Chapter Thirty-One - Pet Problems
Nie Ruyi
It was humiliation, this feeling eating at her ribs as she stormed to her chambers. She threw the sliding door open even before Song Fengling could get to it to open it, starting Sun Xirong, who had been working on something that involved a bowl of green fibres. Nie Ruyi barely contained the sharp feeling of tears stinging the back of her eyes as she continued storming, this time into her bedroom.
She could hear behind her, Sun Xirong ask Song Fengling, “What happened? Why is Nie-Xiaojie so upset?”
“...The sludge hounds attacked a girl in class when Nie-Shijie tried to spar with her.” He answered, ‘It was a big problem, and I think Nie-Shijie took it hard.”
“Ohhh…” Sun Xirong’s voice trailed off, and Nie Ruyi slammed a fist into her bed, the mattress taking the attack with aplomb. She did it again, the ache of it on her already strained muscles making her want to cry even harder. She took a shaky deep breath, trying to push down the hard feeling of tears welling up.
She couldn’t afford to cry. She had to come up with a solution, or she’d be blacklisted from training with other classes. “Izzy, Goober.” She called, and sure enough the hounds coalesced out from under her feet and into their normal oozy-shapes. She pointed to the canopy of her bed. “Go to bed!”
They looked at her, all their too-many eyes focused on her, but neither did. Goober even got up and started wandering around the room, ‘sniffing’ things. Hound was an accurate name, Nie Ruyi was finding, to her frustration. She had to take another calming breath so that she didn’t scream at the sludge hounds for not listening to her.
Izzy gave a burbling sound and leaned against Nie Ruyi’s knee heavily, nearly knocking Nie Ruyi off balance. The sharp, hurt part of Nie Ruyi wanted to push the animal away, but the rational part of her knew that Izzy was an animal. She couldn’t understand why Nie Ruyi was upset, she just knew she was upset. So she was trying to comfort Nie Ruyi in the only way she knew how. It wasn’t effective, and honestly made Nie Ruyi want to cry some. But the woman pushed it down and pet her hound.
“Okay. Okay, so… I need to train them. That’s what I need to do. And obviously sooner, rather than later. Think, Ruyi. What do you know about training pets?” She sighed, sinking onto the mattress of her bed. She scrubbed a hand along her face, probably smearing the pretty makeup Sun Xirong had put on her this morning.
“Food? Can’t train an animal without treats, right?” She considered, and then sighed, “Maybe I should see if there’s someone around here who trains dogs. Humans have used hunting dogs since the stone-age, right? There must be a kennel somewhere around here…maybe they offer obedience lessons?”
A squidgy head nudged her hand where it hung off the side of the bed, and she sighed, moving her fingers in a scritching pattern, as Izzy rubbed her globulous head against it. Nie Ruyi could feel the edges of some of her eyes as they closed so Nie Ruyi could rub over them.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Okay… I think I need to track down a kennel, and see if I can’t get lessons on animal training from them.” She concluded, and closed her eyes. The bed dipped under the weight of the hound as she climbed up and joined her mistress, laying in a slowly-oozing puddle of warmth against Ruyi’s side.
“This is a delay. A temporary setback.” Nie Ruyi coaxed herself. After a few more moments of sulking, she sat up. Leaving Izzy to snooze on the bed, she drifted past Goober, who had laid down at the door frame as if to ward off attackers, and into the living room, where Sun Xirong was still working on…”What is that you’re working on A’Rong?”
“Answering Nie-Xiaojie, this one is making reed mats. Winter will be on it’s way soon, and the mats at the door frames are wearing down. We’ll need new ones to avoid tracking mud into the house.”
Nie Ruyi blinked. She hadn’t considered that such things had to be made by hand. …But then again, she was in a world before industrialisation. Of course it would have to be made by hand. So many things would need to be made by hand now. She pushed the panic that thought threatened to drown her with away, and instead asked, “Do you know an-” She paused again, and took a deep breath, “A’Rong, this one would like to ask your help in training etiquette. She inadvertently insulted a teacher previously, and would like to avoid such things again.”
“This maid would be happy to help Nie-Xiaojie. Would you like corrections even if company is over? Or would you prefer I wait to provide such corrections when they leave?”
Honestly, Nie Ruyi couldn’t imagine beng humiliated any worse than she was today, so it was no big deal to her to say, “In real time, if you please, as I fear I will not learn if the corrections come too late.”
“And Nie-Xiaojie does not wish to recruit perhaps a momo to assist with such training?” Sun Xirong suggested, “This one can help with basic manners, but only from the perspective of a mortal maid, whereas Nie-Xaojie is at the very least a respectable cultivator, and therefore above this one’s standing.”
“...Do you-ahem, Does A’Rong think that would be for the best?” Nie Ruyi asked, thinking perhaps it would be best to take the advice of someone who’d lived in this world.
“This one does, Xiaojie.” Sun Xirong smiled at her mistress, concern dripping from her, “This one is sure that Nie-Xiaojie’s noble born friends would be willing to provide an introduction? Although Nie-Xiaojie must be careful not to allow a snake into the nest.”
What careful double speech. Considering it, she bit her lip, taking a seat at the table while Sun Xirong’s deft hands wove reed-fibres back and forth. “Do we have the income to be able to support such a teacher during the duration of lessons?”
“Mn. Our coffers will bear it, Nie-Xiaojie.” The younger girl smiled, “Nie-Xiaojie is incredibly frugal, considering. She has not even touched the reparations she has received, and therefore should be more than equipped to hire a momo and even another servant if she wishes, and pay them a full years salary in advance, with no dent in the food budget if she wished.”
Nie Ruyi chuckled, “Is A’Rong saying this one should go shopping more often?”
“This one is only saying that Nie-Xiaojie does not need to fear poverty so deeply.” Sun Xirong teased right back. “What is on Nie-Xiaojie’s mind? Talk to this one. Let her share Nie-Xiaojie’s burdens.”
“...ah… A’Rong, who trains animals in this world? Back in my world, we’d go to a pet store and there’d be a trainer on staff offering classes, and we could just take our pets there and we’d be taught how to train them. But here… do pet stores even exist?”
“Animal Merchants do, yes.” Sun Xirong answered, and Nie Ruyi was surprised to see delight on the young girl’s face. “But they are not who you want to go to if training is what is needed. If you need to learn how to train a hound, a kennel is the best place to do so. But only Nobles maintain kennels, Nie-Xiaojie, so you would need to speak with one of them. Of course, my uncle has a hunting hound he raised from a puppy, who is adept at tricks.”
“What kind of tricks?” Nie Ruyi asked.
“Well, the dog can stay, fetch, it can bark on command, and it can be told to guard a child and it will not leave that child’s side the entire time.” Sun Xirong explained, “It was my minder when I was an infant quite a lot.”
“That sounds perfect! Could I meet you-Ah, Would A’Rong be so kind as to introduce this one to her uncle?”
“That was a good correctly, Nie-Xiaojie. Certainly. This one will visit her uncle’s home after work tonight and see when such an introduction might be made.”
Mini Character List -
Nie Ruyi - Our protagonist. 34 year old american woman - Okay, so obedience classes, not a thing. BUT! There are people I can learn from!
Lao Xiaojun - Lao Minghui's little brother and Sect Heir. Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Cai Bingtian - Disciple of Severing Firefly Sect. Still Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Song Fengling - Nie Ruyi's little assistant. - I hate that I have classes, why do I have to take classes when Nie-Shijie is in a crisis!
Missy - Worried, although it does not know how to express that.
The Green Egg - Not forgotten. Currently lives wrapped in blankets on Nie Ruyi's bedside table. Gets turned every few hours so that it doesn't get hurt.
Goober - Sedimentary Sludge Hound - That was fun, mama, we should do that again, a lot!
Izzy - Sedimentary Sludge Hound - Mama upset... Nap time? No?
Sun Xirong - Nie Ruyi's maid, a fifteen year old mortal girl. - Oh wow, this poor woman knows absolutely nothing useful, does she?
Elder Chun - An elder of the sect, who is in charge of teaching one class of the Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth Style to the young women of the sect. - Seriously considering what should come next.
Elder Xiao - an elder of the sect who works with Elder Chun to teach. - Elder Chun, you absolutely MUST NOT allow that girl back in our glasses! She's a danger!