Ji Taoyu checked what food was left at home. The wedding feast leftovers had been eaten over the past few days, and what remained - mostly soups and broths, had spoiled.
Rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, he realized his mother had already cleared out all the banquet dishes. There was nothing left that could simply be reheated and eaten.
"How about egg noodles?"
Ji Taoyu pulled two eggs laid by their chickens from the rice jar and glanced at Huo Shu for his opinion.
"Sure."
Huo Shu lit the fire while Ji Taoyu kneaded the dough.
One was busy at the stove, while the other worked beneath it.
Not knowing when Ji Yangzong and his wife would return, Huo Shu stoked the fire to boil noodles and took the opportunity to fill the pot on the stove with water.
By the time supper was ready, the water in the pot would be hot, allowing the couple to soak their feet in warmth when they returned from the biting wind.
While Huo Shu fetched water, Ji Taoyu wasn’t idle either. As the dough rested, he used lard to fry up an egg and vegetables broth.
The lard melted, the eggs were scrambled, and water was added to boil. Tender-leaf radish greens, which cooked quickly in boiling water, were tossed in, along with extra salt to make the flavor stronger, creating the perfect savory base to pour over their freshly made noodles.
After the two had their evening meal, the sky had darkened completely, but Ji Yangzong and his wife still hadn’t returned. They left the gate unlocked and a lantern burning in the courtyard before retiring to their room.
Winter days were short, and nights stretched long. Though it was already pitch-black outside, it wasn’t actually late.
Since getting married, Ji Taoyu had been sleeping well, but tonight, he wasn’t the least bit drowsy.
Normally, he would soak his feet, curl up in bed, and flip through medical texts while waiting for Huo Shu to join him.
“Aren’t you coming to wash your feet yet?”
Ji Taoyu had been sitting at the table, leafing through the Washing Away of Wrongs that Huo Shu had bought him before. As a forensic text, some sections were too unsettling to read alone.
But with Huo Shu around, he grew bold enough to peruse it.
After flipping through two pages, he noticed Huo Shu still hadn’t come over and couldn’t help calling out.
“You go ahead. I’m taking a bath.”
Hearing this, Ji Taoyu turned his head and saw Huo Shu, clad only in a thin undergarment, carrying a bucket of water toward the bathing room.
In winter's chill, daily baths seemed excessive—yet after working all day until his clothes clung damp with sweat, even Huo Shu couldn't deny the sense in washing off the grime.
Thinking this, Ji Taoyu acknowledged with a hum and stuck his feet into the basin.
Just as he was about to flip a few more pages, two words suddenly popped into his mind: taking a bath~
Imagining Huo Shu’s tall, sturdy frame, a mischievous grin crept onto Ji Taoyu’s lips.
They’d been married for nearly half a month, yet he’d never seen what lay beneath Huo Shu’s clothes, how absurdly distant was that?
With this thought, Ji Taoyu grabbed a washcloth from the clothes rack and tiptoed into the bathing room.
The bathing room was connected to his bedroom, so it wasn’t large, and its furnishings were simple: a bathtub against one wall and a screen dividing the room in half.
Someone as averse to wasting water and hassle as Huo Shu naturally didn’t use the tub, he just stripped and rinsed directly.
Peeking in, Ji Taoyu caught sight of the shadow on the screen as robes were shed, and instantly, a flush burned from his neck to his forehead.
Blushing aside, his eyes never once left the screen.
Huo Shu wasn’t just tall and broad-shouldered, his proportions were even and fluid.
The arm gripping the water dipper flexed with visible tendons as water splashed over his neck, dampening half of his trailing ink-black hair. The rest of the droplets trickled down his defined chest to his firm abdomen.
Ji Taoyu stared at the pillow he usually slept soundly against - solid yet resilient, and most importantly, warm.
Normally separated by a layer of fabric, he hardly dared imagine how exhilarating it would be to press his cheek directly against that chest.
He swallowed silently, his gaze trailing the water’s path downward until—until it met the pants Huo Shu hadn’t taken off.
Ji Taoyu’s lips instantly pursed in a pout.
Hunched in a half-crouch, Ji Taoyu inched toward the bathing screen, torn between propriety and curiosity.
How ridiculous, who bathes with their pants still on?
If he was keeping them on, Ji Taoyu figured he might as well sneak a peek behind the screen. After all, the man was his husband, it wasn’t too much to ask, right?
Hunched at the corner of the screen, he tilted his head slightly, and the sight of Huo Shu’s bronzed, bare upper half filled his vision.
Instead of flushing hotter, Ji Taoyu’s eyes widened abruptly, his breath catching as he froze in place.
Hearing movement, Huo Shu glanced over and spotted the stunned figure by the screen. His brow furrowed. “Why’d you come in?”
Snapping back to himself, Ji Taoyu hastily held out the washcloth. “I-I saw you forgot the washcloth.”
Huo Shu’s frown deepened. “Just set it aside.”
“Ah, right.”
Ji Taoyu replied distractedly and hurriedly retreated.
Watching the barefoot ger scamper off, Huo Shu’s expression darkened further.
He lowered his gaze to the jagged scars and spear marks littering his chest and abdomen - dozens visible to the naked eye, let alone the ones he couldn’t see.
Huo Shu knew his appearance was enough to startle most people, let alone a delicately raised young ger.
Fastening his clothes, perhaps only his face was slightly intimidating, but once he took them off, he resembled more of a demon king, enough to give people nightmares.
Knowing this, he had always been careful not to reveal even a hint of it. But with the two of them living together day and night, how could such things remain hidden?
His grip on the water ladle tightened, almost snapping the handle.
Huo Shu baby, talk to your little husband lol
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update!