ATLAS TRANSLATES

After the woman and little boy fled like refugees, the atmosphere became even more frozen.

Even the air seemed frozen solid.

Li Shuang Jiang and the others barely dared to breathe. Although they had gradually become familiar with Jiang Qi Huai over this time, it was only slightly so, and they still couldn’t quite gauge this boss’s temperament.

Tao Zhi looked at her classmates’ stiff faces, then glanced at Jiang Qi Huai standing beside her, feeling somewhat amused.

But she held it in.

She looked him up and down. The wig was probably messy from being used many times, the green hair all disheveled, the bangs sticking out wildly, looking very similar to certain middle school teenagers who were at the forefront of fashion back then.

But surprisingly, he still looked quite handsome.

Indeed, hairstyles really depend on the face.

Tao Zhi cleared her throat and broke the silence: “Your Highness, your style is quite unique. Mind if I take a photo?”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

Jiang Qi Huai felt that since getting to know Tao Zhi, his patience had become amazingly good.

He expressionlessly grabbed the green wig from his head and pulled it off. A staff member happened to walk by from the front, collecting their task props.

This haunted house was designed quite uniquely. Li Shuang Jiang’s group’s task prop was an iron tooth jar, while Zhao Ming Qi’s group had a tattered doll.

Jiang Qi Huai handed the green wig to the staff member, while Tao Zhi embarrassedly rubbed her nose beside him: “Um, just now in our theme area, there was a staff member, and because he was too scary I lightly hit him, is he okay?”

The staff member was stunned for a moment, then smiled: “He already came out. He’s fine, just had a slight nosebleed, but it’s stopped now.”

Tao Zhi felt somewhat guilty: “I’m really sorry, I was just scared and couldn’t help it.”

Staff member: “…”

Normal girls should just run away when they’re scared, young lady!

Not just girls! Boys should do the same too!

Jiang Zheng Xun called to say the roller coaster line was almost ready. Li Shuang Jiang led the group to bid farewell to the haunted house. Before leaving, Tao Zhi was still bowing to the staff member: “I’m really sorry, should we call an ambulance to check at the hospital? I’ll cover the costs.”

The staff member bowed back: “It’s really fine. Actually, it’s quite normal for haunted house staff to get bumps and bruises.”

“I’m really very sorry!” Tao Zhi said meekly.

“You’re too kind,” the staff member said, overwhelmed by her politeness.

Even when they had walked quite far away, Tao Zhi was still waving to the staff member.

Jiang Qi Huai glanced at her, his expression seeming to find it quite curious.

Tao Zhi turned her head: “What’s that look for?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Qi Huai withdrew his gaze and walked forward unhurriedly, his tone casual, “Just didn’t expect you would apologize too.”

“Of course I would, I did hit an innocent zombie after all,” she said while walking backwards, “I apologized to you before too.”

Jiang Qi Huai nodded: “The truce?”

Tao Zhi choked for a moment.

“I meant before that, outside Teacher Wang’s office!” She bit the soft flesh inside her cheek and said, “A truce is a truce, Your Highness. I hope you can be more magnanimous and let bygones be bygones. I’m not nitpicking with you anymore, what else are you unsatisfied about?”

She had such a magnanimous appearance, fluttering her little wings there. Jiang Qi Huai found it somewhat amusing.

Because of their adventure in the haunted house, the young girl’s fair face looked flushed, her black eyes bright.

Jiang Qi Huai suddenly remembered from fifteen minutes ago, when she had stood on tiptoe and leaned over, the cool temperature against his lips.

Up ahead, Fu Xi Ling called to her from in front of a stall selling small items. Tao Zhi turned around and jogged over to her side, crouching down to carefully pick through a pile of colorful trinkets.

She hadn’t tied up her long hair, and the wisps of hair by her cheeks were casually tucked behind her ears. Her profile looked soft and lively, her ear shell fair and round.

Jiang Qi Huai raised his hand and lightly brushed his thumb across the corner of his lower lip.

The roller coaster they had lined up for was a suspended type, with about seven or eight people per row. As soon as Tao Zhi got on, she headed straight for the front row.

Because the front row had no obstruction, it offered the widest view and was also the most thrilling position. Tao Zhi sat on the edge, slowly pulling down the safety bar to lock it in place.

Then, she waved to Jiang Qi Huai.

Jiang Qi Huai walked over and sat down beside her, securing his safety bar.

Since their feet were dangling, many people were afraid of losing their shoes and simply took them off. Tao Zhi also casually threw her shoes below, looking quite composed.

Jiang Qi Huai thought this little groundhog wasn’t afraid of anything.

Until the roller coaster started slowly climbing upward at an incline.

As the height gradually increased, the roller coaster’s suspension struts tilted slightly downward with gravity, and the people below became smaller and smaller until their features became blurry.

The mechanical sounds clanked beside their ears, and Tao Zhi nervously swallowed, her feet in rainbow-colored socks swaying a couple times. She suddenly spoke: “Your Highness, if you’re scared, just scream.”

Jiang Qi Huai turned his head slightly: “When did I say I was scared?”

Tao Zhi looked down once, her voice starting to shake: “What did we eat for lunch today?”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

“We haven’t eaten lunch yet,” Jiang Qi Huai reminded her.

Tao Zhi’s mind was short-circuiting and didn’t hear clearly what he said. With a pale face, she said loudly as if to boost her courage: “Did we eat beef noodles?!”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

The roller coaster reached its highest point, then stopped.

Two seconds later, it quickly slid down along the high steel frame.

The whistling wind roared in their ears as Tao Zhi’s whole body swayed within the safety bar following the roller coaster’s track.

At the moment weightlessness hit, she grabbed Jiang Qi Huai’s hand that was resting beside her.

Jiang Qi Huai paused and turned to look at her.

The young girl’s black long hair was blown messily backward, her eyes wide open staring ahead, her lips pale and light, her right hand tightly gripping his hand, her fingertips ice-cold. The blood vessel patterns on her thin white palm were nearly transparent, her bones clearly defined.

People in the back rows were screaming, some raising both hands and cheering loudly. Tao Zhi couldn’t hear anything anymore. The scenery in front of her was rapidly retreating and spinning, the wind making her eyes hurt.

In the howling wind, she vaguely heard a cool, clear voice sound softly by her ear.

“Tao Zhi, close your eyes.”

As if bewitched, she obediently closed her eyes.

The world fell into darkness, and all her senses became more acute. She felt the warmth radiating from what her stiff right hand was gripping, then that warmth flipped over and very lightly covered the back of her hand.

A moment of warmth.

Tao Zhi was stunned.

The roller coaster moved very quickly, completing a circuit in just a few minutes. Toward the end, the speed gradually slowed down and the height decreased.

Tao Zhi opened her eyes and turned her head.

Her hand was tightly gripping Jiang Qi Huai’s armrest, completely occupying his position. The young man’s hand was placed a bit further back, his knuckles brushing against her wrist.

Though her fingertips were numb from the cold wind, the point where their skin touched felt somewhat hot, like a flame rapidly igniting from that point, seeping through her skin into her blood vessels, then rushing wildly through her body.

Tao Zhi suddenly withdrew her hand.

The roller coaster slowly came to a stop, the safety bar pressing on their bodies sprang up, and people started getting off one after another, putting their shoes back on.

Tao Zhi sat there still somewhat dazed, her sock-covered toes anxiously and uncertainly curling.

The staff member beside them held a large megaphone urging them to leave quickly. Tao Zhi came back to her senses, slowly put on her shoes and stood up, following behind Jiang Qi Huai as they walked down.

His jacket had been too long so he had taken it off before getting on. His white thin sweater was loose, his shoulders broad, the line from his neck to his shoulder delicate and beautiful.

Walking down the steps, Jiang Qi Huai turned back.

His black short hair was messily blown about, revealing his straight brow bone and forehead. His usual coolness was neutralized, making him appear somewhat relaxed.

He looked up at her and asked softly: “Are you okay?”

Tao Zhi’s heart thumped twice, and her whole person felt as if struck by lightning, her mind only having two words.

It’s over.

It’s over it’s over it’s over it’s over.

She walked down the steps like a sleepwalker. Below, Li Shuang Jiang and Zhao Ming Qi were still excitedly shouting that they hadn’t had enough. Fu Xi Ling hadn’t gone up and was returning everyone’s jackets one by one.

Tao Zhi looked up at Jiang Qi Huai and called out to him softly: “Jiang Qi Huai.”

Jiang Qi Huai calmly looked at her, waiting for what she would say next.

“I never want to eat beef noodles again,” Tao Zhi said weakly. “Just thinking of those three words makes my stomach hurt.”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

At the Happy Valley food court’s themed beef noodle shop.

Tao Zhi stood at the entrance with a limp face. Inflated cartoon character balloons on either side of the shop danced cheerfully in the wind.

Tao Zhi didn’t know why Li Shuang Jiang, that damned guy, suddenly suggested wanting beef noodles for lunch, and most ridiculous was that everyone else agreed with him, thinking it was a brilliant idea.

Why eat beef noodles at an amusement park?

Do people really look for beef noodle shops in amusement parks at noon?!

Everyone happily hummed as they went in. Tao Zhi sighed, planning to see if the shop had anything besides beef noodles like rice bowls, when she saw Jiang Qi Huai also standing still, not moving.

Tao Zhi looked up at him and pointed at the shop door: “Are you eating?”

Jiang Qi Huai turned his head: “You want to eat again?”

His tone was very flat.

But Tao Zhi somehow felt she could hear a hint of mockery and sarcasm in it.

She cleared her throat and dragged out her words: “If you don’t want to eat—”

Tao Zhi took off her small backpack and pulled out a box of sandwiches stored in a food container, handing it to him.

Jiang Qi Huai lowered his eyes, took it, then watched as she withdrew her hand to continue rummaging.

Tao Zhi pulled out another box of fruit from her bag, looked up, and sincerely said to him: “We can eat sandwiches.”

Jiang Qi Huai: “…”

He didn’t really have any opinion about what to eat, and the young lady had been quite frightened on the roller coaster — it didn’t seem like she was playing around, she really didn’t want to eat.

The restaurant didn’t allow outside food, so Jiang Qi Huai took the sandwich box and walked to a small empty table in the rest area nearby.

Tao Zhi followed him over, removed the container’s lid, and handed him the wrapped sandwich.

Auntie Zhang’s cooking skills had always been good. The slightly golden-brown toasted bread slices were filled with bacon, chicken, vegetables and egg. When cut, the cross-section looked colorful and delicate enough to be displayed in a shop window.

The two of them ate quietly without speaking. Tao Zhi didn’t talk, and Jiang Qi Huai was even less likely to speak.

Tao Zhi suddenly started regretting eating alone with Jiang Qi Huai.

She felt a little bit awkward, an awkwardness that had started on the roller coaster and still hadn’t completely dissipated.

The temperature on the back of her right hand seemed to linger, but the fear from the weightlessness had left such a deep impression that Tao Zhi wasn’t sure if that moment of hand-holding had been her imagination.

She wanted to ask Jiang Qi Huai.

But this question was really quite difficult to bring up.

The young girl held a small piece of sandwich in her mouth, her crossed leg swinging constantly under the table, her foot hitting the person opposite several times.

She was completely unaware, absentmindedly eating, her gaze somewhat empty.

Her restlessness and distraction were very obvious.

Until Tao Zhi’s foot swung over again, and Jiang Qi Huai looked at his pants for the fourth time, feeling that if he didn’t remind her, his pants would need a new color by the time he finished his sandwich.

He spoke up: “What are you thinking about so distractedly?”

“I’m thinking…” Tao Zhi stared straight at the tall Ferris wheel in the distance, her voice still floating, “Did you just hold my hand?”

Jiang Qi Huai’s movements paused as he lifted his eyes to look at her.

Tao Zhi also paused. Her gaze slowly focused, then came back to herself, finally moving from the Ferris wheel.

Tao Zhi’s ears slowly turned red.

But since she had already asked, words spoken were like water spilled.

Tao Zhi simply went all in, boldly and very righteously accused him: “You took advantage of me.”

Her mouth was still full of food, making her voice a bit unclear, her cheeks puffed out round, very much like a little hamster with its cheeks stuffed with food.

Making one want to poke those puffy cheeks to see how they felt.

Jiang Qi Huai’s fingers twitched slightly, his index finger and thumb pinching the sandwich’s plastic wrap before he spoke: “Are you clear on who took advantage of whom?”

Tao Zhi opened her mouth: “Huh?”

“You were so scared you grabbed my hand,” Jiang Qi Huai said.

Tao Zhi’s eyes grew round, looking completely disbelieving: “Me? Me? I wasn’t scared at all, okay? What would I be scared of? It’s not like I haven’t been on a roller coaster before.”

Jiang Qi Huai listened to her chatter, nodded without speaking, and just raised his left hand that wasn’t holding food to show her the evidence.

On the back of his hand were still some faint red marks where fingernails had dug in. The marks had almost faded away, but his skin was so white that even the slightest bit of red was very noticeable.

Iron-clad evidence.

Leaving no room for argument.

Tao Zhi: “…”

Tao Zhi stared at him blankly, her expression a mix of frustration, shock, and a bit of embarrassment that she probably hadn’t even realized herself, unable to speak for a moment.

Jiang Qi Huai’s peach blossom eyes lowered slightly as his lips curved up, his tone flat: “Little hooligan.”