Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Early the next morning.

Li Mo was awakened by a burst of noise.

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I don’t want to…!!!”

Li Mo rubbed his head in annoyance. The pain from his arm brought him fully awake.

It also reminded him that everything that happened yesterday was not a dream.

The crying seemed to be Ye Jinlun’s.

That brat can’t possibly be crying for me, can he? Li Mo still held a shred of hope for the blended family.

He got out of bed quietly, dragging his somewhat tired body to the door of the ward. The door was slightly ajar. Through the gap, he could see Ye Jinlun crying and struggling in Yu Wenxiu’s arms.

The little rascal… Li Mo thought Ye Jinlun was worried about his brother. He was about to push the door open when he heard Ye Jinlun’s tearful voice:

“I don’t want Brother to come back!”

Li Mo’s hand froze on the door.

Yu Wenxiu gently coaxed: “Xiao Lun, when Brother comes back, he can play with you. Didn’t you always want someone to play with?”

Ye Zhong also said: “That’s right. Brother can also protect you when he’s back.”

“I don’t need his protection!” Ye Jinlun struggled out of Yu Wenxiu’s embrace, his little face flushed red. “There’s no place for him in the house anymore! Why let him come back!”

At this, the outside fell silent.

Li Mo lowered his eyes, slowly walked back to the bed, and lay down again.

He should have been clear from the start.

Why did I come to A City? Why did I attend Huaying No. 1 High School? Why didn’t I want to go home during the holiday?

There was no place for Li Mo in the house anymore, not since the moment Yu Wenxiu married Ye Zhong.

There was more arguing outside for a while. Ye Jinlun seemed to have been taken away by someone, and the crying gradually faded.

Someone pushed the door open and came in.

Li Mo lay on the bed, playing dead, not moving an inch.

“Mo Mo.” It was Yu Wenxiu. She sat by the bed and took Li Mo’s hand. Her hand, well-maintained in recent years, was very smooth. Everything she had experienced before was softened, like the wrinkles on her skin.

Yu Wenxiu stammered, finding it difficult to speak.

Since she was finding it difficult, Li Mo would be the “opener.”

“I’m not going back to C City.” Li Mo still didn’t open his eyes, his voice soft, carrying an indescribable emotion. “I want to stay here… You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Your arm is still like this now. How can Mom…”

Li Mo subtly withdrew his hand.

He didn’t understand why his mother, having already made her choice, insisted on putting on a show of deep mother-son affection.

Even if his mother immediately agreed, he wouldn’t say anything.

“I can be discharged in a couple of days. It’s not serious.” Li Mo turned his head, placed his arm over his eyes, and physically held back the tears that threatened to fall.

Yu Wenxiu didn’t insist further, leaving with a hurried “I’ll go buy food.”

The moment the door closed, the room instantly fell silent.

Li Mo wasn’t the type to cry easily. Even when his nose was stinging with emotion, he had never shed a single tear.

But this time, he couldn’t help it, couldn’t hold it back.

When he was eight, his father, Li Dong, had an affair and had a huge fight with Yu Wenxiu, smashing everything in the house.

They argued until they were hoarse, saying every nasty, hurtful thing they could, making a terrible scene, almost resulting in a physical fight.

Li Mo was just a child then. He was scared facing such a scene, but he still stood in front of Yu Wenxiu without hesitation, receiving several slaps from Li Dong.

Li Dong was never a good husband, much less a good father.

He drank heavily, he committed domestic violence, he couldn’t control himself and went out looking for women, even bringing the women he found back home, heedlessly driving Yu Wenxiu and Li Mo out.

It was very late that day. A disheveled Yu Wenxiu picked up Li Mo and left the home they had lived in for eight years. If it could even be called a home.

It was tough for the mother and son—a middle-aged woman and an elementary school child—to make a living.

They lived in a dirty, cramped shared rental for a time. Yu Wenxiu worked during the day and went to a part-time job after cooking for Li Mo in the evening.

Yu Wenxiu then was weathered and tired, looking like she had aged more than a decade.

The current Yu Wenxiu was bright and beautiful, which naturally made Li Mo happy.

But his mother no longer loved him.

Yu Wenxiu hadn’t returned by almost noon.

Click

The ward door was pushed open again. Li Mo thought it was Yu Wenxiu. His face still had tear tracks, so he turned his head away again to play dead.

“Stop pretending. Get up and eat.”

This voice…

Li Mo opened his eyes and met Shen Wang’s gaze.

Shen Wang shook the boxed meal in his hand: “All-meat feast. Aren’t you touched?”

Li Mo was surprised: “Why did you dye your hair black?”

Shen Wang was a friend Li Mo made in junior high. Their relationship also started with a fight.

But unlike with Bai Ziqi, Li Mo and Shen Wang were very close. Probably because they both had similar personalities.

“New school doesn’t allow dyeing. It’s a shame about bro’s handsome blue hair.” Shen Wang sat on the empty bed next door, tidying the fringe on his forehead. “Bro also came to A City. I gotta say, you’re so disloyal. You didn’t even say a word when you transferred, making me squat in C City for two weeks waiting for you.”

“F***, if you hadn’t shown up, I would’ve forgotten you existed…” Li Mo rubbed his slightly swollen eyes, propped himself up on the bed, and sat up. “How did you know I was hospitalized?”

Shen Wang looked incredulous: “Old buddy, the news about a certain Grade 11 student at Huaying No. 1 High School being disabled by a fall at the sports meet is trending. I saw your handsome face at a glance.”

Li Mo slowly realized: “Oh my god, quick, give me my phone!”

Shen Wang pulled out his phone and handed it over.

Li Mo: “…My phone is in the drawer.”

Shen Wang: “Right.”

Li Mo opened his phone. The WeChat group was already blowing up:

[Tang Dawei: @Lin Yi Brother, why aren’t you replying!!!]

[Yang Di: Need follow-up.]

[Shen Shuyi: Need follow-up.]

[Liu Jiahan: Need follow-up.]

[Xu Zihan: Need follow-up.]

[Lin Yi: Coming, coming.]

[Lin Yi: This incident is huge. It’s all over the headlines. The school is taking it very seriously.]

[Tang Dawei: Tell us something we don’t know.]

[Lin Yi: To save face, the school decided to terminate its contract with the sports equipment manufacturer.]

[Yang Di: ? So it was the manufacturer’s fault??]

[Liu Jiahan: I heard it also involves Xu Qing.]

[Lin Yi: It’s too complicated. I’m not saying.]

[Tang Dawei: You son of a gun.]

[Shen Shuyi: What about Xu Qing? Explain.]

[Ji Lin: I heard Xu Qing went crazy from studying and acted impulsively without realizing it.]

This was followed by a long row of question marks.

Li Mo closed his phone, feeling like he was the one going crazy.

“My goodness, is Huaying No. 1 High School that dark?” Shen Wang had unknowingly moved closer to Li Mo, still holding the braised pork boxed meal.

“Did you come here without eating?” Li Mo rolled his eyes at him, then his gaze returned to the dark phone screen. His fingers tightened unconsciously. “…Do you have any connections at Huaying No. 1 High School?”

“Yes.” Shen Wang tasted a bite of rice, then shoved the already mixed boxed meal into Li Mo’s hands. He took out his own phone from his pocket. “Five minutes.”

Five minutes later.

“Got news.” Shen Wang sprang up from the bed, holding his phone out to Li Mo.

[AAA_A City High School News Network (Not a Confession Wall): Fresh Gossip from Huaying No. 1 High School! Could something like this happen at the annual sports meet?! Is it the decay of morality or the distortion of human nature?!]

[Decoding: As everyone knows, the quality of equipment from Huaying No. 1 High School’s long-term equipment manufacturer is impeccable. This time, a foreign object in the mat caused an injury to a student. According to the manufacturer, every mat is checked before shipping, assuring it’s not their fault.

After investigation, the suspects who had contact with the mat include Bai Sheng from Class 12, Grade 11, Xu Qing from Class 4, Grade 11, and Lin Yi from Class 4, Grade 11. Xu Qing, who brought the mats over, had the most opportunity to tamper with them.

After deliberation by the school’s top administration, all three—who generally have good behavior and excellent academic performance—were ruled out, and the decision was made to terminate the contract with the manufacturer.]

[(Note: The information is unconfirmed. Please wait for the final result.)]

“Who is this Xu Qing?” Shen Wang asked. “Your enemy?”

Li Mo’s expression was blank, looking somewhat dead inside.

“Hello? Hello? Don’t scare me!”

“Li Mo?”

“Doctor!!!”

…

It took half an hour for Li Mo to snap out of it.

He lay flat on the bed, a look of death on his face.

“This world is so f***ing awful…”

Shen Wang frowned: “What is your relationship with this Xu Qing…?”

Li Mo: “…”

“Does it matter?”

“Doesn’t it matter?”

“It matters…”

The sudden opening of the ward door interrupted the squabble between the two friends.

First to enter was a man with a serious demeanor, followed by Yu Wencheng, Ye Zhong, and… Xu Qing.

Li Mo and Shen Wang seemed to have hit the pause button, not daring to move.

The man in the lead was the principal of Huaying No. 1 High School. He looked up at Shen Wang: “You are…?”

“I’m his friend…” Shen Wang understood immediately and quickly stood up. “I’m just going to the restroom, okay? You all talk.”

He then swiftly fled the scene.

Li Mo cursed him eight hundred times in his mind: This deserter who abandoned his comrade!!!

“You must be student Li Mo?”

Li Mo snapped out of it and nodded. His gaze, however, remained on the silent Xu Qing behind them.

“Mo Mo.” Ye Zhong walked to the bedside, glancing at the braised pork boxed meal on the nightstand. “You’re still on an IV drip. You should eat less of such greasy food.”

Li Mo opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything.

“Your mother took Jinlun home earlier. I heard you don’t want to go back…”

Li Mo hummed, interrupting Ye Zhong.

He knew it was a little impolite, but he truly wasn’t in the mood to listen to Ye Zhong lecture him.

Ye Zhong looked at Li Mo, then at Yu Wencheng and the principal.

Yu Wencheng pulled Xu Qing forward: “Xu Qing, you two stay alone for a while.”

With that, the three of them consciously left the ward.

Li Mo and Xu Qing looked at each other.

Xu Qing had zipped his school jacket all the way up, with the collar also standing up, covering himself completely. He wore a mask, revealing only a pair of eyes like stagnant water.

“How are you…?” Xu Qing spoke first, his voice muffled and hoarse.

“I’m alright… other than a little pain.”

Li Mo lowered his gaze, then looked up at Xu Qing.

The atmosphere was silent and awkward.

Xu Qing’s hands hung at his sides. He seemed to have made some kind of decision, his hands tightly clenched into fists.

Then, he took out a voice recorder from his pocket and abruptly threw it onto the floor.

The voice recorder instantly shattered into pieces.

Li Mo was completely bewildered.

The next second, Xu Zhi rushed into the ward and heavily slapped Xu Qing across the face, cursing: “You just won’t give your father a break, will you!”

Xu Qing stumbled from the blow. He held onto the table, looking up at Xu Zhi.

“I won’t admit to something I didn’t do.”

Xu Zhi slapped him again: “Are you asking for a beating?!”

Li Mo tried to reach out to stop him, but he strained his arm and almost fell out of bed from the pain.

Xu Zhi was strong and unreasonable. Yu Wencheng couldn’t pull him away. It was Shen Wang who helped drag the man back.

Even as he was being dragged away, Xu Zhi was still cursing: “You’re a damn bastard! Your mother is a bitch, and she gave birth to a little bastard like you! Ptooey!”

The principal also looked at Xu Qing disapprovingly: “Xu Qing, no matter how good your grades are, you can’t be so irresponsible.”

Xu Qing gritted his teeth and said: “I told you, I will absolutely not admit to something I didn’t do.”

The ward was very noisy. Many people were gathered outside, watching the commotion.

Sensing the situation was bad, Shen Wang drove away the onlookers and slammed the door shut.

He cleared his throat and roared: “Everyone shut the f*** up!”

All eyes turned to him.

“This is a hospital, and there’s a patient here! Can you have some common decency?” Shen Wang was speechless. “Did you all rush here just to fight? Do you want me to set up a stage right now?”

Ye Zhong frowned slightly: “Aren’t you…”

“Don’t worry about who I am first.” Shen Wang swiftly blocked in front of Xu Qing and Li Mo. “What exactly do you want?”

The principal’s tone was stern: “Xu Qing, are you going to admit it or not?”

Xu Qing said word by word: “I told you, it wasn’t me.”

Xu Zhi tried to rush up and hit him again.

Shen Wang pushed him back: “Get lost, you old man. Do you have evidence? Can you be more civilized? Oh my god, you’re giving me a headache.”

Ye Zhong made a phone call. The next second, several men in black suits lifted the cursing Xu Zhi out.

The ward instantly quieted down considerably.

Li Mo watched the whole thing from the hospital bed, completely dumbfounded.