My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 109 Chen Xiaomiao, the Girl with Glasses (Sorry, I had to go on a business trip for two days, so this will be a short update based on my existing drafts)
After returning from the capital, Chen Xiaomiao's life began to change.

He used to spend his free time lounging on the sofa watching TV, or pondering what to eat today and what to eat tomorrow. Now, however, he has quietly started reading books.

It started as a financial magazine that Lu Yuan casually tossed on the coffee table.

She held the colorful booklet, reading it word by word, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

The terms "macroeconomic control" and "capital operation" inside were like gibberish to her.

Seeing her struggling, Lu Yuan had an idea. He took a stack of books from the study and placed them in front of Chen Xiaomiao.

"Look at these."

Chen Xiaomiao peeked out and saw several slightly worn history textbooks and a book called "A Brief History of the World".

"This...this is what you used when you were in school?"

"Yes, I went to junior high and high school."

Lu Yuan pulled out a book and opened it; it was full of pictures and text.

"Didn't you want to know how the world came to be? Start here, and if you don't understand anything, just ask me, or look it up on your phone."

It was too difficult for Chen Xiaomiao to learn science, and Lu Yuan couldn't teach her well either, so he thought he would start with history first.

In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

That afternoon, Chen Xiaomiao was reading about the European Renaissance when she suddenly put down her pen, rubbed her eyes hard, and scrunched up her little face.

Lu Yuan, who was standing beside him, asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"My eyes feel uncomfortable."

Chen Xiaomiao complained, "It's so sour, it tastes like it's been sprinkled with chili powder. The words on the book keep waving in front of me, I can't even see them clearly."

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

He made Chen Xiaomiao stand by the window and pointed to the shop signs across the street: "Xiaomiao, can you see what's written on them?"

Chen Xiaomiao squinted and stared intently for a long time before shaking her head uncertainly: "It's too far away, it's blurry, like a lump of ink."

Lu Yuan understood.

He walked over, made Chen Xiaomiao face him, and then held up two fingers and waved them in front of her eyes.

"How much is this?"

"Two miles."

He took a few steps back and extended his finger again.

"now what?"

"Still two... no, three? Stop wavering!"

"okay."

Lu Yuan sighed deeply.

He estimated that Chen Xiaomiao had mild myopia before, and after half a year of transmigrating, her eyesight had worsened due to playing on her phone and watching TV every day. He guessed that her myopia must be quite high now.

The next day, Lu Yuan led Chen Xiaomiao to a nearby glasses shop, where a woman in a white coat greeted them.

"Hello, are you here to get glasses?"

"Yes, give her an eye exam."

Lu Yuan pointed to Chen Xiaomiao beside him.

Chen Xiaomiao stood next to Lu Yuan, looking around with curiosity and vigilance at everything around her.

That thing was pitch black, covered with knobs and lenses, and looked like a strange magical artifact I'd never seen before, or maybe... the torture device of the King of Hell in a play.

"Lu Yuan, what's this?"

She tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve and whispered, "Are you sure this is for someone's eyes? You're not going to stick a tube into my eyeball, are you?"

The experience of having a colonoscopy and gastroscopy during a previous hospital checkup left her with such a deep psychological scar that she now trembles whenever she sees someone in a white coat.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt."

Lu Yuan pressed her down into a chair and soothed her gently.

The optometrist adjusted the equipment and had Chen Xiaomiao rest her chin on the support, with her forehead pressed against it.

"Okay, don't be nervous. Look at that little red house inside and tell me, do you understand now?"

Chen Xiaomiao peered through the small hole at the blurry image inside and honestly replied, "I don't know, it's like looking at flowers through fog."

"Okay, let's try it. Now? Is lens number one clearer, or lens number two?" The optometrist turned the knob to switch lenses.

This really stumped Chen Xiaomiao.

"What number one and number two?" She blinked, looking completely innocent. "They look pretty much the same to me, they're all blurred."

The optometrist paused for a moment, then smiled and patiently explained, "I'll show you two different looks each time. Just tell me which one makes you feel more comfortable and clearer."

"Oh……"

The test has restarted.

"Number one, or number two?"

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Xiaomiao finally guessed based on her intuition: "Number two... I think the feng shui of number two is better."

Optometrist: "..."

Lu Yuan, who was standing to the side, rubbed his forehead and quickly stepped forward to give advice: "Xiao Miao, don't worry about feng shui, just look at it with your eyes, and say whichever one is clear."

With Lu Yuan's "translation" and guidance, the bumpy eye exam finally proceeded. But Chen Xiaomiao's answers remained bizarre.

"Red and green?"

"Red, red looks festive!"

"...I'm asking about clarity."

After finally finishing the test, the optometrist took off his glasses, breathed a sigh of relief, and gave Lu Yuan a sympathetic look that seemed to say, "Your girlfriend is so cute."

With myopia of 300 degrees in the right eye and 425 degrees in the left eye, I am considered to have moderate myopia.

Next is choosing frames.

Chen Xiaomiao wandered around in front of the dazzling array of display cases, her little face full of curiosity.

She first picked up a pair of frameless glasses studded with rhinestones, held them up to her face, and immediately shook her head, saying with disdain, "Too bright, like a theatrical troupe, so frivolous."

She picked up a pair of old-fashioned reading glasses, the lenses of which were as thick as the bottom of a bottle. She put them on and looked around, and the world spun around her. She was so frightened that she quickly took them off.

Finally, her gaze fell on a small, round, gold-rimmed pair of glasses.

"How about this?" She held it up for Lu Yuan to see.

Lu Yuan glanced at it, and the image of a fortune teller from a period drama instantly flashed into his mind. He quickly took the glasses from her hand and put them back in their place.

He spent a long time browsing in the display case before finally choosing a pair of simple black square-framed glasses with a slightly rounded curve, which looked both refined and not too stiff.

"Try this."

Chen Xiaomiao obediently took it and put it on.

The frames were just the right size, fitting perfectly on her small, pert nose.

Half an hour later, the lens was ground.

The shop assistant carefully helped Chen Xiaomiao put on her glasses and adjusted the tightness of the temples for her.

"Okay, stand up and walk around a bit, feel it out."

Chen Xiaomiao carefully stood up, holding onto the chair, and then... she froze.

She blinked, and blinked again.

The world is clearer than ever before.

She could see the eye chart hanging on the opposite wall clearly, with each letter on the smallest line distinct.

Turning my head to look out the window, the signboard of the shop across the street, with its four big red characters "Old Wang Barbecue," was so bright and eye-catching.

The outlines of distant high-rise buildings, the branches and leaves of trees, the clothes of pedestrians... everything has transformed from a blurry mass of color into clearly defined entities.

"My goodness!"

She couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, like a child seeing the world for the first time, greedily gazing at this brand-new place.

Finally, she turned to look at Lu Yuan beside her.

"Be good..."

Chen Xiaomiao subconsciously reached out to touch Lu Yuan's face, murmuring in amazement, "Lu Yuan, I can see the pores on your face!"

As she drew closer, her already captivating, foxy eyes, framed by a pair of slightly oversized black glasses, gained an added touch of scholarly elegance and adorable charm.

Innocence and allure, intellect and naivety, were wonderfully blended in her. She tilted her head back, staring intently at Lu Yuan through her clear glasses.

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

So cute!

Ah Wei is dead...

After paying, Lu Yuan led the still slightly dizzy Chen Xiaomiao out of the glasses shop.

The sun was shining brightly outside, its warmth bathing them as the two strolled slowly along the sidewalk.

"How are you feeling? Dizzy?"

"I'm not dizzy, it's just... everything looks brand new."

Chen Xiaomiao adjusted her black-rimmed glasses, her eyes darting around, finding everything new and interesting.

"Xiao Miao, when did you start having trouble seeing clearly?"

"I can't remember..."

Lu Yuan didn't press the matter further, a faint sense of guilt rising in his heart.

It was my own negligence.

Nearsightedness develops gradually and imperceptibly.

He should have noticed it sooner: this girl always unconsciously brings her face very close when she's on her phone, and she always leans forward when watching TV.

"How come your eyes are fine?" Chen Xiaomiao looked up at him curiously. "You look at your phone all day long, don't you strain your eyes?"

I was nearsighted when I was in high school.

"Those glasses of yours, I've never seen you wear them before?"

"I had surgery."

"Surgery? Do you mean cutting into the eyeball?"

"Similar, but not with a knife. It uses a laser to carve a 'lens' on the thin membrane at the very top of your eyeball."

Lu Yuan intended to explain it in a simple and easy-to-understand way, but Chen Xiaomiao's face turned pale as she listened.

"Carving patterns on eyeballs!?"

Her voice trembled, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. She instinctively covered her eyes.

Lu Yuan reassured him, "What are you thinking? It's legitimate medical practice, perfectly safe. If you find wearing glasses troublesome, I'll arrange for you to get some later."

"Don't go, don't go!"

Chen Xiaomiao shook her head vigorously, like a rattle drum: "I'd rather wear glasses for the rest of my life than have something carved on my eyeballs, so don't even think about it!"

The two strolled to a nearby park.

Saturday afternoon, the park was very lively, with many parents bringing their children out for a stroll.

In a small square, several ropes were strung together, with colorful papers hanging from them like clothes drying in the sun.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an exhibition of children's calligraphy and painting.

The paintings depicted wildly imaginative subjects, including fire-breathing dinosaurs and winged houses.

The characters varied in size and ink color, with crooked and distorted strokes, exuding a childish charm.

Wearing his new glasses, Chen Xiaomiao looked at each picture with great interest.

As she looked at it, she suddenly sighed softly.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yuan asked.

"I'm reminded of Mr. Dong."

Chen Xiaomiao pointed to a calligraphy piece that read "Great virtue carries all things" and muttered softly, "He hasn't contacted me since the beginning of spring."

Lu Yuan glanced at the four characters, which were written like scribbles, and couldn't help but laugh: "Maybe their business is not doing well and they don't need someone else to write them, or maybe they found someone who can write better."

"Then I won't have any income."

Chen Xiaomiao sounded disappointed.

Although the money for writing on behalf of others wasn't much, it was the first time she had earned it through her own abilities since arriving in this "new world," making it all the more meaningful.

Now that my source of income has dried up, I can't help but feel empty inside.

She tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve, tilted her head back, and looked at him through his refined black-rimmed glasses, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Lu Yuan, you're so quick-witted, can you help me come up with a plan? How can we make money?"

"It's not that there's no way, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless... you stop staying cooped up at home all the time."

Lu Yuan said slowly, "If you're willing, I can find you a shop. You can open a flower shop, or a coffee shop, or... a shop selling calligraphy and paintings."

Chen Xiaomiao was stunned, blinking her eyes: "Why these stores?"

"Because it's a leisurely time."

Lu Yuan explained, "These shops don't have many customers on weekdays. You can sit in the shop and read books or write by yourself. You don't have to do any heavy work."

If you find it too troublesome, just hire a few people to keep an eye on things for you and become a hands-off manager.

Lu Yuan understood perfectly. He didn't want Chen Xiaomiao to make money, but rather he wanted to find her a window to connect with society, a place outside of home, so that she wouldn't be too bored and isolated.

But Chen Xiaomiao's thought process was clearly not on the same wavelength as his.

"Can you make money by opening a store like this?"

"Making money or not is not important."

"That won't do. If you're not trying to make money in business, then you're just wasting your time!"

Chen Xiaomiao pouted and gave up the idea: "Forget it, I'll just stay at home and do your laundry and cook for you."

She got used to this kind of life and became dependent on this stability.

She was apprehensive about having to go out and "show her face" to run a shop and be a manager.

Lu Yuan suddenly brought it up again: "A while ago, Lü Lei asked me again if I wanted to arrange a driver or a nanny or something..."

"What!?"

Chen Xiaomiao reacted strongly: "Is it because my cooking is bad, or because I didn't sweep the floor properly? Are you saying I'm clumsy and can't serve you well?"

In her view, Lu Yuan's words meant that he was dissatisfied with her "job" and wanted to find someone to replace her.

Lu Yuan smiled wryly: "Don't overthink it. I just want to make things easier for you so you don't have to spend all your time in the kitchen and doing housework."

"I'm not tired at all, not tired at all!"

Chen Xiaomiao shook her head: "I only cook a few dishes and dust every day. I don't even have to wash my clothes by hand. There's a round sweeper that can run by itself to sweep the floor. It's much easier than in the temple!"
I'm not some pampered princess, I'm not that precious.

Besides, I feel uncomfortable having strangers wandering around the house.

Lu Yuan didn't say anything more, but Chen Xiaomiao suddenly spoke up again.

"Lu Yuan, thank you."

Why are you thanking me all of a sudden?

Lu Yuan was a little stunned when Chen Xiaomiao suddenly thanked him.

Chen Xiaomiao said, "Of course I have to thank you. Now I have food and drink, and you don't scold me. I can have a peaceful and happy New Year."

"That's all you're asking for?"

"Aren't your demands enough?"

Her standards were that simple; asking Lu Yuan for more was, in her view, insatiable greed.

Chen Xiaomiao glared at him and counted on her fingers: "No need to go hungry, no need to freeze, no one will hit or scold you, and you can sleep soundly at night."

Back in our day, this was a blessing from heaven; we wouldn't even dare to dream of it.

As she spoke, a hint of disorientation flashed in her eyes, as if she were seeing herself again, displaced and starving.

As for life, just take it one day at a time.

Trying to do too much at once will lead to failure...

　Sorry for the two-day business trip!

　　I'll be updating short chapters these next two days, and will resume 10,000-word updates the day after tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)