My Deskmate Chapter 14
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 14
Wen Xiao arrived home to find her grandmother had already returned. She was sitting on the sofa, reading under a floor lamp.
Hearing the sound, her grandmother lifted her glasses and looked up. "Is Xiaoxiao back?"
"Mm, I'm back," Wen Xiao replied, slipping off his shoes. "You’ve been busy with meetings for several days. It’s tiring. If you’re exhausted, you should rest. There’s no need to wait up for me."
Her grandmother closed the thick book. "I am a bit tired, but how could I sleep knowing you weren’t home? I can’t help but worry. Do you want something to eat? I can heat up some leftovers and fry you a plate of egg fried rice."
"No need, I’m not hungry." Wen Xiao added, "I’ll go to my room. I still have some homework to finish."
Her grandmother grumbled about the heavy workload at the affiliated high school, complaining that even after coming home, Wen Xiao still had to work late into the night. When she saw Wen Xiao pick up his bag and head to his room, she folded the blanket off her lap and got up to go to bed.
With a soft click, Wen Xiao turned on the desk lamp and laid his chemistry paper flat on the desk. He had just signed his name, when something seemed to stir in his mind. He looked out the window at the building across the street.
The buildings on Jiuzhang Road were old, their walls worn by years of rain. They weren’t beautiful, just functional. It was an old neighborhood, with residents hanging their clothes and growing flowers on their balconies. Wen Xiao’s eyes found the window of the Chi family’s apartment. She noticed that both the living room and bedroom lights were on, the warm glow casting faint shadows of people moving inside.
Suddenly snapping out of his thoughts, Wen Xiao realized he didn’t even know what he had been looking at. It was just a window. There was nothing special about it, nothing worth staring at.
The results of the monthly exams were gradually released. People were sighing, "I messed up this time, there were so many questions I wasn't sure about," but most of the scores were still pretty good. Those who thought they were sure to do well mostly didn't. Xu Guangqi held the grade book and lectured earnestly, "Some students say their main focus was just to participate. That’s just flattering themselves! It’d be better if they didn’t even bother! The first problem! How could you get that wrong?"
Someone in the classroom let out a long sigh.
Xu Guangqi glared. "What are you sighing for? I'm the poop scooper for over forty dogs, yet I don't sigh!"
Someone chimed in, "Old Xu, that's a personal attack. Have you ever seen a dog that can take an exam?"
Xu Guangqi: "Even a dog could get the first multiple-choice question right!"
As Xu Guangqi continued his rant at the front, Zhao Yiyang and Shangguan Yu leaned on the backs of their chairs, asking Wen Xiao, "What are you going to plant for Arbor Day?"
Wen Xiao hadn’t really been paying attention to Xu Guangqi. He was absorbed in reviewing the material for the next lesson when he heard their question. "Arbor Day?"
Zhao Yiyang grinned. "Yeah, you clearly weren’t listening to Old Xu. Every year we do a draw, and this year it’s our class’ turn. Each of us has to bring a potted plant to school and leave it by the statue of Confucius. The principal said it’s to add some festive spirit!"
Shangguan Yu nodded. "I’m bringing a pot of garlic sprouts."
Zhao Yiyang chuckled. "Nice one. Are you going to donate it to the cafeteria for some stir-fried pork?" He then turned to Wen Xiao. "We’re planning to go to the flower market on Saturday. Want to join? Just for half a day, it won’t take up too much time."
Ever since they went through that midnight ghost hunting together, Zhao Yiyang and the others had started to see Wen Xiao as one of their own.
Wen Xiao twirled his pen between his fingers. Without hesitating, he agreed. "Sure."
On Saturday morning, Wen Xiao put on his coat. His grandmother, draped in a cashmere shawl, stood by the door, fussing. "Xiaoxiao, it's still chilly outside. Should I go grab your white coat? You can wear that one instead."
Wen Xiao nodded and slipped off the coat he was wearing.
Once Wen Xiao changed, his grandmother reached over to adjust the collar of his shirt. "Where are you going?"
"I’m meeting some classmates to go to the flower market. We need to buy plants for the school's Arbor Day event."
Her grandmother looked pleasantly surprised. "Is it your classmates? That’s great, then! Making friends is always a good thing. Have fun!"
When they arrived at the flower market, Shangguan Yu and Zhao Yiyang were already standing at the entrance, and Xu Rui was animatedly talking about something, gesticulating wildly. When he saw Wen Xiao approach, Zhao Yiyang immediately wore a look of relief, as if he had been freed from some heavy burden. He quickly interrupted Xu Rui. "Wen Xiao's here! Let’s go, go, go. Buy everything quickly and head home to do homework!"
Xu Rui, confused, asked, "Why have I never seen you so eager to go home and do your homework?"
"Didn't we just finish the monthly exam? My scores gave me a sudden enlightenment." Zhao Yiyang deliberately walked over to Xiao Xiao's side. “Oh yeah, I remember the look on Old Xu’s face when he saw the grade book yesterday. He was so surprised! Hahaha, he definitely didn’t expect you to jump straight into the top ten of the class!"
Xu Rui jumped in, teasing, "Wen Xiao, come on, are you telling us the truth about skipping an entire school year? If you really missed a year, how could you beat thirty other students in the class and rank in the top ten? Compared to you, it feels like I've been sleeping through all my classes for the past year."
Wen Xiao nodded in acknowledgment, but as he did, his eyes caught a flash of pink out of the corner of his peripheral vision. It looked a little like Yaya. When he looked more closely, though, there was no one there.
Shangguan Yu turned to follow his gaze. "What are you looking at?"
Wen Xiao: "It's nothing."
In the end, all four of them bought roses in bloom. The idea had come from Xu Rui, who joked that if Confucius saw a sea of blooming flowers at his feet, he’d be in a good mood and might even bless them with perfect answers on the upcoming midterms.
As they were about to split up and head home, Wen Xiao suddenly remembered something. "You guys go ahead. I forgot to buy something."
The flower market wasn’t very large, but it was well-organized. One side sold plants and potted flowers, while the other side had a variety of birds, insects, and fish. Wen Xiao turned off the main path and stopped in front of a shop selling goldfish. He had just picked out a bag of fish food when he heard a voice calling, "Cola-gege!"
He looked up, and from a distance, he saw Yaya running towards him, holding a red plastic pinwheel in one hand and a small plastic bag of goldfish in the other.
Chi Ye was trailing behind her, dressed in a white hoodie with a black pair of cargo pants and very stylish thick-soled boots. The words “I’m Handsome” were boldly printed across the front of his hoodie.
Seeing Wen Xiao staring at his clothes, Chi Ye tugged at his hoodie and pointed toward his sister. "Don’t keep staring at me. This was Yaya’s choice. I’m just the one who has to wear it. Totally innocent."
Wen Xiao quickly looked away, but just as he did, Chi Ye added the second part of his sentence, "But I am indeed handsome. What do you think, Teacher Xiao Wen?"
Wen Xiao chose to ignore this ridiculous question.
Yaya puffed her cheeks and blew on her pinwheel. After watching her brother finish talking to Wen Xiao, she hurried over and waved. "Cola-gege, are you here to buy flowers?"
"Mm," Wen Xiao replied patiently to Yaya, "I need to buy another bag of fish food."
Chi Ye: "What a coincidence, we need to buy some too. Yaya's class has a weekend assignment to observe goldfish."
Yaya looked up at Chi Ye with a pout. "Gege, you stole the words right out of my mouth."
Chi Ye tugged on her little braid. "Then just tell your Cola-gege the same thing. He won’t mind hearing it again."
Yaya covered her head with both hands and protested, "Don’t mess with my hair!"
The shopkeeper spoke up from the side. "Hey, handsome, are you still getting the fish food?"
"I'll take another bag," Wen Xiao said, pulling out his phone to scan the QR code for payment.
After paying, Wen Xiao looked up to see Chi Ye handing his phone. "Scan it while you're at it?"
Wen Xiao gave him a glance, scanned it, and chose to add him as a friend.
Chi Ye’s profile picture was unique. It was just a solid black screen, as if the app had failed to load.
With his phone casually slipped into his cargo pants pocket, Chi Ye watched as Wen Xiao handed the second bag of fish food to Yaya.
On the bus ride back to Jiuzhang Road, the sky was overcast, the sun hidden behind clouds, and the wind felt a bit chilly.
Wen Xiao casually mentioned, "The results from the monthly exams are out."
"I know. As soon as the results came out, Old Xu called and yelled at me. He said I always got 60, that I had no innovative spirit, and even getting 61 would be better."
Wen Xiao: "So, will you aim for sixty-one next time?"
Chi Ye: "No, I’m stubborn."
Wen Xiao recalled that his parents often said he was stubborn too. He wondered if, in a past life, he had participated in the project of the Foolish Old Man Who Wanted to Move the Mountains, which explained his stubbornness.
But he had always believed his temperament was inherited. Both of his parents were physicists, so focused on their research that they would spend twenty years on a single project. If it weren’t for — well, they would have kept going, either until they found results or proved it wrong.
Unfortunately, fate hadn’t given them that chance.
"By the way, how did you do?"
Hearing the question, Wen Xiao replied, "I’m not telling you."
Chi Ye raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that’s a bit petty?"
"It’s not that." Wen Xiao didn’t want to be labeled as petty, so he added an explanation. "I did too poorly. I’ll tell you when I do better."
"I heard Old Xu say you’re like a dark horse, suddenly charging into the top ten in the class. You still call that doing poorly?"
Wen Xiao: "Top ten, is that good?"
"Alright, excuse my shallowness, then how high do you need to score to tell me? Top three?"
Wen Xiao corrected him, "Top one."
Zhao Yiyang couldn’t help but find Wen Xiao’s calm, serious expression oddly amusing. He laughed. "Hmm, so you’re first, and I’m last. One’s at the top, the other at the bottom. Perfect symmetry."
Just as they were talking, Chi Ye suddenly stiffened. Wen Xiao felt it and turned his head. Not far off, a large group of people was blocking the path, and it was obvious they were looking for trouble.
Wen Xiao furrowed his brow. "Who are those people?"
Chi Ye’s smile didn’t falter, but his eyes sharpened, like a knife’s edge. "I took someone’s business, cut off their income. It’s like I killed their parents."
Wen Xiao immediately understood. It must be related to that business Chi Ye had snatched by undercutting someone’s price after secretly inquiring about their quote.
The people across from them were holding something in their hands. He estimated that if a fight really broke out, he could handle it. At most, he'd just get a little hurt.
Just then, he heard Chi Ye whisper in his ear, "Listen to my command later."
Without another word, Chi Ye squatted down and started tying his shoelaces.
As Wen Xiao considered the feasibility of using a flower pot as a weapon, he suddenly heard Chi Ye give a sharp command: "Run!"
Before the words even left his mouth, Chi Ye, still in the middle of tying his shoes, hoisted Yaya onto his shoulder and turned to run!
Wen Xiao was a bit slow to react, but he quickly caught up.
The group blocking their path seemed even more confused than Wen Xiao, taking a while to start chasing after them.
While they ran, Wen Xiao asked, "We're just going to run away like this?"
Chi Ye: "This isn’t running away. It’s a strategic rapid retreat!"
The winding paths of Jiuzhang Road turned out to be an advantage now. Chi Ye seemed to have a built-in GPS, weaving through turns without losing his way.
The shouting and cursing grew fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared. Once they were sure they were safe, Chi Ye stopped, gently set Yaya down, and leaned against the wall, catching his breath. "Damn, are these guys all marathon runners? Took that long to shake them off. How much did they get paid to chase us like that?" He glanced at Wen Xiao. "You good?"
Wen Xiao leaned against the wall, still trying to catch his breath. He tilted his body slightly and raised his left hand.
Without missing a beat, Chi Ye smirked and raised his hand as well, and the two of them slapped palms in the air.
As Wen Xiao lowered his hand, something about the moment made him instinctively, though somewhat awkwardly, curve his lips into a faint smile.
Chi Ye caught a glimpse of it, then quickly averted his eyes, looking straight ahead. After a moment, he couldn’t help but say, "You... look pretty good when you smile."