My Deskmate Chapter 55 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 55.2
The next morning during the morning study session, Xu Rui burst into the classroom. Without even putting down his bag, he rushed to the last row. "Wen Xiao, are you the main speaker for the upcoming study exchange? Was that why Old Xu called you to his office yesterday?"
Wen Xiao didn’t stop writing. "Mm, that’s the reason."
Zhao Yiyang, who had been memorizing classical texts, was interrupted. He turned around and joined the conversation. "You’re a bit late with the news, academic officer. I found out about this yesterday."
Xu Rui looked puzzled. "Did Wen Xiao tell you?"
"It came from Zhang Siyao," Zhao Yiyang replied with some disdain. "Wen Xiao’s in charge of teaching physics, and Zhang Siyao’s not happy about it." He snorted. "I don’t see why Zhang Siyao should be upset. If he can’t compete, he can’t compete. His test scores say it all. Who’s the big boss here is pretty clear, right? Physics is about IQ, and Zhang Siyao's IQ is just not as high as Wen Xiao's!"
"Well, I guess the gap’s just too big. Wen Xiao shows up, and the difference is a whole ten to twenty points. If I were Zhang Siyao, I’d lose my mind." Xu Rui paused when he noticed that Wen Xiao was still writing something. He looked more closely. "Wait, what? Wen Xiao, are you actually rushing through homework?"
Zhao Yiyang leaned in to look. "No way, he’s really doing homework?"
Wen Xiao continued writing without skipping a beat. "Got a problem?"
"No problem, no problem," Xu Rui said quickly, a little amused. "Every high schooler should have to rush homework at least once. Otherwise, it's not a complete high school experience. I’m just surprised, haha." He glanced at the paper again, realizing Wen Xiao was working on math. Xu Rui had barely finished reading the question and options when Wen Xiao had already written down the answer. It was like his mental math couldn’t keep up. He almost wanted to grab a pencil and some scratch paper, but Wen Xiao, with just a few scribbles beside the question, had already figured it out.
Blinking, Xu Rui turned to Zhao Yiyang. "How long did it take you to finish this test yesterday?"
Zhao Yiyang: "It took me the entire English class."
Both of them turned their attention to Wen Xiao’s paper. He was doing the problems in reverse order, starting with the last one and working backward. He was currently tackling the fifth multiple-choice question.
Zhao Yiyang told Xu Rui, "Wen Xiao’s been in the classroom for less than half an hour."
"......" Xu Rui dramatically clutched his chest. "He’s a devil! A devil at drilling questions!"
Just before the first math class started, Wen Xiao turned in all his homework. As the Turkish March, which signaled the start of class, began playing, he laid his head down on his desk and started catching up on sleep.
Zhao Yiyang had originally wanted to ask about a math problem and whether there was another way to solve it, but when he turned around and saw Wen Xiao resting his head on the desk, leaving only his jawline visible, he quickly shut his mouth.
The study exchange meeting was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, taking up the last two periods. The art teacher cheerfully dismissed the class early, while the English teacher was a bit displeased. But there was nothing she could do about it, so she grudgingly assigned two extra reading comprehension exercises as homework.
In the hallway, waiting in line to head to the auditorium, Xu Rui held a pen and a test paper, scribbling answers on the tiled surface of the railing as he complained. "The school leaders are ruthless. How long are two classes? It's only an hour and a half at most. They deliberately arranged it for the last two classes before school ends, clearly wanting to take up our dinner time!"
Zhao Yiyang shuffled his feet, glancing around. When he didn’t see his "goddess," he picked up where Xu Rui had left off. "This time, physics, chemistry, and biology are first. Once we get through language, math, and English, we can head out for food. I really feel for the liberal arts class, though. They’ll have to sit through politics, history, and geography. How miserable."
"Compared to this, my friend, I feel better now. At least no one will be fighting us for food in the cafeteria!" Xu Rui noticed Zhao Yiyang was jumping up and was looking around. He asked, "What exactly are you looking for?"
Shangguan Yu: "He’s looking for his goddess."
Xu Rui quickly realized. "The one from the dance team?"
Zhao Yiyang blushed a little. "Who else?"
After sending a message, he typed again, "The rain should stop after evening self-study."
Chi Ye: "Mm, when do you go on stage?"
Wen Xiao estimated the time and found he couldn’t figure it out. "I’m third. The first speaker has been talking for five minutes and still hasn’t gotten to the main point."
Chi Ye: "Then I’ll come over. Maybe I’ll make it just in time."
Looking at this message, Wen Xiao paused his fingers over the screen, feeling inexplicably nervous.
Wen Xiao: "What are you coming for?"
Chi Ye replied quickly: "My Xiaoxiao is making his first appearance on stage. I have to be there."
Wen Xiao: "......"
Despite the ellipsis, Wen Xiao’s mood was unexpectedly good.
The first speaker, presenting chemistry, had already spoken for nearly half an hour. The biology speaker, a girl with glasses, spoke quickly and got to the point early, so it seemed like she would finish soon.
Zhao Yiyang, while doing his homework, grumbled, "Damn, that chemistry speaker is really rambling. My dinner time’s about to be squeezed out!" But when addressing Wen Xiao, he switched to a different tone, "Wen Xiao, make sure you talk a bit longer. We’re all really curious about your study methods! If we can steal a trick or two, maybe we’ll jump up a level or two in the rankings!"
Wen Xiao had no prepared script and was planning to improvise. "I’ll do my best."
When it was Wen Xiao's turn, many eyes turned toward the stage. Wen Xiao was a person with little presence, but his name carried great weight. At the beginning of the school year, many heard about a transfer student who had missed an entire year of classes but hadn’t been demoted. When the first monthly exam came around, it turned out this transfer student had scored decently. By the mid-term exam, he had secured the top spot in the entire year!
This meteoric rise shocked many, especially when teachers started using Wen Xiao as an example in every class. Soon enough, nearly everyone had heard his name.
Standing at the microphone, Wen Xiao glanced toward the back of the audience. The two brown wooden doors at the entrance were still closed. Chi Ye hadn’t arrived yet.
He lowered his gaze and began his introduction, "Hello, everyone. I’m Wen Xiao from Class 1, Year 2, of the science program..."
Chi Ye pulled open the wooden door at the entrance and went in, and the familiar voice filled his ears. Near the end of his voice-changing phase, Wen Xiao’s voice still carried a faint hoarseness, a quiet and restrained tone that bridged the gap between adolescence and adulthood.
He didn’t move any further but stood to the side, leaning against the wall, his gaze fixed on the person on stage.
The next moment, almost as if sensing him, Wen Xiao’s eyes met his.
Their gazes crossed the long audience seats of the auditorium and collided. Despite the distance, there was an unmistakable spark of something intimate between them.
On stage, Wen Xiao, wearing the school’s blue-and-white uniform, looked like a bamboo stalk after the rain — tall, slender, and straight-backed.
Chi Ye stood at the very back of the hall, listening intently to every word. Wen Xiao didn’t follow the usual formula of discussing study methods or his personal experiences. Instead, he talked about the underlying logic and thought processes involved in studying physics. Many of the teachers in the audience nodded in approval, and several people were furiously taking notes. A sense of pride stirred in Chi Ye’s chest, accompanied by a few fleeting emotions — if there were another possible path in life, might he be like Wen Xiao?
It wasn’t until Wen Xiao finished his concise closing statement and left the stage that the audience seemed to snap out of their daze. No one knew who started the applause, but soon, the auditorium was filled with a wave of clapping, like the sound of raindrops, that lasted for a long time.
Without returning to his seat, Wen Xiao exited through the side door of the stage, circled around, and reentered from the back of the auditorium, standing beside Chi Ye.
The students from the liberal arts program had quietly taken their seats, and the English speaker had already taken the stage, attracting most of the audience's attention.
No one paid attention to the two people standing in the corner.
Chi Ye spoke first, "You did really well."
At hearing this praise, Wen Xiao’s nervous tension finally eased. He thought for a moment and then said, "When Old Xu first mentioned it to me, I turned him down."
Chi Ye was curious. "What made you change your mind?"
He knew that while others might eagerly seize any opportunity to stand out, Wen Xiao would rather quietly solve a couple of problems.
Perhaps it was because... he found it troublesome and wasn't interested?
Wen Xiao: "I heard from Zhao Yiyang and the others that you have to be recognized by everyone for your grades and academic level to qualify as a main speaker." He lowered his eyelashes and didn’t look at Chi Ye. "One of those people should be you. So I thought, I’d go up in your place."
In that moment, Chi Ye felt a pang in his heart, a bitter feeling he couldn’t quite name.
This was the person he liked.
His gaze slid over Wen Xiao’s profile. Chi Ye’s voice dropped low and husky, his eyes glowing with a flicker of heat. "I want to kiss you. Right now. What should I do?"
The auditorium, filled with people, seemed to be pulsing with heat.
Sounds filled every corner through the speakers and amplifiers, but neither of them had the attention to listen or even figure out what was being said.
The boy’s affection, like a bright flame, grew unchecked in the corner.
Wen Xiao took half a step closer to Chi Ye, his eyes still facing forward. Yet, his fingers, hanging by his side, quietly hooked around Chi Ye's pinky, giving it a soft, subtle shake.