34 Show 'n tell

The next couple of weeks went really well. She would show me how to do things and tell me why it worked the way that it did. It made sense and she taught with such gentleness and kindness I felt reassured as I learned.
My fear of being caught naked was lessening. It still hadn't gone and I still was embarrassed whenever things were aroused, but I was getting used to it and had learned different strategies to deal with it. The cold water helped and to be able to throw myself into that when I got really hot and bothered was very, very useful indeed. 
I started to really appreciate just how clever this young lady was.  Not only was she beautiful to look at but so was her mind. It was filled with so many skills, abilities and insights, and her philosophy of life was simple. It was as if I was listening to a Doaist master explaining the universe.
I inwardly applauded her and silently fell even further into that abyss.

Hao Yang was a quick learner as long as I showed him and explained why it worked that way. I let him try other methods and soon he realised I'd done all that before.
We got on very well and even started to have fun. In the evening I would roast whatever we had that day and make a vegetable soup to accompany it. We would talk about things from our past and through this, we got to know one another well. 
Week three arrived and with it a visit from his elder brother.
He brought some meat and fresh vegetables and we sat down together for a feast of a meal.
Seeing them together made me realise, Hao Yang was considerably younger and had been treated as a child all his life. Now, although old enough to marry and lead troops, his brother still treated him as a little boy.
'Now I understand,' I thought. 
It was a lovely evening and when his brother left, we tidied up camp, put the food away and settled ourselves for the night. 
Snug, under our skins, we slept like royalty. Unfortunately, it was to be a short lived sleep.

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