When Xiao Ping reached the second floor, he saw a large hall lit by two lamps illuminating the hallway. A pipe directed towards the stairs, where he stood at the edge, was emitting warm air... The walls of the hall were filled with old decorations, including some paintings showing several people, among them Madeline as a child.
"Why hang these pictures in the hall? Does she want to open a gallery? I really don't understand this girl." Xiao Ping muttered as he moved forward.
He saw a red carpet, but it contained different colors like blue, black, and yellow... forming an image of two people: a woman wearing a blue dress with blonde hair and blue eyes, and the other person was a man holding that woman in a dancing bow position. He wore a black suit with a black hat covering his short hair, and his crimson red eyes were focused intently on that girl's face... He had a beautiful flower in his mouth in a romantic pose!
'Oh, how romantic! I didn't think this world in this Victorian era would have such detailed embroidery... to the point it looks realistic on the large carpet!.. Wait, why does this look familiar? Could it be that Jamesy is more romantic than I expected!' Xiao Ping muttered softly, but he didn't know James was directly behind him.
"Should I go and tease him a bit?" Xiao Ping spoke while stroking his chin... But at that moment he felt an angry presence behind him.
'So he turned around slowly, swallowing his saliva and praying that what came to his mind wasn't true. But when he turned his entire body, he saw James standing behind him, looking at him with intense anger, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Hi, Jamesy!" He didn't even try to defuse the situation, but made it worse.
"Oh, it seems the partner wants a lesson in manners, doesn't he?" James said while cracking his knuckles as he approached Xiao Ping.
"No no... my manners are great, but it seems I'm just a loser when it comes to romance. So, I want my partner... no, I want Jamesy to teach me some things about romance!" As he said this, he pointed to the image in the middle of the carpet while stepping back with every step away from James.
'Damn, he's really provocative... It's clear I'm going to suffer a lot because of the things this person saw about me today! James thought before showing a playful smile... "Alright, I'll teach you, but it's not about romance! It's about how to become a punching bag."
"No... thanks, I don't want to." Saying this, Xiao Ping started running... He was running in circles in that large hall while James chased him.
"No... no, I don't want lessons anymore!" Xiao Ping shouted comically as he fled from James.
"These lessons are mandatory, you can't refuse. You don't want to miss them, right?" James commented, laughing.
'Damn, damn! I need to escape and not let him catch me... but if this continues, I'll get tired because this body is really weak. So, I'll head towards that door. "Catch me if you can, Jamesy!" Xiao Ping laughed while mocking James.
"You better not let me catch you, Ping!" James shouted while chasing Xiao Ping towards the only door leading to the rooms on the second floor.
"Let's see if you can catch me first!" Xiao Ping replied while running at full speed towards that door and quickly opening it.
Xiao Ping didn't have time to look and see how the second floor looked inside, he just ran towards the nearest door of the five doors in front of him. He thought it was a bedroom door... and didn't focus on the fact that its color looked strange for a bedroom door or similar, but he opened and closed it before James reached him.
He heard the sound of James's body hitting the door, with some groans coming from behind it. Xiao Ping continued pushing the door, not relying solely on closing it to protect himself from James, but believing that even if James could easily break the door with his hand, he would retreat for fear of Madeline's scolding.
At that moment, it felt like James had left, so he relaxed internally. He didn't want his face to be disfigured by James... He didn't know why he provoked him in the first place? It felt like he enjoyed doing it.
Suddenly, a pleasant fragrance came from behind Xiao Ping... So he moved his hands away from the door and turned around to see the source of this smell. He learned from the situation that happened to him in the cabin that he should check any source of smell, even if it's faint.
All Xiao Ping saw when he turned around was a modern bathroom with a width of 3 meters and a length of only two meters, designed in an old Victorian style. Maybe not better than the bathrooms in his previous world, but still better than the tiny bathroom in the cabin!
There was a bathtub, not supposed to exist in this era, and there was a privacy curtain around the tub... This was better than the towel he used for privacy in the cabin.
There was a lantern hanging in the middle of the bathroom ceiling, illuminating everything inside.
There was a modern water pipe standing straight but tilted at the top, with the showerhead directed above the tub and behind the curtain... which was open and didn't completely cover the tub.
Drip! Drip!
There were many small holes on that showerhead, and some water droplets were forming on them before falling slowly, making a sound as they hit the floor of the tub.
Xiao Ping looked to the left side of the door and saw a sink on the wall. On that sink were some things like hair oils, shampoo, toothpaste and two toothbrushes, and other things he didn't recognize.
'The existence of toothpaste in such a Victorian era! No, this is different from what I know. Shouldn't it be powder instead of paste? This is a big historical difference from my world!' Xiao Ping thought before looking at that mirror above the sink. He didn't want to scrutinize and feel alienated by his appearance; he had made his decision to complete his life in this world and uncover the mysteries around him so he could return to his own world!
He turned back and looked at the top of the bathroom door, seeing something used as a hanger for clothes and towel.
'Speaking of clothes... aren't these... no no... this is from your imagination, Xiao, don't be perverted.' Xiao Ping looked and pushed away his perverted thoughts about the piece of underwear hanging on the bathroom door.
"Alright, time for a refreshing bath. Even though I already took a bath this morning, since coming to this city many things have happened: I ran and fought, had some wine spilled on me earlier, and let's not forget the blood on my head." Xiao Ping spoke while taking off his clothes before throwing them in the laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom.
He headed towards the tub, moved the curtain to the right a little to enter, then pulled it back... even though there was a bathroom door, he thought there was a reason for putting it here anyway.
He saw that there was a small metal pipe connected to one of the two iron faucets in front of him, each with engravings showing temperature in Celsius for hot and cold.
'Man... it wouldn't be long before someone invents a time travel machine this year!' Xiao Ping mocked internally, and given the cold, dim weather outside... he chose to take a hot bath instead of a cold one, so he turned the hot water faucet.
Soon steam came out from the showerhead holes before falling on Xiao Ping's naked body.
"Finally, some relaxation." Xiao Ping said while stretching inside the tub and closing his eyes.
...
"Tsk tsk, this fool is really fast." James grumbled while returning to the living room and towards the sofa in the middle... which was in front of the bathroom door, and threw himself on it.
In front of the sofa was a circular table with some papers inside a folder, and other things like a silver wristwatch with a coffee cup, and a deck of cards with different, mysterious designs.
The living room had a much better design than the hall, with elegant carpets free of patterns, made of high-quality linen.
There were no additional lights... only a small chandelier hanging in the middle of the living room ceiling, illuminating with very beautiful colors.
There was a coat rack in front of the entrance from the hall, for guests or visitors to hang their clothes, which were customs and traditions in this city.
James lazily got up from that sofa and headed towards the coat rack, before taking off his black coat and round hat, hanging them up, keeping only his black shirt and pants.
At that moment, Madeline entered through the door and saw James looking very annoyed by Xiao Ping's comments... but she couldn't help but laugh at him. He always bullied her but she couldn't respond, but today someone came and taught James a lesson in provocation.
"Did he already go into the bathroom?" Madeline asked when she didn't see Xiao Ping around.
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued