The sofa had already been completely transformed. Lin Qianyi found a piece of durable “work cloth” at home and, after measuring it, realized there was enough to make a sofa cover.
The fabric was wear-resistant and dirt-resistant, which made it perfect for a sofa cover.
No hesitation—Lin Qianyi, the “designer,” got to work in her small workspace and quickly finished a sofa cover that was both elegant and simple.
When she put the finished cover over the old sofa, there was no trace of the old-fashioned, worn look anymore. It now looked clean, simple, and comfortable.
After transforming the sofa, she decided the furniture itself could also be improved.
Although the furniture was old-fashioned and bulky, simply changing its placement, adding some soft touches, decorating it a little, and removing unnecessary clutter made a huge difference.
The same idea applied: it no longer looked outdated—it had a kind of vintage charm instead.
And a bookshelf filled with books would never go out of style, no matter how it was arranged; it all depended on how you presented it.
This was no challenge for Designer Lin. With a few adjustments, the entire room was completely transformed.
The furniture was still the same, but the feeling was entirely different.
It was like the kind of intentionally “aged” and retro-styled decor you might see in modern times.
It was still old, still from that era—but it no longer felt rustic or outdated.
As for rearranging the furniture, that was easy too—just make use of space and adjust things freely.
She could simply store the furniture in her space and take it out wherever she wanted. How convenient.
The furniture wasn’t even that hard to move. For women of this era, moving things around was already something they were used to.
But Lin Qianyi was a young lady who didn’t like to tire herself out—why would she do it manually?
Even if someone saw the changes later, they wouldn’t suspect anything. Everyone would just think moving furniture was no big deal.
And even if Lin Qianyi couldn’t move it herself, didn’t her boyfriend come over the other day? Maybe he was the one who helped move it.
In just a few days, Lin Qianyi had transformed the house into something she was very satisfied with.
Even though she had come to a less developed era, she could still make her life as comfortable as possible within limited resources.
No matter where she was, she always tried to improve her quality of life.
After putting away the robot, she entered her space, went into the bathroom, and took a luxurious flower bath using spiritual spring water.
After drying her hair and looking in the mirror, she admired herself again—another day of looking stunning.
Feeling refreshed, she went to the kitchen to prepare a late-night snack.
But when she opened the fridge, she lost her motivation. Too lazy to cook anything complicated, she took out a bag of frozen sesame glutinous rice balls and made herself a bowl of sweet soup.
After eating, she left the space and went to bed to sleep peacefully.
……
The next morning, after breakfast and finishing her chores, Lin Qianyi went to work full of energy.
She sat at her desk a little bored. The job was really easy—she quickly finished her tasks.
Her main duties were sorting, receiving, and archiving documents, along with some small errands. Very simple.
Looking around the office, she saw people who had finished their work either reading newspapers, drinking tea, or chatting. When the weather got colder, they might even knit sweaters.
Sometimes Lin Qianyi got so bored she would sneak her consciousness into her space.
Still, she reminded herself not to be ungrateful. The factory had arranged this job to take care of the original owner—many people fought desperately just to get an office job.
Compared to the workers in the workshop who were exhausted every day, constantly working nonstop, office staff had it easy and still earned good wages. She should be content.
Easy work was good—she didn’t want to be tired—but the problem was the boredom.
When Wang Lan was around, she would occasionally come over to chat, but now she was sent to the workshop to distribute documents, so there was no one to talk to.
She didn’t like joining the group of married women in the front office either—they mostly talked about family and children, topics she wasn’t very familiar with.
So she waited through boredom until lunchtime.
As soon as the clock hit time, she quickly went downstairs, got on her small bicycle, and rode home.
After locking her bike downstairs, she saw Engineer Xu from the floor above also locking his bike while carrying a large pile of books and documents.
She immediately went over to help.
“Engineer Xu, that’s a lot. Let me help you.”
“Oh, it’s you, Qianyi. Thank you,” Engineer Xu replied. He was a senior engineer at the machinery factory and would retire in a few years.
In the past, when the original owner was a child, she used to call him “Uncle Xu.” After starting work, she called him “Engineer Xu.”
Lin Qianyi helped carry the books and asked, “Are you taking work home again?”
“Sigh, there’s no choice. Some materials can’t be translated. In the past, Lin Gong and Li Gong handled most of it, but now no one can really do it.”
Engineer Xu sighed. Many engineers in the factory specialized in Russian, and very few were proficient in English. Only he and Lin Qianyi’s parents were relatively good at it—and both of them were gone now.
So most of the burden fell on him.
Things were a bit better in previous years, but this year there was more material because the factory had imported new equipment.
He simply didn’t have enough time or energy to handle everything, so he had to bring urgent work home.
Some documents were sent to bookstores to be translated, but there weren’t many capable translators there either.
There was a shortage of skilled people, and many highly qualified professionals had been sent away for “reform,” so it was hard to find help.
Lin Qianyi glanced at the English documents in his arms.
“Can you understand this?” Engineer Xu asked, noticing her focus.
“I understand a little,” she replied.
“Your parents taught you?” he asked.
“Yes, they started teaching me when I was young,” she nodded as they walked upstairs.
“Qianyi, would you be willing to try?” Engineer Xu suddenly became excited. If she could help, it would solve a big problem.
“Me? I’m not sure… this looks very specialized,” she hesitated, but felt tempted. Her job was too idle anyway.
“Try it. With your parents’ level, you should be good too. If you’re unsure, I’ll guide you.”
After thinking it over, she agreed to give it a try.
“I’ll talk to the factory leaders. You can do the translation during work hours—no need to take it home,” he said.
“Okay.”
“And don’t worry, you’ll be paid extra for translations,” he added.
“Thank you,” she said happily.
She walked him to his door, and he handed her a simple document to start with.
She took it home and began preparing her lunch.