madly in love with between running farms and building industries.

Ugh! Those were student days dreams. Now, she was already the “big sister” in her “little wolf pup’s” eyes. Especially when he needed money to buy shoes, the way he sweetly called her “sister, sister” was unbearably cute.

Nian Qi fully turned around, still with his hands behind his back. “Good morning.”

Some men just really suit long hair—it looked great on him!

Ruan Qing blurted out, “There are pockets on both sides of the shorts. When we don’t know where to put our hands while standing, we usually stick them in the pockets.”

Nian Qi actually felt a bit odd standing with his hands behind his back while wearing shorts, so he immediately followed her suggestion, found the pockets, and put his hands inside. “Like this?”

With his hands in his pockets, he didn’t look as upright, but his entire demeanor changed. The rigid “old official” vibe disappeared, and his long hair, coupled with his relaxed posture, gave him a laid-back, casual air. His aura was absolutely on point.

“You’re up early. Did you sleep well last night?” Ruan Qing asked.

“I slept well. That thing blowing cold air was very comfortable,” Nian Qi replied, pointing to the air conditioner.

“That’s called an air conditioner,” Ruan Qing explained. “It can blow both cold and hot air, depending on the season.”

Nian Qi praised it enthusiastically, “What a wonderful invention!” Then he asked, “Does every household have one?”

“Most do,” Ruan Qing said. “If their financial situation isn’t too bad, they’ll have one. Of course, not everyone has it.”

“So, it’s common?” Nian Qi clarified.

“Yes, very common,” Ruan Qing agreed.

As Nian Qi walked over, Ruan Qing noticed, “Hey, did you wash your hair?” His hair was still slightly damp.

“Is it okay?” she asked, concerned about his injury.

Nian Qi reassured her, “It’s so convenient; how could there be any problem?”

He had woken up at dawn, freshened up, and after seeing how easy it was to use the shower system, he decided to wash his hair. If it had been like in his time, where he had to heat water over a fire and fetch it with buckets, he might have skipped washing for the time being. But in this era, it was too convenient. As soon as you turn the knob, hot water flows out instantly. Plus, Ruan Qing had mentioned that the hot water in her house was continuous, so there was no worry about running out.

Ruan Qing sniffed the air. “Hey, you even used shampoo? How did you know which one was the shampoo?”

Yesterday, she had only explained the faucet, toilet, showerhead, toothpaste, and hand soap, thinking he wouldn’t need to bathe right away, so she hadn’t taught him about shampoo or body wash.

“There are words on the bottle,” Nian Qi said.

Ruan Qing was curious, “You can read those words?”

“I can read most of them, and I guessed the rest,” Nian Qi replied. “I recognized ‘wash’ and ‘lotion,’ but I didn’t know the character for ‘hair,’ so I guessed. Looks like I didn’t get it wrong?”

Actually, just recognizing “wash” and “lotion” wasn’t enough to deduce that it was for hair. But he did recognize the characters on the body wash bottle and remembered the scent from the previous night when Ruan Qing had walked through the living room. From that, he deduced that the bottle marked “wash X lotion” must be for hair. He tried it, and it foamed like the hand soap and cleaned his hair well.

This era had so many wonderful things. For instance, the air conditioner—on a hot summer night, it could blow cool air, which was incomparable. Better even than the rockets that could go to the moon! After all, going to the moon had nothing to do with him, but whether he slept in heat or comfort was a matter of personal concern.

Ruan Qing tossed out a quick “Wait a moment” and rushed to the bathroom to wash up. She came out quickly, tied her hair up, and got ready to make breakfast.

Nian Qi, hands still in his pockets, followed her to the kitchen and stood at the door, curiously looking around. When he saw her lighting the stove to fry eggs, he realized, “This is the kitchen?”

“Yes, the kitchen, where we cook food,” Ruan Qing replied as she fried eggs, toasted bread, and heated milk. She introduced modern kitchen appliances to the ancient man, “This is the stove, which uses natural gas, similar to biogas. Be careful with it, though; this gas is toxic, so after cooking, you must shut it off completely. This is a toaster for bread. And this is a microwave for quickly heating food. I usually use it to warm milk in the morning.”

“I’ll teach you in more detail later, but for now, just get a rough idea. There’s no time this morning.”

With various kitchen gadgets at her disposal, it only took ten minutes to prepare a simple breakfast of buttered toast, fried eggs, and warm milk.

Ruan Qing handed him a plate with eggs and casually instructed, “Help me carry the milk.”

She gave commands so naturally because, when she had lived with her “little wolf pup” boyfriend, she had to do the same. That lazy boy never took the initiative to do housework unless she specifically told him to. She only put up with him because of his athletic physique.

Nian Qi pulled his hands out of his pockets, grabbed the milk, and followed her to the dining table to set it down. He did it so naturally, without any airs.

Ruan Qing observed him closely. She tried to use these subtle details to infer what social class he had belonged to in ancient times, but she couldn’t figure it out. At most, she could tell he definitely wasn’t some noble or prince. People like that wouldn’t adapt so easily or be so willing to do chores.

After a while, she asked, “How’s the food? Are you getting used to it?”

Swallowing a bite of buttered toast, Nian Qi said, “The taste is a bit strange, but it’s alright.”

He took a sip of milk and asked, “Is this cow’s milk? Why doesn’t it have any strong smell?”

“It’s been pasteurized at the dairy company, so the strong odor is removed,” Ruan Qing explained.

Nian Qi took another sip and commented, “It’s very sweet.”

Ruan Qing, a seasoned fan of time-travel stories, instantly understood what he meant and explained, “Sugar and salt are freely traded here. Every household has them, and everyone can afford them.”

Nian Qi nodded, took a big gulp of milk, and stated, “The present world is better than my time.”

“Well, of course,” Ruan Qing replied. “A thousand years of development can’t be for nothing.”

She continued, “I have a meeting at work later and should be back by noon. Don’t worry about lunch. But before I go, I need to explain a few things to you.”

They quickly finished breakfast. Ruan Qing left the dishes in the sink, planning to clean them up when she returned at noon. Time was tight, and there were things she needed to explain to Nian Qi before leaving. First, she restored the sofa bed back into a regular sofa, then went to her study and retrieved an old phone. She had charged it overnight. She also took out a secondary SIM card, activated it, and added her number to the contact list before handing it to Nian Qi.

“This is called a phone. Since phones have become small enough to carry, we also call them mobile phones,” she explained. “These days, mobile phones are indispensable. Everyone has one, even many children. You can use my old one for now.”

Nian Qi had already noticed this strange little device. Back in the hospital, apart from the busy medical staff and the patients lying in beds, nearly everyone who could move had one in their hands, holding it up to their faces. His curiosity about it had been growing, so when Ruan Qing handed it to him, he asked, “What exactly does this do?”

“It’s for communication,” Ruan Qing replied, pulling out her own phone and dialing his number. “Each person has their own number, and as long as you have this, no matter how far away you are, you can talk to me.”

Before she finished speaking, the phone in Nian Qi’s hand rang and vibrated, startling him. Most people, when frightened, would instinctively pull back or drop what startled them. But Ruan Qing, sitting right next to him, saw clearly that Nian Qi’s reaction was quite the opposite. Instead of loosening his grip, his fingers tightened around the vibrating phone with surprising strength.

What kind of person reacts so differently from the norm?

Ruan Qing pushed this thought aside and explained, “When the phone rings, it means someone is calling you. Swipe the green button to answer.” She demonstrated by swiping the green button and putting the call on speakerphone. Then she said “hello” twice into her own phone, and her voice came through on Nian Qi’s phone.

Nian Qi was astonished.

“This is speaker mode,” Ruan Qing explained, pointing to a button. “If you tap this, it switches to earphone mode, and only you can hear it. The earphone is here, and the microphone is here.” As she explained, she gestured, and Nian Qi followed her lead, putting the phone to his ear. Sure enough, he could hear Ruan Qing’s voice coming from the phone.

She then taught him how to make a call. Nian Qi was a quick learner since everything just required a few taps with his fingers. The phone’s magical features were incredibly easy to use.

The old phone had been reset, and the only contact in Nian Qi’s address book was Ruan Qing. He tried calling her once to practice. Afterward, he asked, “Was this also made by craftsmen?”

“If it was, then their skills have nearly reached the divine,” he added in amazement.

Ruan Qing laughed, “Not quite. This kind of technology is everywhere in modern life.”

“Modern smartphones actually have many other functions, but I don’t have time to explain them now. For now, just focus on making calls,” she said. “I’m mostly concerned that something might happen while I’m not home, and this is just in case.”

For Nian Qi, it was mind-blowing that this seemingly supernatural way of communicating over vast distances was an everyday part of life.

Suddenly, he remembered something that had piqued his curiosity.

“Last night at the hospital, I saw this large, flat object standing on the ground, shaped like a screen, displaying many astonishing images…”

As soon as he mentioned it, Ruan Qing knew what he was talking about. From yesterday until now, the moment when Nian Qi had stood in front of the hospital’s shared LED advertisement screen was probably the only time he had shown a genuine, unguarded expression of shock. Ever since then, he had managed to keep his emotions in check quite well.