My Deskmate Chapter 30
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 30
Wednesday was a turning point. Mondays and Tuesdays felt like a slog, but momentum picked up on Wednesday, making the weekend feel closer.
The bulletin board of Class 1 had just been updated. The publicity committee seemed to have chosen a bold approach. Whether it was for a shocking visual effect or because they simply ran out of chalk, the center of the board was dominated by a huge red rose. The sight made one feel as if it were still February, when a single red rose was sold for 52 yuan.
Zhao Yiyang rushed in from the back of the classroom and, without paying attention, rubbed his elbow against the blackboard. A patch of red chalk dust rubbed off onto his blue uniform. He instinctively looked ahead, only to lock eyes with the publicity officer, whose fiery glare was like a flame. He quickly hurried to his seat, pretending that the chalk stain had nothing to do with him.
He pulled a stack of test papers out of his bag and placed them on his desk. After the subject representative came by to collect the homework, he made sure to prominently display the problems he hadn't solved the night before. "Your Majesty, could I borrow your math test?"
Shangguan Yu, without even lifting his head, gave him a cold glance and a lazy reply, "I didn't solve it either. Kneel down and leave."
"Damn, where did Old Xu find all these impossible problems? I spent nearly an hour last night trying to solve them and still couldn't crack it. I'm starting to question if my IQ got left at school," Zhao Yiyang turned to ask Wen Xiao, "Wen Xiao, do you still have your math test?"
He was worried that Xu Rui might have already gotten there first.
"I do," Wen Xiao said, pulling out his test paper and handing it to him. Seeing that Zhao Yiyang didn’t take it right away, he asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Haha, nothing!" Zhao Yiyang laughed, stifling his amusement. "Is that jacket you’re wearing the one your mom bought for you?"
Wen Xiao’s school uniform zipper was half-closed, revealing a white sweatshirt with a few English letters visible.
Wen Xiao: "No, I bought it myself."
Zhao Yiyang cleared his throat. "Trendy, and the sentence is very accurate!"
Shangguan Yu, holding his pen, turned at the sound. "What’s accurate?"
"The English on Wen Xiao’s shirt. Although it’s just one sentence, it's clearly non-fiction literature." Zhao Yiyang stroked his chin. "The manufacturer of these clothes doesn't seem to have a high level of knowledge or culture. 'Beautiful boy' — beautiful is just too lowbrow. It doesn't do justice to Wen Xiao's looks."
Shangguan Yu also saw the sentence printed on Wen Xiao's sweatshirt. "How about pretty?"
Zhao Yiyang: "How about lovely?"
Shangguan Yu: "Gorgeous."
Zhao Yiyang: "Dazzling?"
"That word’s not bad," Shangguan Yu agreed with a nod. "I second that."
Wen Xiao waited for them to finish, then pointed at the clock on the wall. "It's time to hand in the homework. Do you still need the test?"
"Yes!" Zhao Yiyang took the test paper and placed it in the middle for him and Shangguan Yu to look at together.
Wen Xiao’s handwriting was strong and elegant, clearly the result of practice. Each step was precise, neither more nor less, far more pleasing to the eye than the standard answer that was all crammed together.
The first class was with Xu Guangqi. He arrived early and took a stroll around the classroom, flipping through the papers he’d collected. When it was time to start, he announced, "We won’t cover any new material today. I’ve gone over your homework, and it seems that fewer than ten people in the class managed to solve the second-to-last question. Almost everyone bombed the final question. Zhao Yiyang, Shangguan Yu, you both got them right. Did you solve the last one on your own, or did you peek at Wen Xiao’s?"
Worried that Old Xu might ask them to stand up and explain their thought process, the two of them quickly nodded in unison, as if wound up by a spring.
As expected, Old Xu placed his hands on the podium and struck a classic pose. "So, it seems that besides Wen Xiao and my subject rep, the rest of you all fell short on the last question. What’s the term for that again? Ah, right, disastrous! Let’s start with something simpler. First, we’ll take a look at the second-to-last question that had everyone pulling out their hair, and then we’ll tackle the final one that had everyone pulling out their heads. The second-to-last question, what was it about? Ah, yes, it was a function problem..."
He spent nearly twenty minutes on the problem, filling half the blackboard with notes. Pausing, he looked around eagerly and asked, "Did everyone get it?"
The classroom was mostly silent, with only a few people responding.
Taking a sip from his thermos, he muttered to himself, "Not surprised. If half of you understood it, that's already pretty good. No, if even just a third of you can understand, getting into a top university is no problem."
He rolled up his sleeves. "Now, let's take a look at the final question! Wen Xiao, come up to the board and write out your approach. I’ll take a break."
Wen Xiao stood up and walked toward the blackboard. As he passed by, the entire class turned to look at him. Many of them noticed the shirt underneath his school uniform — "beautiful boy" was boldly printed across the center.
Unfazed by the attention, Wen Xiao took a chalk from the blackboard tray and began writing out his solution.
It was at this moment that Chi Ye arrived. He stood in the doorway, catching a glimpse of Wen Xiao’s profile as he wrote at the board.
His deskmate, facing the blackboard, held the white chalk with long fingers. Because of the way he gripped the pen, calluses had formed on his middle finger joint and the tip of his index finger. Under his hand, the steps of the problem-solving process flowed seamlessly, neat and orderly, like a smooth stream.
The light streaming through the window traced the contours of Wen Xiao’s profile, highlighting his features in delicate detail.
After admiring the sight for a moment, Chi Ye unconsciously curved his lips into a smile.
When Wen Xiao finally set down the chalk, Chi Ye lazily spoke, "Reporting."
Xu Guangqi, who had been watching Wen Xiao’s precise and concise solving process with satisfaction, didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing at the door. It was definitely Chi Ye. What struck him as odd was that Chi Ye hadn’t snuck in through the back door as usual, but instead stood at the front door like a well-behaved student. He called, "Come in."
The classroom fell unusually quiet.
Chi Ye had his school bag slung over one shoulder, and his uniform zipper was undone, revealing a white sweatshirt underneath, with an English sentence printed across it.
He walked past the podium, heading toward the back row of the classroom, effortlessly drawing everyone’s gaze like a magnet.
Zhao Yiyang’s eyes widened. He glanced at Chi Ye’s shirt, then back at Wen Xiao standing by the blackboard. He muttered to himself, "What the hell? Did I forget to bring my eyes to class because I didn't sleep enough?"
Shangguan Yu adjusted his glasses. "I’m pretty freaked out too."
The two exchanged a look. In the end, it was Zhao Yiyang who voiced the bold, shocking question, "Are they wearing... couple outfits?"
After saying that, Zhao Yiyang quickly added, "Forgive my impure mind, but the only word I can come up with right now is this! Ugh, I mean, it must be a 'socialist comrades' outfit!"
Shangguan Yu: "Chief Eunuch, what’s the probability that Chi-ge and Wen Xiao both accidentally bought the same sweatshirt and wore it to school on the same day?"
Zhao Yiyang shouted in a hushed voice, "It's highly possible for regular sweatshirts to be the same, but beautiful boy? No way!"
The rest of the class was strangely quiet. Old Xu thought it was because the difficulty of the problem had stunned the students. As the bell for the break rang, he added a few more words, "This problem is tough, but don't be afraid! As long as you get used to difficult problems, when you encounter them in exams, you can face them calmly, just like a gentle breeze over a mountain."
As soon as Old Xu left, the classroom erupted. But no one spoke too loudly. Everyone kept their voices down, occasionally sneaking glances toward the back row.
Wen Xiao opened a plastic bag and pulled out his breakfast. The soy milk was still warm, just the right temperature to drink.
Zhao Yiyang turned around and saw the two of them in identical school uniforms and identical sweatshirts, one sipping soy milk, the other smiling as he watched.
He turned away, covering his eyes. "F*ck, that’s too much for my eyes! But, just based on looks, I actually think the compatibility score is a solid 101!"
Shangguan Yu: "Out of how much?"
Zhao Yiyang, with a face full of 'I shouldn't have said that,' answered, "A hundred."
The effect of the matching sweatshirts spread after Chi Ye and Wen Xiao finished their morning exercises and went upstairs.
Chi Ye felt like he was a chimpanzee on display at a free zoo.
"Deskmate, if we charged an entry fee for all the people who stand around the door, plus those who pretend to pass by and casually glance at us, wouldn't we be able to earn back the money we spent on the sweatshirts?" He spun his pen on the desk, thinking the idea wasn’t half bad. "Maximizing the economic potential, does it make sense?"
"Makes sense," Wen Xiao agreed. "I could stand at the door and charge the sightseeing tickets."
"No, it won’t work without the two of us. It’ll lose its effect." Chi Ye draped his arm over Wen Xiao's shoulder, his tone lazy. "Stop struggling, you can’t escape."
There was no threat in his words, only a playful undertone.
Wen Xiao didn’t struggle, but the coldness in his eyes and the sharpness in his brows clearly indicated he had no intention of cooperating with Chi Ye’s grand plan.
Wen Xiao wrote "x=" with his pen, then paused. The weight on his right shoulder was impossible to ignore. Even through the layers of school uniform and sweatshirt, the heat couldn't be blocked.
Chi Ye, oblivious to the effect he was having, tightened his grip on Wen Xiao's shoulder and pulled him closer. "What’s the next class?"
"Chinese." They were getting closer, close enough that their heads were nearly touching. Wen Xiao could see his own reflection in Chi Ye’s eyes, the gaze not quite deep but clear enough to catch every detail.
The distance was so narrow now that one could see the spacing between the other person’s eyelashes, the shape of his pupils, the curve of his nose, and the lines of his lips—
Chi Ye suddenly withdrew his hand, as if his palm had been burned by a spark. This was the furthest he could get from Wen Xiao in that moment. His throat felt inexplicably dry, and he awkwardly tried to fill the silence, "Your eyelashes are really long."
Wen Xiao: "Your eyelashes aren't short either."
After such a pointless exchange, both of them caught a hint of a smile in each other's eyes.
Xu Rui wandered around the classroom for a bit, trying to shake off his anxiety. He stopped by the last row and asked, "Chi-ge, the midterm’s coming up soon. Are you nervous?"
Chi Ye tugged at the sweatshirt under his school uniform, then enunciated clearly, reading the English words on it: "I am so happy."
Xu Rui: "......"
I shouldn’t have asked that question.
He looked troubled and continued, "My dad’s traveling all the way back on a high-speed train to attend my parent-teacher meeting. Maybe he’s finally had a change of heart and remembered he has a son he abandoned at home years ago. Do you think it’s too late if I buy some ribs and fruits to bribe Old Xu, so he can say something nice about me at the meeting?"
Zhao Yiyang curiously asked, "Is your dad very fierce?"
Xu Rui nodded. "Just imagine a scene with a lion and a lamb. That’s basically me and my dad."
Zhao Yiyang sized Xu Rui up and down. "Genetics are unreliable. If your dad’s a lion, how come you turned out so weak?"
"I’m here for some comfort, not for a life critique, my friend!" Xu Rui nearly snapped, feeling like there was no hope of getting any sympathy from this group. He quickly changed the topic, "So, who’s coming to your parent-teacher meetings?"
Mingnan Affiliated High School had strict rules about this. They believed that parents should be involved in their child’s education and development, so it was mandatory for every student's parents to attend the meeting.
Zhao Yiyang kicked his legs up, grinning proudly. "My housekeeper."
Instantly, he was met with envious looks. A housekeeper? That was perfect. He could secretly collude and avoid getting scolded by his parents.
Shangguan Yu decided to share his own tragic situation to comfort Xu Rui. "My dad, he's a lawyer."
Xu Rui immediately felt some relief. "Poor you, your ears are going to suffer."
Everyone in the class knew that Chi Ye's parents never attended his parent-teacher meetings. Xu Rui skipped over asking him and turned to Wen Xiao instead. "Wen Xiao, who’s coming from your family?"
The date for the parent-teacher meeting had already been set. Wen Xiao was sure his grandmother didn’t have any plans that day, so she could come to the school. A split second before giving his answer, he thought of something and changed his response. "Someone in my family has something else to attend to, so they won’t be coming."
At that, Chi Ye glanced over at Wen Xiao.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, but Wen Xiao quickly looked away, avoiding Chi Ye’s gaze.