ATLAS TRANSLATES

Chapter 52: Punished Together

When confronted by Mr. He Guoshi’s questioning look, Xu Si said: “There’s no particular reason. You can punish me however you want, but please don’t take the book away.”

Just as Xu Si finished speaking, Jiang Rong came out. He was stunned, and before he could ask why she came out, Jiang Rong spoke: “Teacher, that book is mine.”

“It’s your book?” Mr. He looked at the book in his hand, then glanced at Jiang Rong.

“Yes, it’s my book. If you’re going to punish someone, please punish me too.”

Mr. He looked at the book in his hand: “Fine. Then both of you will clean the sanitation area downstairs for three days this afternoon.”

Jiang Rong: “Okay.”

“No, I was the one reading the book. It has nothing to do with her. Just punish me alone.”

Mr. He looked at both of them, somewhat angry: “One brought non-curriculum books, one read them. You’re both at fault. You’re in second year of high school now, it’s time to focus. Don’t just think about playing around all day. How do you expect to get into university if you keep playing around? Can you play your way into university? I’ve said many times, don’t read novels or any other non-curriculum books at school. Instead of reading those books, you’d be better off solving math problems. You won’t learn anything from reading those books, but with math, every problem you solve is one more you understand. Both of you need to reflect on this, understood?”

Jiang Rong replied quietly: “Yes.”

Before Xu Si could say anything more, Mr. He took the book and prepared to leave, turning back to say: “Clean it properly, I’ll be checking.”

…

They returned to their seats. Yang Shikun hadn’t even processed what happened before Xu Si was called out. He asked curiously: “Si-ge, did Mr. He catch you using your phone?”

Xu Si replied flatly: “No.”

“Then what was it?”

“Non-curriculum book.”

Yang Shikun pressed further: “Did Mr. He take the book away?”

“Yes.”

Yang Shikun wanted to ask more but saw Xu Si’s expression and promptly closed his mouth.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Xu Si felt that Jiang Rong had been unusually quiet since returning, though she was typically quiet anyway. He thought that as a good student, she probably hadn’t been scolded before.

Jiang Rong was looking down, searching for something. Seeing her head lowered, Xu Si thought she might be crying and hesitantly poked her sleeve.

Jiang Rong looked up at him with a confused expression: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Si stared at her for a moment, confirming she wasn’t crying: “Are you stupid? He was just going to punish me alone earlier, why did you come out and take the blame with me?”

“Because you were originally sleeping, and I woke you up. The book was also from me, so I should be punished with you.”

Looking at her obedient demeanor, Xu Si didn’t say anything more: “Then let’s clean together this afternoon.”

Jiang Rong replied: “Okay.”

Xu Si wanted to tell her he would get the book back but decided to wait until after he retrieved it.

…

That afternoon.

Before lunch, Xu Si said to Jiang Rong: “Come back early, we’ll clean.”

“Okay.”

…

When Xu Si entered the classroom, he saw Jiang Rong already waiting at her seat.

“Haven’t eaten dinner?”

Jiang Rong responded: “I did, I brought it back to eat.”

Xu Si glanced at the lunchbox under the desk, then picked up the broom and dustpan nearby: “Let’s go then, little rule-follower.”

The sanitation area was quite large, with many fallen leaves scattered on the ground. Xu Si handed the broom to Jiang Rong and pointed ahead: “This whole area is ours.”

Jiang Rong looked at the leaves covering the ground: “Okay.”

Xu Si stood behind her, watching as she diligently swept with the broom. They soon had a pile of leaves gathered.

There was something on the ground that had attracted a large group of ants. Jiang Rong stopped sweeping to watch the ants marching uniformly in one direction. When Xu Si turned around, he saw her crouching on the ground, looking at something. The school uniform was quite loose on her, and she was so absorbed in watching the small creatures that she didn’t even notice when leaves fell on her head.

Jiang Rong was watching intently when suddenly a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to meet the boy’s dark eyes as Xu Si suddenly reached out his hand.

Jiang Rong stared at his outstretched hand somewhat dazedly, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.

Xu Si removed the leaf from her head and dropped it to the ground: “Are the ants on the ground that interesting, little rule-follower?”

“They’re alright.”

Hearing her serious answer to his question, Xu Si couldn’t help but smile. He crouched down beside her to watch the ants too.

It turned out to be a dead caterpillar that had attracted the large group of ants.

After watching for a while, Jiang Rong picked up the broom again.

Xu Si suddenly remembered something: “Wait for me a moment.”

When Xu Si returned, Jiang Rong saw the large broom in his hand and couldn’t help but smile, her almond-shaped eyes curving with amusement. She pointed at the broom in his hands: “Where did you get such a big broom?”

Xu Si replied: “Borrowed it from the school cleaning lady.”

He added: “This sweeps faster. After we finish cleaning, I’ll return it.”

“Can I try?”

Xu Si said “Sure” and handed the broom to Jiang Rong.

After watching her sweep for a while: “Let me do it.”

Jiang Rong obediently handed the broom back.

With the help of the large broom, they worked much more efficiently than before, quickly cleaning up all the garbage and leaves in the sanitation area.

Xu Si: “I’ll go return the broom.”

“Okay.”

When Xu Si returned, he saw Jiang Rong sitting on the steps, head lowered in thought. She looked particularly well-behaved in her school uniform, sitting quietly on the stairs with the pink sky behind her. The sun had already set.

Xu Si walked to her side, handed her a carton of milk, and sat down beside her.

“The ground is dirty,” Jiang Rong said, reaching into her pocket to take out paper to lay on the ground.

“It’s fine, the pants need to be washed anyway,” Xu Si said carelessly, sitting down beside her. He pulled the tab on his can.

Jiang Rong looked at the milk in her hand, then at the cola in his.

Xu Si noticed her looking: “Want some?”

“No,” Jiang Rong shook her head.

Xu Si put the cola in her hand, then magically produced another bottle: “You drink this one.”

Carbonated drinks were somewhat harsh on the stomach, and Jiang Rong couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d had cola. She softly said: “Thank you.”

Xu Si watched as she held the cola and took a small sip, then pulled the tab on another can of cola and took a big drink.

The wind still carried some heat, and they sat on the steps for a while, the cold cola helping to dispel some of the heat.

Jiang Rong looked at the sky that seemed stained with rouge: “Today’s sunset is really beautiful.”

Xu Si followed her gaze: “Yes, it is.”

…

Jiang Rong checked her watch and stood up: “Class is starting soon.”

Xu Si walked behind her: “Let’s go.”

Long paths lined with phoenix trees stretched before them, their leaves already turned yellow. The two walked side by side through the campus bathed in the remaining glow of sunset.