To Burn On Touch - CH 38

PiaPia [Translator]18-23 minutes

Translation checker: Rin

Editor: Elanor

From the perspective of self-esteem, Chu Mian couldn’t comprehend why recently he felt a bit ‘nervous’ when facing Yu Ran, and why he felt that he needed to pay attention to the subject and proper conduct when speaking to the other party. This was never the case in school before. 3JR7f6

Moreover, the winter vacation was about to end soon, and Yu Ran had invited him to meet after he returned to Ronggang, making his uneasiness actually increase a little. Although there were other people present at the get-together before the winter vacation besides the two of them, when he thought of others, Chu Mian could not detect much sense of distance.

Maybe it was because the winter vacation was long, and they had to rely on phone and internet connections to stay in touch, people would inevitably lose their sense of familiarity with each other. After all, he and Yu Ran had only known each other for half a year… Chu Mian quickly came up with a reasonable explanation.

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The meeting place was set at McDonald’s on Baicao Road. They weren’t there to have fun today, but for Yu Ran to complete his winter vacation homework before school started — to be more precise, to copy Chu Mian’s answers.

Chu Mian changed to the subway halfway through, and received a text message from Yu Ran that said that he was about to arrive at the same station, and asked Chu Mian to wait for him. TyGiQn

Chu Mian agreed and walked to the elevator. With people coming and going on the platform, it was difficult to quickly find familiar faces. He didn’t want to be seen by Yu Ran looking around, so he simply lowered his head and played with his mobile phone, his slender fingers continuously swiping the screen; he looked very busy.

In this noisy environment, Chu Mian vaguely heard the familiar footsteps approaching him, and his fingertips suddenly stopped.

Chu Mian had been long able to distinguish Yu Ran’s gait among the others. The movement of his soles rubbing against the ground made him appear lazy, but his pace was not slow, giving him a strong sense of presence when he walked in the classroom.

Chu Mian pretended to not notice anything as he continued to look down at his phone.

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Suddenly a lump of black object blocked his vision. When he took a closer look, he found that it was the scarf that he had left at Yu Ran’s place before, and now it was hanging on his neck.

Without thinking twice, Chu Mian raised his hand to grab it. After turning around, he saw the handsome face of the young man, exactly the same as he remembered.

— Grinning brightly at him.

To prevent Yu Ran from noticing his current mood, Chu Mian quickly pulled his scarf up to completely hide the smile that had naturally formed at the corners of his lips. dzLech

But Yu Ran grabbed his cuffs and jumped on the spot twice.

“Why are you jumping?” Chu Mian asked.

“I don’t know.” Yu Ran’s eyes were firmly fixed on him. “I’m just happy!”

Having not seen Chu Mian for a long time, Yu Ran wanted to jump directly on the other party, but he was afraid of knocking Chu Mian down, so he had no choice but to bounce on the spot to express his excitement. zd26oh

Chu Mian tried hard to flatten the corners of his mouth, but when he looked at Yu Ran, his smile only deepened more. So, he could only wrap the scarf two more times to cover the lower half of his face, making his voice sound muffled: “Let’s go downstairs and wait for the subway.”

Yu Ran nodded. He was still holding the cuff of Chu Mian’s jacket, as if he was afraid that they would be separated by the crowd. So Chu Mian had no choice but to adjust his pace to match Yu Ran’s gait.

As soon as he got into the subway, Yu Ran quickly found a seat for the two of them and said, “The Internet at home is broken. I had originally wanted to go to the Internet cafe last night to check the answers and finish my homework, but after giving it some thought, I decided against it. What if I was too sleepy and fell asleep and my school bag got stolen? It’s too unsafe…”

Chu Mian asked unhurriedly, “Why would someone steal from your school bag? Your unfinished winter vacation homework?” yfIuKq

“Of course I’ve something more important with me.” Yu Ran opened the zipper of his school bag, took out a dark green doll, and passed it into Chu Mian. “I went to the claw machine and especially caught this doll for you.”

Chu Mian took it over and examined it. The snake doll’s head was enormous and had drooping eyes that made it look more like a crocodile. He turned around and carefully placed it in his bag after murmuring “ugly doll” in a low voice.

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“Hey, Chu Mian, do you think I’m sick?” Yu Ran asked sincerely.

With a surprised expression on his face, Chu Mian asked, “Oh! You really have such self-awareness?” g7iWEd

Yu Ran sat upright and said, “When I was in school, I was looking forward to the vacation, but the vacation was so long, and now I want to go to school every day. I kind of miss Teacher Wang now that I haven’t heard her scold me in a while.”

Halfway through his words, he started to take off his jacket. He forcefully rolled up the sleeves of the sweater on both sides, exposing his skin before stretching his hands towards Chu Mian.

Yu Ran’s thoughts were clear at a glance, and Chu Mian couldn’t help laughing. He grabbed the other party’s arm and twisted it twice. Yu Ran sighed happily: “I told you that I was feeling unwell recently, and something was missing. It turns out that my body was craving your touch.”

As soon as he heard this, Chu Mian immediately threw Yu Ran’s arm away. US5i2M

Yu Ran shook his shoulders and begged: “My left arm hasn’t been twisted yet, hurry up and satisfy me.”

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Chu Mian took out the autographed photos of the boy band that he had promised Cui He previously. She put down her pen, excitedly held the photos in her hand, and introduced the Aceon members to Ye Xi who was sitting next to her.

Yu Ran went over to look and join in the fun. There were several boys in smoky makeup and black leather jackets. They had unruly and aggressive hairstyles, and extremely arrogant facial expressions. Yu Ran felt that they were handsome from the bottom of his heart, and quickly praised: “The world is big, and it isn’t short of wonders!”

“Go away.” Cui He waved her hand to keep him away from herself.

It had been a long time since he had met his friends, so Yu Ran exchanged a few pleasantries first, before quickly moving to Ye Xi’s side. Noticing a tube of something that looked like condensed milk in the girl’s pencil case, with Japanese words all over it, he asked her, “What is this? Is it edible?” X3KNs1

“This is a BB cream,” Ye Xi said a little embarrassedly. She came here today to ask Cui He to teach her how to apply makeup.

“What?” As soon as he heard that term, Yu Ran instantly equated it with Fuyanjie products such as sanitary napkins and so on.

He frowned and let go of his hands, eagerly took the test paper to cover the thing, and scolded Ye Xi: “Hey, you girls should pack up the things you use, how can you leave them everywhere?! Hurry up, I’ll help you block while you hide them properly.”

He turned his face away as he spoke, extremely unwilling to take another look. Although she didn’t know why, Ye Xi still put away the things in a puzzled manner. 4Q9YFL

Yu Ran couldn’t fit in with the girls, so he sat down next to Fang Zhao and said, “Diūgē, I think you have lost weight after the new year.”

“Really?” Fang Zhao touched his cheeks in surprise. “But I didn’t eat less during the New Year.”

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“I didn’t say your head, I’m talking about below.”

Fang Zhao’s expression changed and he pressed his legs together, “Fuck off, you’re the one who lost weight down there.” YiDuxt

“Fuck, I’m talking about your legs! What were you thinking to be so sensitive…”

“It’s not that I’m sensitive, it’s that you always say weird things whenever you open your mouth!”

The atmosphere quickly became lively, as if they were back in school again. Yu Ran, as the bottom of the food chain, was always attacked by the others. As several people copied their homework for a long time, the table became more and more messy. Since the test papers were mixed together, they were scrambling to find their own copy.

Chu Mian was half lying on the soft chair to sleep, he woke up to listen to them, and closed his eyes again soon after. When he got up after he had sufficient sleep, he looked outside the french window and saw that it was already evening. ygMCZd

Cui He packed up her school bag and asked Yu Ran, “Even I’ve already finished copying, how come you still have so much left? You don’t have to write the detailed process, you only need to write four lines.”

“But Chu Mian has written in great detail, I want to have the same answer as him.” Yu Ran bowed his head and copied Chu Mian’s solution process onto his own test paper, word by word.

Cui He sighed, not wanting to pay attention to him anymore. She waved goodbye to Chu Mian who had already woken up: “I’m leaving, I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

The other three had already left after completing their winter vacation homework; only Yu Ran was still hurrying with the work to get it done in time. Chu Mian ordered two set meals to eat with him, as he waited for him to finish copying the answers. TWB 4b

There was naturally the option of taking the homework home, but both of them tacitly did not mention it, wanting to prolong their time together.

Chu Mian stared at the messy test papers on the table and asked, “Are you going to study Literature or Science? It’s time to choose this semester.”

Yu Ran hadn’t considered this matter, and hesitated for a long time before saying, “I hate memorizing things, but I also hate using my brain, so you should choose one for me.”

Since this matter was related to the future college entrance examination, Chu Mian couldn’t make a hasty decision for the other party. DHj2L

Yu Ran asked: “What about you?”

“Science.”

After Chu Mian answered, he thought that Yu Ran would say something like “Then I’ll also choose Science”, but Yu Ran just said “Oh” before replying: “I’ll think about it after school starts.”

“Okay.” Chu Mian continued to eat, but suddenly the taste of the food was no longer appealing, so he put aside the hamburger halfway through. ap4yOB

During the silence between the two, Yu Ran’s cell phone rang. After he glanced at it, his eyes lit up, and he quickly picked it up and shouted “Master” over the phone.

Chu Mian initially didn’t pay attention to the other party’s call, but Yu Ran stood up and started to clean up the pens and papers on the table. Only then did Chu Mian hear him explaining their location to the person on the phone.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

After hanging up the phone, Yu Ran told Chu Mian with a smile on his face, “My Master said he’s coming to see me.”

“The one who taught you how to draw?” 2rcPNH

“Yeah. I haven’t seen him for a long time, and he also hadn’t returned to Ronggang during the Chinese New Year…” Yu Ran neatly put his homework into his bag, “Let’s go and wait for him outside. I want to introduce you to him.”

Chu Mian raised his eyebrows, “What are you introducing me for?”

Yu Ran wasn’t unable to explain clearly the need for introduction, but he just wanted to introduce Chu Mian to his acquaintances, as if to show off.

But Chu Mian didn’t ask more, put on his jacket, and went out with Yu Ran. KGDAXR

It was dark and the streetlights were bright. After a few minutes, the two heard the roar of a motorcycle, coming closer and closer, and finally stop on the side of the road.

Chu Mian saw a tall man driving the motorcycle. After stopping the motorcycle, he took off his helmet and walked towards them.

The man’s eyebrows were sharp and his face was full of vigor. After seeing Yu Ran, he smiled and said, “You have grown taller.”

Instead of saying hello, he took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it over, “Take it. Master was too busy during the New Year, so this is late.” 75hxMa

Yu Ran immediately shook his head, “No need.”

“Take it.” The man stepped forward and insisted on stuffing it to him.

“Hey, don’t!” Yu Ran resisted with both hands and kept dodging back.

Then Chu Mian watched the two of them push and pull all the way to the door of McDonald’s. In the end, Yu Ran reluctantly accepted the red envelope and came back over. eJjNfS

“Master, let me introduce you,” Yu Ran grabbed Chu Mian’s arm, “This is my friend, Chu Mian. Isn’t he handsome?”

The man smiled and nodded at Chu Mian, then said to Yu Ran, “Kid, I’m going to Zhejiang in a while, and today I just came here to see you. You should go to school and listen well in class, and not be playful, understand?”

“I know…”

“Listen to your parents, don’t be rebellious,” the man quickened his speech, “and don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t fall in love early or something.” p7GFh5

Yu Ran sighed: “You say that every time.”

“Just remember them.” The man smiled and put on his helmet again. “I still have urgent business. Have fun with your friend.”

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When he heard this, Chu Mian suddenly felt that the other party’s hoarse voice was a bit familiar.

Yu Ran didn’t expect him to leave in such a hurry today. Although he still had a lot to say, he held back and waved goodbye to his Master obediently. wGeLC6

The motorcycle turned around and drove off into the distance.

Yu Ran was in a very good mood now, and he didn’t feel the cold as the evening breeze blew by his ears.

As he was stuffing the red envelope into his school bag, he inadvertently glanced at it, and suddenly found that there were two strings of numbers on the package. As he took a look again, he realized it was his Master’s six-digit QQ number and password.

At the back, there was a line written in his Master’s decisive font: “I have cleared the account, you can keep it if you like it.” fmHe6V

“Damn it!” He had heard that this number series had gone out of issue in late 1999, and hence Yu Ran had always expressed his envy regarding Master’s QQ number more than once, but he had not expected that the other party would give it to him now.

He was ecstatically clutching the red envelope given by his Master, and wanted to celebrate. He turned around and said to Chu Mian, “Let’s go, let’s go take a cruise on the Lan River, I haven’t been on one yet.”

Just as Chu Mian was about to agree, he thought: “It’s only the end of February, the ice hasn’t melted yet.”

“Oh.” Yu Ran’s spirits didn’t break because of this. “Let’s go together next time then!” 4jHEdh

Chu Mian smiled and nodded, “Okay.”

Yu Ran stood on the side of the road and immediately logged into QQ on his mobile phone and switched accounts. He then recited the six digits to Chu Mian, and urged him: “Add me, I want you to be the first friend in my beautiful account.”

Chu Mian searched for the number and clicked “Add friend”.

However, Yu Ran didn’t receive the verification message even after holding his phone for a long time, and kept saying “hurry up”. DeGR60

“It has been added three times. Did you read the numbers wrong?”

Yu Ran: “No, I didn’t, it’s right.”

Chu Mian pondered for a few seconds and stretched out his hand, “Let me give it a try.”

Yu Ran handed it to him without any qualms. Chu Mian glanced at the list of friends on this account, which was empty. Next, he opened the blacklist, and it was clean. xIQu23

Then, he used this account to search for his QQ to add as friends, and it was successful at once.

His account had been blocked by the other party — the conjecture in his heart was confirmed. Chu Mian curled up his cold fingertips, handed the phone back to Yu Ran, and said in a low voice, “It’s done.”

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Yu Ran looked at him with admiring eyes. “You are so amazing, how did you do it?”

Chu Mian didn’t answer and walked slowly towards the subway station. After a while, he asked, “What’s your Master’s name?” RF93bI

Yu Ran lowered his head and fiddled with his mobile phone, but still kept in step with Chu Mian, and answered succinctly, “Wen Junying.”

There were stairs in front of him, so Chu Mian held Yu Ran’s arm, then said as if nothing had happened, “The name sounds nice.”

The first thing Yu Ran did after adding friends was to keep sending “Hello” and “Are you there” to Chu Mian, showing off his six-digit number. However, Chu Mian was not in high spirits. He sat on the public bench of the subway station without saying a word, just staring at the floor in a dazed manner.

Yu Ran asked Chu Mian for his mobile phone, set his new account to “special concern” for the other party, and clicked on the message he had sent just now in passing. As he was feeling content, more content was loaded on Chu Mian’s phone screen. CVaqM8

Yu Ran took a glance at it, and above the “Hello” he had just sent, there was a chat record from two months ago.

He was surprised for a few seconds, then swiped the interface directly to the top and hurriedly browsed through the chat history.

The subway had already entered the station. Chu Mian patted Yu Ran on the back, reminding him that it was time to get on the subway.

“Oh.” Yu Ran straightened up, returned the phone to Chu Mian, and followed him. 0XOzr3

Chu Mian was absent-minded for a long time, so he didn’t notice that Yu Ren had also become silent. The two sat side by side in the carriage, listening to the friction noise of the subway moving against the tracks.

Yu Ran deleted Chu Mian’s number from this account, then switched back to his original QQ. He turned his head to look at Chu Mian and saw that the other party was blankly staring at the indicator light on the subway door.

Yu Ran first stared at his profile quietly, then raised his hand and gently stroked Chu Mian’s hair a few times.

Chu Mian blinked. His neck was fixed at an angle for a while and he didn’t move for a long time. ToZL65

Yu Ran’s tone seemed to be soothing, slow and soft: “The ice will melt once spring arrives, I will definitely take you for a boat ride.”

Chu Mian didn’t understand why Yu Ran had repeated what had been already agreed, but he agreed again: “Okay.”

When Yu Ran’s palm covered the top of his head, Chu Mian just felt sleepy. Without a bit of hesitation, he leaned over to lay his head on Yu Ran’s shoulder.

“Are you going to sleep?” Yu Ran asked him in a low voice. GyHMFe

Chu Mian shook his head laboriously.

“It’s okay to sleep, no biggie. I’ll accompany you until you wake up.”

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When Chu Mian heard him say that, his tense nerves relaxed.

A familiar sense of security spread throughout his body at this moment, and Chu Mian could no longer feel the tension from before. It turned out that even though they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, Yu Ran still welcomed him to rest on his shoulders — this had never changed. tUIW3L

Chu Mian closed his eyes and felt that the subway was floating up and down as if it were on the water, carrying them towards the spring when everything revived.