Lingnan Red

Summer arrives earlier in Lingnan than in Chang'an.

The tall banyan tree in the corner of the courtyard became a good place to cool off. Xuanji and Wen Tingyun often sat there facing each other, one proofreading books and the other writing poems, occasionally enjoying a cup of local herbal tea to beat the summer heat.

That afternoon, Wen Tingyun returned home carrying a bamboo basket. The lid was not fully closed, and a faint, bright red glow shone through, accompanied by a damp mist.

“Youwei,” he called her, his voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible pleasure, “It just so happens to be market day today, and I saw farmers carrying fresh lychees to sell, they were ‘Feizi Xiao’ picked this morning.”

Xuanji put down his pen and stepped forward. The bamboo basket was opened, revealing lychees as red as coral, their shells still covered with a few leaves and dew.

She recalled many years ago, in the study of the Wen family mansion in Chang'an, when he spoke to her in the same way about lychees from Lingnan, describing the cool fragrance of "Guiwei" and the soft, chewy texture of "Nuomici". At that time, she could only use her imagination to sketch that exquisite taste.

The past is like smoke, but now, this legendary precious fruit is truly before us, on this land they both chose.

Wen Tingyun washed his hands, peeled a seed himself, and held it to her lips.

"Try it, this is how it should taste."

Xuanji gently took his hand into her mouth. Her pearly teeth parted slightly, and the abundant, sweet juice burst forth in her mouth. She squinted her eyes contentedly, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

"How was it?" he asked, his gaze falling on her satisfied expression.

“Just as you said back then.” She sighed softly, a little juice on her lips, but she didn’t notice it.

Wen Tingyun smiled slightly, lowered his head and wiped the dampness from the corner of her lips with his hand. "This stuff is hot in nature, so don't overindulge." He gave her a careful instruction, but his tone was full of indulgence.

Xuanji used seven or eight pills in a row before reluctantly stopping.

However, the reputation of Lingnan's "fiery temper" was well-deserved. At night, Xuanji felt a dryness and itchiness in his throat. When he got up to drink water, he looked at himself in the mirror and saw a small blister on the inside of his lower lip, and he also felt a slight heat in his body.

She returned to her bed, and the slight movement woke Wen Tingyun from his light sleep.

"What's wrong?" His voice was sleepy, but his arm instinctively wrapped around her.

“It’s alright,” Xuanji said somewhat embarrassedly. “Perhaps… I ate too many lychees during the day.”

In the darkness, she heard his very soft laughter and felt a slight tremor in his chest. He didn't say anything, but simply pulled her closer to him, his chin brushing against the top of her head, and whispered, "Tomorrow, have Qingxing pick some fresh frangipani and selfheal to boil in water; it'll be best for clearing away heat and toxins."

"Mmm." She leaned against him reassuringly.

However, the heat in her body did not subside with his embrace; on the contrary, it seemed to become more pronounced as their skin touched. He noticed her subtle, uneasy shifting.

"Still feeling hot?" he asked softly. His hand, which had been neatly around her waist, moved slowly upwards, his palm warm, gently stroking her back beneath her thin nightgown. The movement was not hurried, but rather a soothing gesture, his fingertips seemingly carrying invisible ink, tracing gentle lines on her delicate skin.

Xuanji trembled slightly, her throat growing increasingly dry. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and gave a muffled response.

His lips brushed against her earlobe, his breath warm: "The heat of Lingnan easily ignites internal fire. The fire from lychees is external and can be relieved with medicine..." His voice lowered, like a night breeze rustling through banana leaves, "...The internal fire, perhaps, requires another way to channel it."

The words were unspoken, but the meaning was clear. Xuanji's cheeks instantly burned, even her ears turned red. She didn't resist; instead, she pressed herself even closer to him, a silent promise.

Receiving a response, Wen Tingyun chuckled softly and rolled over to envelop her. The light inside the curtains was dim, barely revealing their outlines. His kisses no longer stopped at her lips, but traveled down her slightly feverish neck, leaving delicate marks on her body.

"Youwei..." he called her name, each breath carrying a scorching heat. His touch was sometimes as gentle as a feather, sometimes with undeniable force, precisely stirring the hidden flames within her. The slight discomfort caused by the lychee had long been replaced by a more surging, more unfamiliar heat wave, coursing through her limbs and bones.

He held her hands firmly above her head, her body completely exposed, with nowhere to hide. That night, she finally understood the consequences of lychees causing internal heat.

After an unknown amount of time, the storm gradually subsided.

Wen Tingyun pulled her sweaty body into his arms, pulled the thin brocade quilt over them, and gently combed her disheveled long hair with his fingertips.

"Now... do you feel a little less angry?" he whispered in her ear, his tone carrying a languid aftertaste and a hint of barely perceptible mischief.

Xuanji felt weak all over and only let out a soft hum from her nose as a response. In her heart, she thought that this method of "cooling down" was, although... embarrassing, more effective than any herbal tea or medicine.

The next day, in addition to having a cooling herbal tea to relieve the heat, Xuanji found a small dish of sliced ​​wampee fruit rinsed in well water beside her pillow when she woke up from her afternoon nap. The fruit was sour and sweet, just right for her stomach at that moment.

She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. It was so sour that she frowned slightly, but an indescribable warmth welled up in her heart.

She looked up and saw Wen Tingyun sitting by the window reading a book, his expression focused, as if he were not the one who had used his body to "cool her heart" last night.

She once lamented, "Priceless treasures are easy to find, but a true lover is hard to come by." Now, in this remote and miasma-ridden land of Lingnan, far from Chang'an, she has finally found something more precious than priceless treasures—not grand vows, but the mutual understanding and companionship found in the mundane details of daily life; the sweet taste of a lychee on her lips; a bowl of timely cool tea to soothe her throat; the unspoken joy of being together for a long time; and, most importantly, the most private yet most profound spiritual connection on this hot summer night.