Chapter 7: Huai City

By the time Li Yang opened the door again, the soup bowl in her hands was empty.

She walked down the hallway, casually handing the empty bowl to a passing maid, then headed straight for the tea room.

In the corridor, a man came toward her and passed by.

He wore a baseball cap pulled low, his face hidden. Thin frame, steady steps.

As they brushed past each other, Li Yang glanced back and saw him disappear around the corner.

In the tea room, Tainuo sat alone on the sofa, one hand resting on the armrest, his posture lazy yet distant.

Li Yang walked over and casually touched the teacup on the guest seat—

Still hot.

So it must have been the person who'd just left.

Li Yang rarely saw strangers coming to see Tainuo at the estate.

A sickly castoff, he seldom had dealings with the outside world, and rarely even left the estate.

Because he was blind, thick curtains were drawn all day throughout the estate, barely letting any light through. That was why his skin was so pale—a sickly pallor, like plaster smeared on a wall, drained of blood.

"Shao Yao?"

Tainuo spoke, his brown-gray eyes falling in her direction.

Li Yang snapped back to herself and answered, "Mm, it's me, Sir."

She stepped forward, sat down beside him, and familiarly burrowed into his arms. "Why didn't Sir call me over to keep you company?"

Tainuo: "I wanted you to rest a bit more. Weren't you tired last night?"

Last night, Tainuo had seemed quite enthusiastic—more times than his usual restraint, not leaving until nearly dawn.

Tainuo never stayed the night in her room.

Which was fine. A quick tumble, done and dusted—needs satisfied, then each went their separate way.

Li Yang wasn't used to sharing half a bed with anyone.

Li Yang: "It's fine, I'm not tired. If anything, Sir's the one who worked hard."

After all, she wasn't the one doing the moving all night.

Tainuo curved his lips and pulled her a little closer into his arms.

"Oh, right..." Li Yang spoke as if it were nothing. "When Shao Yao came in, I saw a stranger. Who was he?"

Tainuo said lightly, "Someone who does work for me."

Li Yang: "A new one?"

Tainuo: "An old one."

Li Yang: "How come I've never seen him before?"

Tainuo smiled and didn't answer her question.

What she could see was only what he allowed her to see.

Li Yang didn't mind and kept asking, "Don't you already have A Yi as your assistant?"

Tainuo: "A Yi handles the work above board. That person handles the work that can't see the light of day."

Li Yang: "What kind of work can't see the light of day?"

Tainuo: "Why so interested?"

At that question, Li Yang realized she'd been a bit too forward and quickly covered:

"Shao Yao wants to help Sir with work too."

"Oh? Is that so?" Tainuo seemed intrigued. "What could you do for me?"

"Shao Yao owes Sir her life. Whatever Sir wants me to do, I'll do it."

Like an obedient cat, she nuzzled against Tainuo's chest.

Tainuo wrapped one arm around her slender waist, the other lazily stretched out along the sofa, his fingertips loosely holding a small purple-clay teacup.

"Dirty and exhausting. Why bother?" Tainuo chuckled softly.

Li Yang said seriously, "I don't want to be just Sir's canary, Sir's dodder flower. I want to be Sir's right hand, to share Sir's burdens."

Tainuo: "A blind man despised by his own mother, abandoned by his family—what burdens could I have to share? Just trivial matters."

Li Yang feigned anger. "What about A Yi then? And that stranger just now? How come they get to share Sir's burdens?"

"Anything at all?" Tainuo mused.

Li Yang steeled herself. "Mm. Anything at all."

The purple-clay teacup between his fingertips swayed slowly, and the hand on Li Yang's waist was neither loose nor tight.

Tainuo didn't smoke or drink—only tea. Like some health-nut old bastard.

So he sometimes carried a faint scent of tea. At first whiff it was bitter, and only at the end came a subtle sweetness.

Suddenly his fingers loosened, and the teacup fell to the floor with a sharp crack. In the silent tea room, it sounded jarring.

"Then..." Tainuo's voice was not loud, sounding quite casual:

"Kill someone, or burn something down. Pick whichever you like—choose one."