"I'll take that as a yes."
Xu Qing waited for a moment, and seeing that she made no move nor showed any intention of leaving, he shifted his gaze to the sword lying on the ground beside him.
"From now on, you can't just draw your sword at the drop of a hat. To the people of this world, that's a terrifying thing—now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll help you out."
Jiang He tilted her head slightly, thought carefully, and moved her lips a couple of times without making a sound.
There were too many questions, she didn't even know where to start.
She didn't understand this place at all, wanted to ask about everything, and yet didn't know how to ask about anything.
"Where's your wife?"
"Huh?"
Xu Qing was stunned.
Is curiosity a woman's nature?
"I'm right here..." Jiang He turned her head to look around, clenching and then relaxing her fists.
"This humble man has lived a pure single life for over twenty years and is currently not married."
"...Not married?" She didn't quite understand the part about the dog, but she heard the unmarried part loud and clear.
"Yeah." Xu Qing nodded.
"..."
The room fell silent.
"Do you think it's improper for an unmarried man and woman to live in the same room, blah blah blah... It's normal in this world, and it's not like I've asked you to sleep with me or anything. That storeroom over there will be cleaned out later, and you can make do with it for now."
Xu Qing couldn't help but explain himself. As he spoke, he got up and gestured for her to follow him to the storeroom door to take a look. Inside was a spring bed that would be suitable for sleeping as long as it was cleaned and given some bedding.
Jiang He's height only reached his shoulders, and as she stood by the door looking up at him, her expression was a bit strange.
Just giving a greeting and someone would cook and bring over meals, and a landlord of this age is still not married.
Is this also a local custom?
Xu Qing didn't know what she was thinking. He tidied up the miscellaneous items on the bed, wiped down the bed with a towel, then went back to his room and brought over bedding for winter use—his room only had one set for summer and one for winter, with no extras, so it would have to do.
"These are all washed and clean. You can use them first, and we can talk about anything else tomorrow."
After he had taken care of everything, he stood at the door and repeated the lesson on how to lock the door to Jiang He. He paused for a moment before continuing,
"Better rest early. I know your mind is in turmoil, and so is mine. Well... goodnight."
"...Hopefully, when we wake up tomorrow, we'll discover this was all just a dream—by the way, my name is Xu Qing."
With that, Xu Qing smiled at her, turned off the living room light, and went back to his own room.
Jiang He quietly stood at the door, watching as his bedroom door closed. She turned to look around the living room, picked up her Longsword, and went back to her room, sitting on the bed with it tightly clutched, lost in thought.
...
Late at night.
The clouds gradually dispersed, and the moon peeked out, brighter than usual after being washed by the rain, with its bright, clear light streaming through the window onto Xu Qing's face.
Xu Qing had insomnia.
He lay there with his eyes open, staring at the moon outside the window, feeling a sense of unreality.
During the day, he had gone out job hunting, got caught in the rain without an umbrella on the way back, a typical yet unfortunate day.
And then he picked up a girl who liked to draw her sword abruptly, who also claimed to be from ancient times...
From afar, the faint sound of dogs barking could be heard.
Xu Qing moved his head, pulling his slightly numb arm out from behind his head, and listened for a while. Hearing no other noises, he closed his eyes and forced himself to try to sleep.
Forget all the nonsense...
He'd deal with it tomorrow.
...
Before I knew it, dawn had arrived.
Xu Qing, who had no idea when he had fallen asleep, opened his eyes to find it was already past ten in the morning.
Another unproductive day.
Lying in bed, he turned over, stretched lazily, picked up his phone to scroll aimlessly, when suddenly, a slight noise from outside made him stop in his tracks.
The female knight?
Xu Qing leapt up from the bed, sneaking over to the door, and carefully opened a crack to peek through. Jiang He was sitting on the couch, wearing the T-shirt he had given her yesterday, and cleaning her sword with a piece of yellowing silk cloth.
"Xu... Qing?"
Jiang He had noticed the movement at the door and gave him a glance.
"Uh, that... ahem, this isn't a dream then, you... cough."
Xu Qing's heart beat slightly faster as he adjusted his clothing, walked out without finishing his sentence, poured himself a large glass of water, and gulped it down before taking a deep breath.
He had a moment of doubt, suspecting he had been conned, but the sight of the TV with a hole in it on the table dispelled his suspicions.
Not to mention the combat power... breaking into someone's home, damaging property, that was illegal. No one would be that foolish for a show, not even for a prank.
A person from twelve hundred years ago was right in front of him.
"So... you're up pretty early."
"It's almost Noon," Jiang He sheathed her sword, placed it aside casually, and looked at Xu Qing as if wanting to say more.
This guy getting out of bed nearly at Noon gave her an indescribable feeling.
Somehow, it made her feel a bit more at ease.
"Um..."
Xu Qing scratched his head, "Hungry?"
"A little."
Jiang He fumbled around her body, finding that she was wearing the T-shirt and jeans Xu Qing had given her the day before. She paused and stood up, took out two pieces of broken silver from the room, and placed them on the table, glancing at the surprised Xu Qing, she hesitated, "Even though it seems you're not short of money, but..."
"Got any gold?" Xu Qing blurted out.
Silver wasn't worth much, but gold was always valuable... With his lack of an ID, he knew he would have to grease some wheels—the wealth he had wasn't abundant.
Jiang He paused at his words, thought for a moment, then went back to the room and brought out a crescent-shaped jade pendant, "This... should be pawnable for some silver."
"Forget it, I was just asking. It's not like you're going to miss a meal... Take back the silver too."
Xu Qing waved his hand and, looking over her loosely fitting clothes, decided against ordering takeout, "Stay here for a while, I'll go out and buy you some daily necessities and clothes, and bring back food—remember, don't go wandering outside, it's dangerous out there."
Although wearing his clothes was a bit more normal than her rough linen outfit and straw sandals, it would still look odd if she tried to go out. Once she had some modern clothes and let her hair down without that broken rope, walking around nearby should be fine...
The police station being across the street was actually convenient; their proximity meant less likelihood of street checks. As long as she didn't draw attention to herself while outside, there was almost no risk of exposure.
As he thought this through and got dressed, Xu Qing's main concern was how to hide her identity.
—He couldn't afford to be careless, a living breathing ancient knight could lead to irreparable consequences with any slip up.
"Something like this tall, what size should I get?"
Walking into a women's clothing store, Xu Qing randomly picked out a few standard-issue youthful clothes, simple and neat. He estimated the shoulder height and after asking for a while, packed up three sets, and on his way out, he thought for a moment and added a long dress.
Clothes, pants, shoes, socks, and...
Looking at the lingerie shop in the distance, Xu Qing felt conflicted, hesitated for a moment, then for the first time in his life, he stepped into such a place.
She didn't bring any changes of clothes, she couldn't very well go out in nothing...
"What size?"
Faced with the shop owner's question, Xu Qing felt even more conflicted, gesturing awkwardly with his hands, still unsure of what to buy.