Dawn was breaking as Jie Jingchen and Jie Jinghun finally returned.
Jie Jingchen was chilled to the bone. Back in their room, he took off his jacket, picked up the thermos, and poured hot water into the washbasin. After washing his face and hands, he poured the water from that basin into the foot-washing basin. Once he'd washed his feet, he carried the foot-washing basin outside and emptied it.
Jie Jingchen lay down and frowned. The bed wasn't as warm as he'd expected. Qin Mei was curled into a ball, her hands and feet ice-cold. She had been asleep for hours, yet the bed was still cold. 'How did she even manage to fall asleep?'
Jie Jingchen radiated a great deal of body heat and was an excellent bed-warmer. After just a few moments, the space under the covers grew toasty. Without any invitation from him, Qin Mei instinctively rolled over toward the source of the heat.
