Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It had been two weeks since school started, and the students in the class had become more familiar with each other.

Today was Friday. They only had two classes in the morning, followed by the weekend holiday.

“Hah—” Li Mo, sporting dark circles from staying up late reading novels for several days straight, flopped onto his desk as soon as he sat down.

Lin Yi came over to talk to him: “My goodness, do you have to sleep as soon as you arrive every morning? Are you that tired?”

“What do you know?” Li Mo sat up and yawned. “I pulled an all-nighter yesterday and finally finished My Star.”

“Good heavens, wasn’t that book super angsty? Watching it late at night, aren’t you afraid you’d cry yourself to death?”

“Oh my gosh, I’m telling you, it made me cry so much!” Li Mo instantly became excited. “I’m telling you, the ending made me bawl. The heroine and the hero didn’t officially get together, but the hero was silently protecting her the whole time. My God, it was so deeply affectionate!”

“Of course! The hero in that book is the most damn affectionate I’ve ever seen! What he pulled wasn’t even real ‘substitute love’ trope; he only said she was a substitute so the heroine wouldn’t have any concerns about marrying him. Seriously, I cried my eyes out.”

My Star, a romance novel, was recommended to Li Mo by Lin Yi. The two always had endless topics to discuss because of their shared love for reading.

Xu Qing was spacing out when he was suddenly hugged, followed by Li Mo’s annoying voice: “My Qing Qing~”

“Get lost.” Xu Qing shoved him away disdainfully.

After two weeks of interacting, their relationship was quite good—a quarrel several times a day and a small fight every two days.

In Li Mo’s words, this was “hitting is affection, scolding is love,” the testament to their desk-mate friendship.

Could a friendly relationship be this affectionate?

“Oh, right,” Lin Yi interjected. “We’re going to watch a movie together tomorrow. Brother Mo, are you coming?”

“I won’t be able to make it. I have plans for the weekend. It’s such a pity, such a regret.” Li Mo clutched his chest, dramatically expressing his heartbreak over missing it.

Lin Yi: “…You’re being a bit too dramatic.”

Li Mo: “Am I? Then I’ll cover my eyes next time.”

It has nothing to do with where you cover, my brother!

Just then, the class bell rang.

Huaying No. 1 High School naturally understood the students’ state of mind before a holiday, so they thoughtfully set the two Friday classes as self-study. No teachers patrolled between classes. As long as the students weren’t too loud, generally no teachers bothered them.

Li Mo pulled out his phone, opened a free reading app, and picked up a novel that was over two thousand chapters long and still being serialized.

Every class had some noise, and Class 4 was no exception. Some chatted, some swapped seats, and some played on their phones.

Xu Qing could draw and often liked to sketch things on scratch paper.

The most frequent image on his paper was a handsome man with long hair, whom Xu Qing called his “OC” (Original Character).

Li Mo never quite understood what an OC was.

The OC seemed to be Xu Qing’s conversation starter. When Li Mo asked about it once, Xu Qing had spoken a lot, introducing what an OC was and his OC’s background story. It felt like he could write a novel about it.

“Oh, right,” Li Mo suddenly muttered to himself, rapidly tapping his phone screen. “Damn it, why are there only late buses?”

Xu Qing looked at him: “Bus? Are you going on a long trip?”

Li Mo answered while checking the bus schedule: “No, my hometown is in City C. My mom asked me to go back for the weekend. Why is the only bus to City C at 5 PM?”

Xu Qing asked again: “You won’t be in City A for the weekend?”

“Yeah, I probably won’t be back until Sunday evening.”

Li Mo suddenly stopped moving and turned sharply to look at Xu Qing: “Are you trying to kick me out? You’re so heartless, Qing Qing.”

Xu Qing was startled, then exasperated: “Are you sick? Where you are has nothing to do with me.”

“Qing Qing, you’re so heartless~”

“…Shut up, Li Li.”

“Call me Li Li then~”

“Get lost.”

The dismissal bell for the second class rang. Students who had packed up early grabbed their bags and rushed out. The area inside and outside the school was immediately packed with people.

Li Mo had the foresight to wait. Going out now was crowded and hot. It was better to stay in the classroom, where it was cool and less congested, and leave once the crowd thinned out.

His desk-mate also had this foresight.

Xu Qing was sitting in his seat drawing. Li Mo leaned closer: “Is this your… OC? I remember you called him Qing Ping.”

“Mhm. Good memory.”

“Hey, Qing Qing, help me design one too,” Li Mo said.

“Sure.” Xu Qing’s hand didn’t stop moving. “What kind do you want?”

Li Mo stroked his chin, thinking carefully: “Let me think… How about you design one based on my image? My handsomeness is impeccable in any dimension.”

Xu Qing let out a small laugh: “Narcissist.”

After chatting aimlessly for a while, the crowd at the school gate gradually thinned. Li Mo slowly stood up, grabbing his backpack: “I’m heading off, Qing Qing. See you Monday.”

Xu Qing gave a soft “Mhm.”

“Hey, aren’t you leaving?”

Xu Qing checked the time: “I should go…”

The afternoon sun was warm.

It was also a bit dazzling.

Out of the school gate, the two were walking the same way.

Li Mo exclaimed: “Brother Xu, do you also live in Golden Rose?”

Xu Qing shook his head: “No, I live in Sunshine Estate.”

After saying that, Xu Qing turned into a small alley, his figure disappearing around the corner.

Li Mo was taken aback.

This alley… it felt familiar. Wasn’t it where he first encountered Xu Daning?

The owner of the convenience store had also mentioned that there was a child in the community who had been number one since childhood. Could it be Xu Qing?

This community doesn’t look sunny at all!

“Ding-a-ling~”

The phone rang suddenly, startling Li Mo: “Hello? Who is this?”

“Mo Mo.”

No matter where, Ms. Yu Wenxiu’s voice was always so gentle.

Li Mo was silent for a moment: “What is it, Mom?”

Yu Wenxiu sounded helpless: “When will you be home? Your little brother keeps clamoring for you to come.”

“Hmph.” Li Mo pouted, inexplicably wanting to argue with his mother. “That little brat chased me away. Now he says he wants me back. Is he playing games with me? Am I his toy?”

Yu Wenxiu knew Li Mo was arguing, but she was at her wit’s end.

If it hadn’t been for Ye Jinlun’s single remark, she wouldn’t have contacted her long-unseen younger brother and sent Li Mo away.

She thought it was for Li Mo’s own good, the best choice when she couldn’t balance her affection for both children.

Li Mo said: “The bus is at 5 PM. I’ll probably get home around eight or nine.”

“Okay. Mom will cook your favorite food when you get home. Be sure to travel safely, you hear?”

“Got it, got it.”

In the past, he would have politely listened to Yu Wenxiu’s nagging, but now Li Mo wasn’t in the mood to listen. He gave a few non-committal “mhm’s” and found an excuse to hang up.

At the entrance of the Golden Rose community, Li Mo found a small supermarket, bought a popsicle, and squatted on the roadside, slowly eating it.

He didn’t want to go home.

A few days ago, Yu Wenxiu video-called him. Ye Jinlun on the other end was screaming and crying, demanding Li Mo come back. He wouldn’t say why, just yelled.

With the holiday approaching, Yu Wenxiu had persuaded Li Mo to return home for a visit.

That brat, Ye Jinlun, was impulsive and demanding. He had to get his way, or he’d throw a tantrum, utterly shameless.

Who knew what stunt he was pulling this time by calling him back.

At 5 PM, Li Mo boarded the only bus heading to City C.

This was the same bus he took when he came to City A, the only one connecting the two cities.

There was a short but empty stretch of road halfway, where one could see a very complete sunset from the bus window.

The bus was sparsely populated, mostly people carrying large bags, rushing back and forth between the two cities.

Li Mo sat in the back, dressed in the same clothes he wore on the day he arrived, though he had added a black jacket since the weather had turned cooler recently.

He leaned lazily against the window, enjoying the last glow of the sunset.

“Jiangcheng Street has arrived. Passengers getting off, please exit through the back door. This is Jiangcheng Street. Please get off from the back door…”

Li Mo was awakened by the automated announcement. He yawned, grabbed his backpack, and got off the bus.

It was 8:46 PM. It was dark, and the wind was chilly.

Seeing people on the street wearing short sleeves and rubbing their arms from the cold, Li Mo pulled his jacket tighter, glad for his foresight.

Li Mo pulled out his phone and called his mother.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up, but it wasn’t Yu Wenxiu who answered. It was a man’s voice: “Hello? Mo Mo?”

Li Mo got goosebumps: “Uh… D… Dad.”

Every time he called Ye Zhong “Dad,” there was a sense of awkwardness.

“Mo Mo. Your mom is with Jinlun and didn’t see her phone.” Ye Zhong’s voice was deep and booming, the kind of voice that suggested a nouveau riche who smoked too much. “Where are you? I’ll drive to pick you up.”

A free ride was not to be turned down.

“I just got to Jiangcheng Street. Thanks for coming to get me, D… Dad.”

Ye Zhong laughed a little: “Mo Mo, if you’re not used to calling me Dad, you can still call me Uncle. It sounds a bit awkward.”

Seriously, wouldn’t calling you Uncle be even more awkward?

Up until Li Mo was ten, he had called Ye Zhong “Uncle.”

Then Yu Wenxiu had scolded him, saying that since they were family now, if he kept calling him Uncle, she’d kick him out.

Ten-year-old Li Mo was defiant, but Yu Wenxiu’s expression at the time didn’t look like a joke, so he reluctantly started calling him “Dad.”

As he grew older, the father and son generally had no interaction, and Li Mo also deliberately avoided him, so it became less awkward.

After waiting for a while at the bus stop, a black Bentley slowly pulled up in front of him.

The window rolled down, revealing Ye Zhong’s face, the flesh around his eyes bunching up when he smiled: “Mo Mo, get in quickly.”

Ye Zhong had received a huge sum of money from his house being demolished over a decade ago. Fortunately, he wasn’t a spendthrift and used the money to start a business, opening a major company. He was arguably the wealthiest man in City C.

The air conditioning was running in the car, but it didn’t feel cool at all.

Li Mo sat in the passenger seat, with not a single topic of conversation in his mind.

“Mo Mo, how are you doing in City A?” Ye Zhong initiated the conversation.

“Okay,” Li Mo pulled up his mask. “It’s a big place with lots of things to do.”

“Is that so? Are there lots of people there?” Ye Zhong laughed a couple of times. “Actually, I’m planning to expand the company over there soon. Since you’re studying there, it’ll be easier for us to look after you.”

…I really don’t want to have to serve that living ancestor Ye Jinlun after school every day.

Li Mo cleared his throat: “About that, I think it’s pretty good for you to stay in City C. Of course, the company can expand, but moving… Jinlun is already so old. A change of environment might not be good for him.”

Ye Zhong nodded: “You have a point. But the educational resources in City A are much better than here. That Huaying No. 1 High School you’re at produces talent every year. I remember there’s a young man who is very good at studying, he’s in your grade.”

“Ah… Is it the one who always gets first place and wins tons of prizes in various competitions?” Li Mo’s mind was full of Xu Qing’s cold and handsome face.

“Yes, he previously participated in a national math Olympiad. I saw him on TV.”

The light ahead turned red. Ye Zhong stopped the car, his eyes fixed on the countdown of the red digits.

“Do you know him?”

Li Mo was silent for a moment, then nodded: “I know him. He’s my desk-mate.”

“What a coincidence. Mo Mo, you should definitely follow his example and study hard.”

“Mhm, mhm. I’ll definitely study hard and strive for progress every day.” After saying that, Li Mo closed his eyes, leaned against the car door, and indicated that he was tired.

Ye Zhong stopped talking and concentrated on driving.