At night, Qi Huan tossed and turned in bed. "Can't sleep! ...System, sing a song for me to listen to."
"Sorry, that's not within the scope of this system's services."
"One hundred credits!"
"Very well, host. It would be my pleasure to serve you. What song would you like to hear?"
Qi Huan, wrapped in her blanket, gazed at the thatched roof, pondering for a moment before saying, "The beauty of the world is interwoven with you."
It was her favorite song from her previous life.
"...Now the orioles fly and grasses grow long, the one you love is on their way..."
The electronic voice of the system singing was quite grating. When the song ended, not only had Qi Huan not fallen asleep, but she felt more awake.
"Host, would you like another song? I'll give you a 20% discount."
Qi Huan shook her head vigorously, refusing, "Let's do something more pleasant. Help me take out the silver ingots and silver notes from the space."
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a faint glow on the floor. Borrowing the light, she began counting her money.
Apart from the one thousand taels of silver notes given by Li Shuchen, she had specifically exchanged fifty silver ingots from the bank and stored them in the space, along with a bag of loose silver, and a bag of copper coins, having all types of currency for convenience in different situations.
In total, it amounted to nearly one thousand six hundred taels.
After counting the money and putting it back into the space, Qi Huan began checking her credit balance.
"System, check balance."
"Certainly, host. Your current credit balance is 6666."
"Exchange it all!"
With a swishing sound, packages fell next to her bed, piling up like a small mountain.
Peeking at them, Qi Huan sat up in bed. Instantly, a cold chill crept up her exposed back, seeping into her bones.
"Never mind, I'll unpack them tomorrow."
After lying back down and wrapping herself up like a caterpillar, Qi Huan gradually fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, when she woke up, the first thing she did was run to the kitchen, grab a knife, and slice open all the delivery boxes one by one to check their contents.
The first box contained toothbrushes and toothpaste;
The second box contained various cosmetics, from foundation to eyebrow pencils, double eyelid tapes, concealer pens, and more, a complete set.
The third box contained a crate of red wine.
The fourth box contained a set of mahjong tiles.
The fifth box contained a couple's down jackets, two turtleneck white sweaters, and two pairs of thermal pants.
And the last box, unexpectedly, contained fireworks and a lighter.
Technically, these were prohibited items that couldn't be delivered by courier. However, when the son of the small courier station leader got married in her previous life, she had helped transport a few boxes of fireworks back to his hometown, and he had given her two hundred yuan for gas.
The gas money wasn't important; the important thing was that she wanted to attend the wedding banquet, so she agreed.
She never expected to see these fireworks again in this otherworldly life. Qi Huan was thrilled, as these deliveries came just in time!
This year was a small year, without the big New Year's Eve, so the new year would be celebrated on the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month, which was today.
It would be perfect to drink red wine, watch fireworks, and play mahjong tonight!
Gathering the fireworks, red wine, and mahjong set together against the wall, Qi Huan picked up the box containing the toothbrushes and toothpaste and headed to the kitchen.
Xiu Wen had just woken up too. Since he didn't need to go to the Lu Mansion to teach today, he had slept in a bit late. At the moment, he was squatting in front of the stove, adding firewood to heat water for everyone's morning ablutions.
"Xiu Wen, this is for you!" Qi Huan casually took out a green toothbrush and handed it to him.
"What is this? ...A brush?"
"Yes, a toothbrush from the immortal realm. When everyone's here, I'll teach you all how to use it."
Seeing steam rising from the iron pot, Xiu Wen removed the thicker pieces of firewood and set them aside on the ground to extinguish. "The water is almost hot. I'll go call the others."
Once everyone had gathered, Qi Huan distributed a toothbrush to each person.
The four men stood in a row, holding a bowl of water in their left hands and a differently colored toothbrush in their right, their expressions so solemn that Qi Huan couldn't help but smile. "You don't need to look so serious. It's simple; just follow my lead."
She dipped the bristles of her toothbrush into the hot water to briefly warm it, then took out the toothpaste, unscrewed the cap, and squeezed a small amount onto the brush.
After applying the toothpaste to her brush, she handed it to Li Shuchen, who was standing across from her, indicating for him to do the same.
After passing it around a few times, each person's brush had toothpaste on it.
Qi Huan began brushing her teeth, and the four men across from her followed suit.
"How is it? Isn't it easy to use? Keeping it up will be good for your teeth!"
Standing across from her, Li Shuchen gazed at her smiling face, feeling that her smile was brighter than the sun, radiating warmth into his heart.
He reached out and gently wiped away the remaining toothpaste foam from the corner of her mouth.
The cool touch of his fingertips grazing her lips made Qi Huan's ears turn red, and she hurriedly said, "I'll go wash my face."
After washing her face, Qi Huan retreated to her room, took out the skincare products she had obtained earlier from her space, and applied them in the order of toner, essence, and moisturizer. Then, she took out the makeup primer and foundation from the box she had just received.
After evenly applying the foundation and powder, she realized that the loose powder, blush, and eyeshadows she had unpacked didn't come with mirrors...
So it wouldn't be convenient to apply eyebrow makeup.
Mainly, Qi Huan's skills were average, and she was afraid of ending up looking like Crayon Shin-chan.
It seemed she would need to find time to buy a bronze mirror, or else she wouldn't be able to appreciate her own beautiful face.
She simply applied a tomato-red lip tint and picked up an eyebrow pencil, intending to go to the kitchen to find a basin of water to use as a mirror for shaping and drawing her eyebrows.
Li Shuchen, carrying the insulated mug she had given him, approached the kitchen door and saw her drawing her eyebrows while looking into a basin of water. He walked over and placed the mug on the stove, saying, "Let me help you."
The water in the basin instantly froze at his command.
Qi Huan had no choice but to straighten up and hand him the eyebrow pencil, instructing, "Draw them nicely, okay?"
Li Shuchen nodded lightly, took the pencil, and began carefully drawing her eyebrows.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she noticed he had paused, and Qi Huan expectantly raised her eyes, asking, "Do they look good?"
The girl before him had exquisitely painted features and clear, bright eyes. A line of poetry suddenly emerged in Li Shuchen's mind: "Come and go, laughing by the window, to love the painting of deep and shallow eyebrows at leisure."
He wished to draw her eyebrows for a lifetime.
Seeing him lost in thought, Qi Huan pouted and turned around, scooping a ladle of hot water from the pot and pouring it into the basin over the thin ice, instantly melting it.
In the blurred reflection, her arched eyebrows were curved and elegant, her almond-shaped eyes bright and clear, a stunning and alluring combination.
Qi Huan was extremely satisfied. For the new year, she needed not only to put on makeup but also to wear new clothes.
After rummaging through her belongings, she discovered that she had never worn the down jacket before, so she decided to take it out and secretly wear it at home for a day to celebrate the joyous new year.
She returned to her room, took off her cotton robe and pants, put on a white turtleneck sweater and black thermal pants, and finally donned a long, pink down jacket.
The down jacket came with a belt, which, when fastened, accentuated her slender waist.
Completing the outfit with a pair of Martin boots, Qi Huan felt as if she had returned to modern society.
Catching a glimpse of the remaining men's down jacket, she planned to give it to Li Shuchen as a token of thanks for drawing her eyebrows.
The more time they spent together, the closer they would become, so Qi Huan decided to give it to him first.
As for Yan Qinghe and the others, she could only temporarily apologize, as she currently had no credits left to make additional purchases.
"System, can I buy on credit?"
"Sorry, host, that's not allowed!"
Rejected by the system, she had no choice but to take the clothes and find Li Shuchen first.
"Li Shuchen, this 'Immortal's Robe' is for you!"
Li Shuchen took the down jacket in his hands, but his eyes remained fixed on her smiling face, a hint of admiration flickering in their depths. Sincerely, he said, "You look very beautiful today."
"Do I not look good on other days?"
"...You look good every day." He patted Qi Huan's bun, his eyes brimming with laughter.
Suddenly, a discordant voice rang out. Yan Qinghe poked his head out of the room, glanced at the sky outside, and asked quizzically, "The sun didn't rise from the west today, did it? Why is Li Shuchen praising someone all of a sudden?"
After speaking, he excitedly pointed at himself and demanded, "Li Shuchen, praise me too! Shower me with compliments like 'graceful as a jade tree,' 'as fragrant as an orchid,' 'as handsome as Pan An,' 'as valiant and mighty as can be!'
"...I only praise others."
Li Shuchen glanced at him indifferently, stepped into the room, and prepared to change into the new Immortal's Robe that Qi Huan had gifted him.
After being rejected, it took Yan Qinghe a while to react. "Does that mean I'm not a person? Then what am I?"
The black dog lying by the door looked at him and barked twice.
"Don't bark! I'm not the same as you... You're barking again! Want to see who can bark louder? Woof woof woof woof!"
Qi Huan couldn't help but laugh at his antics.
Soon, Li Shuchen emerged, wearing the down coat she had given him.
