Turtle Raine

    Occasional translation projects for Chinese BL danmei novels

    “Are you getting heaty,1, Su Zhiyan?”

    Wen Bei noticed the small cut at the corner of his mouth and rummaged through his drawer to pull out half a pack of heat-clearing medicine, pushing it in front of Su Zhiyan like an insurance salesman.

    “Prescription medicine, super effective!”

    “…” Su Zhiyan glanced silently at the expiration date on the package. “I’ll use it in my next life.”

    “Huh?” Wen Bei flipped it over to check the date and his eyes widened. “Holy crap, it expired six months ago!”

    “Good thing you got heaty, otherwise I probably never would’ve noticed this expired medicine. Who knows, maybe one day I would’ve swallowed it with water and our school would’ve gone viral on social media.” He shook his head with a tsk.

    Su Zhiyan: “…” Then you should really thank a certain bastard.

    Yesterday Shen Nianjing had pressed him against the wall and made out with him for a whole hour. When they parted, he still couldn’t bear to let go, hugging him over and over, kissing him nonstop.

    Thus, his mouth became the honorable sacrifice.

    This morning, when he was washing up, he noticed his whole mouth was flushed red. Although it wasn’t too obvious, it was still different from usual, and the wound at the corner of his mouth reminded him of yesterday’s passion every single moment.

    Fortunately, he could explain it as heatiness.

    Anyway, the climate here was dry and cold, so “dry weather causing sparks to fly” was perfectly normal.

    Su Zhiyan put on his jacket with a slightly red face, thinking to himself, is dating really this clingy?

    And yesterday… he clearly felt Shen Nianjing restraining something, his breathing especially heavy.

    Su Zhiyan lightly touched the wound at his mouth.

    It seemed like Shen Nianjing’s warmth still lingered there.

    “What are you spacing out for?” Wen Bei poked his head over.

    Su Zhiyan, who usually left early, was dawdling even putting on clothes today. How strange.

    “You’ve been putting on that jacket for almost five minutes. Are you suiting up for battle or something?”

    Su Zhiyan: “…” He put on his jacket at lightning speed, completely embarrassed.

    He couldn’t even look at himself.

    He had actually spent five minutes this morning reminiscing about his kiss with Shen Nianjing!

    “!” Does dating make people completely inefficient?

    No, it should be that it lowers their intelligence.

    Su Zhiyan’s ears immediately turned red. He hurriedly grabbed his backpack and pushed Wen Bei. “Let’s go, let’s go. If we don’t leave now we’ll be late.”

    Today’s 8 AM class schedule was still shared with Shen Nianjing’s class.

    As soon as Su Zhiyan entered the classroom, he felt a burning gaze lock onto his face. He turned his head and sure enough, it was that big stupid dog.

    Shen Nianjing blinked and pointed at the seat beside him with both hands, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

    Su Zhiyan: “…”

    He walked toward an empty seat in another aisle with an unchanged expression.

    Don’t even think about tempting him. He had made up his mind to avoid contact for the whole day.

    “Why are you going over there?”

    Wen Bei grabbed his backpack strap and gestured toward Shen Nianjing’s seat with his eyes. “Don’t you usually like sitting by the window?”

    Su Zhiyan: “…”

    He was silent for a moment, then smiled. “It’s too cold today. I want to sit somewhere warmer.” He tried to walk away but Wen Bei pulled him back again. “Come on! The window is closed tight, there won’t be any draft.”

    “Besides, Shen Nianjing is tall and built like a furnace. You won’t be cold sitting next to him.”

    Su Zhiyan: “…”

    He looked at Wen Bei meaningfully.

    Are you Shen Nianjing’s lobbyist or what?

    When did he buy you off?

    But… Shen Nianjing really did have warm hands, warm body, warm everything. He was like the perfect winter boyfriend heater, the kind where putting your hands in his palm would warm them up in half a minute.

    Su Zhiyan was shamefully a little tempted.

    He glanced sideways at Shen Nianjing, who had been craning his neck toward them. The guy immediately lit up with stars in his eyes, frantically blinking at him.

    Su Zhiyan: “…” Don’t sprain your eyes blinking.

    He turned away with difficulty, avoiding Shen Nianjing’s burning gaze.

    “No,” he told Wen Bei. “I’m sitting over there.”

    He absolutely couldn’t be swayed even a tiny bit!

    Communist people never give up!

    Su Zhiyan mentally chanted a couple slogans and immediately felt much more determined.

    All temptations were just passing clouds. The test was what mattered most.

    Practice leads to true knowledge. Practice was the essential choice for the path to success!

    Wen Bei watched Su Zhiyan’s expression grow more and more determined and couldn’t help feeling surprised. He secretly glanced toward Shen Nianjing and lowered his voice to ask Su Zhiyan, “You two didn’t fight, did you? Are you breaking up?”

    Su Zhiyan: “…”

    He had never been this speechless before.

    “Yes.” He turned his head calmly. “Because he’s really too hot.” Too passionate.

    Wen Bei nodded with seeming understanding, immediately grasping the importance of this matter. He sighed and followed Su Zhiyan to sit on the other side.

    While Su Zhiyan wasn’t paying attention, he lowered his head to type.

    Wen Bei
    Dude? Did you fight with my boy Zhiyan? Is this how you court someone?
    Shen Nianjing
    ?
    Who told you we fought? /bomb.jpg
    Wen Bei
    A pair of scissors snipping off your rock-hard mouth.jpg
    Whatever the case, he’s my best bro and honorary dad since I started college, and you’re my good buddy this semester. Being stuck between you two is hard, you know?
    Pity the child.jpg
    Shen Nianjing
    …We really didn’t fight.

    We’re doing great! Shen Nianjing roared in his heart, wanting nothing more than to stab Wen Bei to death. Why was this crow’s mouth cursing him!

    But… Shen Nianjing thought about it carefully. This guy Wen Bei sometimes had pretty sharp radar, and sometimes acted like he’d lost his mind. Maybe he should help out.

    Shen Nianjing
    Look at our profile pictures.

    Profile pictures? Wen Bei frowned. What was this guy talking about?

    Wen Bei
    Which platform? Weibo, Douyin, or Xiaohongshu? You didn’t even say clearly.

    Shen Nianjing: “…”

    He exited the chat with Wen Bei, deciding to stay away from this clueless friend before the stupidity rubbed off on him. The last thing he needed was Su Zhiyan finding him annoying too.

    He clicked on the little bear avatar wearing a sky-blue bow tie and smiled as he typed.

    A Certain Shen
    Does your mouth still hurt? /cupping face.jpg

    Su Zhiyan glanced at his lit-up phone screen. Seeing that Wen Bei was frowning and tapping through apps, seriously looking for something and completely ignoring his side, he openly typed back.

    Strawberry Cupcake
    What do you think?
    Don’t kiss for that long next time.
    Fifty-meter sword.jpg

    Reading these messages, Shen Nianjing’s eyes crinkled with amusement. His heart was so full of love and affection it was about to overflow from his chest.

    He could already imagine how Su Zhiyan looked when saying these two sentences to him.

    He must be looking down, brows furrowed in annoyance, but his nose tip and ears would be all red. Very cute.

    He really wanted to kiss him.

    The thought flashed through his mind before settling in, growing until it consumed his pounding heart.

    A Certain Shen
    Look at me

    The screen lit up again. Su Zhiyan tilted his head at these two simple words, confused but obediently glancing left behind him.

    The tall, well-built guy stood out like a crane among chickens in the crowd of people with their heads down playing on phones or reading books. His sunny, handsome features and striking brows were especially dazzling in the sunlight by the window.

    Su Zhiyan saw Shen Nianjing smiling very gently, full of tender, lingering love.

    His gaze was sharp and bright. When he looked over quietly, it carried a deep desire.

    Su Zhiyan felt as if he were under a spell as he met those intense phoenix eyes. His breathing couldn’t help but grow slower and slower.

    He got lost in those eyes full of love.

    Time seemed to stretch out all at once, his heart beating wildly.

    Su Zhiyan felt dazed for a moment.

    …It was as if Shen Nianjing was kissing him with his eyes.

    His face heated up, and he quickly turned back to lie down on his desk, trying to hide his panic.

    That bastard was right, they shouldn’t have forced themselves to separate on their first day of dating. He was starting to regret it now.

    The clean soap scent on his clothes was really calming. Su Zhiyan took a deep breath and gradually got his breathing back to normal.

    This was too much…

    Was dating always this shameless…

    After he calmed down, he lifted his head to look back. Shen Nianjing had already looked away and was typing on his phone with his head down.

    His phone on the desk buzzed and vibrated.

    Su Zhiyan looked down at his phone, his eyelashes fluttering lightly.

    A Certain Shen
    Your eyes are really beautiful

    Five simple words with no punctuation or emoji decorations, but they made Su Zhiyan’s heart skip a beat.

    His eyes curved into a smile, and just as he was about to type back, he saw Shen Nianjing send another message.

    A Certain Shen
    ! Lao Jin came in, he looks super suspicious, I predict he’s going to go over the final exam key points
    frantically taking notes.jpg
    If I’m wrong I’ll eat shit while doing a handstand!

    Su Zhiyan: “…………”

    Let me take back my feelings.

    Heat surged through Su Zhiyan’s body like electric currents, leaving him trembling with pleasure. Heavy breathing filled his ears, fogging his mind until he impulsively grabbed a half-unbuttoned shirt collar and kissed its owner, receiving an even fiercer response.

    The cabinet door creaked. They didn’t seem to be on a bed.

    He felt something hard press against his back, causing him to wince in pain.

    The kiss on his lips stopped. Seeming to sense his discomfort, hands reached under his buttocks and thighs to lift him up, even bouncing him slightly.

    Su Zhiyan wrapped his legs around his waist and was carried steadily to the desk in the room.

    The next moment, the passionate assault resumed as intensely as pouring rain.

    The alarm rang, and the phone kept vibrating beside his pillow.

    Su Zhiyan opened his eyes. The heat in his eyes hadn’t faded yet, and the corners of his eyes were slightly red.

    He weakly reached for his pillow, turned off the alarm, then lay flat on the bed to calm the waves from his dream.

    He had another dream…

    My god, this time there was even a plot.

    It seemed like his dreams really were evolving, but when would they stop?

    Although with his current relationship with Shen Nianjing, whether these dreams evolved or not didn’t really affect him much, but it was still pretty… embarrassing.

    Su Zhiyan scratched his hair in frustration. His already messy bangs got even more tangled and fell lightly over his watery eyes.

    “?” Su Zhiyan blinked, suddenly feeling something wasn’t right.

    It felt different from waking up from previous dreams.

    Very different.

    He lifted the blanket in confusion and looked down.

    “!!!”

    He wasn’t clean anymore!

    Su Zhiyan grabbed the corner of the blanket tightly. Heat burned from his neck all the way to his ears, turning red to the point of explosion.

    Footnotes

    1. 'Heatiness' or 上火 (shànghuǒ) is a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) concept describing an excess of internal 'heat' or Yang energy, causing inflammation-like symptoms such as sore throats, acne, dry mouth, red eyes, and irritability, often triggered by spicy/fried foods, stress, or hot weather. It's seen as an imbalance of Yin and Yang, managed by consuming 'cooling' foods (like watermelon, cucumber, mung beans) and avoiding 'heaty' ones (like red meat, chocolate).
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