"I’m back." Li Ang propped his umbrella, pushed open the door, and walked into the courtyard. He saw Chai Chai sitting in the living room in a daze, her chin resting on her hands as she stared blankly into space. A kettle was on the table. He asked in surprise, "Huh? Weren’t you supposed to go to the reading club with Le Ling today?"
"I suddenly rembered while I was out that I’d left the water boiling at ho, so I ca back early."
Chai Chai forced a thin smile onto her face. "Young master, I..."
"Mr. Li, your al has been delivered."
A restaurant worker carrying an umbrella and a al box interrupted their conversation as he arrived at the main entrance of the mansion.
"Oh, thank you."
Li Ang got up, went to the door, took the al box, and glanced at it briefly.
Stir-fried bamboo shoots with at, vinegar celery, and matsutake rib soup...
"Huh? Why is there only one bowl of rice? Didn’t I ask for two bowls?"
"Ah? Perhaps the chef forgot to include it. I’ll go fetch it now."
"No need. It’s tiring to run back and forth. Just rember to bring it tomorrow."
Chai Chai watched the two of them talking at the door, her hands unwittingly clenching tight.
DRIP. DRIP.
Water droplets fell from between her fingers.
「March 10th, Chang’an City, Golden City Mansion.」
Li Ang, holding his umbrella, pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard, eyeing the mansion with confusion. Leaves were scattered on the living room floor, a thin layer of dust had settled on the table, and several pieces of Clothes—already soaked by rain—were left hanging on the rack in the backyard.
"You’re back, young master?" Chai Chai descended slowly from the second floor, her face heavily made up. She squeezed out a smile. "I was practicing makeup techniques from a book today and forgot to do the housework."
"...Which book did you learn to put on makeup from?" Li Ang’s eye twitched. He then used Telekinesis to retrieve the Clothes left out in the rain and cleared the fallen leaves and dust from the room.
At the dinner table, Chai Chai fiddled with her half-filled bowl of rice and suddenly asked, "Young master, has Brother Song said anything to you lately?"
"Huh? Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
Li Ang paused for a mont but answered, "Sa as usual. The incident with the Dream Eater affected him greatly. Today I heard from Yang Yu that he still looks pale. Aren’t you in the sa grade as Brother Song? Didn’t you see him during the day?"
"Maybe I just didn’t notice."
Chai Chai lowered her head and continued to push around the grains of rice in her bowl. "By the way, young master, after we eat, I’ll take your asurents to make you so Clothes."
"Huh?"
Busied with tasks and having to write textbooks for the Imperial dical Bureau, Li Ang shook his head. "Making Clothes is so troubleso. Isn’t it better to just buy them?"
Chai Chai said coquettishly, "Oh, just listen to ! I need material for my novel about ’a maid making Clothes for her young master.’"
She’s getting way too good at using that excuse, Li Ang thought, narrowing his eyes. Nevertheless, he still used Telekinesis to fetch the asuring tape.
「March 11th, Chang’an City, Golden City Mansion.」
Li Ang propped his umbrella, pushed open the door, and stepped into the courtyard. He saw Chai Chai tinkering with a bulky, bizarre device set upon a tripod, its exterior made of wood and cloth.
"COUGH! COUGH!" Li Ang cleared his throat. Chai Chai, who had been intently studying the cara, turned her head and smiled, "You’re back, young master?"
"Why have you taken out my cara?"
"I found it while cleaning the room today, along with the instruction manual."
Chai Chai looked innocent as she asked, "Young master, can this thing really capture and record images?"
"It can, but it’s complicated and dangerous. Don’t ss with it, kid."
Li Ang flicked Chai Chai’s forehead as punishnt for ddling with his things.
The Dream Realm created by the Dream Eater helped Li Ang recover more and more mories. During his free ti these days, he had tinkered with a general "Guide to the Developnt of Scientific Technology," which recorded many inventions he believed could benefit Yu Country’s citizens in the future.
These included things like the telegraph, telephone, fertilizer, automobile, and cara. He decided that every few years, he would release so inventions. To avoid rushing things and potentially spoiling his work, he deliberately recorded different technological approaches to the sa invention.
For instance, for cara films, there were technologies ranging from the more primitive Fire cotton glue wet plate thod, which used glass as a base, to the more advanced silver bromide process.
For cara papers, there was everything from Protein Paper, which required the use of egg whites, to Gelatin silver chloride photosensitive paper, which could be developed with a gas lamp.
He could propose a primitive technological avenue for an invention, inspiring other scholars to refine and perfect it.
In the warehouse of the Golden City Mansion, there lay a complete set of equipnt for taking photos and developing prints.
"Co on, let play with it for a bit."
Seeing Li Ang preparing to pack away the cara, Chai Chai quickly shook his arm. "I need material for my novel about ’a maid taking a photo of a young master’!"
Li Ang rolled his eyes. "Always the sa excuse. Can’t you think of sothing new?" He ssed up Chai Chai’s hair. "By the way, I t Brother Song today. I invited him to climb Xia Mountain tomorrow morning; maybe it’ll do him so good to get so advice."
"Mr. Li, your al has been delivered."
The waiter’s voice sounded again from outside the mansion’s gate.
"Oh, thank you."
Late into the night, Li Ang lay in bed with his eyes shut, sensing his Ink Silk Clone miles away.
He was still concerned about the profound Dark River underneath the old well back ho in Yizhou, continuously attempting to create the hull of a submarine to explore the Nine Nether.
The process was anything but smooth.
As the submarine descended deeper, subrged in the churning waters, Li Ang felt the connection to the Ink Silk Clone growing weaker. He was compelled to issue an order to abandon the hull and have the clone burrow back to the surface.
Tch, another failure.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, bothered by a headache. He heard a RUSTLE and turned his head. Chai Chai was standing at his bedside with a pillow in her arms; he didn’t know when she had arrived.
Li Ang shrank away. "What do you want?"
Chai Chai whispered softly, as though conspiring, "I need material for my novel about ’a maid sleeping with her young master’..."
Li Ang slapped his forehead. I give up, he thought, sighing silently. What is she writing, a novel or an encyclopedia? And what will Lu Yunan say when she remotely views this scene in a dream?
"You said yourself you’d support !"
Chai Chai chuckled, lifted a corner of the blanket, and jumped in with a THUMP.
The single bed certainly wasn’t spacious for two. Especially after feeling the warmth from Chai Chai’s body through her nightgown, Li Ang coughed awkwardly and silently turned his back to her.
Why has this girl been getting so strange lately? he wondered, his thoughts wandering. It’s one thing for her not to do housework, but now she’s spouting nonsense too.
Chai Chai, oblivious to Li Ang’s inner thoughts, wrapped her arms around him, breathing softly like a kitten.
It was just like when she was a child, when she could only fall asleep during a thunderstorm by clinging to Li Ang.
"Young master?"
"Hmm?"
"When you have ti, could you hire another maid for the house?"
"Huh? Why hire another maid? It’s strange having extra people around. Alright, let’s sleep now."
Li Ang patted Chai Chai’s hand, urging her to sleep.
On one hand, he was truly exhausted. On the other... Ahem, with such a warm and fragrant beauty so close, it’s best to sleep early to avoid making any mistakes.
"Young master?"
"Hmm?"
"I made a few pieces of Clothes for you; they’re in the closet. Also, for your hike up Xia Mountain with Brother Song tomorrow, I prepared lunch boxes for you two. They’ve been chilled with a Liliang Talisman in the fridge. Just heat them up before eating."
"Alright, good. It’s late, you should be sleeping. Go to sleep."
"Young master?"
There was no answer to her call; Li Ang had already fallen deeply asleep.
Chai Chai shifted her body ever so slowly, resting her hand on a pillow as she propped up her cheek, quietly gazing at the sleeping Li Ang’s profile, her eyes gentle.
Ti seed to pause in that mont, with nothing but the slender drizzle outside the window joining the two people in the room.
Much later, Chai Chai quietly slipped out of the covers. Holding a lamp, she made her way downstairs to the study. She retrieved paper and ink from a drawer and, after a long mont of thought, began to write.
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