ATLAS TRANSLATES

Chu Zhi deliberately chose a time when Lu Jiaheng had class. Little Ju took her to the airport, crying and sniffling: “Little sister-in-law, will you come back tomorrow?”

This was exactly why Chu Zhi didn’t want Lu Jiaheng to come – but now Ju was making her feel emotional too: “No, not tomorrow. Will you come back to China in the future?”

Ju was a bit uncertain, looked at the young girl, then said firmly: “I’ll come back to visit you.”

Chu Zhi said confidently: “Then when you come back, visit my home. My parents cook really well too, probably just as good as your cooking. By then I’ll definitely know how to cook too.”

The two kindred spirits had built a deep friendship in just one short week. They said goodbye reluctantly, with Little Ju accompanying Chu Zhi all the way to the boarding gate, looking back three times with each step as she left after watching Chu Zhi go in.

After more than ten hours, Chu Zhi finally landed, stepping onto her homeland.

Having just adjusted to the time difference there, now she had to readjust back. Chu Zhi hazily took a taxi home. When she got home, she didn’t even have time to unpack – she just took a shower and fell straight into bed.

A few hours later, she groggily crawled up, took a moment to recover, and turned her head.

The huge double bed was empty on the other side, with the bed curtains drooping softly, the room completely silent.

Chu Zhi sat at the head of the bed staring blankly for a while, rubbed her eyes, then slowly crawled back down to continue sleeping.

On the first day of school, Chu Zhi saw Xiao Yi again.

Most of their classmates had already arrived in the small classroom. When Chu Zhi and her dormmates arrived, their counselor had just walked in. The four girls went in giggling, with Gu Han still talking about how stupid her supervisor was. Chu Zhi was smiling with pressed lips when she looked up and saw Xiao Yi sitting in the second-to-last row.

He was also turning back to look in their direction. Chu Zhi froze for a moment and instinctively looked away.

After looking away, she realized – she hadn’t done anything wrong, why should she avoid him?

Chu Zhi puffed up her cheeks, turned her head back again, raised an eyebrow, and fixed her bright big eyes on him. Her attempt at an imperious expression somehow came out looking soft and gentle.

Xiao Yi’s lips curved slightly as he smiled gently.

Chu Zhi’s eyes widened.

How dare he still smile?

How could he still smile at her so calmly after doing something so terrible?

Unfortunately, the only four connected empty seats left were behind him – everywhere else was separated. Lin Tong and the others walked over as Zhou Ming greeted them.

Chu Zhi opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything in time, so she had to follow and sit in the seat by the side.

She reluctantly slumped over the desk, feeling like there was a heavy stone pressing on her chest. The emotions she had been deliberately ignoring and diminishing for some time came surging back.

The young girl’s face was a bit pale. Xue Nannan noticed carefully and leaned over to ask: “A Zhi, are you feeling unwell?”

Chu Zhi lay glumly on the desk: “Ate too much, feeling a bit nauseous, want to throw up.”

In front of her, Xiao Yi’s broad back stiffened slightly, but only for an instant before relaxing again.

He turned his head to continue talking with Zhou Ming, the lines of his profile appearing clean and handsome.

No different from usual.

If this had been before the winter break, Chu Zhi would have thought Xiao Yi was the perfect husband material – excellent grades while studying, serious about everything he did, good-tempered, always gentle and refined with people. Whoever ended up with him would be blessed beyond measure.

Now, she just found this man inexplicably terrifying.

In their second semester of junior year, the counselor gave the same old speech as always. The students below listened half-heartedly, occasionally joking with the counselor since they were all familiar now.

Chu Zhi’s mind wandered the whole time. When it ended, she got up in a daze and followed Lin Tong out of the classroom. Just as she stepped out, someone called out: “Chu Zhi.”

Chu Zhi paused and turned her head.

Xiao Yi stood at the classroom door, his expression gentle and apologetic as he scratched his eyebrow somewhat embarrassedly: “Would it be convenient to talk?”

Gu Han didn’t know about Chu Zhi having a boyfriend, and hearing this, she let out a strange laugh.

Although Class Monitor Xiao was gentle with everyone equally, those familiar with him knew he was especially nice to Class 2’s little rabbit Chu Zhi – always agreeing with her and speaking softly. His expression would soften even more upon seeing her. They had even attended the same high school, his gaze following the young girl from high school all the way to university.

Lin Tong frowned but before she could speak, Gu Han dragged her away cheerfully: “A Zhi! We’ll head back to the dorm first!”

Chu Zhi hadn’t even reacted yet, standing stunned in place. In seconds, Gu Han and the others had disappeared.

Most people had left the classroom, with only a few stragglers remaining. Chu Zhi and Xiao Yi stood at the back door, neither speaking.

The PE representative got up rubbing his messy hair, about to leave. Seeing the two of them, he teased them while chasing out the remaining people. Before leaving the classroom, he stretched his neck to peek inside, grinning: “Monitor Xiao! Good luck!”

Chu Zhi lowered her eyes and secretly rolled them.

The people quickly cleared out, leaving only Chu Zhi and Xiao Yi in the empty, quiet classroom.

Chu Zhi had already put on her coat, but after standing for a while she felt hot. She slowly unwound her scarf loop by loop.

Xiao Yi didn’t speak.

Chu Zhi unzipped her coat.

Xiao Yi sighed: “Chu Zhi.”

Chu Zhi kept her head down, playing with the amber horn buttons on her coat.

She didn’t respond, but Xiao Yi didn’t seem too awkward. He looked down at her: “Zhuo Si kept me on, they want me to intern long-term.”

Chu Zhi puffed her cheeks, her tongue lightly pressing against her smooth inner cheek as she said softly: “Congratulations then, hope you intern for life.”

Xiao Yi choked: “Are you angry with me?”

Chu Zhi almost laughed out loud.

She raised her head and looked at him strangely, unable to even form a question, seemingly very curious about why he would ask such a thing.

Xiao Yi’s expression was as gentle as ever, calm and unruffled, as if he was completely at ease in any situation.

He sighed: “Chu Zhi, I liked you in high school.”

Chu Zhi was stunned.

“Every time in the exam room you sat right in front of me, and on the grade rankings we were next to each other nine times out of ten. Somehow I started noticing you, thinking this girl was really cute.”

“Then I found out we were in the same university class too. I was really happy, felt like it was fate. I struggled for a while about whether to pursue you,” he lowered his head and smiled, “I know your family is well-off, but my family isn’t at all. I really needed this internship opportunity – if I do well, I could even convert to full-time after graduation. You don’t know what that means to me.”

Chu Zhi felt a mix of emotions, completely at a loss for words.

She thought Xiao Yi was truly amazing – he had played the nice guy for three years, but could do such things just for a chance at a full-time position after graduation, then reminisce about the past to her face as if nothing had happened.

Chu Zhi tilted her head curiously: “Is the full-time opportunity really that important?”

She was genuinely curious.

Xiao Yi looked at her hesitantly, his expression also complex, seemingly equally confused by her question: “Weren’t you also racking your brains trying to win against me and get this opportunity? Do you know how hard it is for fresh graduates to get into a company like this?”

He lowered his voice: “Your ideas were good, but your proposal was really poorly written. Even if they gave it to you, the plan wouldn’t have been approved for implementation. Even if I hadn’t written it, you would have just wasted the creative ideas,” he paused, “Besides, I had my own thoughts and improvements. I wasn’t just plagiarizing your ideas. Looking at my proposal, couldn’t you see your own shortcomings?”

When Chu Zhi returned to the dorm in a daze, she was still stunned.

After interacting with Xiao Yi for more than two years, she had thought he was quite normal, but after today’s conversation she realized his thought process was truly incomprehensible.

She was so stunned by what he said that she couldn’t react, completely following his pace. When he said things like “I got this long-term internship and full-time opportunity through my own efforts, and this idea wasn’t completely yours anyway – it came from our constant discussions, so it counts as our joint research results” – she actually thought it made sense for a moment.

Walking in the cold winter wind, the bitter late February northern wind cleared Chu Zhi’s head considerably as she returned to the dorm.

As soon as she entered, Gu Han grabbed her.

Gu Han had a mysterious look on her face, her beautiful eyes narrowed as she pressed her thumb against her middle finger joint, saying mysteriously: “I’ve observed the heavens and calculated—”

“Xiao Yi is trash,” Chu Zhi said quietly.

Chu Zhi had always been very even-tempered – in more than two years of knowing her, they had never seen her get angry with anyone over anything. Hearing her say this now, Gu Han was completely shocked. The next second, her expression changed from shock to fury.

The cheerful northeastern girl held Chu Zhi’s hand with a furious expression, grinding her teeth with a fierce look: “What did Xiao Yi do to you?”

She looked ready to rush into the boys’ dorm and tear Xiao Yi apart with her bare hands if Chu Zhi said even one negative word.

Lin Tong and Xue Nannan turned around when they heard, the former’s expression similar to Gu Han’s, the latter frowning.

Chu Zhi was so moved, feeling that in her past life she must have saved the universe to have such good roommates.

She sniffled, her eyes reddening as she stickily reached out her small hands to hug her, whimpering softly: “Han Han…”

Seeing her like this, Gu Han’s heart ached to her very core. The next second she exploded, pushing her chair back with a swoosh as she headed for the door.

Chu Zhi was startled and quickly grabbed her: “Where are you going?”

Gu Han sneered while cracking her knuckles: “I’m going to ask that Xiao guy why my little girl comes back nearly crying after just talking to him alone!”

Chu Zhi’s small face scrunched up as she looked at her hesitantly, unsure whether to tell them.

After all, they were still classmates, and their relationship had always been good before. Talking like this felt like speaking behind his back, which made her uncomfortable.

She frowned slightly and after a long moment, shook her head gently: “It’s nothing, don’t go.”

Chu Zhi thought, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Personal matters should be handled personally.