ATLAS TRANSLATES

“Your uncle?” Bai Lian was somewhat surprised. Ning Xiao nodded.

Bai Lian remembered that person surnamed Wang.

This was the first time she’d heard Ning Xiao mention his uncle. Ning Xiao was inherently detached, barely speaking even to Grandma Wang.

When Bai Lian last visited Ning Xiao’s home, Grandma Wang had been very emotional.

“That’s it?” Bai Lian looked down and found an English reading app, starting playback, “Just pick a time that works.”

Ning Xiao let out a breath.

He was naturally cold and spoke with a gloomy air. He’d never had many friends before, coming and going alone for over a decade. In Class 15, besides Zhang Shize, hardly anyone dared approach him.

Before Bai Lian came to this class, he’d never imagined eating hotpot with anyone from Class 15.

Ning Xiao looked at Tang Ming and Lu Xiaohan’s group again, remembering Wang Youfeng’s request, and felt a headache coming on.

Wang Youfeng wanted him to invite all his friends to dinner.

Tuesday.

The three science subject tests had all been returned.

Bai Lian found time to give her mind maps and study methods to Lu Lingxi.

In the office, Lu Lingxi took the stack of papers and looked down, “This is…”

“What we’ve organized,” some parts were compiled by Ning Xiao and Tang Ming for Zhang Shize. Bai Lian looked at Lu Lingxi, “There’s less than four months left. If people work hard, most can improve their scores by several points.”

Among the school’s many students, some had clear goals like Bai Lian, while others were like Zhang Shize. These materials could help those with clear goals.

“Thank you all,” Lu Lingxi hadn’t expected Bai Lian’s group to spend time on this. She put the materials away, “I’ll distribute them to each class right away.”

Every top student had their own study methods, efficient and fast.

There had been a story online about a West City student who had stalked their top scorer, learned their study methods, and eventually got into Jiangjing University.

Lu Lingxi knew these methods would be valuable reference for ordinary students.

As the grade leader, she quickly called a meeting with all class teachers.

The Class 8 teacher took these materials to class that afternoon, placing them on the podium, “These are study materials and methods from Teacher Lu. Anyone who needs them can come print them this afternoon. Also, the initial test rankings are out – check them after class if you want to know your rank.”

After speaking, he picked up the test papers and began explaining physics multiple choice questions.

The physics questions weren’t difficult this time, and Class 8 students all did well.

After class, crowds rushed forward to see Chen Zhu’s ranking.

“Young Chen, Wan Xuan,” the Class 8 monitor sat in front of Chen Zhu. He leaned on the desk, turning to look at Chen Zhu, then at Ren Wan Xuan sitting in the next row, “Are you going to print those materials?”

Chen Zhu’s dark eyes looked toward the podium, but he didn’t answer immediately.

Ren Wan Xuan hesitated.

“Word is,” the class monitor’s deskmate had a crew cut – Bao Boyu smiled, “these study methods and materials are supposedly from Bai Lian and Ning Xiao’s group.”

“What?” Chen Zhu’s deskmate also laughed, “Wait, what are they doing? Isn’t this embarrassing? Sharing study experiences? Who’s going to print them? If you do, let me see.”

Bao Boyu looked at Chen Zhu, then said: “I definitely won’t.”

The class monitor didn’t take a stance.

Chen Zhu and Ren Wan Xuan had originally planned to print them, but hearing they were compiled by Bai Lian’s trio, neither spoke up.

Ren Wan Xuan spoke to Chen Zhu privately, “Are you going on Saturday?”

Chen Zhu shook his head, “Not sure, don’t know who it is. My dad might go.”

“Go where?” Bao Boyu knew these two had better information than others.

“MK Club has rented out the mountain road,” Ren Wan Xuan explained calmly to the others, “They’re holding a friendly race.”

“Rented the mountain road?” The monitor was surprised, “Who has that kind of money?”

Chen Zhu said softly: “MK, look it up.”

Several students with phones started searching—

MK Club was a top luxury motorcycle club in Jiangjing, invested in by Jiangjing’s privileged young masters and ladies.

“Damn,” Bao Boyu was shocked: “Why would they hold a friendly race in a place like this?”

This was something neither Ren Wan Xuan nor Chen Zhu knew.

Just then, the discussion among those checking scores at the podium suddenly stopped.

“What’s going on?” Bao Boyu looked over, then stood up and pushed through the crowd, laughing as he spoke, “What rank did Young Chen and Wan Xuan get? Don’t tell me Ning Xiao surpassed them again…”

When he looked, his open mouth couldn’t close.

Class 8’s grades were always good, especially Chen Zhu and Ren Wan Xuan’s group.

Last semester when Ning Xiao surpassed Chen Zhu in the midterm, it was just that once, and Chen Zhu was still second. But now—

Bao Boyu looked at the names in first place.

Chen Zhu Chinese, 136, 1, 6 Math, 142, 1, 4 English, 141, 1, 4 Science, 281, 1, 4 Total, 700, 1, 4 Chen Zhu was almost always first in every subject in class. It had been that way before – his school and class rankings were almost identical, occasionally alternating with Ning Xiao.

But now, he was fourth in every subject.

Chen Zhu and Ren Wan Xuan sensed the commotion at the podium and both went up to check the rankings.

Ren Wan Xuan’s study life had been very intense in the latter half of the semester. Her private tutors cost thousands per hour. She had confidently thought she and Chen Zhu could return to their previous level, but who knew—

Not only had they not recovered, they’d fallen further?

Chen Zhu stared deeply at that “4” for a long time, then finally turned to find the class teacher in the office.

Ren Wan Xuan followed.

A wordless silence spread from the podium. These people looked at each other, and after a long while someone finally spoke, “I only got 590 points. With 700 points ranked fourth, I want to know – what kind of monster scores are in the top three?”

In the office.

The Class 8 teacher wasn’t surprised to see Chen Zhu and Ren Wan Xuan, “You’re here?”

“What scores are the top three?” Chen Zhu’s face was especially cold as he looked at the teacher, speaking concisely.

“It’s all here, take a look.” The Class 8 teacher handed another ranking sheet to Chen Zhu.

Chen Zhu and Ren Wan Xuan looked down at the total score rankings.

NO.1 Ning Xiao, 741 NO.2 Bai Lian, 737 NO.3 Tang Ming, 736 The top three had pulled ahead of Chen Zhu by thirty to forty points – a tier gap in scoring.

The two stared at the paper, unable to process it for a long time.

“How is this possible?” Ren Wan Xuan’s face went pale. She and Chen Zhu had worked so hard over winter break, but now felt powerless.

Of course, neither of them knew that this gap wasn’t actually that large, because math and physics were too simple for Bai Lian’s group.

When it came to the college entrance exam’s difficulty, the gap would be even more obvious.

Evening, at the milk tea shop.

Ning Xiao had gone home early. Bai Lian, Tang Ming, Jian Zhe and others were reviewing inside.

Yang Lin still had two hours of work.

The milk tea shop was larger than most stores, well-decorated, good value for money. Though the cakes weren’t as delicious as before, they were still better than average, and most people still liked buying things here.

The sight of Young Masters Xu Nanjing and Xiao Bingwen standing at the entrance was quite striking.

Bai Lian sat by the window, head down seriously working on practice problems.

Nearby, two girls held phones, photographing through the window, “Did you get it?”

“Got it, got it!”

“Take one for me too, I want to be in the same frame as Senior Bai.”

“…”

When Xu Nanjing and Xiao Bingwen arrived, they saw this scene. Though they knew Bai Lian was good-looking, they didn’t expect this level of popularity. “She’s really quite popular?” Xu Nanjing found it amusing.

Xiao Bingwen stood beside Xu Nanjing, quite surprised, “You seem to think well of her.”

He knew Xu Nanjing wasn’t an easy person to get close to. “Hard to explain.” Xu Nanjing pulled out a cigarette. Since childhood, he’d been uncontrollable by family, both gentle and wild, getting along mainly with those who shared similar interests.

Though Bai Lian was such a well-behaved student, she got along well with him.

He went in and as usual ordered several milk teas for Bai Lian’s group.

Yang Lin processed the order and went to serve the next customer. After Xu Nanjing left, the regular staff finally looked away from him, “Little Yang, do you know him?”

“No.”

“His clothes look so expensive, that’s my monthly salary…” The staff member clicked their tongue, speeding up their ice crushing.

Another male worker added, “More like your yearly salary, a month’s probably not enough.”

Xu Nanjing didn’t disturb Bai Lian’s group studying.

The two just waited there for Jiang Fuli.

Only after most of the First High students had left did Jiang Fuli’s car slowly arrive.

Xiangcheng’s sunset came late, and the sun hadn’t set yet.

In the sunset, Jiang Fuli’s tall figure appeared lonely and cold.

His light gaze swept over, making Xiao Bingwen avoid eye contact, wondering if Young Master Jiang was in a bad mood today.

He didn’t dare look at Jiang Fuli again.

“About done,” Xu Nanjing put out his cigarette and stood straight, “The track is cleared. Charles will definitely love this feast.”

Jiang Fuli had just come from the lab. Hearing this, he just gave him a look, “Well done.”

Rare mineral resources were limited globally. It wasn’t easy to extract anything from old, established American families like the Dawsons.

“This Saturday night,” Xu Nanjing raised an eyebrow, curving his lips: “Should be quite grand. Will you and little sister Bai Lian come?”

Xiangcheng wasn’t as chaotic as Jiangjing, and with Jiang Fuli present, Xu Nanjing had faced almost no obstacles from start to finish.

Everything was surprisingly easy, making him relax enough to invite Bai Lian and Jiang Fuli to the feast.

Jiang Fuli walked toward the milk tea shop, his gaze falling on the glass window, his expression softening slightly: “I’ll ask her.”

“She might not want to,” Xu Nanjing thought, “She’d rather study.”

8 PM.

Qingshui Street.

Jiang Fuli walked Bai Lian to the usual place. The street lights were bright, stretching their shadows long. It wasn’t late, and passersby who saw Bai Lian would greet her from afar.

At the intersection, after seeing her there, Jiang Fuli paused, then reached into his coat pocket and took out a sandalwood box.

“What’s this?” Bai Lian lowered her head slightly.

“Sandalwood incense,” Jiang Fuli was calm and composed, concise: “For sleep.”

Bai Lian took it and looked up, the light casting hazy outlines on her face: “…For sleep?”

In fact, even Ji Heng didn’t know about her sleep problems.

“Mm,” Jiang Fuli didn’t want to explain further. He just pulled her into an embrace, resting his chin on her shoulder, his voice still cool and clear, phoenix eyes slightly lowered, “Xu Nanjing invited us to watch the race Saturday night.”

“Race?” Bai Lian held the wooden box, streetlight casting shadows on her face, “What race?”

“Motorcycles,” Jiang Fuli knew about Xu Nanjing’s interests but didn’t care much, “If you don’t want to go, we can have fish head hotpot on Saturday.”

Motorcycles?

Bai Lian’s eyes lifted slightly, “Let’s go.”

This wasn’t what Jiang Fuli had expected. He looked down somewhat surprised, “Alright.”

He released her and said softly, “Go back now, good night.”

Saturday.

11 AM.

At Jiang Fuli’s residence, the sun wasn’t strong, with a gentle breeze.

Xu Nanjing and Xiao Bingwen sat talking in rattan chairs outside.

Above them was a pavilion and sunlight. Xu Nanjing leaned back, eyes half-closed, fingers tapping the armrest, “How’s little Guo’s practice? I invited Charles to see the club – this race can’t have even the tiniest mistake.”

Part of why Xu Nanjing could talk with Charles was their shared interests.

“Don’t worry, our people are watching everything.” Xiao Bingwen nodded, looking serious. It wasn’t easy to arrange a meeting with Charles. In all of Jiangjing, only Xu Nanjing had gotten this far.

Who would have known Charles would be hanging around Blue Dragon Bar and share interests with Xu Nanjing.

Ming Dongheng sat beside Xu Nanjing, face cold and silent.

As they were talking, Bai Lian came out from inside. Xu Nanjing immediately looked over, “Hi, little sister Bai Lian, finished your homework?”

Beside him, Ming Dongheng stood up, taking the keys from the table.

Bai Lian gave Xu Nanjing a lazy greeting.

“It’s almost meal time, where are you going?” Xu Nanjing only realized Bai Lian was heading out when he saw Ming Dongheng.

Today was the motorcycle chase that Xu Nanjing and Charles were hosting.

He’d prepared for ten days for this.

The group was supposed to head to the mountain road after eating.

“Having lunch with classmates first.” Bai Lian carried a canvas bag, smiling at him.

Today Ning Xiao’s uncle was treating Ning Xiao’s classmates to lunch.

Xu Nanjing looked at Ming Dongheng and said: “We’re heading to the mountain road early anyway. Little Ming, don’t make an extra trip – I’ll take little sister Bai Lian.”

Ming Dongheng gripped the keys tightly.

Half an hour later.

Xiao Bingwen’s car stopped at a very clean, old-style local restaurant.

This street was quite old – locals usually were the only visitors.

Bai Lian got out from the back seat and said goodbye to Xu Nanjing.

Xu Nanjing leaned out, watching until Bai Lian went inside before looking away. Seeing two burly men who had just entered, he was somewhat surprised – they were clearly trained fighters with excellent skills.

“So many fighters in Xiangcheng?” Such a small restaurant and already two fighters.

Xiao Bingwen also looked, “This area is near the border, lots of mercenaries.”

Xu Nanjing nodded.

As they talked, the car drove away.

Second floor, private room.

Lu Xiaohan and Tang Ming had arrived ten minutes before Bai Lian. Wang Youfeng wore more approachable clothes today, smiling as he hosted Ning Xiao’s two classmates, “Ning Xiao has a difficult personality – please be understanding of him.”

Ning Xiao sat beside him with a cold face, not speaking.

“Uncle, the study god was willing to hang out with us and even tutored us,” Lu Xiaohan expressed gratitude to Ning Xiao, “Our class had the highest average score this initial test – he deserves much credit.”

Wang Youfeng was surprised. He glanced at Ning Xiao, then asked: “Wasn’t there supposed to be another classmate? Why haven’t they arrived?”

Ning Xiao checked the time and looked down, “They’re here.”

Wang Youfeng was wondering how Ning Xiao could be so certain.

The next second, there were three knocks on the private room door, and Tang Ming, who sat near the door, opened it.