Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Bai Sheng was about to say something more.

Li Mo stood up and clapped his hands: “Time to take the bus back. Want to come along?”

After a moment of hesitation, Bai Sheng nodded.

Li Mo hadn’t brought much with him. He came with only a backpack, and he was leaving the same way.

He had let Ye Jinlun save face this time, letting him brag and show off how amazing his brother was in front of his classmate.

Before he left, Ye Jinlun struggled for a long time, his face flushing red, before finally managing to say, “See you next time, big brother.”

On the bus, Li Mo and Bai Sheng sat side-by-side in the back row.

“So you’re in Class 12 now,” Li Mo nodded. “No wonder I haven’t seen you. It’s a bit far.”

Bai Sheng hummed an agreement: “I’ve heard of you, though. A very handsome transfer student.”

Li Mo pulled a small mirror from his pocket and primped in front of it: “Hehe, I told you my handsomeness is unparalleled, didn’t I?”

“You and Xu Qing are desk-mates?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not that I hate him… but I sincerely suggest you keep your distance from him,” Bai Sheng said.

Li Mo put away the mirror, crossed his legs, and leaned back on the seat, his voice lazy: “Why? Because he’s volatile and aggressive?”

“You probably don’t know him well yet, do you?” Bai Sheng looked at Li Mo. “Xu Qing has been to the police station several times, either for fighting or for stealing.”

Fighting was understandable; Li Mo himself had been in and out of police stations countless times for fighting since childhood.

But stealing… would Xu Qing really do something so immoral?

Bai Sheng continued: “I heard it from someone who grew up with him. When Xu Qing was in Grade 8, he stole someone’s bracelet, which was supposedly very expensive, and he was detained for a few days.”

“You believe things you hear from others?” Li Mo narrowed his eyes. “If Xu Qing’s character was really that bad, how could the school and teachers treat him so well? I’ll ask Xu Qing himself tomorrow.”

Bai Sheng clicked his tongue: “You really are… I don’t know if the stealing incident is true, but the fact that he often gets into fights and goes to the police station can’t be false. I’ve encountered it several times.”

Li Mo simply said, “Oh.” “So what? I also frequently get into fights and go to the police station. Are you saying my character is bad and telling others to stay away from me too?”

Bai Sheng fell silent.

“Are you very fond of Xu Qing?”

“Yes, I am. He’s handsome, his grades are great, and he even bought me a hand-scallion pancake. Who wouldn’t like him?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“I’m not gay,” Li Mo paused. “Well, I don’t know if I’m gay, but I get along with Xu Qing quite well. My mom taught me that only a fool believes rumors.”

“Ugh, I’m so sleepy, I’m going to sleep now.” With that, Li Mo nestled between the window and the seat, closed his eyes, and drifted off for a nap.

By the time they reached City A, it was already evening.

Yu Wencheng was waiting at the bus stop. Seeing Li Mo and Bai Sheng get off the bus together, he was surprised: “Bai Sheng? Why are you taking the same bus as Li Mo?”

Li Mo looked at Bai Sheng, then at Yu Wencheng: “Do you two know each other?”

Bai Sheng nodded: “Mr. Yu taught me before. I went back to City C for the weekend and happened to run into Li Mo. Mr. Yu, do you two know each other?”

Yu Wencheng gave an affirmative “Mhm”: “He is my nephew.”

Li Mo stretched: “Going to eat? Bai Sheng, want to join us?”

Bai Sheng politely declined: “My mom has already made dinner. You two go ahead. I’ll be leaving now.”

After saying goodbye to Bai Sheng, the uncle and nephew found a noodle shop near the residential area.

The restaurant he had eaten at after leaving the police station had since been shut down due to hygiene and portion issues. A new noodle shop had opened here; the food tasted good, and the owner was nice.

Yu Wencheng had rarely been here, as he usually finished work late, nearly ten o’clock.

Li Mo, on the other hand, came here to eat every day after school, so he was naturally acquainted with the owner.

“Long time no see, Sister Liu!” Li Mo greeted her warmly as soon as he entered the shop.

The noodle shop was quiet now, with only Sister Liu enjoying a moment of leisure, scrolling on her phone at the counter.

“Oh, Little Mo, you’re here.” Sister Liu immediately put down her phone and stood up with a smile. “What would you like to eat today?”

“The usual, one bowl of zhajiangmian (noodles with savory minced pork sauce).” Li Mo found a seat and asked Yu Wencheng, “Uncle, what are you having?”

Yu Wencheng sat down as well: “I’ll have the same as you.”

“Coming right up,” Sister Liu replied, then turned and went into the kitchen to busy herself.

Yu Wencheng couldn’t help but sigh: “When did you get so familiar with the people here?”

“I finish school early, and I can’t cook, so I come here to eat. I gradually got to know them,” Li Mo replied while playing on his phone.

“Can’t you spend less time on your phone?”

To be fair, Yu Wencheng admired Li Mo’s ability to quickly get familiar with people everywhere he went.

In Yu Wenxiu’s words, Mo Mo had an easygoing personality, was carefree since childhood, was cheerful wherever he went, and was extremely optimistic—never causing worry.

A common term for this was “lack of common sense.”

Yu Wencheng’s WeChat note for him was “Niece/Nephew Lacking Common Sense.”

Li Mo put down his phone and deliberately lowered his voice: “Oh, right, Uncle, Sister Liu is Xu Daning’s mom.”

“Xu Daning? The guy who went to the police station with you twice?” Yu Wencheng still had an impression of him, all bad.

“Yes, indeed.” Li Mo paused. “After Xu Daning’s store was shut down, Sister Liu came here to open a shop herself. She said she’d always wanted to run a noodle shop, and this location is good, with lots of people, so she can make money.”

Yu Wencheng frowned: “His mother opened a shop here, and Xu Daning doesn’t come over to help?”

“That big fool clearly isn’t a dutiful child.”

Just then, Sister Liu brought over two bowls of zhajiangmian.

After serving the food, a few more customers came in. Sister Liu couldn’t rest and started to busy herself again, large beads of sweat running down her forehead.

Yu Wencheng sighed: “Stop worrying about others for a moment. The monthly exam is coming up in two weeks. With your grades… are you going to be okay?”

“A man shouldn’t say he can’t,” Li Mo said with a serious face. “However, I might not be able to this time.”

Yu Wencheng twitched his mouth: “Didn’t you just say a man shouldn’t say he can’t? How were your grades in Grade 10?”

Li Mo fidgeted: “Second to last in the whole school…”

“Your grades were quite good in junior high, weren’t they?” Yu Wencheng frowned. “You scored over four hundred in the entrance exam. Why are you struggling so much in high school?”

“The high school material is too difficult,” Li Mo slurped some noodles. “My maximum brain capacity is 32GB. The high school knowledge has exceeded my memory limit.”

“Then do I need to get you a 250GB large-capacity hardware replacement?”

Li Mo chuckled twice: “That works, too.”

Yu Wencheng cursed: “Works my butt. Your grades are so bad. I don’t know what your mom will say to me. Cut down on the time you spend on your phone and reading novels from now on.”

“Okay, okay.”

Li Mo agreed verbally, yet he continued to do as he pleased, reading novels and playing on his phone as usual.

The next day at school, Li Mo, who had stayed up late reading novels, yawned all the way to school.

When he arrived at the classroom, half the students were already there.

Xu Qing hadn’t arrived yet.

Li Mo sat down in his seat, staring blankly at the empty chair beside him.

As soon as Tang Dawei entered the classroom, he excitedly rushed over to Li Mo: “Brother Mo! Brother Mo! Earth-shattering news!”

Li Mo rubbed his sleepy eyes: “What is it? Quick, tell me.”

Tang Dawei leaned in: “Xu Qing is dropping out of school!”

Li Mo instantly woke up: “What? No, seriously? I don’t believe it.”

“Don’t be skeptical,” Tang Dawei pointed outside the door. “I just passed the office and heard Director Yu talking to Qi Miao about it!”

Li Mo hissed: “Why? Aren’t Xu Qing’s grades excellent? Why would he drop out?”

“It seems like he just doesn’t want to study anymore, I’m telling you… Hey, hey! Brother Mo, where are you going?”

Ignoring Tang Dawei’s shouts, Li Mo walked straight out of the classroom.

In the office, Yu Wencheng was looking troubled while holding a document. Li Mo pushed the door open and walked right in: “Director, what’s going on with Xu Qing?”

Yu Wencheng was startled, then quickly pushed Li Mo out: “You kid, don’t you know to knock before entering the office?”

“Sorry, I was in a hurry,” Li Mo scratched his head. “I want to ask about Xu Qing. Is he really dropping out?”

Yu Wencheng sighed: “You heard about it so quickly. His father came over just now and said he wanted to process Xu Qing’s withdrawal. Xu Qing’s grades are excellent, so the school strongly disagrees, but his father claims Xu Qing himself doesn’t want to attend anymore.”

“How is that possible?”

“The school doesn’t believe it either, but they can’t reach Xu Qing himself.”

“…Li Mo! Class is about to start. Where are you going?”

Li Mo headed straight downstairs.

“Go back to class.”

Just as he descended one flight of stairs, Xu Qing walked up to him and pushed Li Mo back up the stairs.

Li Mo froze in place: “Xu Qing?”

Yu Wencheng, who had chased after them, was also startled: “Xu Qing?!”

“I apologize, Mr. Yu. I had a small family matter.” Xu Qing paused, then added, “I’m back to continue class.”

Yu Wencheng breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good, that’s good.”

Li Mo followed Xu Qing back to the classroom.

The first class had already begun. Ran Nannan glared at the two of them, then ignored them and continued her lecture.

At his seat, Li Mo wrote a note and pushed it in front of Xu Qing.

—Li Mo The Great Handsome Guy: What’s wrong?

Xu Qing stared blankly for a moment, then wrote his neat handwriting on the paper:

—You’re quite nosy.

Li Mo stared at the last sentence on the note for a long time.

Li Mo barely listened to a single class the entire morning.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, Li Mo stood up and left his seat.

Tang Dawei, sitting behind him, couldn’t have missed Li Mo’s unusual behavior; Li Mo didn’t even acknowledge him when he tried to talk to him during the break.

“Hey, Xu Qing.” Tang Dawei stopped Xu Qing, who was heading to the cafeteria. “What’s wrong with Li Mo? He’s never this quiet. Did you two have a fight?”

Xu Qing shook off his hand: “Whatever’s wrong with him has nothing to do with me. I don’t know.”

Tang Dawei was stunned, then somewhat angry: “Xu Qing, fighting is nothing unusual. Li Mo is usually quite nice to you. Even if you fought, you shouldn’t say that.”

“Why shouldn’t I say that?” Xu Qing countered. “Li Mo and I aren’t close to begin with. If you care about him so much, go ask him yourself. I need to eat. Please move.”

Damn! This Xu Qing is exactly like the rumors! He has absolutely no heart!