17 Legacy World 1.7 BaoBei? Precious? Me?

For the past month, ZhangYong went about his life the way he did before he started to pay attention to Xinyi. There was no longer a need to rush things, so that he could free up an extra day for her. However, overtime, ZhangYong realised that he was constantly reminded of her. No matter what he did, be it training or working, he would think of how it could be useful for her training. Whenever he spent time resting or leisurely with WangWei and HuiShan, he inadvertently thought of what she was likely doing at that moment. Whenever he had to assess or appraise something, he wondered about how much Xinyi would improve in another month. Expanding his energy and draining himself by the end of every single day did not help to calm this strange curiosity he has of her. Seeing HuiShan, whom he has affections for, did not help either. The more he told himself to forget about the girl who did not appreciate his presence, the more she stayed on his mind. As much as it irritated him, it also saddened him. Before he knew it, it was the last day of the month.

With so much time spent on thinking of her, he began to understand his feelings a little more. It was a strong desire to polish a diamond in the rough. Leaving her alone felt like an utter waste. He simply had to see the end-product. Her tenacity also rivalled his and tickled his competitive spirit. It made his blood boil and adrenaline pump. With that figured out, he made up his mind to see her. This time, he tried to be more mindful and took care to not repeat the mistake that seemed to upset her.

It was evening by the time he reached Xinyi's home in secret. No one on his side knew where he went. No one in this household knew of his presence. He excitedly jumped over walls, while avoiding areas that he sensed had people.

The moment her courtyard came into his range of detection, his excitement cooled. /Doesn't she always stay in her courtyard?/

He sighed inwardly. /I'll just wait for her to return…/

Instead of waiting out in the open where he would have to take cover each time a servant or maid passes by, it was easier to wait in her room. As time trickled by, he realised that his worries were for naught. Not a single person passed by her courtyard. He eventually took the liberty to tour her room. It was minimally decorated with no forms of entertainment. His mind soon drifted off as he wondered about how Xinyi's life was like in this small lonely and detached courtyard. Just as he settled back down in his seat, he sensed a presence by the window behind him. /Ambushing me? How daring. Bring it on then!/

ZhangYong did not suspect that it was Xinyi at the window because he fully expected her to enter through the front door like a normal person. That, coupled with his identity and upbringing, made him immediately suspect that the person at the window could be an assassin.

When he felt the person jump towards him, he moved minimally and dodged the blow with ease, then countered with a punch of his own. Since it was an assassin, there was no need to hold back and no need to waste his effort. However, the instant he identified who the mysterious assailant was, his heart dropped to his stomach and he retracted all the spiritual power of his punch. It was too late to stop his fist from making contact with her soft body.

Xinyi lost grip of the axe and spat out blood. Immense pain spread through her entire torso as her body got thrown back against the wall.

ZhangYong rushed to her aid and supported her upright in his arms. "Sorry! I'll bring you to a doctor now!"

She gripped onto his arm and weakly shook her head. "No need. I'm fine."

Xinyi was already circulating the spiritual energy around her body and cultivating to make herself feel better. Before ZhangYong could argue with her about bringing her to a doctor, she spoke again. "You really have no decorum, waiting for a lady in her room."

"Like you have any decorum either. Who sneaks an attack on their innocent visitor?" He quipped back at her.

Ignoring his comeback, she pushed herself out of his arms, then slowly made her way to her herb garden. Every move she made caused pain to pulse through her body from where she was hit.

When he saw her trying to harvest a herb, he quickly helped her with it. Xinyi took the herb from him and prepared it to be boiled into soup. Only after she set the pot onto the stove, did she sit down to rest with her back against the wall. ZhangYong looked down at Xinyi with slightly raised eyebrows. It was amusing to see a lady look so comfortable on the cold hard and dirty floor. Not forgetting that he was the one responsible for her current state, he offered his help. "Let's rest at the table instead."

He barely reached out towards her when he got rejected again.

"No need." Xinyi said with her eyes still closed.

So, he retrieved his arms and stood there sadly.

Realising that he still did not show any intention of leaving, she asked, "Why're you here? Didn't I say that it was better for you to not come anymore?"

Although it was incredibly rude for Xinyi to talk to him with her eyes closed, he did not take it to heart. "I wanted to see how you were doing. I couldn't stop thinking about you." He answered honestly without thinking it through.

His ambiguous answer finally made Xinyi open her eyes, but it was send him a cold glare.

"Don't worry. I came here in secret. No one knows about me being here." He reassured.

"The one you love is HuiShan Mei, right?"

ZhangYong's eyes grew wide. Although he knew how everyone thought of him and his relation with HuiShan and WangWei, this was the first time someone brought it up in his face like that. Her mention of it brought to mind how ambiguous his actions would look to her, so it would be good to clarify his intentions anyway. He cleared his throat and nodded.

As if satisfied with his affirmation, Xinyi closed her eyes again. "What was the passage you took to sneak in here without anyone knowing? I didn't know our house's security was this lax."

"It's decent. I'm just good." ZhangYong said matter-of-factly before sharing with her the route that he took to get in.

"I see now. Thank you for your effort." After another short moment of silence, Xinyi asked again, "Are you still not going to leave? We've already exchanged blows."

"I have to make sure that you're okay first. I'm responsible for your injury."

"It's my responsibility. I was the one who sneaked an attack. Also, I'm fine now."

"How's that possible? Even I don't heal that fast. I'll stay to help you with things till you retire to bed." He declared.

Xinyi sighed then no longer bothered with arguing with him. He was still as high handed as ever.

As if one declaration led on to the next, ZhangYong continued, "I've decided to keep coming every month. I'll promise to keep my trips here a secret."

"If you say so." Xinyi said dismissively knowing that her response would not change a thing anyway.

Wanting some peace and quiet, she decided to take a bath while waiting for the soup to be done.

While she shuffled to the well, ZhangYong tried to offer his support and tried to converse with her. "I just noticed how this is the longest conversation we've ever shared."

Despite getting rejected, his speech went on unimpeded, "It's been 6 months since I've known you and we've never properly introduced ourselves to each other before. You know who I am, but you can just call me ZhangYong. There's no need to be so formal with me."

/Like I've been courteous since the last time I met you…/

"How should I address you?" ZhangYong asked her despite knowing her name.

"Why're you suddenly so talkative and friendly with me?" Xinyi decided to ask before BaoBao's imagination ran wild.

ZhangYong got thrown off by her question and took a while to think of an answer. "I admit that I was originally only curious about you, so I didn't treat you with enough respect before. Sorry." When ZhangYong knew where he went wrong, he was not afraid to admit it and learn from it.

[So, he loves you now!] BaoBao declared excitedly.

/Did you already forget how just moments ago he confirmed that he likes HuiShan? Nothing between us has changed besides him remembering that I'm a human and not a thing to keep him entertained./

[Oh…] BaoBao then lamented to himself how hard it was to read and grasp this thing called emotions.

Xinyi then carried on the conversation that she cut off. "Call me however you want, just don't mention my name in anything you say or do."

Although he found her request odd, he went along with it without hesitation, thinking that she had a reason for it. The first thing that came to his mind was "treasure".

/But she's not a thing.../

After he thought for a while more, he suddenly blurted out, "BaoBei."

Xinyi tripped over her own foot and fell towards the well.

ZhangYong caught her in time and pulled her back towards him by her arm, which caused her face to crash into his chest. She held onto her nose in pain. /What is he? A brick wall?/

Looking at her frustrated expression and red face, he cocked his head. "You don't like it? I can change it."

"It's not that I don't like it. Wait, no, that's not the point. Why- How did you even come up with that?"

"Because you're really a BaoBei."

"Whose BaoBei am I?"

The moment she phrased her question this way, he finally understood how wrong and ambiguous it sounded. He immediately turned around to hide his embarrassment.

Xinyi looked at his red ears with a raised eyebrow. /I didn't think that the second male lead would be this dense./

He lightly coughed and apologised. "It's my mistake, forgive me. I simply meant to say that you're precious but I can't refer to you like an object so- So that happened… It just came to mind…"

"It's fine. Just... Maybe it's more appropriate if you call me by something else."

Zhang Yong agreed. After becoming aware of its other meaning, he could not get it out of his head. "In that case… How about... Pearl?"

He ended up choosing a word that could be used as a person's name too.

Xinyi slightly tilted her head.

"You're valuable but take a long time to grow. You're not shiny like those stones that many women cherish. You're modest, quiet, and unassuming. Mm, Pearl feels accurate."

"Alright." Xinyi gave her approval while rubbing her nose with her index finger before turning away to go to the well.

Noticing how she looked a little awkward, ZhangYong wondered to himself. /Is she perhaps… Shy?/

BaoBao who was still inexperienced at reading such cues, unfortunately, did not notice a thing.

When Xinyi lowered the bucket into the well and was ready to hoist it back up, ZhangYong forcibly took the rope away from her. The bucket came up in no time then he looked at her, silently waiting for more instructions.

"I'm filling my bath tub with water. You sure you want to do that for me?"

He frowned. "Isn't it normal to first heat up the water before pouring it into the tub?"

Xinyi simply shrugged and tried to take the bucket from him but he did not let her. Without another word, he brought the bucket to the tub that was on the opposite end of the small room from her bed. He did not need to wait for her to indicate where her bath tub was, since he had long noticed it while waiting for her in her room.

A few trips was enough to fill the tub half with water. When he wanted to go to the well to take more, she told him that it was enough.

"You're really making me doubt if you're really part of this family. You're the daughter of the second concubine, aren't you?"

Xinyi nodded.

"Even if you're just a concubine's daughter, isn't this treatment a little too much? You aren't just tolerating this, are you? Tell me you have a plan to fix your situation."

Xinyi knew that the original soul would have desired for more, but the soul residing in the body now was her, who preferred the freedom that came with being ignored.

"It's better for things to continue this way. Too much attention, too little freedom and too much drama."

Zhang Yong felt conflicted. He understood what she meant but he felt uneasy and bad for witnessing her live such a frugal life, especially when more riches were just a reach away.

When he saw her about to take the pot off the stove, he immediately took over the job. He also helped to wash the crockery and bring the bowl of soup into her room.

"That's all, I'm really fine now, you can go."

"You haven't retired to bed yet."

Xinyi pursed her lips. Feeling helpless against his stubbornness, she decided to let him be.

Zhang Yong obediently and silently watched her eat.

"Do you mind looking elsewhere?" Xinyi said after drinking a few spoonful of soup. She was not used to having so much attention on her.

"There's nothing else to see in here. Or do." Zhang Yong said with an eyebrow raised.

Xinyi sighed lightly and continued her meal. Not long later, she heard the low grumble of a hungry stomach. She glanced at ZhangYong who still kept on a straight face with only his slightly pink cheeks betraying the embarrassment he really felt.

Without a word, she pushed the bowl that was still half-filled with soup and herbs to him.

"You're not eating anymore?"

"I can't stomach much with someone watching me eat."

"I'll wait outside then."

"I'm not hungry anymore. Just take it." Xinyi felt that she had eaten enough to recover anyway, so there was no harm in giving him the rest.

When Xinyi saw that ZhangYong was about to leave with the bowl, she remembered how it was more natural in rich households to throw leftovers than to have someone finish it, so she quickly specified what she meant before he wasted her precious food. "When I said take it, I meant for you to eat it. Or are you not hungry?"

ZhangYong looked at her in surprise then looked down at the bowl in his hands. It had indeed smelled nice which was what made his empty stomach growl. A small smile spread across his lips, then he dug in.