A Moment’s Worth of Impatience

Bleary-eyed, Anji woke up to the smell of food the next morning. She tried to read a little more before bedtime last night but fell asleep after ten minutes. Washing the dishes and clothes took up more energy than she originally thought. Lizi did them effortlessly every day. Now that she understood the difficulty, she appreciated the maid more.

Yan Ping left some steamed rice and dishes from last night on the table for breakfast, which she had heated. Anji appreciated her teacher's kind gesture and headed to the backyard to wash up. Even after doing the laundry and dishes last night, there were still two more buckets full of water.

The morning was chilly, even though a little morning sun filtered through the thick forest. Anji noticed the water she used from the buckets and basin yesterday had already been refilled. Her teacher was nowhere to be seen indoors. She might have left to forage for food.