Chapter 23

Ruan Qing was just about to praise Nian Qi when her gaze shifted to the balcony, and she was stunned. “Did you wash the clothes too?”

In summer, clothes needed to be changed and washed every day. Ruan Qing usually saved up two or three days’ worth of laundry, accumulating three or four items to wash all at once in the washing machine. The clothes from the past couple of days had been sitting in the laundry basket, waiting to be washed. But now, those clothes were hanging on the balcony, already dried by the sun.

Nian Qi gave a modest smile. “I saw the clothes piled up in the basket and figured they were waiting to be washed, so I washed them.”

Ruan Qing was deeply touched but then asked curiously, “Did you wash them by hand?”

Nian Qi hesitated. “Uh, what?”

She was even more surprised. “How did you know how to use the washing machine? Or rather, did you even know that it was a washing machine?”

Reflecting on it, she realized she had never mentioned the washing machine to him, not even once. Since the clothes had been accumulating, she hadn’t shown him how to operate it either.

“It’s hard to miss such a big thing sitting there,” Nian Qi said. “I got curious and took a look. I saw buttons for ‘standard wash,’ ‘quick wash,’ ‘delicate wash,’ and so on. I thought about what a household might need to wash, and it had to be clothes. Since I didn’t know how to use it, I searched online. Turns out, you were right—the internet really does have everything.”

“Wait a minute!” Ruan Qing was even more amazed. “How did you know what keywords to search for?”

Nian Qi waved his phone. “This is called a cellphone.” Then he pointed at the TV. “That is a television.” He continued, “I figured that if this thing was for washing clothes, it would logically be called a ‘washing machine,’ so I searched for ‘how to use a washing machine’ using pinyin. Sure enough, I found the information.”

The online guide explained how to use a washing machine very clearly. It covered not only the different functions but also mentioned laundry detergent, disinfectant, and fabric softener. These items were conveniently placed on a shelf above the washing machine, and Nian Qi found them one by one, using them as instructed.

In the past, when browsing forums, Ruan Qing had come across discussions about whether an ancient person could adapt to modern times if they time-traveled. Now, she felt like she could confidently reply: Yes, they could, and very well at that. Ancient people may not have accumulated as much knowledge as modern people, but they certainly weren’t less intelligent. In fact, many ancient individuals were quite smart, far surpassing modern people in some ways. Because modern people often relied on precedent—handling things based on direct or indirect experience—ancient people, without prior examples to guide them, had to think independently and solve problems with their own intellect.

Nian Qi was clearly someone with strong practical skills, a knack for problem-solving, and a high capacity for learning. Give him the tools and teach him the methods, and he would figure out the rest on his own.

Watching this ancient person learn to use a washing machine without being taught gave Ruan Qing a strange mix of motherly pride and a sense of being left behind.

Nian Qi then said, “I also searched for what exactly ‘the internet’ means.”

“Oh?” Ruan Qing responded. “What did you find?”

Nian Qi said, “There’s a category called ‘encyclopedia’ that explains something called the ‘internet.'”

His progress was astonishing, like leaping from the age of primitive farming straight to space shuttles in one bound.

Just as Ruan Qing was about to express her amazement, Nian Qi added, “But I didn’t quite understand it.”

She asked, “Are you really interested in this?”

“Yes,” he replied.

Nian Qi said, “After I started washing the clothes, I got curious about what exactly this ‘internet’ is.” He asked, “Can you explain it to me in a way I can understand?”

“Sure, sure,” Ruan Qing clasped her hands together, resting them against her nose as she lowered her eyes in thought. “Let me think about how to put it in simple terms… I’ll simplify things and leave out words like ‘servers’ and ‘terminals.’ All you really need to know is one term which is,’ computer’.”

Nian Qi pointed to the study room, then at the laptop. “You mean that and this?”

“Yes, both are personal devices. They’re actually very small… Hmm, think of it like my car. My car is a private vehicle, but on the roads, you’ll also see bigger buses, and there are even larger trains you haven’t seen yet, like long dragons.” Ruan Qing did her best to explain. “Computers are similar, there are probably tens of billions of these small computers, and an unknown number of larger and even giant computers.”

“Originally, each computer was independent, with lots of information inside. Text, images, videos. One day, people decided to connect these computers together using certain technologies, so that someone at home could access countless pieces of information from other computers around the world, virtually anything imaginable.”

“Think of each computer as a point. When many points are connected, they form a network. This global network is called the internet.”

“When we talk about being ‘online,’ we’re referring to using the internet. Going online means searching for whatever content we need on the internet, just like when you searched for ‘washing machine.'”

For the first time in his two days since arriving here, Nian Qi’s face showed an expression that could be described as “bewildered.” Ruan Qing paused and asked, “Is it hard to understand?” She considered how she could make it even simpler.

“I understand,” Nian Qi said. “I followed everything you said.”

Ruan Qing looked at him. “Then…?”

Nian Qi let out a long breath. “I was just struck by the idea that countless people around the world can sit in their homes and connect with others thousands of miles away. From the comfort of their homes, they can see things they’ve never encountered in their lives and find answers to the mysteries that have puzzled them. This vast web covering the earth… it makes one feel incredibly small.”

Ruan Qing couldn’t help but laugh, then found the situation quite interesting. Her amusement showed in her eyes.

Ruan Qing had laughed before, and she was always lively and full of spirit. But back then, Nian Qi was still adapting to this new world, not yet thinking about anything beyond that. Since last night, when he first had the thought of marrying her, he found that now, every glance at her felt different. Her smiling eyes, dark and bright, combined with her red lips and pearly teeth, made his heart race.

This feeling was unfamiliar to him. In his twenty-seven years of life, which in ancient times was nearly “grandfather age,” he wasn’t exactly an innocent or inexperienced man. As one of the top ten elite assassins, he had beautiful courtesans attending to him in the Yanwang Hall. But looking back, there had never been any real equality or genuine interaction with any woman in his life.

Even when dealing with women outside, it was often part of his business of taking lives, with his identity disguised. Once the job was done and the gold was in hand, that assumed identity vanished, and he would disappear as a living person. It was never real.

He had always been calm and composed, speaking in a gentle, pleasant tone. But his brief moment of distraction made Ruan Qing raise an eyebrow. “?”

“Eggplant!” Nian Qi quickly responded, raising his voice slightly. “For dinner, we’re having eggplant. Do you want it roasted or stir-fried?”

“Can you really roast eggplant?” Ruan Qing was both surprised and delighted. “If you can, then definitely roast it… Uh, no, wait,” she said, pretending to hesitate. “Roasting might be a bit too much trouble. Maybe just stir-fry it instead?”

“It’s not troublesome at all, it’s just a matter of frying it in oil first,” Nian Qi replied. “Auntie Niu said that roasted eggplant tastes ten times better than stir-fried.”

“Of course, it does,” Ruan Qing agreed enthusiastically.

There was still plenty of time, so there was no need to start cooking the eggplant just yet. Ruan Qing opened the fridge and took out two cans of cold cola, handing one to Nian Qi. “What did you study today?” she asked, referring to the learning materials she had prepared for him on the laptop.

Nian Qi took a sip, the cool, refreshing drink calming the strange flutter in his heart from earlier. He thought for a moment before answering. “I learned about the Four Great Inventions, watched a foreigner boiling water, another one flying a kite, the making of iron ships, and the creation of lightbulb filaments. I also found out how photography and telephones came to be.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Even though the Central Plains have the Four Great Inventions, why are all these things that seem like magical abilities invented by foreigners? It’s quite confusing. The Central Plains are known for producing many brilliant people throughout history, yet so many modern inventions come from abroad.”

“Ah, that’s due to historical reasons—it’s a long story,” Ruan Qing explained. “Why don’t you start by watching some history documentaries? Once you’ve seen enough, I can explain concepts like ‘traveling to the Qing Dynasty and not rebelling’ or… well, ‘chuān diàn zuàn‘ and such.” (穿电钻 ‘chuān diàn zuàn’ literally translates to “wearing a power drill,” which is a metaphor for enduring extreme discomfort or pain.)

“I’ve watched some but haven’t finished,” Nian Qi said. “Your Qin Dynasty really did fall after the second emperor, and the following Han Dynasty was indeed powerful. So that’s why you call your writing ‘Han characters’?”

“Wait, don’t you call them Han characters? Oh, right, you don’t have a Han Dynasty,” Ruan Qing suddenly realized. “Then what do you call your writing?”

Nian Qi explained, “It was once called Qin characters. Foreigners and barbarians refer to it as Central Plains script, China script, or Upper Country script. Sometimes they simply shorten it to ‘National Script.'”

Ruan Qing thought for a moment. “Then do you have the term ‘Han ethnicity’?”

“Naturally, we don’t,” Nian Qi replied. He had learned from the history documentaries about the origins of the terms ‘Han characters’ and ‘Han ethnicity.’ “Foreigners call us Central Plains people, Chinese, or Upper Country people.” Though the historical timeline differed, the broader pattern of the Huaxia bloodline dominating the land and influencing neighboring regions remained the same. It was still the central country, the Celestial Empire.

Ruan Qing took a sip of cola. “How far did you get?”

“The Tang Dynasty,” Nian Qi said approvingly. “Your Han and Tang dynasties were quite impressive. By the way, the poems written by Li Bai are truly wonderful.”

Ruan Qing nearly choked on her cola. “Cough, cough, cough! You don’t have Li Bai?”

Nian Qi shook his head. “I’ve never heard of him.”

How could they not have Li Bai? Ruan Qing discussed the history with Nian Qi and figured it out. It turned out that in the corresponding period of the Tang Dynasty on his side, there was no Anxi Protectorate. So, the poet’s father might not have been there, didn’t marry his mother, and thus Li Bai was never born. Perhaps his father married someone else or didn’t exist at all.

“It’s a real pity that you don’t have Li Bai,” Ruan Qing said, lamenting the loss in his world’s history.

Nian Qi, however, wasn’t bothered by it. He had a much more relaxed view than Ruan Qing. “There may not be a Li Bai, but there is a Zhang Bai, Zhao Bai, or Wang Bai.” He crossed one arm over his chest and gently swirled his can of cola with the other. “In the land of Huaxia, where the earth is blessed and talented people emerge, when has there ever been a shortage of brilliant and exceptional individuals?”

The young man’s eyes glimmered with calmness. For someone his age, it was common to hear “he’s still just a kid” as an excuse for various irresponsible or immature behaviors. But compared to other so-called “big boys” his age, Nian Qi’s gaze held a maturity and detachment, as if he had experienced and seen through the vicissitudes of life. His long hair was loosely tied back, with a few stray strands falling at his temples, and his lips were thin. He really did resemble the male lead in a romance novel.

Ruan Qing, holding the can of cola against her lips, felt her heart skip a beat. Nian Qi hadn’t yet learned about hormones and what they were, but he did know that if Ruan Qing kept looking at him with those dark, sparkling eyes, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself together—his wandering thoughts were beyond his control. But if she saw him as a lecher, that would be disastrous. If she thought he had poor character, not only would marriage be out of the question, but she might even kick him out, refusing to take him in anymore.

He still had to proceed with his plans step by step.

With a decisive “pop,” Nian Qi set down the cola can. “I’ll start stir-frying the eggplant,” he said, walking past Ruan Qing without looking back.