Chapter 4
Chapter 4
"Remember—first thing you do when you come inside is change your shoes."
"Anything on the table has to be cleared with me before you eat it. Not everything's safe."
"And your feet are filthy. Don't even think about putting them on my couch."
Jiang Li felt like the steward of a castle, lecturing a brand-new tenant.
He stepped forward, grabbed Kakayan—who was perched on the couch, twirling a lock of hair and pretending not to hear—and pulled her down to the floor.
"Repeat what I just said."
His voice was flat, patient.
Kakayan's expression was pure reluctance. She might have been a Witch Miss who had lived for centuries, but centuries spent mostly inside a castle still counted for something. In terms of experience, Jiang Li—barely in his twenties—was the newcomer.
In theory, he ought to be calling her "Lady Witch."
But right now, "theory" was whatever Jiang Li said it was.
And her own "theory" was useless.
"Change shoes."
"Don't steal food."
"My feet are dirty."
"And repeat what you just said."
Kakayan rattled off the list, monotone.
Jiang Li nodded, satisfied. The apartment he rented had two bedrooms and a living room—one bedroom was technically spare—but if Kakayan couldn't follow simple rules, he'd rather leave it empty. Even adopting a stray cat required checking whether the cat hissed.
He had no intention of letting an ancestor move in.
Even if Kakayan's age did qualify her to be his great-great-something-grandmother.
Witches were built differently. Their bodies stopped growing around twenty, their magic inborn. Immortality left them with no sense of time, arrogance and caprice etched into their bones. Being late, breaking promises, and showing up a decade later to honor an agreement were all perfectly normal.
There was a saying on the continent of Aze: When a Witch Miss tells you to wait, prepare for a very long life.
They rarely realized how much havoc their whims caused. Take a thirty-year mortgage—half a lifetime to an ordinary human. To a Witch it became: "How many missiles can this building absorb? Interesting." Thirty years? "Doesn't sound long."
For that reason, witches were widely regarded as a headache.
"The floor's cold," Kakayan complained, hopping off the couch barefoot. Her pale pink feet pressed against the stone tiles, ten toes curling inward like a heart shape. Jiang Li glanced once, then looked away.
Boots.
She'd been walking in the rain again.
Just thinking about the smell made him wrinkle his nose. He turned to the shoe cabinet, rummaged for a moment, and tossed a pair of flip-flops at her.
"Make do for now. Once the weather turns cold I'll get you proper ones."
Kakayan stared down at the shoes, long lashes fluttering. What in the world was this? A strip of rubber and a single toe thong—how did one even wear it? She slid her feet in, big toe and second toe gripping the strap experimentally.
Two steps later her arches curved like a crescent moon, toes clenched to keep the sandals from flying off. Within moments, though, she was scuttling around the apartment like an excited child.
Slap-slap-slap—rubber on stone echoed through the rooms.
The scene struck Jiang Li as something straight out of a romance drama: the classic ditzy heroine. He tugged the corner of his mouth in a half-smile. This was Kakayan without her magic; don't let the pretty face fool you. If she could still cast spells, the thing under her feet might be his spine instead of flip-flops.
Witch was just another word for dangerous.
He was still thinking that when—
BANG!
Kakayan walked straight into the sliding glass door leading to the balcony.
"A barrier—such a strong barrier!" she gasped, clutching her forehead. She sounded sincere for once.
Jiang Li sighed, lowered his head, and headed for the kitchen. He couldn't be bothered. Since returning to Earth he hadn't had a single bite to eat, all because of this ridiculous woman.
...
Instant noodles were a miraculous food. Eat them two days in a row and you'd be sick of them. Go two days without and you'd start craving them.
Jiang Li belonged to the third category—three years without. His stomach howled.
He poured boiling water into the cup, snapped the lid on, and pulled out a chair to wait.
Moments later, a small head popped up across the table.
"Scram. You already had a bowl." Jiang Li waved her off like he would a greedy cat. Don't even think about stealing mine.
"What is that? It smells amazing..." Kakayan lifted her nose and sniffed twice. "Why are you just staring at it instead of eating?"
As a native of the other world, she'd never seen anything so salty and oily. The scent alone had her drooling.
"It's instant noodles. You have to execute the noodles with boiling water. Only when they're completely dead can you eat them," Jiang Li explained in terms she'd understand.
Looking at the bright eyes across from him, he slid the cup a little closer.
"When will it be dead?" Kakayan blinked; the reflection of the noodles danced in her violet pupils.
"Three more minutes." Jiang Li glanced at his phone.
"That's so slow. Can't you execute it faster?"
"It's not yours. Shoo."
"I'll execute it for you!"
Kakayan lunged across the table, hands shooting toward the cup. In a flash Jiang Li stood, lifting the noodles high with one hand while pinning her head to the table with the other.
"Just one bite," she pleaded, cheek squashed against the wood, arms flailing like willow branches in a storm, still reaching for the noodles.
Anyone watching would've thought the food was laced with something.
"Fine. I give up." Jiang Li shook his head. "Leave it alone. Don't touch."
He set the cup back on the table and walked into the kitchen.
A few moments later, Jiang Li returned carrying a single bowl and a pair of chopsticks.
Kakayan sat obediently on her chair—no sneaking bites this time.
She clearly understood the difference between filling her stomach once and getting fed every day.
Jiang Li said nothing; the witch had only just arrived and didn't know the rules yet. She wasn't actually stupid.
Three minutes later, Jiang Li peeled back the lid of the instant-noodle cup. A fragrant steam rolled through the room.
"This is yours."
He lifted some noodles with his chopsticks and slid them into Kakayan's waiting bowl.
"The broth," Kakayan insisted, stamping her foot.
"..."
Jiang Li tipped a little more soup into her bowl.
How to put it... he was actually sharing one cup of instant noodles with a witch.
If word of this ever reached the continent of Aze, no one would believe it—utterly surreal.
"It's so good!" Kakayan wiped her mouth, sighing in genuine delight.
Watching the girl beam over a single serving of noodles, Jiang Li couldn't help thinking: only someone from another world could be this happy with nothing more than instant noodles.
"Don't even think about it—the rest is mine."
He slurped the noodles loudly, one mouthful after another.
Beside him, Kakayan's gaze never left his bowl.
He assumed she wanted more.
Instead, she asked curiously, "Jiang Li, what are those two sticks you're holding?"