ATLAS TRANSLATES

Since Xu You had a short holiday and no time to return to Lin City for New Year, they invited Chen Lizhi’s family over for New Year’s Eve. The two families gathered for a reunion dinner to celebrate the New Year together.

At the dinner table, Chen Lizhi and Xu You’s father discussed her grades.

“Which university does Xu You plan to attend?” Chen Lizhi asked.

Xu You’s father answered conservatively, “It depends on how she performs in the college entrance exam.”

At Xu You’s current level, if her senior year grades didn’t drop, she should have no problem getting into China’s top universities. With her steady personality and ability to focus, her family was quite confident in her.

“I just worry about her being influenced by others at school,” Xu You’s father shook his head and sighed.

Students at Lin City No. 1 High School generally came from well-off families, and there would inevitably be competition in terms of clothing and material possessions.

Chen Lizhi understood what Xu You’s father was worried about and offered some words of comfort.

After a while, Chen Xiuyun brought out sliced fruit and put it on the dining table, “Come on, eat more, take a break, let’s talk about something else.”

“Stop bustling around, come eat, sister.”

“I’m not hungry. How’s the food today?”

Chen Xiuyun frowned slightly and patted Xu You’s shoulder, “Xu You, I’m talking to you, why are you always spacing out?”

Hearing her mother’s urging, Xu You stopped daydreaming and looked up from her food.

“I asked if the food is good?” Chen Lizhi helped smooth things over.

Xu You came back to her senses and nodded, “It’s good.”

“Are you under too much pressure lately? I see you barely talking, just staying in your room. Even during the holiday, you haven’t gone out with your classmates.”

Chen Xiuyun wiped her hands on her apron, pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at Xu You with concern, “Studies are important, but so is your health.”

“That’s right, Xu You, don’t be like this. Go out more, staying home all the time like this can make you depressed.”

Xu You’s father interrupted them, tapping his chopsticks on his bowl, “What’s there to go out for at a time like this? Xu You knows what she’s doing. She’s almost in her senior year, some necessary effort is needed. She’s young now, a bit of hardship won’t hurt. If she can’t handle this much, how will she cope when she enters society?”

Xu You lowered her head and ate quietly, listening without saying anything.

After dinner, she called her grandmother. She hadn’t seen her in a long time and missed her very much.

Grandmother had been discharged from the hospital some time ago and was resting at home. She was very happy to receive Xu You’s call, repeatedly saying in familiar local dialect: “Xu You, grandmother misses you so much! You’re not coming back for New Year’s, you won’t get to eat grandmother’s oil cakes!”

There were two or three cousins of Xu You’s generation at home, but she was grandmother’s favorite. She had grown up by her grandmother’s side, and after transferring to school here, grandmother was always worried about whether Xu You had enough to eat or if she could get used to the food. But grandmother was old now and couldn’t remember things well, often repeating the same things many times.

“Grandmother, I’ll come see you during the holiday. Are you feeling better?” Xu You asked with a smile, suppressing the faint sadness in her heart.

“Much better. Are you eating properly over there?”

“I’m eating well every day, and I can come back during summer vacation.”

“Good girl, my Xu You. When you come back in summer, grandmother will make you red bean soup and steamed cakes. I’ve made lots, you just tell me when, and I’ll prepare them for you.”

She obediently agreed, “Okay, grandmother, take care of yourself there, I’ll be good.”

After listening to grandmother’s chatter, she hung up the phone.

Xu You sat on the living room sofa, staring into space with her head down. The TV in front was playing the lively Spring Festival Gala, and occasionally she could hear children’s laughter as they ran past downstairs, accompanied by the crackling of fireworks.

She took off her shoes, sat cross-legged on the sofa, mindlessly browsing her phone.

There were many mass-sent New Year’s greeting messages in her inbox. Xu You couldn’t be bothered to reply and kept scrolling down.

Her finger suddenly paused when she saw a certain name.

Xie Ci…

When was the last time she saw him? Half a month ago? A month ago? She couldn’t remember clearly.

Since that night, she hadn’t contacted him. Xie Ci hadn’t reached out either. Contact between them seemed to have just stopped.

Except for a phone call from Xie Ci late one night a few days ago while Xu You was working on test papers.

After answering, he didn’t say anything. Xu You wasn’t good at conversation to begin with, didn’t know what to say, and didn’t know the purpose of this call, so she remained silent too.

“Xie Ci?” After a while, Xu You called out tentatively.

There was only barely audible breathing from the other end, then he spoke, “Where are you?”

“At home.”

“Oh.”

She had nothing to say.

He asked: “If I don’t call you, would you never contact me? Now that we’re in different classes, you want to dump me?”

At this moment, a coquettish voice suddenly called his name through the phone, followed by clear laughter.

“You’re outside. Are you drunk?” Xu You asked quietly.

“You don’t want to be with me, you were just stringing me along. Now you finally don’t have to be with me, are you happy?”

Xie Ci’s voice was tired, his words confused, avoiding the question.

“Ci…” That faint voice came through again from his end.

Xu You couldn’t understand what he was saying. She lowered her eyes. The small reading light illuminated the words on her book as she turned a page and put the phone aside.

A few minutes later, she picked up the phone again. He had already hung up.

—

Dating was really too troublesome. Xu You couldn’t guess what Xie Ci was thinking. They had grown up in completely different environments, with different views on material consumption. The beginning of their relationship was beautiful, but the future was truly uncertain.

She had never been in such an intimate relationship with a boy before, and rarely engaged in social interactions. Although Xu You was very good at self-control, she often felt at a loss, unable to judge and predict, like groping forward blindly.

To her, his emotions were often unpredictable, too strange and hard to understand.

But she couldn’t bring herself to hurt Xie Ci. Even if they had to part, she didn’t want to be the one to initiate it.

After thinking for a long while, Xu You took the remote and turned up the TV volume slightly. Looking back, her parents and Chen Lizhi were still talking at the dining table.

She dialed Xie Ci’s number.

Ring… ring ring…

Each ring seemed to strike her heart.

“Hello—” Xie Ci answered.

Silence.

Xu You heard his voice and somehow felt relieved. She put the phone to her ear and said softly, “Happy New Year.”

“It’s not midnight yet.”

“………”

She didn’t know what else to say.

Xu You noticed there seemed to be no noise at all on his end, which made her curious, “Are you in your room? Why is it so quiet?”

“I’m outside.”

“Outside? Aren’t you having reunion dinner with your family tonight?”

“No.”

“Oh…”

Xu You was lost in thought holding the phone. Just as she was about to say goodbye, Xie Ci asked from the other end: “Are you at home?”

“Yes.” She was puzzled.

He said: “……”

Behind her, Chen Xiuyun called out, “Xu You, are you still eating?”

Xu You was startled and hurriedly turned around, responding, “No more, mom.”

“Who are you talking to?” Chen Xiuyun asked casually while clearing the dishes.

Xu You kept her expression steady and said, “A classmate.”

After saying this, she put on her slippers, ran to her room, gently locked the door, and only then dared to put the phone back to her ear, “Hello?”

There was silence again on the other end. Xu You explained, “I didn’t hear what you just said.”

Xie Ci’s voice was very faint as he said casually, “I’m in your neighborhood.”

Xu You froze, unable to react for a moment. Then she heard him continue, “Haven’t eaten all day waiting for you, I’m hungry.”

“It snowed this afternoon, I’m freezing to death.”

Xu You’s heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed. Though she was slow to respond, she wasn’t completely insensitive.

—

“Mom, is there any food left?” Xu You changed clothes, put on a jacket, and ran to the kitchen.

Chen Xiuyun saw her dressed up and paused, “You’re going out? Why did you change?”

“…” She had no choice but to make up a lie.

“My classmate lives next door and hasn’t eaten dinner. She just called me, wanting me to bring her some food and keep her company for a while.”

Chen Xiuyun asked, “Ah? Are your classmate’s parents not home?”

Xu You felt guilty, lowered her eyes and answered, “She didn’t say, just that she’s spending New Year’s alone, so I thought I’d keep her company…”

“Oh… alright then, take your phone with you.”

Xu You was usually so obedient that Chen Xiuyun believed her without much suspicion, saying, “There are still some warm dumplings, is that okay to take to your classmate?”

“Mm-hmm, that’s fine.” Before leaving the kitchen, Xu You hesitated for a moment and added, “Mom, please tell dad I’m heading out…”

—

The neighborhood was pitch black, with street lamps only every dozen meters or so. The bone-chilling air entering her lungs made her shiver involuntarily.

A faint plum blossom fragrance drifted in the night air.

The thin snow on the ground had frozen into ice and melted into water. Her footsteps made tiny crunching sounds.

Xie Ci sat on the bench.

A white flower had fallen from a branch onto his shoulder. He hadn’t noticed.

She held the thermal container, standing at a distance, her small face thin and plain.

They stared at each other in silence. His dark eyes were long and slender at the corners, his cold features submerged in darkness.

“Xie Ci.” Xu You walked forward a few steps and sat beside him.

She picked up the flower from his shoulder, laid it in her palm, and brought it to her nose to smell.

A faint, delicate fragrance.

In the complete silence, there was only their breathing.

“I brought you some food.” Xu You remembered, looking down as she opened the thermal container lid.

The heat from the food met the cold air, quickly dispersing into white mist.

She handed it to him with both hands, saying softly, “There were only dumplings left. Do you want vinegar? I added a little.”

“If you don’t like it, I can go with you to buy something else,” she added.

Xie Ci first looked at her face, then lowered his gaze to the container, moving his lips to say, “Waited for you until I got tired, don’t want to move.”

Xu You: ………

After two or three seconds of silence, she sighed internally.

Xu You picked up the spoon, scooped up a dumpling, and held it to his mouth.