“At that time, I wasn’t helping you. You don’t need to thank me. If me punching those idiots was a good thing for you, just silently thank me for it, and let’s leave it at that.” Sheng Renxing said a sentence and then glanced at Xing Ye.
But Xing Ye kept his eyes lowered, showing no expression, yet he didn’t leave. He just stood there.
Captain opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted: “Let’s leave it at that. This cigarette is pretty good; you don’t need to give it to me as a token of gratitude. Father’s Day is coming soon, right? Go give it to your dad. Bye.”
Sheng Renxing spoke quickly, not giving him a chance to interrupt, raised his hand with a serious expression, and gestured for him to say goodbye.
Captain: “…”
He pondered these words for a while, and his expression became more awkward. He struggled to speak.
After a while, “Well, but, I…”
Sheng Renxing waited for a while and didn’t hear anything from him. Seeing his determined look, he interrupted: “Then buy me a cup of subway coffee.”
Captain suddenly looked up, his eyes lit up.
Sheng Renxing: “Two cups, one signature, and one…” He turned to look at Xing Ye, “stockings, okay?”
The captain realized someone was behind him and quickly turned around, taking a few steps back to see that it was Xing Ye. His face turned pale, and he stared wide-eyed.
Xing Ye’s gaze was fixed on Sheng Renxing, and he didn’t say anything.
Sheng Renxing: “So it’s stockings then. Get them for me this afternoon. Should I give you money first?” This was directed at the captain, as if he was treating him as a runner.
The captain quickly waved his hand, his voice even lower: “No need, no need.” He then turned and walked away without saying another word.
Sheng Renxing watched him leave and went over to Xing Ye: “You have quite the influence. The captain ran away when he saw you.”
Xing Ye stood still: “I don’t like drinking stockings.”
“?” Sheng Renxing was momentarily puzzled, thinking, “Weren’t you happy with it the last time you didn’t drink?” He said, “Then should I give mine to you? Will you drink the signature?”
“I won’t drink,” Xing Ye said.
Sheng Renxing thought for a while: “I’ll treat you; I’ll give him the money in the afternoon.”
Xing Ye remained silent.
After a while, “Isn’t this his birthday gift to you? Why do you have to spend money to buy it?”
Sheng Renxing blinked and said, “I didn’t ask for it. I’m not that close to him, so it’s a hassle.”
“What’s the hassle?” Xing Ye asked.
Sheng Renxing replied, “It’s a hassle everywhere.”
Xing Ye squinted at him, not revealing his thoughts. After a while, he asked, “Why did he want to give you a birthday gift?”
Sheng Renxing raised an eyebrow and said, “Didn’t you hear?” He thought Xing Ye should have heard at that time.
Xing Ye quietly looked at him.
Sheng Renxing explained, “He said I helped him last time, so he’s thanking me.”
Xing Ye responded with an “Oh” and asked, “Do you enjoy helping others?”
This question had been asked by others before, and he had embraced that title, but coming from Xing Ye, it had a different tone.
He immediately denied it, recounting the events from that time, saying, “It’s just that, I had forgotten he was there. It was only when he mentioned it that I remembered.”
Xing Ye acknowledged with a “You beat them up just because of that?”
Sheng Renxing was puzzled, “Do I need a reason to want to punch people I don’t like?”
Xing Ye chuckled, and Sheng Renxing followed suit.
After a while, he suddenly changed the subject, performing a one-second mood shift, “Why have you been talking to me about him?” He squinted, a dangerous look in his eyes, “Are you interested in him?”
“?” Xing Ye was caught off guard by Sheng Renxing’s counterattack and was momentarily stunned. After regaining his composure, he coughed.
Sheng Renxing was confident, “What’s with that? We haven’t seen each other for almost half a class, nearly half an hour! And as soon as we meet, you’re asking about another man.”
He crossed his arms and sneered, “Scumbag!”
Xing Ye: “…”
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.
Wlcu Tf yegra bea ijeutlcu, ijeutlcu obg delaf j ktlif, jcv atfc ribkis megrfv, “Mnmx.”
Vtfcu Efczlcu kjr lcmgfveiber, “Tbe’gf megrlcu wf? Yc beg olgra vjs abufatfg, sbe’gf megrlcu wf yfmjerf bo jcbatfg wjc?”
Wlcu Tf rwlifv jcv qblcafv ja Vtfcu Efczlcu, rjslcu, “Vtea eq.”
Vtfcu Efczlcu rfmgfais byrfgnfv Wlcu Tf jcv cbalmfv atja atf qgfnlber uibbwlcfrr bc tlr ojmf tjv vlrjqqfjgfv. Lf qijsoeiis wbnfv mibrfg ab tlw, bqfcfv tlr wbeat ab ylaf Wlcu Tf’r olcufg, yea Wlcu Tf qeiifv tlr tjcv yjmx. Vtfcu Efczlcu yilcxfv jcv rjlv, “Glv P rjs rbwfatlcu kgbcu?”
Xing Ye pinched his cheek and said calmly, “Who said I came to see you?”
“?” Sheng Renxing asked with his eyes, then who did you come to see?
Xing Ye replied, “I came to see Lao Li.”
Sheng Renxing remained silent for a while, thinking about the Dean’s stern face, his tone filled with meaning, “You have quite a taste.”
Xing Ye also stayed silent for a while and said, “Lao Li is innocent.”
After that, Xing Ye didn’t bring up the matter again.
At noon, Wei Huan took Sheng Renxing out to lunch and asked him what he wanted as a birthday gift, wanting him to say it directly so he wouldn’t end up buying something that Sheng Renxing didn’t like, making both of them pretend to be happy.
Sheng Renxing thought for a while and couldn’t come up with anything, so he asked for money directly.
Wei Huan thought for a moment and said, “Then you don’t have to reimburse me for the broken spinning top from last time. Consider it my birthday gift to you.”
Sheng Renxing: “?” He still remembered that!
Wei Huan continued, “Or else, you can reimburse me, and I’ll give you another 10,000.”
Sheng Renxing immediately thought of the spinning top that Xing Ye had repaired in his room and changed his mind, “The spinning top is pretty good; it’s a great fit as a birthday gift. Uncle Wei put a lot of effort into it!”
In the afternoon, after school, Sheng Renxing told Xing Ye about this. Xing Ye listened and laughed, then he looked puzzled, “You didn’t show it to him?” The spinning top had already been fixed by him.
“No, if he saw it and liked it, he might want it back,” Sheng Renxing explained, “That’s mine!”
The wind blew a bit, and Sheng Renxing pushed his hair back. His red hair was pushed behind his ear, and the earring on his left ear dangled.
Xing Ye watched and suddenly raised his hand, pulling him to the nearby convenience store.
He bought a pack of hair ties.
Sheng Renxing looked at him in confusion.
Xing Ye lowered his head, fingers unwrapping the packaging, and said quietly, “Your hair is getting a bit long.”
“Is it?” Sheng Renxing ruffled his hair again. He quite liked this look; he intentionally let it grow a bit longer, giving him a mature, slightly disheveled appearance. Mainly, it made him look more mature.
Xing Ye handed him a hair tie, saying, “It looks good tied up.”
Sheng Renxing looked at the hair tie and then back at him, asking, “Is this a tradition in the Xing family?”
Xing Ye raised an eyebrow, seemingly unsure about what he meant.
“Is it for the bride to comb her hair?” Sheng Renxing elaborated.
So when Huang Mao and the others arrived at the building, they saw Sheng Renxing sitting there, holding his phone in one hand to take pictures, while Xing Ye stood behind him, helping tie up his hair.
The scene seemed a bit surreal, and the several people standing at the door of the private room were momentarily stunned, not knowing whether they should enter. It all felt a bit unnecessary.
However, Sheng Renxing had already spotted them and greeted them.
Jiang Jing asked, “What are you guys doing?”
“Tying up hair,” Sheng Renxing spoke to his phone but didn’t take a selfie. Instead, he angled the camera to capture the person behind him. He spoke casually, “Xing-ge here wanted me to tie up my hair. So, what do you think?” He even smiled at Jiang Jing after saying this.
Jiang Jing: “…”
His gaze moved between the two, his expression complex, especially when he saw that Xing Ye didn’t object and even, after tying up Sheng Renxing’s hair, naturally brushed his ear and touched his earring. Jiang Jing had a hard time controlling his own expression.
Huang Mao, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice what was off about Sheng Renxing’s statement. After seeing Sheng Renxing’s hair tied up, he found it intriguing. “It looks quite handsome,” his eyes brightened, and he turned to Xing Ye, saying, “Xing-ge, help me tie one too! I want to look handsome too.”
Xing Ye glanced at him and then pulled a hair tie out of his pocket, tossing it to Huang Mao. He then took a seat next to Sheng Renxing.
The two of them huddled together and spoke in hushed voices.
Huang Mao, not getting assistance from Xing Ye, turned his attention to Jiang Jing next to him.
Before he could even speak, Jiang Jing firmly rejected, “Shut up. Your hair is too short.”
Lu Zhaohua, on the other hand, seemed interested in Huang Mao’s hair. “I’ll help you.”
Huang Mao was delighted and handed him a hair tie, saying, “You can do this?!”
Lu Zhaohua responded, “Give me another one.” He continued, “Well, I’ve helped my sister tie her hair.”
Five seconds later, Huang Mao, who couldn’t escape and had been subjected to a forceful makeover, sat in his seat, waiting for Lu Zhaohua to braid a small pigtail for him. He looked utterly despondent.
Dongqiu and Jiang Jing, who had originally shown no interest, stood nearby, looking eager to give it a try.
“Here, there’s still a small tuft of hair left. Let’s tie another one!”
“On the top of the head, tie these two tufts up. Let’s make it a fireworks display. Female stars on TV often tie their hair like this; it looks so good,” they said while patting Huang Mao’s shoulder as if to console him.
Huang Mao gritted his teeth, “I’ve let you guys pull out all my hair!”
Coincidentally, at that moment, a waiter entered, and his outburst startled them. They looked like they were performing some kind of bizarre ceremony, and the waiter didn’t know whether to enter or disturb them.
Sheng Renxing couldn’t stand it and said, “That’s enough.”
He got up and walked over to Huang Mao, “These two tufts are not symmetrical!”
Jiang Jing made room for him, “Why don’t you try?”
Sheng Renxing shook his head, “Dirty.”
Huang Mao gave a pleading look to Xing Ye, who nodded, “Asymmetry is fine.”
Huang Mao, unable to endure it any longer, made a counterattack.
The group made a fuss, and when it finally ended, they all went their separate ways. Sheng Renxing asked Xing Ye, “Are we taking a cab or walking?”
Xing Ye replied, “Let’s walk.”
Sheng Renxing stretched lazily, still immersed in the atmosphere from earlier, “Man, Huang Mao’s singing was so damn terrible.”
“I was close to losing control and wanting to punch him,” he said, while sending the photos he had taken.
Xing Ye absentmindedly responded, suddenly taking Sheng Renxing’s hand.
Sheng Renxing was momentarily surprised and instinctively looked around. It was already midnight when they left the KTV, and there were not many pedestrians on the street. The few people around were in a hurry, and no one paid attention to two guys walking hand in hand.
The cacophony that had been in his ears just moments ago suddenly disappeared. Sheng Renxing awkwardly rolled up his sleeves as they were a bit long.
“But you didn’t sing today; what a waste,” he said, counting his heartbeats and casually talking to Xing Ye.
Xing Ye replied, “Hmm.” He rubbed his finger against Sheng Renxing’s, sliding through the gaps between them, and the two held hands tightly.
Sheng Renxing was left speechless.
They walked in silence for a while, and it was hard to tell if it was because they were both feeling warm or if they had reached a point where both of their hands were getting a little sweaty.
Sheng Renxing tugged at his collar, and as the cold wind whizzed by, he shivered.
“Winter in Xuancheng is so cold,” he remarked.
Xing Ye glanced at him, “Whose fault is it for only wearing two layers?” as he put Sheng Renxing’s hand into his own pocket.
“Wearing too much is uncomfortable,” Sheng Renxing pouted.
“You just think it’s not fashionable,” Xing Ye exposed his real reason.
Sheng Renxing was indignant, “You’re not wearing that much yourself.”
“I’m not cold,” Xing Ye replied.
After a moment of silence, Sheng Renxing suddenly reached out to explore his neck.
Xing Ye was prepared, and the two of them began a playful scuffle on the roadside.
Sheng Renxing laughed as he was tickled, “Aren’t you supposed to be impervious to the cold?” He got distracted for a moment and had his coat stripped off by Xing Ye.
“Damn,” a gust of wind blew by, making him shiver, “Are you even human?”
Xing Ye held his coat and stood by, watching him and looking quite content.
They playfully fought for a while longer, but Sheng Renxing couldn’t hold out any longer. “Bro, I surrender, give it back.”
Xing Ye reversed his hand and held Sheng Renxing against his chest, “Are you still going to cause trouble?”
“No, I won’t,” Sheng Renxing nodded with his back to Xing Ye.
“Are we good?” Xing Ye asked again.
“Good, good,” Sheng Renxing continued nodding, thinking, I’ll let you know who’s the obedient one once you let go.
However, Xing Ye didn’t release his hold. His grip was strong, and the position was uncomfortable. Sheng Renxing turned his neck, “Xing-“
Before he could finish speaking, Xing Ye used the hand that held Sheng Renxing’s coat to pinch his cheek, obstructing half of his view, then moved in to kiss him.
Sheng Renxing’s vision was blocked, and he couldn’t see if anyone was nearby. His heart was racing, and there was a different kind of excitement. He brushed his lips gently over the somewhat dry lips in front of him and tried to reach out and hug Xing Ye. But Xing Ye held his hand firmly, and he couldn’t move.
He clicked his tongue and then slightly opened his mouth, using the tip of his tongue to make a move.
The other’s lips were slightly dry and cool on the outside but warm and moist inside.
Sheng Renxing continued licking for a while and just as the other person was about to reciprocate, he suddenly leaned back, breaking the intimate connection between them.
Xing Ye stared at him for a moment and then hugged him without saying anything.
Sheng Renxing, sniffing the familiar scent on his neck, lost track of time.
“Can we go now?” he asked.
Xing Ye, sounding a bit muffled, replied with a “Hmm.” and took a step back.
They both regained their composure.
Sheng Renxing laughed, “Good thing there was nobody around.” He realized that Xing Ye enjoyed such excitement.
Xing Ye replied with a simple “Hmm.”
They continued walking home.
Sheng Renxing asked him, “Can you talk now?”
Xing Ye: “?”
Sheng Renxing: “From the moment you bumped into me this morning and started chatting with my classmate, what have you been thinking about all day? Don’t tell me you’ve been thinking about him the whole time. If that’s the case, I’ll toss you into the river later.”
Xing Ye pursed his lips and smiled.
Sheng Renxing: “Today is my birthday, so don’t think about lying to the birthday boy.”
Xing Ye: “I wasn’t planning to lie to you.”
Xing Ye: “I was wondering, if the person you’ve met wasn’t me, when we first met. Would you have still gone to help?”
“Ah?” Sheng Renxing was puzzled for a moment and didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Not necessarily, I wasn’t helping you at that time either. I was more annoyed by those guys.”
Xing Ye responded with a “Yes” and added, “I feel like I’m quite similar to your classmate.”
Sheng Renxing furrowed his brow, “What do you mean you’re similar to him?”
Xing Ye explained, “So, if it wasn’t you at that time but him, then I would probably have forgotten about that incident by now, instead of being out here in the streets, kissing.”
Xing Ye looked at him and smiled, “I was just thinking randomly.”
“My boyfriend is fantasizing about being with someone else when he’s with me,” Sheng Renxing clapped his hands, “Impressive.”
Xing Ye pinched his neck, “I didn’t mean it that way.”
Sheng Renxing raised an eyebrow.
Xing Ye furrowed his brow and was silent for a while, “I don’t know either,” he said, pursing his lips and looking a bit gloomy, “just think of it as me having a moment of madness.”
Sheng Renxing looked at him for a while and said, “Alright, let’s forget about this for now. But if you do this again next time,” he suddenly smiled and leaned in close to Xing Ye’s ear, “I’ll tie you to the bed for three days and three nights!”
Then he moved away and looked at Xing Ye, his eyes fierce, “Are you scared?”
Xing Ye paused for a moment, nodded in agreement, and said, “Scared.” He then let his gaze wander over Sheng Renxing’s body and added, “Make sure to tie me up tightly.”
Thank you for the chapter translator ! 🫶🥹
I love when we get to see Xing Ye jealous or moody, it makes him more real