Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

After finishing the Malatang, Li Mo followed Stone to the internet cafe to play games together.

Having played gacha games for a year, Li Mo hadn’t experienced the feeling of intense fighting for a long time.

“Hey, you snatched the marksman. What am I supposed to play?”

Stone grinned: “Brother Mo, you should try other roles occasionally.”

“As if I know how.” Despite saying that, Li Mo dragged the mouse and chose a jungler with a skin.

The internet cafe was filled with middle and high school students, aggressively tapping on keyboards, cursing loudly, with drinks and instant noodle cups by their sides.

[Your friend “88-Year-Old Melancholy Hottie” is online~]

Stone stared at the ID for a while: “It’s been so long since I saw Brother Mo’s ID light up… I miss the old days…”

“Hey, hey, stop right there.” Li Mo raised his hand to interrupt, afraid Stone would bring up some embarrassing past events. “Damn it, I’m too poor to afford a rename card. This name is okay, right?”

“Okay? It’s awesome.”

Li Mo stayed in the internet cafe until early morning. He took off his headphones and rubbed his aching shoulders.

Since starting high school and reading web novels, Li Mo rarely visited internet cafes, but he would still skip class, sneaking back to the dorm or a comfortable spot to read novels, sometimes for an entire day.

The long-awaited all-night gaming session made him feel a bit tired.

As Li Mo stood up, a cigarette was offered to him. Stone didn’t even look up: “Brother Mo, here.”

“…” Li Mo took the cigarette, turned, and walked out of the internet cafe. “Thanks.”

The nights in C City were much colder. The streets were empty, with only streetlights standing alone in the chilly wind.

Li Mo leaned against the internet cafe entrance, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He felt his pockets but couldn’t find a lighter.

“Here.”

A kind person next to him offered a lighter. Li Mo took it without looking: “Thanks.”

He clicked it a few times and found it was out of fuel.

Li Mo looked up, only to realize the kind person was Bai Sheng.

“Why give it to me when it’s out of fuel…” Li Mo tossed the lighter back into Bai Sheng’s hand, pulling his jacket tighter around himself.

“Smoking is bad for your health.” Bai Sheng paused. “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming back?”

“I suddenly wanted to come back… I had nothing to do in A City anyway.”

Bai Sheng turned to look at him, opened his mouth, and finally asked: “Aren’t you with Xu Qing?”

Li Mo was silent for a moment, then said: “We went out together the day before yesterday. I just happened to have a friend call me yesterday, so I came back.”

“Your friends… are quite interesting.”

Li Mo glanced at Stone passionately playing games inside the internet cafe and chuckled: “Yes.”

The slightly biting cold wind stirred the roadside flowers. The surroundings were very quiet, with only the sound of the wind and occasional shouting from inside the internet cafe.

Li Mo cleared his throat: “What are you doing here so late?”

Bai Sheng pointed inside the internet cafe and said: “My cousin is inside. I came to pick him up.”

“Cousin?” Li Mo followed the direction Bai Sheng pointed. His cousin was sitting two seats away from Stone, wearing thick headphones, a lollipop dangling from his mouth, lazily controlling the keyboard and mouse.

“That’s your cousin?” Li Mo was a bit surprised.

That person was named Bai Ziqi. He was as cultured as his name suggested. They were about the same age. In comparison, Bai Ziqi had good grades, a good appearance, and a good family background. He looked nothing like the type to skip class, fight, or stay up all night at an internet cafe.

But in fact, Bai Ziqi was a better fighter than Stone and the others, and his gaming skills were top-notch.

I didn’t realize these two were cousins…

“When did you start smoking?”

Taken aback by the sudden question, Li Mo paused and said: “Junior high, I don’t remember exactly when.”

Bai Sheng said “Oh”: “It seems your junior high life was quite colorful.”

“It was alright. Just a little more exciting than the average school life.” Li Mo laughed. “Someone as handsome as me gets an idol drama-like experience every day.”

“I can tell.”

“You can tell I’m handsome, right? Seriously, I think my face is uniquely, unprecedentedly handsome.”

“Mhm.”

Li Mo clicked his tongue. This self-praise was too dry, and Bai Sheng remained so indifferent.

“Brother Mo, why haven’t you come back yet?” Stone walked out, lighting a cigarette, and was startled when he saw Bai Sheng. “You, you, you, you… aren’t you the guy who was asking about Brother Mo before?”

Bai Sheng frowned slightly: “Mhm… Are your games finished?”

“What? No, who exactly are you?”

“We’re finished.” Behind him, Bai Ziqi cut off Stone, walking up to Bai Sheng. “You two know each other?”

Stone rambled on: “Let me tell you, this guy has been since yesterday…”

Of course, no one was listening to him.

Bai Ziqi gave Li Mo a faint look and said to Bai Sheng: “Let’s go, Brother.”

“Li Mo, I’m leaving now.”

“Okay, be careful on the road.”

Li Mo waved his hand. Bai Sheng and his cousin’s figures gradually disappeared into the night. Li Mo’s expression also faded.

He kicked Stone: “Why didn’t you tell me Bai Ziqi has a cousin named Bai Sheng?”

Stone rubbed his leg, feeling wronged: “Brother Mo, you really can’t blame me… That Bai Ziqi kid is hard to deal with. We don’t get along… I was only called over temporarily to play games. He usually doesn’t participate in our activities, so he definitely wouldn’t tell us these things.”

Li Mo pouted, then walked back into the internet cafe: “Who cares about him. Let’s continue.”

His relationship with Bai Ziqi was a bit awkward.

In the first year of high school, Li Mo was the class slacker, skipping most classes, either reading novels or playing around with friends. He seemed to be on a completely different path from Bai Ziqi.

Their paths crossed over a very small incident, so small that Li Mo couldn’t even remember it clearly, and they got into a fight. Although Bai Ziqi lost, both of them were injured.

From then on, they held a grudge. They disliked each other immensely, but they had many mutual friends. Over time, the tension between them eased. At the very least, they could sit together and play games, speaking no more than five times throughout.

That person always felt somewhat similar to Bai Sheng, but Li Mo couldn’t pinpoint where the similarity lay.

Li Mo leaned back in his chair and patted Stone next to him: “Got a lighter?”

“Yes.” Stone quickly pulled out a lighter and presented it to Li Mo with both hands.

Li Mo lit a cigarette. The long-unfamiliar taste made him cough.

Stone exclaimed: “Brother Mo, how long has it been since you last smoked?”

“Half a year, maybe a year.” Li Mo scratched his head. “Who the hell keeps track of that stuff.”

Stone nodded vaguely. He sensed his good big brother was in a bad mood.

“Brother Mo, may I be so bold as to ask a question?”

Li Mo narrowed his eyes: “Ask away.”

Stone’s face was serious: “Are you in love?”

“…”

“Get lost.” Li Mo swore.

Damn it, the more I think about it, the more annoying it gets.

“You guys play. I’m leaving.” Li Mo stood up, casually taking a fresh box of cigarettes and a lighter from Stone’s desk.

Li Mo strolled slowly down the street, took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at the locked storefronts beside him.

His reflection was visible in the shop window glass—tall with long legs, but his expression was somewhat lonely.

Holy crap, why is it lonely?

Li Mo raised a hand and slapped himself, sobering up slightly.

He pulled out his phone and typed into the search bar: How old is too young to date, how do men and men…

At nine in the morning, Li Mo groggily opened his eyes, still half-asleep.

In the early hours of the morning, he stood on the street like an idiot for a long time, enduring nearly an hour of cold wind before remembering to go home.

The house was cold and empty. The family of three was traveling, the housekeeper was on holiday, and the entire villa felt deserted.

Li Mo made up Ye Jinlun’s bed, just so the little brat wouldn’t find fault with him when he returned.

There were no messages on his phone besides the class group chat complaining about homework.

Li Mo lay on the sofa, unwashed and unfed, just lying there.

Life here was no different from when he was in A City, or perhaps no different from his past life.

He admitted he wasn’t someone who liked studying. He’d been a troublemaker since he was a child, determined to coast through life. After his biological father cheated and ran off with a rich woman, and his biological mother remarried and had a younger child, this desire to coast only intensified.

Ye Zhong had countless assets. Inheritance wouldn’t likely be considered for someone as useless as him. He just needed to drift through life. If Ye Jinlun inherited the family business and kicked him out later, he could still manage to live by working a basic job.

For Li Mo, living was just about existing. No matter how he lived, as long as he didn’t die, it was fine.

He was already fully “lying flat” before he even got up.

[Stone: Brother Mo, are you bored? Wanna come out and hang? Waiting for you at the usual spot~]

This message was from Stone fifteen minutes ago.

In the blink of an eye, Li Mo was following a group of people down the street, the procession looking like a bunch of alternative teens causing a scene.

Li Mo walked at the front, enduring the shame: “Damn it, I’m not treating you to Malatang this time…”

Stone patted his stomach and promised: “Don’t worry, Brother Mo! Everyone came well-fed!”

I think you guys are just too full…

Li Mo sighed and took out his phone, deciding to harass Xu Qing.

His chat history with Xu Qing was mostly his unilateral output: various emoji bombardments or non-mainstream quotes. Xu Qing would either call him crazy or tell him to get lost, or sometimes just not reply at all.

This time, Xu Qing didn’t reply either.

“What day is it today?” Li Mo suddenly asked.

Stone scratched his head: “The fourth. Why?”

Li Mo said “Oh”: “I’m going back tomorrow.”

“What?! So early? Brother Mo, don’t you want to spend more time with us?”

Li Mo glanced at the red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple-haired people behind him and shook his head: “Next time, absolutely.”

Stone: “…”