Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

“Hey, Li Mo, you…”

Xu Qing’s motion of pushing the door open froze, and his face instantly darkened.

Li Mo was pressed against Bai Sheng, the two of them extremely close, practically touching. The scene was as ambiguous as it could be.

“Xu Qing, you…” Li Mo stood up in a hurry. When he looked up, the figure at the doorway was gone.

Li Mo quickly chased after him: “Xu Qing! Wait for me!”

Xu Qing said nothing, walking with a dark expression toward the east side of the teaching building.

He had only been called over by He Zheng to deliver a message, but instead witnessed that scene…

“Xu Qing! Xu Qing!”

Li Mo caught up to him. Xu Qing stopped, turned around, and spoke flatly: “Do you need anything else? If not, stop bothering me.”

“Listen to my explanation…”

“Why should I listen to your explanation? Whatever you do has nothing to do with me. There’s no need to explain.”

With that, Xu Qing left without looking back.

Behind him, Bai Sheng walked up slowly and said: “I told you a long time ago, Xu Qing is not a good person. Something bad will happen sooner or later if you walk with him.”

After a long moment of silence, Li Mo finally spoke: “But it’s not entirely his fault… I’m going back now.”

Bai Sheng watched Li Mo’s retreating back, motionless for a long time.

He guessed correctly. Xu Qing had, to varying degrees, fallen for Li Mo. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reacted that way to seeing Li Mo and him together. It was impossible for Xu Qing to still have feelings for him.

However, Li Mo seemed completely oblivious, terribly slow when it came to matters of the heart.

Li Mo walked out of the school gate, distraught. The sky had already darkened. He pushed open the door of the noodle shop, and a rolling pin flew at his face, hitting him hard.

“Ouch, holy cow.” Li Mo lost his footing and sat down hard on the ground. His nose was red from the blow, and warm blood trickled out.

“Liu Lan! You’re nothing without me! It’s your luck that I married you! How dare you find a man outside!”

The noodle shop was in chaos. Tables and chairs were overturned. The floor was covered in broken dishes and food scraps.

Sister Liu was lying on the floor, her hair messy and clothes disheveled. A large, bulky man was on top of her, cursing while tearing at Sister Liu’s clothes and hair. Standing nearby was a person who was clapping and cheering: Xu Daning.

Li Mo paused for two seconds. Just as he was about to intervene, he was pulled back by someone next to him, and a piece of paper was pressed against his nose.

“Kid, why are you going over there? That’s Sister Liu’s husband. He’s very difficult to deal with. Don’t go looking for trouble.” The people who usually ate at the noodle shop were basically regulars. The person holding Li Mo back was an old man who didn’t want a young man the same age as his grandson to rush into trouble.

“But he’s going to kill her any minute now.”

“Aiya, we’ve tried to intervene before. He beat that young man so badly he had to go to the hospital. Who dares to go up now?” A woman next to them said. “Someone has already called the police. They’ll be here soon.”

Li Mo was forcibly detained, wiping the nosebleed with tissue paper.

At that moment, Xu Daning noticed Li Mo. He swaggered over with an arrogant gait.

“Yo, look who it is.” Xu Daning placed one foot on a chair, deliberately exposing the blue dragon tattoo on his arm, acting as if someone owed him money.

Li Mo sniffed, completely ignoring Xu Daning: “Is there any more tissue paper? I need to wipe again.”

The ignored Xu Daning was furious. He kicked the chair to the ground, grabbed Li Mo by the collar, and growled: “Kid, I haven’t settled the score with you for the past few times yet.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh.” Li Mo looked disdainful. “Always saying ‘Laozi’ (‘Your Father’), well, I’m Confucius then. We are all civilized people. Don’t use your hands… Ptooey, use your words, not your hands.”

Provoked, Xu Daning spat, yanked Li Mo, and threw him next to Sister Liu.

Xu Daning was much bigger than Li Mo, tossing him around like a chick.

The man on top of Sister Liu stopped his actions and glared at Li Mo: “Where did this kid come from?”

Xu Daning said: “This brat has been causing trouble for me before and instigated this woman to divorce you.”

Li Mo was confused: “What?”

Sister Liu struggled to get up but was pushed down by the man on top of her, who cursed: “You stinky bitch, looks like you really have something going on with this dead kid.”

“It’s not him… it has nothing to do with this child…” Sister Liu explained vaguely, her mouth bleeding.

Xu Daning cursed and reached out to grab Sister Liu’s hair. Seeing this, Li Mo bit down on his hand.

“Holy cow, holy cow.” Xu Daning shrieked and recoiled. But Li Mo wouldn’t let go, biting down hard.

“Ptooey!” Li Mo released his mouth and dry-heaved twice in disgust: “Damn you, that’s your own mother. Do you have a conscience?”

“Does it concern you, you bastard?”

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Xu Daning raised his fist to hit Li Mo but was stopped by the police, who had just arrived, and took everyone to the police station.

At the police station, the female officer took off her coat and draped it over the shivering Sister Liu. Sister Liu cried as she explained the situation: “I… I just talked a bit more to a customer, and he insisted I was having an affair, so he… he started hitting me…”

Xu Zhi, Xu Daning’s father, completely changed from his previous aggressive demeanor, smiling and saying: “Officer, I was just momentarily overcome by anger. It wasn’t intentional. I’ll be careful next time, careful next time.”

The officer slammed the table, frowning as he looked at Xu Zhi: “You were just ‘overcome by anger’ and beat her up like this?”

Xu Zhi’s greasy face was full of apologies: “Yes, yes, yes. I promise there won’t be a next time. I promise, I promise…”

“Her injuries still need to be assessed. If they are severe, you could face jail time.”

Hearing the words “jail time,” Xu Zhi’s face changed. He secretly glared at Sister Liu, then immediately reverted to his smiling demeanor: “Aiya, Officer, there’s no need for such trouble. My wife’s injuries are nothing. She’s usually clumsy and often gets hurt, and she doesn’t know how to handle it. The bruises on her body aren’t all from me.”

The officer ignored Xu Zhi and looked up at Sister Liu: “Tell me yourself, is that true?”

Xu Daning sat next to Sister Liu like a good son, his face showing concern, but behind his back, he was fiercely pinching Sister Liu.

Sister Liu trembled and stuttered: “That… that’s right…”

Upon hearing this, Li Mo’s eyes widened: Huh? No way, right?

Since Sister Liu herself said so, the police had no choice but to drop the matter.

They then turned their attention to Li Mo and Xu Daning, asking: “What about you two?”

Li Mo and Xu Daning simultaneously pointed at each other and said in unison: “He tried to hit me.”

“…”

“Officer, look at this bite mark on my hand!” Xu Daning immediately held out his hand, showing the two clear teeth marks. “This brat is a damn dog, biting people indiscriminately!”

“Hey, hey, how are you talking? Watch your language,” the officer tapped the table and turned to look at Li Mo. “Your ID shows you’re still a minor. Call your guardian first.”

“Alright.”

Before long, Yu Wencheng rushed over in a panic, still holding a half-piece of chalk. It looked like he was called away mid-lecture.

“Of-Officer…” Yu Wencheng leaned on his knees, panting heavily from running all the way from the school. “What… what happened?”

“Who are you to him?”

“I… I’m his uncle.”

The officer pointed at Xu Daning: “Your nephew bit him, and he’s now demanding compensation.”

Yu Wencheng frowned at Li Mo: “Li Mo, what happened?”

Li Mo pouted. Xu Daning hadn’t actually hit him, and he was stopped by the police when he was about to. According to regulations, Xu Daning indeed had the right to demand compensation from Li Mo.

In the end, Yu Wencheng paid Xu Daning two thousand yuan in compensation. Xu Zhi was fined for physically assaulting Sister Liu, and the incident concluded just like that.

Not far from the police station, Xu Daning provocatively raised an eyebrow: “Little thing, you’re still too green to fight me.”

Li Mo almost couldn’t resist rolling up his sleeves to fight Xu Daning outside the police station but was stopped by Yu Wencheng: “Just settle down. That family is obviously trouble. How many times have you been to the police station with them now?”

Xu Daning laughed twice and, along with Xu Zhi, half-dragged, half-pulled Sister Liu away.

Yu Wencheng sighed: “That woman is foolish. She didn’t tell the whole truth just now. She’s definitely going to suffer when they get back.”

Li Mo looked at the retreating figures: “Maybe Sister Liu was afraid that if she spoke up, the problem wouldn’t be immediately resolved?”

“In any case, you are not allowed to meddle in other people’s business anymore, got it?”

Yu Wencheng kicked Li Mo again: “Did you hear me?”

Li Mo mumbled an “Oh” and obediently followed Yu Wencheng home.

The next morning, Li Mo entered the classroom just on time, plopped down in his seat, turned his face away, and neither he nor Xu Qing spoke to the other.

Xu Qing leaned his head against the wall. Despite the somewhat hot weather, he had already put on his school jacket, zipped up tightly. He kept his head down, engrossed in writing something.

Shen Shuyi walked over, tossed an envelope onto Li Mo’s desk, and said: “This is from a lunatic. I suggest you throw it straight into the trash.”

“Huh?” Li Mo immediately tore it open to read.

[Junior, your upperclassman lost. Goodbye forever. I hope you can remember me. Farewell, I’m so handsome.]

“…”

Li Mo crumpled the note twice and turned around to toss the paper wad into the trash can: “I think you’re right.”

Shen Shuyi sat in the seat in front, eyeing Li Mo: “Did you get to know a Grade 12 guy recently?”

Li Mo shook his head repeatedly: “No, no. I’m too lazy to socialize over there.”

“Oh… You…” Shen Shuyi glanced at the silent Xu Qing and quietly asked, “Are you two… fighting?”

Li Mo was silent.

After a long time, he finally said: “You could say… yes. We are in the cold war period.”

“I never thought you two would have a cold war.”

Li Mo narrowed his eyes: “Do you think our relationship is so good that we wouldn’t have a cold war?”

Shen Shuyi shrugged: “You look like the type who would still cling to someone even after being scolded. That kind of situation has happened before, hasn’t it?”

“…”

The time when Xu Qing wanted to drop out, although both were a bit angry, it was Li Mo who took the initiative to resolve the cold war. It ended before it even really began.

But this time was different. Xu Qing genuinely seemed not to intend to speak to him.