ATLAS TRANSLATES

Xu You didn’t hear his words. She scrambled to get up, and as her leg swung down, his bent knee deliberately tripped her, almost making her fall.

She barely managed to steady herself by pressing her hands against the ground, her palms sticky with sweat.

Xu You was so angry her cheeks turned red, her cheekbones burning as she half-knelt on the cement ground glaring at him.

The person lying on the ground wasn’t in a hurry to get up, lazily propping up half his body to face her.

The evening breeze brushed their faces, and his mood suddenly improved tremendously.

“What’s wrong, you seem quite dissatisfied with your lifesaver?” he ran his hand through his hair, smiling.

Xu You was still angry, instinctively kicking him, “What kind of lifesaver are you?”

The kick was forceful, landing solidly on the big shot’s body, and then she realized what she’d done.

Both fell into a brief silence.

Seeing him not speaking, she felt a bit guilty and couldn’t help asking softly: “Does it hurt?”

Xie Ci couldn’t keep a straight face and replied with a smile: “Yes it hurts, Sister You.”

She couldn’t help saying, “Don’t call me that.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Just call me by my name.”

Xie Ci smiled and said: “Xu You?”

“Mm.”

He called again, “Xu You?”

“……”

This time she ignored him, trying to walk away.

“Wait, I’m still hurting,” Xie Ci followed from behind, walking and talking.

Xu You turned to look at him, “That’s what you deserve.”

“Heh, listen to how you talk.” Xie Ci spoke playfully, swaying as he walked beside her, “You look so well-behaved, who knew you liked using school violence on your classmates?”

Xu You kept a straight face, her bright big eyes only looking at the road. In her heart, she felt like she’d finally let out her frustration, recklessly saying: “It’s all because you keep bullying me.”

She was too innocent, not knowing how ambiguous the word “bullying” could be.

The distant horizon was dyed a warm yellow, with hints of summer flowers in the air.

The two walked and talked, unconsciously passing the teaching building.

Xie Ci’s Adam’s apple moved slightly as he coughed twice, feeling an itch in his heart. He said softly, almost to himself: “You haven’t seen what real ‘bullying’ is like.”

After speaking, he made an “eh” sound, and without waiting for her reaction, slightly raised his chin and said to Xu You with a meaningful smile: “Let me tell you something, don’t get excited.”

At the turn, there was a fountain.

She stared blankly, face upturned as she asked, “What?”

Looking like this, her small face appeared even more fair and clean.

He stopped walking, raised one hand to pat his right shoulder, chin lifted.

The gesture was very subtle.

Xu You was stunned at first, then belatedly followed his gaze and suddenly looked down.

Her short-sleeved collar was already quite loose, and during their earlier tussle it had slipped a bit more. On her round, fair shoulder, there was a thin blue bra strap.

“You, you pervert!” Xu You’s mind went blank.

She was both embarrassed and angry, reached out to pinch him, quickly got up to cover her clothes and backed away several steps.

Xie Ci watched her retreating figure, lifted the corner of his mouth, and let out a soft hiss.

Heart-piercing sweetness.

—

The next day was Thursday. After the third morning class, the classroom atmosphere was unusually heavy.

Because the fourth period was math class, which meant the homeroom teacher’s class.

Besides announcing grades, they would also be changing seats.

During the break, many students couldn’t contain their anxiety and ran to the office to secretly check their grades.

Zheng Xiaolin, who sat in front of Xu You, was one of them.

With the front seat empty and people around napping on their desks.

Only Xu You was organizing her notes while munching on a small apple.

The ten-minute break passed quickly. Before the class bell rang, students who had gone to check grades gradually returned.

They seemed like triumphant heroes, immediately surrounded by people asking questions when they entered the classroom.

“Did you see my grade?”

“What rank did you get?”

“Did you see? Did you see?”

“How was it, did you check for me, what’s my score?!”

…..

Zheng Xiaolin returned to her seat panting, seeming to have done well and in a good mood.

Just as she was about to turn around with a happy face to say something, the homeroom teacher pushed open the door.

Xu You looked up, putting away her half-eaten apple.

She gently nudged the person beside her, saying softly: “Stop sleeping, teacher’s here.”

Xu Huiru walked to the podium, her gaze sweeping across the classroom once, holding a grade sheet in her hand.

She cleared her throat, then began speaking: “Everyone quiet down, I have something to tell you today.”

Below was complete silence.

You could hear a pin drop.

“The monthly exam results are out.” While speaking, she looked at the sheet again, “I know some of you don’t care about grades, but this time I want to especially praise that our class has seven students in the grade’s top 100.”

With these words, there was an uproar below.

The grade had nearly 30 classes, including several advanced classes, not counting the Sunshine Class and Rocket Class.

Regular classes usually had two or three students in the top hundred, which would already make teachers proud.

Unexpectedly, Class 9, known as the most unruly regular class, had made such a strong showing in their first monthly exam.

The students listened carelessly, with the group at the back particularly disinterested.

Song Yifan boredly twirled his pen, chatting with Xie Ci: “Ci, shall we skip PE class this afternoon?”

“Why?”

“Let’s go play pool, haven’t played in ages.”

“Not going.” A flat voice.

Song Yifan put his arm around Xie Ci’s shoulder, leaning in to say: “Bro, why are you becoming so ascetic lately, don’t be like that.”

“Get lost.”

Finding no interest, Song Yifan turned to Xu Xiaocheng across the aisle, “Brother Cheng, want to hang out this afternoon?”

Xu Xiaocheng was playing with his phone, too busy to pay attention, casually replying: “Played too much with my girlfriend last night, no energy.”

“Hey, you.” Song Yifan pouted, about to make fun of him.

Xu Huiru’s gaze turned their way as she shouted: “Song Yifan, still talking, look at how you did on the exam!”

Song Yifan, being called out, shrunk his shoulders and made a pitiful face: “Teacher, you can’t stop me from talking just because I did poorly.”

Some classmates laughed.

Xu Huiru glared, “Last in the grade and still joking with me.”

Song Yifan touched his nose.

The voice from the podium continued.

“Can’t you learn from the classmate sitting in front of you? Studying in the same place, you’re last while they’re first in the grade!”

Xu You, being mentioned, stopped writing.

The class let out a collective gasp.

Many people turned their heads in disbelief to look at the new student in the back row.

Their gazes all changed.

My goodness, this transfer student is really something, coming in and immediately surpassing grade champion Xu Xingchun.

These Xus, do they have some kind of academic genius halo…

It’s worth noting that Class 9’s reputation wasn’t just about having many rich kids, but also because the grade’s top student was in this class.

Xu Xingchun’s ranking had been basically unshakeable, maintaining first place since moving up from middle school to high school.

Many had wondered why he didn’t go to the Rocket Class, insisting on staying in Class 9.

Unexpectedly this time, he was quietly overtaken by a girl.

“I’ll now read out these seven names, the rest of your rankings will be posted at the back by the class monitor later, you can check yourselves.”

The class discussion grew louder, and Xu Huiru gestured for them to be quiet. After a pause she continued:

“Xu You, first in class, first in grade, total score 698.”

“Xu Xingchun, second in class, second in grade, total score 697.”

“Chen Chunlin, third in class, 32nd in grade, total score 645.”

“Xiang Fei, fourth in class, 67th in grade, total score 633.”

“………”

The air conditioner in the classroom was running, releasing cool air.

Xu You had a slight cold, coughing softly a few times as she continued writing her homework.

She showed no expression, as if being first wasn’t about her, or as if she was already used to it.

After solving the last problem in her exercise book, Xu You put down her pen.

She sniffled, looking down to find tissues in her drawer.

Her ballpoint pen shook twice and rolled off the desk.

Xu You twisted around, bending down to pick up the pen.

As she looked up, her eyes met Xie Ci’s.

He was chewing gum.

Both were stunned.

At the podium, Xu Huiru said:

“Everyone pack up your things, we’ll change seats after PE class this afternoon.”