CY – Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Just off the basketball court, Lu Bai went to the washroom with a few classmates to wash their faces. As Lu Bai bent down, a wet hand slapped his lower back.

“If you ask me, Lu Bai, you’re still young. Playing this game with us today is like teaching you to be a new person,” Li An said, wiping his hands on Lu Bai’s clothes a few times.

“Get lost, who are you wiping your hands on?” Lu Bai dodged and splashed water on his face.

“Look at you, so clean,” Li An clicked his tongue. “Weren’t you the one spitting all over the place just now?”

“Get out of here!” Lu Bai cursed with a laugh. “That was my passionate commentary on the game!”

The boys burst into laughter.

“Hey, haven’t seen you trying to warm up to that new deskmate’s cold shoulder these past few days?” Li An asked.

“I see he doesn’t even pay attention to Lu Bai,” a boy said. “He has a straight face every day, like someone owes him a fortune.”

“Exactly, I don’t know why he’s so arrogant.”

“Honestly, Lu Bai, you shouldn’t have bothered with him,” Li An continued. “He’s not the first student to pay to get into our class, and you weren’t this enthusiastic. Besides, he’s not going to stay long; he might fall out of the ranking again in the next exam.”

Li An spoke to them for a while, but Lu Bai didn’t respond. He nudged Lu Bai with his shoulder. “Did you hear me?”

“Huh?” Lu Bai seemed to snap back to reality, nodding vaguely. “Heard you, heard you.”

Actually, Lu Bai hadn’t heard a single word.

After observing for a few days, Lu Bai realized that his new deskmate was exceptionally difficult to get along with.

These past two days, Lu Bai had frequently tried to talk to him, greeted him when they met on the road, and occasionally offered him small snacks. But Zhang Xiaotian was like an iron barrel – he wouldn’t accept snacks, wouldn’t engage in conversation, and his greetings were perfunctory and cold, as if Lu Bai had wronged him. Even though Lu Bai considered himself thick-skinned, he was starting to feel a bit embarrassed.

However, no matter how long Zhang Xiaotian lasted in Class One, Lu Bai still hoped their relationship could improve a little, as they were deskmates, after all.

Lost in thought, Lu Bai reached the classroom door and saw Zhang Xiaotian sitting upright at his desk.

He wondered when he had returned. He had disappeared as soon as physical education class ended; where had he been hiding? Lu Bai grumbled, put on a stern face, sat down next to him, leaned back, and sighed.

Zhang Xiaotian hesitated for a moment, then tossed him a pack of tissues. “Wipe your hands, you’re getting water everywhere.”

“Thanks.” Lu Bai took out a tissue, wiped his hands, then turned and threw the crumpled tissue into the trash can. He accidentally knocked over Zhang Xiaotian’s pen. As Lu Bai bent down to pick it up, Zhang Xiaotian had already quickly stooped down.

Lu Bai looked down at him picking up the pen and suddenly felt very depressed.

He considered himself not universally loved, but he had never received such cold treatment before. Staring at the back of Zhang Xiaotian’s head, Lu Bai suddenly sat up straight, placed his arms on the desk like a primary school student, but let his elbows extend beyond the edge of the desk.

Zhang Xiaotian picked up the pen and stood up, but his head bumped into something, and he couldn’t stand up straight.

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t think anything of it. After standing up, he tidied his desk and heard a “plop” beside him. Zhang Xiaotian looked at Lu Bai, who was pretending to be serious.

“Crazy,” he thought. “What’s so funny about bumping into a desk?” Zhang Xiaotian ignored him.

The math class was about to discuss the recent pop quiz. Lu Bai rummaged through his backpack like a pot of porridge and couldn’t find his test paper. “Help me find it too, deskmate. Did you mistakenly pick it up?” Lu Bai said while searching his bag.

“How could that be? Wouldn’t I recognize my own paper?” Zhang Xiaotian retorted, but he also started searching his desk drawer.

“Look again.” Lu Bai took out a workbook and slapped it onto the desk with a “bang,” creating a small gust of wind that blew Zhang Xiaotian’s test paper off the desk. Zhang Xiaotian reached out to catch it but missed.

“Sorry, sorry!” Lu Bai said without looking up. “Pick it up yourself.”

Zhang Xiaotian had to bend down to pick it up. As he stood up, he deliberately kept his head away from the desk, but he bumped his head again.

This time, the bump was quite forceful, but it surprisingly didn’t hurt. Zhang Xiaotian mused that it didn’t feel like the desk. He looked up but didn’t see anything else. Perhaps he moved too quickly? Zhang Xiaotian sat up and saw Lu Bai engrossed in a test paper on the desk. When he sat down, Lu Bai even asked, “Are you okay?”

Zhang Xiaotian ignored him and stared at him for a while.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Bai asked innocently.

“Did you find your paper?” Zhang Xiaotian asked. “That quickly?”

“Yeah.” Lu Bai grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

The math teacher was a stout man with a heavy accent from an unknown origin. While he wasn’t entirely incomprehensible, Zhang Xiaotian still needed to adapt. Zhang Xiaotian was busy taking notes and accidentally knocked over an eraser that had been placed on the corner of the desk. He couldn’t pick it up, his pen moving non-stop.

“Hey, your stuff fell,” Lu Bai said. Zhang Xiaotian grunted at him but didn’t stop writing.

After a while, Lu Bai said again, “Don’t forget to pick up your things.”

“I know,” Zhang Xiaotian replied without looking back.

“Sigh, it fell too far away for me to reach. Otherwise, I would have picked it up for you,” Lu Bai said, looking down.

“I’ll pick it up myself.” Zhang Xiaotian wrote furiously, finally finishing the last sentence, and bent down to pick up his things again.

Lu Bai quickly positioned himself and extended his elbow, but after waiting for a long time, Zhang Xiaotian didn’t bump into it.

Why was he taking so long to pick it up? Lu Bai wondered, and looked down, his gaze meeting Zhang Xiaotian’s, who was squatting on the floor.

“Damn, I was discovered so quickly,” Lu Bai said with an awkward smile. “What are you doing, deskmate? Why are you squatting on the floor and not getting up?”

“Bored.” Zhang Xiaotian sat back up, not giving him an extra glance.

“Hey, how did you find out?” Lu Bai nudged him. “When I did this to my previous deskmates, they never found out.”

Zhang Xiaotian ignored him.

“In middle school, I did this to my deskmate too. I did it for half a semester! I only stopped because I got bored myself.”

Zhang Xiaotian picked up his pen. “We’re in class, don’t talk to me.”

“Hey, look at you!” Lu Bai shamelessly leaned closer. “Are you really getting angry? You can’t take a joke!”

Zhang Xiaotian frowned at him.

“Alright, alright, I won’t talk anymore. Not in class, and you don’t talk much to me after class either.” Lu Bai pouted and stopped bothering him.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, the math teacher disappeared from the front of the classroom with his briefcase, not lingering for a moment. Zhang Xiaotian flipped through his incomplete notes and sighed softly.

He looked around. He didn’t know anyone and wasn’t sure who to ask to borrow notes from. Just as he was worrying, a small gust of wind blew past him.

Zhang Xiaotian looked over and saw Lu Bai fanning himself with his math notes.

Lu Bai propped his chin on his hand, glanced at Zhang Xiaotian as if casually, and when their eyes met, he even raised an eyebrow at him.

Zhang Xiaotian felt a wave of exasperation. He really didn’t want to talk to him, but looking at his notes, he finally said:

“Um, can I borrow your notes?”

“Huh? What did you say?” Lu Bai asked with a mischievous smile. “Borrow what?”

“Never mind.” Zhang Xiaotian turned to put his own notes away.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t give up!” Lu Bai stopped him and threw his notes onto his desk. “It’s not like I won’t lend them to you.”

Zhang Xiaotian glanced at him and opened his notes.

“Oh dear, not even a thank you,” Lu Bai exclaimed dramatically, clutching his chest. “My heart hurts so much.”

“Thank you,” Zhang Xiaotian said, and buried his head in his notes.

After finishing his notes, Zhang Xiaotian flipped through Lu Bai’s. They say your handwriting reflects your personality, but Lu Bai’s handwriting was surprisingly neat and clean, looking very elegant. The content was also concise and well-organized, not at all like what he expected from Lu Bai’s notes. Zhang Xiaotian looked at his own handwriting and wondered if he should practice his calligraphy. Zhang Xiaotian filled in the gaps. When he finished and wanted to return the notes to Lu Bai, he found Lu Bai leaning on his desk, staring at him.

“What, are you awestruck by the wisdom contained in my notes?” Lu Bai said, seeing Zhang Xiaotian stop writing. He took the notes back and deliberately waved them in front of Zhang Xiaotian’s eyes. “Don’t admire me too much, deskmate, I’ll get embarrassed.”

Zhang Xiaotian thought no one in the world could be more shameless than Lu Bai.

After the eighth period ended, Zhang Xiaotian tidied his desk, planning to go to the school gate to find his mother. He used to eat at his father’s house, but after their brief conversation in the car that day, his mother had started bringing him meals every day. He didn’t want to see his mother so soon, so he packed up slowly. Usually, by the time he was done, he was the only one left in the classroom, but today, Lu Bai was also packing up late.

Zhang Xiaotian walked to the back door and looked back to see Lu Bai still sitting at his desk. He couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Huh?” Lu Bai blinked. “I was thinking of just buying something from the supermarket next door.”

“Oh.” Zhang Xiaotian felt a bit awkward and didn’t know what to say next, so he turned to leave.

“Wait.” Before he had taken a step, Lu Bai called out to him again. “Wait for me, I’ll go out with you.”

High school students are like starving ghosts when the dismissal bell rings, running off in every direction. So, very few people leave school at this hour. The two walked side-by-side on the long pathway, occasionally brushing past a few students, all with a similar hurried demeanor.

“If you’re leaving this late, you definitely won’t get any food,” Lu Bai asked. “Those small restaurants opposite our school have very limited space. Do you want to go to the supermarket with me?”

“No,” Zhang Xiaotian said. “My mom is coming to bring me dinner.”

“Really.” Lu Bai clicked his tongue in amazement. “My mom is too lazy to bring me food. Your mom is really good to you.”

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t say anything.

His mother, who he hadn’t seen for years, had suddenly returned to the country and wanted to take over almost all aspects of his life. Zhang Xiaotian found it difficult to adjust. She had barely paid him any attention before, and now she was suddenly involved in everything, arranging almost every aspect of his daily life. Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t refuse and could only cooperate as much as possible.

“Is that your mom?” Lu Bai suddenly said. “The one standing at the school gate.”

Zhang Xiaotian looked over. At the school gate, his mother was still wearing her black trench coat and mid-heeled boots, holding a thermos lunchbox.

Zhang Xiaotian walked over and called out, “Mom.”

“Xiaotian, you’re out late,” Xiaotian’s mother said, handing him the lunchbox. “I’ll pick you up here again tonight.”

“Hello, Auntie!” Lu Bai also came over and greeted her. “I’m Zhang Xiaotian’s deskmate.”

“Hello.” Seeing Lu Bai, Zhang Xiaotian’s mother showed a slight smile. “Are you going to eat?”

“Yeah,” Lu Bai nodded. “I’m just going to buy something to eat and then go back.”

“Go ahead,” Xiaotian’s mother said. Watching Lu Bai walk further away, she asked Zhang Xiaotian, “How is his studying?”

“Haven’t noticed,” Zhang Xiaotian replied.

“If he’s the type who doesn’t put effort into studying, tell me, and I’ll ask your homeroom teacher to change your desk. Stay away from him as soon as possible.” Xiaotian’s mother averted her gaze and reached out as if to pat Zhang Xiaotian’s face. Zhang Xiaotian instinctively turned his head, and her hand froze. Seeing her unhappy expression, Zhang Xiaotian felt he had been a bit disrespectful and was considering whether to lean his face back in, but she had already lowered her hand.

“Alright, you go back too,” she sighed, and then added, “Don’t forget to read a book after you finish eating.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded and turned to walk back into the school.