"This is the whirlpool tub. This is how you turn on the water, and this is the bath faucet.
This is the electric light, this is... Also, this is called a call bell. You'll sleep in the room next door.
When I need something, I'll press the bell, and it will ring in your room. Then you'll have to come over..."
After teaching her for a full two hours, Tang Wen felt that was about enough and strolled outside.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Lin Xian'er was curious about everything. She kept pressing the bedside lamp's switch, for instance, and turning its dial to adjust the brightness...
"What a beautiful night..." He looked up at the sky, where a crescent moon hung high. The moon had cast itself into Crouching Dragon Lake; the moon reflected in the lake, and the water mirrored its light. Tang Wen was entranced.
"The Twenty-Four Bridges still remain; ripples stir at the water's heart, the cold moon silent. I think, too, of the red peonies beside the bridge-for whom do they bloom so devotedly, year after year..."
"What a beautiful poem..." Lin Xian'er's voice came from behind him.
He turned and saw the girl standing beneath a cluster of flowers. Faint light from the path filtered through, making her look ethereal as drifting mist, exceptionally beautiful.
"Just some verses I tossed off," Tang Wen said with a smile.
"Master, poetry flows from your lips. You're truly worthy of being a Provincial Graduate," Lin Xian'er said.
"Just a Provincial Graduate. What's there to be proud of?" Tang Wen said.
"Being a Provincial Graduate certainly isn't much, but you're a Count, and you've built such a vast estate.
You've given thousands of people clothes to wear, food to eat, and homes to