ATLAS TRANSLATES

There were several large free libraries in Lin City.

The first floor of the South Library was the borrowing area, while the second floor had study spaces. It wasn’t crowded, with only a few scattered tables occupied. They found a spot near the corner, and Xu You put her backpack on the table.

“Where should I sit?” Xie Ci leaned to one side, arms crossed against his chest, “I want to sit next to you, not across from you.”

Xu You glanced at him.

Since she would be teaching him problems later, sitting closer would be more convenient. After thinking for a moment, she said softly, “Bring a chair over next to me, but try to be quiet.”

Beside them was a floor-to-ceiling window. The curtains were pulled to one side, with a beam of sunlight casting shadows on the floor.

Xu You took out a pen from her pencil case. Head lowered, she held out her palm to Xie Ci beside her, “Where’s your math test paper and answer sheet?”

He didn’t respond for a while.

Xu You turned her head curiously and saw his hesitant expression.

“Hurry up,” she urged.

“I…” Xie Ci pulled out a very crumpled piece of paper from his jacket pocket…

“…How did it end up like this?”

Xu You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she took the paper and patiently smoothed out the creases with her palm.

When she opened it, they both fell silent at the bright red score in the top left corner. For the first time, Xu You was a bit lost for words.

“How did you get… 42 points?” she asked tentatively, worried her tone might be too harsh.

Xie Ci remained stubborn, “Well… at least I scored higher than Song Yifan, he only got 32 points.”

“…..”

Xu You shook her head and flipped through Xie Ci’s answer sheet, looking at the questions he got right. She was good at mental math, and after glancing at several questions, she immediately realized Xie Ci couldn’t have scored that many points.

Actually, the way the 1 was changed to a 4 in the score was quite stiff and easy to spot. Afraid of hurting his pride, Xu You pretended not to notice. But she found it amusing — she wasn’t his parent, and changing scores was such a childish thing to do, just like an elementary school student…

She suppressed her smile and clicked her pen, pulling out a piece of white scratch paper.

Xie Ci rested his chin on his hand.

“Stop daydreaming, take out a pen too. I’ll explain, and you can solve it while taking notes,” Xu You’s expression turned serious.

“Alright, Teacher Xu.” He responded lazily.

Knowing Xie Ci’s weak foundation, she skipped the more complex problems and focused on teaching him the basics.

“This question.” The pen tip pointed as Xu You spoke in a gentle, clear voice, looking at Xie Ci, “If the line ax+2y=20 is parallel to the line 3x+y=20, what is the value of coefficient a…”

“This is a simple proportion problem that even middle school students can solve. I’ll explain the method, and you can calculate it yourself…”

Having tutored younger children before, Xu You was very patient and explained problems thoroughly.

Although Xie Ci didn’t understand much, his attitude was proper. Xu You had specifically asked him to bring his math textbook, and whenever they covered a concept, she would help him find it and take notes. Initially, she let him write himself, but Xie Ci’s handwriting was wild and messy, large and ugly, making it completely illegible in the book. Helpless, Xu You took a blue pen and made notes for him herself. He just leaned in to watch, giggling.

“For this problem about trigonometric functions, read the question first.”

“Oh… given the function f(x)=4… uh, tan x.” Xie Ci didn’t know how to pronounce “tan” so he just used pinyin instead.

Xu You was both annoyed and amused. She tapped his head with her pen, “You don’t even know how to read this? What were you doing in class?”

“…..”

By the end of the tutoring session, Xie Ci’s answer sheet was covered in dense calculations.

Xu You put the math test aside and stood up with her water bottle, instructing, “Review what I taught you while I go get some water.”

When she returned, Xie Ci was hunched over the table, completely absorbed in drawing something.

Xu You pulled out her chair and sat beside him, leaning in to look. Instead of solving problems, he had drawn a bunch of circles and crosses, strange symbols on the scratch paper.

“I want to give this to you,” Xie Ci pushed the paper toward her.

Xu You didn’t understand what it meant, pointing at the OOXXs, “What is this?”

“Come find me tonight, and I’ll tell you.”

Xie Ci twirled his pen while propping up his head, eyes lowered, smiling mischievously. Maybe he was being too flirtatious, because Xu You suddenly realized something.

“Xie Ci, why are you so inappropriate!”

Xu You’s cheeks flushed as she scolded him lightly. Then she turned away, refusing to look at him.

“Tsk.” Xie Ci tossed his pen aside and leaned in closer.

Xu You moved away a bit, turning her body.

He persisted in getting closer, pleading softly: “Wifey, don’t be angry.”

“Wife?”

“Xu You?”

“Wife, wife… wifey…” Xie Ci seemed addicted to calling her names, chanting like a mantra.

“Can you be any more annoying?!” Xu You spun around suddenly, startling Xie Ci.

“W-what…”

Xu You gritted her teeth and reached out.

Her hand was soft and dry as she pinched Xie Ci’s cheek. He hadn’t reacted yet.

Only upon touching did she realize. Xie Ci’s face was so soft that Xu You couldn’t help but pinch and pull at his cheeks.

“Can you stop bothering me, you pest.” She scolded him.

Xie Ci just grinned shamelessly.

After playing for a while, Xu You stopped fooling around and sat up straight, “I need to study now.”

She arranged her test papers, and just then Xie Ci’s phone started vibrating.

He looked at the caller ID, frowning as he pushed his chair back to answer the call somewhere else.

After a while, Xie Ci returned. He seemed rushed, as if something urgent had come up.

Xu You looked at him, “What happened?”

“Did you bring your phone?” Xie Ci asked.

Xu You shook her head.

“I have something urgent to take care of and need to leave now, so I can’t walk you home. Message me when you get back and have your phone.” He grabbed his jacket while still on the phone with someone, and before Xu You could say anything, he had disappeared.

Xu You’s mind was filled with Xie Ci’s anxious expression as he left. She was worried and couldn’t focus on studying anymore, so she hastily packed up her things to go home and call him.

Somehow, she felt uneasy.

When she got home, Chen Xiuyun was sitting quietly on the sofa, seeming lost in thought.

Xu You was in a hurry to get to her room and didn’t notice her mother’s expression, just saying casually, “Mom, I’m home.”

“So early? Weren’t you at the library?”

“Mm… forgot some materials at home.”

Xu You replied briefly, changed her shoes, and without even putting down her bag, rushed back to her room in three quick steps.

She clearly remembered putting her phone under her pillow, but couldn’t find it after searching twice. She knelt down, looking everywhere, getting so anxious that she started sweating.

“Xu You, what are you looking for?” Chen Xiuyun’s voice came from behind.

Xu You’s movements froze as she turned around. She saw what Chen Xiuyun was holding.

Her heart sank.

“—Thud.”

The phone was thrown to the ground by Chen Xiuyun, slowly rolling to stop beside Xu You.

She knelt there, head lowered.

“Mom…”

“Don’t call me that yet. Tell me, who is this person in your phone?”

“Who’s been texting you every day? What does he call you?”

“Speak up! Don’t stay silent, Xu You, do you want to worry your mother to death?!”

“…..”

“I feel for you, seeing you up so late, thinking you were studying, but what were you really doing? Who were you talking to on the phone so late every night? Do you think your parents are fools?”

Xu You’s eyes immediately turned red.

Chen Xiuyun took a deep breath, seeming a bit dizzy as she sat down on the bed weakly. She had always had low blood pressure, and her face would turn pale when her emotions fluctuated greatly.

“Mom, don’t be angry.” Xu You felt increasingly guilty, biting her lip, “Don’t be angry…”

“I’ve always trusted you, never checked your phone… but what about you? How do you repay my trust? Do you know what dating means for you right now?” Chen Xiuyun became increasingly agitated.

The word ‘dating’ spoken aloud sounded particularly shocking, leaving one stunned. But Xu You couldn’t refute, couldn’t say a single word.

“Your father and I, we’ve been holding on, all because of you, you know that… For your sake…” At this point, Chen Xiuyun choked up, pointing at her, “Why are you so foolish? At a time like this, how can you think about dating? What gives you the right?! Don’t you know, if you don’t do well in school, your father and I can’t support you, how will you compete with others when you enter society?!”

Chen Xiuyun saw Xu You kneeling there, eyes downcast, motionless. The anger and helpless bitterness in her heart intertwined, finally turning into a long sigh.

“You’re still young, you don’t realize that without education, you have no ability, you can’t make it… do you know why your father and I all these years… I’ll be honest with you, back then your father had no ability, he married into our Chen family, which of your aunts and great-aunts respected him?! Why?! All because he had no ability! Why do you think we always argue?! Look at your father, is he happy? Look at me, your mother, am I happy? You’re only in high school, yet you’re already not cherishing the opportunities you have. Without ability in the future, relying on a man, entering their family, do you know how much contempt you’ll face, do you know how many cold shoulders you’ll receive…”

“In this world, there are many things you can’t control, but there are many things you can grasp, why won’t you cherish them…”

“Mom, I know…”

Xu You held back her tears, looking directly at Chen Xiuyun, clenching her fists, “I know what I’m doing.”

“What are you doing?”

“Mom… I’ve always listened to you and dad, so… this time, can you not tell dad first, let me resolve this myself?”

Chen Xiuyun seemed to have no energy left to scold her, “Xu You…”

“I know this isn’t right, but I can still promise, I will definitely study hard, really, I’ll talk to him about it.”

Xu You’s tone was almost pleading as she hurriedly said: “Mom… will you trust me just this once? I really won’t disappoint you.”

Chen Xiuyun’s heart ached. Xu You had always been different from other children. When she was young, whenever Chen Xiuyun and Xu You’s father argued, she would sit quietly nearby watching them. Xu You had always been obedient and sweet in a way that broke one’s heart – she never cried when getting shots, never made a sound, never threw tantrums asking for things at the supermarket.

Even her kindergarten teacher said she was too well-behaved, mature beyond her years. Whether doing exercises or playing games, she was always serious, and would always let other children go first during meals and nap time.

Both she and her husband were busy with work and couldn’t take care of Xu You much, so they often left her at her grandmother’s house. There were no other children at grandmother’s, so Xu You would often space out alone or do homework…

Even when she missed them, she would just make a phone call, and every time before hanging up, Chen Xiuyun would hear Xu You say, “Mom, I miss you both a lot, but I’m being very good at grandmother’s…”

Thinking of all this, and seeing Xu You kneeling before her now, Chen Xiuyun calmed down for a moment and found her voice again, “I won’t tell your father for now. Handle this yourself. I’ll trust you one last time.”

Before leaving the room, Chen Xiuyun paused and turned slightly, “Mom isn’t forcing you, but some things can wait until after your college entrance exam. You and that boy…”

She didn’t finish the rest, nor did she have the heart to continue.

The door closed with a soft click. Xu You slumped weakly against the bedside cabinet, staring blankly into space.