ATLAS TRANSLATES

The summer heat in Lin City was unbearable. The sky was a deep blue, with white clouds carrying hints of restlessness.

After last night’s rain, the temperature rose instead of falling. Cicadas chirped noisily, and roses bloomed perfectly on the school’s black iron fence.

Xu You carried her white backpack, leaning on the second floor as she peered through gaps in the dense tree shadows at the lively basketball court in the distance.

On the sun-scorched plastic track, a group of boys were running. After waiting a while longer, Chen Lizhi finally emerged from the academic affairs office with a young female teacher.

Xu You stood up straight and politely called out, “Auntie.”

Chen Lizhi nodded, took her arm, and smiled at the slightly plump female teacher beside her, “We’ll leave our child in your care then.”

Xu Huiru pushed up her glasses, looked down at the name on the list, and read it out: “Xu You – what a coincidence, we share the same surname.”

Lin City No. 1 Middle School was the best private school in Lin City.

Due to her parents’ job transfer, Xu You had moved with them to this northern city. With her aunt’s connections, she transferred into this school as a new student.

The school had both middle and high school sections, with most students being local and few boarding students.

When her father came, he lectured her the whole way. He told her to study hard there and not waste time. Xu You had always been a top student, well-behaved and strictly raised.

Xu Huiru, seeing Xu You’s obedient demeanor, felt satisfied. She thought to herself that finally, they had a proper transfer student who could improve the class atmosphere. But then she became a bit worried. This child seemed so quiet and gentle – she looked like someone who could easily be bullied.

She had been assigned as Class 9’s homeroom teacher for half a year last semester, and it had given her quite a headache. Those students in the class were all troublemakers. They disrespected teachers, didn’t care about class honor, and liked to fight and cause trouble. Though Lin City No. 1 was a private elite school where young masters and misses gathered, Class 9 was notoriously different – the students were particularly rebellious. They all had fierce tempers and strong superiority complexes.

After getting textbooks from the materials department, Xu You followed the homeroom teacher to class. The break bell had just rung, and students in uniforms passed by in small groups.

In the hallway, they encountered two boys in basketball jerseys.

Upon seeing Xu Huiru, they immediately stopped and saluted, both shouting in unison: “Hello, Teacher Xu!” Their voices were so loud they startled Xu You.

The boys from the North all seemed to be this tall and sturdy, with particularly resonant voices.

Xu Huiru nodded in acknowledgment and casually asked, “Just finished PE class?”

“Hehe.” One of the boys, with tanned skin and covered in sweat, craned his neck to look at Xu You standing quietly behind the teacher, and asked with a grin, “Teacher, is this our new classmate?”

Xu Huiru waved her hand, dismissing them with, “Mind your own business,” and walked away.

Xu Huiru instructed her: “In the future, stay away from those good-for-nothing boys in class. Focus on your studies, understand?”

Xu You nodded, “Yes, teacher.”

“Mm.” Xu Huiru looked at her cotton dress and remembered something: “After morning classes, go to the Zhicheng Building lobby to get your uniform.”

Around a corner, Class 9 was next to the stairs. The classroom was bustling with chases and fights, voices chattering, everyone doing their own thing. The moment Xu Huiru stepped in, it gradually quieted down. Everyone’s attention focused on the unfamiliar transfer student behind the homeroom teacher.

Xu You hugged her books, standing near the podium. The bright sunlight softly outlined her figure, with soft black hair falling over her chest. She wore a white dress that fell just past her knees, short cotton socks revealing pale ankles.

Because the next physics class was about to start, the teacher was already waiting at the door. Xu Huiru didn’t plan to have Xu You do a self-introduction, instead just clapping her hands and briefly saying, “This is our new classmate, Xu You. Everyone welcome her.”

A brief silence.

“Welcome, new classmate!” Some mischievous boys sitting on their desks in the back row, elbows propped on their knees, whistled at Xu You, accompanied by several boys’ laughter.

“Alright, alright, stop messing around!” Xu Huiru slapped the desk with one hand, stopping the brewing commotion. Her eyes scanned around, and she randomly pointed toward the back of group four, telling Xu You: “You can sit in that empty seat for now.”

After two seconds, Xu Huiru seemed to realize something was amiss, hesitated for a moment, and patted Xu You’s shoulder: “Sit there for now, we’ll change seats next week.”

“Okay.”

So under the whole class’s gaze, Xu You walked through the group spaces to the aisle in the back few rows of group four. It was messy there, with several half-smoked cigarette butts scattered on the ground. Books and draft paper were chaotically piled on the desks and chairs, with a basketball under the bench.

Xu You stopped in her tracks, standing there hesitantly. In the second-to-last row, a boy in a black t-shirt sat inside, not wearing his uniform. He leaned against the wall, blatantly playing with his phone. He hadn’t looked up since she entered the classroom.

Seeing Xu You stop there, the person who had whistled earlier grinned at the boy playing with his phone: “Ci, your new deskmate is here.”

The boy called ‘Ci’, propped his head up with one hand on the desk. He had probably been running during PE class too, his black hair still wet. He was chewing gum and ignored it at first. Only after someone leaned over and pushed him did he slowly look up.

His dark eyes scanned the girl standing in front of him up and down. After a second or two, he lazily moved his crossed legs off the chair, making room for Xu You.

“Wait.” Xu Huiru suddenly changed her mind, calling from the classroom door, “Song Yifan, switch seats with the new student, let Xu You sit in the row in front.”

Xu You secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The next class was physics, taught by a middle-aged man with a receding hairline nicknamed ‘Iron Head Li’. He was famous for being one of the strictest teachers in the grade, treating students like enemies, as ruthless as autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. Although Class 9’s students were extremely naughty, they were still a bit afraid of Iron Head Li.

The group leaders went down to collect last time’s physics homework notebooks. Xu You lowered her head, took out her notebook and pencil case from her backpack, and placed them on her desk. Then she organized the new books she had just received, arranging them neatly one by one.

Her deskmate was a very pretty girl, with makeup products and a curling iron messily arranged on her desk. The deskmate had small curls falling down her back and was holding up a small mirror to touch up her lipstick. Xu You gave a quick glance then sat up straight, looking at the blackboard, ready to listen attentively.

Group Four’s leader was a tall girl with glasses wearing a ponytail. When she got to the row behind Xu You, she deliberately slammed the notebooks on the desk and said in a shrill voice: “Xie Ci, hand in your homework.”

So his name was Xie Ci. Xu You quietly thought to herself.

After waiting a while.

“Didn’t do it.” A casual voice rang out, half-smiling.

Song Yifan said in a sarcastic tone: “Group leader, you don’t collect homework from any of us in the back, why are you picking on Ci?”

“Is it because…” he deliberately dragged out his tone, provocative and teasing, causing a burst of laughter from the back.

“Song Blackie, you’re so annoying!” The group leader cursed, flipped her hair, and walked away with the homework tucked in her arm.

Xu You tried hard to focus on the podium, but still heard waves of laughter from the right rear: “Daring to collect homework from the grade’s big shot, group leader’s got guts.”

‘Iron Head Li’ was preparing to teach new material – electromagnetics.

Electromagnetics was one of the more important and difficult points in high school physics.

Xu You had already finished learning it early in cram school and had done many sets of practice problems. She took out her physics book and turned to the page the teacher was going to teach.

For her, studying and doing problems was as natural as breathing.

“Hey, new classmate, what’s your name?” Fu Xueli finished touching up her makeup and familiarly picked up Xu You’s student ID from the desk, looked at it for a moment, “Xu You?”

“Mm…” Xu You lowered her voice, lowered her eyelashes and nodded slightly.

“What a strange name.”

Xu You: ……..

“I guess it is a bit.”

“I’m Fu Xueli – the ‘xue’ from snow, the ‘li’ from pear.” She introduced herself.

Xu You glanced at her quietly, then nodded again, “I’ll remember it, your name is really pretty.”

Fu Xueli burst out laughing, thinking this kid might be a bit naive.

Seeing her good student appearance, afraid of being caught talking by the teacher during class, Fu Xueli found her really cute.

The friends she hung out with were either seasoned players or rebels. None of them were afraid of teachers.

Class 9 had severe polarization, with many small groups.

They were roughly divided into two camps – those who studied well and those who were rich. Neither side thought much of the other, but they had a consensus to not provoke each other.

Fu Xueli was a typical rich kid who just killed time, and her friends were also the good-for-nothing type who spent their days eating, drinking, and having fun.

She had never interacted with someone like Xu You before – bare-faced, with a gentle voice and clean, delicate features. She was small, both in face and stature, looking like a middle school student. You could tell at a glance she was someone with a regular lifestyle and good grades.

Fu Xueli secretly complained to herself as she returned Xu You’s student ID, taking out her phone to play out of boredom.

The remaining two morning classes passed in a flash.