More Than Touch

The rain had been falling since morning, quiet but steady, with no sigh of stopping as if the sky was too tired to cry loudly. The Li family mansion stood on a hill far from the city, where fog rolled like waves across the valley and the sky always looked one step away from the rain. It walls tall, its gates heavy with age and its silence...louder than any voice. Near the tallest window of the east wing, a boy sat cross-legged on the marble floor. He looked no older than seven. His clothes were neat , black shoe polished, but his hair was a little messy. He looked a little sad and lost when he heard a voice call at to him . "Li Yichen,"a woman with a feisty face walked hurriedly and snapped. " How did you_" But before she could finish, a group of men in black walked in and stopped . A man looking to be in his late seventies walked in and scanned his surrounding before looking at the the little boy. The woman changed her expression quickly and rushed to him looking very anxious and fearful like she had seen a ghost. "Old master, i didn't expect u would come so soon and.... " the old man ignored her and walked straight to the little boy and looked at him with eyes even does in the military feared but the little boy didn't avoid eye contact but maintained it for minutes. "yichen," the old man said finally, his voice low but crisp, like the edge of a blade softened by time. "You'll be staying at Yunqing Residence from now on." Yichen turned his head slightly. "Why?" "It's time you learn how to live outside the west wing." There was no smile in his voice. Only gravity. The feisty looking woman went for a while and came with his belongings . she hurriedly walked passed Yichen not knowing she cut him but he didn't flinch even when he started bleeding. One of the men in black 'Zhao Yunze' rushed to him and bandaged the cut. Soon after this scene the old man and Yichen and the bodyguards left leaving the west wing empty with only a figure standing and having an evil grin on their face. The car ride was silent. Li Yichen sat in the backseat of the black mercedes, watching the trees blur past. The faintest scent of sandalwood lingered in the car _ the same kind the old man had on him . The silence was not awkward. It was expected. They arrived shortly at Yunqing Residence, which wasn't as large as the main house, but it was still too big for one person. White stone, black wood beams, a quiet courtyard in the back_ elegant and isolated, just like everything the Li family owned. Yichen stepped out of the car. He only followed as the old man who walked through the entrance hall with slow, firm steps. They stopped at the inner corridor. Li Zhongshan glared at the bulter cheng and he immmediately ran outside in the pouring rain to get the little boy belongings. The old man didn't say say a word and soon disappeared into the hall way. The bulter looked at him with a littled forced smile on his face " Young master , please come this way let me show you around ," Yichen gave a small nod. "Mm." As cheng walked ahead, his voice echoed softly in the hall ."This wing contains the sitting room, the main study, the winter garden. The bulter led him past the kitchen and into the hallway lined with framed scolls and golden wall sconces. As bulter cheng was giving him a tour , he noticed that the floors was covered in soft mats that looked silky and everywhere they passed he didn't see any female servants only males. He wanted to ask but didn't have the chance because they stopped at a door also covered with a soft material . Even at the old mansion there weren't many places covered like this. "Your room , young master." Bulter cheng walked into the room and dropped his belongings before repectfully bowing and closing the door behind him. In the room there was a big master bed, covered fully with soft mattress , a little reading table and a big wardrobe that look the size of a separate room . The room floor fully covered in mats like the ones he saw on their way here, but the room felt empty. He looked around and found another door that happens to look like a bathroom , he opened it and was amazed at how protectively decorated the bathroom looked. Without thinking much of it he went in and took his bath. A tiny body walked out of the bath room looking very cute, this tiny body walked to the big bed and climbed up and staying up for a while before finally falling asleep. Some where far away in an orphanage deep in the outskirts of the city , a little figure was seen not older than ten years old. A group of people merged with the dark completely silent and not altering a word . Across from her, a boy swung a stick a stick longer than her arm . Sloppy, scared. She ducked. The stick missed her cheeks by inches . Stepped in and rammed her shoulder into his chest. He fell back. The crowd watching from above said nothing, No cheers . No outrage. They were not here to feel. They were here to select. Qinglan didn't hesitate. She moved forward and grabbed the stick as the boy tried to stand. She didn't hit him . Just stood over him with the weapon and stared . He dropped his gaze first. "Enough." came a voice from above. She looked up, breathing hard. A man in black, face half-covered, motioned toward her. He whispered something to another man with a notepad. A name was written . A number crossed out. Soon everywhere became empty and traces of the event that happened soon disappeared with the rain.