Deskmates - Chapter 16

Chapter 16. Apple

Lin Sitian’s mischievous intentions remained unquenched as another devious idea surfaced.

“Never? Not even once a week?”

Behind his glasses, Zhou Cheng’s almond-shaped eyes flashed coldly as he pursed his lips. 

“Lin Sitian, you are pushing your luck.”

“I have faced far more embarrassment than this, and you have already caught me.” She pretended to be at a disadvantage.

“But it wasn’t that kind of encounter I discovered!”

“So it really is only once a week? You didn’t deny it.”

“I said no, not even once!”

“When was the last time?”

“Are you really going to study or not?”

“You don’t want to admit it even when you’re called on it.”

Lin Sitian continued relentlessly, leaving no room for Zhou Cheng to respond amidst her shameless teasing. To prove that they were nothing alike, Zhou Cheng stared at her, took a deep breath, and reluctantly admitted, “…during the winter break.”

Lin Sitian blinked, “W-winter break?” That was months ago – come on!

Zhou Cheng turned away and lowered his head to start packing his things. Realizing that she had gone too far, Lin Sitian hastily grabbed his hand. 

“Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore. Sorry.”

Without turning his head, he looked sideways at her and said sternly, “If you’re not sleepy anymore, work on these problems.”

“But I still feel…” 

The word ‘sleepy’ hung unspoken from her lips as Zhou Cheng’s gaze turned icy. Lin Sitian reluctantly finished with, “…quite energetic.”

English was followed by Mathematics, another weak subject for Lin Sitian and one that Zhou Cheng focused on closely. After ninety grueling minutes, Lin Sitian lamented inwardly – this was worse than regular classes; at least school had breaks between classes and varied subjects.

While Zhou Cheng graded her test, Lin Sitian slipped out of the bedroom in her slippers.

Only after her figure disappeared behind the door did Zhou Cheng’s hand pause, the intense expression in his eyes instantly softening. He raised his left arm to support his tired, drooping head.

The past few hours had been the most chaotic of his life. Several times, his own explanations for solving math problems had stalled mid-sentence. Whenever he remembered the intimate moment with Lin Sitian, followed by their awkward confrontation, he couldn’t help but wish he could find a hole to hide in.

Why had he actually told her?

No adolescent boy could escape sexual awakening, and Zhou Cheng was no exception. It happened after one of his older brother’s pranks, when he received a video link. At first, it seemed to be a serious educational movie, but halfway through, strange scenes had been spliced in. For Zhou Cheng, this revelation was completely unintentional. Driven by curiosity, he experimented with the masturbation techniques shown in the video and eventually understood their purpose.

However, he didn’t become particularly engrossed in such activities, perhaps because… he found them somewhat unsatisfying.

Zhou Cheng rarely encountered such stimuli, devoting most of his time to studying. With limited mental imagery to fuel his imagination, many instances turned into mere mechanical physical sensations.

Physical stimulation wasn’t inherently bad; it just tended to be quite exhausting.

During the post-climax moments of clarity, he often regretted wasting ten or more minutes on something so meaningless. He would quickly regain his composure and plunge back into the ocean of knowledge.

As a result, the last time Zhou Cheng had engaged in ‘that’ activity was during the winter break.

But today…

Whenever Lin Sitian leaned against him or pretended to cry in front of him, he inexplicably felt this urge.

“Zhou Cheng, here’s an apple.”

A plate of sliced apples suddenly appeared on the table in front of him, signaling the return of the culprit.

It was Zhou Cheng who had bought those apples. At first, Lin Sitian had only planned to wash them for him, but then she feared that it might be inconvenient and decided to go all out – washing, peeling, slicing, and delivering them directly to his table.

Still struggling with his indecent thoughts, Zhou Cheng didn’t even lift his head, pretending to be intensely focused on grading papers.

“Go ahead and eat first.”

Lin Sitian took a seat next to him. Zhou Cheng tried his best to concentrate on his studies. Just as he was marking an exam with his pen, he felt a cool touch near his lips. Before he could react, a sweet piece of apple was placed in his mouth.

He looked at it in confusion. Lin Sitian was still chewing on her own bite before she swallowed and said, “It’s quite sweet.”

Zhou Cheng tasted it; indeed, it was very sweet – the variety he had purchased was not cheap.

“I thought it might be difficult for you to eat while holding your pen, and waiting longer would risk it turning brown,” Lin Sitian hastily explained.

A subtle gleam flickered in Zhou Cheng’s eyes as he regained his composure and continued grading.

“Do you want more?” 

Lin Sitian’s voice sounded close to his ear. Zhou Cheng paused for a moment, then replied, “… Sure.”

Another piece was offered, and this time, Zhou Cheng cooperatively leaned forward and took the apple slice into his mouth.

It was indeed exceptionally sweet.