Doing all the chores without help took three times longer than Anji expected. She never realised how quick Lizi and the other servants at the Celestial Dragon Sect were with their hands until she had to do everything herself. Even if her shifu’s hut was equipped with spell-activated devices, many things still had to be done manually.
The first thing Anji did was unpack her clothes and change the bedsheets. Then, she took a shower and did the laundry for the night. It was easy to find a large basin and fill it with water. Her shifu added temperature controls in the spell circuit, similar to what she did to the bottom of her teapot. However, the laundry process was difficult to complete because Anji did not have time to introduce a new device that spun the clothes automatically or a heating chamber to dry them. Hence, she had to do it by hand, the traditional way.
By the time Anji finished the chores, her back was aching on top of her legs. However, going back to the small hut with only an empty bed made Anji finally realise she was truly alone. Gu Ying could not accompany her, and Lizi was far away from where she was. Her shifu’s whereabouts within the sect were unknown. To top it off, she could not contact her parents until her rest day, not that Anji knew when her two rest days in a week were. Her shifu was blind and did not write letters. She would often have someone else transcribe her words for formal events or send a recording crystal with her voice message, like what she did for Anji in the past three years. Hence, there were no writing materials in the hut. Anji made a mental note to ask Pearl for some paper, brushes, and ink so she could write her letters the next day.
For now, Anji climbed into the bed. She was terribly exhausted. However, the young princess could not fall asleep even after turning out the light. Something about the air was different. The lack of insects chirping at night and tranquillity made Anji recall how she was in a different place, far from home. Although there were many interesting inventions, delicious food and kind people in the Mystical Qilin Sect, it was not the same as back in the Celestial Dragon Sect. She missed her family badly. In particular, she missed her parents more than she missed her siblings. She wanted to share all about what she had seen with them. She wanted to know how they would react to her stories and receive a hug from them. She missed her father’s large hand patting her head and his low chuckle.
Thinking about all the people she missed, Anji cried silently to herself until she eventually fell asleep a few hours before dawn.
Exactly at seven in the morning, Anji’s sound crystal went off, startling the girl awake. She created it to help a new servant who often had trouble waking up in the morning. Using a sound crystal to record the clanging of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen that would play at a certain time set in her spell. The invention worked like a charm, and soon, many servants in the sect wanted one. Anji thought this would be useful when she had to wake up without a servant to rouse her and pack it. However, she never thought it would be this startling. Her heart almost leapt out of her chest despite the dark circles beneath her eyes. On the bright side, she was wide awake.
With puffy eyes from crying last night, Anji made her bed and washed her face. Not feeling like taking a bath so early in the morning, Anji brushed her teeth and hair, then changed into a new set of the sect’s uniform tailored to her size. There was no mirror in her shifu’s house, so Anji had no idea if creases were on her uniform. However, she knew she had to hurry to the kitchen for breakfast. Pearl was waiting to show her where Researcher Yang’s facilities were.
Unsure what type of chores would await her, Anji took a few talismans that she thought might help. Then, the little girl hurried out of the hut and down the mossy stairs as carefully as possible.
It was seven-thirty by the time Anji showed up at the surprisingly empty mess hall. Pearl and Aunt Wine were chatting when they spotted the breathless girl who looked as if she had been up all night. Her hair was messy, and her uniform collar was crooked. Did she have trouble getting used to her room? ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noⅴelfire.net
"Little cutie, you’re here! What happened? Did you have trouble getting used to your room?"
Feeling ashamed at her untidy appearance when Pearl helped to straight her collar and retie her hair, Anji explained she had a lot of things to unpack before sleeping.
Nodding in understanding, the kind cook brought out a hearty breakfast of steamed buns and a thick egg congee. Anji munched them down hungrily and asked if she could get some writing materials from Pearl.
"I want to write some letters home to my parents so they won’t worry," she said in between bites of her steam bun. The bowl of congee was already empty while it was still warm.
Agreeing to send some writing materials directly to Anji’s cottage, Pearl apologised for needing to leave earlier.
"There is a morning meeting I must attend, and I won’t be able to escort you to Researcher Yang’s place. The orders came last night when they discovered several important records missing. Researcher Yang’s research lab is on the sixth lane behind the main street. It has a green door, you can’t miss it. His research assistants should be there and expecting you. If you get lost, you can ask anyone you pass by."
Not wanting Pearl to feel guilty for not keeping her word to bring Anji to Researcher Yang’s lab, Anji reassured the busy senior librarian she would be fine on her own.
Leaving uneasily, Pearl promised to leave the writing materials in Anji’s cottage before she returned. At the same time, she reminded Aunt Wine to find Anji if she weren’t there by lunch.
Shooing the busy senior librarian away, Aunt Wine cleared the empty dishes and smiled at Anji.
"I can escort you there after I put these away," she offered.
Afraid to trouble the busy head cook, Anji shook her head and declined the offer. She thanked Aunt Wine for the delicious breakfast, feeling slightly more energised and promised to turn up for lunch.
From the kitchen, Aunt Wine waved goodbye to Anji sadly when her offer was turned down. Looking at the small figure plodding along the path, she wondered if Anji would be fine. After all, there were rumours that Researcher Yang’s assistants were close to getting terminated for poor work conduct.