Li Luyou had no way to prepare a temporary palace for Her Imperial Highness that could meet the Annan imperial house’s standards. He actually felt he could maybe arrange a long-term stay in a five star hotel’s presidential suite to match Annan Xiu’s princess status. It was only too bad the cost was definitely not something a college sophomore could shoulder. Now he could only wrong Annan Xiu and clean out another room for her.
Although Li Luyou lived alone right now, he’d had the idea of living together with his younger sister when he’d rented the house, so he could give her guidance on her final sprint in her last year of high school. Now he could put the empty room to use in advance. Li Luyou went back to his room and took out clean bedding. He moved the bed and installed it, then sprinkled water and cleaned the floor. A room without furniture or ornaments appeared, but still clean and neat enough.
As well-fed and well-clothed princess, Annan Xiu clearly wouldn’t do anything herself. She just watched on and waited for Li Luyou to finish busying himself before walking inside. She nodded, grudgingly satisfied, then she looked at Li Luyou without speaking.
Li Luyou felt that he’d already done his best and didn’t care what she meant.
The little girl pursed her lips. She was already striving very hard to lower her standards, forcing herself very much to express satisfaction. Shouldn’t Li Luyou manifest his gratitude in reverence before Her Highness for the princess’ generosity and forgiveness of his lack of efforts?
"I don’t have too many demands for an aboriginal world." The little girl was a little dissatisfied when she didn’t get the reaction she wanted. Such an attendant still required long-term training.
Li Luyou said without admitting defeat, "There’s none of the divine sorcery you were talking about in our world, but we still have strong powers, it’s just that you don’t understand… At least, as long as you provide enough money, you can enjoy a princess life not inferior to one in the Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm." He actually very much wanted to let this Imperial Highness experience the most luxurious palaces in this world, or the lavish residences hiding in certain places…
Of course there was also the might of nuclear explosions. Li Luyou felt that she would possibly not feel much admiration for luxurious lifestyles with her princess’ horizons, but an atomic bomb was sure to make her not dare to slight her so-called "aboriginal world," and think twice about the price she would need to pay in order to conquer this "aboriginal world."
The little girl looked very strangely at him. "You’re my attendant… Shouldn’t you be the one to take the initiative to solve the money problem?"
"That’s an issue of different cultures and societies." Li Luyou decided to make things clear with her. You had to clearly settle accounts even with your own brother. "You have to understand, when in Rome do as the Romans do. In our world, you should pay your personal assistant, you also ought to pay for daily expenses… But taking into account you don’t have the ability to feed yourself in this world, I can provide some help in this area. We’ll settle the bill in the future before you leave."
"Then you go sell this necklace." The little girl thought a bit and took out her necklace again.
"No matter, I’ll think of a way." Li Luyou shook his head. He looked at that precious necklace and suppressed the temptation. He could truly get rich quick overnight if he could sell this necklace, but how to sell it?
This was a dark world with no bottom limit and there were no bounds to changes in human nature when it came to money. Li Luyou could find a shop that recycled gold items and sell it without too much problem if it were an ordinary gold necklace. But such a necklace, don’t mention he didn’t have any channel to sell it to, even if he had a channel he probably wouldn’t have a life left to spend that money.
He’d already very deeply understood the truth about not exposing wealth back when his sister was was a child and holding a lollipop, then ended up with people pushing her to the ground before snatching it away.
"Alright, then I’ll go rest." She obviously felt it was a matter of course that the questions she raised should be be sorted by others, and that she wouldn’t need to worry about them ever again.
"You’re not eating dinner?" Li Luyou didn’t treat her to a welcoming meal or plan to carefully arrange a dinner. He originally thought about making a bowl of fried rice tonight, but now his current plans had changed… to two bowls.
The door was already closed.
Minced pork, chopped onions, chicken eggs, cayenne pepper, peppery chicken grease, black beans. The fragrant fried rice exuded a thick aroma. Li Luyou didn’t have any special love for cooking, but he’d always do his best to satisfy his own tastes if he decided to cook himself.
As was his habit, Li Luyou carried a plate of fried rice piled into a pyramid and held a glass of water as he sat on the balcony’s recliner to eat. He looked at the windows next door, then watched the sky. He couldn’t help become a little absent-minded.
He was thinking back again to the scenes from the Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm Annan Xiu had poured inside his mind. He’d always believed the universe was boundless. The place greater than Earth was called the solar system, the place even greater than the solar system was the Milky Way, with untold billions of galaxies even more enormous than the Milky Way. There were nebulas, there were black holes.
But he’d never thought there was another world so close within reach. He hadn’t had time yet to pry into this universe’s mysteries that he’d already come into contact with other similar universes, or maybe the existence of parallel worlds… The divine spatial sorcery Annan Xiu talked about should be about opening a door between the world of Earth and the Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm. It was too amazing. He didn’t know if people like Einstein or Hawking could explain the principles therein.
The Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm, what a magical and magnificent world, how nice would it be if you could take a trip there. Li Luyou ate a few mouthfuls of fried rice. He saw the lights next door brighten, then go out. It flashed a few dozen times like this, and then the lights didn’t brighten again anymore.
"Pa…Pa…"
That seemed like the sound of something smashing on the plastic switch. Li Luyou hurriedly ran to the living room and knocked on the door.
The door opened. Annan Xiu’s room was a patch of darkness. The little girl walked out with a face full of unhappiness, a huge gem in her hands. Li Luyou guessed she had been pounding on the plastic switch with this huge gem.
A grumpy little girl. There was an additional layer to Li Luyou’s impression of her. She had no knowledge about things like electric currents and electric lights, that was why a problem had arisen. Her way of solving it on her own was actually to grab something and smash it… Li Luyou thought by association that if he did something wrong in the future, she probably wouldn’t also take such a huge gem to pound him, right? That would be pretty good…
"What are you doing…" Li Luyou stepped back a little. She walked out from the shadows. The Imperial Highness in front of him had changed out of that gorgeously extravagant palace clothes and long skirt, trading it for a comparatively much simpler plain white girdled dress. The swaying hem of her skirt made her waist appear even more slender. The uncovered collarbone was tender and delicate while the shoulders emitted a mellow gloss. She didn’t have much of a young maiden’s nimble curves, but she radiated a kind of soft and lovable freshness with that long hair hanging loose and gently swaying in the background.
She originally looked like a doll in a cupboard, seemingly separated by a layer of glass as people witnessed her dazzling appearance, but now she looked like the little teddy bear quietly lying on the sofa in your own house, seeming to wait for its master to hug it into their arms. Very small, very frail, very pitiful.
Li Luyou was very curious where she got this dress from. She hadn’t taken anything earlier when she’d gone inside the room. Could it be a trend on the Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm to wear several dresses stacked at the same time? That wasn’t impossible actually.
Annan Xiu said as if nothing happened, "That lamp doesn’t want to light up anymore."
Li Luyou looked at the switch. Several scars had been smashed out of it. He pressed it. It was probably a broken bulb. He sighed and said, "Only children two or three years old would play at pushing the lamp switch on and off without getting bored. Flashing the light on and off is very fresh for them, also very fun."
Annan Xiu glared at Li Luyou, her fair cheeks faintly red with heat. "As if I’m interested in turning the lights on and off… There’s nothing interesting about aboriginal things."
"I have to go buy light bulbs… I still need to buy a few daily necessities for you, you want to come along?" Li Luyou didn’t pay attention to her words that didn’t follow her thoughts. It was the same as his heart itching with curiosity toward those so-called divine spells of Annan Xiu’s. It would be weird if she didn’t have any interest for those things she couldn’t understand.
Annan Xiu thought a bit and nodded. "Then I’ll go change into my regular clothes."
Li Luyou could only wait. She walked out after a while, having very mysteriously changed into a set of palace clothes with slightly less complicated decorations. The ribbon wasn’t there, those complicated mysterious runes weren’t there, but it was gorgeous and exquisite all the same, dragging down on the floor all the same.
"Better you just dress up like earlier."
"But that was my nightgown." Annan Xiu looked at Li Luyou with dissatisfaction. "It seems like I have to carefully teach you court etiquette. You actually planned to let a princess randomly stroll everywhere in a nightgown. As an attendant, it is your duty to point things out when you see the princess words and bearing not conforming to proper etiquette. You can absolute not offer any preposterous suggestion that would be harmful to the image of a princess."
"Then I’ll go alone." Li Luyou wasn’t one to buy that. He wouldn’t sink so deeply into the role of an attendant.
The little girl stood in the doorway, coldly watching Li Luyou, her hands tightly gripping the gem. Li Luyou could only hurry to explain out of fear she would smash him with the gem until he caved in, just like she’d smashed the switch: "Just listen to me if you don’t want people to keep staring at you."
Only then did Annan Xiu go back into the room to change her dress. Compared to the issue between nightgown and regular clothes, being encircled and stared at was obviously an even greater provocation to Her Imperial Highness’ prestige and dignity.
Li Luyou was very satisfied. It was fortunate this Imperial Highness wasn’t like the ones you couldn’t communicate with like in those TV series and movies.
The street shrouded by the colors of the night still emitted a roasting hot atmosphere. Annan Xiu wore a white dress and small soft flat shoes as she walked behind Li Luyou. Annan Xiu’s wrinkled brows never loosened as she watched Li Luyou looking east and west in his t-shirt and shorts.
She didn’t require him to have the martial might to cleave open a mountain with a strike of the sword. But smooth hair, a neat look, clothes without a thread loose, a stature straight as a ramrod, a steady and earnest expression, slow and staunch footsteps, as well as constantly maintaining a reserved but polite smile, only this could describe a qualified attendant. Annan Xiu shook her head. He was the first attendant in her life she’d personally chosen, but there was no way to hold too much hope for him.