ATLAS TRANSLATES

When Tao Zhi led Jiang Qi Huai back, the man was no longer there.

The coffee shop’s entrance was still brightly decorated, passersby chatted and laughed, and uncleared snow piled up in the corners.

Except for a small patch where body heat had melted the thin snow on the dark ground, nothing was left.

Tao Zhi glanced sideways at Jiang Qi Huai, pulling him forward.

The moment they pushed open the door, the store’s warmth instantly enveloped them. The air was filled with coffee aroma. Though Tao Zhi hadn’t been here for months, the shop hadn’t changed. Vinyl piano music played softly.

It was dinner time, so there weren’t many customers. There were three staff members who weren’t very busy.

Tao Zhi pulled Jiang Qi Huai to a small sofa in the corner, reaching up to hold his hand.

The young man’s hands were reddened from the cold, his fingers icy.

She wrapped both her hands tightly around his, warming them for a while before asking: “What time do you get off work?”

“Ten o’clock.”

His voice was still a bit hoarse.

Tao Zhi wanted to chat with him more, but since he was working, she couldn’t take up too much of his time. She could only nod: “Then should I wait for you here?”

Jiang Qi Huai looked at her and made an affirming sound.

About what happened tonight, she hadn’t asked a single question.

Jiang Qi Huai hadn’t said anything either.

Tao Zhi wasn’t sure if she should bring it up.

If you didn’t count that ex-boyfriend who was more like playing house and became a good friend, she actually didn’t have much dating experience.

What should be asked, what shouldn’t be asked, what would be overstepping, what would be meddling.

She wasn’t quite sure how to handle the distance between boyfriends and girlfriends.

She slowly took out test papers from her backpack, did a few problems, then crossed out the answers. Her mind was completely blank, unable to focus on studying.

After dinner time passed, the shop got busier. Girls chatted and laughed with friends, showing off their shopping spoils from the street. Jiang Qi Huai stood behind the coffee machine taking orders, speaking at an unhurried pace, tall and standing straight, his temperament cool and crisp.

Though they were close in age, they seemed to be divided into two different worlds.

Some people lived carefree lives, wanting for nothing, loved by their parents, with their biggest worries being just test scores and homework.

Others dealt with life’s messiness, worrying about living expenses, taking care of the elderly. He had grown up early at an age when he should have been cared for, becoming the only backbone of his fragile family.

Tao Zhi had originally planned to wait until Jiang Qi Huai got off work, but before nine, she received a punctual call from Tao Xiu Ping: “Are you home yet?”

Tao Zhi said stiffly: “Not yet.”

“I knew it, if I don’t urge you, you won’t react at all,” Tao Xiu Ping spoke in an ‘as expected’ tone, “Zhi Zhi, keep your word, what time did you promise to come home?”

“It’s not time yet,” Tao Zhi hesitated, “Dad, can I stay a bit longer? My friend isn’t very happy today.”

Tao Xiu Ping: “Is it your friend or your boyfriend?”

Tao Zhi: “…”

Her silence was like an admission, making Tao Xiu Ping even less willing to give in: “Hurry up, don’t try to appeal to my emotions here. If you’re not back by nine, the curfew will change to eight in the future. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Tao Zhi puffed up her cheeks, responding dejectedly in a muffled voice.

After hanging up the phone, she looked up. Jiang Qi Huai was still busy and hadn’t noticed her.

She packed up her things, sent him a WeChat message, and walked out of the coffee shop.

Jiang Qi Huai didn’t see Tao Zhi’s WeChat message until he got off work.

Around nine, the little girl had first sent him several cat emojis in a row, before finally saying one thing.

[Grape Branch]: I’ll go home first to check in, then sneak out to find you later!

Jiang Qi Huai glanced at the corner table that had already been cleaned and was now empty, curved his lips, and typed a few words.

[Sneaking out is illegal.]

A male coworker walked out from the back room, standing at the door urging him: “Ah Huai, let’s go!”

Jiang Qi Huai put away his phone and left the shop.

The guy locked the door, turned around and put his arm around Jiang Qi Huai’s shoulders, gossiping: “That girl who came in with you today, is she your girlfriend?”

Jiang Qi Huai made an affirmative sound.

“Damn, you moved pretty fast. What did you tell us last time when we asked?” The guy put on a stern face, imitating his tone, “Not close, just classmates.”

“I was actually thinking of asking for her contact info next time she came to chat a bit,” the guy stroked his chin, “If you hadn’t made a move, with my face, I’m not saying she’d fall helplessly in love at first sight, but she might have at least shown some subtle interest.”

Jiang Qi Huai gave a flat laugh, glancing at him: “Can’t tell if she’d show interest, but your thick skin is definitely real.”

The guy hooked his arm around Jiang Qi Huai’s neck and pressed down hard, laughing: “Is that how you talk to your senior?”

Jiang Qi Huai lowered his body slightly, showing no reaction.

The two walked toward the bus stop. After being quiet for a while, the guy suddenly remembered: “Oh right, that man today, he didn’t do anything when he called you out? Who was he?”

Jiang Qi Huai frowned, his expression turning ugly, only saying stiffly: “Nothing happened.”

The guy could tell he didn’t want to say more, so nodded: “Alright.”

While talking, they reached the bus stop. They didn’t take the same bus. The guy’s bus came, he said goodbye and left.

Jiang Qi Huai stood under the empty bus stop sign, hands in his jacket pockets, staring absently at the layers of small advertisements pasted on the sign for a while.

Jiang Qi Huai was four years old when he first met Jiang Zhi, the day Jiang Qing He brought him home.

At the orphanage gate, the director smiled at him for the first time. He held Jiang Qing He’s hand, carrying a small backpack as he walked out of the big gates.

Jiang Qing He wanted to help carry it: “Is it heavy?”

Little Jiang Qi Huai shook his head.

It really wasn’t heavy. When they packed, they discovered he barely had anything – just a towel and a toothbrush loosely packed in the cloth bag.

He came alone, and he left alone.

But from then on, he had someone willing to love him, and he could have a home.

Just like an ant.

Little Jiang Qi Huai stood before the vermillion door, looking at the small opening that would belong to him, eyes bright with thought.

Jiang Qing He opened the door, moved aside, and smiled at him: “Come in.”

Jiang Qi Huai tightly gripped his small backpack straps, nervously pressing his lips together, carefully and silently stepping inside.

This room was much smaller than where he lived before, and didn’t have a big yard, but it had warmth.

This warmth came with a voice that hit him: “What took so long? What were you doing?”

Jiang Qing He’s expression instantly changed, frowning: “Who told you to come back?”

“What’s wrong with me coming back to my own home?” The man drawled.

Little Jiang Qi Huai secretly looked up, peering inside.

A man lay on the living room sofa, holding a beer bottle as he reclined, sitting up to look over, his gaze falling on Jiang Qi Huai.

Jiang Zhi stared at him steadily, then put his beer bottle on the coffee table, speaking messily, voice somewhat hoarse: “Whose kid did you bring back?”

Jiang Qing He held back his anger: “This is your son!”

“I don’t have a son.” Jiang Zhi said.

Little Jiang Qi Huai stood to the side with his head lowered, not making a sound.

Jiang Qing He looked at his small, soft head, suddenly sighed, saying somewhat tiredly: “Ah Zhi, I’ve found the child. From now on, cut ties with those people, stop doing those ridiculous things. Find a job, live properly, let’s raise the child together, okay?”

Jiang Zhi didn’t speak, just looked at the small child.

Jiang Qi Huai anxiously bit his lip, his tiny body imperceptibly shrinking back, trying hard to blend into the background.

After a moment of silence in the room, Jiang Zhi looked away, sneering: “Don’t even know whose belly he came from, what’s there to raise? I can barely support myself, don’t know what dreams you old fool are having every day. If you want to raise him, raise him yourself.”

He irritably grabbed his bag from the coffee table and turned to leave.

His leg brushed past Jiang Qi Huai’s small body as he walked out without even a glance.

The security door slammed shut with a “bang.”

In the silence, little Jiang Qi Huai turned around, looking up at Jiang Qing He.

The old man stood motionless, shoulders slumped, as if using all his strength to support something.

“Grandpa.” Little Jiang Qi Huai called out softly.

Jiang Qing He took a deep breath, raised his hand to wipe his face, and squatted down: “Yes, Grandpa’s here.”

“Was that my father?” The little one asked in his childish voice.

Jiang Qing He smiled and raised his hand to stroke his hair.

The child looked up, eyes bright and clear: “He doesn’t want me, will Grandpa send me back?”

A four-year-old child saying these words showed not even a trace of sadness.

Jiang Qing He cried.

He held Jiang Qi Huai, hugging him close, gently patting his back: “Grandpa won’t send you back. Grandpa said he would grow old with our Ah Huai.”

“Let our Ah Huai study, work, marry when he grows up, become a real man.”

“Grandpa will teach you how to be a good person, will watch you become a good person,” the old man’s voice choked, “Grandpa won’t repeat the same mistakes.”

At that time, Jiang Qi Huai was too young to understand what “repeat the same mistakes” meant.

He just curled up in the old man’s embrace, then gently nodded, saying in his baby voice: “Ah Huai will also grow old with Grandpa.”

When Jiang Zhi didn’t appear, everything moved in a good direction.

Jiang Qing He would teach Jiang Qi Huai to read and recognize characters. The little one learned everything extremely quickly – he could basically recite any storybook completely and perfectly after seeing it just once.

Jiang Qing He would also teach him to play Chinese chess.

The old man would hold him in his arms, telling him about each piece one by one. Sometimes, he would stare blankly at certain pieces, deep sadness in his eyes: “Grandpa used to teach your father to play chess too. He was smart like you, learned very quickly.”

The small bundle curled in his arms, happily asking what each wooden piece was while holding them.

Jiang Qing He named his son Jiang Zhi, hoping he would become a doctor when he grew up, healing and saving people.

But he couldn’t watch over him properly.

While he was busy working to earn money, busy with all sorts of things, that untrimmed sapling gradually bent at its roots, never to be straightened again.

Little Jiang Qi Huai quietly sat in the old man’s embrace, listening to him talk about those past events.

He actually didn’t like Jiang Zhi very much, because every time he was mentioned, Jiang Qing He would become unhappy.

He felt it would be better if he just never appeared.

But he would still come back.

Sometimes after a few weeks, sometimes after months, he would come back to ask Jiang Qing He for money. When Jiang Qing He wouldn’t give it to him, they would argue.

When he came back, Jiang Qi Huai was usually already asleep.

The old houses in the county had poor soundproofing, and Jiang Qi Huai would sometimes be woken up by the noise.

He would hear arguing voices from Jiang Qing He’s room next door, along with crashing sounds. He would run out of his room to see a drunk Jiang Zhi roughly push Jiang Qing He aside, then ignore the old man who had fallen to the ground as he frantically searched through everything like a madman.

He would throw out all the clothes from the wardrobe to check the bottom, pull out drawers, break vases.

Jiang Qi Huai would rush over to hug his legs, biting him repeatedly like a frenzied young wild beast, hitting him hard, while the tall man would just reach out one hand, grab his collar and lift him up, drunken breath hitting his face: “You little bastard dare to rebel?”

He would be as helpless as a baby chick, clawing at the hand holding him as he struggled with all his might, his nails digging into flesh.

The man would cry out and let go, throwing him roughly aside.

He would only feel his head hit something hard, then see a dark blur, with warm liquid flowing down his forehead, dripping from his chin, forming a crimson pool on the floor drop by drop.

Jiang Qing He would rush to him, holding him and calling his name.

As his eyes closed, Jiang Qi Huai would hear Jiang Zhi laughing, see him finally find a brown wallet from under the cabinet, then stagger away drunk.

…

Jiang Qi Huai lived in their hometown house for two years.

The following year, Jiang Qing He seemed to make up his mind and moved away with him.

The house was sold, everything inside was sold second-hand. The house wasn’t worth much, and the money wasn’t enough for them to buy a new place.

Jiang Zhi had already emptied out Jiang Qing He’s cards and savings books. They moved to a different city, renting a small apartment in a cheap area.

After moving, there were no more midnight arguments and crashing sounds from next door.

They had both escaped from that hellish life.

A few months after moving to the new home, Jiang Qing He received a phone call: Jiang Zhi had been arrested for seriously injuring two people during a home invasion robbery with some local thugs who had prior records. The victims were still in critical condition.

The person on the phone said a lot, but the old man showed no reaction throughout.

He held the phone, listening with a wooden expression, his hand shaking, then hung up.

Jiang Qi Huai looked up to see the old man’s red, clouded eyes looking at him with despair and sorrow.

He raised his hand to wipe away the tears on the old man’s weathered face. The six-year-old child clearly said word by word in his young voice: “Grandpa, I will take care of you.”

Jiang Qing He choked out a sigh: “It’s fate, all fate. Hope if he has a chance to get out, he can truly reform in the future, if there’s a chance.”

Jiang Qi Huai held the old man’s hand, pressed his lips together, his gaze dark as he looked down.

Jiang Zhi was Jiang Qing He’s son – he couldn’t let go, but Jiang Qi Huai never considered him his father.

He hoped Jiang Zhi would never get out, that he would die silently in prison, using the rest of his life to atone for his sins.