Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Han Lie was diligent, the kind of person who always noticed what needed doing. Qin Ying had known that for a long time.

But… she truly had not expected anyone to be diligent to this extent.

Looking at the things laid out before her, she even swallowed back the yawn she had only gotten halfway through.

“These are… you made them?”

Qin Ying picked up the little brush carved from wood in front of her.

It had a wooden handle, and the flat, wide head had been pierced with many tiny holes. Bundles of some unknown white animal hair had been neatly fixed into them.

Whether it was the carefully sanded handle or the trimmed length of the bristle bundles, it was exactly like a modern toothbrush!

The wooden handle still felt a little damp and warm to the touch.

Han Lie explained awkwardly, “I know, Ah…”

He gathered his courage before continuing. “I know you like things clean, Ah Ying. This place is crude, and you probably aren’t used to cleaning your teeth by chewing on twigs.”

Naturally, Han Lie had come to this conclusion while staying at Qin Ying’s house.

Flustered, he gestured as he said, “They’re clean Eding Beast Bristles. I already boiled them in hot water, so there definitely won’t be any strange smell… probably.”

That last addition sounded distinctly lacking in confidence.

But Qin Ying laughed. She looked again at the little toothbrush in her hand, restored one-to-one from the real thing.

She had to admit, Han Lie was insanely good with his hands. He had even carved and sanded tiny anti-slip studs onto the handle.

In Qin Ying’s world, he could have made it as a handicraft blogger.

She just had no idea what time he had gotten up to start whittling toothbrushes.

Seeing that he did not seem very confident, Qin Ying praised him. “It’s a very accurate recreation. You did great.”

Han Lie lowered his head slightly. If he had been in his Monstrous Beast Qilin form, who knew how happily the tail behind him would have wagged.

Besides the homemade toothbrush, he had also made Qin Ying a small box of tooth powder ground from rock salt.

As she sat beside the low couch brushing her teeth with Han Lie’s homemade toothbrush, Qin Ying suddenly thought of something and hurriedly spat out her rinse water. She crooked a finger at Han Lie, signaling for him to come over.

Han Lie, who had been crouched by the fire pit starting a fire, shuffled a few steps closer.

Qin Ying tugged lightly at his lapel, leaned in toward his ear, and asked, “Then do you know any blacksmithing?”

When moving through society, money was extremely important.

The silver and gold from Qin Ying’s world were practically perfect for use in this world.

But bribing that kid yesterday with some gold jewelry was one thing. If she wanted to move large quantities of gold, she would still need to launder it a little first.

Whether they cast it into horseshoe-shaped gold ingots or made it into jewelry, either would be a good option.

If Han Lie just so happened to have this skill, that would be even better.

Han Lie did not disappoint her. Although he looked very shy because Qin Ying had come so close, he still nodded. “A little.”

“You really know how to do everything.” Qin Ying praised him again.

Embarrassed, Han Lie said, “When I was little and went hungry, I helped swing the small hammer at the blacksmith’s shop on the street corner. That’s how I learned.”

Qin Ying’s smile froze.

Wait, young man, why did it sound like your life used to be incredibly miserable?

Only then did she realize that she seemed never to have properly learned about his past.

Looking at Han Lie crouched in front of her, honest and simple like a big golden retriever, she could not help feeling a little guilty.

After a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “Then what about your father and mother?”

In truth, from what he had just said, Qin Ying could already guess that Han Lie’s parents were likely both gone, and that he probably did not have any reliable relatives either.

She asked very carefully, afraid of touching on something painful for Han Lie.

But Han Lie was very calm. “My mother died in childbirth when she had me. My father died in action during a mission when I was seven.”

After saying that, he saw Qin Ying looking stunned and a little sad, and hurriedly added, “But my father’s comrades-in-arms, people like Uncle Chen, all looked after me very well.”

“Then why did you still go hungry as a child and have to work at a blacksmith’s shop?”

Qin Ying lived in Ancient Town, and from what she had seen and heard over the years, she knew quite a bit about how things had been in the old days.

In ancient times, the hardest lives belonged to apprentices and hired hands. They worked long hours amid high heat, smoke, and noise, doing extremely heavy labor.

At the slightest mistake, they would be beaten and cursed by their masters.

If not to scrape together a meal, who would willingly go?

Han Lie lowered his eyes. Only after a long while did he give the reason in a muffled voice.
After his father died, he was sent to live with his uncle. His uncle’s family wasn’t wealthy by any means, and one more child was a huge burden for them.

Han Lie had been strong and constantly hungry as a child. He had never once eaten his fill.

A child without parents was like duckweed, like a stray dog.

The compensation for Han Lie’s father’s death and the help sent by Uncle Chen and the others all went to his uncle’s household first. His uncle’s sons and daughters had to be taken care of before anything reached him, and by then there was hardly anything left.

So he had no choice but to find his own way to survive.

“My uncle and aunt had it hard too.”

Han Lie didn’t blame anyone. In times like these, it wasn’t easy to feed a big family.

Qin Ying felt inexplicably upset as she listened.

She and Han Lie were somewhat alike. The difference was that her grandmother had been good to her.

Uncle had been good to her, and even her aunt, who had divorced her uncle, was a good person.

And then there was her cousin.

Qin Ying had received a great deal of love in her childhood.

After a moment’s hesitation, she raised her hand and patted Han Lie on the head.

Perhaps because her expression looked a little sad, Han Lie tried to make up for it. “I set up my own household when I was thirteen.”

“I saved up and bought a little house.”

“It was a bit small and out of the way, but I made all the furniture with my own hands.”

“Oh, right. I know carpentry too, and masonry…”

That was also because he hadn’t had enough to eat as a child, so he had gone off to do illegal odd jobs and learned along the way.

Han Lie had only meant to reassure her by saying he had done quite well for himself. He hadn’t expected it to have the opposite effect the more he spoke, and he fell silent awkwardly.

In the end, he only said, “After I joined the Jade Balance Army at fifteen, I had steady military pay.”

Seeing that his words seemed to have no comforting effect at all, Han Lie squatted helplessly in front of Qin Ying, not knowing what to do with himself.

Qin Ying lifted her eyes and happened to meet his gray, iron-rimmed gaze.

She sighed, leaned close to his ear, and said, “In the future, I’ll buy you a big house!”

There was still a bit of white rock salt foam at the corner of her mouth. With both hands pressed on Han Lie’s shoulders, she spoke with tremendous boldness.

If circumstances allowed, with Qin Ying’s family wealth, even building him a house of solid gold would not be an empty boast.

Before Han Lie could refuse, she cupped his face once as if coaxing a dog. “It’s getting late. Up!”

Her palm touched Han Lie’s face and was gone in an instant, but it made his entire face flush bright red.

He shot to his feet and walked out of the tent with his arms and legs moving stiffly in unison.

Outside, Aman saw him standing there like a block of wood and asked in confusion, “Brother Han, what’s wrong?”

“Why is your face so red?”

Qin Ying quickly finished washing up and came out of the tent just as the morning sun rose over the horizon.

She pushed Han Lie on the back. “Take me to have a look.”

At that moment, no matter what she said, Han Lie’s ears were buzzing so loudly he could barely hear. He only nodded with a string of vague mm-hmms and mechanically carried out her order.

It was not until his feet moved on their own and brought Qin Ying to the supply camp that he finally came back to his senses.

In the army, people were generally not allowed to wander around the supply camp, but the guards recognized Han Lie.

Although Han Lie’s rank was not high, he was still somewhat famous throughout the Jade Balance Army.

With Qin Ying also having found her “new friend” Qiu Zhang, the two of them were able to step into the supply camp.

Qiu Zhang’s expression was stiff. He truly had not expected Qin Ying to be shameless enough to actually come look at the vegetable fields.

But since he had said it himself yesterday, it would not do to take his words back now.

Seeing that Han Lie was there too, he could only accept his bad luck and lead the way.

After they wove through the tents for some distance, Qin Ying stopped in her tracks.

A hundred paces away, beneath the sandstone, stood more than twenty enormous four-legged beasts, each one as large as a small hill.

The giant beasts resembled land turtles. Around each of their backs, someone had built a ring of fencing with wooden stakes.

Their backs had been cultivated into neat, square ridges of farmland. Amid the lush greenery grew something like pasture grass in full abundance, along with some vegetables.

Among the rose-colored sandstone, these giant beasts with bronze rings piercing their noses seemed like miracles wrought by heaven itself.

She let out an undisguised cry of wonder.

That country-bumpkin-like amazement eased Qiu Zhang’s expression.

With a hint of pride, he said, “Most of the backs of the Tuocui Beasts are planted with Zhuyu Grass. It’s enough to feed the Chongyuan used to build the city.”