Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 10
After lunch, Qiu Qi returned to the study to continue refining her ring-removal plan. Once she had thought it through, she called Yan Wan.
“Butler Yan, can you help me buy some hot spring water from Cobalt-Rhodium Mountains?”
Yan Wan didn’t question why Qiu Qi needed the hot spring water. Instead, she promptly pulled out an abacus. “My Lord, how many liters do you need?”
“Wait a moment…” Qiu Qi first looked up how many milliliters were in a “liter” in this era, then calculated. “Let’s buy five hundred liters first. We can use some now and stock up for later.”
“Alright.” Yan Wan flicked the abacus beads twice. “Five hundred liters of Cobalt-Rhodium Holy Water will cost two hundred and fifty gold in total.”
The currency in this world consisted of roughly palm-sized rectangular thin plates, with their value differing based on the material.
One gold = One hundred silver = One thousand copper
Here, one copper could buy about five eggs. If calculated using modern prices of one dollar per egg, one gold would be five thousand soft sister coins (RMB).
“How… how much?” Qiu Qi felt a pang in her heart.
“250 gold,” Yan Wan said, thoughtfully raising her voice.
Qiu Qi’s eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted.
Two hundred and fifty gold—that’s one million two hundred and fifty thousand soft sister coins (RMB)! Wuwuwu, she suddenly felt that her community’s water bill of four yuan per meal was incredibly cheap!
“My Lord, should I still buy it?”
“How much money do we have left in the courtyard?” Qiu Qi pinched the philtrum of her nose.
“After deducting this two hundred and fifty gold, there’s about one thousand gold left.”
Qiu Qi’s eyes instantly lit up. She waved her hand grandly. “Then buy it! Buy a thousand liters and stock it up to use slowly.”
Yan Wan flicked the abacus a few more times. “Understood, My Lord.”
They agreed to go together early the next morning. Qiu Qi looked at the list on the paper, where every item had been checked off with a small tick. She smiled contentedly and returned to her room to rest peacefully.
Everything was ready; all that was missing was the holy water. Once she helped Pei Yuqing remove the ring, the other person would surely be moved to give herself to her!
••••
“My Lord.” Just as Qiu Qi was about to draw a basin of water to wash her face and go to sleep, there was a knock at the door.
She put down the basin. “Come in.”
Yan Wan walked in, carrying a wooden board. She placed it flat on the table and lifted the cloth covering it.
“My Lord, it’s time for you to choose your consort for the night.”
Qiu Qi: “Can’t I just sleep alone for once?”
Mainly, she didn’t know if she would be lucky enough to avoid someone’s assassination attempt next time.
“My Lord, these are the rules,” Yan Wan shuffled the tablets. “If you don’t choose a consort tonight, then tomorrow morning, you will randomly draw one person to be dragged to the beast arena, where their life or death will be determined by fate.”
Qiu Qi thought back and realized that this rule indeed existed, passed down by successive Beast Gods, not something Yan Wan was making up.
Thinking of the delicate beauties being thrown into the beast arena and torn apart by fierce beasts, Qiu Qi hugged her arms and shivered.
“Then tonight… let’s choose Madam’s tablet.”
“Madam?”
“Yes, my Madam.” Qiu Qi reached out and picked up the wooden tablet with “Pei” written on it. “From now on, I will only favor her. I won’t choose anyone else’s tablets. We can skip this step in the future.”
Yan Wan nodded. “Understood, My Lord. I will go invite Madam Pei now.”
Qiu Qi sat on the edge of the bed, her anxiety growing the longer she waited. She didn’t sit still for long, quickly standing up and going to the washbasin, planning to wash her face first.
The original owner disliked looking in mirrors, so there weren’t any in the room. Qiu Qi could only lower her head and use the water’s surface, reflecting the candlelight, to observe her current face.
It was better not to look. Seeing it nearly gave her a heart attack.
Dark circles heavier than a level-ten insomniac, saggy cheeks, dull skin with an unhealthy grayish-green tint—it looked like a face worn out from excessive indulgence.
To be honest, the original owner’s foundation wasn’t bad; it was just her poor complexion, plus long-untreated hair, which made her look rough. Coupled with her notorious evil reputation, it wasn’t surprising that people called her a great demon behind her back.
Qiu Qi tried hard to wash her face with water and spent a lot of effort combing her unruly hair smooth.
Wait… as she combed, Qiu Qi’s movements stopped.
So, she had been wearing such an unsightly face while incessantly doting on Pei Yuqing?
Qiu Qi replayed the scene in her mind and instantly felt she didn’t even have the courage to burrow into a hole.
No wonder! She was so sweet; there was no reason Pei Yuqing wouldn’t like her. It turns out it was all this face’s fault!
If Pei Yuqing were here now, she would coldly retort: Where do you get your confidence from?
Unfortunately, Qiu Qi couldn’t hear that, and she was… truly confident in her flirting skills.
“Knock knock—” The door was knocked on from the outside again. A steady voice permeated through the thick wooden door. “My Lord, it’s me.”
“Creak…” The door opened a crack from the inside, and a small figure with a white cloth covering their head poked out.
“Madam, you’re here.” The voice was muffled. Pei Yuqing, accustomed to her boisterous tone, raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit unaccustomed to it.
“My Lord, are you injured?”
“No, come in first.” Qiu Qi moved aside.
Pei Yuqing walked in, her gaze briefly pausing on the comb on the dressing table before she sat down by the table.
“What’s wrong? Let me see.” She reached out to pull away the cloth from Qiu Qi’s face.
“Don’t.” Qiu Qi stiffened her back and dodged Pei Yuqing’s hand. “It’s precisely because it’s you that I’ve covered my face…”
“Hm?”
Qiu Qi sighed, her small, cloth-covered head lowered. “I’m too ugly… I’ll scare Madam.”
Pei Yuqing choked. “No, you won’t. If I were going to be scared, I would have been scared long ago.”
Qiu Qi, who was wishing for comfort from the beauty: “…”
“If you’re not satisfied with your current skin, you can ask Xu Zishe for another shedding.”
Xu Zishe’s beast form was a snake, and she was also a member of the original owner’s harem. Covering one’s face with her shed snakeskin, one could transform into their desired appearance in just ten minutes. This was, in short, a form of disguise art, and a long-lasting one at that.
The only drawback of this method was that the shed skin had a limited shelf life, about ten years. After that, the shed skin would begin to age, and the disguised appearance would gradually distort.
The original owner often asked her for shed skin to change faces. Come to think of it, the one on her face now was almost past its expiration date.
Qiu Qi reached up and tugged at her loose cheek flesh. No wonder it’s sagging like this.
“I’m going to get one now!” Qiu Qi jumped up.
What could be more embarrassing than sleeping next to a beauty with such an unsightly face?
Nothing! So she couldn’t wait another moment.
“My Lord,” Pei Yuqing took her hand. “Butler Yan had a few stored in the warehouse. If you want, I can go get them. If you go to Xu Zishe now, she should be asleep.”
Qiu Qi thought that was true; it would be faster to get it from the warehouse.
Pei Yuqing moved swiftly, flying out and back in less than half an incense stick’s time.
“Have you decided on the appearance for the skin?” Pei Yuqing asked, holding the sterilized shed skin near Qiu Qi’s ear.
If one didn’t have a very detailed imagination of the appearance, the result after using the shed skin might be unsatisfactory. So, people usually drew their desired appearance on paper beforehand, referring to it and visualizing as they applied the skin and waited.
Qiu Qi nodded. “I have.”
Since she could change her appearance according to her own wishes, Qiu Qi’s first choice was naturally her original face. After all, she didn’t want to be startled by an unfamiliar face when she occasionally caught a glimpse in the mirror.
Qiu Qi lay down on the bed. Pei Yuqing gently placed the moistened shed skin on her face. Confident in her twenty-plus years of memory, she simply closed her eyes and began to meditate, visualizing her appearance.
The cool touch was very similar to that of a face mask, but she felt the skin adhering more and more tightly, as if it was merging with her body.
About ten minutes passed, and the shed skin completely dried, forming a crisp, thin film on the surface. Pei Yuqing reached out and peeled it off, revealing Qiu Qi’s newly replaced face underneath.
Upon seeing that face, Pei Yuqing’s eyebrows raised slightly, and there was a hint of confusion in her eyes.
The original owner preferred aggressive features, so every skin she changed into had high nose bridges and deep-set eyes.
But the face before her was filled with innocent harmlessness. Round eyes paired with slender eyelashes, not thick brows and heavy ink, yet possessing a unique, enduring beauty. A small nose sat above pale pink lips, and the cheeks were somewhat plump, making her look very young, and… seemingly soft to the touch.
Pei Yuqing’s attention was diverted as she restrained her twitching right hand.
“Madam, is it pretty?” Qiu Qi cupped her face with both hands, leaning in and looking at Pei Yuqing with expectant eyes.
Pei Yuqing lowered her eyes and met her gaze. Looking this closely, she saw it more clearly than before. She could even see her own indifferent reflection in Qiu Qi’s sparkling eyes.
To be honest, it wasn’t particularly stunning, but it was inexplicably pleasing to the eye.
“It’s pretty.” The corner of Pei Yuqing’s mouth subtly curved upwards.
Author’s Note:
Sister Qiu cupping her face: Madam praised me!
(Of course, there are also paper currencies; this chapter just sets a conversion concept.)