ATLAS TRANSLATES

The fight, after all, did break out.

Tao Zhi thought with perfect serenity.

Although our fighter wasn’t her, and the enemy wasn’t Jiang Qi Huai.

But it didn’t matter – at least Jiang Qi Huai’s desk and all his belongings were involved, and she hadn’t lifted a finger for any of it.

Sometimes victory comes this easily.

She leaned against the wall watching from the side, observing this usually cold person who barely bothered to lift his eyelashes now standing expressionlessly at the doorway, his gaze following his physics papers downward, his eyelids drooping along with them, lips slightly curved down, the line of his jaw momentarily tightening, veins showing on his lean hands.

The next second, Jiang Qi Huai turned his head to look at her.

He stood at the door while she leaned against the wall, and at this close distance, Tao Zhi finally saw something that could be called emotion in those clear, glass-like eyes.

He was annoyed.

After confirming this fact, Tao Zhi felt completely satisfied.

Tao Zhi looked at him, blinked twice, face full of innocence, as if silently saying — don’t look at me, I didn’t do anything.

She even shook her head seriously: “Impulsive.”

Tao Zhi sighed: “Sometimes you boys are just too impulsive.”

Completely washing her hands of the matter.

Over there, the impulsive one Song Jiang threw another punch at the non-mainstream guy, trampling another test paper under his feet. The non-mainstream guy got up cursing, just raising his arm when Teacher Wang appeared behind Jiang Qi Huai: “What are you doing! What’s this! Fighting in the classroom! Huh?! All of you stop right now!!”

The two hot-blooded high school boys’ movements froze at this shout. Song Jiang had some bruises on his face, but compared to him, the non-mainstream guy looked much worse, standing there with a swollen face.

Neither of them was from Class 2-1, yet they were fighting in Class 1’s classroom. Teacher Wang took them away, going to find their homeroom teachers.

The classroom suddenly fell silent. Fu Xi Ling was so scared she was still clutching her chopsticks, shrinking in her seat, not daring to speak.

Jiang Qi Huai stood in place, not moving either.

Tao Zhi looked around at the empty space at the back of the classroom. With people crowded around earlier she hadn’t noticed, but now looking at it, Jiang Qi Huai’s things scattered all over the floor really did look quite pitiful.

When she had kicked his desk earlier, she hadn’t thought about this outcome. She and Song Jiang were old partners when it came to fighting, their coordination was unspoken.

Besides, in a fight, it was all about getting the first move.

In the silence, she watched as Jiang Qi Huai finally moved, silently walking over to lift his desk back to its original position, then picking up his papers and books one by one, throwing them back on the desk.

Then, Jiang Qi Huai went to fish his backpack out of the water bucket.

The bucket wasn’t big, and the backpack was quite wide, so it hadn’t fallen in completely, hanging crookedly on the edge of the bucket, with a small part soaked.

Jiang Qi Huai pulled the backpack strap to lift it up, holding it suspended as the black backpack dripped water. After most of the water had dripped out, he opened the zipper, took out the soaked papers and textbooks, and threw them in the nearby trash can.

Throughout the whole process, he didn’t say a word. His uniform had gotten wet from the backpack, and since the water wasn’t clean, there was an obvious dirty patch on his white uniform jacket, and his fingers were wet too.

Even someone as heartless as Tao Zhi, after her satisfaction had passed, now felt a rare twinge of uncomfortable guilt.

And nervousness – she had a feeling Jiang Qi Huai knew what she had done, he just couldn’t be bothered to say anything.

Whether she had meant to or not at the time, it was indeed her who had kicked his desk.

Tao Zhi tried to speak several times but didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t very good at handling these unfamiliar situations.

No one spoke, the air filled with stiffness and oppression.

Fu Xi Ling finally recovered her senses and reached across her desk to gently poke Tao Zhi’s back.

Tao Zhi turned around to see the little girl secretly passing her a pack of tissues from below.

What for?

Tao Zhi looked at her in confusion.

I’m not crying.

Fu Xi Ling made faces at her in a frenzy of hints, then looked at Jiang Qi Huai.

Tao Zhi finally understood, took the tissues, and turned around.

She hesitated for a moment, then gently placed the tissues on his desk.

Jiang Qi Huai lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on them for a moment, showing no intention of taking them.

He wasn’t someone with a naturally good temper to begin with, and right now he was genuinely annoyed and quite irritated.

But the two girls in front kept staring at him, seemingly waiting for his response.

Jiang Qi Huai paused.

“Thanks,” he said coldly, moving his gaze away, completely emotionless.

Tao Zhi rubbed her nose, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Jiang Qi Huai didn’t seem to have any intention of continuing the conversation either. He picked up his backpack and left the classroom.

In the silence, Tao Zhi turned back to look at Fu Xi Ling, asking for confirmation: “Is he angry?”

Fu Xi Ling nodded: “I think a little bit.”

Tao Zhi also nodded: “He didn’t use the tissues we gave him either.”

“Because he’s angry,” Fu Xi Ling comforted her, “But he said thank you, he still considered our feelings as girls, so don’t be upset. School just started, we’ll all be classmates for two years.”

Tao Zhi didn’t speak, her gaze falling on the pile of dirty and torn books and papers on Jiang Qi Huai’s desk. The form he had been filling out in the office earlier flashed through her mind.

Although it had only flashed before her eyes and she had only glimpsed it, she had still seen the words on it.

It was a student financial aid application form.

After Jiang Qi Huai left at noon, he didn’t come back. During the first break after lunch, Tao Zhi ran to each subject teacher’s office, finally going to Teacher Wang’s.

Teacher Wang was there with Song Jiang and the non-mainstream guy’s homeroom teacher. When she went in, Teacher Wang saw her and called out: “Tao Zhi, perfect timing, go call Fu Xi Ling for me.”

Tao Zhi responded, and when Teacher Wang turned his head, she glared at Song Jiang.

— You ratted out the girl too?

Song Jiang had bruises on his face and had just been to the school infirmary. The left side of his face had a small piece of white gauze, making him look somewhat comical.

He spread his hands innocently, made a zipping motion across his mouth, and pointed at the non-mainstream guy beside him.

Meaning it wasn’t him who told.

Tao Zhi clicked her tongue internally, looked at the non-mainstream guy whose face was swollen like a pig’s head, and thought he’d gotten off too lightly with just this beating.

At noon she had asked Fu Xi Ling about the situation. The non-mainstream guy had a decent face and his family probably had some money. Apparently, he was quite popular in their little circle in the third year, changing girlfriends frequently.

Then somehow he had set his sights on the innocent Fu Xi Ling, pestering her constantly, calling her “junior” every day, blocking the classroom door during lunch break and after school, diligently sending milk tea and snacks. The more Fu Xi Ling refused, the more enthusiastic he became, often saying disgusting things.

After one class, Fu Xi Ling came back with red-rimmed eyes. Tao Zhi had white papers spread all over her desk as she was stacking them one by one, making space while sparing a glance at her: “Did you cry?”

“No,” Fu Xi Ling shook her head, “I explained everything to Teacher Wang, he probably won’t punish your friend, he was just trying to help me.”

“The reason doesn’t matter, he did hit someone, getting scolded and punished for fighting is normal, he’s used to it,” Tao Zhi didn’t take it too seriously, waiting until she sat down before continuing to sort papers, saying knowingly, “Next will probably be calling parents to see both sides’ attitudes, writing self-criticism, public admission of wrongdoing at Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, punishment duty for a few weeks and such. They didn’t fight too seriously, probably won’t get a disciplinary record.”

Fu Xi Ling remembered the non-mainstream guy’s eye that was so swollen it was squeezed into a slit and barely visible, wondering what kind of fight would be considered serious in Tao Zhi’s mind.

Throughout the entire afternoon until school ended, Jiang Qi Huai didn’t come back.

Tao Xiu Ping had rarely stayed at home for a few days, and in the evening he picked up Tao Zhi from school as usual. As soon as the little girl got in the car, Tao Xiu Ping sensed something was off with this little ancestor today.

Her mood didn’t seem very good.

“Today it’s chestnut cream pastries.” Tao Xiu Ping said.

“Oh.” Tao Zhi responded, lowering her head to fasten her seatbelt, not turning to take them.

She didn’t throw herself into the back seat either, and didn’t say he was the best dad in the world who looked like Wu Yan Zu.

Tao Xiu Ping steered with one hand, reaching out to ruffle her head: “What’s wrong? Who made our princess unhappy today?”

Tao Zhi didn’t speak.

“Got in another fight?” Tao Xiu Ping guessed, “End up in the hospital?”

Tao Zhi raised her head dissatisfied.

Tao Xiu Ping laughed, deliberately teasing her: “What, lost the fight?”

“I didn’t fight anyone, school just started a few days ago, how could I cause trouble so easily.”

“Indeed,” Tao Xiu Ping nodded seriously, half-jokingly agreeing, “Our Zhi Zhi is just an honest kid who doesn’t like causing trouble, usually others provoke you first.”

Tao Zhi sighed: “Song Jiang got in a fight today.”

“Mm, and then?” Tao Xiu Ping asked patiently.

“He knocked over my annoying dog-face deskmate’s desk,” Tao Zhi didn’t hide her crime, “I kicked it over.”

Tao Xiu Ping: “…Don’t use bad words.”

Tao Zhi recalled the miserable scene at noon: “Then all his papers and books fell on the ground, the books got dirty, and many papers were trampled.”

“…”

“His backpack fell in the water bucket too, everything inside got wet.”

“…That is quite miserable.” Tao Xiu Ping said dryly.

“Then he got angry.” Tao Zhi finally said, “Although he’s quite dog-like, I feel this was too much.”

“He didn’t hit you?” Tao Xiu Ping looked at his daughter and asked sincerely.

Tao Zhi said expressionlessly: “He doesn’t know I did it.”

Tao Xiu Ping wanted to laugh but held it back: “Hmm… Dad doesn’t know how to evaluate this situation, but if he hasn’t done anything particularly excessive, I think you can be a bit more magnanimous, don’t stoop to his level, especially since he’s already so miserable.”

Tao Xiu Ping knew his daughter’s personality too well – she probably felt a bit guilty towards the guy but was too stubborn to take the initiative to admit it.

He directly gave her a way out, and Tao Zhi convinced herself readily, feeling at peace: “Fine, I won’t hold it against him.”

After figuring things out, Tao Zhi’s mood improved considerably. After dinner and washing up that night, she had a good sleep, then got up early the next day, asking Tao Xiu Ping to drive her to school.

Tao Xiu Ping hadn’t even woken up when he heard her knocking on the door, quickly got ready, went downstairs yawning to the garage to get the car.

When they got to the classroom, there were barely any students there yet. Tao Zhi bent down to look at the things in her desk drawer.

She hesitated for a moment, but still took out a thick stack of books from her desk, turned around, and was just about to put them on Jiang Qi Huai’s desk.

The back door of the classroom was pushed open, and Jiang Qi Huai walked in.

His desk was just in front of the back door, and Jiang Qi Huai’s eyes immediately fell on her, looking down: “What are you doing?”

Tao Zhi was still holding the stack of books suspended above his desk, her movement frozen.

Why did this jerk come so early today!

Doesn’t he usually come right on time?!

Tao Zhi stood there awkwardly, momentarily unsure whether to put the books down or not.

She stood there stiffly for five seconds.

Since she’d been caught anyway, Tao Zhi decided to just go for it, keeping a straight face and gritting her teeth, silently putting down the things in her hands.

The books were quite heavy, making a dull thud as they landed on the desk.

Jiang Qi Huai raised his eyebrows: “What’s this?”

“See for yourself.” Tao Zhi said sullenly.

She didn’t look at him either, silently turning around to sit down, her movements smooth and quick.

Jiang Qi Huai also pulled out his chair to sit down, casually flipping through the books she had just put down. On top was a brand new English textbook. Behind it were all the books and workbooks that had been distributed at the start of school.

The torn mess he had left on his desk yesterday was gone too.

Just as he opened the book, the girl in front suddenly turned around and expressionlessly slammed two more thick stacks of test papers onto his desk.

Jiang Qi Huai looked at the papers that landed on his desk with two thuds, estimating their thickness – they should be all the papers from the past week since school started.

They were all new.

She had gotten him new test papers and textbooks.

Jiang Qi Huai was stunned for a moment, finally realizing what was happening, and raised his head to look.

The girl in front had her black hair neatly tied in a ponytail, her head shifted uncomfortably, revealing slightly red ear tips.

Then, Tao Zhi reached back for the third time.

This time she didn’t turn around, just reached back with her hand, holding a thin piece of paper, slowly feeling her way to place it on top of the thick stack of papers in front of him.

Perhaps because she couldn’t see while facing backward, and wasn’t sure if she had placed it crooked, that small hand extended one thin white finger, the fingertip pressing against the paper slip, slowly pushing it towards him.

The thin paper slip followed the movement, inching forward, pausing, then inching forward again, finally coming to rest under his gaze.

Tao Zhi’s fingertip lightly scratched the paper twice, then tapped it, indicating he should look.

Jiang Qi Huai lowered his eyes.

It was a gingerbread man-shaped sticky note, with two characters scrawled wildly on the little man’s belly, the handwriting as lawless as its owner.

— Truce.

Author’s Note: Qi Huai: My wife comforted me comforted me comforted me did she really comfort me!!!! (No)