Hot flashes

The next day, Zhou Heng woke up with a wide variety of aches and pains all over his body.

Moving a finger sent a tingling, numb sensation through his fingertip and elbow; trying to turn over made his waist feel like it wasn't his own, and a burning, dull pain shot through an overused area, reminding him of the "torture" he had endured the previous night; even his throat was dry and tight, and swallowing was painful—he had lost his voice from shouting the night before.

As consciousness gradually returned, the chaotic, intense, blush-inducing, and terrifying scenes from last night rushed into my mind.

He was overwhelmed by a deep sense of injustice, like a flood that had been unleashed.

Xiao Jue had already gotten up and was sitting on a low couch by the window, reading a document in the morning light. His profile looked calm and focused in the soft light, as if the violent and ruthless man who had wanted to devour him alive last night was a different person.

The more Zhou Heng thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved he became. His nose tingled and his eyes reddened.

He sniffed, trying to hold back, but the physiological tears wouldn't obey him and slid down his cheeks, soaking into his temples, making him feel itchy.

The soft sobs were especially clear in the quiet morning.

Xiao paused slightly in her writing and looked up. She saw Zhou Heng huddled under the covers, only half of his face showing tear stains, his eyes red and swollen, his lips slightly swollen, and tears silently streaming down his face.

He put down the bamboo slips, got up, walked over, and sat down by the bed.

"Does it still hurt?" Xiao Jue reached out and gently wiped away the newly overflowing tears from Zhou Heng's eyes with his fingertips. His voice was lower than usual, with a slight hoarseness from just waking up.

It would have been better if he hadn't asked; once he did, Zhou Heng's grievances found an outlet.

His tears fell even harder. He turned his head away from Xiao Jue's fingers and complained in a thick nasal voice, "It hurts... my whole body hurts... it hurts everywhere..."

Her voice was terribly hoarse and trembling with sobs; she sounded incredibly pitiful.

Xiao Jue's eyes softened, and he reached out to scoop him up, blanket and all, saying, "Let me see."

"I don't want you to look!" Zhou Heng stubbornly shrank back into bed, sobbing as she did so. "What's the use of looking... will looking make the pain go away? It's all your fault... you... I didn't do anything... and you... you did that..."

The more he spoke, the more convinced he felt he was in the right, and his voice gradually grew louder. Although it was still hoarse, it had a more righteous air about it: "It wasn't my choice to go! It was...it was them who dragged me there!"

"Me, I'm a grown man, everyone else went, but I'm too scared to go. What will people think of me if word gets out? They'll definitely think I'm... think I'm incapable, or that there's something wrong with me!"

He recalled the scene of being provoked at the entrance of "Qunfangge" yesterday, and felt that his behavior was more and more justifiable.

"I...I just went in to sit for a bit, have a drink, and listen to some music! I didn't touch any of the girls! My clothes were all on! I...I even pretended to be asleep!"

Zhou Heng became more and more agitated as he spoke, and tears barely fell anymore. He felt a deep sense of injustice that needed to be addressed: "And you, without even asking what happened, acted like you wanted to eat me alive... I... I almost got killed by you..."

As she finished speaking, recalling some unbearable details from last night, her voice weakened, but her eyes remained fixed on Xiao Jue.

As Xiao Jue listened to his aggrieved accusations, a delicate balance was being struck between pity and lingering anger from the previous night. Unconsciously, his fingertips caressed the cool strands of hair scattered on the pillow.

But when he heard Zhou Heng mention "brothels," "grown men dare not go there," and "what would people think if word got out," his eyes suddenly darkened.

The nascent feeling of pity was instantly overshadowed by an even heavier gloom.

He tightened his grip on Zhou Heng's hair with the tips of his fingers.

As Zhou Heng was speaking with righteous indignation, he suddenly felt a tightness on his scalp. He met Xiao Jue's suddenly cold gaze, and the chilling aura in it brought his unfinished accusations to an abrupt halt, like a chicken being choked.

"You're not allowed to go there again." Xiao Jue spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying a resolute and unquestionable coldness, each word as if pulled from an ice cellar, "You're not allowed to even think about that kind of place again."

Zhou Heng was startled by Xiao Jue's sudden change of expression. The "righteous indignation" he had just managed to muster vanished instantly. He shrank back, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but under Xiao Jue's icy gaze, which seemed to have a tangible presence, he couldn't utter a single word.

He chickened out.

The memory of crawling all over the place last night is too vivid, and the aches and pains all over my body are too clear.

He had no doubt that if he dared to say another word back now, Xiao Jue would do something even more brutal than last night.

"Did you understand?" Xiao Jue looked at his instantly subdued, quail-like appearance, his tone still cold and hard.

Zhou Heng nodded rapidly, like a chick pecking at rice, his voice barely audible: "I-I understand..." He paused, then cautiously added, "I-I'll never go again...really..."

Xiao Jue stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly trying to gauge the sincerity in his words.

Only when Zhou Heng felt his scalp tingling and his eyes began to wander did he let out a barely audible "hmm" and release his grip on his hair.

The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment.

Zhou Heng dared not cause any more trouble. He silently pulled the blanket up to cover half of his face, revealing only a pair of eyes that were still damp with moisture but dared not misbehave again, as he secretly glanced at Xiao Jue.

Xiao Jue seemed to realize that his tone had been too cold and hard. Looking at Zhou Heng's angry but not daring to speak out, aggrieved and cautious appearance, the coldness in his heart dissipated slightly and was replaced by a helpless tenderness.

He sighed, reached under the covers, and accurately located Zhou Heng's most aching side, massaging it gently.

The palms were warm, the pressure was just right, and the calloused fingertips pressed on the sore muscles, bringing a strange sense of relief.

Zhou Heng's body stiffened at first, then slowly relaxed under the just-right massage, even squinting his eyes slightly in comfort, like a cat whose fur had been stroked, unconsciously letting out a soft sigh.

"Does it still hurt?" Xiao Jue asked in a low voice while rubbing the area, his tone much gentler than before.

"Hmm... here... and here... they all hurt..." Zhou Heng got a little better and got a little carried away, directing Xiao Jue's hand to the more sore places, her voice softening and carrying a hint of coquetry.

Xiao Jue adjusted his position and pressure as instructed, patiently helping him relieve his discomfort.

The morning light streamed through the window, bathing the two of them in a strangely harmonious scene—just moments ago there was thunder and lightning, and now the weather was sunny and calm.

After massaging for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Zhou Heng felt much more relaxed, and the feeling of grievance had mostly dissipated. What remained was mainly embarrassment and lingering fear.

He stole a glance at Xiao Jue and saw that his expression was already calm, and there was even a very faint, almost invisible gentleness in the corners of his eyes and brows. He became a little bolder.

"Um..." he began softly, "yesterday... what did you do to those people who took me there?"

Xiao Jue continued working, saying calmly, "I will handle it myself."

Zhou Heng shrank back, not daring to ask any more questions.

Anyway, it definitely won't be a good time.

"From now on," Xiao Jue said in a deep voice, as if reading his mind, while continuing what he was doing, "stay away from those with ulterior motives. If you want to go out, tell me, and I'll take you."

"...Oh," Zhou Heng replied sullenly. He thought to himself, "Tell you? What's the point of having fun if I tell you?"

But he only dared to mutter to himself; on the surface, he remained obedient.