ATLAS TRANSLATES

It was only Jiang Qiang’s third day at school. Xu Si saw a male student come to knock on the window. The boy first carefully glanced at Xu Si, then spoke to Jiang Qiang: “Classmate Jiang, this drink is for you.”

Jiang Qiang wasn’t naive. She smiled at the boy and said, “No thank you, I don’t want it.”

The boy wanted to say more but saw Xu Si’s impatient expression and hurriedly left. Though Jiang Qiang was pretty, he didn’t want to provoke this troublemaker.

Xu Si rubbed his temples and rested his head on the desk. He heard more girls coming to chat with Jiang Qiang, their laughter and conversation filling the air.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the three girls. Luo Xing licked his lips, realizing his voice might have been too loud: “Brother Si, did we disturb you?”

Xu Si raised an eyebrow with a “what do you think?” expression.

Luo Xing pulled the other two girls away, but not before turning back to tell Jiang Qiang: “We’ll come find you later!”

Jiang Qiang replied “Okay” and carefully glanced at Xu Si, who had laid his head back down, before sighing.

Xu Si: ?

Fifteen minutes into class, Xu Si was still sleeping. Jiang Qiang looked at the teacher at the podium and gently poked him: “Wake up, class has started.”

Yang Shikun heard their exchange and his heart nearly stopped. Brother Si had a bad temper when waking up. He quickly turned to Jiang Qiang and whispered: “Don’t wake Brother Si, he…”

Before he could finish warning about the bad temper, Xu Si had already woken up. His face had sleep marks on it and his eyes were red, giving him a fierce look. He just changed positions and said: “Wake me when Teacher Fang comes.”

Jiang Qiang simply replied “Oh” and focused back on her book.

Yang Shikun was shocked: That’s it? Was this really the Brother Si he knew?

That day was when Jiang Qiang needed to go to the hospital. Right after the third morning class ended, she packed her things, preparing to leave.

Luo Xing saw her with her backpack and asked: “Classmate Jiang, where are you going?”

“My mom signed me up for tutoring classes, I need to leave now.”

Luo Xing cheerfully waved: “Okay, come back soon!”

As she slowly walked down the stairs, the familiar feeling returned. Her chest tightened, breathing became difficult, and her stomach hurt so much she could barely stand straight.

Jiang Qiang slowly made her way to the bathroom and crouched against the wall, swallowing several pills. She stayed there for half a class period. Her pale arms were covered in purple bruises from where she had gripped herself. Only when the stomach pain subsided did she slowly walk out. At this rate, she probably wouldn’t be able to stay in school much longer.

Jiang Qiang chose to walk along the school’s quieter paths, not wanting to run into classmates if she had another episode. Passing through a corridor, she saw several people fighting. One wore a school uniform with the top button casually undone, looking rebellious. He kicked another boy and shouted: “Watch your mouth!”

After yelling, he noticed Jiang Qiang standing there looking stunned. For some reason, he walked over to her, lowered his head, and used his gentlest voice (though it still sounded fierce): “Did I scare you?”

Jiang Qiang nodded: “Yes.”

Xu Si hadn’t expected such honest agreement and felt awkward, stiffly saying: “Don’t be afraid.”

“Okay.”

Usually, Xu Si would tell Yang Shikun to shut up or get lost. When he heard someone call Yang Shikun a motherless child, he immediately went to find them.

Yang Shikun first met Xu Si in middle school. He was targeted by a group of bullies who demanded money from him every few days and beat him if he didn’t pay. He often came home injured but didn’t dare tell his family because the bullies threatened worse beatings if he did. His father gave him two weeks’ allowance at once, and he gave it all to them, but they still wouldn’t leave him alone. He truly had no money left.

The lead bully reached out to Yang Shikun: “Did you bring today’s money?”

Yang Shikun gritted his teeth and found courage from somewhere: “I don’t have any money for you.”

The bully grabbed Yang Shikun’s chin and kicked him in the stomach: “Didn’t I tell you? Ask your family for money. What, you don’t understand?”

Yang Shikun just kept repeating: “I don’t have money.”

His attitude angered the bully leader. Several of them pinned him down and started beating him. Just when he thought it was over, Xu Si appeared.

Back then, Xu Si was still young, wearing all black with extremely pale skin. He said coolly: “Always demanding money from students at our school – that’s going too far, isn’t it?”

The bully looked at Xu Si: “Fine, we’ll give Brother Si face. We’ll leave this kid alone from now on.”

Xu Si scoffed and beat them until they were sprawled on the ground. Then he reached out to Yang Shikun: “Can you stand?”

Xu Si had saved him and helped him up. From then on, Yang Shikun followed him around like a shadow, wanting to be friends. Though Xu Si found it annoying, he eventually agreed because Yang Shikun was so persistent. Though Xu Si seemed cold, Yang Shikun knew he was kind at heart.

Suddenly, Yang Shikun spotted a man wearing hair gel and leather shoes approaching. He shouted: “Shit, Teacher He is coming! Brother Si, run!”

He Guoshi was the school’s director. Students feared him because he could lecture endlessly – Xu Si had experienced this firsthand. But it was too late to run. He Guoshi came up to them, squinting at Xu Si: “Fighting again? What did I say last time? Huh? Ignoring my words again? How many times must I tell you? As high school students, we must show unity and love. Unity and love are excellent cultural traditions we should carry on…”

Jiang Qiang coughed lightly: “Hello, teacher. Xu Si was just escorting me to the gate. We’re desk mates, and I’m not feeling well. The teacher asked him to accompany me.”

Jiang Qiang looked like a model student and spoke without hesitation, making her words very convincing. Sure enough, Director He looked at them both and said: “Not feeling well? Then hurry along.”

He looked at Xu Si again: “Finally doing something good.”

After Director He left, Xu Si teased: “Pretty righteous of you, little classmate.”

Jiang Qiang wanted to argue that she wasn’t little, but felt it pointless to debate. She adjusted her bag strap and said to Xu Si: “I’m leaving now.”

Seeing Xu Si still following her, she couldn’t help turning to ask: “Are you going to the main gate too?”

“Didn’t you just say I was escorting you to the gate? Got to make it look real.”

Jiang Qiang didn’t argue and kept walking. At the gate, Xu Si watched her take out a leave slip and raised his eyebrows: “What? Really not feeling well?”

“No, I’m going to tutoring.”

If he remembered correctly, except for getting her gender wrong, Yang Shikun’s information had been accurate. With such good grades and still going to tutoring – definitely a good kid. He smiled at Jiang Qiang: “Thanks for today.”

“You’re welcome. You helped me during the start of school too.”

Jiang Qiang’s serious manner made Xu Si laugh. He suddenly noticed the purple bruises on her wrist but decided not to ask: “I’m off.”

Jiang Qiang replied with a simple “Mm” and left.