Douluo Continent: Bibi Dong's Start with the Secret Chamber and Qian Xunji

After finishing the last document of the day, Bibi Dong put down her pen and looked at the sky outside the window.

As dusk fell, lights were lit in the corridor.

She stood up, neatly arranged the documents on her desk, and then left the study. At the end of the corridor, a maid had been waiting for some time with a food box.

"Your Highness." The maid bowed and presented the food box with both hands.

Bibi Dong accepted it and nodded slightly.

After the maid left, she lifted the lid and took a look. There was steamed mandarin fish, stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots, a plate of osmanthus cake, and a bowl of steaming mushroom soup.

These are all foods that Yu Xiaogang loves to eat.

She stored the food box in her soul tool and turned to walk towards the secret chamber area. Her steps were light, and her route was circuitous, avoiding several points where the patrol guards' lines of sight intersected.

Her months of acting as acting administrator gave her an intimate knowledge of every visible and hidden sentry post in the Spirit Hall. She knew exactly where the blind spots were and what times of day were off-limits.

In fact, it wasn't unnoticed that she took an extra portion of food every day.

The head cook once muttered to herself, "Her Highness the Holy Maiden's appetite has improved quite a bit lately."

The old woman chopping vegetables nearby chimed in, "That's right. Before, we couldn't even finish one serving of food, but now we eat three meals a day without missing a single one, and we even have to increase the portions."

"She's heartbroken, huh?" The head maid sighed, chopping meat on the cutting board with a cleaver. "Women either starve themselves or turn their heartbreak into food. Her Highness is the latter, which is better than the former."

The woman chopping vegetables nodded in deep agreement.

The dishes prepared for Bibi Dong in the kitchen every day also changed without her realizing it.

Steamed mandarin fish, stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, osmanthus cake, mushroom soup... these dishes appeared repeatedly on the menu. The person in charge assumed that Her Highness had recently taken a liking to these flavors, so he ordered the kitchen to make them accordingly.

There was an old cook who had worked in the kitchen of the Spirit Hall for more than ten years. One day, she glanced at the dishes on the menu and couldn't help but exclaim "Eh!"

"What's wrong?" someone asked her.

The old cook shook her head, a hint of emotion in her expression: "It's nothing. It's just that these dishes reminded me of someone."

"Who?"

"That young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who used to frequently visit the Spirit Hall, what was his name again... Yu Xiaogang?" the old cook recalled. "When he was reading in the library, the meals I always sent him were the same few dishes: steamed mandarin fish, stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, osmanthus cake, and mushroom soup, exactly the same."

Those who heard this could only sigh a few times.

"Your Highness, you're still thinking about it?"

"Sigh, women, they say they've let go, but how can they truly let go in their hearts?"

"Turning sadness into appetite, and longing into recipes, is not uncommon."

……

Bibi Dong walked through the long corridor and stopped in front of Yu Xiaogang's secret room.

He raised his hand, paused for a moment, and then pushed open the door.

Inside the secret room, Yu Xiaogang sat at the table, holding the ancient book with a dark blue cover in his hands.

Hearing the door open, his shoulders tensed slightly for a moment before he looked up at Bibi Dong.

This was the first time in over a month that Yu Xiaogang had taken the initiative to look at her when she entered the room.

Bibi Dong's heart skipped a beat.

Yu Xiaogang's eyes looked different than they had this morning.

It's no longer that condescending indifference, nor that mocking aloofness.

His gaze lingered on her face for only a moment before shifting away.

That glance contained caution, probing, and a faint fear that even he himself couldn't completely hide.

Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, unsure if that foot will fall again.

Bibi Dong took the food box out of the soul tool and placed it on the table.

"Are you hungry?" Her voice was as gentle as ever.

He opened the lid and brought out the dishes one by one. The steamed mandarin fish was placed in the center, the stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork on the left, the osmanthus cake on the right, and the mushroom soup was pushed to the most convenient position. The chopsticks were arranged, and the handle of the spoon was facing his dominant right hand.

Everything was the same as every night before.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the food, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

He reached out and picked up the chopsticks.

"Thank you," he said.

The sound was very soft, almost drowned out by the faint flickering of the candlelight.

But Bibi Dong heard it.

This was the first time in over a month that he had said "thank you" to her.

Bibi Dong sat down in the chair, unable to suppress the smile on her lips.

She didn't show it too obviously; she just quietly watched him eat, as usual.

Yu Xiaogang ate slowly. He picked up a piece of bamboo shoot, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. Then he picked up a piece of fish, carefully removed the bones, and put it in his mouth.

His movements were much more restrained than usual, as if he was afraid of making any noise.

He did not look up at Bibi Dong.

But he didn't build a wall of silence like he had before.

Halfway through his meal, his chopsticks paused in mid-air, as if hesitating about something. Then, he picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and placed it on the empty plate in front of Bibi Dong.

"You haven't eaten either, have you?" he said, his eyes still fixed on his bowl.

Bibi Dong looked down at the osmanthus cake.

The golden-yellow cake was sprinkled with a few dried osmanthus flowers and was still steaming slightly.

She picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of cake, and took a bite.

The sweet and glutinous flavor melts on the tip of the tongue.

It smells exactly the same as the one in the old library.

"It's delicious," she said.

His voice had a slight nasal quality.

Yu Xiaogang didn't reply and continued eating with his head down.

The room was extremely quiet. The only sounds were the occasional soft clinking of chopsticks against the rim of a bowl and the faint crackling of the flickering candlelight.

Bibi Dong slowly finished the osmanthus cake and then drank the mushroom soup he pushed towards her. The two of them sat quietly like that, one eating and the other watching, separated by a small wooden table and a dim candlelight.

Yu Xiaogang finished his meal and put down his chopsticks.

Bibi Dong got up and cleared the dishes, her movements practiced and gentle. The sound of the porcelain bowls stacking was crisp and short, like a sigh that was abruptly stopped.

She closed the food box and put it into her soul tool, but did not leave immediately.

"Have you finished reading your book today?" she asked.

Yu Xiaogang's fingers unconsciously stroked the spine of the ancient book.

"Not yet," he said.

Bibi Dong sat down again.

"Then I'll stay with you a little longer."

Yu Xiaogang opened the book.

This time, he turned to a new page.

After an unknown amount of time, Bibi Dong stood up.

"I'll come again tomorrow."

Yu Xiaogang hummed in agreement.

She turned and walked toward the stone gate.

Bibi Dong.

His voice came from behind him.

Bibi Dong stopped and turned around.

Yu Xiaogang kept his head down, his fingers gripping the edge of the book pages, his knuckles turning slightly white.

"...It's nothing," he said.

Bibi Dong waited for a while.

He didn't say anything more.

She pushed open the stone door and went out.

The stone gate slowly closed behind them.

After walking through the long corridor and confirming that no one was around, Bibi Dong leaned against the cold stone wall and covered her mouth with her hand.

The curve of her lips was impossible to suppress.

He said "thank you".

He put cake on her plate.

He called her name.

It's not "you," it's not silence, it's "Bibi Dong."

The tone was the same as before, with a hint of hesitation, a touch of awkwardness, and a little bit of concern hidden beneath that awkwardness, a concern that dared not be spoken aloud.

These three words are heavier than everything in the past month or so combined.

She looked up at the stone wall at the top of the corridor, which was illuminated by candlelight, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.

Then, her thoughts suddenly paused.

The smile on his lips faded slightly, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

This morning, she tore open his shirt and cornered him against the wall. He trembled with fear, tears dripping onto the back of her hand.

Tonight, he said "thank you," gave her a cake, and called her name.

Bibi Dong leaned against the stone wall, her purple eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight at the end of the corridor, both deep and bright.

It seems that men shouldn't be too unrestrained.

She thought to herself silently.

Applying a little pressure will actually make him more obedient. If you only try to please him, he'll just take your kindness for granted.

Let him know you can get angry, that you have fangs, that you're not just that silly woman sitting next to him with her eyes only for him; he'll start to treat you with more care and consideration.

See, I scared him in the morning, and his attitude towards me was much better in the evening.

Bibi Dong's lips curled into a smile again.

It wasn't the girlish excitement from before, but a more composed smile, one that conveyed a sense of control.

Chihiro is like that.

After enduring months of whipping, the expectant light in his eyes when he saw her walk in was impossible to hide.

Last night, she just brushed his hair aside, and he stood there stunned, like a dog whose fur had been stroked.

Yu Xiaogang is the same.

More than a month of gentle flattery couldn't compare to the fear I felt this morning. It's not that gentleness is useless; it's that gentleness alone isn't enough.

Bibi Dong straightened up and straightened her robes.

She reviewed her treatment of Yu Xiaogang over the past two weeks and silently adjusted her strategy accordingly.

You must be gentle.

But fangs also need to be shown from time to time.

She started walking, her steps more steady than when she arrived.