The washing machine began to work, rumbling with its distinctive noise.
Jiang He's ears turned slightly red as she sat on the sofa, continuing to watch historical science videos.
Xu Qing was stroking a cat nearby, glancing at her from time to time.
Then glanced at her feet again.
That's not right... Her feet were fine when she changed her slippers that day.
Recalling the events of the past few days, Xu Qing was perplexed. After pondering for a while, he picked up his phone and rapidly typed a message.
"When did foot binding start?"
A quick search on Baidu, and there were a bunch of answers: some say during the Sui, some during South Tang, but most say it started in the Late Northern Song...
"Ahem... could you lift your foot up?"
"I won't lift it."
"Just now that was..." Xu Qing began, but he couldn't continue, as Jiang He was glaring at him with shame and annoyance.
Seeing her like this, something flashed through Xu Qing's mind, and he suddenly slapped his thigh, exclaiming, "Hey ya!"
She didn't wear any of the various sizes of little clothes he bought that day!
Binding what feet, that thing is simply...
Xu Qing's gaze inadvertently swept over, and Jiang He, who was still staring at him, was both shocked and angry.
"Rogue!"
"Huh?"
Clang!
Iron Dart landed on the table, Xu Qing shut up, hugged the cat, turned around, and looked at the rumbling washing machine, clicking his tongue.
Turns out it wasn't malnutrition, she had them bound.
Wonder if that affects development...
Winter Melon lay limp on his lap, irritated by the noise of the washing machine, got up and wandered around for a bit, then with a light jump landed on Jiang He's lap, curled his tail, and lay down.
Without the cat to play with, Xu Qing felt despondent and sat on the chair, idly opening Baidu and entering "rogue" into the search.
"The beauties of the world... ahem, no beauties in the world compare to those from Chu State, and among the beauties of Chu State, the most outstanding is a girl from next door."
Xu Qing began to recite with great emotion. Jiang He frowned at him but didn't say anything, though her ears perked up quietly.
"This girl had a moderate figure, not too tall nor too short, with naturally beautiful complexion that required no powder or rouge. Eyebrows, skin, waist, teeth, not a single flaw. When she smiled faintly, her beauty was indescribable, and who knows how many were beguiled by her charm."
Stealing a glance at Jiang He, Xu Qing never stopped talking, prattling on about the story of the rogue:
"The rogue was different, his wife... oh, his wife had messy hair, lopsided ears, cracked lips, missing teeth—tsk tsk tsk, such a pity.
She walked hunched over, limping along, covered in scabs and suffering from severe hemorrhoids... but the rogue adored her, and they had five children!"
"Five!" Xu Qing opened his palm and waved it twice, his tone exaggerated, "Impressive, right?"
???
Jiang He looked at him bewildered.
"What does this mean? It signifies a truly remarkable man."
Xu Qing shook his head in admiration, "Marrying such an ugly woman, and still being able to love and cherish her, living harmoniously, with children and grandchildren all around, a peaceful and happy home... truly a model for our generation!"
With that, he made a fist with his hand towards Jiang He, "Thank you for the compliment, Ms. Xia!"
"..."
"..."
Jiang He was utterly confused.
"Hey, by the way, in your place, when repaying a debt of gratitude... if the benefactor is ugly, do they say: 'In the next life, I'll be a bull or a horse to repay you;' but if the benefactor is decent-looking, do they say: 'I have nothing to repay you with, this little girl will offer her body... that in marriage'?" Xu Qing asked.
"What offer..." Jiang He was annoyed and gritted her teeth, "Rogue!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Ms. Xia!"
"..."
"Hahaha, don't glare at me, I'm just kidding."
Xu Qing was amused; teasing the female warrior was really fun.
After such a diversion, Jiang He's awkward feeling about Xu Qing holding her intimate clothing in his hands dissipated, and after rubbing Winter Melon's chubby body twice, she refocused on learning history from the computer.
By the time the washing machine stopped, the takeout had just arrived; two portions of braised chicken rice. Jiang He put away the computer, and on the other side, Xu Qing hung up the clothes to dry and came over to eat after washing his hands.
Actually, if identity issues were not considered, having a female warrior around was quite fun, but Xu Qing wondered if it would still be as amusing once she learned to live in the modern world.
"What kind of fun stuff do you have over there? Surely it's not just fighting and killing every day?" Xu Qing asked while eating.
Jiang He stopped her chopsticks to think and then answered, "Hunting."
"Really fun."
Xu Qing, unable to make another comment, said, "I'll download some games for you to try out later."
Hearing him say things she didn't understand, Jiang He didn't ask but just silently continued eating.
If she had to ask about everything she didn't understand, she wouldn't be able to do anything else all day.
...
After finishing the meal, Xu Qing found himself with nothing to do again—usually at this time, he would be either watching movies for materials in front of his computer or studying the stock market's EKGs. Ever since Jiang He arrived, his life had been thoroughly disrupted.
"I'll find a video for you to watch first."
Thinking it over, Xu Qing remembered what he had planned to do before eating. He went over to the computer and started clicking rapidly, searching for a bra-fitting video tutorial.
This stuff was easy to find; a simple search brought up many results. He clicked on the most popular one, glanced at the video length, and then got up to leave, allowing Jiang He to study alone in the living room.
Although that long piece of white cloth could be used, being in the best era, she shouldn't stick to such old-fashioned habits.
Moreover, the clothes shouldn't be bought for nothing... Xu Qing was a bit of a perfectionist; if he bought something, it had to be used.
Yup, that's about it.
In just five minutes, Xu Qing, timing his return, came out of the bedroom to find Jiang He's face red, her lips moving slightly as if she wanted to loudly call him a rogue again, but she ultimately didn't say anything.
"Is life here always so... so... licentious?" she finally mustered the courage to ask after a pause.
"What do you mean by licentious?" Xu Qing asked, surprised. "Wearing comfortable clothes and enjoying life, isn't that very normal?"
"Shameless!"
"What is shameless?"
"It's just... it's just..." Jiang He couldn't find the words and clenched her little fist tightly, as if she wanted to punch him.
"You're being prudish."
Xu Qing, seeing her reaction, really wanted to laugh out loud; she was just too funny.
"Haven't you seen on the streets? Those women, showing their legs, their waists... that's individual freedom." He gestured at his own body, "If men can show, why can't women? That's the logic. If you can't accept it, you can wear long sleeves and pants, but you can't go up to others and tell them they are shameless."
"I can't accept it!" Jiang He said loudly.
"Okay, okay, if you can't accept it, then don't. I never asked you to wear those things. As for the underwear, well—I'll shut up, I won't talk about it anymore."
Seeing her growing annoyance, Xu Qing wisely changed the topic, moving the mouse around to find his old game library, "The games here are super fun... Scientific studies show that ninety percent of people initially learn to operate computers to play games; I believe you're not in the leftover ten percent."
Teaching Jiang He how to play Super Mario as if she were a child with a learning disability, Xu Qing observed her and noticed her lack of interest in the game, so he quickly switched to another one.
An hour later.
The truth was that Jiang He found these incomprehensible games unengaging. Although she got the hang of them quickly, they failed to hold her attention, except for a dress-up game on a small and crappy website that she lingered on for a while longer.
"Hmm... I'll teach you Fight the Landlord,"
After a moment of contemplation, Xu Qing decided to give it another try.
He needed to find something for her to do; it was improper for her to contemplate sneaking out at night or thinking about practicing martial arts all day long.
Moreover, if Jiang He one day got to understand this society and left without a word to wander or look for her Chang'an, Gusu, or whatever...
It was better to stay at home and play games.