New TL: Hi! I’m Yue21 or Yue! I’m picking up Embers and will now be posting an update. I’ve decided to pick up embers cause I want to ᐠ( ᐢ ᵕ ᐢ )ᐟ Not long ago I’ve finished reading the novel here on CG, quite invested but was disappointed after, because it was dropped and didn’t noticed I’m at the last chapter (59). So here we are! I hope you’ll like my translation and let me hear what you think through commenting! Thank you and wish me luck! Have fun reading ! 😘 (ૢ˃ꌂ˂⁎)
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A week from now will be Sheng Renxing’s birthday. His birthday falls on a Tuesday, right in the middle of the week.
On Monday night, he sat on the floor, leaning over a table to do his assignments. Xing Ye sat on the sofa behind him, silently watching the TV without the sound on.
Xing Ye had gone to an event the night before, but Sheng Renxing didn’t join and only saw Xing Ye coming back from outside in the morning, grabbing a quick bite before going to sleep.
He was still asleep when Sheng Renxing returned from school. They lived under the same roof but led different time zone lives.
After a while, Sheng Renxing turned to him and asked, “Did anything happen at the event you went to last night?”
Xing Ye, half-asleep and squinting, took a few seconds to respond, “No.”
Sheng Renxing, “Aren’t you bored, then?”
Xing Ye remained silent.
After a few seconds, Sheng Renxing made a noise, “Hmm?”
Xing Ye: “It was okay. I played games all night.”
Sheng Renxing: “Are you feeling tired?”
“Kind of,” he lazily leaned against the soft sofa, making him drowsy, especially since he wasn’t fully awake yet.
Sheng Renxing looked at the assignment in his hand and twirled the pen, “If you sleep now, you won’t be able to sleep at night.”
Xing Ye responded with a “Hmm” from his nose.
After finishing the assignment, Sheng Renxing dropped his pen and leaned back on the sofa cushion, tilting his head to look at Xing Ye.
From his perspective, Xing Ye’s face was upside down, the person who had just agreed with him was now fast asleep.
This perspective was a bit strange, and Sheng Renxing quietly watched for a while.
In a short while, Xing Ye opened his eyes on his own, looking up at Sheng Renxing, who was leaning between his legs.
He reached out and tousled Sheng Renxing’s hair, “Tired from writing?”
Sheng Renxing shook his head, resting his cheek on Xing Ye’s thigh.
Xing Ye’s fingers combed through his hair, lightly touching his blinking and quivering eyelashes. He made a questioning noise, “Hmm?”
“Not tired,” Sheng Renxing looked up at him.
“Really?” Suddenly, he covered Sheng Renxing’s eyes with his hand.
“Yeah.” Sheng Renxing didn’t resist, blinking in his hand as his eyelashes brushed against his palm. Then Sheng Renxing raised his hand and grabbed Xing Ye’s hand.
“It’s not that I’m tired,” as he pulled his hand forward, he leaned slightly in response to the force from the other side. Sheng Renxing pulled his hand all the way to his chest and pressed it against his heart.
Xing Ye felt the beating under his clothes, and after a moment, Sheng Renxing softly said, “I’m only a bit excited.”
Xing Ye chuckled, “Excited about your birthday?”
“Excited about having a boyfriend!” Sheng Renxing raised his voice, his eyes filled with joy.
Seeing that Xing Ye’s expression hadn’t changed much, Sheng Renxing raised an eyebrow, “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous of what?” Xing Ye asked nonchalantly.
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.
“Jealous of me having a boyfriend.”
Wlcu Tf cbvvfv, “P’w jyrbieafis cba Afjiber.”
“Tbe’gf vfolclafis Afjiber.” Vtfcu Efczlcu lcrlrafv.
“Rba Afjiber.”
“Afjiber.”
“Rb.”
Xing Ye thought, ‘I must be crazy to envy myself.’
Ktfc tf mbnfgfv Vtfcu Efczlcu’r wbeat.
Vtfcu Efczlcu kjr mjeuta boo uejgv ys tlr mtfjalcu, rtjxlcu tlr tfjv jr tf rageuuifv ab gfwbnf tlr tjcv. Wlcu Tf, lc j vbwlcjca qbrlalbc, fjrlis reyvefv tlr gfrlrajcmf klat bcf tjcv.
Sheng Renxing couldn’t match his strength and tried to get up, but Xing Ye’s legs were tightly wrapped around him.
After the commotion, he raised both his hands in surrender.
Xing Ye smiled, released his hold, and gently patted his face.
Sheng Renxing squinted his eyes, saying, “Wait until the day I can beat you.”
“When you can beat me, we’ll talk,” Xing Ye said casually, and upon seeing Sheng Renxing’s disbelief, he added, “Want to practice?”
“Forget it,” Sheng Renxing got up, stretched his body, and looked at the clock on the wall, pointing at past ten o’clock, “I’m not the type to fight with my partner.”
Xing Ye raised an eyebrow, giving him a cold look.
Two seconds later, Sheng Renxing suddenly turned and pounced on him, saying, “It’s still two hours away, and I must give you a beating.”
Half an hour later, Sheng Renxing gasped and slumped on the sofa, lifting the hem of his clothes, “Do you see this? It’s a bruise!”
Xing Ye raised his hand to indicate the bite marks on his arm, saying, “Then what about these?”
Xing Ye, “Want to come at me again?”
“No,” Sheng Renxing complained angrily, “You went all out on me today!”
“My bad,” Xing Ye said nonchalantly, “I didn’t consider your delicate constitution.”
***
Sheng Renxing looked at the clock on the wall, “Don’t force me. If I get impulsive, I might end up wishing for no boyfriend on my birthday and still have to give you a beating.”
Xing Ye chuckled.
Suddenly, Sheng Renxing remembered and squinted at him, “Do you still remember the bet we made before? If I got the highest grade in my class, you had to agree to something.”
Xing Ye certainly remembered. He even remembered that at the time, he had been drunk and insisted on giving himself some extra lessons.
Now, he wondered if Sheng Renxing was remembering and planning to use it as an excuse to give him a beating.
Xing Ye, “Hmm,”
Sheng Renxing received an affirmative response, and he smiled in satisfaction, standing up and looking down on Xing Ye with the smile of a victorious person, “I’ve brought your homework back for you.”
Xing Ye looked up, his face expressionless.
“Get up, there’s still some time. Let me help you catch up on your studies.”
Ten seconds later, Xing Ye gave him a thumbs up and sighed, “Sheng ge is quite considerate.”
Sheng Renxing proudly showed his sharp teeth to him.
However, they didn’t actually do homework at this moment, so if Sheng Renxing insisted on it, he would be the one being foolish.
Sheng Renxing turned on his phone, checked the time on it, and then looked at Xing Ye.
After the excitement of the fight had subsided, what rushed in was an indescribable tension. It was the kind of itching feeling where your body was tightly wound, eagerly awaiting what would happen next.
He exhaled and stood up, stretching his limbs. “Wanna do something?”
“What do you want to do?” Xing Ye asked.
Sheng Renxing looked around, licked his lips, and said, “I’m a bit nervous.”
Xing Ye glanced at his phone. “Then let’s go.”
“Huh?” Sheng Renxing watched him pick up a bag nearby. “Go where? It’s late.”
It was almost midnight!
“I’ll take you somewhere,” Xing Ye said, opening the door and standing by it.
Sheng Renxing picked up the coat from the nearby hanger. “You’re being all secretive.”
Xing Ye threw a coat from the side to him. “It’s cold outside.”
Sheng Renxing followed Xing Ye, walking down the hallway to find a motorcycle parked outside.
“You’ve planned this in advance, haven’t you?” Sheng Renxing couldn’t help but laugh.
Xing Ye turned his head and leaned down, saying, “Get on.”
“Where are we going?” It was indeed cold outside, and Sheng Renxing shivered while adjusting his coat, speaking as he got on the back.
“To sell you,” he heard a chuckle from the front seat.
On the way, Sheng Renxing kept his hands in Xing Ye’s pockets, gazing at the passing scenery.
He hadn’t paid much attention at first, but as the surroundings grew increasingly unfamiliar and Xing Ye showed no sign of stopping, he checked the time and realized they had almost crossed half of Xuancheng.
When they stopped at a red light, he couldn’t help but ask again, “Where are we going?”
Xing Ye turned his head, touched his neck with his hand, causing a shiver due to the cold, then brushed his lips with a bit of force and a smirk, saying, “I’m not telling you.”
Sheng Renxing winced as he felt the scrape, wrinkled his nose, and silently swallowed the words he had in his mouth while looking at Xing Ye’s expression. “Just ride more slowly then.”
The way they had sped down the road had almost made him think he was the one riding the motorcycle.
It appeared that Xing Ye wasn’t as calm as he appeared on the surface. Riding like this in such a state could easily lead to a reckless accident.
“Hmm,” Xing Ye responded, following the changing of the turn signal and rushing out.
The roar of the engine echoed far down this not-so-busy street.
After riding for a while, Xing Ye stopped in front of a semi-new, semi-old building.
“Is this it?” Sheng Renxing got off the motorcycle and looked around in the dim light of the streetlamp.
Next to them was a half-demolished building, with large characters written crookedly on top: “Welcome to Appreciate this Garbage Civilization.”
With the light barely penetrating, it seemed eerie, and he leaned closer to Xing Ye.
He wasn’t planning to take him to a haunted house, was he?
Sheng Renxing glanced at the keys on the motorcycle.
“Not yet,” Xing Ye, not paying attention to the surroundings, reached out to hold his hand and turned on the flashlight on his phone.
Sheng Renxing commented, “Your hand feels like ice,” and followed him.
The two of them walked up the stairs, and Xing Ye confidently turned on the lights in the stairwell. Sheng Renxing breathed a sigh of relief.
On the second floor, Xing Ye knocked on a door, saying, “This is it.”
Whose place was this?
Before Sheng Renxing could ask, someone opened the door.
It was a bald man only wearing a vest on such a cold day, revealing a body covered in tattoos. “So soon?” He looked at Sheng Renxing, “Is this him?”
“Liang ge,” Xing Ye greeted with a nod.
Liang ge turned and walked inside, saying, “Alright, I’ve opened everything for you. Set it up yourself. I’m going to bed, just don’t disturb me.”
“Thanks, Liang ge.”
Once inside, Sheng Renxing had already guessed where they were and what Xing Ye was planning to do.
After Liang ge left, Xing Ye turned to him, taking his hand and leading him to the room at the back.
Inside was a small workspace with a bed.
There were some sheets of paper on the table, featuring various designs.
Xing Ye didn’t turn on the lights and faced him, saying, “Didn’t you ask me to give you a tattoo before?”
“Are you planning to give me a tattoo today?” Sheng Renxing asked.
“Mmm,” Xing Ye still held his wrist, staring directly at him.
After a moment, Sheng Renxing smiled and asked, “Is this the birthday gift you’re giving me?”
“Don’t you want a tattoo?” Xing Ye half-sat on the table, pulling him a bit closer, with an intense and unreadable expression in his eyes and an emotionless tone.
Sheng Renxing felt that he was somewhat intimidating but also incredibly sexy like this. He reached out and tousled Xing Ye’s windblown hair, “No, you just surprised me. I got a shock.”
“Mmm.” Xing Ye stood up straight. “Do you want to see it? I’ve drawn a design for you.”
“You drew it for me?” Sheng Renxing widened his eyes in pleasant surprise.
Xing Ye opened a drawer nearby and took out a piece of paper, a sketch.
“Don’t you want to turn on the lights?” Sheng Renxing took it and examined it carefully. It was a bit dim, making it hard to see.
“We’ll turn them on in a moment.” Xing Ye stood next to him.
The first thing Sheng Renxing noticed in the design was an eye, composed of lines. There was another eye beside it, and an abstract human face. Parts of the face were made up of countless lines, while others were simple brush strokes. Behind the face, a straight line formed the shape of rolling mountains. A simplified eagle was carrying the face in its beak.
The entire design was constructed with geometric shapes and lines. At first glance, it felt absurd and bizarre, yet it gave rise to a macroscopic sense of beauty.
He stared at it for a long time before finally managing to speak through his suppressed emotions, “Why did you draw this for me?”
What Xing Ye had drawn was a representation of Prometheus.
The god who stole fire for humanity, the beginning of all civilizations, and the one who truly set humans apart from beasts, granting them souls.
“Whenever I see you, it reminds me of this,” Xing Ye said calmly, wiping away the tears forming at the corner of his eye with his fingertips.
‘When I see you, it’s like humans who received fire seeing Prometheus.’
“Do you want it?” he asked.
Sheng Renxing opened his mouth, but he found himself choked up and unable to speak.
“Don’t want it?” Xing Ye continued to ask.
Sheng Renxing suddenly raised his head, his eyes red as he glared at Xing Ye, “I want it!” His voice was thick with emotion.
“Mmm,” Xing Ye finally smiled, and he lowered his head to kiss Sheng Renxing’s eye, “Your boyfriend will give you a tattoo.”
Thank you, Translator!
It’s picked up!
Praises be to Yue21!
(ﾉ˶>ᗜ<˵)ﾉYeeyyy
Thank you so much for the update 😭😭😭😭
I guess it’s time to re-read ya’ll ⁽⁽٩(๑˃̶͈̀ ᗨ ˂̶͈́)۶⁾⁾
..oh my fricking god..!!..I’m so damn happy this has been picked up…..
thank you sooo much ….I love this novel a lot and had been sad when it was dropped….
..and ….ahhh….xing ye just addressed him as his boyfriend..!!!…
No way !!! I had given up all hope that this would ever be continued, thank you so so so much!
Oh my gosh what a gem of a chapter! So meaningful.
👆🏻 This!!! Omg, dear translator, I am so glad you noticed this gem just hiding in here and picked it up! 🥹
Ahhh! 🥰🥰
What a lovely birthday gift!! They make me so soft 🥰🥰 thank you for continuing the translation!