ATLAS TRANSLATES

Chapter 4: He’s Really Fierce

When Xu Si returned to the classroom, Yang Shikun asked in surprise: “Brother Si, didn’t Deputy Principal He take you to his office for a talk? Why are you back so quickly?”

“Shut up, I’m going to sleep,” Xu Si replied.

Yang Shikun turned his head away, thinking that Brother Si was still as temperamental as ever, probably annoyed after being scolded by Deputy Principal He. He silently felt sorry for Xu Si for three seconds. Just three seconds though – Brother Si didn’t need his sympathy.

After chemotherapy, Tian Ling helped Jiang Qiang to the bathroom, where she threw up for a long time. Her lips were frighteningly pale, and her body was so thin it seemed like she could pass away at any moment. Tian Ling held onto her skinny arm, eyes turning red. Jiang Qiang had always been thin, but after getting sick, she became even more frail.

Jiang Qiang lay in the hospital bed, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. “Qiangqiang, why don’t we stop going to school?” Tian Ling suggested. “I want to go,” Jiang Qiang replied.

After Jiang Qiang fell asleep, Tian Ling spoke with the doctor about her condition. The female doctor looked at the young girl on the bed with sympathy: “She didn’t have severe reactions to this round of chemotherapy, but I still recommend she takes a break from school. Her condition isn’t suitable for attending school anymore.”

“I suggested she rest at home, but she said she wants to go. She said she’d regret it otherwise.”

The doctor sighed and patted Tian Ling’s shoulder: “The next chemotherapy session is in two weeks.”

Tian Ling stayed by the hospital bed, watching Jiang Qiang’s sleeping face and gently touching it. Jiang Qiang slept until the next morning, as she always did after chemotherapy – throwing up terribly and then sleeping until the next day.

Two days later, on Sunday, Jiang Qiang was discharged. Tian Ling wanted her to stay in the hospital longer, but Jiang Qiang insisted she was fine and could handle it. Even the usually strict Jiang Zhien didn’t say anything – whatever made her happy was fine. They had thought that earning more money would give Jiang Qiang a better life, but now they realized some things couldn’t be bought with money. They regretted missing so much time with Jiang Qiang, and it was because of this absence that her illness wasn’t discovered until the late stages.

On Monday, Jiang Qiang looked at herself in the mirror. Her lips were very pale and she looked weak. She took out some lipstick from her drawer and applied a little, making her look slightly better.

Today was flag-raising ceremony. Jiang Qiang stood in line wearing her school uniform. She listened as the disciplinary teacher read out the names of students who had broken rules last week. She heard her deskmate’s name and looked up.

Xu Si wasn’t wearing his school uniform today. Instead, he wore a black T-shirt that made his skin look even paler. He stood there with an unapproachable aura, listening to the disciplinary teacher’s criticism as if it was about someone else.

“Xu Si, are you even listening to me? This isn’t your first or second violation. How can you face your parents’ efforts? They didn’t send you to school for you to fight and skip classes all day. If you don’t study well, how will you support yourself in the future?”

“Inherit the family business?” Xu Si replied.

The disciplinary teacher’s face turned green with anger while the students below burst into laughter. Yang Shikun clicked his tongue: “As expected of Brother Si, Deputy Principal He is about to die from anger.”

“Stop chattering and read your self-criticism,” ordered the teacher.

Xu Si pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and read in a flat voice: “I shouldn’t have beaten up Ma Bin just because he was asking for it. I should reform and become a new person. However, Ma Bin really was asking for it.”

The crowd below laughed again.

Deputy Principal He pointed at him: “What kind of nonsense is this? You clearly haven’t reflected on your actions seriously. Go back and write it again.”

Xu Si said “Oh” and went down. As he passed by her, he glanced at her before quickly walking past.

Jiang Qiang suddenly remembered her first day at school when she had no textbooks. Xu Si had thrown his book on her desk and stood outside, even speaking up for her. And a few days ago when she caught him fighting, he had asked if she was scared. Maybe he wasn’t as fierce as he appeared on the surface.

During the first class, Xu Si was either playing games or sleeping. Jiang Qiang sneaked a peek and saw he was actually playing Candy Crush, such a simple game.

He finally woke up during the second class, just as Jiang Qiang spotted the English teacher. No matter how much Teacher Chen Song talked at the podium, Xu Si looked completely uninterested.

When Chen Song reached a certain point, he called out, “Xu Si, stand up and answer this question.”

Xu Si stood up without even listening to the question and said directly: “I don’t know.”

Chen Song got a headache and turned to Jiang Qiang instead: “Can his deskmate answer for him?”

After hearing Jiang Qiang’s answer, Chen Song’s anger subsided somewhat: “Both of you may sit down.”

Chinese Literature class was the most chaotic. Students were passing notes, talking, reading novels – doing everything except studying. This was partly because many thought the subject wasn’t important since their scores would be similar whether they studied or not, and partly because the Chinese teacher of Class 3 wasn’t strict.

Li Qiuhong looked at the smoking student in the back: “Wu Wei, did you study so hard your brain overheated?”

Wu Wei looked up from his book: “Teacher, how did you know?”

Li Qiuhong took away his book: “Go stand at the podium while you eat. Come back when you’re done.”

Wu Wei sat at the podium eating his self-heating hotpot, making slurping sounds and sweating from the spiciness. Li Qiuhong handed him a piece of paper: “Spicy, isn’t it?”

“Teacher, how did you know I desperately needed some paper?”

“Get out and stand in the hallway.”

Wu Wei wiped his mouth and shouted: “Yes ma’am, I’m going!”

After class, the classroom became chaotic with students roughhousing. A water bottle flew from somewhere and hit Jiang Qiang’s head with a clear sound. She picked up the bottle, placed it on the desk, and rubbed her head without making a fuss.

The students in front were still laughing and playing. Suddenly, Xu Si kicked his desk and shouted: “It’s too noisy! You hit someone and don’t even apologize? Are your eyes just for decoration?”

The classroom immediately fell silent. Everyone knew Xu Si was angry and didn’t dare speak.

A male student ran over to Jiang Qiang: “I’m sorry, new classmate. I didn’t mean to. We were just playing around, I didn’t know the bottle hit you. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Back at his seat, the boy whispered to his deskmate: “Wow, the new student is really gentle and so pretty, even prettier up close. Xu Si is really scary though, I couldn’t even speak when he looked at me.”

His deskmate immediately agreed: “Yeah, he was so fierce just now, I was too scared to say anything.”

Only after Xu Si went back to sleeping on his desk did people start whispering again. Some discussed whether Xu Si liked Jiang Qiang, saying she clearly didn’t fit in with their class – she looked like a good student, was extremely well-behaved, and extremely sweet-looking. So this was Xu Si’s type.

Others said he only stood up for the new student because the bottle throwing had disturbed his sleep.

Jiang Qiang looked at the sleeping Xu Si and thought maybe he wasn’t as fierce as he seemed on the surface. He seemed quite nice actually.

Suddenly, Xu Si sat up and cursed: “Yang Shikun, if you keep talking nonsense, I’ll cut out your tongue.”

Yang Shikun covered his mouth.

Jiang Qiang decided to take back her previous thought.