First Meal

Coming into the room with a platter of food, Zhong Chen said, "I don't know what food you like but I made some dim sums, hot and sour soup, and quick noodles for you."

As he said that, Bai Shuixian stared at the platter while almost drooling. She almost felt like he was lying to her because these were some of her favorite dishes. Many of the noble families like dishes with complex steps to make, but she loved these simple dishes that warmed her stomach.

Though she only had a few chances to eat them per year, she was still filled with happiness and excitement when she did get to eat them. Every time she ate one dim sum, she would always wish for the year to be full of only positive things for her family. When she got a bowl of hot and sour soup, she would wish for herself to be successful in the future.

She really wanted to ask Zhong Chen if he was lying, but since he told her to not talk yet, she would not. What if he took her food away? This was only her own personal thoughts, but he really would not take it away since he could infer that she had not eaten in days.

Once he got closer to her, he set the platter of food on the bedside table and walked to the dresser. Opening the dresser, he got out a set of white silk clothes with a cloud pattern embroidered with silver threads. After that, he set the clothes on the bed next to her.

"All the clothes in the dresser belong to you," Zhong Chen told her. "You must be confused though because nobody aside from Zhu Jin knows that you're in this forest. I'll answer your questions after you can talk again."

He did not leave a spot for her to talk and instead left the room right after saying that.

Right after he closed the doors though, he said, "Change into the clothes and knock on the bed when you're done."

This meant that he would be standing outside until she finished changing clothes. At the same time, she thought about how right he was. She indeed had lots of questions.

Those questions not only extended to him, but also herself. During the past days, there were just too many extraordinary events happening that she was about to go crazy. Even though she maintained calmness, she was actually freaking out on the inside.

The only reason why she had been able to stay calm was because life had taught her to be calm. A long time ago, if she showed any panic she would be beaten or hit, so she eventually stopped showing emotions. Even when talking to her mother, she would speak with a deadpan face, making her Yao Zhu explode with anger.

Though it was a little painful to stand up and change, she thankfully had the bed to help balance her as she stood up to change into the clothes. She had initially thought that it would be easy for her to change into the clothes because it seemed to be made from the same material as the ones Zhu Jin gave her, but this one had a different design. In order to tie the sash, she needed help.

For some reason, she felt like Zhong Chen had given her these on purpose just so that she could ask him for help. However, she denied it because he was a priest. From her experiences with priests, they were all holy people and though some came off as perverted, they were all chaste.

Since she was left with no choice but to call for help, she knocked on the bed frame like he asked. As soon as he heard the knock, he opened the door only to see her half undressed and half dressed.

Purposely showing his confusion as to why she knocked, he asked while pretending to block his eyes, "Did you need help?"

Seeing that he had blocked his eyes from seeing her, she knocked again to show that she needed his attention on her. Once he turned towards her and looked at her, she turned her back to demonstrate her need in having him tie the sash for her. Since she had her back to him, she did not see his smile that creeped to his face.

If she did, she would have known that her guess was not off about him purposefully choosing that white dress. Out of all the white sets of clothing in the dresser, he chose it because it had the most difficult and complex design. Of course, the most intriguing part was that he actually knew each and every set of clothing in the dresser.

Going to her back with his creepy smile, he grabbed the sash and tied it to her waist. After that he grabbed the second layer and had her put her hands through the sleeves. Once again, he grabbed the sash and tied it.

With the third layer, he had her put her arms through the sleeves and tied the ribbons at the sides to connect to the second layer. Once he was done with the third layer, he grabbed the outer layer and draped it over her body. Seeing the finished product, he was happy, but he did not show it on his face.

Turning her around, he said, "Do you need me to feed you?"

Shaking her head to say no, she walked to the platter of food.

Just when she was about to grab the chopsticks and start eating, he said, "Wait. Don't eat standing up. Your legs are going to get tired."

Since he said so, she put down her chopsticks and sat back on the bed. In fact, her legs were already tired since the moment she stood up to get dressed. For days, she had abused her legs by running an unknown distance and with all the scarring from the vines too.

As soon as she sat down, he grabbed the platter and placed it on a mini-table before carrying it to the bed. Once he did so, he told her she could eat now. Immediately when he told her to eat, she grabbed the chopsticks in a hurried manner and began to stuff herself.

Seeing her hurried way of eating, Zhong Chen said, "No need to eat so fast. Nobody is going to steal your food."

Right after he said that, she began to slow down her eating. Well, she first started with chewing everything that was already in her mouth. After she swallowed them, she changed her position and ate in an elegant and regal manner.

Her table manners were only instilled in her because of the force that was placed on her by her grandfather and mother. Unless she was hungry enough to die, she would never lose her table manners. This also made her embarrassed for there was no one in the world that had seen her lose composure before.

Once he saw her start to eat slow, he told her, "You don't have to worry about not having enough food here, nor being mistreated. I know that you've suffered lots in the past. And… I know that you feel as though the heavens is mistreating you, but I can promise that I'll always be there to help you."

When Zhong Chen was saying the last time, he almost choked up. However, Bai Shuixian did not know because half of her attention was on the food. He was glad though that she did not notice the tiny leak of emotions there because he did not want her to ask why he was about to cry for her.

There was naturally a reason why he choked up and a reason why he wanted to cry. Since he first saw her in the cave, he was already about to weep like a woman that got divorced. Though he only got to see her in a child form, he still remembered her when she was a full grown woman, looking beautiful just like a budding flower.

The reason why he said that everything in the room was hers was because it was. This place was built for her. Just for her.

However, he knew that she could never know these things nor the details and he planned to hide it forever. As long as he lived, he would make sure she never knew of the things in the past. Everything that was and should be important to her should be in this present life of hers.

Even if he did die, he would bring everything to the grave with him. Everything that happened in the past was too much of a tragedy that he did not want her to remember. Since she was reincarnated, why should she take responsibilities of the past?

If she had to, he would fight the King of Yama to force all humans to take responsibilities for their past too. Though she was just a girl now, he could only look at her as a woman that he cared for. Especially when he saw her chowing down the food he cooked with an expression that told him the food he cooked were her favorites.