A repugnant odor intertwined with the scent of oil caused the pale-looking man, to twitch his porcelain nose in distaste. The scent became stronger by the second, making him uneasy.
His lips divided slowly but no words came out of them, even if any did, the sound of tingling bells drowned out his voice.
"Do not allow anyone inside, shoo away any guest who comes looking to exchange notes with young Master Yu."
The Stern voice virtually reminded the young man of himself, whilst he chastised his playful patients for being too careless with their health.
'Exchange notes?. Where does this woman think she is?.' he mused to himself, curling his fingers.
Without being told, this man knew for certain, that his body was badly sore, stemming from his upper body, down to his legs.
He heard the doors slide close, and reckoned he was alone in the room, taking this as a risk, he stood from the uncomfortable bed, an awful migraine making his steps messy.
"It's no wonder those uncles I treated always have hip pain, these beds are so strong. Aish, I'll have to speak to the board about coughing up some funds for renovation." He muttered to himself, his eyes half-opened.
He glided across the room, neglecting the four-poster bed, with four-bed supports, having bright yellow drapes hanging from each of the supports.
"Did I get into a fight or something?." He voiced out his thoughts, stretching his limbs out, mirroring the yoga poses he did every Sunday morning.
It was while holding up his leg, balancing it perfectly behind his neck, that he recalled in detail exactly what had happened to him.
'I fell from the hospital rooftop, after declaring Yaoyao dead. But how come am...' from the corner of his eyes, he noticed a tall mirror, set upon a wooden stool at his side.
Not wishing to break this tough position, Mei Deng leaped on one leg to the mirror, to seize a glance at himself, to inspect for any serious scars.
The instant he lifted his long lashes open, Mei Deng received the most tremendous shock of his lifetime!.
"Ah!." He cried out.
"Aaah!."
A shriek from behind him resulted in him losing his balance and landing butt first on the wooden flooring. It was then, that his eyes picked up on the obsolete pair of white hanfu robes he had on.
"Ouch!." He cried out, supporting his head to ease the pain, he had ended up straddling on...hair?. His hair perhaps?.
"What is this?!. Whose ridiculous long hair is this?!." He demanded, striving to stand on his feet, despite the stretch he felt behind his thighs.
"It is this silly servant's fault Young master Yu, redress me accordingly." A meek womanly voice cried out to him, her eyes fixed on the floor, refusing to make eye contact with him.
Mei Deng found her apology a bit over the top, for even he knew it was the shock of what he wore that caused him to forfeit his balance.
"Forget it now, it's in the past, we both made a misstep, so forgive me as well." He told her, relaxing his hands on her shoulders, treating her like he would any other patient.
His eyes leveled upon her, drinking in her features, right from her long silky brown hair, down to the layered long-sleeved pink hanfu she had on. Flower petals and bells are strapped to the side of her dress, making it stand out more.
"Young master Yu is too kind." She declared, her head still facing downwards.
'She must be the shy type.' he reckoned, retracting his civil grip on her. Mei Deng proceeded to scour himself for his car keys, it just dawned on him, that he was yet to deliver the sad news to the family of his Yaoyao.
"Do you possibly know where I dropped my car keys?." He implored while rummaging the room thoroughly, ignoring the old paintings and flower pots he usually saw on internet ads.
"Your interior design is great miss, every detail seems so authentic." Mei Deng complimented, failing to see just how petrified his words made the woman feel.
"I do not understand what you are speaking about, but I come here bearing a message from your father." She piped up from where she stood, nervously clutching unto her skirt.
Mei Deng tensed up at the mention of his father, he had no idea what he might have heard or who he might have heard it from.
"What did he say?" Worry soaked up his face, the last thing he desired, was for people to rumor he tried to take his life after killing his childhood best friend.
"He says that he shall cut you off from his will if you refuse to go to the imperial college and finish your class." She blurted out to him, practically on the verge of tears.
"The imperial college?. My class?" In the same way what he said sounded strange to the maid, in turn, her speech and attire flustered him as well.
When Mei Deng looked into the mirror, his face stayed the same, save for some bruises on the side of his jaw. But the clothes he had on were far from normal, talk less of his long flowing hair that danced at his waist.
"Yes, he is adamant this time on disinheriting you if you rank bottom in your class and exchange notes after school hours." She notified him, lifting her head to look at him.
Mei Deng tilted his head to the side, certain enough that he wasn't dead, and this was certainly not the afterlife. But considering that fall, it was also skeptical that he didn't die.
"Wait!. Who exactly is my father and who am I?!." He clamored, a new possibility overwhelming him.
The maid nervously scratched the side of her head, unsure if the young master had possibly taken a blow too fatal to the head.
"Why do you avoid the imperial college young master, please don't come up with more hoaxes to get out of studying. Your father is not going to pardon you this time." The maid argued with him, tugging unto his loose white sleeve.
Mei Deng pinched his temples, making an effort to get through to her.
"Aish!. Just tell me who I am." He negotiated, but the woman would not relent and continued to plead with him to study more.
"Alright. Alright. I'll study a mountain of books later on if..." This maid would not hear it and blocked her ears with her palms.
"Young master I shall not be fooled again!. You used that trick last time and ended up in this predicament. This servant won't be so gullible this time." She retorted, a rigorous look plastered on her pale-looking face.
"Don't be so difficult now, I'll swear on what's most dear to me that I won't run away from imperial college. But tell me, who am I?. And where am I?."
**********
It was only after a detailed narration, that Mei Deng got to realize that he had indeed died and found himself reincarnated sometime in between the Ming and Qing dynasty.
He was no longer the lovestruck modern-day doctor, Mei Deng who died a virgin, but Yu Xiaoguang, aged 22, living a luxurious life in the capital of the city.
Not just that, but he was the trash son of one of the ministers serving under the direct command of the imperial emperor. He was well known for failing all his classes and picking fights with his other classmates.
Due to his age, he was notorious for bullying weaker classmates into giving him their lunches and doing his projects. The only reason he had not been expelled was that his father had strong ties with his teachers.
'Aish, the memories are flooding my head, I can now see why she distrusts me.' he imagined, flashes of Yu Xiaoguang's life playing before his eyes.
"What is your name?." He asked after she had narrated it all to him. His question amazed her, for she had attended to him since childhood, but never had he once asked for her name.
"Chunhua, but don't try to remember it if it's too much of a headache, cramming your notes should come first, after all this maid..."
"HuaHua, mind if I call you that?." Mei Deng interrupted her speech, flashing a warm smile at the woman. She reminded him a bit of his Meimei, consequently, a strong brotherly affection sparked within him.
Little did he expect the woman to burst out in tears, sobbing uncontrollably into his sleeves.
'Don't worry, in this life, I'll make sure to save as many people as I can.'Mei Deng told himself, making a promise not to disappoint his Yaoyao whom he was sure was looking down at him from the heavens.
"One more thing, young master Yu," HuaHua announced, standing straight, wiping her tears away with the back of her palm.
"What was that I had caught you doing when I walked in?. The thing with your left foot?." She asked, making a motion to hold her left foot.
"Oh. That is called yoga, you want me to teach it to you?." As a doctor, Mei Deng was always prepared to help others keep fit and stay healthy.
"Can you teach it to me too?." She sheepishly asked, tearing her timid gaze away from the gentleness in his eyes.
*Five minutes after*
The sound of a woman's screams and curses erupted out of the young Master's chambers, bitterly sending the wrong message across to the inhabitants of the Yu Residence.