ATLAS TRANSLATES

With Xu Yan’s help, the ingredients were quickly prepared. She drove and dropped off the four of them at their destination.

“Auntie, come join us,” Xu Yan looked at Xu Si and smiled, “You young people have fun together. I won’t join in or you won’t be able to relax. I’ll come pick you up later to take you home.”

“No need to trouble yourself, you should rest early. We can get back on our own,” Xu Si said.

“If you can’t get a taxi, make sure to call me.”

“Okay.”

Yang Shikun and Hao Ming set up the grill. Yang Shikun put in the charcoal and lit it.

“Si-ge, Jiang scholar, Big Head, what do you want to eat first? How about lamb skewers?”

Jiang Qian replied, “Sure.”

While grilling the lamb skewers, Yang Shikun called out, “Xinjiang lamb skewers, would the customer like one?”

“Get lost,” Hao Ming glared at him.

Jiang Qian looked at the two of them, then glanced at Xu Si, and smiled.

Yang Shikun grilled a large bunch of lamb skewers and distributed them to the three: “I’ll grill some pork belly next.”

The evening breeze felt pleasant against their skin.

“Cheers!” Four cups clinked together, with Jiang Qian’s milk standing out among them.

The pork belly sizzled on the grill, oil dripping as it browned. Xu Si took it off and sprinkled on barbecue seasoning. The first piece was handed to Jiang Qian.

“Is it good?”

Jiang Qian nodded.

Yang Shikun laughed, “This seasoning is amazing. It could make even shoe soles taste good.”

“You want to eat shoe soles?”

“Why are you taking my words out of context, Big Head?”

Yang Shikun continued, “Let’s have fun while we can before grades come out, otherwise Ms. Xu will beat me up.”

“Good luck.”

“What kind of talk is that? Big Head, can’t you wish that I won’t get beaten?”

“That’s difficult.”

“Get lost.”

In the empty abandoned building, the smell of barbecue mixed with laughter. Jiang Qian really enjoyed being together with them like this.

When they returned to class Sunday evening, the grades were already out. Jiang Qian maintained her usual stable performance – first in class, second in school.

Jiang Qian flipped through the grade report, looking at Xu Si’s ranking. Forty-first place, almost in the top forty. He scored over 300 points, improving by eight places from last time.

These days he had been staying up late, spending nights studying, doing practice tests, memorizing vocabulary, and working on basic problems from previous years’ examples.

Xu Si’s English wasn’t too bad, barely approaching the passing line. But he needed a lot of work in other subjects. He was very smart with good memory – he could remember almost all the key points Jiang Qian had him review. Many problems he could solve after just a hint from her. But he had fallen so far behind that they had to start from the basics, building a strong foundation before moving forward step by step.

Fang Zixin looked at Jiang Qian’s ranking and scores on the grade report. The teachers from the advanced class had mentioned wanting her as a student many times, but Jiang Qian didn’t want to go to the better class, preferring to stay in her current one.

The study atmosphere in the advanced class was indeed better, with the lowest scores still over 500 points. In their regular class, scoring over 500 meant being in the top 10 or even top 3. Class 17 was particularly weak among regular classes, with very few students usually scoring above 500.

Jiang Qian was an unexpected outlier, scoring nearly 700 points on her very first test.

However… Fang Zixin had known about her situation since day one. He felt sad and regretful deep down. Looking at Jiang Qian sitting in the front row, her expression was peaceful and well-behaved. She was nearly flawless in every aspect.

He shifted his gaze back to the grade report in his hand, eyes landing on Xu Si at forty-first place, somewhat surprised. Earlier, for some unknown reason, Xu Si had actively requested to change seats. Later he saw Xu Si return to his previous rebellious state. He recalled what the young man had told him in the office:

“Your grades were already improving. Why did you suddenly ask to stop sitting with Jiang Qian?”

“Teacher, I was disturbing her too much, affecting her studies.”

With that explanation, Fang Zixin had nothing more to say. He also remembered seeing the two of them discussing problems in class almost every afternoon recently, including during breaks when Xu Si would often bring his books to ask Jiang Qian questions.

Seeing the young man working harder and harder made him glad. He could tell that Xu Si’s changes were likely because of Jiang Qian. Young love was pure – as long as they were helping each other improve, he felt it was acceptable.

Fang Zixin returned from his thoughts and said, “Everyone go out first. We’re reassigning seats. Come back in one by one when I call your name.”

The first one called was Jiang Qian. Fang Zixin asked her, “Where do you want to sit? Who do you want to sit with?”

“Last row, with Xu Si.”

Fang Zixin looked outside and called, “Xu Si, come in, sit next to Jiang Qian.”

Jiang Qian sat in Xu Si’s spot, and Xu Si brought back her stool to sit down.

“Wang Lin, where do you want to sit? You can choose a desk mate.”

“I’ll sit in the second-to-last row, with Li Jingjing as my desk mate.”

Wang Lin sat down in front of Xu Si, and Li Jingjing sat in front of Jiang Qian.

Li Jingjing sat down and looked at Wang Lin: “Smart choice.”

Wang Lin just smiled.

Yang Shikun watched as his spot was taken, wondering why his seat was so popular.

After calling about twenty names, Yang Shikun heard Hao Ming’s name.

“Same spot, with Yang Shikun as desk mate.”

Yang Shikun happily followed Hao Ming in. He whispered, “Big Head, how did you improve so much this time too? You’ve been studying behind my back.”

“I studied openly,” Hao Ming looked at him, “Soon Si-ge and I will test into better schools, don’t cry then.”

“I don’t care, I’m starting to study from today too.”

Luo Xing still sat with his original desk mate.

When it was time to move desks and change seats, Xu Si carried Jiang Qian’s desk toward the back row while she followed with her backpack.

Xu Si took her backpack: “I’ll carry it.”

“Let me take one.”

“It’s fine, I’ve got it.”

Xu Si carried her pink backpack and pushed her desk toward the back row. After moving the desk, he went back to bring over Jiang Qian’s book box.

Li Jingjing watched the two of them, feeling like the Xu Si she had known for the past year might have been fake. What happened to Si-ge not talking to girls and being unfriendly? What about being harsh and cold? It seemed all of that disappeared when he was with Jiang Qian.

Xu Si put Jiang Qian’s things in place, watched her sit down, then rested his chin on his hand and smiled at her. He had finally gotten his wish to be desk mates with Jiang Qian again. Xu Si couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ve been wanting to ask – last time, did you move my desk?”

“Yes.”

“I knew it was you.”

“Why?” Xu Si looked at her.

“Just felt like it was you.”