I’m still considered an essential worker, so I still have to go out to work. I suppose you can’t do lab work at home, so what can I do. There’s just a push to get as many studies done since we don’t know if we’ll be shut down any time soon. Sorry for the wait on this chapter.

Chapter 41 - Prospective Young Master¹

Bai Xi woke up at 6 in the morning, her body's biological clock waking her up on time. When she awoke, she looked around the room before she turned over and closed her eyes to sleep once more. She had yet to close her eyes for a minute when she opened them again, glancing around the room once more before furrowing her brows. A pair of slightly surprised black pupils stared across the room at the white-clad figure lying on the lounge chair². "Feng Ming?"

That person was the one who had forcibly taken her first kiss, that damn man, Feng Ming. Looking at his posture, he seemed to have been sleeping there for a while.

"This bed is softer and smaller." Feng Ming opened his golden eyes.

Soft? Small? He was talking nonsense. That was her bed, so of course it was soft. Wait, that wasn't the point. Why was this man here and why did he sleep here?

"Why are you here?"

"I'm giving you half an hour to prepare." Feng Ming then closed his eyes and didn't speak further.

Bai Xi calmly looked at Feng Ming, who was lying on the bed. This man really deserved to be known as a dream lover in the hearts of the young women. Not only are men jealous of him, the women went crazy over him. He was still enchanting and graceful when sleeping. Actually, she really wanted to pull his clothes off and see what kind of figure he had under his magnificent clothes. Bai Xi abruptly shook her head. She had let her imagination run wild.

After she walked behind the screen, she started to change and wash up. Once again, she ended up muttering to herself. What was that man thinking? Why did he come to her room so early in the morning while she was still asleep? Wasn't it important for people in the ancient time for a woman to maintain her reputation and integrity? A man couldn't go into a woman's boudoir as he pleased. Wasn't it the same here? Or was it more open-minded?

Mu Qiu also prepared breakfast on time. However, today she had prepared 2 meals.

"Little Qiu Qiu, you really know me so well³. You actually know that I am very hungry today and want to eat a lot," said Bai Xi with a mocking laugh. She wasn't sure why she awoke feeling particularly hungry today. She didn't think that this young girl would keep her so deep in her heart and prepare many dishes for breakfast.

As for Bai Xi's praise, Mu Qiu smiled awkwardly. "Young Miss, actually, this servant had prepared for the young miss and the Prospective Young Master."

Bai Xi choked on the crystal dumpling⁴ that she had just put in her mouth upon hearing Mu Qiu's words, especially the 'Prospective Young Master' part.

"Drink some water." Feng Ming had somehow gotten up and sat next to her without her noticing. His voice floated directly into her ear, and she took the cup of water from him and drank.

"Little Qiu Qiu, I haven't gotten married yet. Who is the 'Prospective Young Master'? Do you want to scare your young miss to death with these words? Even if I wasn't scared to death, I could have choked to death on this dumpling," Bai Xi said after she had some water and stopped coughing.

"This servant knows Young Miss hasn't married yet, that's why this servant said Prospective Young Master." Wasn't she right? Wasn't His Excellency, The Ice Lord the Prospective Young Master? Didn't the young miss and Prospective Young Master kiss last night? The Prospective Young Master had also come to Xi Yuan before sunrise to the young miss's room. Wasn't this behaviour only what a Prospective Young Master would do?

"Little Qiu Qiu, he isn't…" Your Prospective Young Master, she couldn't say these words.

Feng Ming, who was next to her, put down his chopsticks and said lightly, "Bai Xi."

Bai Xi raised her head to meet Feng Ming's brilliant gold eyes, her eyes asking 'what?'.

"Where did you put the onions from my courtyard last night?"

Bai Xi was startled. "I planted them in the backyard."

"Is that so?" He looked down at the breakfast on the table.

"Of course. If you don't believe me, you can go and take a look." Of course the backyard had green onions, but she didn't take the ones from Luo Yue Xuan last night. Instead, she got Little Qiu Qiu to take the onions from the kitchen. She didn't really think about the onions from Luo Yue Xian last night. By the time she returned to Xi Yuan, she was just pissed off that he had taken her first kiss of two lifetimes!

"Bai Xi."

"…"

"They're really from my Luo Yue Xuan?"

"Of… Of course."

Feng Ming merely looked outside before shifting his attention to Mu Qiu. "You, go and throw the onions from the backyard away."

"Ah? Yes, Prospective Young Master." Mu Qiu panicked a little, but quickly recovered and rushed to the backyard.

Bai Xi was too busy eating breakfast to bother asking why he asked Mu Qiu to do that. However, she already decided to give Little Qiu Qiu a lesson on who her master actually was.

However, while she was eating, Bai Xi thought of something. Raising her head, she asked Feng Ming directly, "That… I already have someone I love."

The person across from her remained unconcerned with her words.

"So Little Qiu Qiu is wrong about you being the Prospective Young Master." She didn't receive a reply.

"Feng Ming," Bai Xi called out again. This man wasn't swayed.

Feng Ming leaned a little closer. "Speak."

"Are… you angry?"

Feng Ming didn't respond, and they ended up looking at each other until Mu Qiu returned to the room, gasping for breath as she informed them that she had thrown the onions in the backyard. Feng Ming only then looked away and said, "Go."

"Go?" Bai Xi asked subconsciously.

"Just keep up," Feng Ming said lightly. He walked out of the room.

Bai Xi took two steps before remembering something and then returned. "Little Qiu Qiu, have you seen the puppet that looks like older brother?"

"Young Miss, this servant hasn't. Perhaps Young Miss accidentally lost it last night?"

Lost it? She clearly remembered that she had put the puppets of her older brother and that damn old man on the desk before going to sleep last night. Why did only the old man remain? Could it be that she remembered wrong?

"If you don't keep up, I'll take it as you not wanting to practice martial arts," the faint, emotionless voice came from outside.

Bai Xi took a few deep breaths, after which she headed outside.

Mu Qiu raised her eyebrows. This was really good. If His Excellency, The Ice Lord became the Prospective Young Master, then her young miss wouldn't get bullied anymore. Mu Qiu then focussed on tidying up the room with a smile on her face.

When Mu Qiu saw some powder on the edge of the table, she was confused. "Strange, why is there dust here? And why is the dust coloured? That's odd." Mu Qiu didn't think on it too much and just wiped the 'dust' away with a cloth.

^{1.(姑爺) this is title used by members of the family to address a future son-in-law for the young miss. I don't know how to properly translate this to English, so I've currently got it as 'Prospective Young Master' just to differentiate it from 'young master' (少爺) which is for young men in the family. I've also left it capitalised to show that it is a title.↩}

^{2.(太妃椅) literally translates to 'imperial concubine chair', which is apparently one of these.↩}

^{3.(你真是小姐我肚子裡的蛔蟲) she says here that 'you really are a roundworm in my stomach'. I think it means that 'you know me so well', but I'm not sure.↩}

^{4.(水晶餃) Crystal Dumplings↩}