While Mai had been telling him about herself he could detect no lie. Which was good at least she was not a spy. "However, what exactly was she talking about transmog? Earth? Waking up in a unknown body? Did her caretaker decide that it wasn"t worth taking care of such a crazy girl and left her in the alley in the middle of the night?" Multiple questions swirled around the young man"s mind. He couldn"t come up with any answers to his long list of questions that only seemed to grow every time he saw Mai."She is absolutely adorable when she talks about herself." Han Bing thought. "She has no clue who I am either, which makes her story more believable. Perhaps she is someone that I might actually get close to without waiting to be stabbed in the back?" It hadn"t been possible in the past as everyone besides a few select people had been planted there. A new-found hope started to rise in his heart. "If I can keep her a secret, then everything will be okay. I don"t even want to imagine the consequences if she was ever found out. Not just for me but also for her own wellbeing."
Now realizing that the situation was different from what he originally thought, he decided to take care of Mai. It greatly helped that he found her rather attractive and wanted to take her into his arms and cuddle her while she shared more about her past, even if it was slightly delusional.
"Good good! You have proved yourself to be worthy of deserving some food." he said with a carefree laugh "By the way my name is Han Bing"
Seeing the delight on her face as she brought a large bowl of meat and rice towards herself brought him a sense of accomplishment.
______________________________________________
Mai was utterly flabbergasted that he had actually believe what she had said but decide not to dwell on it. She had been smelling meat roasting for hours now and after finally being relieved of the torture she wasn"t going to complain.
Taking the largest bowl, she filled it with a mountain of rice followed by piles of roasted meat. Mai was so excited to eat that she almost forgot about the man sitting in front of her.
Before taking a large bite, she casually asked what he enjoyed doing.
She was so enthralled about eating the food that she completely missed what he had said back to her question. Mai bit into the first piece of meat and tried to not choke on how tasteless it was. If she had not seen him eat the very same meat in front of her she would almost guess that they were still torturing her. The food was a disgrace to her taste buds.
Han Bing"s light-hearted expression soon returned to his ice-cold appearance from earlier. Gone was the light atmosphere which was replaced by an oppressive overbearing one.
Mai realized that he probably thought that her expression was towards what he liked rather than the food.
"Why is this food so dry? And tasteless, it"s almost a crime!" Mai asked trying to lighten the mood again. However, this made his expression turn grim.
"This is food specifically made by an acclaimed chef, yet you call it tasteless." he grumbled out. "it"s worth so much that most people in this city couldn"t save enough to get 1 bowl of it."
Mai was surprised, "this food was really worth that much? If this was back on Earth this couldn"t even measure up to the worst cook"s standards." She still hadn"t forgot that she was a so-called prisoner and decided to take a gamble.
"How about this, I"ll make some food tonight and if it is better than this, you will release me?" Mai asked her eyes pleaded with the man to say yes.
Han Bing laughed "I"ve grown bored of this current food, since you can cook why not make food for us tonight. If it pleases me I will give you a reward."
Han Bing stood up and walked towards the door before he fully walked through the doorway he said, "A servant will bring you to the kitchens later be ready." then fully walked away in a good mood.
Mai was delighted, "I have to get on Han Bing"s good side. Everything will be easier to work out if he likes me. What should I make tonight? If that is what his taste buds are used to then I don"t think I can do anything to extreme or it might be too harsh for him to go back to that tasteless c.r.a.p called food earlier. Maybe this is how I will get to him, my mom always said that a way to a man"s heart was through his stomach. Well even if I wanted to make food to die for they probably don"t have the ingredients for it. I will have to decide when I see the pantry."
As Mai continued to spend the afternoon in her tiny room with nothing to do she started to think about Han Bing. "he is rather handsome and doesn"t seem quite as brutish as when we first met, however he definitely fits the bill for a transmog male lead. Even his name means extremely cold! When he smiles you can see a coldness within that blocks all the emotion from those around him. I wonder what kind of life that he had to have grown up in the be so paranoid of those around him."
Mai was unaware that Han Bing att.i.tude towards her was completely different than before. Instead of being a brute she was going to see a man that was trying to have a relationship, but didn"t know how.
Mai decided that if she ever wanted to be able to leave this place with her own ability then she was going to have to increase her physical abilities. The treatment may be okay for now however being a prisoner to anyone in anyway was not something that Mai wanted. She would fight for her freedom to choose what path she wanted.
Mai started to plan a exercise workout that she could do in this small s.p.a.ce. It included running in spot, and other aerobic exercises that could be done. Ending it with partial yoga moves that she remembered from the cla.s.ses that she had gone to occasionally on Earth.
Han Bing had been watching Mai while she had been exercising and decided that he greatly liked the last thing she did where she moved her body in odd positions and held it there for periods of time. Some of the poses had been hard to do in her attire so she had removed most of it. This might have greatly increased his enjoyment of the art. He soon realized that others could also see what he could and decides to gift her with some exercise clothing later that evening.
"What do you think about her story Zheng Li?" Han Bing asked the young guard from earlier. "She wasn"t lying, but now I have a whole new set of questions." Han Bing sighed and shook his head.
"If you trust her young master then so do I" Zheng Li replied. "You have more experience figuring out his plots than anyone else."
"I don"t believe even the best of spies could come up with such a complicated web and not show any signs of lying" Han Bing declared. "I also think that this whole story about being from a different place may not be that crazy after all. No one in their right minds would go against the law but she did so blatantly." Han Bing decided at that moment that he would put his faith and trust in Mai. "Gather the most trustworthy servants we have to take care of Mai, also clear out one of the old kitchens and bring food for her to cook with tonight. Make sure no one will speak about her to you know who."
They shared a knowledgeable glance with each other before Zheng Li said, "Right away, young master."