Chapter 59 – Caretaking
Looking Ye Wei’s guilty face, Lin Zi Yan didn’t know how to react. She grabbed her blanket tightly and sighed deeply.
‘Should I really hold a grudge against Ye Wei for this? His intentions were good, and if it wasn’t for him looking after me the injuries I sustained from this accident could have killed me…”
Feeling embarrassed and struggling to stay calm, Lin Zi Yan’s reasonings told her that she should let it go, but her emotions said not to.
“Ye Wei.” The blushing on Zi Yan’s face showed no signs of fading as she raised her head to look Ye Wei in the eyes. She said, “What you saw does not leave this room, okay?”
“My lips are sealed!” Ye Wei nodded heavily seeing as Lin Zi Yan was prepared to bury this incident and move on, but he felt inexplicably unsettled.
“If others learned about what happened today… you might actually get killed!” Lin Zi Yan warned him in a serious tone.
Ye Wei was puzzled why Zi Yan would be so caught up with what happened, and he wondered if she found him untrustworthy. He would never say anything that would ruin her reputation no matter what.
‘He looks pretty cute when he’s confused. Although he does look childish but he is quite a handsome boy…’ Lin Zi Yan’s mind wandered. ‘What am I thinking!?’
The rush of blood to her head didn’t really help her regain her strength. She wanted to get up, but her dantian and her meridians in her limbs were still weak, so she gave up trying once she noticed how floppy her arms and legs were.
“Ye Wei, can you make me some food?” She resorted to asking for help instead.
“I will get right to it!” Ye Wei replied reflexively and ran downstairs to the kitchen. The Ye’s had servants, but they were taught to do these basic things themselves from a young age which made him quite a good cook for someone with his family background.
Shortly after he went down the stairs, Ye Wei came back up holding a tray with a bowl of warm congee and some pills.
While Ye Wei was downstairs cooking, Zi Yan tried to strengthen her body by filling herself with Qi but failed miserably because of her dantian’s injury.
“Zi Yan, let me help you sit yourself up…” The awkwardness remained, but she was incapable of taking care of herself for the time being.
“Yea.” Lin Zi Yan shyly nodded.
Ye Wei put the tray on the nightstand and took her hand to help her up. He then held her in his left arm and fed her one spoonful at a time.
Their bodily contact did not help lighten the atmosphere.
Feeling Ye Wei’s warm palm on her back, his touch sent shivers down her spine. It was one thing knowing he saw and touched her body when she was barely conscious, but quite another to experience it fully awake. While she was aware that he was not strong enough to protect her, she had never felt more secure than right now leaning on his chest and feeling his heartbeat.
Right now Lin Zi Yan was just a teenager caught in the moment, and she had no idea this memory would stay in her heart and revisit her more often than she could ever imagine.
Ye Wei was very careful when feeding her. He blew on each spoonful of food to make sure it wasn’t too hot. While he was unquestionably doing a decent job at being attentive, he couldn’t help but shift his attention to Zi Yan’s wonderful scent and her exposed body through the opening of the silk gown.
It was Ye Wei’s first time being this close to a girl he liked, and he kept telling himself it was not appropriate to stare, but he just couldn’t help himself.
Aware of Ye Wei’s gaze, Lin Zi Yan subtly tried to cover her chest with her arm, but it only opened up her gown even more. Her anxiety and embarrassment were becoming unbearable all of a sudden.
“Ye Wei!” She stared at him rebukingly. She knew this was unavoidable being in the same room with a young boy while dressed like this, but she expected better from this boy.
It was impossible for either one of them to remain calm while Ye Wei was ashamed of his behavior, it was just too hard for him not to look at the girl of his dreams; in fact, the fondness was mutual, but Lin Zi Yan had more on her mind. She knew her family background would make her relationships more complicated than she would have liked, and that her future was not really in her own hands.
Although Ye Wei had potential, Lin Zi Yan was mindful of how difficult it was for an outsider to earn her family’s approval and trust. A century old superpower was not going to accept a nameless boy to continue their prideful bloodline.
Lin Zi Yan signed resentfully. Sometimes she just wished she was born into an ordinary family.
She wished she could live a simple life without being involved in family disputes and having to please other people’s wishes.
‘I will get away someday…’
The awkward silence seemed never ending. After finishing her food quietly with Ye Wei’s aid, Zi Yan felt somewhat energized and wanting to cover herself up a little more to ease the tension, “Help me up. I would like to get changed!” Her face was still completely red.
“Yea!” Ye Wei nodded and helped her balance while she took small wobbly steps back to her room.
Ye Wei stepped out of the room then shut the doors behind him. He took a deep breath and loosened his shoulders. Scenes from the training room incident kept replaying in his head. He deeply regretted his behavior, but on the other hand, he couldn’t rid himself of his impure thoughts.
Just being left alone was enough to make his mind wander. He couldn’t stop visualizing how Lin Zi Yan was getting changed behind the door. He shook his head and sat down to cultivate, hoping that would clear his mind.
As he was beginning to focus, he was immediately distracted by a loud bang from inside the room.
‘What now?’ Ye Wei was worried. He jumped up and knocked on her door quickly. “Zi Yan! What’s happening?” He screamed hysterically.
“I’m fine!” Her tone of voice was hard, but it was also shaky and the volume was low. It sounded to Ye Wei that she was in pain.
The seals on Lin Zi Yan’s body were too strong, and she literally used all of her Qi and energy earlier trying to break one of them. Until her meridians and dantian recovered, she would not be able to store Qi in her body. She was now as weak as a normal person.
Ye Wei was not convinced, and he stood right outside the door listening closely for any movements.
Seconds later, another banging noise came from the room followed by the sound of Lin Zi Yan grunting.
“Zi Yan!” Ye Wei screamed anxiously. He did not get a reply, and therefore shouted again. Even then still not a sound came from the room.
He started to panic. ‘What just happened!?’ He was too worried to stand still and wait around while Zi Yan could be dying. He slammed the door open hoping it was not too late.