Stop Chasing the School Belle, My Shy Deskmate is Sweet and Soft - Chapter 42

Ye Ningyu held onto Xia Tian’s waist tightly. It wasn’t until they were close to her apartment complex that she finally spoke up again.

“X-Xia Tian, let’s stop here at the corner. I’m worried my mom might see you from the window…”

“Alright.”

“Um… wait a minute, I’ll go upstairs and get you an umbrella.”

As Ye Ningyu attempted to come out of her emotional daze, she realized what she had just done.

Her face flushed with heat, and she couldn’t bring herself to look Xia Tian in the eyes. In a fluster, she dashed into the building, almost slipping in a puddle along the way.

Her clumsy yet adorable actions made Xia Tian shake his head with a mixture of amusement and fondness.

He could still feel the warmth she had left behind on his back. He reached up to touch the spot, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

It wasn’t long before Ye Ningyu came running out of the complex, holding an old, worn umbrella.

“Xia Tian, here’s my school uniform. Even though it’s a bit small, you can drape it over yourself so you won’t get too cold on your way home.”

“I’ll wash it tonight and bring it back to school for you tomorrow. And here’s the umbrella. You should hurry back—it’s getting cold outside.”

Ye Ningyu handed Xia Tian the uniform and the umbrella.

Xia Tian looked down and noticed that the umbrella she was giving him was a bright pink color. Meanwhile, the umbrella she was using had several noticeable holes in it, and parts of the frame were rusted and broken.

It was clear that the pink umbrella was the one Ye Ningyu usually used herself.

She had given Xia Tian the best she had.

“Don’t worry about the uniform,” Xia Tian said. “It’s not that cold, so I’ll be fine.”

“No… it’s really cold out. Please don’t refuse.”

Determined, Ye Ningyu pushed the uniform into Xia Tian’s hands, then took a few steps back.

“Get home safely, Xia Tian!”

With that, she turned and ran off, not giving Xia Tian a chance to argue further.

Watching her disappear into the distance, Xia Tian couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“This girl can be pretty stubborn sometimes.”

Once he saw the light turn on in Ye Ningyu’s room, Xia Tian put on her school uniform.

The faint scent of her perfume lingered on it, making Xia Tian smile softly as he leisurely began pedaling his bike home.

That evening, many people noticed a particularly handsome young man riding through the rain, holding a bright pink umbrella.

He certainly stood out in the rainy night.

—

Back at her apartment, Ye Ningyu leaned against the wall, her heart racing.

She looked down at her hands, feeling dazed and confused.

What had gotten into her tonight?

She had… hugged Xia Tian’s waist?

Ye Ningyu picked up Xia Tian’s school uniform from the sofa. It was already damp from the rain.

Still, she couldn’t resist bringing it up to her nose, blushing as the familiar, comforting scent filled her senses.

After taking a moment to calm herself, she went to the sink to wash Xia Tian’s uniform.

Noticing her daughter doing laundry, Chen Lan’s eyes filled with guilt.

Kids in their senior year of high school usually didn’t have to do any chores. Parents would typically pamper them, making sure they had fruit and milk every night to help them relax after a long day of studying.

But because of her health, Chen Lan couldn’t do any of that for Ye Ningyu.

“Little Yu, did you get caught in the rain on your way home? Make sure to take a hot shower soon so you don’t catch a cold.”

“I will, Mom. I’ll take a shower as soon as I finish washing the uniform.”

“Alright… I’m so sorry, Little Yu. Other girls your age don’t have to lift a finger during their senior year, but I…”

Hearing the guilt in her mother’s voice, Ye Ningyu quickly dried her hands and rushed over to her bedside to comfort her.

“Don’t say that, Mom! When I get into Tsinghua University, the officials and sponsors who promised us a large sum of money will follow through. I’ll take you to Beijing and get you the best treatment!”

“Yes, yes, and with that money, our Little Yu can buy lots of pretty dresses too. I’m really looking forward to it,” Chen Lan said, smiling as she gently stroked her daughter’s face.

“Okay, Mom, I’ll finish washing the uniform now. I need to dry it tonight, or it won’t be ready for school tomorrow!”

With that, Ye Ningyu returned to the sink.

She didn’t notice the pained look on Chen Lan’s face as she glanced at the plastic bag hidden under her blanket.

The bag was already filled to the brim with bloodstained tissues.

—

“Son, it’s raining so much outside. I asked your dad to bring you an umbrella, didn’t you run into him?”

Chen Meijuan asked, surprised to see her son back home.

“No, I didn’t see him. I probably left too quickly and missed him… But it’s fine, I had an umbrella,” Xia Tian replied, holding up the umbrella that Ye Ningyu had given him.

When Chen Meijuan saw the bright pink umbrella in her son’s hand, her eyes widened in suspicion.

“Oh? A pink umbrella? Which girl in your class did you steal it from?”

“Mom, you’re making it sound like I’m a thief! Can’t you believe that a fangirl willingly gave it to me because your son’s so handsome?”

Chen Meijuan scoffed, clearly unimpressed.

“Which girl would be so blind as to walk home in the rain just so she could give you her umbrella? Did you save her life or something?”

Xia Tian sighed, feeling exasperated. This was his mom, alright.

No matter how many love letters he received at school, in his mom’s eyes, he was always just an ordinary boy.

Back in his room, Xia Tian lay on his bed and pulled out his phone, planning to log onto QQ and chat with Ye Ningyu for a bit.

But after waiting for a while, he noticed that her profile was still offline.

She was probably busy washing his uniform, so it seemed like she wouldn’t be online tonight.

Just as Xia Tian was about to exit QQ and start studying, a message popped up from a contact he had nicknamed “The Love of My Life.”

Xia Tian raised an eyebrow and opened the chat.

Looking at the countless unread messages from the past, he quickly realized that this was Xu Yuan’s account.

Her message read:

“Xia Tian, are you out of your mind?! I gave you all the answers, but you didn’t even bother to copy them! And you kept deliberately arriving late to the exam room. Are you trying to fail on purpose?”

Xia Tian rolled his eyes, thinking he had dodged her nagging at school, only to get bombarded on QQ instead.

He replied, “Nah, I just didn’t feel like copying your answers.”

On the other end, Xu Yuan stared at the message, stunned for a couple of seconds.

He didn’t feel like copying?

Does that mean Xia Tian had been doing it on purpose all along?

Refusing to believe it, she quickly followed up with another message:

“So during the exams, you were deliberately pretending not to hear me when I told you to copy my answers?”

“I thought you would’ve figured that out by now. I didn’t expect you to keep at it for all four exams…”

“Xia Tian!!! I was giving you such an obvious way out, and you didn’t take it?!”

“Didn’t notice.”

“And what about my status message? I changed it to respond to yours! Surely you noticed that?!”

“?”

Xia Tian was confused. What status message?

He scrolled up and saw that Xu Yuan had recently updated her QQ status to:

“Take your time explaining. I’ll take my time listening.”

The timestamp showed that she had changed it right around the time he had updated his own status.

Xia Tian’s eye twitched as Xu Yuan sent another message:

“The other night after evening self-study, when I asked you about the park, you said ‘guess’ and then went home and changed your status! Don’t think I didn’t see it—your status was clearly a hint meant for me! So I changed mine, too. How could you not catch on?”

What the hell?!

Xia Tian finally realized that Xu Yuan had completely misunderstood his status as being directed at her.

How delusional could she be?

He stared at her contact name, “The Love of My Life,” then at her messages, and felt a wave of disgust.

“Who do you think you are? That status was for Little Ye! You really think you’re the center of the universe, huh?”

“‘The Love of My Life’—yeah, right. That was last life. This time, I’m all about Little Ye. Bye-bye now!”

Without hesitation, Xia Tian deleted Xu Yuan from his contacts.

He tossed his phone aside and returned to focusing on his science homework.

Meanwhile, on Xu Yuan’s end, after waiting several minutes without a response, she smiled to herself.

“Hmph! He’s probably at a loss for words now that I’ve seen through his little game. He must be thinking of how to explain himself.”

Pleased with herself, Xu Yuan began typing energetically.

She’d decided to just come out and tell Xia Tian what was on her mind, to let him know he didn’t need to act so cold toward her anymore.

“Hmph, don’t get too emotional. I’m only doing this to show you that I’ve known all along that you’ve liked me. But I don’t like your subtle approach—I prefer when someone confidently pursues me!”

But when she hit the send button, a red exclamation mark appeared next to the message, accompanied by a small notification:

[The other party is not your friend, please send a friend request.]

Xu Yuan stared blankly at the screen, her mouth slightly open, unable to believe her eyes.

“Xia… Xia Tian deleted me?”

“He actually deleted me?!”