ATLAS TRANSLATES

“What’s so interesting? Let me see!” Zheng Xiaolin leaned over suddenly, startling Xu You.

Her cheeks burning, she pressed one hand against her forehead while quickly crumpling the small note in her other hand.

“What’s with all the secrecy?”

“It’s nothing…”

Xu You picked up her book and pretended to read, keeping her head down with her finger pressed against the pages.

Because of the afternoon physical examination, classes ended one period early that morning.

When Xu You returned home for lunch and opened the door, she immediately sensed something was wrong. The house felt lifeless, with an eerie silence.

Chen Xiuyun sat on the sofa with red-rimmed eyes, wiping away tears and saying nothing. Her father sat on the other side with furrowed brows, talking on his phone.

“Dad… Mom?” Xu You’s heart sank as she ran over without even taking off her backpack.

When Chen Xiuyun looked up and saw Xu You, she tried to speak but tears fell before she could say a word.

“Mom? What’s wrong?!”

Frightened, Xu You knelt before her mother and wiped her tears, “Mom, what happened? Please don’t cry…”

Her father hung up the phone and sighed heavily, “The central hospital says she’s still in critical condition. The perpetrator fled and hasn’t been found yet.”

Critical condition… hit and run…

Xu You looked up anxiously, “Dad, what happened?”

Chen Xiuyun shook her head heavily and explained briefly through her grief: “Your grandmother… she went out to buy groceries this morning and was hit by a motorcycle. She’s in the hospital now, still in emergency care…”

Her words came out broken, choked with sobs.

Xu You stood there stunned, thinking she had heard wrong, her mind blank.

After a long while, she responded.

“…Can I go see Grandmother?”

Her father chain-smoked cigarettes in silence for a while before saying in a low voice: “What good would that do? Focus on school. Children shouldn’t worry about these things.”

“But I can’t… Grandmother…”

“I said leave it alone!” Her father clearly didn’t want to discuss it further.

This response suddenly made Chen Xiuyun explode with resentment: “Leave it alone?! My father has been dead for so many years, how long are you going to hold onto this grudge… my mother now…” She couldn’t continue and covered her face, crying softly.

—

“Hey, do you know what’s wrong with Xu You?”

Song Yifan asked Fu Xueli quietly.

“I don’t know, I asked her several times but she won’t say…” Fu Xueli mumbled.

Since the afternoon began, Xu You had been obviously distracted, keeping her head down and seeming lost in thought.

She wouldn’t answer when others asked what was wrong.

During the vision test earlier, she had zoned out several times while looking at the eye chart, only responding after the doctor asked multiple times.

Now they were waiting in line for blood draws in Class 9.

When it was Xu You’s turn, a young nurse wearing a mask looked her over and asked, “Student, are you anemic?”

Her face was frighteningly pale.

Xu You shook her head, took off her jacket and sat down, rolling up her sweater sleeve to reveal a thin arm.

The nurse looked down, tightened a rubber band around Xu You’s arm, then wiped it with an alcohol swab while searching for a vein.

After searching for a while, the nurse leaned in for a closer look and frowned, “Oh dear, your veins are too thin, it’s hard to find a good spot.”

The nurse tore open a package, pressed her thumb on the plunger, and positioned the needle against Xu You’s skin.

She slowly pierced it, but missed on the first try.

Blood beaded up.

Xu You bit her lip and turned her head away, unable to watch.

The nurse tried two or three more times but couldn’t hit the vein. She had no choice but to switch to the other arm.

The girl waiting behind Xu You watched with her heart in her throat, her hair standing on end.

Those delicate white arms were now bruised purple from all the needle pricks.

Finally, Xie Ci couldn’t stand it anymore and called out from the line: “Hey, can you actually do this or not? Are you planning to just keep stabbing until you pierce through her arm?”

The nurse’s face darkened as she rolled her eyes.

Tu Xiaocheng, playing with his phone behind Xie Ci, quickly held him back. “Whoa, calm down, calm down. This is a public place, we should respect medical staff.”

After all that trouble, both of Xu You’s arms were covered in needle marks, bandaged with cotton and tape to stop the bleeding.

Fortunately, the blood draw was the last item on the physical exam. When it was done, she left the examination hall without a word, wearing her jacket.

The wind was strong outside, making her jacket flutter and blowing her hair across her face.

Xu You walked quietly with her head down, just walking and walking.

The distant basketball court’s playful sounds faded behind her.

Finally reaching a deserted spot.

She crouched down, pale-faced and drained of energy, hugging her legs.

She stayed there for who knows how long, until her feet went numb.

The tears she’d been holding back finally burst forth.

She didn’t dare cry loudly, could only choke back her sobs while her shoulders shook.

The emotions she’d suppressed all afternoon were near breaking point. Learning about her grandmother’s accident had shattered Xu You’s heart, throwing her thoughts into chaos. She wanted to visit her grandmother, but after her parents’ fierce argument at noon, she didn’t dare bring it up again…

But keeping everything bottled up inside only made it worse.

For some reason, Xu You couldn’t stop crying once she started. At first, she just wanted to find a private corner to collect herself, avoiding others’ questions and concern, too exhausted to explain anything. But now alone, the grief threatened to overwhelm her completely.

Her cheeks were wet with tears, and eventually she simply sat on the ground.

Xu You cried for who knows how long, until someone grabbed her wrist.

She looked up slowly through tear-blurred eyes.

Xie Ci stood before her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Xu You’s mind went blank for a moment, and she hastily tried to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.

But the more she wiped, the more they flowed.

This was terrible.

Xie Ci frowned, crouched down, and asked again: “What’s wrong?”

Xu You just shook her head, crying too hard to speak.

So he waited patiently.

Finally, Xu You couldn’t hold back anymore and softly called his name.

Through her sobs she said, “Xie Ci, my grandmother’s had an accident, I’m so scared…”

“Grandmother is very old… very old… I want to go see her… my father won’t let me… but I miss my grandmother, I’m afraid I’ll never see her again…”

She had no one else to tell.

She spoke brokenly, almost unable to breathe. Xie Ci finally understood the main issue. Her crying pained his heart, and he immediately took out his phone and asked: “Okay, okay, don’t cry, where do we go to see your grandmother?”

Seeing her dazed expression, Xie Ci asked again in a hoarse voice, “Where you used to go to school?”

Xu You looked at him with wet eyes, not quite comprehending, and nodded.

“What’s it called?”

“Xi Town.”

A few minutes later, Xie Ci pulled her up, “I’ve booked the tickets. Let’s go.”