She is wearing a jacket dress today, also known as a lined top for the upper body and a skirt for the lower body.
The top is dark green with white patterns, and the skirt is light green with embroidered landscapes and flowers.
This made Li Zhiyuan, who spent last night with a magnifying glass reading books, find it particularly soothing to his eyes.
After washing up, while breakfast was not yet ready, Li Zhiyuan brought out the chessboard Grandma Liu gave him last night, intending to play chess with Qin Li.
However, Qin Li, looking at the normal-sized valuable chessboard, hesitated for a long time without picking up the chess pieces.
"Do you not like it?"
Qin Li didn’t answer.
Li Zhiyuan had no choice but to put away the chessboard and brought out the rudimentary plastic board on paper that Uncle Qin bought for him in town.
After setting it up, Qin Li immediately picked up the chess pieces and started playing.
After losing three games in a row, Li Zhiyuan somewhat missed the exchange he had with Grandma Liu last night.
However, he could also feel his chess skills improving, as being constantly pressed by a girl made it easy for him to find and correct his shortcomings.
The girl no longer deliberately let him win, and by the third game, although he still lost decisively, there was a serious atmosphere of playing chess between the two.
But Li Zhiyuan also knew that his limit was soon approaching, unless he got rid of the two sets of books in his room and replaced them with chess manuals for study, otherwise he would never be able to surpass the girl in chess skills.
Yet, what is the meaning of doing so? Being overly competitive on unnecessary things would only appear immature.
"Alri, you play really well."
The girl seemed to be smiling, though her expression did not show it, but her slightly trembling lips seemed to hint at the action she wanted to take.
Aunt Liu called them for breakfast.
After breakfast, Li Zhiyuan noticed that the girl once again hid the pickled duck egg he opened for her into her sleeve.
Li Zhiyuan grabbed her hand and took the pickled duck egg out:
"Alri, if you want to eat something, just eat it. Don’t hide it away. If you want to collect things, I can specifically give you some gifts in the future."
The girl’s eyes lit up.
After breakfast, keeping his promise, Li Zhiyuan went to the eastern room. Liu Yumei was not inside, and unlike her usual habit of drinking tea outside, she deliberately stayed far away.
This was the first time Li Zhiyuan entered inside the eastern room. Looking at the spiritual hall filled with name tablets from both the Qin and Liu families, he felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
It felt like he had been to a similar place with the same feeling, but he couldn’t remember exactly where it was or who took him there.
Li Zhiyuan bowed to the name tablets, finished the etiquette, then started cleaning up the dirty towels and the rotten duck egg on the tablets.
At this moment, Qin Li reached out and grabbed Li Zhiyuan’s arm. Her eyelashes did not twitch, her body did not tremble, but it showed her reluctance.
It was Li Zhiyuan cleaning up. Had it been someone else, even if it was Liu Yumei herself, the girl would have exploded already.
"Alri, be good. If you want to collect things, don’t keep them here. We can find a better place for them. This place is for placing tablets for our ancestors, understand?"
Alri lowered her head, visibly disheartened.
Meanwhile, Li Zhiyuan pondered what he should give her.
Giving her food was definitely not an option; she would definitely keep it hidden away to continue to spoil.
"Alri, how about I give you that chess set? It’s not new but the one we used this morning, kept in a small wooden box.
Keep it with you, and bring it out to find me in the mornings, and we can play chess with it together."
Qin Li raised her head, and although her expression was still subtle, it felt like her entire demeanor brightened.
Outside the room, Liu Yumei, who had intentionally avoided the area but now sneaking over to eavesdrop, rolled her eyes.
She could already imagine her granddaughter carefully cherishing that worthless toy.
Stepping outside and seeing Liu Yumei.
Li Zhiyuan did not hurry away but continued, "Grandma Liu, the weather is really nice today, you should go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air, it’s good for your health."
"I’ve told Ali, after he finishes his work tonight, he will teach you. Don’t be afraid of the hard work."
"Not at all. Thank you, Grandma Liu."
As Li Zhiyuan was taking Qin Li upstairs, he saw Li Sanjiang coming down. When not busy, Grandmaster generally sleeps in late.
"How’s your studying going?"
Li Sanjiang, forgetting he had asked the same thing the previous night, simply enjoyed feeling concerned about a child’s studies.
After all, if he really investigated, he would probably find out that what Li Zhiyuan has been reading recently.
Yes, because Qin Li has been accompanying Li Zhiyuan in reading, Sanjiang was still a bit wary and reluctant to approach.
"It’s a bit tough, but I’m trying my best."
"That’s good, keep it up."
Returning to the northeastern corner of the second-floor terrace, Li Zhiyuan brought out his books and a magnifying glass, and took out a blank workbook.
In "Yin Yang Face Reading," there are many terms about "measurement" and "tailoring," and beyond those, many abstract ancient texts, commonly used in old medical books.
Li Zhiyuan could read the words but lacked a precise understanding of the concepts, and could only record them with a pen for now.
Fortunately, he could ask Liu Yumei about the former since he could tell, although Qin Li’s clothes were tailor-made, they must have been altered by Liu Yumei. As for the latter, he could ask Aunt Liu, who clearly knew medical techniques.
At this moment, Uncle Qin had already brought back the raw materials for making incense, and Aunt Liu was preparing to make incense the traditional way.