ATLAS TRANSLATES

The autumn wind had turned the maple leaves red, and November arrived with a hint of cold. Xu Si sat down next to Jiang Rong and put his things in the drawer.

Today, Jiang Rong wore a pink coat with a white shirt underneath. The white fur trim on the coat made her small face look even more fair. Jiang Rong noticed him looking at her and turned to ask, “What is it?”

Xu Si shook his head, “Nothing.” He just thought she looked particularly cute in that outfit.

He took out his vocabulary book and Chinese textbook, “Little teacher, what’s today’s task?”

Jiang Rong took the English vocabulary book from his hand, “Let’s memorize vocabulary today.”

“Okay.” Xu Si read a few sentences, then leaned over to ask her, “How do you pronounce this word?”

Jiang Rong looked at it and asked him, “Ambulance – doesn’t it sound like ‘I can’t die’? That’s why it means emergency vehicle.”

Xu Si couldn’t help but laugh, “I’ll remember that. Little teacher’s memory method is really good.” Jiang Rong looked at him, “Hurry up and memorize.”

She read her book for a while, then spoke to Xu Si, “There’s a Chinese test tonight. For multiple choice, pick an answer even if you don’t understand. Fill in all the objective questions, and remember to paragraph your essay. Don’t write three big paragraphs – you can use the template I taught you.”

Xu Si smiled, “Got it, little teacher.”

In the afternoon, the exam room assignments were announced. Fang Zixin projected the assignments onto the blackboard: “The exam room assignments are out. Don’t feel pressured, just do your best.” After saying this, he gave a few more reminders.

Xu Si glanced at the exam room assignments. He was on the fifth floor of another building, while Jiang Rong was on the first floor of their building. Not only were they in different buildings, but they were also on completely different floors. Xu Si stared at the assignments, lost in thought.

Jiang Rong thought he was nervous and gently tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft, “Don’t be nervous.” Xu Si turned to look at her, “I’m not nervous.” “That’s good then. Good luck on the exam.” “Thanks.”

During previous exams, Xu Si could always see Jiang Rong when he looked up, but now she was in the first exam room while he was in the last. Following Jiang Rong’s advice, he completed everything whether he knew the answers or not. After finishing the last sentence of his essay, he looked up at the clock above the podium – fifteen minutes left. She must have finished already, he thought.

Jiang Rong had just finished her last essay sentence with fifteen minutes to spare. She reviewed her Chinese exam paper. The test wasn’t difficult and wasn’t too long – Xu Si should be able to complete it all.

That evening, just as Jiang Rong had settled in bed, she received a video call request from Xu Si. She accepted it. The first thing she saw was a black cat’s face filling the screen. Xu Si picked up the cat and moved it aside, “It knows when I’m video calling you and tries to stick to the screen.”

Jiang Rong couldn’t help but laugh, her almond eyes curving into crescents. Xu Si held Yuan Yuan in his arms. “How did your Chinese exam go today?” “It was okay, I finished everything.” Jiang Rong thought for a moment and asked, “That’s good. Did you paragraph the essay?” “Yes.” “The regular exam questions are a bit different from the practice questions I bought you. Keep that in mind – the practice questions are meant to build your foundation gradually.” “Understood, little teacher.”

Xu Si looked at Yuan Yuan squirming in his arms, “Be good.” Jiang Rong laughed again. After chatting for a while, she said, “There are more exams tomorrow. Get some rest early. Good night.” “Good night, little teacher.”

After hanging up, Xu Si rubbed Yuan Yuan’s head, “You little flirt, rushing to the video call even faster than me.” Yuan Yuan meowed in protest. Xu Si looked at their chat background and smiled. She really did look so well-behaved.

The next day, after working on basic practice problems for a while, Xu Si had gained some confidence. But when he received the math test paper, he realized the long road ahead in his tutoring journey. He could only understand the first two questions. Finally, he found one question later that he thought he could solve. He calculated for a long time but got an answer that didn’t match any of the multiple choice options. He looked at the four choices and picked the closest one.

The second exam was physics. Just as Jiang Rong returned from the bathroom, she saw Xu Si sitting in her seat. Almost everyone in school knew Xu Si. The students in the first exam room were surprised – why had he suddenly come to this exam room? Had someone here provoked him? But the seat he was in belonged to a girl.

Xu Si stood up to let Jiang Rong sit and handed her the warm milk he’d been keeping. Jiang Rong took the milk from him, “Thank you.” She placed the milk on the desk and asked, “Why did you come here?” If she remembered correctly, Xu Si should be on the fifth floor of the other building.

Hearing her say thank you, Xu Si found it amusing, “I felt uneasy not seeing my little teacher, so I came to check on you.” “Don’t worry. For the long questions, write what you know, and if you don’t know, just write down the formulas you remember. For multiple choice and multiple answer questions, just pick one.” “Got it, little teacher.”

Xu Si looked at her and reminded her, “The milk will get cold quickly, drink it soon.” “Okay.” Jiang Rong checked her watch and said, “You should go back now, there’s not much time left.” She walked him out.

When she returned to her seat, she suddenly felt many eyes on her. She looked up, and everyone quickly looked away. The male student sitting behind Jiang Rong had witnessed everything. He poked her, “Classmate, what’s your relationship with that guy who was just here?” “We’re desk mates.” “Oh, I see.” “Mm-hmm.”

The boy recalled how Xu Si had immediately stood up to let her sit, brought her milk, and spoke to her with a constant smile. He had almost thought she was the boss’s girlfriend. So they were just desk mates. Although everyone said Xu Si was fierce and often got into fights, he had seen Xu Si protecting their schoolmates more than once. Maybe the boss wasn’t so scary after all. Plus, he wasn’t fierce at all when talking to his desk mate.

In the afternoon exam, when the boy returned, he saw Xu Si sitting in his seat. As Xu Si started to stand, the boy quickly said, “Boss, please stay seated, I’ll go take a walk.” He went outside and secretly watched Xu Si from the corridor.

Jiang Rong asked Xu Si, “Boss?” Xu Si shook his head, “I don’t know.” “How did you feel about this morning’s exam?” “Not sure, but I filled everything in.” “That’s fine then.”

Ten minutes before the exam, Jiang Rong saw Xu Si off. After the day’s exams were over, everyone in the exam room was buzzing with gossip, saying that the girl in seat number three of the first exam room seemed to be the girl Xu Si had his eye on.

Yang Shikun heard this news too. He gossiped with Jiang Rong, “Scholar Jiang, did you hear? They’re saying there’s someone in the first exam room that Brother Si likes. Who is it?” Jiang Rong was confused, “?” Yang Shikun continued, “Apparently it’s seat number three.” Jiang Rong was bewildered and asked again, “Seat number three?”