My Deskmate Chapter 37 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 37.1
An announcement came over the broadcast, calling all students back to their classrooms. Chi Ye stood up and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Wen Xiao lingered nearby. The blue-and-white of his school uniform contrasted against the vibrant greenery behind him, carrying a hint of spring’s vitality. He turned to Chi Ye and asked, "Are you coming to school tomorrow?"
Chi Ye: "Do you want me to come to school tomorrow?"
The glance he shot at Wen Xiao was unusually intense, almost demanding an answer. It carried an unspoken expectation that whatever Wen Xiao said, he would be compelled to follow through.
After a moment’s silence, Wen Xiao finally replied, "If you're too busy, you don’t have to come. I can bring you the notes, test papers, and outlines."
Chi Ye wanted to say, Even if you bring them, I won’t look at them, let alone do the homework. But as he met Wen Xiao’s eyes, the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he gave a faint smile at the corner of his lips. "Go on, get back to class. I’m heading out."
Wen Xiao turned toward the second academic building. As he passed by the statue of Confucius, he noticed a pile of bananas and a few wilted flowers placed at the base of the pedestal — probably offerings from before the midterm exams.
Streams of students emerged from all corners of the campus, flowing toward the academic buildings. Wen Xiao climbed the stairs to the third floor, increasingly aware of the eyes following him. People were watching him, many of them. And after looking, they whispered amongst themselves.
"I heard my mom say it really was..."
"Unbelievable, that score... especially in math..."
As Wen Xiao walked down the hallway outside his classroom, he suddenly sensed someone lunging at him from behind. Reacting swiftly, he stepped to the side.
Zhao Yiyang completely missed and almost tripped.
Behind him, Xu Rui burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Master, I should’ve recorded that and made a GIF! If I post it on Weibo, it’ll definitely hit ten thousand shares!"
Zhao Yiyang regained his balance and quickly defended himself. "It’s not my fault! Wen Xiao’s reflexes are just too good!" He tried to salvage some dignity, then immediately grew excited. "Wen Xiao, you’re amazing! Unbelievable! From now on, you’re my brother, no, my boss! I’m sticking with you!"
Shangguan Yu grinned. "From now on, you’re the Grand Emperor!" (T/N: Grand Emperor — this title is for emperors who abdicated/retired in favor of their son.)
Xu Rui laughed so hard he coughed. "I’m going to die laughing at you guys one day. Can you just casually adopt a dad?!! Fine, from now on, I’m Shangguan’s older brother!"
Wen Xiao: "What are you all talking about?"
The three of them exchanged looks, and a collective realization dawned on their faces. "That’s right! Wen Xiao's parents didn't come to the parent-teacher meeting, so he doesn’t have the inside scoop! We’ve been so hyped, and the main character doesn’t even know what’s going on!"
Zhao Yiyang stepped forward. "According to intelligence from Xu Rui’s dad, Shangguan’s dad, and my family’s housekeeper, your exam results this time were—" He cleared his throat twice for dramatic effect and prepared to deliver the news.
Before he could finish, a stern voice cut through their chatter.
"What are you all doing standing in the hallway? Planning to turn yourselves into door gods for your classroom? Well, let me tell you, Mingnan Affiliated High School doesn’t need door gods like you! Get in there and sit down, or I’ll call your parents back — yes, the ones who just left the school gate — and have them see how you behave in class for themselves!"
The moment they heard that booming voice, brimming with energy and a knack for colorful commentary, they knew exactly who it was.
Xu Rui and the others instinctively avoided running into Cheng Xiaoning. Their ears couldn’t handle his relentless verbal bombardment. Straightening up reflexively, Zhao Yiyang was the first to respond. "Move, move, move! Back to the classroom!"
As they stepped inside, the previously chaotic classroom fell silent in an instant. Standing behind Wen Xiao, Shangguan Yu whispered, "See? Your academic god aura just subdued the whole room."
Zhao Yiyang turned back and waggled his eyebrows. "Your Majesty, if you’re this eloquent, why don’t you keep talking? I’ve got time."
Shangguan Yu closed his mouth in outright refusal.
Before long, their homeroom teacher, Xu Guangqi, strode into the room with a stack of grade sheets in hand. His steps were brisk, his brows arched with delight, and his entire demeanor exuded the festive air of someone about to celebrate the New Year. Pride practically radiated off him from head to toe.
Once the classroom quieted, he began his speech. "Everyone’s worked hard. I’m sure during the past two hours of break, most of you already heard your results from your parents. Now, I can’t speak for every subject, but as far as the math test goes, except for the last two questions, the rest of it was very straightforward — practically free points!"
At this, a unified chorus of groans and hisses erupted from the students.
"What? Am I wrong?" Xu Guangqi challenged. "Take the first question, for example. If you couldn’t solve it in twenty seconds, do you even deserve the title of a high school student? And yet, unbelievably, three of you got it wrong! Then there’s the second question. Using the elimination method I taught you — A is out, B clearly doesn’t work, D doesn’t fit the context, so the answer has to be C. But somehow, seven of you managed to mess that up. Unbelievable!"
Someone in the class, bolder than the rest, called out, "Teacher, can you just read out the rankings? My mom said thinking about my rank made her so mad she wouldn’t tell me!"
“Well, I suppose I could,” Xu Guangqi said, his own excitement barely contained. His smile grew even wider, and his joy seemed to fill the entire room. “First, let’s give a round of applause to Wen Xiao. In this midterm exam, he astonished everyone by achieving the first rank in the entire second year! Despite missing an entire year of classes, through sheer determination and hard work, he not only caught up but exceeded all our expectations as teachers!” As he spoke, his eyes reddened slightly with emotion. “Wen Xiao, keep up the excellent work!”
More than half the class turned their gaze to the last row of the classroom. Zhao Yiyang, in particular, was so excited he was on the verge of standing on his desk to applaud.
Wen Xiao, however, was busy texting Chi Ye.
After their first monthly exam, Wen Xiao had promised Chi Ye that he’d only reveal his score if he got first place.
Wen Xiao: "702."
The chat showed Chi Ye was typing a reply. It took nearly half a minute before the message finally came through: "Midterm score?"
Wen Xiao: "Yes."
Chi Ye: "First place?"
Wen Xiao: "First place."
Chi Ye: "I knew my deskmate is the best."
A faint smile flickered in Wen Xiao’s usually cool eyes.
The remainder of the class period was dominated by Xu Guangqi’s pep talk, followed by five minutes of motivational platitudes. By the time the dismissal bell rang, he had only managed to reach the second-to-last multiple-choice question. Unfazed, he calmly announced, “I’m claiming tonight’s self-study session. Otherwise, there’s no way I’ll finish explaining this paper. There are so many great points in these questions that are worth diving into! And if any other teacher tries to take my time slot, I’m counting on you all to help me defend it!”
The news that their evening self-study session had been commandeered hit the class hard, but only a handful of students mustered a response to Xu Guangqi’s announcement.
As soon as Xu Guangqi left the classroom, Zhao Yiyang and Shangguan Yu whirled around, practically ready to grab Wen Xiao’s hands in reverence.
“This is your moment! Absolutely legendary!” Zhao Yiyang exclaimed.
Shangguan Yu adjusted his glasses and added, “Zhang Siyao looked furious. He kept a straight face the entire class.”
Wen Xiao spun the pen in his hand idly. “Zhang Siyao?”
Zhao Yiyang jumped in to explain. “He’s the guy who used to be first in class. Monthly exams, last semester’s finals — he always took first place. This time, though, you knocked him into second and left him trailing by more than ten points! He’s probably fuming. That guy has a massive temper and an ego to match. He even roasted me once and said there was no way anyone can beat him. Ha, now he's been slapped in the face!”
Glancing at his own test paper, Zhao Yiyang groaned dramatically. “Heavens, how could I have messed up the second multiple-choice question? How?! Losing points like this is going to make me go bald!”
Xu Rui sauntered over and quipped without hesitation, “Socrates once asked: Does the hair fall because the head doesn’t hold on, or because the wind asks it to leave?”
When no one responded, he carried on undeterred. “Clearly, the hair just wants to be free. Face it, you're really destined to be a master — to go bald. Hahaha!”
As Zhao Yiyang rolled his eyes, Shangguan Yu seized the opportunity to pile on. “You could always write a book called The Bald Chronicles.”
Ignoring him, Xu Rui shifted gears and sighed theatrically. “But what's with all of you this time? Master is fifth, Shangguan is sixth, and I’m seventh. You all lined up neatly ahead of me. Can’t you at least give me some face?”
Zhao Yiyang stared for a moment before exclaiming, “Wait, it's just like Chi-ge!”
Wen Xiao paused mid-motion, his pen still spinning in his fingers. Spinning a pen like him?