Re-birth: The Beginning after the End - Chapter 114

Chapter 114: NEW TRAINING GEAR

Li Hua couldn’t help but laugh at her brothers’ reactions to something as simple as a digital timer. Some things about the modern world would take more explaining than others.

“It’s just a tool—an artifact to measure time,” Li Hua explained, still chuckling as Li Wei cautiously poked at the timer with his spiritual sense. “Come on, I have something else to show you.”

She led them to her room, where the new training clothes lay neatly folded on her bed. Her brothers approached the strange garments with the same careful suspicion they’d shown the timer.

“These are… robes?” Li Hao asked, picking up a compression shirt and stretching it experimentally. His eyes widened as the fabric snapped back into shape. “Sister, I think something’s wrong with this silk. It’s possessed.”

Li Wei, ever the scholar, was examining the stretchy material with intense focus. “Fascinating. The weave pattern is unlike anything in the textile records. And these…” he held up the training shoes, turning them over in his hands, “…what manner of footwear doesn’t have wooden soles?”

“Those are your new training clothes,” Li Hua said, fighting to keep her face straight as Li Hao tried to figure out which way the compression pants went. “They’ll help with the training we’ll be doing.”

“Sister,” Li Hao said seriously, still wrestling with the pants, “I don’t think these were made for humans. Maybe they’re for those small spirit beasts that can change size?”

Li Wei was now tracing the grip patterns on the shoe soles with scholarly intensity. “The formations on these shoes are most peculiar…”

“Those aren’t formations, brother,” Li Hua managed through barely contained laughter. “That’s just grip tape.”

Both brothers looked at her as if she’d just spoken in a foreign tongue. This was going to be an interesting explanation. Li Hua hadn’t anticipated how entertaining this would be—watching her dignified eldest brother and second brother completely baffled by something as simple as modern workout clothes.

“Here, let me show you how to—” she started, but burst into laughter as Li Hao attempted to wear the compression shirt like a traditional robe, somehow getting tangled in the stretchy material. Li Wei, despite his scholarly dignity, wasn’t doing much better as he continued to study the “formations” on the shoes with increasing confusion, muttering theories about revolutionary textile cultivation techniques.

“Sister,” Li Wei said with all seriousness, still holding the shoe upside down, “I believe these might be artifacts from a lost civilization. The craftsmanship is unlike anything documented in—”

“Brother,” Li Hua cut in, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, “it’s just training gear. Here, let me help before you both hurt yourselves.”

She hadn’t laughed this hard in a while. Some aspects of bridging her two lives were challenging, but this… this was pure entertainment.

After helping her brothers properly don the training clothes—which involved several more moments of stifled laughter as they marveled at the “strange elastic silk”—Li Hua suggested they take a short walk to get used to the feeling. Li Wei kept tugging at the compression shirt’s collar, unused to anything fitting so closely, while Li Hao couldn’t stop flexing his arms to watch the fabric stretch.

“It moves with you,” Li Hao exclaimed, throwing a few experimental punches into the air.

Li Wei, meanwhile, was walking with exaggerated care, as if afraid the material might suddenly transform. “The efficiency of movement is remarkable.”

“Just walk normally, brother,” Li Hua said, enjoying their reactions. “The clothes won’t bite.”

They made their way around the courtyard, the spirit beasts watching with obvious amusement—even Bai Ying’s whiskers twitched with what looked suspiciously like laughter at its master’s careful movements. Lei Lei and Dian Dian bounded alongside them, apparently fascinated by how the fabric reflected their sparks of lightning.

“I suppose,” Li Wei finally admitted, gradually relaxing his rigid posture, “there is a certain… practicality to the design.”

“You both look good,” Li Hua said with a smile, watching her brothers finally starting to move more naturally in their new clothes. The training wear did suit them, even if they didn’t quite believe it yet. “Come, let’s make something to eat.”

“Food!” Li Hao’s face lit up, his earlier confusion about the strange clothes forgotten at the mention of a meal. Despite trying to maintain his dignity, his teenage appetite made him bounce ahead eagerly.

“Walking might be easier if you stopped examining your sleeves, brother,” Li Hua teased Li Wei, who was still studying the fabric’s properties as they walked.

“But the material’s response to spiritual essence is fascinating,” he protested, though he did finally let his arms fall naturally to his sides as they made their way to the kitchen.

Li Hua couldn’t help but smile as her brothers followed behind her, Li Hao practically skipping while Li Wei attempted to maintain his composure despite the unfamiliar sensation of the compression wear. Even in these strange clothes, even after everything they’d been through, they were still so perfectly themselves—her scholarly eldest brother and her energetic warrior brother, bickering about proper movement techniques in their new attire as they headed toward the promise of food.

In the kitchen came more surprises for her brothers. Li Wei approached the strange metal cooking stove with scholarly caution, so different from the simple clay hearth they had at home.

“Sister,” he said slowly, examining the gleaming surface, “what is this?” He studied the strange metal construction with growing fascination. “Even the village blacksmith has never worked metal in this way.”

Li Hao, who had been investigating the smooth countertops, so unlike their wooden preparation tables at home, ran his hand along the polished surface. “Everything’s so… strange.” He tapped the counter with his knuckles. “What kind of material is this? It’s not wood or stone like we use in the village…”

“Perhaps if we documented these unusual crafting methods—” Li Wei started, his jade pendant glowing briefly as he retrieved a blank scroll and writing materials from his pocket space.

“It’s just a kitchen,” Li Hua cut in, though she made no attempt to hide her amusement. Both brothers stared at her with identical expressions of disbelief while Li Wei continued frantically documenting what he was certain must be “mysterious artifacts from the immortal realms.”

“If you’re done cataloging my kitchen,” Li Hua said dryly, “perhaps we could actually use it to make a meal?”

Li Hua moved through her kitchen with practiced ease, aware of her brothers’ intense observation of her every move. Li Wei had given up any pretense of dignity, his brush flying across the scroll as he documented each “unprecedented cooking method,” while Li Hao alternated between peering over her shoulder and poking at various kitchen implements.

“Sister, the way you’re controlling the flame without your essence—”

“And the metal pot heats so evenly—”

“The heat distribution suggests an advanced formation system—”

“Can I try the fire-controlling knob thing?”

Li Hua fought back her laughter as she prepared their meal, letting her brothers’ excited commentary wash over her. Even something as simple as cooking had become an investigation for Li Wei and an adventure for Li Hao.

Their new training clothes were momentarily forgotten in their fascination with the kitchen, though Li Wei still occasionally tugged at his collar when he thought no one was looking.