Stop Chasing the School Belle, My Shy Deskmate is Sweet and Soft - Chapter 82

When Xia Tian locked eyes with Ye Ningyu, he saw emotions flashing in her gaze: surprise, panic, and a trace of grievance.

Before he could say anything, Little Ye quickly turned her head away.

Xia Tian felt a jolt in his chest.

He was now completely certain—something had happened to Little Ye, and she hadn’t told him about it.

Back when they sat together as deskmates, the two periods of practice exams in the afternoon would always fly by for Xia Tian.

But today, those two periods dragged on painfully long.

Next to him, Li Jiahui noticed Xia Tian lying on his desk, listless and not writing on his test paper. Out of kindness, she whispered:

“Xia Tian, it’s been a full period already. Aren’t you going to start working on the test? It’s due when class ends.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

Xia Tian didn’t even want to talk. He just tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Ye Ningyu’s back.

An hour and a half later, the bell finally rang.

Xia Tian couldn’t wait any longer. He walked straight over to Ye Ningyu’s desk with a serious expression and said, “Come out with me for a minute.”

He was worried she might refuse, so he added, “No saying no!”

Ye Ningyu, with her face buried in her uniform collar, softly murmured, “Mhm…” and obediently followed Xia Tian out of the classroom.

Before leaving, she instinctively glanced in Xu Yuan’s direction.

Outside the classroom, in the corridor.

Xia Tian and Ye Ningyu stood face to face.

“Tell me why you asked Mr. Wang to change your seat.”

“I… I… I couldn’t see the blackboard clearly.”

“Really? Then why didn’t you tell me? And what about during the May Day holiday? You deliberately avoided logging into QQ. You didn’t have a fever this morning either, did you? You just didn’t want to see me, right?”

Xia Tian’s barrage of questions left Ye Ningyu flustered, unable to meet his gaze.

She was too frightened that her lies would be exposed.

But Xia Tian wasn’t about to let it go. “Don’t keep your head down. Look up and answer me properly.”

“Mhm.”

Little Ye raised her head, and Xia Tian repeated his questions.

She stammered for a long time before managing to say, “I… I didn’t lie to you, Xia Tian…”

“You’re lying!”

Xia Tian shot her words down immediately.

Her evasive eyes were too obvious.

Little Ye was terrible at lying. Whenever she lied, she had the habit of gripping her uniform hem, and Xia Tian could see through her immediately.

“I… I…”

Her eyes reddened, her lips trembling as she failed to form any coherent words.

Seeing this, Xia Tian softened his tone. “Don’t be scared. I’m not mad at you. I just want to know why you’re suddenly keeping your distance from me. That night, when I walked you home on your birthday, weren’t we still fine then?”

Ye Ningyu held tightly onto her uniform hem.

Hearing Xia Tian mention her birthday night, her tears could no longer be held back and began streaming down her face.

She quickly raised her hand to wipe them away.

“X-Xia Tian… I just want to focus on studying. The class monitor is so good to you… why did you stop liking her?”

“I… I only know how to study. E-everyone calls me a bookworm… I-I don’t deserve you being so nice to me. Let’s stop being deskmates, okay?”

Hearing her choked voice, Xia Tian felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

“What nonsense are you saying? Not only do you deserve me being good to you, but you also deserve everyone else being good to you. So… tell me, what’s going on? We can solve it together, okay?”

Ye Ningyu looked up, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes glistening with tears.

Xia Tian’s gaze never left hers, his eyes burning with intensity.

She could feel the gentleness in his tone and the genuine concern in his eyes.

For a moment, she wavered.

But just then, she caught sight of Xu Yuan walking past behind Xia Tian. Xu Yuan’s words from that night resurfaced in her mind.

Little Ye bit her lip and shook her head firmly. “Xia Tian, I’m really fine… I-I need to go back and correct the mistakes from this mock exam.”

“A-also, Xia Tian, you did great this time, ranking fourth in the class!”

With that, Little Ye buried her face in her collar again, hurriedly bypassing Xia Tian as if fleeing back to the classroom.

The moment she turned around, her tears began falling uncontrollably.

She thought back to over a month ago, when Xia Tian had said he wanted to go to the same school as her.

Watching him improve his grades so rapidly, Ye Ningyu had truly felt hope.

But now, that hope seemed more and more out of reach.

—

Xia Tian stood frozen in place.

Little Ye’s sudden change in attitude had completely caught him off guard.

Since his rebirth, he had been in control of almost every situation.

But this time, he was utterly lost, unable to understand why Little Ye had become like this.

Just then, a hand slapped his shoulder, and a labored voice spoke from behind him.

“Little Tian, I finally found you! I looked everywhere!”

Xia Tian turned around, snapping out of his daze.

“What’s the rush? Why were you looking for me?”

“Huff… I did what you said and spent 200 yuan on point cards for the guy who’s been helping me gather information. Just now, he texted me—he’s found the boy who started the rumors about Little Ye. He says if we’re willing to spend a bit more money, he’ll tell us everything we want to know!”

“The boy from the High School Affiliated with the Normal University? The one from Sichuan-Chongqing who’s supposedly Little Ye’s fellow villager?”

“Exactly, it’s him!”

Hearing Fang Yu’s confirmation, Xia Tian’s eyes lit up, and he grew excited. “When can we meet him? Money’s not an issue!”

“Right now!”

“Then stop wasting time—let’s go!”

Xia Tian’s heart raced.

As much as he wanted to resolve things with Little Ye immediately, this matter was just as important.

Without wasting a second, Xia Tian and Fang Yu ran out of the school.

To save time, they flagged down a taxi by the roadside.

In less than half an hour, they arrived at the agreed meeting spot mentioned in the text.

A chubby boy with glasses was standing by the roadside, munching on a bag of chips. His tiny, slit-like eyes made him look like the foolish son of a wealthy landlord from ancient times.

When he saw Fang Yu, he waved. “Fang Yu, over here!”

“Fatty Wang, where’s that boy you were talking about?”

The chubby boy grinned and pointed across the street. “See that short guy in cloth shoes? That’s Ye Shengshi. He’s from the same hometown as Ye Ningyu.

He’s dirt poor, so if you give him money, he’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“Got it. Thanks, Fatty. I’ll send you the promised QQ membership tonight.”

“Hehe, no problem.”

Fang Yu gave Xia Tian a look, and they immediately walked across the street.

The boy named Ye Shengshi stood out in the crowd.

He was the shortest one there, stick-thin, and wore an old pair of black cloth shoes rarely seen these days.

Xia Tian squinted as he approached. “Your name’s Ye Shengshi? You’re from the same hometown as Ye Ningyu in Sichuan-Chongqing?”

The short boy nodded, a hint of wariness in his eyes.

“Y-yeah… W-who are you guys?”

Hearing the thick Sichuan-Chongqing dialect, Xia Tian was immediately convinced this boy was indeed Little Ye’s fellow villager.

Fang Yu stepped forward. “We’re here on Fatty Wang’s recommendation. Tell us everything about Ye Ningyu’s past at the High School Affiliated with the Normal University. If you do, we’ll give you 500 yuan!”

“Really?”

Xia Tian didn’t waste time. He pulled out 200 yuan from his pocket.

“Think of this as a deposit. Tell us what you know, and you’ll get the remaining 300 after.”

When Ye Shengshi saw the money, his eyes lit up.

He quickly pocketed it and gestured for Xia Tian and Fang Yu to follow him into a nearby alley.

Once they were in the alley, Ye Shengshi turned to face them again. This time, he switched to broken Mandarin.

“I’m from the same village as Ye Ningyu. We’re both from Sichuan-Chongqing. In our hometown, there’s a mahjong parlor, but everyone in the village knows the people there are involved in… certain activities. One afternoon, I saw Ye Ningyu walk out of there with my own eyes. I’ve also seen her mom come out of there.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely sure!”

“Goddammit! So you’re the one who told Duan Yingying and those other three that Ye Ningyu was involved in sex work back in Sichuan-Chongqing?! Do you have any idea how much suffering your baseless rumors caused her?”

Xia Tian’s tone grew icy.

His expression turned fierce and intimidating.

Ye Shengshi froze in fear and instinctively turned to run.

But Xia Tian and Fang Yu quickly cornered him in the alley.

Compared to the tall and broad-shouldered Xia Tian and Fang Yu, Ye Shengshi looked like a helpless elementary school kid.

Terrified, his face turned pale as he pulled the money back out of his pocket and handed it to Xia Tian.

“P-please don’t hit me… What I told Duan Yingying and the others was only part of the story. They twisted my words and spread the rumors all over the school…”

Xia Tian’s expression darkened. “What do you mean?”

“The story I told you just now—there’s more to it. I told Duan Yingying and the others the full version, but they only spread the first half…”