Chapter 4 New Home "Come in," Ji Ruoyi said as she opened the door of her home for him; the ancient man was still hesitating. "Luckily it is night now, and the taxi driver thought you were an actor. Otherwise, you might have frightened other people on the street." “Where is here?” he asked. On the way, he had seen so many strange things. There were no carriages, but he saw many four-wheeled carriers instead. They ran much faster than the horses, and smoother. The drivers didn"t use reins; instead, they manipulated a steering wheel to control the direction. And the horn"s sound was louder. The buildings were much taller than their bamboo houses. How could the residents climb so high to live in such places? Ji Ruoyi told him they used something called elevators that would raise them up automatically. But what was this elevator? Meanwhile, there were so many colorful and cheap lights. He had thought the lights were more expensive than the pearls, but the girl told him they were cheap. And people here didn"t sleep at nights. “My home,” she answered. He felt her impatience. This stubborn guy had asked her questions the whole way here, and it’d almost driven her crazy. Just when he thought he’d finished with the surprise, he was shocked by a painting. “Who painted this image? How can the female painter draw such an accurate and vivid portrait of you? It is like another you is standing in front of me. Her skills are so good!” “That is a photo.” She brought out some fruit to clean. “By the way, the artist who took the photo is a man.” “You dressed like that in front of a man?” Yi Zhizhu was jaundiced and felt that was hard to accept. “This is common in our age. Let me tell you, since you can’t go back to your dynasty, you should get used to this world and our customs.” Hiding his discontent, Yi Zhizhu nodded. “Great! Then you’ll need to change your appearance first. Tonight it is too late, so let’s go to sleep first. Remember to call me tomorrow morning.” Ji Ruoyi led him upstairs. Is she asking me to sleep with her in the same room? How could she? Though he liked her, he wouldn’t accept sleeping together. Soon he realized that he’d misunderstood. “Hey, this is your room. Mine is across the hall. Call me if necessary.” If you can wake me up, Ji Ruoyi added in her heart. He nodded again. He didn’t know what else he could do beyond nodding. His eyes never left her; why did she have no special reaction? Was she this careless to the attention of all men? Thinking of this, he couldn’t stop his anger again. He tried his best to control himself. Could this woman truly be the result of twenty years of cultivation? “Follow me.” Ji Ruoyi suddenly turned back. “To where? You said we should go sleep now.” “Don’t you have any sense of hygiene, like taking a bath or brushing your teeth? Oh, I forgot that you’re from ancient times, and you don’t bathe everyday. So come here.” She opened the door of the wash room. She taught him about the toothbrush, toothpaste, mild wash, hand washing, and body wash. . . Then she told him how to use the shower. After all of that, she left. Yi Zhizhu became overwhelmed as he stared at all the washing tools. Did she really spend everyday carrying out such a troublesome routine? He felt sympathy for her. It was so tiresome to use all those things day after day and year after year. He didn’t want to use any of them, but he had come here, so he had to fix himself. Cool! When Yi Zhizhu finished washing and came out, Ji Ruoyi whistled at him, showing overt adoration toward him. His face suddenly turned red. Wow. . . She sighed secretly, taking in his embarra.s.sment. Yi Zhizhu had washed his long black hair, letting it spread over his shoulders and body; drops of water dripped from it and landed on the floor. His handsome face was a healthy white color, which was so cute in a black dress. His lips were s.e.xy, and his nose straight. He looked more casual than the first time they met. Since he didn’t have any other clothes, he had only the outer-dress on. The wide open collar exposed his chest. Under Ji Ruoyi’s probing gaze, not only his face grew pink, but his chest as well. Ji Ruoyi subtly licked at her lips. She didn’t notice the change in the young man. Didn’t she know what she was doing? Didn’t she understand her movements were incredibly tempting to men? Yi Zhizhu felt his body’s changes and he tried to calm himself down with the teachings of martial arts. “Hey, you’re pretty cute! I didn’t think you’d have muscles. Though you are not perfectly muscular, you’re handsome enough to be appreciated. Little boy, you’ve got promise!” Ji Ruoyi walked over to him and slightly pounded his chest like a buddy. Yi Zhizhu felt the blood rush to his head. What was she doing? Didn’t she know males and females shouldn’t touch each other? “You. . . ” He licked his lips. “Oh, sorry. I act like this out of habit,” she explained without any excuse. What? He was irritated by her words again. Out of habit? Was she always acting like that? Though he tried many times to tell himself the world she was living in was like this, he lost control many times. He tried his best to close his eyes to quell his impulses. He pa.s.sed her without any expression, saying, “If you have nothing more to say, I will go to my room.” “Hey, why are you in such a hurry?” Ji Ruoyi followed him to his room; she sat on his bed, which embarra.s.sed him and made him unsure whether he should keep standing or sit down. “Look what I have brought for you.” Ji Ruoyi put some clothes on his bed. “These clothes are for my father. I didn’t have time to take them back, though. You can wear them first. I think you’ll look good in them.” She lifted her head and smiled, oblivious to his awkwardness. When she saw he was standing still, looking stunned, she urged, “Why are you still just standing there? Go put it on?” “But . . . would you please look away for a while?” he asked, sighing. “No! Are you afraid to expose your body in front of me? Every man’s basically the same; I’ve seen it all. I already know your body const.i.tution; I don’t care.” “What?!” Her indifference to this issue made him furious; he lost control. He stepped forward and caught one of her arms. “Hey, what are you doing? That hurts! You’re going to break the bone!” Ji Ruoyi cried out with tears. “When did you see a man’s body? Why? Don’t you have any sense of propriety?” Yi Zhizhu’s eyes became cold. He wanted to kill the man who had been seen by her. She was not allowed to see any man’s body, except his. “Are you mad? Who are you? Do we have any relationship? Why do you care what I have done?” Ji Ruoyi was harsh although her arm still hurt. He let her go. Yes, who was he? Why did he have the right to take her issues seriously? It was her own business. His desolate expression was caught by Ji Ruoyi. She felt some pity. “Fine, fine, my words were too rushed. But you really hurt me. We learned all about the const.i.tution of the human body in the school, not like you,” she explained, not wanting him to misunderstand her. “What?” He was surprised. “Your school teaches this?” Oh my! He couldn’t even imagine it. “Yes. This is not a big deal. Quite common in our age. . . Since neither of us want to sleep, why don’t we have a chat to get to know each other better?” She planned to teach him about the world as soon as possible, so that she could be free of him, since she found him so charming. “Oh . . . sure!” he said, but he was regretful when he saw the blue and black on her arms. “Change your clothes first. I can turn around. Be quick!” She looked back when he was taking off the dress, which frightened him and he sped up the process to avoid another peep. “Well done.” Soon he finished putting on the new clothes and asked her to turn back around. Wow! “You look great in this suit!” she praised. He was like a star who just came from a movie company. Her endless praises made his whole face, including his ears, become red. “Really?” he asked. If she said so, did it mean that she had some feeling for him? If he knew the thoughts in her heart, he would be angry again. Seeing she still sat on his bed, he had to choose the sofa. Sitting down, he felt a strange soft feeling. What did they fill the sofa with? Animal feathers? Seeing his new interests, Ji Ruoyi didn’t give him any chance to ask questions; she broke his imagination immediately. “Let’s get to know each other better. Tell me about your family,” she said, leaning on the cushion of the bed. “Me? I have nothing to tell.” “Nothing? Do you have a family? What’s your job? Do you have any special skills? I should figure out a way for you to survive in this world,” she said; she had a father to support as well, after all. “I am the only child of my family. My parents died when I was very little. It was my housekeeper who raised me. He treated me as his own son,” he said slowly, falling into his own memories.