Chapter 2: Times Have Changed!
Whenever “historical issues” like this came up, Jiang Xue’s writing couldn’t help but become emotionally charged.
【Nowadays, all students across the country are equal. Males aren’t some special case when it comes to education. If a girl of school age is prevented from attending school, her family can be imprisoned if reported!】
【The so-called “compulsory courses” are just benchmarks for competitive exams. It’s mainly about what you’re good at, what you like, and what kind of work you want to do in the future. You choose your subjects accordingly.】
【For example, I like history and biology, and I’ve always been pretty good at politics, so I chose those three subjects for the college entrance exam.】
【If you’re good at drawing and singing, you can also take the art school route. As long as you choose the right direction, it’s not difficult to find a job after graduation.】
【As for things like playing instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they’ve become hobbies for personal enrichment. You can learn them if you want. But if you want to excel, you have to pay for professional tutoring.】
After writing half a page, as if answering a long history question, Jiang Xue suddenly realized something.
Her pen pal was an ancient princess who used traditional characters. Could she even understand simplified characters?
Although she often saw claims like “understanding traditional characters is in every Chinese person’s DNA,” people accustomed to simplified characters inevitably read traditional characters more slowly.
Jiang Xue could easily understand traditional characters because both her mothers worked in text-related fields, so she’d been exposed to them since childhood.
But for Xiao Luohan, modern simplified characters would probably look like strange, incomplete symbols.
She quickly wrote a line in traditional characters:
【Would it be easier for you to read if I write like this?】
For the first time in her life, she regretted not learning more traditional characters from her mothers. She needed them now!
After about half a minute, she received a reply: 【Your consideration is appreciated.】
Jiang Xue froze, then awkwardly smacked her lips.
No, it wasn’t consideration! She’d only just realized her pen pal was from ancient times!
Before she could figure out how to respond, new brushstrokes appeared.
Jiang Xue took a look, and wow! They were written horizontally, and even punctuated!
【I have imitated the punctuation marks you use. I wonder how you find them?】
The commas and periods didn’t look casually written; they seemed carefully drawn. However, with an entire diary’s worth of content as a reference, Jiang Xue believed the Third Princess would quickly master the correct usage of punctuation marks.
【Of course! Much easier!】
Jiang Xue thought for a moment, then added: 【Your Highness is considerate as well!】
This Third Princess was rather nice, immediately adapting after learning about her habits.
A princess so thoughtful and kind even to supernatural beings must be deeply loved by her people, right?
However, it would be rude to pry into someone’s background right after meeting them. It was better to stick to the topic of “studies” for now and wait until they were closer before asking.
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Jiang Xue told her pen pal that she was going to dinner, unilaterally ending their first exchange.
“What happened just now, A-Xue?”
A gentle female voice came from the front. Jiang Xue looked up and met the gaze of her classmate and friend, Xie Xitong.
“Oh! Something strange happened.” Jiang Xue glanced at her diary and, on a whim, tucked it into her arms as she stood, grabbing her pen. “I’ll tell you on the way. I’m starving!”
Xie Xitong’s eyes curved into a smile. “Okay,” she replied, smoothing her low ponytail over her shoulder.
If there was anyone Jiang Xue could talk to about supernatural events, it would be her friend who believed in metaphysics.
She and Xie Xitong had been classmates since kindergarten, all the way through high school. They knew each other inside and out.
The name “Xie Xitong” had been given to her friend at birth by an elder in the Xie family who understood metaphysics. They’d said the child lacked wood in her five elements, so her name needed two wood characters.
Perhaps because of this, Xie Xitong had always been interested in such things.
The two of them chose a less-crowded, longer route to the cafeteria, walking side by side.
“Look, just now during self-study, traditional Chinese characters written with a brush appeared in my diary!” Jiang Xue opened her diary. “I was just about to write in it, and I saw the characters appear right before my eyes!”
She showed Xie Xitong the ink stain on her fingertip. “Amazing, right? A diary, turned into a communication medium across time and space!”
“It is amazing. I’ve only seen this kind of thing in novels and anime.” Xie Xitong’s gaze shifted between Jiang Xue’s fingertip and the diary. “But you don’t seem scared at all. In fact, you seem excited?”
Her thoughts exposed, Jiang Xue smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I was a little scared at first, but I forgot all about it as we chatted.”
“It’s fine. The old lady in my family understands these things. If you’ve really encountered something unclean, she’ll have a way to deal with it.” Xie Xitong seemed even less concerned. “I see you’re having fun chatting with her. Just relax and chat. If anything happens, I’ve got your back!”
“Are you cursing me?!” Jiang Xue playfully punched her friend, the last of her anxieties fading.
It was dinner time. Even though they’d chosen a less-crowded route, as they neared the cafeteria, they were still swept up in the throng of people.
Jiang Xue quickly tucked her diary into the large inner pocket of her winter uniform, lest it get crushed in the crowd.
Siling’s cafeteria was huge. As soon as they entered, they headed straight for the third floor, which was leased out to independent vendors, and stopped in front of their usual haunt, “Old Cat Noodle Shop.”
The shop owner had a calico cat, supposedly a stray she’d found by a dumpster. It was quite haughty, even reluctant to let people it knew pet it.
When they arrived, the cat was napping in its little bed away from the stove, its eyes half-closed.
“You’re here? The usual?” the owner greeted them warmly, wiping her hands.
“Yep, the usual for both of us,” Jiang Xue nodded. She turned around to see Xie Xitong had already found a seat.
She joined her friend, taking out her diary and pen, twirling the latter between her fingers.
“Say, if I ‘livestream’ my dinner to my pen pal, do you think she’ll find it annoying?”
“Isn’t the difference in food culture also an important part of getting to know each other?” Xie Xitong countered, resting her chin on her hand. “If your pen pal is interested, maybe she’ll share the snacks and drinks she usually has too!”
That was precisely Jiang Xue’s intention. They exchanged a smile, and Jiang Xue stopped twirling her pen, opening her diary:
【Dinner is super delicious onion and beef brisket noodles!】
【The toppings and broth are cooked separately. Onions are a round, purple seasoning, kind of like garlic. After peeling and slicing them, they’re braised with the beef.】
【The broth is made fresh daily from beef bones and chicken carcasses. The owner adds her secret Sichuan spices, making it a bit spicy, but not so much that it’ll cause inflammation.】
【I like to add a handful of cilantro before eating. The cilantro wilts in the hot broth, and it’s so good with the beef brisket!】
She didn’t ask “what about you?” or “what are you having for dinner tonight?” She simply shared her dinner with her new friend, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
However, in another time and space, upon seeing these words, Xiao Luohan instinctively stood up.
She tightened her fur-trimmed cloak and looked towards the silk-covered, closed wooden window.
The sun was setting, casting a warm orange glow on the window. Outside Wangmei Pavilion, all was silent. In the winter months, even the servants sweeping the courtyard didn’t want to stay outside for long.
She was long accustomed to this silence. Even before her marriage alliance and journey to Daying, when she was still in the Beiliao palace, her days were equally quiet.
After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Luohan pushed the window open a crack and called for a palace maid who, under the guise of attending to her needs, was actually there to monitor her.
“How are the dinner preparations coming?”
Before the maid could answer, the cold air triggered a coughing fit, forcing Xiao Luohan to cover her mouth.
“Oh dear, in your condition, shouldn’t you be more concerned with your pre-dinner medicine?” The maid sneered. “The winters in Daying are the harshest. If you want to make it to your wedding day, you’d best not open that window again!”
Xiao Luohan didn’t even glance at her. She simply closed the window and sat back down.
Even so, she could still hear the maid’s mocking laughter from outside.
There was nothing she could do about it. If she were a princess from an allied nation, or if the Daying Crown Prince she was to marry cared even slightly about her, these servants wouldn’t dare to be so insolent.
But she was nothing more than a discarded pawn sent by a defeated nation seeking peace. The Daying Crown Prince, after meeting her on the day of her arrival and mocking her, had vanished without a trace. She likely wouldn’t see him again until their predetermined wedding day.
Just then, she noticed something new in the book.
Curiously, she leaned closer, picking up the black “tube” that had appeared at some point. She examined it carefully for a long time, blinking in confusion.
…What was this?
“Where’s my pen cap?”
Jiang Xue searched the table and underneath it, puzzled.
“Strange…” She scratched her head, unable to recall where she’d put it.
“Maybe your diary ‘ate’ it?” Xie Xitong suggested casually, picking up a piece of beef brisket with her chopsticks.
Jiang Xue: !!
“That’s right! I didn’t even think of that!” Her eyes lit up. She lost all interest in her noodles, staring intently at her diary.
If they could chat across time and space, transporting objects wasn’t so strange, right?
“Eat first. You’ll have to call in sick again if your stomach acts up.” Xie Xitong reached out, snatched the diary, and closed it with a snap.
Meeting Jiang Xue’s pleading gaze, she added calmly, with a smile, “Your sister told me to keep an eye on you.”
“…Oh.”
Jiang Xue had always admired her older sister. Upon hearing this, she stopped complaining, obediently lowering her head and slurping up her noodles.
Xiao Luohan fiddled with the thin black tube for a long time, arriving at a single conclusion.
It seemed to be a writing implement, similar to an inkstone. The small white “stone” at the bottom of the tube still held traces of undried ink.
…Was it an inkstone used by spirits? Why had it appeared here?
She couldn’t figure it out. She glanced at the diary, but the spirit hadn’t mentioned it. A selfish thought arose, and she carefully placed the tube into a silk pouch, her gaze lingering on a red tassel inside.
It was a relic of her elder sister, Xiao Linghan – a spear tassel.
Her kind elder sister, Xiao Linghan, had joined the army at the age of twelve, made a name for herself at fifteen, and achieved great military exploits for Beiliao.
Not long ago, her elder sister had turned twenty-six. It was also not long ago that she had tragically died in the decisive battle between Daying and Beiliao.
It was said that, while surrounded and fighting to the death, she had even cut off a lock of the Daying Crown Prince’s hair, nearly shaking the morale of the Daying army.
Yet, even so, whenever her father mentioned Eldest Sister, he would lament, “If only Linghan were a man.”
As if male identity could easily overshadow the achievements her sister had earned with her blood, sweat, and life.
Her elder sister’s death was a constant ache in Xiao Luohan’s heart. She couldn’t bear to speak of it, even to her beloved mother.
Perhaps because of this, seeing the spirit in the book casually refer to their “older sister” had caused a pang in her heart. Before even initiating contact, she had several times wanted to tell the spirit to cherish their older sister.
However, after reading the rest of the book, she gradually let go of her worry.
—That was a world where the flames of war had long been extinguished. Without serious illness or accidents, people didn’t die easily.
Jiang Xue and her “older sister” would surely be alright.
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