Ruan Qing’s job didn’t require her to work in the office every day. She only needed to go to the company today because there was a meeting to attend. In fact, she didn’t have to wake up too early—the meeting started at 9:30, so she had plenty of time.
But she still woke up early.
That’s how it is when something weighs on your mind—you can’t sleep well, and you wake up early.
Right now, Ruan Qing’s concern was that there was a person from a thousand years ago living in her house. How could anyone sleep soundly with that on their mind?
As soon as Ruan Qing opened her eyes, she sat up, slipped into her loungewear, shuffled into her slippers, and pulled open the bedroom door to peer into the living room.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a dream—he really existed.
He was wearing the loungewear she had bought for her “little wolf dog,” and it fit him quite well. He stood in front of the balcony railing, gazing at the scenery outside. His hair, no longer tied up in a bun, cascaded down his back, looking surprisingly smooth.
Only his posture was a bit comical—he had his hands clasped behind his back.
If he were wearing ancient-style clothing, standing with his hands behind his back would look quite elegant, making him appear tall and upright. But now, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, he looked like an old man out for a stroll.
Hearing the noise, he turned around.
The morning sun cast a pale golden light on half of his face, making his nose bridge look particularly straight and tall.
In Ruan Qing’s teenage transmigration fantasies, she had dreamed of traveling back to ancient times, finding a handsome and upright ancient man like this, and having a passionate, life-or-death romance in between building farms, infrastructure, and businesses.
Bah! Those were just dreams from her student days.
Now, she was already the “older sister” in the eyes of her “little wolf dog.”
Especially when he wanted money to buy shoes—the way he called her “older sister, older sister” was unbearably sweet.
Nian Qi turned around fully, still with his hands behind his back. “Morning.”
Some men really suit long hair! It just looks good!
Ruan Qing blurted out, “The shorts have pockets on both sides. Usually, when we stand and don’t know where to put our hands, we just stick them in our pockets.”
Nian Qi also felt a bit awkward standing with his hands behind his back while wearing shorts that left his legs exposed. Taking her advice, he felt around the sides and slipped his hands into the pockets. “Like this?”
Sticking his hands in his pockets didn’t make his waist look as straight and tall as clasping them behind his back, but it instantly changed his aura. The old-cadet vibe disappeared, and with his long hair hanging loosely, he exuded a carefree, relaxed air.
He really had a knack for carrying himself with style.
Ruan Qing asked, “You woke up so early. Did you rest well yesterday?”
“I slept very well. That thing kept blowing cool air—very comfortable.” Nian Qi pointed at the air conditioner.
“That’s called an air conditioner,” Ruan Qing explained. “You can control whether it blows cold or hot air, depending on the season.”
Nian Qi marveled happily. “What a good thing.”
He then asked, “Does every household have one?”
“Most do,” Ruan Qing said. “Those who aren’t too financially strapped probably have one. Of course, not everyone does.”
Nian Qi said, “So it’s common.”
Ruan Qing agreed. “Yes, very common.”
As Nian Qi walked over, Ruan Qing noticed something. “Huh, did you wash your hair?”
His hair was half-dry.
“Is it okay?” Ruan Qing asked. “The wound.”
Nian Qi said, “With such convenience, how could there be a problem?”
He had woken up at dawn, finished washing up, and, seeing how convenient the shower setup was, untied his hair bun and washed his hair. If he had needed to gather firewood to heat water and then fetch it in buckets to fill a basin, he probably wouldn’t have washed it for the time being. But the equipment a thousand years later was incredibly convenient—just flip a switch, and hot water flowed out on its own.
Moreover, Ruan Qing had mentioned that the hot water in her house was available continuously, ready to use at any time.
Ruan Qing sniffed the air. "Huh, you used shampoo? How did you know which one was shampoo?"
Yesterday, she had only taught him about the tap water, toilet, showerhead, toothpaste, and hand soap. Thinking he wouldn’t need to bathe for the time being, she hadn’t yet taught him to recognize shampoo and body wash.
Nian Qi said, "There are words written on the bottles."
Ruan Qing was curious. "Can you recognize those characters?"
"Most of them, yes. Some I had to guess," Nian Qi replied. "I recognized 'wash' and 'lotion,' but I couldn’t figure out the character for 'hair,' so I guessed. Did I use it correctly?"
Actually, just by guessing from "wash" and "lotion," he couldn’t have known it was for washing hair. However, he recognized all three characters on the other bottle labeled "body wash." Moreover, when he opened it and smelled it, the fragrance matched the scent Ruan Qing had left lingering in the air when she passed through the living room the night before.
Based on this, Nian Qi deduced that the "wash X lotion" was for washing hair.
He tried using it, and like the hand soap, it produced foam. It did indeed clean his hair thoroughly.
This era truly had so many wonderful things.
Take the air conditioner, for example. On such a sweltering summer night, it could blow cool air—simply unparalleled. Even better than the "rocket" that could reach the moon palace.
After all, going to the moon palace had nothing to do with him, but whether the night was stiflingly hot or comfortably cool was a matter of personal comfort.
Ruan Qing tossed out a "Wait a moment" and hurried to the bathroom to freshen up. She soon returned, tying up her hair to prepare breakfast.
Nian Qi, with his hands in his pockets, followed her to the kitchen and stood at the doorway, looking around. When he saw her lighting the fire to fry eggs, he realized, "Is this the kitchen?"
"Yes, the kitchen—where meals are prepared," Ruan Qing explained as she fried eggs, toasted bread, and heated milk, introducing the modern kitchen appliances to the ancient visitor. "This is the stove, which uses natural gas, similar to biogas. You have to be careful with this—the gas is toxic, so you must turn off the switch after cooking. This is a toaster, for toasting bread slices. This is a microwave, used for quickly heating food. I usually prefer using it to heat milk in the mornings."
"I’ll teach you in detail later. There’s no time this morning, so just get a general idea for now."
Buttered toast, fried eggs, and hot milk. With the help of various kitchen electrical appliances, preparing a simple breakfast took only about ten minutes.
Ruan Qing picked up the plate of fried eggs and directed the ancient visitor, "Help me carry the milk."
She gave the order quite naturally, as she used to do the same with her ex-boyfriend when they lived together.
That lazy brat was utterly useless—never lifted a finger unless told to do chores.
Ruan Qing had only tolerated him for his athletic physique.
Nian Qi took his hands out of his pockets, entered the kitchen, picked up the milk, and followed her to place it on the dining table.
He worked naturally, without any airs. Ruan Qing observed him coldly, trying to deduce his social class in ancient times from these details, but she couldn’t figure it out. At most, she could tell he definitely wasn’t some noble prince or young master from a wealthy family.
People like that wouldn’t adapt so well, nor would they willingly follow orders to do chores.
Didn’t they say, "A gentleman stays away from the kitchen"?
"Is the food to your liking?" Ruan Qing asked.
Nian Qi swallowed the buttered toast in his mouth and said, "The taste is a bit strange, but it’s fine."
He took a sip of milk and asked, "Is this cow’s milk? Why is there no hint of gaminess?"
"It’s already been pasteurized at the dairy company, and the gaminess has been processed out," Ruan Qing explained.
Nian Qi took another small sip and said, "Very sweet."
Boiling sugar and drying salt—the classic get-rich-quick guide for transmigrators. Ruan Qing, a seasoned transmigration enthusiast, instantly understood and told him, "Things like sugar and salt are freely traded now. Every household has them, and everyone can afford them."
Nian Qi nodded, drank half a bowl of milk in one go, set down the bowl, and stated, "This era is better than my time."
"Of course," Ruan Qing said. "We didn't develop for a thousand years for nothing."
She added, "I have to go to the company for a meeting later and should be back by noon. Don't worry about lunch. But before I leave, there are a few things I need to explain to you."
The two of them finished breakfast quickly. Ruan Qing tossed the bowls and plates into the sink, planning to clean them when she returned at noon.
She mainly wanted to use this bit of morning time to cover the essential things Nian Qi needed to know.
First, she restored the sofa bed to its original form as a sofa, then went to the study to retrieve her old mobile phone—it had been charging all night.
She also found the supplementary SIM card that came with her phone plan, inserted it, activated it, and exchanged contact information with her own phone before handing it to Nian Qi.
"This is called a telephone. Because telephones have evolved to be so small you can hold them in your hand, they're also called mobile phones," she explained. "Mobile phones are something we absolutely cannot live without nowadays. Everyone has to have one, even many children have their own. You can use this old one of mine for now."
Nian Qi had already noticed this strange little square. In the hospital, aside from busy medical staff and patients lying down gasping for breath, almost everyone else, even those who could half-sit, had one in their hand, holding it up to their faces.
He was genuinely curious about this object and took it, asking, "What exactly is this used for?"
"For communication," Ruan Qing said, pulling out her own phone and dialing Nian Qi's number. "Everyone has one, and each person has their own number. As long as you have this, you can talk to me no matter how far apart we are."
As soon as she finished speaking, the phone in Nian Qi's hand rang, and it even vibrated.
Nian Qi was startled.
When most people are startled, their normal reaction is to flinch, let go, or drop whatever scared them.
But Ruan Qing, sitting right beside Nian Qi, saw very clearly that his first reaction was the exact opposite of an ordinary person's. Not only did he not let go, but his fingers instantly tightened, gripping the vibrating phone firmly.
What kind of person would have such an unusual reaction?
Ruan Qing pushed the thought aside and told him, "When the phone rings, it means someone is calling you. Swipe this green button to answer."
She swiped to answer for him and turned on the speakerphone, then said "Hello" a couple of times into her own phone. Nian Qi's phone emitted the sound.
Nian Qi was amazed.
Ruan Qing said, "This is speakerphone mode. Tap this to switch to headset mode, where only you can hear. The earpiece is at the top, and the microphone for speaking is at the bottom, so you hold it like this next to your face, close to your ear and mouth."
As she spoke, she gestured to demonstrate. Nian Qi imitated her, placing the phone to his ear, and indeed heard Ruan Qing's voice through the earpiece.
She taught him how to make calls. It was easy to learn because everything could be done simply by tapping with a finger.
A magical function, yet its use was unbelievably simple.
The old phone had been formatted, so Nian Qi's contact list only had Ruan Qing. He tried calling her once.
After trying it, he asked, "Was this also made by craftsmen?"
He said, "If so, the skill is almost akin to the Dao."
Ruan Qing was amused: "Not to that extent. This kind of technology is everywhere in daily life."
"Modern smartphones actually have many functions, but there’s no time to teach you now. We’ll talk about it later. For now, just learn how to make calls," Ruan Qing said. "Mainly, I’m worried that something unexpected might happen when I’m not home, so it’s just a precaution."
This seemingly miraculous long-distance voice transmission technique was actually commonplace in life, which was truly astonishing. Nian Qi recalled something he was genuinely curious about.
"Last night at the clinic, I saw a flat, board-like device standing on the ground, resembling a screen, with many astonishing images…"
As soon as he mentioned it, Ruan Qing knew what he was talking about.
From yesterday until today, the moment this man stood in front of the shared charging station’s LED advertisement screen in the hospital corridor was probably when he revealed his most shocked and genuine emotions.
Since then, up until now, he had kept his emotions perfectly restrained.