Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was past nine o’clock at night when they arrived home.

Ye Zhong had bought a large, two-story villa in the upscale residential area, complete with a big backyard, a swimming pool, and parking spaces.

After parking the car, the lights were still on inside the villa.

As soon as they entered, a servant came forward to help Ye Zhong remove his jacket and change his shoes.

Li Mo was squeezed into a corner, feeling small and helpless.

After Ye Zhong had taken off his jacket and put on his slippers, he finally noticed Li Mo: “Go attend to Mo Mo’s travel dust.”

Seeing the servants approach, Li Mo quickly waved his hands: “No, no, it’s fine, I can take it off myself, I can take it off myself.”

“Mo Mo, you’re back?” Yu Wenxiu walked over, wearing an off-white silk robe, her black, slightly wavy hair spread over her shoulders. Her skin was well-maintained, and despite being forty, she didn’t look old.

Li Mo had just changed into slippers and hadn’t had time to remove his hat and mask.

Yu Wenxiu hurried over, holding Li Mo’s hands and looking him over: “Mo Mo, how are you doing over there? Are you keeping up with your studies? Is the food to your taste? Have you lost weight?”

Faced with this barrage of questions, Li Mo felt overwhelmed: “It’s good, it’s good, everything is good. I even gained two pounds.”

“Have you eaten yet? We saved some food for you in the kitchen.” Yu Wenxiu took off Li Mo’s hat and mask, tossing them to a servant, and pulled Li Mo toward the dining room.

On the marble round table, several hot dishes of seafood were laid out. Rice and chopsticks were brought over.

Li Mo did not pick up his chopsticks.

Ye Zhong spoke from the side: “Your mother cooked these herself. Hurry and try them.”

Li Mo pursed his lips: “I’m allergic to seafood.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the dining room instantly froze.

Yu Wenxiu’s smile was strained: How could she have forgotten that?

“Then let the kitchen make something else,” Ye Zhong said, looking at Li Mo. “Mo Mo, what would you like to eat?”

“No need, I already ate on the way here.” Li Mo waved his hand. Yu Wencheng had treated him to KFC before he got on the bus. He slept for a while on the bus, then ate snacks when he woke up, ate until he was full, and then went back to sleep. He wasn’t hungry at all right now.

Li Mo then asked, “Where am I sleeping?”

Silence fell upon them once again.

Seeing them all lowering their heads and saying nothing, Li Mo’s eye twitched.

How long has it been?! How long has it been since the video call until now?! You can’t even prepare a room???

“This… Mo Mo…” Yu Wenxiu sounded a little guilty. “How about you sleep in the same room as your little brother?”

Li Mo immediately refused: “No.”

“Is there a guest room? I’ll sleep in the guest room.”

Ye Zhong, however, clapped the table: “How can that be? This is your home. How can you sleep in the guest room?”

“Then where is my room?” Li Mo asked bluntly.

Of course, he knew his room had been turned into the young master’s toy room, but since Ye Zhong insisted on maintaining the image of a loving father, Li Mo wouldn’t be merciful.

“…”

Ye Zhong turned his head and instructed a servant: “Go clean up the guest room on the second floor.”

“Mo Mo, go say hello to Jinlun. You two haven’t seen each other in a long time.” Yu Wenxiu patted Li Mo.

Remembering that Ye Jinlun was the reason for his return home, Li Mo simply said “Oh,” stood up, and followed the servant upstairs.

Ye Jinlun’s room was on the second floor, the largest and most spacious one.

The servant stood at the door and knocked, but there was no sound from the room for a long time.

He knocked again.

Still no movement.

Li Mo grew impatient. He stepped forward, pounded the door twice, and shouted: “Hey, you little brat! Open up! Your brother’s here.”

After a moment, the room door finally opened.

Ye Jinlun was tiny, two clean, white hands gripping the door. He was wearing sky-blue children’s pajamas and looked quite adorable at first glance.

But this little rascal was very naughty.

The door was only opened a crack. Li Mo forcefully pushed it open, walked in, and started to look around on his own.

The room was huge, much larger than Li Mo’s previous room.

A super large bed, a computer desk and chair set, a small leisure area, and a crystal chandelier.

What seven-year-old child would live in a room like this? Probably only Young Master Ye Jinlun.

“Hey! Who told you to come in?” Ye Jinlun ran to Li Mo, hands on his hips, looking up at Li Mo with an angry pout.

Li Mo was amused by his appearance: “Little brat, weren’t you the one crying and shouting for me to come back?”

Ye Jinlun’s face reddened: “But I didn’t say you could enter my room…”

If it weren’t for the memory of Ye Jinlun breaking his large Transformer, Li Mo might have been charmed by the sight of this adorable little dumpling.

But alas, you are a little rascal with the appearance of a dumpling and the heart of a devil!

“Little… no, brat, why did you call me back?” Li Mo squatted down, raising an eyebrow. “Could it be that you missed your brother?”

“What are you talking about!” Ye Jinlun’s face was redder than before. “I… I wanted you back, because… because…”

“Jinlun, it’s time for bed.” Yu Wenxiu pushed the door open and walked in. “Mo Mo, are you really unwilling to sleep in this room?”

Before Li Mo could speak, Ye Jinlun became upset first: “No! I don’t want to sleep with him! There are other rooms in the house!”

“Little bean’s resistance is useless.” Li Mo grabbed Ye Jinlun by his collar, lifting him up, and smiled as he waved at his mom: “Mom, now Jinlun and I are going to sleep. You and D… Dad… Dad should go to bed early too.”

“Alright, alright. You two go to bed early now.”

Seeing such a “loving” scene, Yu Wenxiu was deeply comforted. She closed the door gently as she left.

On the two-meter-wide bed, Li Mo occupied most of the space alone. Ye Jinlun expressed his dissatisfaction: “Why do you get to sleep in such a big area?”

Li Mo was playing on his phone and replied without looking up: “Because I’m the big brother, and you’re the little brat. The little brat only needs to huddle in a small space.”

“I am not a little brat!” Ye Jinlun said angrily. “And this is my bed!”

“My room turned into a toy room. The culprit should shut his little mouth and go to sleep obediently.” Li Mo rolled over and gave a silly grin at his phone.

Ye Jinlun refused to give up. He leaned over to look at Li Mo’s phone: “What are you looking at? I want to see too!”

“Kids shouldn’t look at phones at night.” Li Mo pushed Ye Jinlun away. After pushing a few times without success, he suddenly paused and turned to look at Ye Jinlun.

Ye Jinlun felt nervous under his gaze: “Wha… What are you doing?”

Li Mo pinched Ye Jinlun’s cheek: “Why didn’t I notice before how nice this feels? So soft~~~”

Then he became even more brazen, kneading Ye Jinlun’s face with both hands at will.

Although he was seven, Ye Jinlun still had some baby fat. His cheeks were plump, white, and tender—as fun to squeeze as a dumpling.

And what Ye Jinlun hated most was having his face kneaded like Li Mo was doing now: “Stop pinching! How old are you? Aren’t you being childish?”

“Well, no matter what I am, it’s not up to a little brat like you to lecture me.” Li Mo tapped Ye Jinlun’s head and then returned his attention to his phone.

Ye Jinlun was still curious: “What are you looking at, really?”

“I’m reading a novel,” Li Mo said lazily. “A novel is something children shouldn’t read, understood?”

“I’m not a child.”

“Little friend Ye Jinlun, you just celebrated your seventh birthday the week before last.”

“I’m still not a child.”

Li Mo narrowed his eyes: “Then are you the Immortal Child Elder of Mount Tianshan?” (A fictional character who remains a child despite being an elder).

Ye Jinlun: “…”

“What is the Immortal Child Elder of Mount Tianshan?”

Li Mo: “…”

“Go to sleep.”

Past eleven o’clock, the lights in the villa were off. Only a few houses in the entire villa area still had lights on.

Ye Jinlun was already asleep, but he was a very restless sleeper—snatching the blanket one moment, kicking someone the next.

Li Mo was so bothered by him that he couldn’t sleep, so he picked up his phone from the bedside table again.

Three minutes ago, two messages had popped up on WeChat.

[x.: Did you get to City C?]

[?]

[Li Mo The Great Handsome Guy: Already lying on the soft and comfortable 200-meter-long bed at home.]

1. sent a string of ellipses.

[Mhm.]

[Li Mo The Great Handsome Guy: Desk-mate, are you worried about me?]

[x.: You’re overthinking it.]

[Good night.]

[Li Mo The Great Handsome Guy: ? Good night.]

Sometimes Li Mo found Xu Qing to be quite inexplicable.

Bored, Li Mo exited WeChat and opened a popular short video app.

He lowered the volume and scrolled through the videos aimlessly.

Li Mo’s finger paused, stopping on a post titled “Qing Ping.”

Qing Ping? Xu Qing’s OC?

Li Mo clicked on it on an impulse.

Blogger: Qing Ping_X.

Caption: “The wind rises from the end of the green duckweed; the wave forms amidst the slight ripple.” (A famous Chinese idiom).

The image was exactly the drawing Xu Qing made at noon.

The comment section was filled with praises like “Compliments,” “My precious baby is here!” “Mommy is so strong!” and so on.

Staring at the word “Mommy,” Li Mo fell into contemplation.

Is Xu Qing a mom?

No, even if he had a child, shouldn’t Xu Qing be a dad, and be called “Daddy”?

Thinking that is weird too…

Li Mo swiped into “Qing Ping’s” profile. The posts were mostly about the long-haired handsome man.

Following: 33. Followers: 33,000. Is Xu Qing this popular?

The pinned post detailed the little handsome guy’s background story.

Qing Ping, male, possesses eternal life and infinite years. Born at the beginning of the universe… balabalabala, having drifted alone, he cannot perceive time and has no emotional fluctuations, like a mere passerby in this world.

Li Mo: “…”

That’s deep as hell.

Is this what they call the “OC circle”? It’s too high-level.

Li Mo switched to his secondary account and followed “Qing Ping.”

His secondary account was named “Invincible Super Handsome Guy of the Universe.” His main account’s name was similar, just with his own name added.