Chapter 114: Keeping the New Year’s Vigil with You

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Keeping the New Year’s Vigil with You

After giving the two of them a big pep talk, Ji Huan suddenly felt a little melancholy.

She remained silent for a long time. Song Jing thought it was because she was scared. He wanted to comfort her but was afraid of being too abrupt and making her suspicious.

After much thought, he squeezed out, "You... don’t be afraid."

Ji Huan shook her head. "I’m fine. I just never expected to spend my first New Year’s Eve like this..."

Song Jing thought she was referring to her first New Year’s Eve since leaving the Ji Family.

So he said in a lighthearted tone, "This isn’t so bad. Escaping through the snow and ice was a fright, but finding a cave for shelter is a delight. There’s fright and delight, and... you have me to see the New Year in with you."

Ji Huan played along and clapped a couple of times.

"The way you put it, this New Year feels like a thrilling, well-planned adventure. Besides, I have a great child student like you with me. Others couldn’t ask for such company even if they begged. We should be grateful, not complain."

Song Jing had nervously revealed a part of what was on his mind, not expecting such a reaction from her. He was left completely speechless.

He knew Ji Huan was mostly joking, but he still didn’t want her to misunderstand.

"Well, no one needs me to celebrate the New Year with them. In previous years, I’ve just stayed home to study."

Ji Huan had just been speaking casually, not expecting him to take her so seriously.

’It’s not that surprising when I think about it,’ she thought. ’A top student like him, so handsome and talented, would be the campus heartthrob in modern times. But here in the Great Zhou, the academies are all-male, and with the constraints of social customs, it’s likely no one has ever confessed their feelings to him.’

When she spoke again, her words carried a hint of comfort.

"That’s all the more reason for you to study hard. The books don’t just hold houses of gold and a thousand bushels of grain; they also hold countless beauties as fair as jade. Once you pass the exams with flying colors, you’ll have no problem finding someone to see the New Year in with you every day."

Song Jing: "..." ’This conversation is going nowhere.’

The blizzard grew more and more ferocious. A howling, furious wind, carrying an earth-shaking momentum, slammed against the mouth of the cave.

The temperature inside the cave dropped lower and lower.

Dabao was already asleep. Ji Huan did her best to wrap him completely in the bedding, which inevitably left half of her own body exposed.

Just as she was shivering so hard her teeth were chattering, a sudden warmth spread over her. It was Song Jing, draping his quilt over her shoulders.

Ji Huan was stunned. "If you give me your quilt, what about you?"

In this freezing temperature, relying on just a padded coat for warmth was completely useless. Song Jing had gentlemanly given his quilt to her, but she couldn’t in good conscience joke around with someone else’s safety.

Song Jing rubbed his hands together and half-stood, stomping his feet. "It’s no problem. I’m a man. We naturally run hotter. When I get cold, I can just move around like this."

Ji Huan disagreed and tried to take the quilt off to give it back to him, but he pressed it down first.

"Don’t be stubborn. Get some sleep."

After a few rounds of pushing and blocking, Ji Huan couldn’t win against him and had to give up.

She was indeed exhausted and sleepy. ’I’ll just close my eyes for a bit,’ she thought. ’Then I’ll switch with Song Jing later.’

Unexpectedly, "closing her eyes for a bit" turned into deep sleep, and she even had a nightmare about being chased by a pack of wild beasts through a frozen wasteland.

She awoke with a start, her heart still pounding with fear from the dream. It took a long while for her consciousness to gradually return.

’Oh no!’

Ji Huan slapped her forehead. ’How long was I asleep?’

She called out Song Jing’s name but heard no response.

Ji Huan’s heart skipped a beat. She gently laid the still soundly-sleeping Dabao down and fumbled her way toward where Song Jing had been.

After waving her hands wildly in the dark for a moment, she finally touched someone.

Ji Huan let out a sigh of relief. Immediately, however, an even greater worry filled her heart.

’If Song Jing is here, why isn’t he responding when I call him?’

’Could it be...?’

Ji Huan moved closer, intending to wake him. Only then did she discover that he had his hands tucked into his sleeves, curled up into a ball in the corner.

In the process, she accidentally brushed against his wrist. It was just like an icicle hanging from the eaves, without the slightest bit of warmth.

’He hasn’t frozen to death, has he?’

Now Ji Huan was truly panicked. Forgetting everything else, she grabbed his arm and began to shake him vigorously.

"Song Jing! Song Jing? Wake up! Wake up! You still have to become the Champion Scholar! You can’t die here! My sin would be too great then..."

’It’s my fault. Why did I take his quilt?’

’And worse, how could I have just fallen asleep?’

’And that fool Song Jing, if he couldn’t take it anymore, didn’t he know to wake me up?’

"Song Jing, wake up. Don’t scare me..."

The more Ji Huan thought about it, the more distressed she became, her voice nearly breaking into a sob.

Until a soft chuckle came from above her head.

"I’m fine right now. But if you keep shaking me, that might change."

Ji Huan froze, her shaking motions ceasing.

When she came to her senses, she was first overjoyed, then felt like she had been tricked.

"Is it fun to trick people?"

Ji Huan was angry and gave him a hard shove.

A sharp intake of breath came from Song Jing, who seemed to have hit the stone wall behind him.

He didn’t cry out in pain and quickly apologized.

"I really didn’t do it on purpose. At first, I really didn’t hear you call. I’m not sure how, but I dozed off. When I woke up, I heard you... Don’t be angry. It’s all my fault..."

Ji Huan wasn’t truly angry with him; it was just that after such an emotional rollercoaster, her feelings were inevitably volatile.

Besides, an unconcealable weakness and tremor in Song Jing’s voice told her he was genuinely frozen through.

She said nothing, turning back to pull the outer layer of bedding off for him.

Song Jing followed to stop her, sounding a little helpless. "Are you still angry with me?"

Ji Huan was even more exasperated. "I’m trying to get the quilt for you. You can’t sleep like that. You might fall asleep and never wake up. I’m not trying to scare you."

If you fall asleep in the snow, the low temperature causes the body to lose heat, which in turn reduces the oxygen supply to the brain, and consciousness begins to fade. It could truly be fatal.

Song Jing said directly, "Then I just won’t sleep. That should solve the problem."

"It’s really not a matter of whether you want to sleep or not. In extreme temperatures, the brain loses its alertness. See? A moment ago, you didn’t even know how you fell asleep, did you?"

Song Jing still felt that with his willpower, staying awake shouldn’t be a problem.

"Dabao is sleeping soundly right now. If you suddenly pull a layer off him, what if he freezes and something happens..."

Ji Huan’s hand, which had been pulling at the quilt, stopped.

Dabao was currently wrapped in the equivalent of two quilts. Although his body still wasn’t very warm, he wasn’t in danger of freezing.

Ji Huan thought for a moment, then sat back down. She picked up Dabao and had him lie against her chest. Her own bedding was still half underneath and half covering her, with Song Jing’s quilt wrapped around the very outside.

Then she scooted over, patted the empty space beside her, and told Song Jing to come sit.

This time, Song Jing was well and truly stunned.

"N-no... Um, I..."

He wanted to refuse.

But when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t form a single coherent sentence.

Ji Huan couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on him and simply pulled him over.

Song Jing tumbled forward, losing his balance and falling against Ji Huan.

As if electrocuted, he scrambled to sit up straight. His face, which had been numb and senseless from the cold, now felt as if it were burning hot.

However, what was to come would leave him even more flustered.

Ji Huan took the freed-up part of the quilt and covered them both. Then, she took his hand in hers.