My Deskmate Chapter 38 (Part 1)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 38.1
A test paper was pressed against Chi Ye’s chest.
Wen Xiao stood still, not dodging even a half-step, maintaining an exceptionally close posture. “I’ll trade this.” As he spoke, a faint smile flickered across his usually calm eyes.
Chi Ye lowered his gaze and saw that Wen Xiao had pressed the physics test paper from the recent midterm exam against his chest. He felt a bit like gnashing his teeth. “What’s the value of this trade?”
Through the thin layer of paper, Wen Xiao’s palm rested on Chi Ye’s chest, and in that moment, they both felt the warmth of each other’s body heat. Yet, strangely, neither of them made a move to pull away.
Wen Xiao explained casually, “For the last multiple-choice question, the physics teacher showed an unconventional solution. It was interesting, so I wrote it down on your paper for you.”
Chi Ye wanted to maintain his usual aloof demeanor, to say something dismissive like, “I won’t understand it,” but when his gaze met Wen Xiao’s eyes, the words caught in his throat. His throat felt dry, as though he hadn’t had a drink of water in days. His voice came out hoarse, almost a whisper. “Is that all?”
They were so close that Chi Ye could even feel the slight change in Wen Xiao’s breathing. Wen Xiao responded with a subtle challenge in his tone, “Do you want something else?”
Their eyes met, and the air between them seemed to crackle.
Wen Xiao was wearing thin, silver-rimmed glasses that softened the sharpness at the corners of his eyes. Without warning, Chi Ye reached up, his fingers brushing against Wen Xiao’s face as he took the glasses off and held them in his hand. With his features fully exposed, Chi Ye gaze fixed on the small mole under Wen Xiao's eye. A hint of cocky smile curled at the corner of Chi Ye’s lips. “You look even better without them.”
Wen Xiao blinked slowly. "Does this count as part of the trade?"
Chi Ye laughed. "If you're referring to your beauty, then yes, it definitely counts."
Wen Xiao didn't hold back. "You want to fight?"
A car drove by, its horn cutting through the silence. Above them, birds flapped their wings, creating a soft rustling in the trees. Chi Ye took the test paper that had been pressed against him, and smiled slightly, lowering his head. "Not for now."
He looked at the notes Wen Xiao had written on the paper, understanding the thought process and realizing what Wen Xiao had meant by “interesting.”
Folding the paper, the two of them continued walking.
Wen Xiao could feel the heat rising in his palm, so he slipped his hand into the pocket of his school uniform.
"Zhang Mingfeng." Chi Ye’s tone changed as soon as the name was mentioned. The smile in his eyes faded entirely, replaced by a thin layer of anger tempered by time, and a hint of derision. "His father works in the respiratory department at the Second Affiliated Hospital. About a year ago, he was my mother’s attending physician. I’m sure you can guess what happened next?"
Aside from Old Xu, Chi Ye never mentioned anything about his mother, including why she couldn’t come to school for parent-teacher meetings. He was always late for morning self-study and would leave halfway through afternoon classes, never offering any explanation.
He let others misunderstand, let them speculate wildly with no basis, but never once broke his silence.
"Zhang Mingfeng is..." At that moment, Wen Xiao found himself regretting asking.
He suddenly realized that Chi Ye had been protecting his mother with the utmost secrecy, and the one responsible for it all had to be Zhang Mingfeng.
"After Zhang Mingfeng found out my mother was the one in the hospital, he took the opportunity to quietly visit her room. He told her he was my classmate and even showed her his student ID." Chi Ye spoke in a flat tone. "Once she believed him, he pretended to be concerned, mixing truth with lies, and fabricated a lot of disgusting stories about me. These... they were too much for my mother to handle. After he left, she had to be rushed for emergency treatment."
What had once kept him awake for nights, feeling like a trapped beast, was now reduced to just a few simple words.
"What's with that look, deskmate?" Chi Ye’s gaze fell on Wen Xiao's tightly pressed lips. "You look so cold and fierce like that, you’re going to scare the little kids."
Wen Xiao didn’t respond, his voice steely. "Why didn’t you break a few of his ribs?"
"Even more ruthless than me?" Chi Ye's voice had the smoothness of snow. "At that time, I really thought about not just beating him up, but making sure he was left crippled. But I stopped myself. If I had been sentenced, my mom and Yaya would’ve had no one." He lifted his hand, loosely curling his fingers into a light fist. "When I thought about it like that, I actually stopped. Later, I spent several sleepless nights in the hospital, tossing and turning. I kept thinking, if my mom really died, I would wait until Yaya grew up before taking action."
At sixteen, he suddenly realized that the already uneven road was littered with stumbling blocks, and not only that, there were countless stones thrown maliciously from both sides of the road. He didn't know how to reconcile himself with this malice.
He longed for the light, but at the same time, he felt himself falling into an abyss filled with death and despair. The only thing he had was an uncertain tomorrow.
"Enough of this. It’s all in the past. No point in chewing over old wounds." He casually draped an arm over Wen Xiao's shoulder. "Deskmate, you ranked first. Got any plans to celebrate?"
Wen Xiao didn’t bring up the earlier conversation again. Instead, he followed Chi Ye’s lead and changed the topic. "What about you? If you ranked first, would you celebrate?"
Of course not, because being first was the norm. Chi Ye instantly understood. "Got it. Then... shall we head back together?"
When he reached the door, the lights in the house were all on. Seeing his grandmother rummaging through a drawer, Wen Xiao spoke up. "Grandma, need help with something?"
"Xiaoxiao's back!" His grandmother called out with a smile. "Can you help me find my knitting needles? I remember leaving them right here in the drawer, but I can't find them anywhere."
Wen Xiao crouched down and, after a moment, found the knitting needles in a corner of a different drawer.
His grandmother chuckled to herself. "As expected, I’m getting old. I can’t even remember where I put things after moving them. I was thinking, though my eyes are failing, I should still be able to see my knitting needles."
Taking the knitting needles, she sat down on the sofa and picked up a small bamboo basket, beginning to organize the yarn.
Wen Xiao placed his bag down but didn’t immediately go to his bedroom. "What are you planning to knit?"
"I’m going to knit a sweater for your mom." His grandmother adjusted her reading glasses, speaking softly. "I’ve been knitting one for her every year since she was young. Even when I was busy with work, I’d still find time to do both. No matter what, I always made sure to knit her one. When she studied abroad, whenever she felt homesick, she would cry while holding the sweater."
Under the warm light, the silver strands in her hair were scattered at the temples, and her focus on choosing the yarn was intense.
"Even though it’s only April or May, I’ll start now. If I knit a little every day, I can finish three sweaters by autumn."
"Three sweaters?"
"Mm, I can't just knit for your mom. Your dad and your sister should have something too, right? Everyone gets one." His grandmother displayed the yarn she had bought for Wen Xiao to see. "I got a few colors. Your dad will have dark gray, your mom will have light gray, and I’ll make them matching sweaters. As for Shengsheng, I picked this light pink and white. It's delicate."
Wen Xiao glanced at the yarn balls in the bamboo basket and was silent for a moment. "They’ll definitely love it."
"They should. If they don’t, they can come protest to me in my dreams. Otherwise, I'll assume they like it," his grandmother said, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, I pretended to just finish a meeting and called your homeroom teacher. He told me you came first in your year level. He seemed even more excited than your Grandma."
As he helped organize the yarn, Wen Xiao lowered his head, his thick lashes casting a light shadow on his face.
"I told him that our Xiaoxiao always gets first place, so there's nothing special about getting first place this time. I'm used to it." After saying that, his grandmother seemed a little uncomfortable and asked, "Should I have been more humble?"
"No need to be humble," Wen Xiao answered firmly. "I’ll always come first."
"Alright, alright," his grandmother paused, her voice slowing down. "I was worried that thing would affect your studies."
"It won’t. I was prepared to skip a grade before," Wen Xiao replied, changing the subject to avoid the conversation his grandmother wanted to have. He wound a strand of light gray yarn around his fingers. "But my mom said there was no need to rush through school. I could start first grade at six, middle school at twelve, high school at fifteen, and university at eighteen. It would be perfect."
Hearing his evasion, his grandmother sighed softly. "So, that's why when I told you to continue your high school studies for the next semester, you didn't want to?"
"Mm."
"Because your mom said you should start university at eighteen?"
Wen Xiao didn’t deny it. "Yes."
His grandmother, with her wrinkled hands, gently patted Wen Xiao’s head and sighed. "Our Xiaoxiao is such a good child."