"Alright then." An Baobei didn’t insist on going out today. She walked to the desk and saw Ning Zihan’s writing; it was impressive, but had a conventional touch. She laughed, "Ning Zihan, your handwriting isn’t as beautiful as my dad’s. His writing is truly great."

Ning Zihan cooperatively asked, "Your dad also knows calligraphy?"

"It’s not really calligraphy, just ordinary writing. Although my dad doesn’t write often, I do. My mom says my handwriting is quite pretty too."

"You can also write with a brush?" He was surprised, not quite believing it. She’s supposed to be a lunatic; he shouldn’t trust a word she says.

"In ancient times, we all wrote with brushes." Saying this, she took a brush from the holder and dipped it in ink, writing a few words on white paper. The handwriting was delicate yet elegant, indeed quite good.

"You really can..." Now he was truly amazed. A lunatic, who not only was deft but also wrote such beautiful brush calligraphy?

"That’s no big deal. I can play the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The zither was taught by my adopted mother, chess by my dad, calligraphy by both my parents, and painting by Uncle Lan Qing."

Ning Zihan sincerely thought An Baobei was exaggerating. You can do calligraphy, fine, I’ll consider you just a calligraphy enthusiast. But you can also play the zither, chess, and paint? He couldn’t believe it at all.

But when An Baobei casually painted a vivid ink painting of ’lotuses, water, lotus leaves, and fish’ on paper, he believed it entirely and even started doubting his perception over the past few days.

Could she really be from ancient times?

Thinking this, he asked, "Since you’re from ancient times, which dynasty is it?"

"I’m telling you, but you mustn’t tell anyone else."

"If I told others, you’d have been taken away for research long ago. Would you still be here?"

An Baobei thought for a moment and replied, "I came from Xiyun, and later Xiyun unified the world and was renamed Tianyun."

Tianyun? There’s no such state in history. Ning Zihan felt once more that An Baobei was spouting nonsense.

He even gave himself a reason why An Baobei was so talented: An Baobei’s family was likely well-off, and she had received formal training in these arts.

Such talent and yet she’s supposedly a madwoman, what a pity.

Uncharacteristically, Ning Zihan couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret. He had never felt such regret before; it was the first time.

...

The next day, seeing An Baobei had indeed left the sword in the room and didn’t carry it with her, Ning Zihan took An Baobei out.

The car was already pulled out from the garage and parked at the door. Ning Zihan asked An Baobei to get in and sit in the front passenger seat.

An Baobei obediently sat down.

"Seatbelt," Ning Zihan instructed her to fasten the seatbelt.

"What seatbelt?" An Baobei didn’t understand.

Not wanting to explain, he thought actions would be more instructive, so he leaned over and fastened the seatbelt for her.

With Ning Zihan so close, his breath sprayed onto her, making An Baobei’s heart race and her face flush. Never before had a man who wasn’t family come so close to her.

As Ning Zihan finished fastening the seatbelt, he straightened up and looked up, seeing An Baobei’s face turn red. He frowned, "Why is your face red?" It’s just a seatbelt.

"Well..." An Baobei felt very embarrassed, her voice getting softer and softer, "Ning Zihan, I think I kind of like you."

Upon hearing this, although Ning Zihan didn’t reject the idea, his face turned cold, "Don’t like me, I dislike women."