Chapter 6

Mu Chi was displeased now, determined to defend his dignity. He stretched his hand out in front of Song Wenzhou and said, “My hands are clean, okay? I wash them dozens of times a day.”

Song Wenzhou looked down at the hand in front of him. The palm was broad, with clear lifelines, long fingers, and distinct joints—hands that were both beautiful and full of strength.

Song Wenzhou turned his eyes away and muttered, “Who knows where you’ve touched.”

Mu Chi paused for a moment, then mischievously leaned close to Song Wenzhou’s ear and whispered, “Deskmate, there are so many people on the bus. Isn’t it inappropriate to talk about such private things?”

“What?” At first, Song Wenzhou didn’t understand what he meant. But when he turned to look at Mu Chi’s expression, he vaguely realized where his mind had wandered. His ears immediately turned red, and in embarrassment, he growled, “Have some decency! I didn’t mean that!”

Mu Chi, for no reason, found it amusing to see Song Wenzhou so flustered. He let out a low chuckle.

Song Wenzhou continued, “What I meant was, maybe you touched some strange things on the way here.”

Mu Chi’s laughter became even more unrestrained. “Pfft hahaha…”

Their laughter attracted the attention of people around them, and several heads turned to look at them.

The redness in Song Wenzhou’s ears spread to his cheeks. He gritted his teeth and stepped on Mu Chi’s foot under the seat.

“Ow…” Mu Chi yelped, finally stopping his laughter. “I was wrong.”

Song Wenzhou turned away, not wanting to look at him. If he could, he really didn’t want to admit that this idiot was his deskmate, let alone the one he still wanted to sit next to for the remaining two years of high school.

Song Wenzhou was genuinely embarrassed. He had no idea how many people had overheard their conversation in the crowded bus, and what misunderstandings it might have caused. Either way, he ignored Mu Chi for the rest of the journey.

It wasn’t until they got off the bus that he glanced back at Mu Chi following behind him.

“Look what you’ve done.” Mu Chi noticed Song Wenzhou looking back and spoke in a reproachful tone.

Song Wenzhou followed his gaze and looked down. Mu Chi had raised his left foot high, and there was a large shoe print on the surface of his shoe.

As the saying goes, a gentleman uses words, not actions. But Mu Chi had directly used his foot. Song Wenzhou knew he was in the wrong, so he muttered, “…Sorry.”

Mu Chi proudly huffed and extended his hand. “Got any paper? I need to wipe this off.”

Song Wenzhou handed him the whole pack of tissues from his pocket, and the two of them stopped on the side of the road. One was crouched down wiping the shoe, and the other stood watching.

After a while, Mu Chi stood up, threw the crumpled paper into a nearby trash can, and triumphantly said, “Oh yeah, three points! Let’s go.”

“…” Song Wenzhou suppressed the urge to comment on the overly dramatic behavior. He pointed to Mu Chi’s shoe. “It’s not clean.”

“It’s fine, I can’t wipe it anymore,” Mu Chi said nonchalantly. “I’m done with it.”

Song Wenzhou looked at those clearly expensive shoes and felt even more guilty. He muttered, “Go wash it when we get back.”

“Sure,” Mu Chi raised an eyebrow. “You got them dirty, you wash them.”

Song Wenzhou pursed his lips. Just as he was about to say “Okay,” Mu Chi suddenly laughed, finding Song Wenzhou quite cute. He smiled and said, “I’m just messing with you. You don’t need to wash it. I’ll just wipe it with a wet cloth when I get back.”

Song Wenzhou was inexplicably moved. He stared at Mu Chi, who was smiling brightly, for a while.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Chi, feeling a little embarrassed from being stared at, rubbed his nose and said, “Let’s go, back to the dorm.”

“Wait,” Song Wenzhou reached into the paper bag and rummaged around, pulling out a small pink bag. “This is for you.”

It was his way of apologizing.

Mu Chi eagerly took the gift, exclaiming, “Wow! How did you know my birthday is coming up? I don’t think I ever told you.”

“Huh?” Song Wenzhou was momentarily stunned. “I… I didn’t know.”

“What is it?” Mu Chi impatiently opened the gift. “A keychain.”

“…Mm, you said before that a single key is too small and easy to lose, so I thought…” Song Wenzhou trailed off.

He felt a little embarrassed. He hadn’t anticipated that he would accidentally pick something so appropriate for Mu Chi’s upcoming birthday.

Although everyone wore school uniforms at school, it was still apparent that Mu Chi came from a good family. Many of the shoes he wore were from popular online brands, expensive and limited edition.

A ten-yuan keychain, which was supposed to be just a small, ordinary gift, now seemed a little… misplaced as a birthday gift.

“Tsk, you actually remembered what I said and paid attention to those little details. You’re such a thoughtful deskmate,” Mu Chi, completely unaware of Song Wenzhou’s thoughts, continued to admire the keychain and played with the tiny basketball. “I like it.”

Song Wenzhou gave a somewhat awkward smile.

Mu Chi paused for a moment and suddenly became a bit nervous, looking at Song Wenzhou. “I-I mean, I like the basketball, not…” he began to explain.

Song Wenzhou: “?”

Song Wenzhou’s clear, black-and-white eyes were full of confusion. Mu Chi, meeting his gaze, involuntarily stopped himself from finishing his sentence and muttered, “Forget it, it’s nothing.”

His deskmate was too innocent, it was his own mind that was unhealthy.

Song Wenzhou said, “Oh, well, I’m glad you like it.”

He could just give him a better gift for his birthday.

On the way back to the dorm, Mu Chi took out the new keychain he had just attached to his keys. “By the way, here’s your key back.”

“You won’t lose it this time, right?” Song Wenzhou took the key.

“Don’t worry,” Mu Chi said, with a meaningful look. “It’s a gift I received, so I’ll make sure to take good care of it.”