My Deskmate Chapter 35 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 35.1
Wen Xiao withdrew his hand.
He avoided Chi Ye’s gaze and asked, “How’s the ball?”
His cool voice, at that moment, stirred the dust in the equipment room.
“It’s fine, I’ll give it a try.” Chi Ye stood up. The tense atmosphere between them seemed to melt as the air began to move again. He dribbled the ball twice. “Not bad. This one’s good.”
On the sports field, Xu Rui had managed to get back on his feet and was stretching his wrist. When he saw Wen Xiao and Chi Ye returning with the ball, he became excited again. “Finally! You two are so slow. If you’d been another two minutes, the bell would’ve gone and class would’ve ended.”
Chi Ye didn’t respond with his usual sarcasm. Instead, he spun the basketball on his finger, raised his chin slightly, and asked, “Are we playing or not?”
“Of course we are! Sports are good for both body and mind!” Xu Rui rubbed his hands together, then suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right. Wasn’t there some expert coming to that place by the school? I saw the security just gather over there.”
“I saw it too,” Zhao Yiyang jumped in place a couple of times. “What’s up? You thinking about going over there and stirring things up?”
“No, no, no!” Xu Rui quickly waved his hands. “I’m not going! That place gives me the creeps. It’s not for me! Come on, let’s play!”
When the bell rang for the end of class, the PE teacher blew the whistle to gather the students. After a brief announcement, the class was dismissed.
Chi Ye had already removed his school jacket, leaving only a light-colored short-sleeved t-shirt. The parts soaked in sweat were darker, and the shirt was blotchy. His muscular arms were exposed, the defined curves of his muscles impossible to ignore.
Wen Xiao’s neck glistened with a fine layer of sweat from the intense exercise, like a veil of water over jade. Chi Ye’s eyes flicked over him, his fingers twitching before he restrained himself and looked away. He turned to his deskmate and asked, “Want to go to the supermarket? Get some water.”
“Let’s go.”
During the long break, many students ran toward the supermarket. Twice, Wen Xiao almost got bumped into by someone, and both times, Chi Ye grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.
The heat from Chi Ye’s hand, pressing firmly on his skin, made Wen Xiao feel slightly restless. Chi Ye’s gaze lingered on the sweat gathering at Wen Xiao’s temple. “Aren’t you hot?”
“I’m fine,” Wen Xiao said, pulling down the zipper of his jacket. His blue-and-white school uniform sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, giving him an unusually laid-back look that was rare for him.
Chi Ye grabbed his school uniform with his left hand and placed his right hand on his deskmate's shoulder. “Speaking of which, Zhao Yiyang bombarded me with messages last night, asking over and over if I knew you were so good at fighting. He said he ate two hamburgers to calm down, but the effect didn’t last. When he got home and lay in bed, he couldn’t sleep at all. He had to get clarification before he could relax.”
Wen Xiao didn’t pull away, allowing Chi Ye to drape his arm over his shoulder. He turned his head and asked, “What did you tell him?”
Chi Ye grinned, a hint of swagger in his smile. “I told him, I’ve known for a while, of course, because Wen Xiao was personally taught by me.”
Wen Xiao stared at him for a moment, then finally selected a word in his mind. “Shameless.”
There were too many people at the supermarket, and they had to wait in line to pay for their drinks. Wen Xiao grabbed two bottles of iced cola and paid for them together. Outside, he automatically unscrewed the cap of one and handed it to Chi Ye, then opened the other for himself.
Chi Ye swallowed a mouthful of cola, the cold sensation spreading through his body and making him feel more comfortable. He tossed the plastic bottle cap in his hand and grinned. “Deskmate, you’re getting me used to this. What am I going to do in the future?”
Wen Xiao lowered his eyelashes, knowing exactly what he meant — the cap-opening routine. “In a year and a half, your hand should be healed by then.”
A year and a half.
Suddenly, the cola in Chi Ye’s mouth turned bitter.
Wen Xiao had said that for the next year and a half, he would always be the one to open his cola bottle for him.
A sharp ache tugged at a place deep inside Chi Ye’s heart. He squeezed the plastic bottle, feeling the pressure dig into his palm. He took a large gulp of cola, forcing the bitterness rising from the depths of his chest to subside.
Chi Ye climbed over the wall, and Wen Xiao returned to the classroom. When he sat down, there were still several minutes before the bell rang.
Xu Rui rolled up his notebook into a cylinder and aimed it at Wen Xiao, his face practically screaming "I'm so curious." He cleared his throat and asked, “So, tell me, is it true that every night, when when the moon is high and the wind is howling, Chi-ge secretly trains you in basic combat skills at the basketball court downstairs?”
Before Wen Xiao could answer, Xu Rui eagerly continued, “So, when you challenged Chi-ge for a duel on WeChat last time, it wasn’t out of revenge or some epic battle, but more like a mock exam, right? The student asking the teacher to assess their progress, just like with the monthly tests!”
Wen Xiao fell silent. What exactly had Chi Ye told Zhao Yiyang?
Meanwhile, Chi Ye, on his way to Ningyuan Primary School, suddenly felt an itch in his nose. Could it be that his deskmate was missing him?
After picking up Yaya, Chi Ye first took her home to drop off her backpack, then changed into a new outfit.
The pink-and-white bunny ears on her hat drooped down as Yaya followed Chi Ye closely like a little tail. She tilted her head and asked, “Are we going to see Mommy?”
Chi Ye tossed his school uniform into the washing machine and opened the wardrobe to grab a jacket. In the corner of the closet, he saw a school uniform hanging in the corner — the one Wen Xiao had draped over him. The bloodstain on it had turned a deep rusty color.
Closing the wardrobe door, Chi Ye answered Yaya, “Yes, the doctor called and said we should go see her.”
Yaya sat on the edge of the bed, kicking her white-socked legs up in the air, her eyes sparkling. “Does that mean Mommy is feeling better? The doctor wants us to go chat with her?”
Chi Ye tightened his grip on the jacket, then quickly relaxed it, his voice softening. “Maybe that’s the case.”
They managed to avoid the rush hour traffic, so they arrived at the hospital smoothly. However, they got stuck at the elevator entrance and had to wait in line for ten minutes.
Staring at the floor plan above the elevator buttons, Chi Ye thought about how both churches and hospital wards were the places where he’d heard the most prayers and confessions.
Yaya, sucking on a strawberry-flavored lollipop, tugged at Chi Ye’s hand. “Gege, what’s wrong?”
For a moment, Chi Ye found himself unable to muster a smile. He held Yaya’s warm hand tightly. “Nothing, let’s go. The elevator’s here.”
On the twenty-seventh floor, he handed Yaya over to a nurse for temporary care. Chi Ye then twisted the doorknob and entered the doctor's office alone.
"Your mother's latest test results are in. Unfortunately, the situation is not looking good. I couldn't explain everything clearly over the phone this morning, so I asked you to come in person," the doctor said, adjusting his black-framed glasses. Deep laugh lines ran from his nostrils down his cheeks. He pulled a film from a brown paper bag. "This is the report that just came in from the radiology department."
Chi Ye was no stranger to such scenes. He sat on the hard, cold chair in the hospital, his gaze fixed on the doctor's face, trying to read any emotion hidden there.
"The treatment plan has been adjusted several times since your mother was transferred here, but the results haven't been promising," the doctor continued, pinching the edge of the report. He seemed hesitant, even avoiding Chi Ye's questioning stare.
Chi Ye slowly inhaled, the sterile smell of disinfectant making him feel suffocated. His thumb pressed into the knuckle of his bent index finger, the pain sharpening his focus. "You can be straightforward."
The doctor fixed his gaze on Chi Ye, noticing the unease on his youthful face. Realizing that delaying would only increase the family's mental burden, he spoke. "Please... prepare yourself."
It felt like a sentence.