During the winter training, Qin Cheng and Jian Heng had barely enjoyed three days of romantic relationship before rolling back to school for training, leaving early and returning late every day, exhausted like dogs.
Jian Heng was at home reviewing, taking care of his meals and daily needs, and helping him with live streaming.
Qin Cheng was running wildly on the playground against the old north wind.
In sports training, there’s no room for slack; every millisecond is filled with the blood and sweat of the physical education students. Qin Cheng understood this better than anyone else, so he worked harder than anyone else.
It had just snowed a couple of days ago. As the saying goes, ‘It doesn’t feel cold when it snows, but it feels cold when the snow melts[mfn]下雪不冷，化雪冷 (xià xuě bù lěng, huà xuě lěng): lit. It’s not cold when it snows, but it’s cold when it melts. This proverb means that snow releases heat when it condenses, so people do not feel too cold; while snow absorbs heat from the air when it melts, so people feel very cold.[/mfn]’. Today, the weather was like the heavens had turned on a fan, with the north wind howling and temperatures dropping below minus twenty degrees, making people’s faces ache.
The tingling pain in his ears was difficult to ignore. Qin Cheng remembered what the big sister who pierced his ears at noon had said: “Don’t go out for a while, okay? It’s too cold; you might get frostbite.”
With his top A’s quality, he wouldn’t get frostbite, but it was quite painful. At first, it was a numbing pain from the cold, then it turned into a hot, throbbing pain, matching the rhythm of his running.
When he got home, he had to apply some of his boyfriend’s cream[mfn]雪花膏 (xuě huā gāo): (cosmetics) cream; facial/vanishing cream; cold cream. It is called vanishing cream because it dissolves into the skin like snowflakes and disappears when applied to the skin. Vanishing cream forms a thin film on the surface of the skin, isolating the skin from the dry air outside, thereby controlling the evaporation of epidermal moisture and protecting the skin from drying, cracking or roughening.[/mfn], or at least wear earmuffs tomorrow while running.
Qin Cheng sighed.
Jian Heng would definitely scold him.
And he deserved it. Getting his ears pierced in the coldest days of winter[mfn]三九天 (sān jiǔ tiān): the third nine-day period after the winter solstice——coldest days of winter; the twenty seven days after the Winter Solstice, reputed to be the coldest days of the year.[/mfn]; he really was asking for trouble.
But he couldn’t blame it all on him either. Qin Cheng thought clearly. It was Cheng Bin’s fault for giving him two ear studs. These things aren’t like rings that you can wear on a string around your neck; if he didn’t get his ears pierced, he could only watch Jian Heng wear them himself.
Couple ear studs——there’s no reason for one person to wear them. Qin-ge couldn’t stand it and insisted on getting them pierced.
Lu Ping even praised him for his courage. Qin Cheng patted his shoulder and said: “You’re still young. You’ll understand when you start dating in the future.”
People in love have no IQ, and neither did Qin-ge.
***
When he got home, Jian Heng didn’t scold him. Qin Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, casually took a big gulp of water, and called out: “Where are the earrings? Put them on for me, the couple ones~”
Jian Heng pulled him towards the bedroom. Qin Cheng still felt a bit shy, the corners of his mouth crazily curling up: “Hey, we’re like an old married couple, still holding hands at home.”
As soon as they entered the bedroom, Jian Heng slammed the door shut and pushed him onto the bed.
Qin Cheng was caught off guard, vaguely feeling himself bounce on the bed; the springiness was really good.
It doesn’t hurt, just quite sudden. Just as Qin Cheng was about to get up, he was pushed down again. “What are you doing? Attempting to murder your husband?”
“Didn’t I say to wait until spring?” Jian Heng easily pushed his knees apart, knelt between his legs, placed one hand on the side of his ear, and with the other hand, avoiding the ear hole, gently stroked his earlobe. “It’s frozen like this, Qin Cheng, do you even know what pain is?”
At this moment, if he backed down, he wouldn’t be Qin-ge anymore. His ears were red from being touched, but he still acted tough, showing off in an invisible way: “I don’t know; your Ge didn’t feel any pain at all. Let me tell you, I————fuck! This student, don’t be impulsive! I…fuck! At least moisturize it!!! Jian-ge! Ge, Ge, Ge, I was wrong, Ge——”
***
If you don’t ‘suffer’ a couple of times, you won’t learn your lesson.
From then on, Qin Cheng added another life principle——remember Jian Heng’s words.
Training still had to continue. Lao Li, having heard about a new training program from somewhere, quickly scanned the room and made Qin Cheng the test subject.
He used to be as tired as a dog every day, but now he’s not even as good as a dog.
He was really too busy. Seeing him so tired every day, Jian Heng felt distressed and discussed with him: “Should we slow down the live streams for a bit and focus on studying first? Don’t let it affect your grades.”
Qin Cheng hesitated for a moment.
Having gotten used to a life of extreme fatigue and constant pressure every day, suddenly feeling so relaxed felt a bit strange and somewhat unsettling.
But in the end, he agreed.
Thinking about the college entrance examination and the future, the small benefits in front of him were nothing he couldn’t give up.
After discussing with the platform boss, Qin Cheng changed the contract from daily live streams to irregular live streams.
With the live streaming tasks gone, Qin Cheng didn’t think of resting. Every day, he had Jian Heng tutor him, frantically solving problems and staying up until dawn.
Tan Qi looked at him and clicked his tongue: “You two are so inspirational that I can’t even have fun. Those dark circles under your eyes are terrifying. Your face is only holding up because of your looks.”
Qin Cheng was doing push-ups in the living room, and when he heard this, he lifted his head and cursed: “If you don’t have fun, wash the dishes. You have so many demands even when mooching off my food.”
Tan Qi gave him a middle finger: “Only someone as realistic as me can accept that my status in your heart has plummeted so quickly. If it were someone more fragile, they would definitely sever ties with you!”
“If you have the guts, then sever it.” Qin Cheng’s neck bulged with veins, sweat dripping down. “Go wash the dishes.”
***
In the past, summer and winter vacations felt particularly slow, with each day dragging on like a copy of the last, filled with live streams, live streams, and more live streams, aimless, with no end in sight…
Now it’s not slow anymore. Every day is so packed that it could rival a president’s schedule, and before he knew it, school started.
The sports class had a separate class, and the new homeroom teacher was a young Omega with a gentle temperament, looking not much older than them.
A group of tough Alpha students could still stand up to Lao Xu’s explosive temper, but when faced with someone as gentle as this, they all fell silent——after all, they couldn’t bully an Omega, right? Even big Alphas had principles.
“Hello, students, and welcome to the new semester!” Teacher Wang stood on the podium, smiling, “The school has organized an exchange program for the sports class with the neighboring city’s sports high school for a month. You all know about it, right? Pack your essentials tonight; we’ll leave early tomorrow morning. Pay attention to safety.”
Qin Cheng was slumped in the last row, his eyelids drooping.
He could endure the tough and tiring training, but suddenly having to be separated into two places made him feel quite upset.
When Lao Li told him about it last week, he wanted to refuse, but it was mandatory. The school was funding the training camp, so the students wouldn’t have to pay.
That day, Qin Cheng sadly led a group of special training class students to run twenty kilometers for half a day, and Lao Li was so angry that he kicked each of them once.
“Qin Cheng,” Teacher Wang suddenly called out his name. “Can you help me lead the team tomorrow?”
“Okay——” Qin Cheng raised his hand, responding lazily, as if he had no bones in his body, completely contrasting with his figure sprinting madly on the track.
Originally, the teacher was worried he would be lonely and wanted to arrange a deskmate for him, but Qin Cheng refused. Apart from his dear student Heng Heng, he didn’t want to sit with anyone else.
Let Qin-ge savor the bitterness of a long-distance relationship alone.
***
In the evening, Jian Heng helped him pack his luggage.
He would be gone for a month, so he needed to prepare more daily necessities; otherwise, Qin Cheng would lose everything within a week.
In a place where he was completely unfamiliar with the place and the people[mfn]人生地不熟 (rén shēng de bù shú): to be unfamiliar with the place and the people; to be a stranger in a strange place; totally unfamiliar with the place and the people; be a complete stranger in a place; (proverb) arriving in a new place and being unfamiliar with everything.[/mfn], it wasn’t convenient to buy things.
“Sigh, a month,” Qin Cheng lay on the bed watching him pack, the impending separation making him irritable. “Whose stupid idea was this? Are they out of their mind? What kind of enlightenment can you get from exchanging experiences? Crazy.”
“How many people are in the dormitory over there?” Jian Heng took a spare thermos and put it in the suitcase, then added a small bag of goji berry tea[mfn]枸杞茶 (gǒu qǐ chá): Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry is the sweet fruit of either Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense, two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. L. barbarum and L. chinense fruits are similar but can be distinguished by differences in taste and sugar content. Both of these species are native to East Asia, and have been long used in traditional East Asian cuisine. Gugi-cha or goji tea is a traditional Chinese and Korean tea made from dried goji berries or leaves. Traditionally, the tea was made with young goji leaves. Today, mature leaves or, more commonly, berries are used. The tea made with berries may be called gugija-cha (구기자차; 枸杞子茶) or goji berry tea, while the tea made with leaves is referred to as gugiyeop-cha (구기엽차; 枸杞葉茶) or goji leaf tea. 
[/mfn] next to it.
“Four, I think?” Qin Cheng simply got off the bed and squatted next to him to watch him pack. “Lao Li said so; it should be accurate.”
“Four Alphas?” Jian Heng raised an eyebrow.
“Ah,” Qin Cheng looked at him, and after a while, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Damn, really? You need to be jealous about this? Besides, I’m not gay. Among the Alphas, I only love you. I don’t feel anything for other Alphas.”
Jian Heng still looked at him.
Qin Cheng couldn’t help but nudge him with his shoulder: “Really, more genuine than diamonds.”
“Mm, I know,” Jian Heng also smiled, rummaging through the box and telling him where everything was. “Underwear is in this blue bag, toiletries are in your backpack, three sets of training clothes are in this compartment, there should be a supermarket over there, so I didn’t bring too much food for you; wear a pair of sneakers and bring a pair with you to change and wash…”
The more Qin Cheng listened, the more depressed he became. Finally, he lifted his hand, buried his head in Jian Heng’s chest, and said in a muffled voice, “It’s over; Ge’s heart is broken. I don’t want to go anymore…”
Jian Heng hugged him and stroked his back. “No training tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Qin Cheng said, “by the time we get there tomorrow, it will be noon. We still have to settle in, get familiar with the situation, and hold an exchange meeting——”
“Do you want to do it?” Jian Heng interrupted him, his eyes filled with desire that made one’s whole body feel like it was on fire.
Qin Cheng raised his head, licked his lips, and said, “Sure.”
As they fell onto the bed together, Qin Cheng thought about making up for lost time. A month apart. Fuck foreplay and afterplay. Time is money; let’s just get it done.
…..
In the morning, Qin Cheng stood at the door with his luggage, watching Jian Heng see him off. A wave of sadness suddenly surged in his heart. Qin-ge wiped away the nonexistent tears and sighed: “Today, as husband and wife, we part ways. The burden at home falls on you. I feel quite sorry for you.”
“There’s me at home,” Jian Heng quickly picked up the cue, looking at him with a pointed expression, “Four-person dorm; remember to lock the door when you shower.”
The little sadness in Qin Cheng’s heart instantly dissipated. He patted Jian Heng’s shoulder, speaking earnestly: “Not to mention I don’t fancy other Alphas at all; just your Ge’s physical condition—if it weren’t for you, anyone else would have to obediently lie down and let me be the 1.”
“You still want to be the 1 with others?” Jian Heng raised an eyebrow, the smile at the corner of his mouth looking as cold as ice.
“…Are you trying to set me up?” Qin Cheng held his face and kissed him hard. “You know how deep my love for you is. I haven’t even let you receive fewer love letters. While I’m away for training, people would lie at the door every day, shouting, ‘Jian Heng, I love you’, more diligently than I do. I just don’t get it; don’t these people study?”
“Now they don’t shout anymore.” Jian Heng put on his hat for him, then adjusted his collar. “Be careful.”
“That’s because we’ve come out. If we hadn’t, they’d still be shouting for another year and a half.” Qin Cheng hugged him again, inhaling his pheromones deeply before reluctantly letting go after a long while. He turned back and said, “Remember to call.”
“Got it,” Jian Heng replied.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 61.1″]
早出晚歸 (zǎo chū wǎn guī): to leave early and return late (idiom); to leave early in the morning and return late at night; leave home at the crack of dawn and return by starlight; be gone from early morning until late at night; be out from dawn till dusk.無形之中 (wú xíng zhī zhōng): virtually; invisibly; refers to situations where something happens unconsciously, without any name but with substance. Synonym of 無形中 (wú xíng zhōng), imperceptibly; virtually.
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