EmbersCh40 - Returning to you

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TL: kemostt 2oixOC


After a long time, Sheng Renxing pushed Xing Ye away: “So we’re going to act the same as before, just as if that day never happened?”

He looked at Xing Ye and shrugged,

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“I can’t do that.”

  DtfS1

“What’s the matter with you?” The captain suddenly asked.

“What?” Sheng Renxing continued to eat, not lifting his head.

“Your complexion is not so good,” the captain said.

Sheng Renxing suddenly put his chopsticks aside: “Can you stop staring at me?”

lvsrn0

For a moment, the table fell silent.

Although Sheng Renxing didn’t know what his own expression was, he could see that the captain was showing an expression close to panic: his face had turned pale, and he was awkwardly staying in place, silent.

Sheng Renxing knew that he had to say something to ease the situation, like, “just kidding”, or explain and apologise.

But in the end, he just exhaled and turned to Chen Ying: “What were you just saying about mountain biking?” UW1uHZ

“Ah?” Chen Ying looked towards him; his expression was a little strange, but he immediately replied, “Oh, that’s the group I added. They asked to go to the mountains this week. It’s at Jingting Mountain, the time’s already been set.”

He then asked Sheng Renxing, “Are you going to come?” while staring expectantly, “There’s a person in the group who always toots his own horn, and I’ve even seen him physically commit evil. If you go, you definitely have to slap him in the face severely! Let him know who the real daddy is!”

“Yes!” Fatty howled, “The whole of Jiangnan Jiangbei street will ask who their father is!”

“……” Seeing their appearance, the word “Go” got stuck in his mouth, and his mood recovered a little, so while he pulled out his phone, he said, “Pull me into the group.” cfRPr3

At night, Sheng Renxing lay in bed, smoking a cigarette while flicking the lighter in his hand on and off.

In the light of the flame, he thought of how Xing Ye’s face had looked.

At that time, they had been standing by the woods: the street lights were not turned on and the moonlight was dim.

After speaking out, he didn’t feel any of the pleasure he had imagined. FHqEit

Instead, his heart felt blocked, like a sponge seeping with water.

Water dripped, trickling down.

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It was cold and wet.

Sheng Renxing took a deep breath from his cigarette, and thought, absentmindedly, that he was lovelorn. zUnT3f

Now he kind of understood why Qiu Datou cried every time he was lovesick. He would even rush for ten kilometres down the road on a rainy day just to get some double-skin milk pudding, while Sheng Renxing would feel like it was all some sort of poisoned idol drama and would just take photos, uploading them for hundreds of people to laugh at.

Now he understood that his original behaviour may have caused even more harm.

However, even he would never run laps while shouting Xing Ye’s name. That was not being lovesick, that was just being stupid.

Sheng Renxing extinguished the cigarette in a daze, clicked on QQ, and said: [I want to eat Shuangpi milk.] xVCauy

The next day, he woke up because of a nightmare.

He couldn’t remember what he’d dreamed about. He wiped his face but still looked messy.

After yawning, he looked at the late time on his phone and went to wash in a leisurely manner.

While feeling sorry for his own depravity, he began to go on his phone with his toothbrush still in his mouth. bdD8Yo

Yesterday, with regards to the message he had posted, there were already a lot of comments: among them, Qiu Datou had left a message, [I immediately called my private plane to send flowers to you, just wait.]

Sheng Renxing laughed and typed back to him using one hand: [I’m waiting, the landing pad is ready. If I don’t get them today, I’ll use a satellite to kill you.]

He smiled for a while, but suddenly he saw the word ‘18’ next to the number of likes.

Sheng Renxing paused, then threw his phone to the side and began to brush his teeth carefully. 5txq6d

Today, he and Xing Ye were strangers.

During the break after the third period, someone knocked on the window.

Sheng Renxing had been yawning constantly, and hadn’t written anything down the whole morning.

Hearing the knock, he turned his head and saw Xing Ye standing by the window. uIx82m

It was locked. The lackey, also known as Chen Ying, who was in front of him, thoughtfully opened it for Xing Ye.

With the wind blowing outside, Sheng Renxing caught a drift of the scent of smoke coming from him.

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“……”

Sheng Renxing looked at him and, while he had almost forgotten how to think, Xing Ye had raised his hand and placed something on his desk. RVeg5y

Sheng Renxing turned his head: “What is this?”

“Shuangpi milk,” Xing Ye replied.

Sheng Renxing caught sight of the bandages underneath his clothes.

“……” maLJSO

He raised his hand and touched the container: it was ice cold.

“…Where did you buy it?” He asked Xing Ye.

What he really wanted to ask was, what were Xing Ye’s intentions now?

Xing Ye half-leaned against the window and raised his hand to open the lid: “Muzhi street.” LRwnFQ

Sheng Renxing turned his face and frowned, “Take it back, I don’t want it.”

After saying this, he got goosebumps, feeling like a girl who was being pursued.

This situation should be happening the other way round.

At this time, Fatty, who was sitting next to him, said, “Is that from Qingkai? Their drinks are also quite good.” xtR uZ

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.

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He turned his head and looked at Xing Ye, his voice a little strained: “Have you turned a deaf ear to what I said yesterday?”

Xing Ye’s eyes seemed to darken. He said, “I was passing by the store today. I just saw it and remembered your post, so I bought it. I didn’t think that much.”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

He pinched the cover of the window next to him, and a piece of the plastic protective sheet was torn off: “If you don’t want to eat it, then throw it away.”

“Forget it,” Sheng Renxing was silent for a while before saying, “Just don’t do this in the future.” XskeOa

Xing Ye smiled at him, turned and left.

Obviously, this sentence had been regarded with deaf ears.

In the days to come, although Sheng Renxing hadn’t seen Xing Ye very much, all kinds of bits and pieces like a water bottle on the table and the candy in the canteen reminded him of his existence.

In a daze, he felt as though he was being silently pursued. 4uEXUN

Also, he heard from Director Li that Xing Ye used to only come to school once or twice a week, but now he came to school almost every day. Director Li had also secretly questioned whether there was something wrong with Xing Ye these days.

Sheng Renxing, who was upset, thought that he might’ve well asked what was right about Xing Ye. It seemed that everyone thought that they had a good relationship, and therefore would ask him about Xing Ye.

At this point, even if Xing Ye’s fucking mother wanted to make an appointment with him, it would have to be through Sheng Renxing.

He could tidy up himself. KSAJEY

Sheng Renxing hesitated a while after leaving the field before asking Xing Ye, who was next to him, “Are you not going to class?”

Chen Ying and the others were still playing on the field. It was a rare physical education class, so the group of men were like wild dogs.

Halfway through the game, he had caught sight of Xing Ye sitting beside the court, watching him play. He didn’t know the exact time that he had started watching. The last time they met was Monday, and now it was already Thursday.

Now, they were sitting on the stairs, with a flower bed behind them on the upper level. 8AW7jG

Xing Ye leaned back on the cement of the flower bed, shook his head at Sheng Renxing, and handed him a bottle of water. Gauze was wrapped around his knuckles.

There were many wounds on his body that were visible to the naked eye these days.

Sheng Renxing didn’t know what was wrong with him, and didn’t want to ask, even though Jiang Jing had texted him on QQ asking what happened to him. He still hadn’t replied yet.

It was none of his business. pMAC3c

Sheng Renxing’s expression was cold as he refused: “I don’t need it.”

Xing Ye didn’t take his hand back, but instead stood up: “Going to buy water?”, as if to accompany him.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“…….” Sheng Renxing took the water and had a sip.

Finally, he couldn’t help it: “I don’t need it. Come on, don’t do this.” He closed the lid and the water bottle squeaked. uqedOH

Xing Ye sat down again, looked down at his bandaged hand, and finally shook his head: “Don’t worry about me.”

“I don’t want to,” Sheng Renxing turned to look at him, “it’s you who made me misunderstand.”

He narrowed his eyes: “I misunderstood that you were chasing me.”

Xing Ye did not say a word. He was silent, propping up his knees to his elbows and lowering his head. The gauze on his knuckles was slightly stained red. RxrFkU

From Sheng Renxing’s perspective, he could see his soft, black hair and a glimpse of the eyebrows underneath.

It gave off a sort of lonely, yet frustrated feeling.

“So don’t do this,” he said again, but softly this time, “I’m not happy fighting with you.”

After a long time, Chen Ying ran over. OKAdLt

“Hey, Brother Xing is here too.” he greeted Xing Ye. Because of Sheng Renxing’s relationship with him, Chen Ying and the others had also met him before, but they were not familiar with him and therefore did not dare to speak much.

“Are you not going to play anymore?” Sheng Renxing asked.

Chen Ying took a seat next to him. “I’m stopping. It’s a dogfight, with a pack of dogs who bite but refuse to acknowledge everyone else.”

Sheng Renxing smiled casually, while Chen Ying took out his phone: “By the way, have you seen the group chat?” 05o3Z9

“What?” Sheng Renxing didn’t want to take his phone out, because it was in the pocket of the coat that was currently next to Xing Ye.

“They said it was changed to 11 o’clock.” Chen Ying showed him his phone screen at an angle.

“Oh.” Sheng Renxing glanced at it and nodded. He didn’t care what the time was.

Chen Ying took back his phone again before suddenly saying, “Hey, this motorcycle…” Turning his head to look at Sheng Renxing, he asked, “By the way, what kind of motorcycle do you ride?” maU0xN

“What?” Sheng Renxing asked.

Chen Ying: “Oh, is your motorcycle not in Xuancheng? But I only have one…”

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“I’ll bring mine over.” Sheng Renxing smiled and patted him on the shoulder, “I can’t use yours.”

Chen Ying’s eyes brightened, “In that case, I can also go!” wRG6o8

Then he looked down and asked Xing Ye: “Ah, what about Brother Xing? Is Brother Xing going?”

Sheng Renxing was startled, and subconsciously frowned.

Xing Ye glanced at him first, then replied to Chen Ying, “No.”

Sheng Renxing looked up again. In his heart, although he felt relieved, he also felt something else. aM9yw6

To be honest, he didn’t want to participate in this mountain activity. First, out of the people who were going he didn’t know who was who, nor did they know what his level was. Second, he was unfamiliar with the road conditions. He had never been to Jingting Mountain.

But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to be able to vent what was in his heart.

To do that, mountain biking was the best choice.

His motorcycle, along with his cycling jersey, was sent over by Qiu Datou. jZEd3O

Sheng Renxing touched his jersey fondly.

When he put it on, it was a little tight. After all, he had grown taller.

It was only then that he realised that more than a month had passed since he initially came to Xuancheng.

It had been almost half a year since all of those bad things had happened and the last time he had worn a cycling jersey. 3kdcBf

One of the reasons he had come to Xuancheng in the first place was to relax, but he didn’t expect that the relaxation period had already ended.

During this period of time, all of his thoughts had been centred around Xing Ye, and Sheng Yan had already been forgotten by him.

Sheng Renxing continued to get dressed silently, not really knowing what to think.

On the mountain, several people were already standing by, waiting in the cold wind. dD8Mei

Sheng Renxing had originally only wanted to let off some steam by cycling, not by competing with anyone. However, when he saw people beginning to gamble at the starting point, he realised that this was going to be a little troublesome. When he saw that someone wasn’t putting on all of their protective gear, the ominous feeling he had reached its peak.

Here, he didn’t know anyone, so he quietly said to Chen Ying, “Call a few people.”

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“What?” Chen Ying was puzzled.

Sheng Renxing lifted his index finger to his lips, and replied: “Don’t ask, just look for people who can fight.” X6W7dg

Chen Ying also came here to ride, not for the purpose of racing, but to blow the air.

Sheng Renxing patted him on the shoulder.

Soon after, the race began.

He thought that, because of the gambling, there were going to be private arrangements and deals for the race. OEKu1s

However, in any case, he hadn’t thought anyone would try to hit him.

He didn’t know whether this person was too confident in himself, or whether he just despised Sheng Renxing.

He scolded the idiot in his heart, turning the throttle and accelerating in an attempt to stay away from him.

But it was too late. T 1eK0

The idiot became flustered, lost control of his motorcycle and fell.

As a result of Sheng Renxing wanting to avoid him, his motorcycle had leaned too far inwards, and his leg was now being slashed from the bushes beside him.

It also could be bare rock.

He felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg and analysed it in his head. He didn’t even think about parking. Instead, he was becoming riled up. IbmkHR

You all want to win, right? Hah, as if.

With a calm expression, Sheng Renxing began to speed up, as quick as lightning or a cheetah, and expertly weaved through the cars and rocks in front of him.

This dazzling yet provocative technique made the motorcycles behind him unsteady: some were shaking and others were honking their horns at him.

He ignored them. DhkB9t

The speed that had once been considered leisurely for him had been turned up by two notches, and by now there was nothing in front of him that could stop him.

To finish the race, he rushed to the finish line far ahead of the rest, with the front of his motorcycle drifting to make a half circle in the mud.

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He sat on the seat of his motorcycle as he waited for everyone to finish.

Those who arrived later had very bad complexions, especially when they saw him waiting by the finish line. 4aE3zn

Someone got off their motorcycle, took off their helmet, and began to shout at Sheng Renxing: “Who the hell are you? Do you not understand the rules?!”

Sheng Renxing sneered. “Whose rules?”

Several people started to surround him. Chen Ying also ran over immediately.

Sheng Renxing stayed sitting, but the engine of his motorcycle had not stopped. He pushed up both his helmet and his goggles, and analyzed the situation for a while. If this was going to end up as a fight, would he need to get some outside help? VMIzoW

In the next second, a man wearing a fluorescent red jersey, who was standing with the opposing group, suddenly paused: “Xing Ye?”

Sheng Renxing turned his head and saw Xing Ye standing behind him, wearing a black suit, almost merging with the darkness of the surroundings.

Xing Ye’s expression was bad, even worse than the furious faces in the crowd.

Fluorescent Red had asked him a question, but he didn’t answer. YvOp50

Hesitating a lot, he asked him again: “Why are you here?”

Again, Xing Ye did not deign to answer, instead turning his head to look at Sheng Renxing and stretching out his hand: “Let’s go.”

Sheng Renxing stared at the hand in front of him. After a long time, he accepted it, and stood up from the motorcycle slowly.

His leg that had been hurting was now becoming numb. 4231xL

In the end, Xing Ye drove him down the mountain. The motorcycle he was on was worn and old: Sheng Renxing had never seen him ride it before.

Chen Ying also followed them until they reached a certain street corner, where he said goodbye.

Sheng Renxing did not know where Xing Ye was taking him, and he didn’t ask either. Anyway, he knew it wouldn’t be a hospital.

After Chen Ying had gone, he raised his hand and mumbled, “You shouldn’t have said that.” xBQiuC

Xing Ye continued to drive without speaking.

Sheng Renxing sighed in his heart. He didn’t expect that Chen Ying did not know anyone who could fight, or that he would just call Xing Ye.

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He cursed a few times in his heart, and felt very embarrassed.

After all, he had said only a few days ago that Xing Ye should stop doing things for him, yet he still had to come and rescue him today. qoyG0x

“Now Fluorescent Red hates both of us.” As Xing Ye did not speak, he continued the conversation.

Before, when they had moved to leave, Fluorescent Red had stopped them, but Xing Ye then said something that Sheng Renxing didn’t understand.

Even with the darkness of the night, his fluorescent red jersey and his indignant, flushed face had still been visible.

Suddenly, Sheng Renxing felt the urge to poke Xing Ye. yvImM7

He raised his hand and knocked on his back: “Speak!”

Xing Ye still didn’t say a word, as if the wind had covered his ears.

The motorcycle slowly stopped.

When he looked up, he found that the surrounding buildings looked very familiar. They were at Sheng Renxing’s house. HpRdzZ

Xing Ye then said, “Do you have a first-aid kit at your house?”

His voice was very deep. Sheng Renxing thought for a while: “Yes.”

Xing Ye turned off the engine and made a move to help him up, but Sheng Renxing put his hand aside and got off on his own.

He waited for Sheng Renxing, and followed him up to the door. 8wg2lN

Sheng Renxing sat down on the couch, frowned, then placed his leg on the coffee table. The material on his outer leg was ripped in a few places, and he could tell just by looking at it that the injury was serious.

Xing Ye stood by the sofa and asked him: “Where is it?”

Sheng Renxing leaned forward from the couch and raised his chin toward the TV cabinet: “I remember it being there.”

Xing Ye walked over and knelt down to start searching. yz5axm

It was only then that Sheng Renxing felt how thin his cycling jersey was, tutting in his heart and reaching over to turn off the air conditioner in the living room.

Xing Ye took the first-aid kit and placed it on the coffee table.

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Sheng Renxing threw the windbreaker jacket that was lying on the back of the couch to him: “Thank you, be careful on the road.”

Xing Ye caught it and set it aside, opening the kit: “Is this going to be used?” ByIN61

Sheng Renxing glanced at it and decided to only clean the wound using disinfectant. He  believed in the self-healing ability of his own cells.

“Yes.”

Xing Ye glanced at him, and suddenly squatted beside his leg, holding it with his hand.

Sheng Renxing almost jumped, and attempted to take his leg out of Xing Ye’s hold, but he refused. The two went back and forth for a while, until Sheng Renxing simply took a pillow from one side of the couch and held it in his arms, signalling his defeat. hkpO M

Xing Ye first cut his clothes using scissors, then disinfected the wound using alcohol.

Sheng Renxing took a deep breath: if he had been alone during this, he would’ve cursed a long time ago.

“Why were you with them?” Xing Ye asked.

“Someone in the group asked to go to the mountain today, so I went along.” In order to divert his attention, Sheng Renxing answered after inhaling sharply. qOhurJ

“That guy screwed up doing business some time ago. Today was for the purpose of making money.” Xing Ye moved very gently.

“Oh,” Sheng Renxing leaned on the back of the couch, looking at the ceiling, and smiled without a smile: “So am I to blame for blocking his source of money?”

Xing Ye shook his head and asked him, “Does it hurt?”

Sheng Renxing then smiled with emotion, “I would amputate my limb if it didn’t hurt.” qC4vjk

After speaking, he felt a slight chill on his wound.

Looking down, he saw Xing Ye frowning and blowing on it.

Sheng Renxing was stunned until Xing Ye looked back up again; as he returned to his senses, his face became sullen: “Hurry up! I’m not a child, it’s useless to blow on it.”

Xing Ye seemed to smile. xQlN9a

He hadn’t seen Xing Ye smile in a long time.

Neither of them spoke, but the silence wasn’t awkward; instead, the air was quiet and serene.

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The wound on his leg felt much better, but Sheng Renxing thought that this wasn’t good.

He could almost hear his heart beating. tOIwRn

“Let’s watch TV.” He leaned forward to grab the remote control from the coffee table, trying to break the atmosphere they had created: “What do you want to see?”

Before the words left his mouth, Xing Ye looked up at him. His lips brushed Sheng Renxing’s cheek.

Sheng Renxing froze in place.

He happened to turn on the TV , and a love drama started playing in the background. XLjJ Z

Neither of them were watching.

The two looked at each other.

Xing Ye didn’t break eye contact, staring at him quietly. Maybe he was also thinking about something to say.

Sheng Renxing knew his character was slightly impulsive: he would act first, then think later, regardless of the consequences. ORqrz0

Just like now.

He lifted his chin, and almost without thinking, he kissed Xing Ye.

Xing Ye didn’t hide nor move, and his expression was completely blank, as if he was stunned.

Sheng Renxing regretted the action immediately after they had stopped kissing. The kiss had been light, like a dragonfly touching the water ; his heart was beating like a drum, shaking his eardrums. VQqJjF

He leaned back on the couch nonchalantly, thinking frantically about what he should say.

Sorry, I was being impulsive?

If you got bitten by a dog, you would forget about it sooner or later, right?

Sheng Renxing thought for a while, opening his mouth for a long time, holding his chin high. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold: “Return the kiss.” YRXDjf

Xing Ye retracted his gaze and continued to help him deal with the wound. Since Sheng Renxing couldn’t see his expression, he couldn’t tell whether he was happy or disgusted.

After cutting the bandage and putting the rest back on the coffee table, he said, “All you did was touch my lips.”

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“Oh,” replied Sheng Renxing stiffly, “Then I kissed you wrong.”

“……” XEV0G2

“Hey,” Sheng Renxing moved his leg: “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“Like what?” Xing Ye asked, holding it firmly with one hand.

“Like how it felt.” Sheng Renxing hardened his scalp. For example, was it disgusting?

Xing Ye stopped, seeming to think about it carefully before replying: “It was too fast, I didn’t feel much.” 8Job3u

At night, Xing Ye slept in the guest bedroom. Sheng Renxing stared at the ceiling with his injured leg balanced in the air, not knowing how much time had passed.

Finally, he opened WeChat, found Qiu Datou, and sent him a message: [I think he might be interested in me.]

Qiu Datou did not reply. After a while, he deleted the message.

Sheng Renxing: [He is interested in me.] ingmqX

Translator's Note

In Sheng Renxing’s phone, Xing Ye is saved as ’18’ for a couple of reasons – one, Xing Ye scored 18 points in his exam (if you don’t remember, look at the summary of the novel), and two, as a joke, 18 ‘shi ba’ sounds close to ‘ji ba’, which means ‘dick’ and is slang for ‘fuck’ or simply swearing. Therefore, seeing the number 18 next to his likes reminds him of Xing Ye, and dampens his mood.

Translator's Note

/fan the flames: an expression for encouraging/inciting others

Translator's Note

‘蜻蜓点水’ very poetic. lovely

Leave a Comment

13 comments

  1. wahhhh i really want to squeeze xing ye. why that guy didn’t say anything or making any reaction?????

    btw, i’m confused. did xingye came to the mountains with his own bike and later riding it side by side with renxing? or renxing ride on xingye’s bike? but then how about his own bike? @_@

  2. Im gonna passionately wait till this two fools settle this severe miscommunication and GET TOGETHER ALREADY!! (its near i can smell it) xy dont want to admit that hes inlove with srx cause of his complex background; dont want to involve srx and possibly danger him!!!!

  3. You know when usually the characters feels like they don’t wether they want to cry or to laugh? Yea, rn, me neither 🙂

  4. Jesus i can’t wait until this angsty period ends- please i am so confused about XY’s feelings and honestly, i’m sure he us too💀

    Ty for the chapter!💜💜💜💜