NH chapter 007

Chapter 07: Deskmate

Bald Zhang let out a “ya,” sensing something, glancing this way and that, and asked with a sidelong look, “What, do you know each other?”

In unison, they replied, “Don’t know each other.”

—“We shared a ride once.”

This time, it was Shen Tingyu who spoke first, but he still couldn’t get a word in before Huo Ye. Shen Tingyu glared down at him, and that chill in his gaze swept over Huo Ye, who promptly closed his legs.

You can’t deny it.

That little look in his eyes was indeed quite fierce.

The two pairs of eyes first clashed, then intertwined; one side warned coldly, while the other smiled coyly in concession, and in the end, both turned to look at Bald Zhang. Shen Tingyu said, “Forget it, we did share a ride.”

The latter perfectly misunderstood the intent.

—“Alright, then maybe I recognized the wrong person.”

Shen Tingyu: “…”

How can people lack this much tacit understanding? The atmosphere fell into silence for a moment, with Bald Zhang stuck in the middle, caught between their big eyes glaring at each other. Suddenly, he chuckled, “What does that mean, you two, exchanging glances like you’re performing an idol drama for the teacher? Please, go on, it’s quite interesting to watch.”

Shen Tingyu’s face darkened as he turned away.

Bald Zhang hadn’t taught Huo Ye physics, but his wife had dealt with Class 18. In their first year, Huo Ye often stayed after school to write assignments in his wife’s office due to not submitting homework; these two were nearing retirement yet still loved to dote on each other, which made them more familiar.

He often mentioned this to others, repeating, “Huo Ye, this student, is not bad, just a bit wild; actually has some talent but doesn’t put it into studying.” He said this for an entire year.

Having worked in education for decades, Bald Zhang never believed that any student would truly be a “rotten wood that cannot be carved.” Every seed in the garden is excellent; it’s just that their areas of excellence may be slightly off or their blooming periods might come a bit late. You can’t rashly label someone as a “bad student” based on just a few years of their life.

Other homeroom teachers said he was getting old, that his mindset was good, and asked how he could keep such a thorn in the class without chaos erupting daily. Yet he didn’t care at all, carrying a thermos filled with goji berry chrysanthemum tea, still laughing cheerfully.

That thermos was quite old, looking battered and dented, with paint peeling off, and yet he couldn’t bear to part with it even after ten years. A few envious colleagues who hadn’t had that thorn in their classes asked him, “Isn’t this thermos a gift from Zhang Laoshi’s first love? How long has it been, and you still keep it?”

Upon hearing this, Bald Zhang snorted, turned his head to spit the tea leaves he had just sipped, and then leisurely said it was a gift from a student from his early teaching years, who was also a troublemaker, an athlete, much harder to manage than Huo Ye is now. “Guess what happened to him later?”

The young homeroom teachers, having only heard about his experiences teaching in Guangzhou, asked, “What happened?”

Bald Zhang chuckled proudly, saying he was the top scorer in the physical exams in Guangdong that year, scoring full marks in all subjects, and even passed the cultural test to go to Beijing Sports University!

This silenced the other homeroom teachers, no longer criticizing Huo Ye, and their glee dimmed significantly.

“Alright, stop messing around. Regardless of whether you know each other or not, you’ll be desk partners for some time now. Get along well, okay?”

After Bald Zhang finished, he pushed them down. The strength of this old man was surprisingly great! Shen Tingyu, initially wanting to resist some more, found himself sitting down instead.

As he sat, it was so smooth that when he stood back up, it felt somewhat embarrassing. Shen Tingyu could only sit next to Huo Ye with a very unhappy expression, clearly marking the divide between them.

Huo Ye briefly felt an illusion that he wasn’t in high school, but in elementary school, where boys and girls had to draw lines between desks.

Wow, this is rare.

Meanwhile, Bald Zhang took a few steps onto the podium, and Huo Ye didn’t hear a word of what he said before his attention snapped back to him casually stating, “…this will be the last time you have desk partners in your high school life. If you have any study-related issues, make sure to communicate and help each other out. You cover each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, by the time you get to senior year, it’ll just be about filling gaps in knowledge, and you’ll have to study alone.”

With another cold snort, Huo Ye turned his head, but Shen Tingyu wouldn’t look at him. Sarcastically, he said, “Desk partners are utterly useless to me; I haven’t had one since middle school.”

Huo Ye: “…”

That’s funny.

He didn’t even know who he was saying that to.

Huo Ye observed all his reactions, but rather than feeling rejected or looked down upon, he felt like he had encountered an aloof and feisty beautiful ragdoll cat, making it particularly amusing to tease him.

Bald Zhang stood up there talking non-stop, and Huo Ye lazily propped his chin up, asking, “Hey, don’t you want to sit next to me?”

Shen Tingyu remained silent, clearly tacitly agreeing.

“Alright.” Huo Ye said.

“I can give you a suggestion, want to hear it?” He threw out this teasing invitation, stopping his movements.

Silence.

Silence was tonight’s Cambridge.

After less than thirty seconds of holding back, nearing his limit, Shen Tingyu finally turned to glare, still curious: “Well, go ahead.”

Huo Ye seemed to be performing a frame-by-frame animation, waiting for Shen Tingyu to appear in this frame before he could deliver the next.

“—You see, can you see the podium?” Huo Ye asked.

Shen Tingyu: “I see it.”

Huo Ye pointed to a spot at the back of the podium, seriously saying, “Although there aren’t many people in this class, it’s not too few either, and the classroom is so small. If you don’t want to sit next to me, you only have two choices left. One, Bald Zhang’s bodyguard, or two—”

He paused, retracting his finger from the front and switching to his thumb pointing back, enunciating clearly, “The trash bin at the back.”

Shen Tingyu: “…”

Huo Ye could vaguely sense Shen Tingyu’s desire to swat him down, the dark, cold expression on his face like brewing a storm, yet he stubbornly continued to tease.

“What’s it gonna be? Have you made your choice?” Huo Ye asked, suppressing laughter.

Shen Tingyu glared at him expressionlessly, slowly squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth that were not curse words but could easily be mistaken for them.

“…Choose, your, sister.”

Huo Ye, somewhat surprised, covered his mouth, “My sister? No, that’s not allowed.”

He removed his hand, lazily leaning back in his chair, his eyes crescent-shaped as he smiled brightly, “Choose me, I’m an adult, it’s not illegal.”