ATLAS TRANSLATES

For the third time in her life, Chu Zhi received a confession. Though she had always been pretty, well-behaved, and achieved good grades since childhood, she felt that she had never really been pursued by anyone. Except for that confusing incident when she was too young to understand, and the class heartthrob after the college entrance exam, Lu Jiaheng was the third.

In the living room, the ceiling light was off, and the floor lamp cast a yellow glow. Lu Jiaheng leaned over her, blocking most of the light. He pressed his lips together tightly, not moving, head lowered as he waited for her answer. Something in his mind was pulled taut, as if some unfamiliar emotion he had never experienced before had surrounded him.

Chu Zhi was hidden completely in his shadow, momentarily stunned. Her hand that was gripping his shirt collar loosened slightly, her eyes widening as she took a while to react. She somewhat doubted whether she had misheard just now, or misunderstood his meaning. Unconsciously raising her head, her gaze fell on his reddened eye corners and deep pupils.

He didn’t look well, his lips parted slightly, still breathing lightly. Each breath carried a scorching temperature, stirring up waves of heat between them. Chu Zhi’s heart thundered, feeling as if it might jump out of her throat at any moment. Her entire body felt like it was on fire; she even thought she had a fever too.

This feeling was absolutely nothing like when Yin Mingshuo had confessed to her. Like a little teapot that had been brought to boil, Chu Zhi felt steam shooting out from her ears, making a hissing sound. Her mouth opened slightly, her voice trembling as she stammered “you… you… I… I…” for a long time.

Chu Zhi took a deep breath, frowning slightly. Her hand that had been gripping his shirt suddenly let go, and her soft little hand smacked directly onto his face: “What are you saying!”

She struggled to shrink back while kicking off her slippers. Her feet climbed onto the sofa as she flipped over, trying to burrow her head through the gap under his arm, attempting to crawl forward on the sofa using both hands and feet.

The cotton nightdress became slightly disheveled from her movements, the hem riding up a bit to reveal a glimpse of fair thigh. This position was rather compromising.

Chu Zhi quickly wriggled out, crawling rapidly towards the other end of the sofa. But before she could get halfway out, someone grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.

Chu Zhi let out a startled cry, completely powerless as she was pulled back into his restraint. She only managed to flip over before her wrists were firmly pinned down.

Lying flat on the sofa, Chu Zhi’s dark eyes sparkled with embarrassment and anger. Her entire face had turned red as she struggled desperately to sit up.

Lu Jiaheng wedged one knee between her legs, pressing down slightly on the fabric of her nightdress. His hands firmly held her wrists, like a massive mountain, remaining unmoved despite her thrashing about like a fish beneath him.

Her legs occasionally brushed against his pants. With the friction of fabric, Lu Jiaheng briefly closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “Don’t move around.”

Chu Zhi grabbed the sofa cushion and tried to squirm upward, furious: “Then get up!”

Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips together and looked down: “Try and see.”

After struggling for a while, Chu Zhi realized it was completely useless. She gave up and lay on the sofa like a corpse, saying irritably: “I won’t try!”

“Do you hate me?”

Chu Zhi’s face was red, her voice tiny and soft: “No…”

“Then do you like me?”

“…”

Lu Jiaheng pulled her wrists up slightly, lowering his body as he repeated: “Do you like me?”

Chu Zhi quickly turned her head away: “No.”

He fell silent.

Chu Zhi kept her head turned to the side, not daring to turn back. At such close distance, turning her head would mean their noses would almost touch.

After a while, he let out a low sigh. The hands pressing her wrists loosened, and he slowly straightened up.

Chu Zhi tumbled and rolled up, hurriedly getting to her feet. Like a rabbit, she darted past the coffee table and stood at a far distance.

Covering her bright red face with both hands, her bright eyes glared at him fiercely as she fumed: “Lu Jiaheng, are you a pervert! Bastard! Scoundrel!”

Once she was out of the danger zone, she seemed to come alive, becoming energetic and wracking her brain to curse him with the harshest words she could think of.

Lu Jiaheng flipped back to lean against the sofa, listening to her soft curses, and chuckled quietly: “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”

Chu Zhi was so angry she wanted to stamp her feet: “How can you be so improper! Don’t dream about it! I’m not that kind of person!”

He raised his eyes: “What kind of person?”

Chu Zhi couldn’t say it out loud, choking for a good while. She took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and frowned at him: “Lu Jiaheng, don’t play with me like this.”

Lu Jiaheng frowned slightly.

“You can’t treat girls with this kind of attitude,” she pressed her lips together, her dark eyes dimming as her long eyelashes drooped, “When you meet a girl you truly like in the future, you’ll scare her away like this.”

Lu Jiaheng didn’t speak.

Chu Zhi kept her eyes lowered, not looking at his expression.

The living room was completely silent for a while before he finally spoke slowly, his voice as soft as a whisper: “Will it scare her away…”

Chu Zhi nodded heavily, not speaking.

Just thinking about him meeting a girl he likes in the future made her nose sting.

He would eventually meet such a girl, and he would carefully be good to her, would seriously pursue her, would earnestly protect her, instead of treating her casually and frivolously like he did with Chu Zhi now.

Chu Zhi wrinkled her nose, suppressing the waves of bitterness rising in her heart, her voice soft: “Take your medicine and go to sleep early, you’ll feel better after some rest.”

She spoke while walking towards her room.

Lu Jiaheng maintained his original position, not moving.

Chu Zhi circled around the coffee table, walking past the sofa, when he suddenly raised his hand and grabbed her.

His grip was strong, holding her wrist almost painfully.

Chu Zhi frowned and turned her head, about to speak.

Lu Jiaheng sat on the sofa, looking up at her.

His lips had been frighteningly pale earlier, but now seemed colored, carrying an unnatural redness: “Don’t run away.”

Chu Zhi was stunned, somewhat confused.

“I’ve never pursued a girl before, I don’t know how to do it properly, probably scared you,” Lu Jiaheng’s pitch-black eyes stared at her seriously and intently, suppressing a light cough, his voice low and raspy, “It’s okay if you don’t like me now, I’ll change whatever isn’t good, though it might be slow. Wait for me a bit, don’t run too far away, okay?”

Chu Zhi barely slept that night.

She thought Lu Jiaheng’s brain must have been fried by the fever.

He had done strange things, said strange words.

Maybe that forty-two degree thermometer earlier hadn’t been broken, he really had such a high fever then.

The next morning, when Chu Zhi woke up, he had already left at some unknown time. The blanket was folded neatly, as if he had never been there.

The only thing that proved his existence was the breakfast on the dining table.

Several transparent round takeout boxes contained crystal shrimp dumplings, steamed pork ribs, chicken feet, and a bowl of porridge.

She went over and touched the porridge – it was still warm.

Chu Zhi hesitated for a while but still sat down and finished breakfast. She wandered aimlessly at home all morning, packed her things, and took the subway back to school in a daze.

Christmas was in two weeks, and the dorm was filled with a festive atmosphere. Xue Nannan had somehow gotten four Christmas hats from somewhere, and Lin Tong had bought a bunch of long, colorful socks online, giving one pair to each of them to hang in front of their beds, saying that Santa Claus would put presents in them if they hung them for two weeks.

Chu Zhi was the kind of innocent person who would rather believe it might be true than not, the type who had found presents in her Christmas stocking every Christmas morning for eighteen years, though they were put there by her father.

But she still enthusiastically hung them up, even putting several at both the head and foot of her bed.

The girls were chirping away discussing what activities to do for Christmas. Chu Zhi temporarily forgot about Lu Jiaheng’s matter and very enthusiastically joined in the discussion.

With the end of the semester approaching and all courses entering the key points review stage, everyone became more diligent. The next day, Chu Zhi and her friends got up early, bought breakfast to eat on the way as they walked to the classroom, planning to get good seats in the front.

They had already arrived quite early, but when they entered, more than half the classroom seats were taken.

Chu Zhi and her friends had no choice but to pick seats in the middle, slightly towards the back, while biting their buns.

After just a few more minutes, the classroom was basically full.

Chu Zhi had never seen so many people attend any large class before.

Their Marxist Philosophy class was shared with Advertising Class Three. Chu Zhi sat at the edge, with one empty seat left at the very edge. They had just sat down when someone knocked on her desk twice.

At the time, Chu Zhi was biting her bun and looking down at her phone. Hearing the sound, she raised her head.

Xiao Yi stood there against the light, asking her: “Is anyone sitting here?”

Chu Zhi still had a red bean bun in her mouth, blinking her eyes as she shook her head.

The class monitor smiled at her: “Then I’ll sit here.”

Chu Zhi finished chewing and swallowing the red bean bun in her mouth, also smiling: “Go ahead.”

“Just wanted to get your permission,” Xiao Yi joked, while putting his books on the desk. Just as he was about to sit down, someone tapped his shoulder twice: “Hey.”

Xiao Yi and Chu Zhi both turned around.

Lu Jiaheng stood there with a backpack, actually looking somewhat like a good student: “That’s my seat.”

He reached out to take the books Xiao Yi had just placed on the desk and handed them back to him, saying lazily: “Sorry, could you move?”

Though his tone was questioning, he didn’t have any intention of actually asking.

Xiao Yi frowned, not moving.

The two stood fixed by the desk, staring at each other. They were similar in height, with Lu Jiaheng slightly taller than Xiao Yi. Chu Zhi was already sitting, and even tilting her head back until her neck ached, she could only see their nostrils.

The two mountains stood there, quite eye-catching, with people around all looking this way.

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled in silence, the wordless battle continuing for quite a while before Xiao Yi spoke first: “You’re from Class Three?”

As class monitor and student council member, Xiao Yi had at least some impression of all the same-year students in their department, even if he didn’t know them personally. He knew very well that this person wasn’t from the Advertising Department at all.

“No,” Lu Jiaheng admitted frankly, his beautiful peach blossom eyes lifting slightly as he drawled lazily, “I’m here to accompany the girl I like to class.”