Red Snow

Chapter 6

Ye Hua raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

Bai Qian blinked and noticed her slip from her lips, she pushed herself off of him. She quickly bowed, "Er Gong Zi,"

"What are you doing in my room?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Bai Qian frantically picked up her feather duster, "Cleaning, "

Ye Hua scrunched his eyebrows more, "Please leave, my room doesn't need to be clean, "

"But it's a mess in here," Bai Qian protested.

"No, it's not," he insisted.

"Only because I cleaned it," she retorted.

Ye Hua bit his lip and pointed his finger at her, his face turned red like he didn't know how to counter her. Nice to know they had gone back to their usual banter again. Ye Hua eyed her up and down, "Have we met?"

Bai Qian hid her cold sweat, "No," she quickly said, "I never seen you in my whole life, "

"You looked very familiar," he scratched his chin. "We have, haven't we?"

Her pitch was an octave higher, "We have not. I'm new here so..."

She wanted to bolt, but Ye Hua grabbed her wrist to pull her back. He pulled a bit too hard, and Bai Qian ended up crashing against his body again. She looked up to meet Ye Hua in the eyes. Time seemed to slow down, Bai Qian could count every single one of his eyelashes. She could feel her heartbeat racing fast against his. This wasn't the first time Bai Qian was close to him, but it was the first time they were both conscious.

Ye Hua's ears turned red. Was this the first time he was close to a woman? 

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Bai Qian, " she uttered.

"How do you write that?"

Bai Qian's hands were still pressed close to his chest. Unconsciously, she wrote her name with her fingertips right above his heart. Bai Qian 白浅.

Ye Hua cleared his throat, Bai Qian took a step back.

"What brings you home so early, sir?" Bai Qian asked.

"I left my tools," he muttered.

Bai Qian went and got them for him. She handed him the bag, "This one right?"

"How did you..." Ye Hua murmured. He held her back, "You're the one who had been cleaning my room for the past few weeks,"

Bai Qian didn't meet him in the eye.

"The warm bath was you too?" he realized.

"You always look so tired..." she tried to say. Ye Hua interrupted her, "You must be really new here. I don't get privileges like these, I'm not like the other members of this household,"

Bai Qian swallowed. Was it because of your birth?

"Leave," he told her, "There's no need for you to do this,"

As he began to walk away, Bai Qian steeled her nerve, "I like your drawings! I think the buildings your designs are magnificent,"

Ye Hua paused at his step, "Thank you,"

"A pity they are all gone now," Bai Qian looked around the room, "What happened?"

Ye Hua deepened his voice as if he was doing an imitation, "A lowborn like me don't have the privileges to suggest ways to improve the country. Nobody wants to know my ideas. A lowborn like me was lucky to be alive,"