ATLAS TRANSLATES

Moonlight spilled through the wooden window into the bedroom like a silver screen. The dimmed phone screen’s light appeared somewhat weak.

Jiang Qi Huai paused for a moment before clicking on the second link.

[Five Most Taboo Things in Student Life, and the Number One Is—]

[Number One: Having High Standards but Low Abilities. The author has noticed that recently, not just in society but also in universities, male students generally have this problem of having high standards but low abilities. In relationships, the girls they like don’t like them back, and the girls who like them, they find fault with everything and think they’re not good enough. So they keep demanding women to improve and meet their standards to satisfy their—]

Jiang Qi Huai’s brow twitched, and he closed the article.

He hadn’t expected that his casual rejection would now be elevated to this level by Tao Zhi.

And would there really be such public accounts posting this kind of content?

This must be something she wrote herself.

Tao Zhi had fallen asleep on the sofa last night and woke up at five in the morning.

The sofa cushions were so soft that one could sink right into them. Her shoulders were sore from sleeping there. The air conditioning in the room made it somewhat dry, and her throat felt parched. She sat up, touching her throat.

Probably because she had buried herself in the sofa cushions earlier, Auntie Zhang hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t returned to her room.

The living room lights were off, and the entire first floor was quiet.

Tao Zhi sat up, raising her hand to rub her sore neck. She picked up the half cup of honey water from the coffee table, which had gone completely cold, and gulped it down.

After a while, Tao Zhi went upstairs to her room, took a shower, and lay in bed rolling around for a bit, but she was no longer sleepy.

She grabbed her phone from the desk and unlocked it.

The phone screen was still on her chat with Jiang Qi Huai. She had sent him several article links earlier but fell asleep holding her phone before getting a reply. When she opened it, she saw that he had responded.

Tao Zhi: “?”

She thought Jiang Qi Huai would be asleep by now, but within minutes, her WeChat notification rang again.

Zhi Zhi Grape: Don’t tell me you haven’t slept yet?

Pretty Boy Boss Jiang Qi Huai: Just woke up.

Tao Zhi looked at the time — not yet six o’clock.

Does this person really not need sleep?

Zhi Zhi Grape: Why are you up so early?

Instead of replying, Jiang Qi Huai sent a photo.

It showed a half-completed physics test paper. The desk lamp’s light was dim, mixing with the half-bright daylight from outside. The edge of the photo revealed half of his hand holding a pen.

That’s when Tao Zhi remembered about homework.

She had completely forgotten about it after playing too late last night.

Since she had already showered and couldn’t sleep anyway, Tao Zhi got out of bed, turned on the light, pulled out her chair, and sat at her desk. She unzipped her backpack and took out her books and test papers.

Tao Zhi picked up her phone and tried to make out the blurry handwriting in the photo, then gave up.

Zhi Zhi Grape: Couldn’t you take a clearer photo?

Jiang Qi Huai understood what she meant.

He didn’t respond for a while, seemingly speechless. Just when Tao Zhi was getting impatient, he sent another photo.

It was the same physics test paper, but much clearer this time.

Tao Zhi opened the photo, zoomed in, and started copying the questions one by one.

Just as she finished copying the multiple choice questions, her WeChat pinged several times as Jiang Qi Huai sent several more photos.

Tao Zhi opened them one by one.

Chapter two of the physics test, math, English, and two pages from the biology workbook.

Pretty Boy Boss Jiang Qi Huai: Haven’t done Chinese yet.

Tao Zhi blinked, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable.

It was just like last night when he ordered an extra plate of cola chicken wings — she only had to say one thing for him to understand her meaning, and now it was the same.

It felt as if they had been equal opponents with a back-and-forth relationship, but suddenly, very inexplicably, he had taken two steps back, and then inadvertently, he had gently stepped on something incredibly soft.

Making her whole being sink a little deeper.

Tao Zhi didn’t reply. She quickly copied all the questions from the test papers and workbooks he had sent, then looked up at the time.

Just past six o’clock.

She raised her hand to pinch her ear, then scratched her nose tip. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her phone.

Even though she was alone in her bedroom, somehow she found herself sitting up straight, slowly typing.

Zhi Zhi Grape: Want to go out for breakfast? My treat.

Tao Zhi didn’t know why, but just seeing this question mark made her feel nervous, and she quickly added: [I still owe you a plate of chicken wings, consider it payback.]

The other side was silent for a moment.

Tao Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly told him the address, then put her homework back in her bag and got up to change clothes.

Like a thief, she opened her bedroom door and tiptoed downstairs. The kitchen light was already on, with Auntie Zhang preparing breakfast.

Hearing the noise, she turned around, somewhat surprised: “Zhi Zhi, you’re up so early? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, no, I just woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep,” Tao Zhi said.

“Alright,” Auntie Zhang nodded, “Why don’t you go back upstairs and lie down for a while? Breakfast isn’t ready yet, I just got up myself.”

Tao Zhi waved her hand and walked to the door: “It’s fine, I made plans to have breakfast with a classmate.”

Auntie Zhang wiped her hands and walked over: “Did you tell Mr. Gu?”

“No,” Tao Zhi put on her shoes, “I can go by myself, could you let Uncle Gu know later?”

Auntie Zhang: “Alright, be careful when you go out, zip up your jacket, it’s quite cold outside at this hour.”

Tao Zhi nodded, waved goodbye, and opened the door to leave.

The early autumn morning had accumulated a night’s worth of cold air, and the wind carried a chill. Tao Zhi didn’t know if there were buses or subway trains running at this hour, or how to take them, so she directly called a taxi.

Tao Zhi had chosen a 24-hour congee shop that was reasonably priced and not far from school. When she arrived, Jiang Qi Huai was already there, the tall and straight youth standing in the morning mist with his bag slung over his shoulder, head lowered.

Tao Zhi jogged over, and halfway there, Jiang Qi Huai lifted his head.

He looked like he had just taken a shower, his black short hair not completely dry, soft bangs falling between his eyebrows and forehead. His peach blossom eyes were half-lowered, gaze deep, looking more relaxed and casual than usual.

Tao Zhi ran over, taking small breaths: “How did you get here so fast?”

“Just arrived,” Jiang Qi Huai spoke, his voice carrying a hint of laziness.

A cold breeze swept by, and Tao Zhi shrank her neck, pushing open the shop door first: “Come on, I love their fresh shrimp rice noodle rolls here.”

Jiang Qi Huai followed her inside.

Because it was early, there were only a few scattered tables occupied in the shop. The place wasn’t big, with a small second floor, decorated elegantly in natural wood tones. A warm fragrance permeated the air, dispelling most of the cold they had brought in from outside.

Tao Zhi chose a window seat, and the server brought over menus to take their order.

Tao Zhi ordered fresh shrimp congee and picked several dim sum items, then looked up at Jiang Qi Huai: “You don’t have any food restrictions, right?”

Jiang Qi Huai propped his chin: “Allergic to seafood.”

Tao Zhi made an “ah” sound: “But I ordered seafood congee.”

Jiang Qi Huai paused, looking at her: “Are you afraid I’ll steal your congee?”

When he said this, his tone was somewhat scattered, the end of his words gentle.

Very different from usual.

Is he not fully awake?

Tao Zhi looked at him.

Jiang Qi Huai: “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Tao Zhi shook her head, looking down again, and after thinking for a moment, still changed the fresh shrimp rice noodle rolls to beef ones.

The server quickly brought their breakfast to the table. The fresh congee was steaming with fragrance, the seafood’s umami flavor wafting up. The small bamboo steamers contained black bean chicken feet and steamed spare ribs, the shrimp dumplings were translucent, and the custard buns were shaped like little pigs, their noses scrunched up as they crowded together plumply.

Tao Zhi stuffed a shrimp dumpling into her mouth while moving the steamer closer to herself, vigilantly glancing at Jiang Qi Huai.

Jiang Qi Huai found it somewhat amusing: “I won’t eat it anyway.”

“But it’s so delicious,” Tao Zhi said indistinctly with her cheeks puffed out, “What if you can’t resist the temptation? I invited you for breakfast and end up sending you to the hospital.”

Jiang Qi Huai: “Swallow your food before speaking.”

“…”

Tao Zhi swallowed the food in her mouth and accused him: “Cold-hearted.”

Jiang Qi Huai ignored her and quietly lowered his head to drink his congee.

Tao Zhi picked up another chicken foot and put it on a small plate: “So did you finish the Chinese homework?”

“Mm,” Jiang Qi Huai looked up, “You haven’t written it?”

Tao Zhi blinked and said matter-of-factly: “You didn’t send me photos of it.”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

He paused: “Can’t you write one subject by yourself?”

Tao Zhi was straightforward: “I don’t know how, I haven’t even read any of those ancient poems.”

“The monthly exam is next weekend,” Jiang Qi Huai reminded her, “How many points does the class monitor plan to get this time?”

“Look, there’s your old problem again, isn’t it?” Tao Zhi pointed her chopsticks at him across the table, “Did you even look at the public account posts I sent you yesterday?”

Jiang Qi Huai: “Didn’t look.”

“How could you not even look?” Tao Zhi frowned and complained, “Those were carefully selected by yours truly, I spent a long time picking them out. Young people need to be able to listen to others’ advice, understand that honest words may sound harsh?”

Jiang Qi Huai nodded: “Then I suggest you do your homework yourself, don’t end up scoring lower than your brother in the monthly exam.”

He used Ji Fan, who only got nine points in math, as an example, and Tao Zhi didn’t like hearing that.

Jiang Qi Huai leisurely picked up a piece of spare rib and returned her earlier words: “Honest words may sound harsh.”

Tao Zhi: “…”

The server stood to the side, glancing over at them several times.

The boy and girl were wearing uniforms from the nearby First Experimental High School, both very striking in appearance, quite eye-catching.

She tilted her head and whispered to another server beside her: “Look at that couple over there, they’re such a perfect match.”

The other person nodded: “Made for each other.”

They were standing far away and could only vaguely hear mentions of monthly exams and grades: “Even eating breakfast, they’re still discussing studying, they’re serious about their work.”

“A match made in heaven.”

Tao Zhi didn’t know that in the servers’ eyes, she had already become “the pretty girl from that studious couple,” as she continued to banter with Jiang Qi Huai while finishing breakfast. Looking at the time, it was after seven.

She scanned the QR code on the table to pay the bill, and they left the shop, walking toward school.

It took about ten minutes to walk to Experimental from here. They had come early and weren’t in a hurry, so they strolled slowly along the roadside.

It was a bit cold outside, and Tao Zhi was particularly sensitive to cold. She didn’t feel like talking, zipped her school uniform jacket all the way up, tucked her chin inside, and walked quietly forward.

As they approached the school gate, sudden hurried footsteps came from behind.

Tao Zhi turned her head slightly.

Li Shuang Jiang came running up like the wind, and when he reached them, he almost couldn’t stop because he was going too fast, stumbling forward several steps before finally stopping.

“I saw your silhouettes from a street away and thought it looked like you two,” Li Shuang Jiang said, panting, “Where’s Ji Fan?”

Tao Zhi lifted her chin to expose her mouth: “He drank too much yesterday, don’t know if he’s up yet. Why are you here so early?”

“Well, I didn’t finish my homework yesterday, so I came early to complete it,” Li Shuang Jiang said, then turned to look at Jiang Qi Huai, “Brother Huai, were you okay yesterday?”

Jiang Qi Huai made an “mm” sound.

Li Shuang Jiang nodded and was about to continue rushing forward when his steps faltered and he stopped again.

He finally belatedly realized something, looking at Tao Zhi, then at Jiang Qi Huai.

Li Shuang Jiang asked with a puzzled face: “But why are you two going to school together?”