Hot flashes

Zhou Heng was awakened by the aroma of food.

He groggily opened his eyes and found himself covered with a thin blanket. The sunlight outside the window was already setting in the west, casting long shadows on the study floor.

Xiao Jue had returned at some point and was sitting in front of the small table where he had been sitting, looking down at something.

Zhou Heng rubbed his eyes and sat up, the blanket slipping off him: "When did you get back?"

"Half an hour ago." Xiao Jue didn't even look up, holding in his hand the "improved sketches" that Zhou Heng had doodled that afternoon.

Zhou Heng immediately sobered up a bit and sheepishly sidled up to him, saying, "Um... I was just doodling..."

Xiao Jue put down the paper, looked up at him, and asked, "Why was the hinge of the catapult's counterweight box changed to an arc shape?"

"Huh?" Zhou Heng hadn't expected him to actually take it so seriously. He leaned closer and pointed, "Look, this straight-up-down structure generates too much impact when released, making the wooden shaft prone to breaking. If it were changed to a curved slide like this, the power transmission would be smoother, and the range might even increase a bit..."

He was so engrossed in his speech that he didn't notice Xiao Jue's increasingly intense gaze towards him.

"...And this battering ram, the wheels are there to make it easier to push, and we can add a few wedge-shaped protrusions to the iron-clad part of the ram head so that it can better break through the city gate structure during the impact..."

As Zhou Heng spoke, he picked up a pen and added details to the paper, a few strands of his hair hanging down and brushing against the paper.

Xiao Jue reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Zhou Heng's ear. His fingertips brushed against Zhou Heng's earlobe, and Zhou Heng shrank back, his pen tip making a small ink dot on the paper.

"Did you come up with all of this yourself?" Xiao Jue asked.

Zhou Heng paused, pen in hand. Could he call this simply transferring knowledge while standing on the shoulders of giants?

"It was just... something I figured out randomly," he mumbled. "Back in my hometown, I saw a carpenter repairing a waterwheel, and some of the principles seemed... similar?"

Xiao Jue didn't ask any further questions, but carefully folded the sketches: "I'll let the craftsmen's camp take a look."

Zhou Heng's eyes lit up: "Really? Will they try it out?"

"If it works, we'll try it." Xiao Jue said, standing up. "Are you hungry? The kitchen has stewed yam and mutton, and steamed crab."

Upon hearing that there were crabs, Zhou Heng immediately forgot about the equipment blueprints: "There are crabs this season?"

"These were just sent from Jiangzuo. They're kept in running water and are quite plump." Xiao Jue looked at his face, which had suddenly lit up, and smiled slightly. "Go wash your hands. You have ink on your face."

"Huh?" Zhou Heng raised his hand to wipe it, but Xiao Jue grabbed his wrist.

"The more you wipe, the more it gets smudged." Xiao Jue pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve, dipped it in tea, and cupped Zhou Heng's face with one hand, carefully wiping away a small ink stain that had somehow gotten on his cheek.

Zhou Heng looked up, able to clearly see Xiao Jue's lowered eyelashes and the line of his lips so close to hers. The handkerchief, still slightly cool from the tea and warm from Xiao Jue's fingertips, tickled her skin.

After wiping, Xiao Jue didn't immediately let go. He gently rubbed the skin Xiao Jue had wiped with his thumb before lowering his hand: "All done."

Zhou Heng inexplicably felt a burning sensation on the area of ​​his face where the wipe had been applied, so he quickly turned around and ran to wash his hands.

Dinner was served in the small hall outside the dormitory room. Sure enough, there was a large plate of steamed hairy crabs that were bright red, and warm yellow wine.

Zhou Heng loved eating crabs in his modern life, but this was the first time he had seen one this plump since arriving here. He rubbed his hands together, eager to get his hands on one, but Xiao Jue stopped him.

"Cold and cooling substances should not be used in excess." Xiao Jue gestured to Chang An, who was standing to the side, "Give him two."

"Only two?" Zhou Heng protested. "There should be at least seven or eight!"

"I don't need it," Xiao Jue said calmly. "Give the rest as rewards."

Zhou Heng looked at the crab, then at Xiao Jue's uncompromising face, knowing that arguing was useless, so he had no choice but to compromise: "Then... I want the female one, with more roe."

A smile flickered in Xiao Jue's eyes. He personally picked out two of the plumpest female crabs from the plate and placed them on the dish in front of him. He then handed him a crab-eating set—a small and exquisite silver tool.

Zhou Heng held the small hammer and tweezers, fiddled with it for a long time, and only managed to dig out a few bits of crab meat.

Xiao Jue couldn't stand it anymore, so he took the plate in front of him and picked up the tools.

His fingers were long and steady, and his movements were neither hurried nor slow. He cracked the shells, removed the meat, and extracted the roe. The whole process was smooth and efficient. In no time, he had completely extracted the meat and roe from the two crabs, put them in a small celadon bowl, and pushed it back to Zhou Heng.

The bowl was piled high with crab meat, and the crab roe was golden and plump.

Zhou Heng stared in disbelief: "Your skills... have you practiced?"

"When I was young and in the army, supplies were scarce, so even a crab had to be used to its fullest potential." Xiao Jue said calmly, washed his hands, picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

Zhou Heng buried his head in eating the crab. The crab meat was fresh and sweet, and the roe was rich and delicious. Paired with warm yellow wine, it was simply heavenly.

As he ate, he scooped up a spoonful of crab roe and suddenly held it to Xiao Jue's lips: "Try it, it's especially delicious."

Xiao Jue looked at the spoon being offered to his mouth, then at Zhou Heng's bright eyes, paused, and then opened his mouth to eat.

"How is it?" Zhou Heng asked expectantly.

"It's acceptable." Xiao Jue commented reservedly, but his ears twitched slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Zhou Heng put the spoon away with satisfaction, took another big bite, and squinted his eyes happily.

An autumn breeze was picking up outside the window, but the room was warm and cozy. The candlelight cast the shadows of the two people close together on the wall.

After finishing the crab, Zhou Heng licked his lips with lingering relish, his hands still smelling fishy. Xiao Jue had someone bring him warm water boiled with chrysanthemum leaves, with a few dried chrysanthemum petals floating in it, and told him to wash his hands to remove the fishy smell.

As Zhou Heng washed his hands, he watched Xiao Jue leisurely sip his tea. Suddenly, he remembered something: "Oh, right, I saw something in a journal today about a kind of stone in the north that ignites instantly, called 'fire oil stone.' Have you heard of it?"

Xiao Jue put down his teacup: "Is it raging oil? The Qiang and Hu tribes in the northern border do have this. It ignites when it's attached to something and cannot be extinguished by water. However, it is rare and not easy to obtain."

Zhou Heng thought to himself, "Isn't that just oil?" But he said aloud, "If we could get our hands on some, it might be useful during the siege..."

"Someone has already gone to investigate," Xiao Jue said. "Several major Qiang and Hu tribes have clashed this year over grasslands, and they may be able to profit from it."

Zhou Heng blinked. Well, this guy's always the first to act.

After washing his hands, Xiao Jue handed him some hand cream. Zhou Heng rubbed it on haphazardly, muttering, "Aren't you tired of reviewing troops and plotting against the Qiang and Hu tribes all day long?"

"So what if you're tired?" Xiao Jue noticed that he hadn't applied the balm evenly, so he took his hand, scooped out a small piece of balm, and carefully spread it on him. "Once you've chosen this path, there's no turning back."

His fingers, calloused, rubbed against Zhou Heng's hand, between his fingers, and in his palm. Zhou Heng felt a slight itch and tried to pull away, but his grip tightened.

Zhou Heng didn't sleep well at night. His dreams were bizarre and fantastical, sometimes showing a palace ablaze with flames, sometimes Xiao Jue standing alone on a high platform. He reached out to pull him up, but always just missed.

In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, he felt someone pull him into their arms, their warm hands gently patting his back.

Zhou Heng unconsciously rubbed against the heat source, mumbling indistinctly, "Don't go..."

The patting rhythm paused, then a very low sigh sounded in my ear: "Sleep."

The voice was so deep and steady that Zhou Heng felt as if he were being pulled into a deeper sea, and finally fell into a deep sleep.

In the darkness, Xiao Jue stared at the uneasy trembling eyelashes of the person in his arms, remaining motionless for a long time.

A sliver of moonlight shone through the crack in the window, landing precisely on the jade pendant on Zhou Heng's chest. The jade gleamed with a faint, almost invisible light in the night.

Xiao Jue's gaze fell on the jade pendant, his eyes as deep as a cold pool.

The body in her arms shifted, finding a more comfortable position, and its breathing gradually evened out.

Xiao Jue tightened his arms, holding the person firmly in his embrace, and then closed his eyes.