Chapter 9

Bright sunlight streamed through the main door, casting sharp, blade-like shadows on the floor.

Ruan Xi sat beside the clear-edged shadow, holding a small piece of gray scrap fabric in her left hand and a fine needle in her right, stitching back and forth on the old fabric. A big yellow cat lay at her feet.

Having slept enough, the yellow cat stretched lazily and then went to the old tailor’s feet, circling and meowing for food. It hunted mice at night but sought food from the old tailor during the day.

The old tailor snorted at the cat, “You ungrateful thing, wanting food!”

This yellow cat, named Da Mi, was the old tailor’s only companion, almost like a partner in his later years. They lived together, and the old tailor often napped under the grape trellis with the cat, talking to it. But since Ruan Xi started learning the craft, Da Mi had become attached to her. It played with fabric scraps or slept at her feet, only seeking the old tailor when hungry.

Hearing the old tailor’s words, Ruan Xi smiled and continued stitching. After finishing, she put down the needle and thread, took the processed fabric pieces to the old tailor, and smiled, “Master, I’ve finished the buttonholes you taught me. Please take a look.”

She handed them to him one by one, “This is a flat buttonhole.”

“This is a round buttonhole.”

“This one is a bound buttonhole.”

“And this one, with the eyelet closed, is a decorative buttonhole.”

Though the old tailor often marveled at Ruan Xi’s work, he couldn’t help but be impressed each time she made something new.

In his lifetime, he had never seen someone so talented, able to learn at a glance without any exaggeration. Not only did she learn quickly, but her work was also beautiful. However, he didn’t show it, merely clearing his throat and saying, “Not bad.”

Ruan Xi knew her skill level and could see through the old tailor’s facade. She smiled as she took back the buttonholes she had made and said, “It’s almost noon. I’ll go home for lunch and come back in the afternoon.”

The old tailor leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, “Running back and forth doesn’t tire you out. Stay and eat with me.”

What? Did the old man just say that? Ruan Xi was stunned, even doubting her ears.

She blinked at the old tailor, her eyes widening slightly, “What did you say?”

The old tailor, looking impatient, snapped, “If you don’t want to, then leave!”

Ruan Xi never minded his bad temper and quickly smiled, “I want to, of course I want to.”

Staying for lunch would save her family’s food and let her eat something good. Why wouldn’t she want to? She knew well how comfortably the old tailor lived.

Of course, the old tailor’s comfortable life wasn’t just because he was the only tailor on Fengming Mountain. Another important reason was that he lived alone and didn’t have to support a large family. With fewer people in the household, they didn’t consume much, making life much more comfortable.

Ruan Xi also knew the old tailor inviting her to stay for lunch didn’t mean he would cook for her. He probably wanted her to cook for him. He would get to relax, and she would get a meal. It was a win-win situation.

So Ruan Xi didn’t go to get her yellow backpack but turned and went into the kitchen to wash the rice.

Even without the original memories, cooking wasn’t a problem for Ruan Xi. She loved experimenting with food in her spare time and had studied various cuisines. With over ten years of life experience from the original owner and having cooked a few times herself, Ruan Xi was quite adept at using a wood-fired stove. She washed the rice and started the fire to steam the rice. Da Mi, the cat, rubbed against the door frame and came in, settling beside her.

Ruan Xi steamed the rice while petting the cat. Once the rice absorbed the last of the water, she went out to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables. She picked four green peppers, a loofah, and two small green onions. Back in the kitchen, she washed and cut the vegetables, removed the stems from the peppers, peeled the loofah, chopped the green onions, and crushed a few cloves of garlic into a paste. She then mixed a sauce with the available seasonings and cracked two eggs into a bowl.

Although the old tailor often had a stern face and spoke harshly, making him difficult to get along with, he wasn’t entirely devoid of human kindness. When Ruan Xi had prepared the ingredients, he came in and tended the fire.

Ruan Xi peeked at him, smiled, and said nothing. She feared that if she spoke, he might feel embarrassed and stop helping with the fire. She could manage both the fire and cooking herself, but it was more convenient to have help.

Once the iron pot was hot, Ruan Xi added the green peppers, dry-frying them until their skins wrinkled, then added a bit of oil. As the peppers’ skins wrinkled more, she added the garlic paste, stir-frying it until fragrant, then poured in the prepared sauce, reducing it before removing the dish from the pot.

Without an exhaust fan, the aroma filled the entire house, making the old tailor’s mouth water.

After finishing the tiger skin green peppers, Ruan Xi made stir-fried loofah with eggs. The aroma made her mouth water, as she hadn’t had a hot meal since she crossed over. Now, with two fragrant dishes in front of her, she felt she could eat two big bowls of rice.

Of course, there wasn’t that much rice for her to eat.

With the two hot dishes on the table, Ruan Xi served the rice, picked up her chopsticks, and sat down with the old tailor. After he tasted the stir-fried loofah with eggs, she asked, “Master, how is it?”

The old tailor swallowed the loofah and eggs, cleared his throat, and said, “Not bad.”

In truth, his eyes and expression had already given him away.

Ruan Xi smiled without exposing him and picked up a tiger-skin green pepper for herself. She could handle spicy food, and the heat from the green peppers was nothing to her.

The old tailor took another bite of the tiger skin green pepper, and his eyes lit up even more. He hadn’t expected Ruan Xi to not only learn the craft quickly and skillfully but also cook so well. He often made clothes for people and was invited to their homes, eating many meals and even pork at the end of the year. But none of the dishes he had tasted were as good as Ruan Xi’s cooking.

After a bite of loofah with eggs and a bite of tiger skin green pepper, the old tailor’s eyes shone brightly, and he no longer put on airs in front of Ruan Xi, devouring the food eagerly.

Ruan Xi didn’t compete with him, eating slowly with a satisfied smile on her face.

After the meal, the old tailor was in a great mood, even humming a tune while lying under the grape trellis.

Ruan Xi listened to his humming as she washed the dishes and then rested on the sewing machine for a while.

In the afternoon, Ruan Xi learned some new things from the old tailor, but he kept changing his mind. Suddenly, he said that teaching too fast wasn’t good and mentioned the saying, “Teaching a disciple too well starves the master,” refusing to teach her more.

Ruan Xi thought for a moment and asked, “Do you want to keep me around to cook for you so you don’t want me to graduate too quickly?”

The old tailor, caught off guard, stiffened and grumbled, “Do I look like someone who hasn’t eaten in eight lifetimes? I said no more teaching today, and that’s final. If you don’t want to cook, go home for lunch tomorrow.”

Ruan Xi smiled at him, “Then I’ll go home today and come back tomorrow to cook for you.”

The old tailor stroked his goatee and grunted, “Come or not, it’s up to you.”

Ruan Xi felt like she was coaxing a child, “Don’t worry! I’ll definitely come!”

She grabbed her backpack, but the old tailor called her back as she was about to leave. She turned around, puzzled, and saw him picking a bunch of grapes from the grapevine. He walked over and handed the grapes to her, saying, “I’m too old to eat these; they’re too sour and hurt my teeth. Take them.”

Ruan Xi was pleasantly surprised, “For… for me?”

The old tailor tossed the grapes into her hands and walked away.

Cool!

Ruan Xi looked at the grapes and then at the old tailor, her voice clear as she called out, “Thank you, Master!”

Walking home along the mountain path, Ruan Xi took a grape from her backpack, peeled it, and popped it into her mouth. She expected it to be sour, but to her surprise, it was sweet, not sour at all. Her eyes widened slightly, and she tried another one, which was also sweet!

Ruan Xi savored the sweetness in her mouth, thinking, “This master is really something!”

She felt a sweet joy in her heart but ate no more. She planned to take the grapes home to share with Ruan Zhigao, Liu Xinghua, Ruan Changsheng, and Ruan Jie so they could all taste the sweetness together.

However, before she reached home, she saw Ling Yao reading and herding pigs on the hillside.

Not far from Ling Yao were Gao Haiyang and his gang. Today, they weren’t hitting Ling Yao, but each held a handful of stones, throwing them at him and mocking, “Hey, fool, say something!”

Ling Yao focused on his book as if he didn’t hear anything.

Ruan Xi took a deep breath and shouted at Gao Haiyang’s group, “What are you doing? Looking for trouble?”

Seeing Ruan Xi, Gao Haiyang’s group didn’t dare say more and ran away.

Ruan Xi could tell that Ruan Changsheng must have warned them.

After chasing away Gao Haiyang’s group, Ruan Xi walked over to Ling Yao.

Ling Yao stood up from the stone, holding his book, and said, “Thank you.”

Ruan Xi, tired from walking, sat on the stone and looked up at him. “If they bully you again, tell me. I’ll get my uncle to beat them up, and they won’t dare mock you anymore.”

Ling Yao replied, “They didn’t hit me today.” He sat down next to Ruan Xi and glanced at the pigs not far away.

Curious, Ruan Xi looked at the book in his hand and asked, “What are you reading?”

Ling Yao turned and handed the book to Ruan Xi.

Ruan Xi opened it and recognized most of the characters, but she couldn’t understand the content. She frowned and squinted in confusion, “This…”

“Oh,” Ling Yao realized she hadn’t had much schooling and only knew a few characters, so he explained, “This is physics.”

Ruan Xi chuckled awkwardly. Of course, she knew it was physics; she had also studied it in high school. She asked Ling Yao, “How old are you?”

Ling Yao replied, “I was born in 1960.”

Ruan Xi calculated that he was now thirteen years old.

Thirteen years old and reading such complex physics? She couldn’t understand it, but she could tell it was beyond high school level.

Ruan Xi smiled and cautiously asked, “Can you understand what’s in the book?”

Ling Yao said, “Yes, it’s very simple.”

Ruan Xi: “…”

Alright.

Fine.