My Deskmate Chapter 29 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 29.1
Wen Xiao tossed the garbage question back to him. "Deskmate, what do you think?"
Chi Ye pretended to think hard, but his hands couldn't stay still. Without a pen to twirl, he threw his phone into the air and caught it, joking, "Well... I do have an idea. One of us could get surgery and change our gender. Otherwise, we’re doing a disservice to this five-star mutual attraction rating. What do you think, deskmate?"
Although Wen Xiao had already predicted that Chi Ye wouldn't say anything helpful, he still couldn't help but respond with, "F*ck off."
Chi Ye laughed uncontrollably. Teasing his deskmate was indeed a particularly flavorful seasoning of life.
In the class group chat, Zhao Yiyang sent several long voice messages. The total length of the voice messages was over four minutes, which was quite impressive. Chi Ye tossed his phone aside and ignored the group chat. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. "Come on, how about a game of five-in-a-row?"
Since there was only one pen, they sat facing each other, taking turns. He’d draw a dot, and Wen Xiao would take the pen to add another.
Chi Ye interrupted Wen Xiao’s strategic planning. "Luckily, Yaya is naive. She still thinks that Qian guy took her to a corner just to steal her lollipop. After we got back, she placed her candy jar by her bedside. If it weren't for the tin can being cold to the touch, she would have hugged it tightly even while sleeping. When she woke up, she concluded that since adults didn't like candies, the guy must have been after my phone instead. Just as I was about to leave, she came running after me barefoot, clutching her candy jar, and earnestly reminded me to watch my phone carefully so no one could steal it. Guess what she said next?"
"What?"
"She said, 'If your phone gets stolen, I won’t be able to watch English cartoons anymore.'" He shook his head in amusement. "She's really my little sister, so realistic."
Wen Xiao’s fingers grasped the pencil, which was still warm from Chi Ye’s touch. He carefully drew a dot. “She didn’t cry anymore?”
“No, she’s fine now. When I got back, she was happily watching cartoons. She wouldn’t even come to the store with me.” Chi Ye took the pencil and twirled it absentmindedly between his fingers. “Deskmate, this is so boring. The game’s no fun when there’s no real prize. How about we set a reward?”
“What kind of reward?”
Chi Ye raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Anything. The loser has to grant the winner one wish. What do you think?”
Wen Xiao had no objections. “Deal.”
With the prize in place, both of their expressions became more focused, and the time they took to consider each move grew longer. Back and forth they went, setting up traps and cutting off roads.
Wen Xiao placed a solid dot and handed the pencil to Chi Ye. He noticed that Chi Ye had abandoned his usual carefree, lazy grin. His sharp, straight nose cast a shadow, giving his face a slightly more intense, even fierce, look.
When the game finally came to a close, with one of them victorious, Chi Ye’s lips curled into a smile. He spun the pencil a few times in his hand, then grabbed the soda beside him. “You won. I admit defeat. Go ahead, ask for your wish. I’ll grant it.”
He took a sip of the cold soda.
Then, he heard his deskmate, with a completely serious tone, say, “You should get that surgery, then. That way, you’ll actually deserve those five stars.”
Chi Ye almost choked on his soda. He set the can down and looked up, meeting Wen Xiao’s gaze. The faint smile in his deskmate’s eyes was enough to make him laugh. “Damn, you’re ruthless. I'm taking back what I said!”
Wen Xiao changed his request. “On Monday, bring me breakfast?”
Chi Ye’s expression softened. “That’s easy. Soy milk with three parts sugar, no problem.”
After spending most of the morning at Chi Ye’s place, Wen Xiao headed home with his backpack. His grandmother had already bought groceries and was busy cooking.
When she saw him come in with his backpack, his grandmother asked curiously, “Did you have extra classes this morning?”
Wen Xiao nodded. “Yeah, I had makeup classes for half the day.”
“I see. No wonder you were still in your school uniform and carrying your backpack on Saturday,” his grandmother said, not suspecting anything. She smiled and added, “Studying must be exhausting. I made pork rib and lotus root soup for lunch. Come try it and see if it’s too salty.”
Wen Xiao dropped his backpack by the door. “I’ll be right there.”
After dinner, Wen Xiao threw on a black hoodie and headed out. He walked through the winding alleyways of Jiuzhang Road twice, memorizing the locations of all the security cameras.
On Monday, Chi Ye was carrying soy milk and steamed buns as he made his way up to the third floor. On the way, he ran into Xu Guangqi.
Xu Guangqi’s eyes landed on the plastic bag dangling from Chi Ye’s fingers. With the sharp intuition of a high school homeroom teacher, he asked cautiously, “Did you skip breakfast this morning?”
Chi Ye answered honestly, “I already ate.”
Xu Guangqi raised his chin slightly. “Then who is this sumptuous breakfast for, some female classmate?”
Xu Guangqi, having been a homeroom teacher for over a decade, believed he had developed an extremely sharp eye. In the first year of high school, things were still calm. Everyone was new to the school, still adjusting. The outbreak of early dating wasn't that serious. Aside from those who fell head over heels at first sight, most students kept to themselves.
By their second year, everything had transformed dramatically. The change was as stark as night and day. They had acclimated to the environment, grown more confident, and deepened their connections with one another. After months of covert glances, many students finally confessed their feelings. The hallways became populated with couples exchanging affectionate looks and walking hand in hand, which gave Xu Guangqi a headache.
What was this obsession with romance? Study, study!
Sometimes, when he encountered students dating across classes, Xu Guangqi would even meet with the other class’ homeroom teacher and offer a warning. Things like, "Tell that little piglet of yours to stop bothering my little cabbage!" or, "Take a good look at the math scores of some of your students. Do they really think they can date someone from my class who consistently scores above 130? They won’t have a single thing in common!"
Although Chi Ye was good-looking enough to catch the attention of plenty of girls, he was rarely around, so if he were to start a relationship, it would likely be long-distance. As they were approaching their third year, he hadn't shown any interest in romance.
But bringing breakfast, something so subtly suggestive, was a first for Chi Ye. Xu Guangqi’s alertness immediately shot up.
Chi Ye lifted the plastic bag in his hand. “What girl? It’s for my deskmate.”
“Wen Xiao?” Xu Guangqi’s gaze was skeptical, thinking this was most likely just an excuse.
Chi Ye was unfazed. “Yep, for him. We were playing five-in-a-row, he won, and as the loser, I promised to bring him breakfast on Monday. I’m just keeping my word.”
The reasoning made sense and didn’t sound fabricated. Xu Guangqi let it go but still warned him, "I’m telling you, don’t think just because you’re good-looking you can go around messing with female students!"
Chi Ye brought his fingers together in a mock salute in front of his forehead, replying lazily, "Alright, got it. I’ll make sure to behave!"
When he arrived at the classroom, Xu Rui was crouched next to Zhao Yiyang’s desk, discussing a problem. He’d just written a self-reflection, and was keeping a low profile.
Seeing Chi Ye place breakfast on Wen Xiao’s desk, Xu Rui twirled his pen and whispered to Zhao Yiyang, "Are Chi-ge and Wen Xiao really not betrothed from birth?"
Zhao Yiyang, whose hair was nearly falling out from the torment of the last physics question, didn’t even look up. "Didn’t they already deny it?"
"I don’t know, but it seems like they might as well be childhood sweethearts. Chi-ge actually brought breakfast for him! Breakfast! I’ve lived a long time, but this is new to me!" Xu Rui’s gaze inadvertently wandered towards Shangguan Yu’s side, and his attention quickly shifted. "Holy shit, you actually solved that problem by yourself? I thought we were supposed to be brothers in arms, solving this problem together!"
Chi Ye pulled out a chair and sat down. "They didn't ask you?"
Whenever Zhao Yiyang and the others couldn't solve a problem together, they would usually come to Wen Xiao for the solution.
Wen Xiao didn’t stop writing as he answered, "Yeah, they said something about not accepting handouts and asked me not to give them the answer directly, so they could think for themselves."
"Handouts?" Chi Ye laughed. "I’m different. As long as it’s from you, I’ll take it."
Wen Xiao paused, glancing at Chi Ye. His voice was cool. "You talk too much."
Chi Ye smiled. "I usually don’t talk much."
The unspoken implication: Only when I’m talking to you.
Wen Xiao: "......"
After overhearing the conversation, Zhao Yiyang leaned over to Xu Rui and whispered, "Hey, academic officer, can you use an idiom to describe the conversation between Chi-ge and Wen Xiao just now?"
Xu Rui scratched his head, and his first thought was, "Flirtatious bantering?"
"What? That's some inappropriate language. If you use that in your Chinese exam, you'll lose points. Flirtatious bantering refers to romantic teasing between a man and a woman, but that’s not the situation here. Pick something else!"
Xu Rui thought for a while, then brightened up. "I’ve got it! This is definitely it: a war of lips and tongues!" (T/N: a war of lips and tongues — verbal showdown hehe~)
"A war of lips and tongues?" Zhao Yiyang hesitated. "But it seems a bit—"
Shangguan Yu pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and joined the discussion. "That phrase is too intense. It might lead to inappropriate associations."
"Ahem." Zhao Yiyang cleared his throat and raised his voice, trying to sound serious. "Alright, classmates, let’s focus. Now, let’s see which angle we should approach this physics problem from!"
In the afternoon, after finishing the eighth period of English class, Wen Xiao asked Xu Guangqi for leave to go to the school clinic. In truth, he slipped out of the school by scaling the wall behind the supermarket, his backpack carefully hidden.
His grandmother wasn’t home. Wen Xiao changed into a plain black outfit, put on a mask and a baseball cap, and even slipped heightening insoles into his shoes before heading out.
Qian Zhengliang finished work at six and, as usual, took the shortest route home. That road saved time, and since it was usually quiet, he never had to worry about running into anyone.
But today was different. Qian Zhengliang heard footsteps behind him, yet when he turned around, there was no one in sight.
Once might have been a trick of the mind, but after a few more times, Qian Zhengliang began to feel uneasy. He quickened his pace, hurrying to finish the narrow street, but the further he went, the more certain he was that someone was following him!
His workplace was not far from home, and he had walked this route for over a decade. He knew every detail such as what store had changed its lights, which shop had put up a new sign. Breathing heavily in panic, he hurried, reaching the vicinity of Jiuzhang Road. After hesitating for a moment, he didn’t follow his usual path but instead turned into an alley, hoping to shake off whoever was tailing him.
Meanwhile, Wen Xiao, having entered the alley after the person, suddenly stopped.
The alley was lined with old residential buildings, most of which were now abandoned. The ground floor was surrounded by a crumbling wall, its cement peeling away to reveal the red bricks beneath. Posters of various small ads were pasted on it, and in white paint, a sign read, “No dumping trash here.”
The sky was darkening, and the streetlights hadn’t come on yet, leaving the area in a dim haze. Wen Xiao stood still, eyeing the person blocking his path.
The person standing in front of him was Chi Ye.