ATLAS TRANSLATES

“Student Jiang Something-something.” Feng Ning called him with a smile.

Jiang Wen’s expression changed several times, wanting to speak, but after pursing his lips, he remained silent.

“You’re not just my entertainment, and even if you were, that’s in the past.” Feng Ning felt guilty for two seconds, carefully watching him: “Jiang Wen.”

Every time she seriously called his name, Jiang Wen’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

“Between us is a friendship bought with sanitary pads. Rest assured, I’ve accepted you as a friend, I won’t mess with you anymore.” She said with a hint of trying to please him, bumping his arm.

“……”

Jiang Wen was completely silent, but his expression grew increasingly dark.

“You fought for me, I drank for you. In ancient times, what would this be? This is a life-and-death friendship!” Feng Ning waved her hand confidently, saying with certainty: “So, let’s write off past grievances and cherish this pure friendship we have now, what do you say?”

Every word she said felt like needles in his nerves. Jiang Wen tried to calm himself down, “Is playing dumb fun?”

Feng Ning smiled sincerely, “What am I playing dumb about?”

The wind blew gently, around twenty degrees, outlining her body as it passed. The sports meet was over, few people remained on the field. Beside them was a green iron fence, beyond which was the basketball court, where boys’ laughing and shouting could be heard through the branches and leaves.

Lin Junjie sang the sad ending of the song: How do I say I love you, my heart hurts so much…

Jiang Wen felt desolate inside, his tone ice-cold, “What bad luck made me become your entertainment? After bullying me, you casually end it with an offer of friendship, how convenient for you. You’re happy, but what about me?”

“What do you mean ‘what about you’? Whatever happens, happens. Are you blaming me?” She was completely baffled – they were talking fine, why did he suddenly get angry again?

“You make me… feel so bad.”

He felt so terrible, yet why did she still act so nonchalant?

She was so cruel to him, constantly dampening his spirits, yet he kept being drawn to her. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to resist. His reason told him not to be pathetic, but emotionally he kept sinking deeper.

In all his years, Jiang Wen had never met anyone more frustrating than Feng Ning.

At their first meeting, she had easily tricked him out of his clothes.

Later, what Jiang Wen lost was far more than just a piece of clothing.

He had always dismissed others’ affections, and now, his punishment had finally come.

She clearly saw Jiang Wen’s slightly pale face.

Feng Ning thought seriously for a moment, tentatively suggesting: “How about you spend less energy on me, maybe then you won’t feel so bad.”

“……”

Without saying a word, Jiang Wen turned and left.

Standing still, watching him walk away, Feng Ning’s eyebrows furrowed as she pondered, wondering if the peacock young master’s heart had broken again…

The supervision was quite loose on the evening of the sports meet. Xi Gaoyuan called several people from the school team to go singing.

After several bottles of alcohol, everyone loosened up, shouting Beyond’s “Glorious Years” into the microphone.

Cheng Jiajia came tonight too, with her new athlete boyfriend she’d started dating a few days ago. She wore light makeup, floral-scented lip gloss, and Givenchy perfume on her wrists and behind her ears.

In their circle of young masters and ladies, dating was basically random matching, fooling around was common. Like permutations and combinations – today you might be her best friend’s boyfriend, tomorrow if you catch each other’s eye, you become her boyfriend. So when everyone saw Cheng Jiajia appear arm in arm with someone else, they were all used to it, no one was surprised.

While the boys were howling and making noise nearby, Pei Shurong sat alone on a high stool, occasionally sipping sparkling wine.

Cheng Jiajia thought for a moment, then walked over with her glass. She called softly, “Shurong.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not angry with me anymore, right?”

Pei Shurong turned to face her: “What would I be angry about?”

“I confessed to Jiang Wen a while ago.”

Pei Shurong patted her shoulder, “I don’t mind.” She proactively clinked glasses with Cheng Jiajia, “We’re all just playing around, as long as you’re happy, don’t take it to heart.”

“What about you…?” After a moment of eye contact, Cheng Jiajia hesitated, but still asked, “Do you like him?”

Zhao Binlin suddenly called out, “Hey, has anyone called Jiang Wen? When is he coming?”

“Should be soon, he just messaged saying he’s on the way.”

Just then, the door to the private room was pushed open. Jiang Wen entered, and most of the girls’ gazes stopped on him. He was oblivious, choosing the most peripheral spot to sit down.

Xi Gaoyuan pounded the table, “Why did you come alone?”

Zhao Binlin smoothly went to the song selection screen and picked “The Romantic One,” handing the microphone to Jiang Wen, clapping: “Now the stage belongs to our young master Jiang.”

Everyone laughed and shouted, “Damn, when did the top student become a love expert?”

Jiang Wen lazily cursed “get lost,” telling them to change the song. Seeing his low spirits, the others stopped teasing him.

Xi Gaoyuan played for a while, then came to squeeze in next to him, “So, satisfied with the song we picked for you today? Did you boldly express your feelings?”

He was referring to the song “How Do I Say I Love You.”

That afternoon on the field, Jiang Wen had accompanied Feng Ning walking in circles, with several onlookers sneakily following behind. But they stood far away, unclear about what the two were saying.

Bringing up exactly what was bothering him, it hit Jiang Wen’s sore spot. He said: “Are you that free?”

“Oh ho, seems like you’re not satisfied.” Xi Gaoyuan opened a can of beer and passed it over.

“Don’t want to drink.” Jiang Wen turned his head away.

Xi Gaoyuan complained: “Bro, why come out to play when you’re in such a bad mood?”

Jiang Wen was silent for a moment.

After arguing with Feng Ning (one-sidedly), he was upset and restless, skipping dinner and refusing Zhao Binlin’s invitation to go out that night, returning to the dorm alone.

But when he was alone and quiet, the things she had said kept replaying in his mind. Each replay made his heart ache.

He was very angry, getting angrier the more he thought about it, angry at her and at himself. With all these chaotic, irritable emotions building up, he might as well come out and mess around with them.

“Was going to ask how your battle went today, but looking at you now, no need to ask.” Xi Gaoyuan took a drink himself, snorting, “We should have picked ‘When the Dream Wakes’ for you.” As he spoke, he started singing: “If only I’d known heartbreak was inevitable, why did you have to fall so deeply in love~”

Jiang Wen looked at him with a cold smile: “Have you ever liked someone?”

Xi Gaoyuan exaggeratedly shouted: “What kind of question is that, of course I have!”

“What if she wasn’t someone you should have liked?”

Xi Gaoyuan laughed: “You mean Feng Ning?”

In just one minute, his expression changed several times. Jiang Wen turned his head, continuing to stare at the table in front of him, suddenly saying: “Liking her is just wasting time and life.”

His voice was very soft, unclear whether he was telling others or himself.

“Well said, you’ve finally woken up! That girl looks heartless just from her face! She’s really cruel.”

When Xi Gaoyuan said this, he didn’t know how many more times his brother would “wake up” back and forth in the future. He was still gloating: “There are plenty of fish in the sea! Our top student is so popular, right? How many girls are waiting with their love number tickets?”

Jiang Wen sat slightly hunched, eyes closed. After enduring for a while, he rubbed his forehead, “Forget it… just go.”

Xi Gaoyuan huffed angrily: “Fine, I’ll go. If you don’t want to listen, young master doesn’t want to talk anymore!”

After the sports meet, the teachers did a major rearrangement of classroom seating. Feng Ning was moved to the front row of a group because she liked to chat during class. Meng Taoyu specifically requested to continue being her desk mate.

After the midterm exams, time passed quickly. Feng Ning was busy with many things, completely forgetting everything outside of studying and work.

When she thought of Jiang Wen again, it was from hearing others discuss the midterm results. While Feng Ning remained steady in the top three of the grade, Jiang Wen had dropped out of the top ten. Iron Lady took him to the office for a whole class period to talk.

That night when she returned to her dorm, she thought about consoling Jiang Wen and exchanging study tips with him. But when she opened WeChat and sent a “hi,” she discovered she had been blocked.

Feng Ning: ……

Never mind then.

Days passed like pages in a book, turning one after another. On Christmas Day, there was a moderate snowfall.

At noon, while Feng Ning was eating in the cafeteria, her phone suddenly vibrated. It was an unfamiliar number, she answered casually, “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was anxious: “Are you Zhao Fanyu’s guardian?”

“Huh??” Feng Ning put down her chopsticks, “Zhao Fanyu, what happened to him?”

After the call ended, Feng Ning hurried to the primary school’s academic affairs office.

Zhao Fanyu was sitting silently in a chair, dirty with mud and snow all over his pants.

“Are you okay?” Feng Ning quickly went over, taking his hand to check.

“He’s not the one with problems.”

Seeing Feng Ning in student attire, the teacher frowned, “Who are you to him, where are his parents?”

“I’m his sister.” Feng Ning sighed in relief, “Wait, I’ll call his mother.”

Last time when she took Zhao Fanyu out for KFC, they had left Feng Ning’s number. Usually Zhao Huiyun was busy with work, so when anything happened to Zhao Fanyu at school, they contacted Feng Ning directly.

The teacher explained the basic situation – at lunch break, Zhao Fanyu had gotten into a fight with a male classmate at the stairwell. During the scuffle, they accidentally knocked a passing female student down the stairs, causing her to fracture her shin.

Feng Ning took Zhao Fanyu away, and they caught a taxi to the central hospital’s inpatient building. After getting out of the car, they saw Zhao Huiyun waiting at the entrance carrying two boxes of expensive nutritional supplements.

Zhao Huiyun had a quick temper, and upon seeing Zhao Fanyu, she moved to hit him, “You little brat, can’t you give me one day of peace?”

Zhao Fanyu fearfully hid behind Feng Ning.

Feng Ning blocked her, persuading: “Sister Yun, calm down, calm down, let’s go up and see what’s going on first.”

They entered the elevator.

Feng Ning hugged Zhao Fanyu’s shoulders, comforting him, “Later apologize properly to them, remember to be polite, okay?”

Zhao Fanyu, who had just been scolded by his mother, had tears in his eyes and nodded fearfully.

The girl’s hospital room was on the VIP floor in a suite. They waited outside the living room for a while before a nurse led them in.

Upon entering, Zhao Huiyun put on an apologetic smile, saying sincerely, “Ah, children don’t know better, we’re really sorry about this. We’ll definitely cover the medical expenses, and I’ve asked friends to contact the best doctors possible, plus compensation—”

The woman sitting on the sofa looked elegant and wealthy, glancing at them a few times, speaking quite rudely, “Our family doesn’t need this bit of money.”

“Mom, don’t talk like that.” The person sitting by the bed finished peeling an apple and poured a glass of water, saying to them: “Auntie, she’s fine, you can go about your business.”

Yan Yan complained, “What do you mean fine, it’s such a critical time, who knows how many classes she’ll miss, the doctor said she needs to lie down at home for at least two months.”

“Yes, I understand, my child is also in sixth grade.” Zhao Huiyun thought appropriately for a moment, “How about this… I’ll pay for a tutor, winter break is coming up soon, let the tutor go to your home to help your daughter catch up on missed lessons?”

Her sincere attitude made Yan Yan’s manner noticeably soften a bit, “No need, tutors wouldn’t know the school’s progress anyway.”

“Oh, I know you!” The girl lying in bed called out, drawing everyone’s attention. The young girl seemed to recall for a moment, her eyes brightening, “Sister, are you Feng Ning? I’ve seen you on the honor board at the school entrance.”

Feng Ning was still wearing Qide’s school uniform. She smiled, “Yes, that’s me.”

Seeing this, Zhao Huiyun pulled her aside to discuss for a few minutes, then went back to talk with Yan Yan.

Feng Ning stepped forward, crouching by the bed to be at eye level with the little girl, saying gently: “Sister usually helps Zhao Fanyu with homework on weekends, I know everything you need to learn. When winter break starts, can sister help tutor you?”

As she finished speaking, footsteps approached. The girl in bed suddenly called out excitedly: “Brother!”

As if by telepathy, Feng Ning turned her head.

Outside, the snow was falling harder.

Jiang Wen’s jawline was smooth, his eyes cold and sharp, as always proud and ascetic. He wore a cerulean windbreaker, with unmelted snow flakes on his shoulders.

His gaze fell on her, and he paused in his steps for a moment.