Yuan Yunzhong seemed not to have noticed anything amiss.
He suddenly tossed something to Song Jiyun, saying, "Here, take this!"
Caught off guard, Song Jiyun fumbled awkwardly before finally catching what he had thrown. When she opened it, to her surprise, it was a pouch.
She looked up in astonishment at Yuan Yunzhong.
Yuan Yunzhong coughed softly, feeling somewhat uneasy, and said, "Aren’t you looking for a compass everywhere?"
Song Jiyun opened the pouch.
Inside was a compass the size of a walnut.
It seemed to be the one he had hanging at his waist that day.
She paused slightly.
Yuan Yunzhong had already said, "I’m going to see how the kiln firing is doing."
He walked past her straight toward the kiln mouth.
Song Jiyun watched him, feeling inexplicably happy.
The compass was exquisitely made.
The small square base was painted a dark red with chicken-wing wood, adorned with inlaid gold of the celestial stems, terrestrial branches, and the Twenty-Eight Constellations, topped with a tiny golden spoon, which was both cute and luxurious.
Song Jiyun was so enamored with it that she picked up the little spoon and put it back, even twirling the spoon with her fingertips to watch it spin and return to its original position.
She stood there alone, playing with it for a long while.
A bout of hearty laughter came from the fire-watching spot.
She put the compass back into the pouch, hung it next to the Forbidden Step at her waist, and walked over.
Luo Zixing’s head apprentice pointed at the fire-watching spot and proudly told Yuan Yunzhong, "Other master craftsmen need to watch the flames and calculate how much wood has burnt to judge the kiln’s temperature. Our master needs nothing, just spits into the kiln and he knows whether the firing is done."
Luo Zixing, suppressing the pride in his heart, said modestly, "What nonsense are you talking about here? Young Master Yuan is no ordinary person; it’s not your place to show off."
Luo Zixing’s head apprentice called out "Master" in a grievous tone, yet his eyes kept darting toward Yuan Yunzhong.
Yuan Yunzhong seemed somewhat distracted, his handsome features carried a faint smile, but his expression held a trace of aloofness, and his gaze was fixed distantly, seemingly lost.
He followed Yuan Yunzhong’s gaze.
He saw Song Jiyun standing outside the crowd in plain clothes.
Though separated by the crowd, their gazes seemed to stick together like glue, yet scattered like fleeting shadows at the slightest touch.
He couldn’t help but blurt out "Miss".
All turned their heads toward Song Jiyun as they echoed "Miss", consciously stepping back, clearing a path for her.
Song Jiyun walked over with a beaming smile.
Yuan Yunzhong’s eyelids slightly drooped, his eyes sweeping sneakily across the pouch hanging at Song Jiyun’s waist.
The pinkish purple pouch quietly dangled beside the Forbidden Step, the soft and the firm, like companionable flowers and trees.
He unconsciously pursed his lips, which curled up like the corners of a pentagon.
"What is everyone discussing?" Song Jiyun asked with a smile, "It seems quite lively?"
Everyone hurriedly said, "Master is talking about his unique skills with Young Master Yuan!"
Song Jiyun was somewhat surprised.
Luo Zixing had faced many hardships in his youth and was low-key. The fact that he spoke about himself meant he must hold Yuan Yunzhong in high regard.
She said, "Master Luo is a very skilled craftsman. My father had the resolve to start his own kiln factory because Master Luo agreed to manage it for us."
She didn’t know who she was speaking to.
Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "What’s happened to the fire in the kiln?"
Everyone was startled and turned their gaze toward the fire-watching spot.
Fierce orange-red flames blazed, as if determined to burn everything to ashes.
The temperature obviously had gotten too high.
Song Jiyun furrowed her brows.
The fire-watching spot was eerily silent.
Song Jiyun asked Luo Zixing, "Didn’t you add coal as I instructed?"
Nobody spoke; the kiln mouth fell silent, and all eyes were on Luo Zixing.
Luo Zixing looked embarrassed and said, "I thought the temperature was a bit low, so I had them add half a cart more coal."
"Coal burns differently from wood," Song Jiyun said and couldn’t help closing her eyes.
The rate at which the temperature climbed also varied.
If the temperature rose too quickly, even if the items inside the kiln did not break or deform, the glaze might still change.
Everyone was silent, as if the air itself had come to a halt.
Song Jiyun said, "Can you determine the current temperature inside the kiln?"
Luo Zixing’s face was flushed red as he spat several times into the kiln and, after calculating for a while in his mind, he hesitantly said, "It seems like it’s about five or six hundred degrees!"
His tone was very uncertain.
Song Jiyun massaged her temples and said, "We need to let the fire cool down slowly, to around four hundred degrees."
But how to precisely control the fire around four hundred degrees was something even Luo Zixing could not manage.
Song Jiyun had fired small kilns but had never fired such a large kiln, and for a moment, she could not decide.
Everyone’s faces turned pale.
Song Jiyun stood at the fire-watching port, and her mind spun rapidly as she considered all the methods she knew.
"Use the fire picture!" Yuan Yunzhong’s voice suddenly rose beside her.
Song Jiyun turned her head and almost bumped into his shoulder.
Unbeknownst to her, Yuan Yunzhong had quietly stood beside her.
"Fire picture?!" Song Jiyun, who had never heard of it, asked, "What is that?"
"It’s a type of ceramic piece that can measure temperature," Yuan Yunzhong explained to her.
Made from clay shaped into a triangle with holes, glazed, and placed on a sagger. During the firing process, a long hook is extended into the fire-watching hole to hook the ceramic piece out of the sagger, allowing the temperature inside the kiln and the state of the glaze to be determined by observing the ceramic piece.
Song Jiyun was astounded and said, "How do you know that?"
Yuan Yunzhong tilted his chin up slightly and said dismissively, "It can be used when refining pills."
Song Jiyun’s eyes widened.
Yuan Yunzhong looked askance at her.
Song Jiyun shivered.
Although Yuan Yunzhong was sometimes arrogant and seemed above it all, he was very reliable.
Her heart was occupied by trust, and without much thought, she immediately instructed Luo Zixing and the others, "Follow Young Master Yuan’s lead!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began to circle around Yuan Yunzhong with tense expressions.
They prepared the iron hook, made the ceramic pieces, applied the familiar blue glaze, and placed them in the kiln.
By the time the preparations were nearly complete, the sky had darkened.
The kiln factory lit large red lanterns.
Song Jiyun looked at Yuan Yunzhong’s calm face next to the fire-watching hole, and her heart involuntarily softened.
She handed him a cup of cold tea and said warmly, "To relieve the heat."
Yuan Yunzhong took the tea cup and drank it all at once.
The tea was too bitter; he frowned unhappily.
Song Jiyun said, "It’s Lotus Heart Tea, good for cooling down and healthy for the body. Just bear with it and drink a bit."
Before she could finish, she paused.
She had never used such a slightly coaxing tone with anyone before.
But before she could think deeply about it, Yuan Yunzhong had already hooked out a fire picture, and said to her, "Take a look at the current temperature inside the kiln?"
Under the lamp, Song Jiyun carefully examined it and exclaimed happily, "It should be around four hundred degrees."
Yuan Yunzhong said, "What do we do next?"
"Limit it to one Shichen Chinese Time, raising the kiln’s temperature by one hundred degrees every Shichen," Song Jiyun hesitated and said, "That would be best. If it doesn’t work, setting it to two Shichen and raising by two hundred degrees is also possible."
The more precise the control, the harder it is to maintain.
Yuan Yunzhong nodded and called Luo Zixing over to add coal.
Two Shichen later, the temperature had risen to six hundred degrees.
Luo Zixing and the others couldn’t help but cheer.
"Perfect!" Song Jiyun was exultant and couldn’t help but hug the composed Yuan Yunzhong next to her, "We did it!"
"I really can’t thank you enough!" She let go of Yuan Yunzhong, pressed her hands together towards him, "If it hadn’t been for you, it definitely wouldn’t have gone this smoothly!"
In the firelight, her curved eyebrows and eyes looked like the crescent moon at dusk, playful, bright, and warm.
Yuan Yunzhong felt the shoulder she had just hugged burning hot as if scorched by fire.
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