Reheating the Kept Life

Su Yuhe was pulled into his room, and the door slammed shut behind her. A rich woody fragrance enveloped her nose. It smelled nice, certainly, but it was a little too strong.

She rubbed her nose and tried to step back, only to find her back already against the door. She dodged to one side. "Too strong."

Xubai gave a cold snort, turned, and sat down at the table, his small face stern, saying nothing. In this situation, she had no idea what to say either, so she fell silent along with him.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

In the end, he was the first to lose patience. The moment he spoke, jealousy and resentment spilled into his voice.

"Say what?"

Su Yuhe answered blankly before belatedly remembering. "Lanxin told me. I'm fine either way."

Xubai could not help raising his voice. "Either way?"

Her heart raced. Afraid he would misunderstand and swallow her whole, she hurried to argue her case. "Lanxin was right. My status is too low to be worthy of you. We can't keep getting entangled like this. It wouldn't be good for either of us if outsiders found out."

She spoke sincerely, but to Xubai, it sounded like evasion. He slowly rose and walked toward her, one step at a time, until the tips of his shoes faced hers.

Su Yuhe kept her head lowered, her voice growing quieter and quieter. "I don't want this either, but we really can't go on like this."

"Do you really think that, or have you had your fun and want to leave?"

She rubbed the tip of her nose, taken aback by his crude words, and did not dare face the question head-on.

What did he mean, having her fun and leaving? Why did he make it sound so improper?

"No."

Xubai reached out and tilted her chin up, then lowered his head and bit her lips, mercilessly biting a small cut into them.

Su Yuhe flinched in pain and tried to push him away, but he imprisoned her wrists in his hands.

The taste of blood spread through her mouth. Only after a long while did he release her. "I don't like it. Don't say that again."

She covered her lips without speaking. No one knew better than she did what those words meant.

He was letting bygones be bygones. She could probably live off him again.

Only, she was not as happy as she had been the first time she became a kept woman.

Xubai gathered her into his arms and nestled his head into her neck. "Don't you have anything to tell me? You and them..."

Su Yuhe answered reflexively before he could finish. "There's nothing between me and them. It's just that you sent them back, so I have to keep them."

"Send them here to serve me. They're things meant to serve people anyway."

"There's no need for that. I have them chopping firewood and feeding the chickens at home. It makes no difference whether they come here."

Xubai was deeply dissatisfied with her answer. He wanted to flare up, but held himself back.

That bunch had all walked the boundary between life and death and witnessed the dark intrigues of the inner courtyard. Once they decided she was someone to cling to, they would surely latch on for dear life.

They must have seized their chance during the month he had been away. Otherwise, she would never have contradicted him.

Steadying himself, he skipped over the topic he had raised himself. "I had the kitchen stew some chicken soup for you."

At the mere mention of chicken soup, Su Yuhe's head felt twice its size.

The private kitchen here also liked stewing chicken, adding red dates and medicinal herbs. They even discarded the chicken meat afterward, leaving only a little tureen of strongly medicinal-smelling soup with a layer of oil floating on top. Drinking it was like drinking Chinese medicine.

Her face immediately fell, and she made one last, stubborn attempt to struggle free. "I just remembered I have something to do. I need to head back in a bit, so I won't stay for dinner."

Xubai released her, then took her hand and led her to sit at the table. "No. Whatever it is, you have to finish drinking it before you leave."

"No!"

She turned her head away rather than look at him. This damned chicken soup brought back a little of what living off him used to feel like.

"Just one bowl."

Without waiting for her refusal, he called Zhuxin in. Before long, the dishes arrived, filling an entire square table for eight.

After dismissing the servants, Xubai ladled out a bowl of chicken soup and pushed it in front of her. "Just one bowl."

Su Yuhe did not dare put on too many airs. She promptly took it, then slowly drank a little under half the bowl.

While she was drinking the soup, he piled more food into her bowl.

The private kitchen here remembered her menstrual cycle, and every dish they made was nourishing. The medicinal flavor was not strong, but the food certainly could not be called tasty.

He picked up a piece of pork liver and held it to her mouth.

Remembering that this was her first meal back in her reheated kept life, Su Yuhe gritted her teeth, took the piece of pork liver from his chopsticks with her teeth, and chewed with difficulty.

Xubai's smile grew even brighter. He picked up another piece, waiting only for her to swallow before continuing to feed her.

"Eat some more."

Su Yuhe really could not bear to eat any more. She turned her face aside and feigned anger. "I'm not eating."

He regretfully lowered his chopsticks. Considering that she was around her period, he did not press her.

Seeing the pork liver on those chopsticks move away from her, she breathed a sigh of relief too.

As someone with a rather bad temper who still needed to live off someone else, she had to use her period as an excuse to throw a few tantrums whenever it came around. If she angered Xubai, she would say her emotions had gone out of control because of her period.

She was telling the truth. Her temper really was worse during every period; she merely exaggerated it a little in front of Xubai.

The benefits were very obvious. Over time, her benefactor no longer dared upset her during those days. Even when he got angry, he would end up coaxing her instead.

The drawback was just as obvious: she had to drink all sorts of soups and broths and nourish herself with medicinal dishes.