My Deskmate Chapter 1 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 1.2
As soon as Li Wencheng left, the two students sitting in front of Wen Xiao spun around in unison and stared at him.
Wen Xiao placed his textbooks on the desk, giving them a look that said, “Just spit it out.”
“Welcome, honored — uh, welcome to Mingnan Affiliated High School!” Zhao Yiyang greeted enthusiastically. “I’m Zhao Yiyang. You can call me Master.”
“I’m Shangguan Yu. You can call me Your Majesty.”
Wen Xiao raised an eyebrow. “Master Yideng's Yiyang Finger?” He turned his gaze to Shangguan Yu. “Yu as in Li Yu?”
(T/N: Master Yideng is one of the characters in the wuxia novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and Yiyang Finger is one of his signature moves. Li Yu was the last ruler of Southern Tang dynasty.)
“Brother, you’re sharp!” Zhao Yiyang complimented, then pressed his palms together in front of his chest. “Fate has brought us together. The Buddha has sent me to answer your questions. Do you have anything you'd like to ask?”
Wen Xiao opened his new textbook and skimmed the table of contents. Without looking up, he replied, “No.”
Zhao Yiyang, who had already prepared his lines, looked like he might burst. “How can you not? Are you sure you don’t have any questions?”
Wen Xiao, far more patient than he used to be, answered calmly, “Yes, I’m sure. None at all.”
Zhao Yiyang deflated but quickly rallied. “Fine, then. The Buddha also sent me to give you some advice.” Before Wen Xiao could refuse, Zhao Yiyang barreled ahead. “You, at first glance, are clearly an academic overachiever.”
As he finished, Zhao Yiyang gave Wen Xiao a more thorough once-over. Wearing thin silver-rimmed glasses, with thin lips, pale skin, and a somewhat sickly pallor, his overall expression exuded apathy. In the words of those girls who flip through fashion magazines all day, he had a "high-end" look, a blend of cold detachment and quiet elegance.
Zhao Yiyang, imagining all sorts of scenarios where the new student might be terrified by Chi Ye, emphasized with extra seriousness, “Make sure to keep your distance from Chi-ge!”
Shangguan Yu agreed, “That's right. Don’t let him affect your studies!”
“Finished?”
Zhao Yiyang nodded blankly. “Finished.”
“Thanks.” Wen Xiao pointed at the exam paper spread out on Shangguan Yu’s desk. “Can I borrow your entrance exam paper?”
The schedule at Mingnan Affiliated High was similar to Wen Xiao’s previous school: evening self-study started at 7 PM, lasting two periods, and ended at 9:10 PM. As soon as the bell rang, most of the students in the classroom were gone within two minutes.
Zhao Yiyang stuffed a chaotic pile of belongings into his bag, struggled to zip it shut, and dashed toward the door. After taking a couple of steps, he skidded to a halt and backtracked. “Hey, classmate, just a friendly reminder — don’t be late! Cheng Xiaoning is totally nuts. He’s a maniac about catching latecomers and checking appearances!”
Without waiting for Wen Xiao’s reaction, Zhao Yiyang bolted out like the floor was on fire.
Wen Xiao slung his backpack over one shoulder and walked out of the school gates. He boarded Bus 117, rode seven stops, and got off at Jiuzhang Road.
The buildings along Jiuzhang Road were all quite old. The narrow street was lined with French sycamore trees, their bare branches whipped by the cold wind, leaving the ground covered in dry leaves. Occasionally, a stray cat would dart past, brushing against people’s feet before vanishing back into the shrubbery by the flowerbeds.
The nearby roads were laid out haphazardly. It wasn’t hard for him to navigate during the day, but at night, a single wrong turn could make it difficult to find his way. He didn’t seem to mind much and continued walking based on his vague memory.
That was until he heard a commotion.
Wen Xiao recognized the sounds immediately. Without even looking, he could tell from the sound that a group of seven or eight was ganging up against one.
Standing in the shadows at the corner, Wen Xiao leaned lazily against the wall, hands casually tucked into his pockets. His fingers twitched out of habit, searching for something that wasn’t there. His breath hitched briefly before he shifted his focus, letting his gaze fall on an old lamppost plastered with rental ads.
The temperature had dropped sharply since the sunny afternoon, and at some point, it had begun to rain. The drizzle wasn’t heavy, but under the glow of the streetlights, the fine threads of rain were clearly visible.
A voice, thick with the metallic tang of blood, sneered, “Your little sister is in primary school, right? What grade? First grade? Aren’t you afraid—”
“Bang!”
The sound of a fist slamming into flesh cut the taunt short, replaced by a sharp cry of pain.
Wen Xiao adjusted his slipping backpack strap.
The monotonous thud of fists followed. From the sound of it, the outnumbered fighter was holding his own. Wen Xiao silently assessed the situation. The lone fighter’s combat skills seemed decent — he hadn’t made a sound of distress, which likely meant he hadn’t taken any serious hits. On the contrary, it seemed he’d managed to land quite a few on his opponents.
The rain fell harder, the pattering on the buildings growing more frequent. Mud splattered from the ground, and Wen Xiao shifted half a step to the side to keep it off his pristine white shoes. A few stray cats darted past him, startled by the chaos, scattering into the surrounding shrubs.
The sounds of the fight gradually quieted down. After hearing someone yell, “Chi Ye, you’d better watch your back!” followed by the scuffle of retreating footsteps, silence returned to the night. He waited a couple more minutes before stepping out from the corner.
He had only taken two steps when he stopped again.
The area was small, dimly lit by old streetlights, most of which had long since stopped working. The walls of the nearby low-rise buildings were cracked and weathered, their plastic awnings broken and sagging. Most of the rooms were likely uninhabited. And about ten steps away from Wen Xiao, someone lay sprawled on the ground, motionless. Whether he was dead or alive was unclear. Although the poor lighting obscured most details, Wen Xiao could see the figure clutching his side, a smear of blood staining the back of his hand. Listening closely, he could hear heavy breathing, suggesting that he was badly injured.
Wen Xiao revised his earlier assessment — this person wasn’t unharmed. He was simply too tough. Even after being stabbed, he hadn’t made a sound.
The air was filled with the damp chill of the rain and a thick, cloying smell of blood. After a few breaths, the heaviness became stifling. Wen Xiao turned on his heel, sidestepping the motionless “corpse” on the ground without sparing it another glance.
The rain grew heavier, forming tiny craters in the mud as it pounded the ground. Blood diluted by the rainwater seeped into the dirt, disappearing into the mess of earth. Chi Ye lay on the ground, his entire body drenched and trembling from the cold. He tried to push himself up, but even his fingers refused to move.
For a fleeting moment, he had the unsettling thought that he might actually die here.
But he couldn’t die. He still had to—
Amidst the steady patter of rain, the sound of footsteps approaching gradually grew louder. In that moment, Chi Ye held his breath, his heart pounding. He tried his best to clench his frozen fist, but he still couldn't stand up.
The footsteps stopped beside him, no more than a couple of paces away.
Then came the faint sound of a zipper being undone.
Through his rain-blurred vision, he saw a large blue-and-white jacket, with the distinctive smell of new fabric, being draped over him.