Chi Tang

Here's the translation:

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Waking up in an unfamiliar room, Chi Tang was momentarily disoriented. She lay still, staring at the ceiling for a while before remembering that this was her new place.

It seemed to be raining outside. The city of Nanlin was particularly fond of rain; in the short week since she arrived, it had rained almost every day. Chi Tang disliked the rain; her mood always soured when it poured.

The headphones she had put in before sleeping were still hanging in her ears, though they were silent now. She pulled them off, rubbed her sore ears, and sat on the edge of the bed, motionless for a long time. Until there was a loud knocking at the door—her dad trying to get in unsuccessfully—he yelled angrily from outside, "Why is the door locked? Hurry up and get up. You'll go to class by yourself later; I have things to do."

"Chi Tang, can you hear me?" The lock rattled as he twisted it, and the door seemed ready to be knocked down, making an irritating noise.

Chi Tang lay down without answering, reattaching her headphones and turning on music on her phone. The increasing volume drowned out the noise outside, just like the countless times before when she used music to block out her parents' endless arguments.

The sound stopped, the rain continued, and the house was empty, particularly quiet.

Chi Tang shouldered her bag and stepped outside. She didn't like using an umbrella; since it wasn't raining heavily, she simply pulled up her hood and walked into the wind and rain.

In Class 2 of the first year at Nanlin No. 1 High School, it had been a month since school started, and almost fifty students in the class knew each other. The boys and girls were evenly split, and almost everyone had found friends, forming small groups. But with so many people in a class, there were inevitably some loners or outcasts.

Chi Tang belonged to the former. She had transferred here a week ago and had no interest in making friends, sitting in the back row with an air of indifference. She was the kind of girl who was very good-looking—thin eyelids, thin lips, and a high nose bridge, always looking lazily disenchanted when her eyes were half-lidded.

Most of the students in Class 2 were still well-behaved. The teachers didn't allow phones, so very few dared to bring them, but Chi Tang brought hers every day, often listening to music with her headphones, indifferent to the rules, and being late to class was common.

Typically, such students were those who were not doing well academically, but in the first month's exam, she ranked in the top ten of her class and the top fifty in the year, far outpacing her more carefree classmates.

Besides her, there was another outcast in Class 2 named You Yu.

She had entered school with the second-best score, and in the latest exam, she became first. Contrasting with her dazzling grades was her poverty.

Not all the students in class came from wealthy families; some were relatively poor, but being as impoverished as You Yu was almost unbelievable. Even Chi Tang, who cared little about her surroundings, had heard a fair bit of gossip from her nosy desk mate.

You Yu came from a remote mountain village, and getting into Nanlin No. 1 High School was almost a miracle. It was said that her tuition and accommodation fees were waived.

The school uniform was standardized, but underneath, You Yu wore a faded, frayed round-neck T-shirt that looked like it had been worn for many years. On her feet were a pair of cloth shoes—so out of place compared to the sneakers and dress shoes everyone else wore, which made her feel completely detached from the group.

You Yu sat by the window in the third row. She wasn't short, but because she was slim, she appeared especially so. Her long black hair was neatly tied in a braid—an old-fashioned twist braid.

"Oh my god, I can hardly stand living in the same dorm as her. She doesn't say a word all day, and the rest of us in the dorm don't want to talk to her either. That shirt of hers is so ragged; why doesn't she just throw it away? And those cloth shoes, wearing them for so long without washing! Did you know she doesn't even buy shampoo or shower gel? Just a bar of soap! She washes her hair with soap!"

"No way, is she really that poor? How much does a shirt, a bottle of shower gel, or a pair of shoes cost? I don't believe there are people who can be this poor. I heard the school is giving her financial aid."

"She even brings porridge and steamed buns to the dorm, just sitting by her bed to eat for two days. It's ridiculous; doesn't she worry about it going bad? I'm just worried she'll start doing that too; if spoiled food is left in the dorm, how can we live?"

The girls' incessant complaints buzzed in Chi Tang's ears. She found it a bit noisy, lifted her eyelids to glance at the two girls nearby, then got up to head to the bathroom.

The bathroom on this floor was too crowded; she disliked waiting in line, so she preferred to walk a bit further to the restroom on the south side of the teaching building, where there were fewer people.

As soon as she walked in, she saw You Yu—the girl her roommates had just been complaining about—washing her hands. Chi Tang had never interacted with her and hadn't paid much attention before, but now, perhaps because of what she had just overheard, she looked at her a moment longer.

Coincidentally, You Yu also lifted her eyes, and the two made eye contact.

For the first time, Chi Tang clearly saw You Yu's appearance.

You Yu had a pair of very beautiful, dark eyes, perfectly shaped, but she was too thin, and her pallor made her look devoid of youthful vitality. She was always silent, not shrinking away, immersed in her own world, quietly doing her own thing.

They didn't greet each other as they brushed past.

Chi Tang was a day student and went home every night. When the school suddenly lost power, seniors lit candles to study, while freshmen were dismissed early. Chi Tang carried her bag and took the bus home; she felt a bit carsick, leaning against the bus seat with her eyes closed.

A sprightly old lady squeezed onto the bus beside her and soon coughed a couple of times, indirectly criticizing, "These young people nowadays don't know how to behave; they don't even give their seats to elderly people standing nearby."

Chi Tang glanced at her without moving. She didn't budge even when they reached the lady's stop. Once the old woman got off, she followed, slowly making her way home, walking two stops back.

The new house still felt somewhat unfamiliar to her. After searching among the similar buildings for a while, she finally found the right one, took out her key, and prepared to open the door.

As she inserted the key, she heard the laughter and moans of an unfamiliar woman inside, along with her father's crude remarks.

Her dad had brought home another strange woman again; she didn't know if it was a new girlfriend or a call girl. Expressionless, Chi Tang withdrew the key and turned to leave.

She returned late at night; the house was empty, but there was a strange smell in the living room. Standing there, she suddenly felt nauseous and gagged, overwhelmed with disgust.

Nauseated and annoyed.

…

"It's been a while since school started; why did you suddenly decide to live on campus?" Mr. Lao Fang, the homeroom teacher, set down the application form in his hand. "Is there a problem? Did your parents agree?"

When Chi Tang returned to class, she already had the key to dormitory 301 in her hand.

"Chi Tang, you're going to live on campus too? Why the sudden change?"

Leaning back in her chair, Chi Tang replied, "Just suddenly wanted to."

The girl who had been gossiping about the top student earlier also came over. "You're in 301? That's my dorm. Oh, let me tell you, we have one empty bed left, right above hers; you definitely won't be able to stand it." She pointed at You Yu in the front row, her disdain evident.

The girl clearly expected Chi Tang to engage, but she didn't want to say much. She propped her chair up and pulled out her headphones, not responding at all. The girl's expression soured, and she turned back to her seat. After a while, Chi Tang heard her talking to her desk mate, "What's with her? Just because her family has a bit of money, she acts all high and mighty, looking down on people like she's some kind of princess."

Chi Tang listened to the sounds in her headphones, opened her textbook, and casually scribbled with a pen.

Deciding to move into the dorm, she didn't face any opposition from her dad. He just scolded her a couple of times, perhaps feeling that with her not around, he could enjoy life a bit more freely, and promptly transferred her some money, saying, "Buy whatever you need for living at school."

So, Chi Tang took a suitcase and went to school. She had lived on campus before, though not for long; but she figured the dorms were probably similar.

A six-person room with bunk beds, a desk, and a cabinet, with a private bathroom, while the laundry and larger bathrooms were on either end of the floor.

Room 301 indeed only had one empty bed left. Underneath her bed was You Yu's bed, which was far too dull compared to the brightly colored bedding