EmbersCh30 - Exchanging Secrets

translator: daisy

proofreader: jay TfxP9X

Trigger warning:

Brief mention of suicide as the cause of death for a minor character.


Both of them were too stunned to take any action.

However, in the next second, Sheng Renxing witnessed firsthand just how fast of a reaction speed Xing Ye had.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

First, he pushed Sheng Renxing back and then leaned forward to meet the unknown assailant. Grabbing the knife in the man’s hand, Xing Ye tripped him and yanked on his elbow.

The man seemed like a puppet in his own body: Xing Ye easily maneuvered him around as he fell on the ground.
  
There was a jingling noise. 7INYbd

The sound of a glass bottle crashing down rang through the air. Within the sickly smell of alcohol, Sheng Renxing took a step forward to check if Xing Ye’s hand had been injured by the knife.
  
The other didn’t move: Xing Ye stood rooted in place and studied the man closely. The veins in his hand were bulging from clutching onto the knife so tightly. Moreover, his entire body was unusually tense.
  
Sheng Renxing took out his cell phone, adjusted the flashlight until it was at its brightest, and took a photo.
  
The man was sitting on the ground, with shards from a broken wine bottle scattered around him. His hand was bleeding; the skin had been torn from his fall.
  
His ragged clothing wasn’t in much better shape: not only were they torn and dirty, but stains of a questionable origin were also present. Instead of caring for his wounds, the man raised his head to stare viciously at Xing Ye with bloodshot eyes.
  
He tilted his head when he was hit by the bright rays of Sheng Renxing’s flashlight. With this movement, the other could see how young the man actually was.

He looked like he was still attending school, although it was difficult to ascertain which educational stage he was in.

No one spoke for a while, and all was quiet, save for the bellowing gasps of the man lying on the ground.

The guy cried out hoarsely, “Don’t you recognize me?!” It sounded like he was rubbing two iron blocks together.

oBxP F

Xing Ye replied, “Zhang Qian.” There wasn’t an ounce of emotion in his voice like it was an irrelevant name.

The person in question seemed to be proud of what he had heard and laughed wildly, “How is it, aren’t you surprised?”
  
This guy must be drunker than Sheng Renxing had initially anticipated.

He stood to the side and studied the two without turning off his flashlight.

After all, who knew what drunken antics the other might get into.
    
“Mn,” Xing Ye nodded slightly, “Is there something going on?” YtW2xD

Zhang Qian was extremely vexed that he couldn’t get an outward response from the other, and turned his head to spit out, “Hehe, nothing’s new! I’m just coming to see if you died!”
  
Such vicious words came out of his mouth as if they were commonplace.
  
Yet not even a trace of emotion flicked on Xing Ye’s face.

Instead, his gaze turned to Sheng Renxing.
  
Sheng Renxing stared back at him.

Zhong Qian squinted through the light to check out Sheng Renxing: “Who is this? Your friend?” Now, his tone seemed like one you would for an old friend.
  
Zhang Qian tilted his head as he asked again, “A friend like my ge?”
  
Xing Ye finally spoke, “He is different from your ge.”

He tilted his head to study Sheng Renxing, who could already guess what he wanted to say.
  
Sure enough, “You should go wait for me outside.”
  
He had a calm expression and an even calmer attitude, yet Sheng Renxing could feel that he was on the verge of exploding.
  
Halfway through the sentence, Zhang Qian interrupted from half a step behind them, “How is it different? Because he hasn’t killed you yet?”
  
Zhang Qian’s words reverberated in Sheng Renxing’s ears, who tried to restrain his expression. VdRy6p

“I’ll wait for you at the place where we sat last time.”
  

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Pretending that he hadn’t heard Zhang Qian’s words, Sheng Renxing turned around and left.

Mgbw yftlcv, Itjcu Hljc’r ybbwlcu nblmf fmtbfv ilxf atf qfialcu atecvfg jwbcura atf delfa cluta, “Qtja’r atf wjaafg, sbe vbc’a vjgf ifa tlw ilrafc lc! Gbc’a sbe tjnf j mifjg mbcrmlfcmf! Vb sbe’gf afiilcu wf atja atf vfjat bo ws ygbatfg tjr cbatlcu ab vb klat sbe?!”

Thousands of thoughts flashed in Sheng Renxing’s brain, yet he did not look back, as he knew that Xing Ye was staring at him to make sure that he was really gone.
  
Until he disappeared around the corner.
  
Only then did Xing Ye slowly turn his head to regard Zhang Qian, who was still sitting on the ground. SlMDiP

“The death of your brother has nothing to do with me.” His expression remained unperturbed, like a frigid current of ice.
 
Zhang Qian’s nostrils flared out in response and his pupils flashed a hatred that he was drowning in.

“He knew that the opponent was me, yet he still signed the contract. He lost the match because of his inferior skills.”
  
Xing Ye raised his hand that was holding the knife, and replied with a voice that was simultaneously both light and solemn: “There wasn’t any other reason.”
  
Throwing the weapon, the tip wedged between Zhang Qian’s two missing fingers and landed amongst the dirt.
  
“Don’t bother using these tricks on me. You’re not going to get anything else.”
  
Not only was Zhang Qian stunned by Xing Ye’s response, but the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed had finally kicked in. A little fear made its way into his mind. He stared at Xing Ye as his expression gradually turned from hatred into pleading: “I knew it wasn’t you…”
  
Xing Ye suddenly picked up a stone and slammed it on the wall next to his head, breaking Zhang Qian’s words with a loud “bang!”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

His eyes seemed to reflect the somber sky as he managed to squeeze out a single word, “Leave!”

Zhang Qian didn’t even dare respond as he turned tail and ran out. u XJSR

There were too many alleys. Sheng Renxing couldn’t find the place that they had sat at last time, so he randomly chose a place to squat down at and turned on his flashlight so that the other could find him.   

He opened his phone, turned on each application one by one, and then closed them in the same vein.
  
Every word that Zhang Qian said was disassembled and analyzed in a thorough manner in his mind.
  
Is Zhang Qian’s ge related to Xing Ye? What did he mean by the death of someone in the family?

The problem bubbled like carbonated water within Sheng Renxing’s head.
  
He didn’t know how long he thought about it, or how long he stayed until his peripheral vision caught sight of someone approaching.

Sheng Renxing shone his phone in that direction, and Xing Ye’s figure appeared in the light: “Is he gone?”
  
Xing Ye walked up to him and sat down, “Yeah.” uXYh9z

“Oh.”
  
Then, it was silent between the two.
  
Sheng Renxing, “Do you want candy?”
  
Xing Ye blurted out at the same time: “Do you want to ask?  

Both of them paused.
  
“I don’t want to ask anything.”
  
“What candy?” Xing Ye replied in unison.
  
“…” Sheng Renxing couldn’t help but smile, and passed some sweets to him: “Cadbury.”
  
Xing Ye took it, tore off the wrapping paper, and stuffed it into his mouth. A sweet and greasy chocolate taste spread on his taste buds.
  
“Did you buy it?”
  
“Someone else did.” Sheng Renxing also took one out to eat.

After the incident, the two just sat in the alley and ate sweets quietly.
  
After a while, Xing Ye asked, “Any left?”
  
The other patted his pocket, “Nope.”

“Compared to those lollipops, which one tasted better?”
  
Xing Ye answered honestly, “Neither of them tasted good.”
  
“Then why did you ask me for more?”
  
Xing Ye smiled playfully, “It was delicious, do you have any more?”
  
“All gone.” Sheng Renxing stood up, “Don’t sit here, the trash can smell is making me sick”
  
He lit up his phone screen: “Where are you going to sleep tonight?” He regarded Xing Ye with a sideways glance, “You didn’t take any clothes either.”
  
Finally, he added, “Stay at my place? I can just about manage to take you in for one night.”
  
The other stood up: “Hard to scrape by these days?”
  
“Very.” Sheng Renxing groaned.
  
And so, Xing Ye followed him home.
  
The two still did not take a taxi. Ng0But

Although Xuancheng wasn’t very up to date, places like Yanjiang Street have gradually turned on the lights in preparation for the nightlife.
  
They walked together side by side on the road.

As the neon glow hit Xing Ye’s face, his side profile was coated in a strange radiance.
  
Sheng Renxing cleared his throat: “Just now…”
  
“Didn’t you say that you didn’t have any questions?”

“Before, even if I asked, you might not answer.”

“And you’re sure that I would tell you now?” Xing Ye fiddled with the candy wrapped in his pocket. AnjGRC

“Yup.” Sheng Renxing raised his eyebrows, “I’m your landlord now. If you don’t tell me, you’ll end up living on the streets.”
  
“Fuck.” Xing Ye laughed in shock.

Awestruck, the other turned to study him.
  
“What’s wrong?”
  
“Nothing. It’s just that this is the first time I’ve heard you swear.” Sheng Renxing shrugged.
  
Xing Ye didn’t speak, and the two walked on for a little longer.
  
When they approached the road, he suddenly blurted out, “Zhang Qian’s brother. He used to be friends with me.”
  
“Oh,” Since Sheng Renxing didn’t expect him to reply, he wasn’t sure what to say, “What happened to him?”
  
“He died.” Xing Ye stuffed a hand into his pocket, where the candy wrapper was folded into a small square, “Of a suicide.”

“Ah? Why did that person implicate you then?” He skirted around the word.

Xing Ye paused again, but it was to organize his thoughts instead of unwillingness to tell Sheng Renxing the truth. 5nT9Lt

“At that time, something had happened to his family and he wanted money. He decided to fight in the ring. The opponent was me. I won and he lost, and then he committed suicide.”
  
“Ah,” Despite the serious matter, Sheng Renxing’s first thought upon hearing it was: “You must really not be good at writing.”
 
Xing Ye looked at him, “Then don’t ask.”
  
“Okay,” Sheng Renxing replied with a smile, “So that man came to you to avenge his brother?”

Unexpectedly, Xing Ye shook his head, “No.”
  
“?”
  
“He came to me for money.” Xing Ye thought back to Zhang Qian’s missing fingers. “He owes a gambling debt and was struggling to repay it. He wanted to make a fortune from me.”
  
Looking at Sheng Renxing’s obviously surprised expression, Xing Ye couldn’t help but laugh, yet his voice didn’t contain a trace of mirth, “How could the dead compare to money.”
  
“…He was so indignant at the time, and it was all for that?”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Xing Ye just looked at him and nodded, “Money is enough.”

After all, how many people in this world live and die for it?
  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Sheng Renxing realized that he had said the wrong thing and furrowed his brows.
  
“I know.” 7YHn0a

Sheng Renxing was standing under the bright street lamp, and after thinking for a while, Xing Ye asked, “Weren’t you curious about what the underground was like?”

Since the other was just studying him, he continued, “People like him, I think that he’s considered a good person there.”
  
The intersection light changed from red to green, and back to red.
  
“What about you?”
  
Xing Ye stared at the traffic lights and said nothing.
  
After a bit, he asked, “What did you want to ask?”

“At that time, why did you win despite knowing the reason?”
  
Because Xing Ye was stronger than him, because he wasn’t afraid of death, because the other was unwilling to make the first move despite it all…
  
“Because I also owe gambling debts.”
  
Sheng Renxing studied him and forcefully tried to suppress his expression, “You gamble?”
  
Xing Ye shook his head, disgust appearing on his face, “It’s my dad who does.” 

“Oh.” Sheng Renxing nodded blankly, feeling like he hadn’t fully processed it yet.
  
Xing Ye smiled and rubbed the other’s hair.
  
When he saw Zhang Qian’s eyes, he wasn’t angry or sad, but a little flustered. q2wN43

Because Sheng Renxing was next to him.

He desperately wished that these things wouldn’t touch him, and he was afraid to find out how the other would turn to look at him after finding out the truth.
  
But when the other party asked, he explained it anyway.

Unexpectedly, Xing Ye didn’t feel regret, nor the need to conceal anything. In the end, all that remained was a little relief.

Even though he had never told Huang Mao and the others. Even though he had only known Sheng Renxing for a short time.
  
“I like men.”
  
Xing Ye paused but did not react, his expression momentarily going blank.
  
Sheng Renxing looked straight at him: “Aren’t we exchanging secrets?” He shrugged, “This is mine.”
  
Then, he imitated Xing Ye’s previous tone, “Do you have any questions?”
  
Despite rarely being at a loss for words, the other couldn’t think of a thing to say. E nhLw

Amidst the silence, the dark clouds gradually dissipated, and the moon slowly rose into the sky.

Sheng Renxing patiently waited for his response, but after a long stretch of quiet, he tilted his head, “Do you mind?”
  
“Mind?”
  
“Mind that I like men.”
  
“I don’t.” Xing Ye shook his head, his voice steady.
  
Sheng Renxing nodded, “Oh, then I don’t mind either.”
  
His tone was neither playful nor serious like it was just a little secret exchanged between friends.

Without judgement, since it was only limited to you and me.
  
Xing Ye stopped and turned around. He reached out and hugged Sheng Renxing.
  
This wide road was now empty, save for themselves.
  
Sheng Renxing raised his arms and hugged him back.
  
Only the moon served as their witness.


daisy: ue ue ue sound of crying because why are they so cute qaq BtjbAE

Leave a Comment

25 comments

  1. Xing Ye rubs Sheng Renxing’s hair a lot, and I love it because I’m a sucker for soft moments like those. I need MORE!!!!!

  2. wha- why he hugged renxing??? what is that hug means???? 😱😱😱

    it’s okay your secret is safe with me or it’s okay i like men too or what????

    need.the.next.chapter.asap.

    btw thank you for the chapter

  3. I love them sooo much! I’ve been stuck at home writing my thesis but this story brightens up my day so much…

  4. pls I’m crying i love them so much 。:゚(;´∩`;)゚:。 ❤️❤️❤️ thank u so much for chapt 🛐🛐 this story is my only current source of serotonin

  5. When will they start dating OMG

    Ahhhh I can’t wait for the next chapter!!! When is it coming out? I’ve been waiting for a week😭

    • Dear translator

      I love your translation so much ❤️

      I’m dying because I can’t read more 🥺

      So can you pls be so kind and tell me when the next chapter will be uploaded 🙏

      It would be very nice. Thanks for the good translation from this nice book till now😊

  6. Manz really just said it so straightforwardly eh? I thought he’ll say something along the lines of yea my dad sucks too and open up about his family more, but NOPE- Yeye this is your chance!!!

    Ty for the chapter!!💜💜💜