When they reached the prime minister’s manor, Ban Li opened the car door for them and Guangfeng and Yuelan slid out. As they stepped onto the concrete steps, Guangfeng looked down. “These large rocks look strange. What kind of rock are they?”

Yuelan had calmed down on the way to her home, so Guangfeng’s question made her giggle. “It’s concrete,” she explained. “I guess it is sort of a man-made rock. It’s basically powdered rock mixed with water, spread out in place, and then left to harden.

Guangfeng looked impressed by the explanation. “You can make rock?”

“I can’t, no. And I don’t know that it counts as ‘making rock,’ but that’s one of the things construction crews do.” Yuelan shrugged and led the way up the steps and into the house. When she saw her family’s butler, Cheng Man, she smiled and nodded as she greeted him: “Hello Mr. Cheng. Would you please have someone get a guest room ready for this man? His name is Xiong Guangfeng.”

“Of course, Miss Long.” The butler bowed a little and smiled. “I’ll have a room ready for him in an hour. Should I prepare tea while you wait?”

“That’s alright, I’ll do it,” Yuelan replied cheerfully. “I haven’t been able to cook in a while and I miss it. Just let me know when Daddy gets home, please.”

The butler nodded and turned to go about his duties while Yuelan started to lead the way toward the kitchens. She turned to look at Guangfeng and found him studying a lightswitch intently. He looked up at her when she walked over to him.

“What’s this?” the third prince asked.

“A light switch. We don’t use candles very much here. If you flip that switch you’ll turn the lights in the room on,” Yuelan explained. She walked over to Guangfeng and pointed to the lights in the chandelier on the ceiling. “Watch.” She flipped the switch and the light bulbs lit up.

Guangfeng’s eyes widened and he played with the switch, flipping the lights on and off until Yuelan giggled.

“If you keep doing that someone will have to change out all the lightbulbs in the chandelier,” she chided.

“Is it magic?” the prince asks, turning his excited, hazel eyes on her. “It’s so much faster than lighting candles!”

“They last longer than candles too,” Yuelan told him. “But no, it’s not magic. Weren’t you paying attention to Long He? There is no magic here except inside the library and what’s there is very weak. Come on. Let’s go down to the kitchen and I’ll make some tea and snacks.”

Guangfeng frowned. “So you’ve learned how to light a fire finally?” he asked her. “Are you sure you’ll make something edible?”

Yuelan’s cheeks turned pink. “I don’t need to light a fire to cook here. And I started learning how to cook when I was eight. I’m not a professional, but my food isn’t bad.”

“Cooking without fire? How does anything get cooked then?”

“Follow me and I’ll show you.” Yuelan rolled her eyes and gave Guangfeng a slight smile before heading toward the kitchen.

Guangfeng got distracted by several more things on their way to the kitchen: the blinds, the air vents that started blowing hot air as the heater turned on, the lamps on the accent tables, the vacuum one of the maids was using on the area rug in the parlor, and anything else that was new or different as they walked through the halls to get to the kitchen.

When they entered the kitchen, Guangfeng looked around with eyes that looked like those of a child in a toy store. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing.

“The refrigerator. It keeps food from going bad by keeping everything in it cold.” Yuelan answered.

“What’s that?”

“The stove.”

“How does it work without fire?”

“The same way the lights do.”

Guangfeng continued to point at almost everything in the kitchen while Yuelan patiently answered as she started getting out what she needed to make the tea and snacks. Eventually, the prince had satisfied his curiosity and sat on a stool at the kitchen island and watched as Yuelan bustled around the kitchen making tea and fry bread.

As Yuelan was kneading the dough for the bread Guangfeng frowned. “What are you making?” he asked.

“Fry bread to go with the tea. It’s really good with butter and jam or cinnamon and sugar. And I haven’t had it since before I went to Longuo,” Yuelan answered. She finished kneading the dough and set it aside to rise then hunted down everything she needed for tea and found some cookies the pastry chef had made. Ginger snaps, Yuelan’s favorite.

Yuelan took the kettle to the sink and turned on the hot water. Guangfeng knocked over the stool as he saw water coming out of the tap, but he didn’t seem to notice as he rushed over to stare at the faucet.

“Is this the ‘running water’ you told me about before?” he asked eagerly.

For some reason as Yuelan looked at Guangfeng this time she thought she could see a dog’s tail wagging behind him and she giggled. “Yes, this is one of the things that running water can do.” With the kettle full, Yuelan put it on the stove and turned the dial to start boiling the water for the tea.

Guangfeng reached a hand out to play with the knob, but Yuelan smacked his hand away. “Don’t you dare. You are not going to play with the stove!”

The prince frowns and rubs his hand. “Fine.” He sighs. “I just wanted to see how it works.”

“Well, the stove is more dangerous than the lights are. You could get hurt playing with it like that.”

Guangfeng looked disappointed, but he didn’t try to argue with her. “I’ll be careful,” he promised instead.

“Good. Why don’t you pick up the stool you knocked over then?”

The prince sighed and walked over to the stool he had been sitting on. He picked up the stool and set it back in place.