My Deskmate Chapter 22
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 22
Wen Xiao’s cold didn’t show much improvement throughout the day. When he got home from evening self-study, his grandmother stood on her toes and gently touched his forehead with concern. "Should we go to the hospital? Your fever's still there. Have you taken your medicine?"
"I've taken it," Wen Xiao replied, pulling on his black backpack strap. He lowered his head, letting his grandmother feel his forehead. "Feel again, it's cooler than this morning."
He hunched his back, his thin, youthful figure clearly outlined beneath the school uniform.
His grandmother checked his temperature again. "It’s a bit cooler than this morning, but let’s wait until tomorrow. If it’s still bad, we’ll go to the hospital, alright?"
"But don’t you have a meeting tomorrow?" Wen Xiao changed into his slippers and walked inside.
His grandmother looked at him, puzzled. "How did you know?"
"The news mentioned a physics-related academic conference in the city. The reporters listed the names of the attendees, and 'Lu Dongqing' was at the very top. Also, I brought in the invitation for you earlier." He understood her worry. "You won’t be able to make my cold go away by staying home. It’s already better."
His grandmother still wasn’t reassured. "I—"
"You’ve been talking about meeting up with old friends, right?" Wen Xiao interrupted. "Go ahead. If anything happens, I’ll call you."
The next morning, Chi Ye dropped Yaya off at school, then went back to the store to order a batch of goods. When he finished, it was already 10 am. He found his school uniform and had just put it on when his phone rang.
The call connected, and Zhao Yiyang’s voice came through. “Chi-ge, where are you?”
Chi Ye held the phone between his shoulder and neck as he zipped up his school jacket. “I’m about to head to school. What’s up?”
Zhao Yiyang was probably calling from the men's restroom. There was an echo in his voice, occasionally interrupted by the sound of flushing. "It’s nothing major, but Wen Xiao still hasn’t come to school."
Chi Ye paused, his hand stopping on the zipper. "Has he asked Old Xu for leave?"
"That's the thing, he didn't. Xu Rui went to the office to inquire but didn’t manage to get an answer. I had to talk to Old Xu myself. I told him Wen Xiao’s fever’s gotten worse, and he’s heading to the hospital for an IV drip. I forced a sick leave slip for him. You two live nearby, right? If you have time, can you check on him? It’d be pretty lonely if he passed out at home alone... F*ck, what's that stinky smell? Chi-ge, I gotta hang up!"
Holding the phone, Chi Ye thought back to Wen Xiao’s condition the night before, then peeled off his jacket and set it down.
Wen Xiao felt as if he were drowning in a sea, his whole body stiff and frozen, drained of all strength. He could no longer hold onto the floatboard. A vague fear of dying immediately crept into his mind, but a hint of anticipation also arose in his heart — if he let go of the floatboard, would he finally be able to...
“Bang, bang, bang—”
He was suddenly jerked awake from the dream, his heart pounding violently, each thud ringing in his ears. It took several seconds for his breathing to calm down. His eyes felt sore and his lips were chapped. Sitting up in bed, Wen Xiao took a moment to realize that the continuous sound was a knock on the door.
Swinging his legs off the bed, Wen Xiao padded barefoot across the wooden floor to open the door. "Chi Ye?"
His voice, still at the tail end of puberty, combined with the cold, sounded deep and hoarse.
Chi Ye had been knocking for a long time before the door finally opened. He had already mentally prepared for the possibility that Wen Xiao might have passed out at home. But when the door opened, he let out a sigh of relief, taking in the sight of Wen Xiao standing inside. The boy was wearing a loose, plain white T-shirt, looking even thinner than usual. He was barefoot, without even slippers on. "Is your cold better?"
Wen Xiao glanced down at his feet. "It’s not cold in here." He turned and walked further inside, tossing over his shoulder, "Slippers are in the cabinet. Help yourself."
Chi Ye slipped on the slippers and walked in, his voice casual. "Zhao Yiyang called me, said you didn’t go to school and didn’t ask for leave. He wanted me to come check on you."
He wasn’t sure why he’d said it. Maybe to make it seem like he wasn’t coming over just because he wanted to?
"I overslept." Wen Xiao’s hair was a bit messy from the night’s sleep, his glasses missing, and his face still pale. He probably had sweat through a few layers the night before, leaving his skin clammy and uncomfortable. He pointed toward his desk. "Sit down. I’m going to take a shower."
Without hesitation, Chi Ye pulled out the chair and sat down. He glanced out the window, his eyes catching something. "Is that my window?"
"Yeah."
"You knew about it already?" Chi Ye turned back just in time to see Wen Xiao standing in front of the wardrobe, lifting the hem of his shirt with both hands and tossing the white T-shirt onto the bed.
Wen Xiao looked thin, but it was clear he was still in a growing phase. His body was lean, with a thin layer of muscle that covered him evenly, especially around his waist and abdomen, where faint outlines of abs showed, rising and falling with each breath.
With this observation, Chi Ye finally understood where the explosive power came from when Wen Xiao fought.
As Wen Xiao's fingers rested on the edge of his pants, he remembered there was still another living person in the room. Wen Xiao paused and answered the question Chi Ye had just asked. "I’m not blind. I can see." After speaking, he took a step toward the bathroom.
Chi Ye felt a bit bored.
There wasn’t much to look at outside the window. He briefly locked eyes with an orange cat on the windowsill across from him, then quickly looked away, his gaze landing on the pile of textbooks and study materials scattered across Wen Xiao’s desk.
The textbooks ranged from the first year of high school all the way to the third year, and none of them were new — each one had clearly been well-used. There weren’t many supplementary materials, just one or two, but upon closer inspection, the pages in the first half of the books had a noticeably different color compared to the latter half, indicating they had been flipped through countless times.
It was only halfway through the semester, and yet Wen Xiao was putting in so much effort.
Chi Ye’s eyes drifted to the exam paper spread out in front of him. It was a math test. The multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections were completed. The later, bigger problems were also filled in, except for the last one, which only had two lines of work.
Chi Ye read through the problem. Something didn’t add up. This question would have stumped Zhao Yiyang and the others, but with Wen Xiao’s level, he should have been able to solve it. Chi Ye took another look and figured it out. Wen Xiao had missed a key point in the material, which was why he couldn’t finish the problem.
Chi Ye picked up the pen, intending to fill in the solution, but then he remembered the persona he had to maintain and stopped himself.
However, his hand itched to write something, and his eyes kept drifting back to the problem. In the end, Chi Ye came up with a compromise. He grabbed a blue sticky note and quickly scribbled out the solution. After reading through it once more and confirming it was a perfect answer, he was satisfied. He peeled off the note, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the trash can.
Just as he made a perfect shot into the bin, Wen Xiao walked back in. He had changed into new clothes, and his hair was still damp from the shower. Chi Ye leaned forward, sniffing the air curiously. "It’s that smell... the scent you wear, deskmate."
The shampoo and body wash were both brands from abroad, bought by Wen Xiao’s grandmother. Wen Xiao didn’t pay much attention to what he was using. He simply washed. Seeing Chi Ye lounging casually in the chair, looking bored, his long legs stretched out as if every bone in his body had shattered, unable to support him, made Wen Xiao feel a sudden urge to pick a fight.
Chi Ye, completely unaware of his deskmate’s mood, asked, “Are you going to school?”
After a full night’s sleep and a shower, Wen Xiao felt a little more at ease. He nodded. “Yeah. Are you going?”
"Of course. School is my favorite place." Chi Ye stood up and stepped aside. He leaned against the edge of the desk, watching Wen Xiao pack up his books and pens while making idle conversation. "What time did you stop studying last night?"
“Two-thirty.” Wen Xiao finished organizing his textbooks, then stuffed a pile of test papers into his bag along with his pens.
“That late? Didn’t the cold medicine help with sleep?”
Wen Xiao paused for a moment while zipping up his bag but still answered, “Couldn’t sleep.”
The cold medicine and sleeping pills didn’t work for him. When he couldn’t sleep, nothing would help. The only thing that worked was sitting at his desk, doing problems to clear his mind. Only when he was mentally exhausted from studying could he finally fall asleep after lying down.
Although they lived nearby, they had never taken the bus to school together.
Bus 117 was practically empty at this hour. Wen Xiao didn’t bother looking for a seat. He simply reached up to grab the overhead strap. Chi Ye stood beside him, one hand in his pocket, choosing the strap two positions away from Wen Xiao.
Both of them were slim, with long fingers and knuckles that protruded slightly, their wrists showing the bony roundness. Below, the same shade of blue from their school uniforms covered their arms.
The dangling straps swayed with the movement of the bus, and tree shadows, dancing in the sunlight, filtered in through the windows. Chi Ye squinted slightly against the light, overwhelmed by the illusion that time was passing slowly and leisurely.
They arrived at the classroom just in time for the last class of the morning.
Standing at the door, Chi Ye called out, “Reporting.”
Old Xu, upon seeing them, asked Wen Xiao first, “Feeling better?”
Wen Xiao nodded. “A little better.”
“That’s good. There’s been a lot of flu going around recently. If you’re sick, you should see a doctor and take medicine quickly. Don’t let it affect your studies,” Old Xu said, waving them off. “Go on, take a seat.”
As Wen Xiao walked forward, Chi Ye started to follow, but Old Xu called out, “Wait.”
Chi Ye turned, giving his best "I’m all ears" expression. He was usually a bit careless, his uniform worn loosely and sloppily, but with his good looks, bright smile, and youthful energy, no one ever really got mad at him, even though he consistently scored just around sixty in every exam.
Old Xu hesitated for a moment, then dismissed him with a wave. “Forget it, go sit down.”
Chi Ye lazily grinned. “Thanks, Teacher.”
"Für Elise" began to play, signaling the end of class. Zhao Yiyang quickly turned around and sized up Wen Xiao. "You look a little better than yesterday."
"Mm." Wen Xiao nodded, his voice less hoarse than the day before. "Thanks."
Zhao Yiyang felt a bit embarrassed. "You should thank Chi-ge. I only made a call."
At that moment, Xu Rui leaned in. "The new magazine arrived. I finished it last night..."
Wen Xiao didn’t really listen to the rest, as his phone, tucked into his desk, vibrated.
He unlocked his phone and saw a small red dot on the green WeChat icon. Wen Xiao tapped it open, and at the top of the message list was a profile picture with a completely black avatar.
Chi Ye: "Shouldn't you thank me too?"
Wen Xiao glanced over at Chi Ye, who was sitting next to him, discreetly fiddling with his phone. He didn’t understand why Chi Ye had sent him a message, but still, he replied, "Thanks."
A second later, Chi Ye sent a sticker of a black-and-white panda with its hands clasped in front, accompanied by the words: "No big deal."
Wen Xiao read it and immediately retracted his "Thanks" message.
Almost instantly, Chi Ye sent a string of ellipses.
"Wen Xiao, are you going to read the new magazine? It features a newly debuted girl group in navy uniforms, all with long legs. If you want to see it, Shangguan can pass it to you after he's done reading!"
Wen Xiao put his phone back into his desk, shaking his head. "You guys go ahead. I’m not interested."
Xu Rui, not willing to give up, turned to Chi Ye. "What about you, Chi-ge? Do you want to look at it?"
Chi Ye put his phone down. "Not interested."
"No way!" Xu Rui whispered. "We’re in our teenage years. Are you trying to act cool by saying you're not interested? Chi-ge, you really don't want to see it?"
Chi Ye, slightly irritated, lazily responded, "If you keep talking, I’ll report you to Old Xu."
Xu Rui, now protective of his precious magazine, groaned, "Damn, Chi-ge, you’re ruthless!"
That threat was the only thing that worked. When Xu Rui finally stopped his rambling, Chi Ye rummaged through his desk for a while before pulling out a brand-new notebook. Drawing a line on a page, he turned to Wen Xiao. "Want to play five-in-a-row?"
Wen Xiao swapped his pen for a red one. "Sure."
After evening study, Wen Xiao returned home to find his grandmother still wasn’t back. He went into the study, turned on the light, and had just pulled out his homework when his phone rang.
Chi Ye: "Are you home?"
Wen Xiao quickly sent back a question mark.
Chi Ye: "Your bedroom light is on."
After a moment, a picture of Detective Conan came through.
It seemed to have been quickly drawn, with sketchy lines and uneven ink. It was meant to look cool, but when Chi Ye drew it, the corners of its mouth were turned up a bit, and the horizontal line was unnecessarily extended.
Upon a second glance, the expression seemed a bit too bold, maybe even a little smug.
Wen Xiao held down the image and tapped "Save."
At that moment, he didn’t even realize that he had relaxed into his chair, his breathing easing.
He typed "Nice drawing" and sent it, then put his phone down, grabbing a piece of paper to wipe the ink smudge on his pen tip.
As he tossed the scrap into the trash, his eyes landed on a pale blue paper ball inside the bin.
Recognizing it wasn’t from him, Wen Xiao picked it up and unfolded it.
It was a palm-sized light blue sticky note, filled with a series of formulas and calculations neatly written out in flowing and vigorous handwriting. Each step was clear and easy to follow.
Wen Xiao immediately recognized it as the solution to the math problem he couldn’t solve the night before.
At the very bottom, the person had casually drawn a simple Detective Conan face, the corners of its mouth turned up at an exaggerated angle.
It was identical to the picture sent earlier.