My Deskmate Chapter 68 (Part 2)
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 68.2
When they arrived at the conversation room door, Xu Guangqi took out the key to unlock it. Chi Ye stood behind him, his gaze instinctively drifting toward Class 1.
There were only a few minutes left before class started. Wen Xiao was probably solving practice problems. If he was too tired, he’d lie down for a five-minute nap, half of his face buried in his arm, with only his pale, soft ear and a distinct swirl of hair visible.
If someone disturbed his nap, he’d look up with eyes as cold as distant stars, filled with impatience. But he rarely lost his temper. His rationality always outweighed his emotions. If someone gently patted his back or covered his ears, he’d become like a soothed little animal, closing his eyes again and drifting back to sleep.
The prickles on his body were so soft, so soft that the palms touching them itched with a reluctant tenderness.
Since last night, a cold wind had settled in Chi Ye’s heart, leaving it hollow, as if he were standing in an endless wasteland.
After Xu Guangqi closed the door of the conversation room, he took a good look at Chi Ye. "You’ve lost weight."
Chi Ye, wearing the blue-and-white school uniform, had his zipper pulled all the way up, a rare sight. He replied, "Maybe I’m still growing taller."
Xu Guangqi saw that he looked exhausted. His brows were filled with visible fatigue and some other emotions that he couldn't understand. Compared to the high-spirited boy he was when he first entered the school, he had changed a lot. Taking a moment to steady himself, Xu Guangqi asked, "Earlier in the office, you mentioned wanting to discuss taking a leave of absence. Is that right?"
"Yes." Chi Ye straightened up, hiding any trace of carelessness, his expression solemn as he spoke. "Teacher, I’ve decided to take a year off from school."
In that moment, his youthful rebellion, his unspoken bitterness and struggle, came to a silent end in an unnoticed corner, collapsing without sound or notice.
Xu Guangqi didn’t answer immediately. After a few seconds of thought, he said, "I remember just a while ago, you firmly told me that you weren’t going to take a leave of absence. Why the sudden change of heart?"
Chi Ye stood where he was, a small window in the conversation room letting in the sunlight. Outside, tree branches swayed gently and birds chirped. The image of the figure he had seen last night, standing by the window in the distance, surfaced before his eyes. His tongue tasted bitter as he answered hoarsely, "Because someone showed me the way."
He told me to keep moving forward, to reach for the light ahead, not to trip or stop.
The class bell rang.
Chi Ye found himself, once again, unable to stop thinking that Wen Xiao must be starting class now.
Wen Xiao was very selective about what he listened to in class. He only listened to what he didn't understand or what he was likely to get wrong, which meant that he might only listen for a few minutes in an entire class and spend the rest of the time working on his own problems.
When he solved problems, he liked to twirl his pen. His fingers were long and elegant, and the way he spun the pen was quick and fluid. When the problems were easy, he would become disinterested, like an emotionless problem-solving machine. But as soon as he encountered a tough question, the speed at which he twirled the pen would noticeably increase.
Suddenly, the last words of the phone call from last night echoed in his mind.
In an instant, Chi Ye’s breath caught, and his body instinctively leaned forward slightly, as if a sharp pain twisted in his stomach.
Clearly, his feelings hadn’t changed at all. Yet, they had been defeated by life and overwhelmed by fate.
Wen Xiao... couldn’t even bring himself to say the words to end it.
Without pressing to clarify who had shown him the way, Xu Guangqi observed Chi Ye’s expression and had a rough idea of what was going on. He asked, "What are your plans for the year off?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Chi Ye stared at a point in the air. "I’ll work. I’ll do everything I can to earn as much money as possible — enough to cover my mom’s medical expenses, enough to pay for someone to pick up my sister from school and take care of her while I’m not around. That way, I can focus on preparing for the college entrance exams."
Xu Guangqi’s eyes stung with unshed tears.
Fate was never fair. It was often full of malice.
Faced with this young man, whose features were losing their boyish softness, Xu Guangqi didn’t know what to say or how to advise him.
Chi Ye felt as if the ground beneath him had disappeared, his footing uncertain. He gathered his scattered thoughts, straightened his back, and solemnly bowed to Xu Guangqi.
"Thank you for your trust and tolerance over the past two years."
Xu Guangqi’s eyes were red, his voice hoarse. "You don’t need to thank me. I haven’t been much help. I could only watch you struggle, and I’m not worthy of your gratitude. You’ve been carrying so much on your shoulders every day. It’s been incredibly hard, but you’ve made it this far."
Chi Ye straightened up again, a lazy smile slowly spreading across his face, the same familiar expression from before. "The only regret I have is that when I return for senior year, you won’t be my homeroom teacher anymore. If I get first place in the college entrance exam, the new homeroom teacher will get to brag about it."
For a moment, Xu Guangqi’s rising emotions were interrupted. He glared at Chi Ye, still red-eyed. "Do you believe me if I say I'll be your homeroom teacher for two consecutive graduating classes? You're stuck with me! And besides, what's the deal with you always getting 60 on every subject?"
"No particular reason," Chi Ye answered casually. "Rather than watching my score drop from 140, to 130, to 120, to 100, to 90, to 80, to 70, to 60, I'd rather just aim for the 60 from the start." He turned his gaze away, his voice lowering. "It’s the worst-case scenario, the one that preserves my dignity."
Xu Guangqi understood. Chi Ye had already prepared himself for the worst from the very beginning. He had once feared, once worried.
The young man’s brilliance, as bright as the scorching sun, would rather break his pride with his own hands than let fate’s malice slowly chip it away, crushing him into the dirt.
Chi Ye had always been that proud boy.
Before leaving, seeing Chi Ye’s hand on the doorknob, Xu Guangqi’s eyes filled with an unspoken pain. "This school uniform might not look good, but don’t throw it away. In a year, you’ll need to wear it again."
Chi Ye didn’t turn around. He simply responded, "Okay."
The door to the conversation room opened.
Zhao Yiyang, Shangguan Yu, and Xu Rui stood close to the wall, facing Chi Ye. They had so much they wanted to say, yet it felt as though they had lost their voices.
Chi Ye's gaze swept over each of them. He wanted to ask them to look out for Wen Xiao, since he didn’t know anyone else and Wen Xiao was a quiet, introverted person who didn’t like to talk.
But the words stuck in his throat, and he swallowed them back.
He hadn’t even been able to take care of Wen Xiao himself.
As Chi Ye reached the stairs, Xu Guangqi quickly caught up with him, slipping a note into Chi Ye’s hand before turning to urge Zhao Yiyang and the others, still standing at the door of the conversation room. "How long has the bell rung? What are you three still doing here? Get back to class now!"
Chi Ye stood at the edge of the stairs, lowering his head as he unfolded the slightly crumpled note. The handwriting was messy and hurried, as though it had been written in a rush just moments before.
"No matter how much fate torments you, never lose that spark of youthful passion in your heart."