Even during her infancy, the storybooks her mother had shown her; the advertisement flyers she had casually glanced at while walking down the street in the past—now, as long as she recalls them, she can clearly remember everything from those flyers.
Now, whenever she wants, she can "flip through" any memory that she missed or forgot. It's a bit like a human camera: once seen, it gets recorded, which is quite absurd. But since the most ridiculous "time travel" has already happened, this level of absurdity, Lin Zhi Huang accepted with calmness.
This extraordinary memory might be the "golden finger" granted to her by "time travel." As an atheist, Lin Zhi Huang was amazed, but she kept her thoughts to herself because there was no one to confide in. Try telling someone about it, and if you don't get burned alive, then tomorrow's sun probably won't rise!
Lin Zhi Huang sighed and stuffed food into her mouth. Since she came here, the thing she had done the most seemed to be eating and sleeping—she felt like a pig. Her life at present was far off compared to how busy she had been back then when she was running the company; all she felt was waste away idly.
After reading through official documents, Lin Zhe Yun's countenance changed drastically, and he quickly straightened up from his seat and left in a rush.
"Hu Liu, Hu Qi, hurry and tell County Magistrate Huang and County Lieutenant Wei to report to the yamen immediately; I have urgent matters to discuss," Lin Zhe Yun ordered while walking.
"Understood!" the servants Hu Liu and Hu Qi stationed outside immediately bowed and rushed off to convey the message.
With the master away on official business, Madam Pei instructed everyone to scatter, and then she had Lin Zhi Huang and Lin Zhi Hui follow her back into her courtyard.
The minute they entered Madam Pei's courtyard, Lin Zhi Hui started shouting, "Mother, I have to go!"
Just finished having dinner, and now you are yelling about how you have to go out. Lin Zhi Huang couldn't help but jerk at the corners of her mouth.
Quick, go to the side room," Madam Pei said, turning back to smile and take Lin Zhi Huang's hand. "Your younger brother does not treat you like an outsider; therefore he is so casual."
The maidservants who followed Lin Zhi Hui at once began preparing what was needed for a chamber pot and screen to be installed in the side room.
Seeing how the maids arranged the side room, Lin Zhi Hui hastened and said, "I cannot set this up indoors; there are too many complaints about the air being stuffy! Let them do it in the courtyard with an open screen."
Young Master, you certainly do not care for etiquette!
In noble houses, when people want to relieve themselves, they find a quiet room, set up a screen, use a chair with a hole, and underneath catch the waste in a wooden bucket. Later on, the maids come to clean up. After that, they bring a bamboo stick, not a precious piece of paper because paper is too valuable for such purposes. If she's unlucky, she might have to squat over a primitive latrine and use a bamboo stick, which can be reused indefinitely, like common folk do.
Ugh…
When Lin Zhi Huang first arrived, she was not used to being attended to while relieving herself and insisted on doing it in the latrine on her own. However, she was quickly defeated by the primitive conditions of the latrine.
The latrine here had a huge pit, with two heavy wooden planks set above it, and large stone slab slanted underneath to guide waste into the pit. Forget the smell; Lin Zhi Huang was more worried about losing her balance on the planks and falling into the pit.
She finally became despondent over the latrine and, resigned to the noble-style toilet arrangements, no longer hesitated at the discretion of the maids to handle her "waste," had to endure the additional humiliation of watching them carry her "waste" in a wooden bucket across half the county yamen to the cleaning room.
Perhaps it is on account of this that the aristocracy must tolerate a complete loss of privacy as part of their prerogatives: "modesty" simply does not exist among them. If they want to enjoy certain things, they must forgo privacy.
"Older sister, you and mother talk, I'm going now," Lin Zhi Hui said.
"…"
While Lin Zhi Hui tended to his business in the courtyard, Madam Pei took hold of Lin Zhi Huang's hand and began to speak in a warmer tone.
"Huān'er, how much longer are you going to stay distant from me? I didn't want to send you to Shengjing back then, but filial piety is more important than anything else, and I had no choice!" Madam Pei said, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.
"Oh, Mother, I don't blame you," Lin Zhi Huang quickly comforted and wasn't able to bear seeing the person cry.
Lin Zhi Huang thought of her own parents in the modern world. They had dedicated their entire lives to their careers and believed that relationships were a waste of time, so they never married. Suddenly being transported here, her parents would probably have aged greatly, losing their only child. It must be heartbreaking. Luckily, she wasn't their only child, and time would eventually ease their pain. This would mean that they would be able to live comfortably the rest of their lives, and this was her way of fulfilling her filial duties.
That is the only way Lin Zhi Huang could reconcile with herself. She had arrived in this new world, and the opportunity to return was a remote possibility. Thinking too much about it was only going to increase the sadness.
Lin Zhi Huang, who had become an entrepreneur, was never a woman to be overly sentimental. She adjusted her mindset very quickly. What had happened was already a fixed fact that couldn't be changed; what could be changed was her attitude.
The key now was to figure out how to live better in adversity.