My Deskmate Chapter 38 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 38.2
On Wednesday, after the midterm exams had just finished, the parent-teacher meeting began. Class 1 was in a state of self-loathing, filled with thoughts like "Why did I do so poorly? Why am I so lazy? I’ve let down my parents, my teachers, and myself." It was also mixed with an eager determination: "I must work hard. I’ll make a plan and do better next time."
Wen Xiao took his backpack off his shoulders and had just placed it on his desk when a mournful and lingering sound of the erhu suddenly rang out.
Many students, who had been buried in their books, looked up in surprise.
"What’s that sound? Which class has their speakers on so loud, playing an erhu solo?"
"But it sounds so sad. It reminds me of last night when my mom cried and scolded me for being useless. Great, now I’m feeling emotional."
As the murmurs continued, Xu Rui burst into the classroom, carrying his bag. "I know, I know! It’s not the speaker playing from the computer, someone’s actually playing the erhu!"
"Is it the music teacher playing?"
"No way. The music teacher wouldn’t come in this early!"
Xu Rui took a deep breath and revealed the truth. "In the office, Old Xu is playing the erhu. His reason? We did so badly in math, our average score was second to last in the year level. He’s heartbroken, disappointed, and utterly hopeless."
The entire class: "......"
Zhao Yiyang turned around in shock. "Damn, Old Xu can actually play the erhu?"
Shangguan Yu raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t the main point here our terrible average score, and Old Xu is actually... playing the erhu out of sadness? I think I’ve found a candidate for my court musician."
"Hahaha, Your Majesty, maybe you should reconsider. Listening to the mournful sound of the erhu every day would mean your kingdom is doomed!" Zhao Yiyang turned to Wen Xiao. "Wen Xiao, what do you think? How’s Old Xu’s erhu skills?"
Wen Xiao barely managed a reply. "It sounds okay."
The first class was math. When Xu Guangqi walked into the classroom, there was an immediate hush.
He slammed the erhu down on the podium with a thud, his face stern. "Listen up, if any of you don't take math seriously, I'll sit next to you with this erhu and play the same song on repeat for a whole day!"
Someone raised their hand. "Which song will you play?"
Xu Guangqi glared. "The Moon Mirrored in Erquan Pool!"
Laughter erupted from the class. "Old Xu, no! We can already picture it now, complete with background music!"
Xu Guangqi couldn't hold back his laughter. "Alright, alright, enough joking around. Let’s get back to business. Take out your exam papers. We’re continuing from where we left off. Subject representative, which question did I stop at yesterday?"
Chi Ye arrived at school in the afternoon. His school uniform was half-zipped, exposing a white T-shirt underneath with a few English letters printed on it.
Zhao Yiyang was surprised to see him. "Chi-ge, we all thought you weren't coming today. When did you leave?"
"The usual time."
"Damn, so you specifically came just for this PE class?"
Chi Ye glanced at his deskmate, who was busy solving problems, but didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out a chair and sat down.
Zhao Yiyang took his silence as an affirmation and looked at him with pity. "Unfortunately, we’re about to tell you some tragic news."
Chi Ye couldn’t help but laugh at the exaggerated expressions on their faces. "What news has got all your faces scrunched up like that?"
Xu Rui dramatically exclaimed, "Does it matter if our faces are scrunched up? No, it doesn’t! The next PE class has been turned into a class meeting! How tragic is that? Chi-ge, you might as well have stayed home!"
After finishing the last question’s answer, Wen Xiao turned his head to look at Chi Ye. "Stayed up late?"
"Yeah, I'm exhausted but couldn’t sleep." Chi Ye leaned against the wall, grinning at his deskmate. "But seeing you makes me feel a bit more awake."
His tone was light and playful, making it hard to tell whether he was joking or not.
Zhao Yiyang shouted from the side, "Damn, Chi-ge, why has your way of talking gotten so flirtatious? Luckily, you’re saying this to Wen Xiao, or any random girl would probably fall head over heels for you right then and there!"
"How can you be so sure my deskmate wouldn't fall head over heels for me after hearing that?" Chi Ye shot back, his eyes still locked on Wen Xiao, not moving an inch.
"Hahaha, of course, that’s because Wen Xiao has his own shields up. There was even a class beauty from the first year who had someone deliver a love letter to Wen Xiao’s desk. But when Wen Xiao saw it, he just tossed it onto your desk and said," Zhao Yiyang cleared his throat, mimicking Wen Xiao’s tone, "It’s for Chi Ye."
Chi Ye focused on one detail. "Someone gave you a love letter? When was this?"
Wen Xiao replied, "After the break, I found the letter on the desk. I thought it was for you."
Chi Ye kept his gaze fixed on him. "And then?"
Wen Xiao: "I threw it away."
At those words, the knot in Chi Ye's chest loosened all at once, and he returned to his usual relaxed posture. He turned to Xu Rui and the others. "My deskmate is different. Those demons and ghosts shouldn't be affecting his studies."
Zhao Yiyang: "Chi-ge, how can you, as the big boss of the Monster Alliance, speak of affecting his studies!"
Just then, the class bell rang, and Xu Guangqi entered, immediately starting the post-exam ritual of giving out motivational speeches.
He spoke non-stop for fifteen minutes, and only stopped when his throat became sore. "Class monitor and vice class monitor, come up and hand out these papers I brought. Everyone gets one. Write down your ideals on it. I’ll keep them for you. When you graduate from high school, I’ll return them to you, or maybe a few years later, when you’ve all graduated from university and started working, I’ll hand them back. Let’s see if your ideals have come true." He smiled, lost in his own thoughts. "This is such a meaningful thing!"
The paper was probably the kind of origami paper Old Xu bought at the stationery store near the school gate, a thick stack costing just a few yuan.
Wen Xiao had never liked this kind of ceremonial activity. He was resolute enough within himself, not needing fiery speeches or emotional appeals to motivate him.
He casually wrote "Go to university," then glanced at Chi Ye. Holding the pen he had borrowed from him, Chi Ye wrote just one word — Nothing.
Wen Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"
Chi Ye gave a small "hm" and casually twirled the pen a few times. His tone was light. "Right now, I don’t really have the qualifications to talk about ideals." As he said this, he neatly circled the word "nothing" with a little flourish.
The slips of paper were collected, and Xu Guangqi felt that feeding the class motivational speeches and platitudes had its limits.
"That’s all for today’s class meeting. We still have about twenty minutes left, so let’s watch a short film. It won an international award recently. After watching it, I think it will be quite inspiring for you all. Once it’s over, please write a 500-word reflection and turn it in."
Someone protested, "Teacher, isn’t writing a reflection something for the Chinese teacher to handle?"
"I’m the homeroom teacher. The homeroom teacher stands apart from all other categories. Doesn’t that make sense?" Old Xu clicked play on the movie. "Alright, quiet down. It’s starting."
The first image appeared on the white projection screen. Chi Ye recognized it, feeling like he had seen this film before. The content of the movie—
The moment the alarm sounded in the movie, Chi Ye immediately leaned in. He quickly raised his hand and covered Wen Xiao’s ears.
The shrill alarm sound was muffled, blocked by Chi Ye’s hand.
The curtains were drawn, and the classroom lights turned off, leaving the room dim and shadowed.
The two of them sat close together, their figures blending in the soft darkness.
Seeing Wen Xiao turn his head in surprise, his dark eyes filled with astonishment, Chi Ye held the position, his hand still over his ear. Leaning in closer, his lips brushing lightly against his own fingers, he whispered, "Don’t be scared."