ATLAS TRANSLATES

Chapter 30: “So You’ve Seen It”

“No WeChat?” Jiang Rong paused for a moment, then nodded, “I have it.”

Xu Si handed over his phone, watching her enter her number, then took it back and searched. He sent a friend request before putting his phone away.

“Just now…” Jiang Rong started to ask but hesitated.

Xu Si smiled, “You don’t think I was bullying them just now?” He had heard too many people say he bullied others.

“No, I don’t. They had many people on their side,” Jiang Rong said, then added, “If they couldn’t win, that’s their problem.”

Xu Si laughed at her words. “He used to bully a boy at school, always threatening him for money. Later he promised me he wouldn’t bully him anymore.”

“Then he was really too much today, calling so many people to fight you.”

Looking at Jiang Rong’s serious expression, Xu Si thought she was quite innocent. Noticing the book in her hand, he asked, “Were you at the bookstore?”

“Yes, I came back when the bookstore closed,” Jiang Rong replied.

Holding her books, as they approached her home, she said, “I’m almost home. Thank you for walking me back.”

“You’re welcome.” Xu Si watched her slender figure leave. Good students really love saying thank you.

On his way home, Xu Si finally noticed how badly his back hurt. He opened the door to find a woman sitting downstairs. She wore a white dress, had delicate features, chestnut-colored curly hair, phoenix eyes, and orange lipstick. She was talking with Xu Hengyu, who wore a suit and silver-rimmed glasses, his usually cold face bearing a smile, his eyes practically glued to the woman before him.

With one glance, Xu Si knew who she was. It was Shen Yuchun, the woman who had abandoned him.

“Xiao Si.” Shen Yuchun heard the door open and stood up happily, examining the child she hadn’t seen in ten years.

Xu Si looked at her coldly without speaking.

“Xiao Si has grown so tall.” Shen Yuchun walked up to him, excited: “I’m your mother. I’ve missed you so much all these years.”

“I don’t have a mother,” Xu Si said, leaving Shen Yuchun stunned.

“You brat, how dare you talk to your mother like that?” Xu Hengyu scolded.

Xu Si sneered, “From the day she said she didn’t want me, I accepted that I had no mother. I’m a person, not an object that you can keep when you want and throw away when you don’t.” He looked at Shen Yuchun again: “If you missed me, you could have come to see me all these years, or at least called. Were you afraid I’d be a burden and affect your chances of remarrying?”

Tears fell from Shen Yuchun’s eyes as she grabbed Xu Si’s arm: “Xiao Si, it was Mom’s fault. I was too selfish. Please forgive me, please? I really had no other intention, I just wanted to see you.”

“So you’ve seen me, right?” Xu Si said, shaking her off and heading for the door.

Xu Hengyu grabbed him from behind: “Who said you could leave?”

Xu Si looked at Xu Hengyu’s hand on his arm: “Let go.”

Xu Hengyu raised his hand to slap Xu Si but was stopped by Shen Yuchun. She noticed the bandage on his neck: “What happened to your neck? Xiao Si, were you fighting?”

“None of your business.” Xu Si shook off Xu Hengyu’s hand and left.

“Young master, young master, where are you going?” Xu Si ignored the voices behind him and walked away.

The street lights were on, sparse stars hung in the dark night sky. Xu Si sat alone by the roadside, watching the traffic and pedestrians flow past, belatedly feeling the severe pain in his back. He stood up and hailed a taxi to go to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Xu Hengyu watched Shen Yuchun cry, his heart twisted in knots, patting her back to comfort her: “Don’t cry. He doesn’t understand, don’t blame him.”

Shen Yuchun spoke through her tears: “I know what I did was wrong, I failed him, but so many years have passed. I really missed him, I just wanted to see him, but he hates me so much.”

Xu Si opened his phone to see the WeChat friend acceptance notification and a voice message from Yang Shikun. He played Yang Shikun’s message asking if he got home. Xu Si replied with a simple “yes.”

Yang Shikun immediately called him. Xu Si looked at the flashing phone and answered.

“Si-ge, Si-ge, did you get Jiang classmate home?” Xu Si looked ahead and replied, “Walked part way with her since it was on my way.”

Yang Shikun chuckled, then suddenly heard background noise: “Si-ge, why do I hear street noise? Aren’t you home?”

“I went out.”

“Si-ge not going home tonight? Want to pull an all-nighter at the internet cafe? Send me your location, I’ll come find you.”

“No need.” Xu Si hung up.

On the other end, Yang Shikun stared at his phone, confused. He hadn’t said anything wrong, had he? Maybe Si-ge had something to do?

Xu Si walked into a pharmacy and saw the doctor inside: “What medicine should I use for a back injury from hitting something?”

The doctor looked up: “What did your back hit?”

“A metal pipe.”

“…” The doctor fell silent for a moment, seemingly understanding what he meant, then took two boxes of medicine from the shelf: “These are oral medications for injuries, and I’ll give you some medicinal wine to apply. Remember to use it.”

Xu Si responded with a “mm,” paid, and left with the bag.

Yang Shikun felt increasingly uneasy and called again.

“What?”

“Si-ge, are you in a bad mood?”

Xu Si was quiet for a moment before saying, “No.”

“Si-ge, give me your address, I’ll come find you.”

“Si-ge.”

“Si-ge.”

“…” Annoyed by his persistence, Xu Si sent his location.

Yang Shikun arrived quickly, seeing Xu Si sitting by the road, he smiled: “Si-ge, I’m here.”

Xu Si looked at Yang Shikun running towards him in shorts and slippers but didn’t speak.

Yang Shikun noticed the medicine bag in his hand: “Si-ge, are you sick? Or not feeling well? Stomach ache?”

Yang Shikun fired off several questions in succession.

Xu Si replied flatly: “It’s for injuries.”

Yang Shikun remembered the metal pipe: “Si-ge, was it that bastard Huang Mao who hit you with the pipe?”

Xu Si made an “mm” sound and said nothing more, his expression unchanged, but Yang Shikun somehow felt he was in a bad mood.