Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The “Fu” character sticker on the green iron gate was peeling off, barely hanging on.

Xu Qing pushed the door open. The home was small. The living room and kitchen were connected, and there wasn’t even a TV.

“Find a place to sit.”

“Got it.”

Li Mo sat on the slightly aged sofa. Xu Qing went to the kitchen, placed the plastic bag on the counter, and took out two cups from the cabinet.

“Why were you asking about me?” Xu Qing asked.

Li Mo scratched his head: “I was curious after I found out… I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to know…” Meeting Li Mo’s subtly expectant gaze, Xu Qing pouted. “I just don’t want you to know.”

“Are you taking me for an idiot?”

“Aren’t you?”

“…”

Xu Qing placed the cups full of water on the coffee table and pushed one toward him: “Drink it. It’s clean.”

Li Mo drank the water while looking around the place.

The space was small, even a little cramped, but everything was neatly organized. Mold was growing along the base of the walls. The overhead chandelier and fan were old models, their surfaces stained with a thick layer of yellow.

“Isn’t it the holiday? Why are you the only one home?”

“They’re all at work.” Xu Qing sat on the other side of the sofa, his eyes slightly narrowed, looking very tired. “Aren’t you spending the holiday with your family? Oh, judging by your phone call, it doesn’t look like you are.”

Li Mo pouted: “Qingqing, you speak too directly… but you’re right.”

This time, Xu Qing remained silent.

After a long, unbearably tense silence, Li Mo finally spoke: “Uh… Xu Qing, have you eaten?”

“No, I was about to cook.” As he spoke, Xu Qing was already in the kitchen, taking the items out of the plastic bag—instant noodles, sausage, and a bottle of milk.

Xu Qing paused: “Do you want to eat too?”

Li Mo waved his hand: “No, I’m not hungry.”

He truly wasn’t hungry. He had just finished a large bowl of Zha Jiang Mian and a bottle of mineral water. He felt quite full.

Xu Qing said “Oh” and poured clean water into the pot. After the water boiled, he put the instant noodles in.

“You’re having instant noodles for lunch?”

“Mhm.”

His attitude was very cold.

Neither of them spoke again. The only sound in the room was the bubbling of the boiling water.

The midday sun shone into the cramped room, adding a touch of warmth to the dreary space.

Li Mo lay on the sofa, saying lazily: “Xu Qing, what are your thoughts on the sports meet?”

Xu Qing replied while cooking the noodles: “What’s there to look at?”

“But we’re mandatory to wear short sleeves! Aren’t you afraid of the cold?” Li Mo distinctly remembered Xu Qing signing up for the relay race. Eight-degree weather in short sleeves was no joke cold.

“We can wear jackets before and after the race.” Xu Qing paused, raising an eyebrow at Li Mo. “So Brother Mo is that susceptible to the cold?”

“No matter what, your Brother Mo is a human, not someone who has awakened superpowers yet.” Li Mo changed his posture, resting his head on the sofa armrest, which gave him a good view of Xu Qing busy in the kitchen. “You, on the other hand. When we were hiking yesterday, you were the coldest one out of the four of us. Don’t pass out from the cold later.”

“I’m not as delicate as you think.”

Xu Qing served the cooked noodles, sliced the sausage into small pieces with a knife, and even arranged them aesthetically in the instant noodle bowl. The presentation was quite appealing.

The neighborhood was mostly inhabited by old people and children. They were all taking a nap at this time, making it very quiet. Occasionally, a car horn would sound, followed by the sound of tires speeding away.

No one spoke in the living room, only the sound of Xu Qing quietly slurping his noodles.

Xu Qing cleared his throat: “Do you… really not want to eat any?”

Li Mo opened his mouth: “I’m really not hungry.”

“Then why do you keep staring at me?”

“You’re good-looking.”

“…”

I shouldn’t have asked.

Xu Qing took a sip of milk. Li Mo reached out to him: “Let me have a sip. I don’t mind you.”

“I mind you.” Though he said that, Xu Qing still handed the milk over.

Li Mo took a small taste. It was chocolate flavored, with a hint of bitterness in the sweetness.

The taste was decent.

“I’m too bored.” Li Mo put the milk on the coffee table, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling in a daze. “Xu Qing, aren’t you bored?”

“No.”

Well done, the conversation died again.

After lying still for a while, Li Mo suddenly sprung up, patted his butt: “I’m going back now. You take your time eating.”

Xu Qing hummed in response, continuing to eat his noodles with his head down.

Li Mo didn’t go home immediately.

He received a message from a friend in C City: Brother Mo, how have you been recently?

The contact was saved as “Stone.” Li Mo remembered him as the younger brother he took in C City.

When he was in elementary school, Li Mo liked to show off and had a touch of chuunibyou (eighth-grade syndrome) from watching anime. He went around taking in younger brothers and forming a gang.

Relying on his solid fists and self-proclaimed superior personality charm, Li Mo gathered a large group of loyal followers. They were all a bunch of chuunibyou kids who loved to show off, which is why his followers still stuck with him to this day.

Li Mo remembered when he left C City, the group of followers insisted on singing “Brothers Hug” to him. Their pitch was all over the place, but they were self-righteously moved to tears.

People at the bus stop looked at them like they were all lunatics.

Li Mo typed his reply: Great. Got a house and money.

[Stone: Brother Mo, when are you coming back to C City? We all miss you so much.]

Stone was just a nickname. His real name was Fu Dake. Since Li Mo first met him, the boy always had a buzz cut and looked like a stone, hence the nickname.

He was also the most subservient of all the followers.

In elementary school, Stone obeyed Li Mo’s every word and bragged about how awesome his “big brother” was everywhere. But he was also very loyal. No matter what happened, he would never betray his big brother.

It was the same in junior high. Stone would call him “Big Brother” all day, which made Li Mo feel awkward and embarrassed. Stone wouldn’t listen when told to stop, so he finally just changed it to “Brother Mo.”

[Handsome Li Mo: You guys want to sing “Brothers Hug” again?]

[Stone: Glasses said your expression wasn’t very good last time, so we won’t sing it this time.]

[Stone: We heard you came back once before. Brother Mo, that wasn’t loyal of you. You didn’t even tell us you were back.]

That time he went home was an impromptu call-back. Li Mo completely forgot about telling anyone.

[Stone: Brother Mo, someone came looking for you yesterday, said he was your friend. Do you know him?]

[Handsome Li Mo: You didn’t say the name or appearance. Do you want me to guess?]

[Stone: I think his last name was Bai something.]

Could it be… Bai Sheng?

Bai Sheng did say he was going back to C City and asked if Li Mo wanted to go with him.

[Handsome Li Mo: Oh, I’ll see when there’s a bus back and check it out.]

[Stone: Awesome! Brother Mo, be sure to tell me before you arrive. I’ll prepare a welcoming ceremony for you!]

[Handsome Li Mo: No need. You rest.]

Li Mo turned off his phone, thinking that since he had nothing to do here anyway, going back to C City would at least allow him to go online or ride bikes with Stone and the others, instead of being bored to death.

There was a bus leaving in the afternoon. Li Mo didn’t even pack, just grabbed his phone and left.

On the bus, Li Mo leaned against the window, watching the outside in disbelief.

A large, imposing group of people stood at the bus stop, all acting like they were hot stuff, with multicolored hair, tight-fitting skinny jeans, and cigarettes dangling from their mouths. They looked like a mass escape of lunatics.

It was twilight, and there weren’t many people at the bus stop or on the bus.

Good thing there aren’t many people right now, or this would be super embarrassing…

Li Mo got off the bus under the driver’s puzzled gaze, smiling and waving: “Yo, long time no see, brothers.”

Stone, with his buzz cut, stood at the front like a soldier: “Welcome home, Brother Mo!”

The skinny-jeaned lads behind him shouted in unison: “Welcome home, Brother Mo!”

Li Mo: “…”

This scene was like a scene from an advertisement for a web novel: the God of War finally returns after ten years of battle, and all the warriors shout in unison: “We respectfully welcome the God of War home!”

How f**king awkward.

“Do you guys… not eat dinner?” Li Mo brought up a random topic.

Stone said: “Knowing Brother Mo was coming back, we came here early to wait. We won’t eat until Brother Mo comes back!”

Li Mo covered his face: “Is this your way of asking me to treat you? A lollipop for everyone and that’s it.”

“That works too.”

“…”

Though he said that, Li Mo wouldn’t be stingy enough not to treat his own followers.

So, a large group of them marched into a self-service Malatang (spicy hot pot) restaurant, filling the small shop completely.

Li Mo sat in the middle and yawned: “Stone, when did that Bai Sheng you mentioned come looking for you?”

“Oh, he didn’t come looking for us. Wait, he did come looking for us,” Stone said. “Yesterday, a few of us went to the internet cafe together. At the door, we were talking about Brother Mo’s glorious gaming history, and then that guy with the last name Bai came over and asked if we knew Li Mo. He asked a bunch of random stuff.”

Li Mo was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected Bai Sheng to frequent a place like an internet cafe.

It wasn’t that internet cafes were bad, but the ones in C City were completely gathering places for hooligans: young hooligans, middle-aged hooligans, and even elderly hooligans.

They sat in front of computers, smoking, drinking, and slamming keyboards, often uttering so many profanities that their mouths needed to be censored.

Judging solely from Bai Sheng’s words and personality, he didn’t seem like the type to set foot in a hooligan gathering place.

“Why was Bai Sheng asking about me…” Before he could finish, Li Mo suddenly stopped.

A familiar scene.

Why did I ask about Xu Qing during the day? That’s why Bai Sheng is asking about me now.

Li Mo was startled: “Holy crap… no way…”

Stone wasn’t very bright and didn’t fully understand what Bai Sheng was about in the first place. Now he was even more confused: “What’s wrong, Brother Mo? Is that guy with the last name Bai beefing with you? I’ll take care of him for you!”

“Get out of here. Don’t go causing trouble for me.” Li Mo waved his hand. “He’s my classmate… just be polite to him in the future. Don’t call him ‘that guy with the last name Bai,’ like he’s an enemy.”

Stone: “Got it, Brother Mo.”

He might not have understood much, but nodding was the right thing to do.