My Deskmate Chapter 31 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 31.2
Although they called it a feast, it was really just the barbeque restaurant next to the school.
The BBQ restaurant was called "Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division BBQ." If Old Xu saw it, he’d probably accuse them of riding on the coattails of mathematics. The place wasn’t small, but it was packed with students in their school uniforms. It seemed like a lot of people had the same idea as them.
With no space in the main area, the four of them headed to a private room on the second floor. The room was simple, obviously partitioned with boards by the owner. They could hear the group next door arguing over the answers. When they couldn’t agree on a few multiple-choice questions, someone would yell out, probably because they’d gotten too many wrong.
Wen Xiao opened WeChat and looked at the reply from Chi Ye. "Chi Ye’s got something to do and can’t make it."
"Chi-ge’s busy? Guess we’ll have to wait for next time." Zhao Yiyang pulled out a plastic chair and sat down, flipping through the menu. "I can’t guarantee much, but I’ll bet Chi-ge is going to score 60 in every subject this time!"
"Does that even need betting? You could guess with your eyes closed. Old Xu is probably going to use Chi-ge as an example again." Xu Rui cleared his throat, imitating Old Xu’s voice. "I don’t ask you to improve, but at least don’t regress! Look at Chi Ye, he’s been getting 60 for a year or two now. Can you do that? Can you? I’ll fry you eggs in my palm if you can be that consistent!"
Zhao Yiyang laughed so hard that he nearly dropped the pen he was using to write down the menu. "Hahaha, you really nailed the way he sounds! The last line was perfect!"
"Had to." Xu Rui grinned proudly. "But Chi-ge takes it to the next level. He's so consistent that no one can figure out if he’s a study failure or a genius. I’ve thought about it — getting a 60 isn’t that hard. Just do the basic questions and make sure you get them all right."
Shangguan Yu cut straight to the point. "With the distribution and difficulty of the questions, getting a 60 is impossible for me."
Xu Rui stroked his chin thoughtfully. "True. To lock in that 60, you'd need to have a good grasp of the entire test, so you can hit the mark precisely."
Chi Ye wasn’t there, so they were left to guess blindly. But even if Chi Ye had been present, they wouldn’t have asked him directly.
Zhao Yiyang, according to his usual appetite, ordered four times the amount of food, filling up an entire table.
The owner, wearing black plastic slippers and with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, brought the food over with a friendly smile. "You must be tired from the exams. Here, I’ll treat you to some cold seaweed salad, and I wish you—"
He froze, unable to think of an ending for his blessing.
Zhao Yiyang and the others waited eagerly for the rest of the sentence, but the owner walked away without finishing. They all stared down in devastation, and Zhao Yiyang almost collapsed onto the floor, clutching the table legs in despair. "It’s over, it’s over! The owner couldn’t even think of a blessing. This is a bad omen! Bad omen!"
Wen Xiao was texting with Chi Ye.
Chi Ye: "Waiting for the food?"
Wen Xiao: "No, just making some idealistic predictions."
Although the omen didn’t start off well, once the meat slices began to sizzle and release oil, the atmosphere lightened up.
Xu Rui started another of his speeches. "You guys remember the stone lantern next to the statue of Confucius at the school entrance, right? Before this exam, a lot of people queued up to rub the top of that lantern after evening study, saying it would improve their luck. If they threw erasers to answer multiple-choice questions, their accuracy would rise to 70%! It's said to be super effective."
At the mention of multiple-choice questions, Zhao Yiyang’s face fell. "Drowning my sorrows in drink. The ancients surely wouldn’t lie to me!" He wrote something on the menu and looked up to ask, "Anyone want some?"
Everyone nodded, and Zhao Yiyang confidently wrote "X8" after "ice beer," adding, "Eight cans, two per person. If it’s not enough, we’ll order more."
Not long after, the owner came back. "We’re short on beer, only six cans left, so I brought them all. I also grabbed two bottles of white liquor. Want them?"
At this age, a tree lives on its bark, a light bulb lives on its glass. Even if they weren’t going to drink, they had to say, "Sure," or they'd lose face.
The owner placed the items down and closed the door behind him.
Xu Rui stared at the glass bottles on the table. "The white liquor may be in smaller bottles, but it’s strong. None of us can handle it, right?"
Since there was no need to pretend in front of their own people, Zhao Yiyang suggested, "When we leave later, we’ll pour the liquor out and keep the empty bottles."
Shangguan Yu nodded. "Clever."
Six cans of iced beer were shared, one per person, leaving two cans sitting off to the side. Both the pepper chicken and spicy beef were fiery. After finishing the two plates of meat, they had almost finished all the beer as a way to relieve the spiciness.
Xu Rui was hunched over, counting the number of peppercorns with the same patience he used for math Olympiad problems. After a few drinks, he couldn’t keep his thoughts in anymore. “I may be scared of my dad, but when he comes home for parent-teacher meetings, I’m actually happy. I get to talk to him, even if most of the time it’s just him yelling at me. But hey, that counts as a conversation, right?”
Zhao Yiyang understood. “I get you. I wish one of my parents would just show up randomly, but they’re too busy to come. What can I do? Nothing. So, I just deal with the housekeeper.”
He squeezed his beer can and clinked it with Xu Rui’s.
In that moment, the two of them felt like brothers, born of different fathers and mothers, both wishing they could sing “Fellow Sufferers in this World.”
Wen Xiao sat in the corner. The sounds of their conversation drilled into his ears, and he couldn’t help but think — if his parents were still around, they would definitely take time off or rearrange their schedules to be there for his parent-teacher meeting.
He had always been a child who didn’t cause any trouble, but every year for the parent-teacher meeting, his parents were always eager, saying they couldn’t neglect him just because he was easy to manage.
His beer can was empty, and the two extra bottles had been divided between Zhao Yiyang and Xu Rui. Wen Xiao felt a heavy weight in his chest, like a cotton ball soaked in water. He reached out and opened the small bottle of white liquor in the corner.
Half an hour later, the three of them looked at Wen Xiao, slightly dazed.
Shangguan Yu adjusted his glasses. “Can someone tell me what we do now?”
“No experience with this, but we definitely can't send him home. If we get caught drinking, I'll get scolded by my parents before I even get to the parent-teacher meeting.” Zhao Yiyang thought for a moment. “Should we call Chi-ge?”
Xu Rui didn’t understand. “Why call Chi-ge? Didn’t he say he couldn’t come because he had something to do?”
“Are you dumb? Chi-ge and Wen Xiao are neighbors. It makes sense to call him!” Zhao Yiyang snapped.
By the time Chi Ye arrived, the three of them were playing games together, teaming up to mess with their two teammates.
“Drunk?” Chi Ye walked into the room and immediately spotted Wen Xiao sitting on a plastic chair. He looked the same as usual, sitting up straight and looking well-behaved. His face was cold and expressionless, the only difference being a slight blush on his cheeks.
“We didn’t even realize it. Xu Rui was talking about his dad, I shared a bit about my family, and Shangguan Yu mentioned his dad who loves the law books more than he loves him. By the time we finished talking, Wen Xiao had already downed most of the bottle of white liquor,” Zhao Yiyang said, then couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. “Impressive!”
Chi Ye immediately understood after hearing that.
He walked over to Wen Xiao and called his name.
Wen Xiao looked up at the sound, his gaze meeting Chi Ye’s. “Didn’t you say you had something to do and couldn’t make it?”
Chi Ye: “I’m here to take you home.”
Wen Xiao’s brain took a moment to process the meaning of those words, then he stood up. “Let’s go then.”
He stood steadily, his steps firm. He wasn’t dizzy, and there was no urge to throw up.
Zhao Yiyang eyed him with suspicion. “Is he drunk or not?”
Chi Ye reached out and gripped Wen Xiao’s arm. Wen Xiao lazily lifted his eyelids, recognized who was standing in front of him, and made no attempt to pull away.
“He’s drunk,” Chi Ye concluded. “I’ll take him home. You guys good to head back on your own?”
The three of them, who had only had one or two cans of beer, quickly nodded. “No problem. After we finish digging a pit, uh, I mean, after we finish this match, we’ll head out.”
Stepping out of the stuffy barbecue restaurant, the cool breeze hit their faces. Chi Ye stayed close behind Wen Xiao, eyes fixed on him, ready to catch him in case he collapsed without warning.
Wen Xiao’s head ached. He could sense someone gripping his arm, and when he lowered his eyes, he saw fingers pressed against the crook of his elbow. The nails were neatly trimmed, the joints long and slender.
His gaze drifted upward, and eventually, it landed on the sharp, clean lines of Chi Ye’s profile.
“Chi Ye?”
“It’s me.”
Wen Xiao nodded. The next second, it was as if his legs gave out, and he collapsed into Chi Ye’s arms.
Chi Ye quickly caught him. Tsk, his hands felt nothing but bone, hard and without much flesh, the standard skinny build of a teenage boy.
Hailing a taxi, Chi Ye helped Wen Xiao into the backseat, settled him, and climbed in himself, shutting the door behind them.
He gave the destination, and the taxi started moving. Outside the window, the neon lights blurred into lines, flowing like water. The shifting light and shadows fell on Wen Xiao’s profile, making his expression seem unusually vivid, almost as if it were more alive than usual.
Chi Ye asked, “What made you drink the white liquor?”
Wen Xiao didn’t turn his head but answered the question, “I was thinking about my parents.”
Chi Ye was certain Wen Xiao was probably drunk. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have answered like that. If he couldn’t be bothered to make up an answer, he would’ve just given him a glance and ignored the question completely.
A thought crossed Chi Ye’s mind, and he asked, “Why didn’t you let your parents come to the parent-teacher meeting?”
Asking that question made Chi Ye nervous.
Wen Xiao’s answer came out as if it had been unlocked by a truth serum. “Chi Ye would be upset.”
Hearing that answer, something deep inside Chi Ye stirred, tickled by the faintest touch, like a feather.
He couldn’t quite describe the feeling. Chi Ye thought he’d gotten used to it by now. Used to seeing every other student's parents at school events, except his. His seat had always been the only one empty, always empty.
He had always thought he didn’t care. What was the big deal?
Really, it wasn’t a big deal at all.
But now, at this moment, he realized that it was still a little... something.
It was just that this time, at the parent-teacher meeting, there was one person like him, with an empty desk, a seat that no one sat in.
Unable to resist, Chi Ye reached out and pinched Wen Xiao's earlobe, quickly pulling his hand back before Wen Xiao could frown.
He glanced at the driver, making sure the driver had earphones in, either listening to the navigation or a broadcast, and wasn’t paying attention to the back seat. Chi Ye leaned in closer to Wen Xiao, a few questions running through his mind. He finally picked one. “What kind of person am I, in your eyes?”
Wen Xiao’s dark eyes reflected the neon lights outside the window, like the surface of a river at night. He asked, “Who are you?”
“Chi Ye.”
Wen Xiao pondered for a long while. “Chi Ye.”
“What?”
"Chi Ye."
It took Chi Ye a moment to understand. His deskmate’s meaning was simple — Chi Ye was just Chi Ye.
The answer was oddly satisfying. It was certainly better than "like a person."
Mingnan Affiliated High School wasn’t far from Jiuzhang Road. It was only a twenty-minute bus ride, and by taxi, with the roads clear at night, it took less than ten minutes. The car was almost at the destination.
Wen Xiao's head rested against the car window, his eyes shut as if he were asleep. Chi Ye was about to call out to him, but as the streetlights sped by, he caught a glimpse of Wen Xiao's tightly closed eyes and the wetness at the corners of his eyes.
So his sadness was also so quiet.
Chi Ye quietly watched Wen Xiao. He wanted to reach out, to wipe away the tear streaks from Wen Xiao’s eyes with his fingertips, but he hesitated.
How should I comfort you?