ATLAS TRANSLATES

It had been snowing in the capital for three consecutive days.

The thick, dense snowflakes blocked out the sky, turning this colorful city into pure white. The uncleared snow reached past the ankles, and the north wind carried ice particles that cut across faces like knives.

Nobody wanted to stay outdoors in this awful weather, but there were always exceptions for the crazy ones.

Tao Zhi sat in front of her tripod, watching through her camera lens as a couple in strapless wedding dress and white shirt argued in the snow for ten minutes.

Barefoot, even.

Against the red walls and white snow, the fairy-like young woman wore a red dress and stood barefoot in the snow, beautiful like a winter spirit who had fallen into the mortal world.

However, her words weren’t quite as beautiful: “I have money and looks and didn’t marry you for anything, and now you won’t even listen to me about a wedding photo? I must have had shit in my eyes to fall for you! What’s wrong with wanting to take photos this way? Just listen to what I say, who are you to control me?”

The man seemed troubled. He glanced at Tao Zhi, who was propping up her head, and her visibly uncomfortable assistant beside her, then lowered his voice: “Can you stop making a scene? There are people watching, aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Oh, so now you think I’m embarrassing? You used to say this side of me was genuine and cute!”

“That was when you were eighteen! You’re almost twenty-eight now! Can’t you be a bit more mature?”

“So I’m immature just because I want you to cooperate for a photo? Are you even listening to yourself!”

“Alright, that’s enough! Are we taking these photos or not!” The man’s patience had run out.

“Take my ass! Forget about the wedding too! Let’s break up! Go find someone mature!”

The woman’s temper had flared up and couldn’t be contained. She turned toward Tao Zhi: “Let someone else judge, am I being unreasonable? I just want a shot of you kneeling and kissing my feet, what’s wrong with that? Are your knees made of gold or your lips studded with diamonds? I hired such an expensive photographer to capture the perfect photos! Now you won’t even cooperate, and I’m the one at fault?”

The conflict had somehow spread to her side. Tao Zhi slowly raised her eyes. Leaning back in her folding chair, she patiently suggested: “Why don’t you put your shoes on first? It’s freezing, and your feet are already red.”

The woman stared at her for several seconds, seemingly at a loss for words, before stiffly saying “Thank you.”

Tao Zhi turned off her camera, folded the tripod, packed up the accessories into a bag, and handed it to her assistant. She pointed to the coffee shop ahead: “I’ll warm up with some coffee there. Talk things through with the clients and call me when they’re done arguing. We have at most an hour; any later and the light won’t work for the shots.”

Assistant Xiao Jin nodded and nervously shuffled over to the couple with hunched shoulders.

Tao Zhi meandered into the coffee shop.

She ordered a coffee and pulled out her laptop to open Photoshop and Lightroom to process yesterday’s photos.

The heating kept out the icy world outside, and thin sunlight fell softly through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, suddenly blocked by a figure.

A clear, pleasant male voice sounded beside her: “Hello, mind giving me your contact information?”

Without looking up, Tao Zhi replied routinely: “Yes, I do mind.”

The man laughed but didn’t leave. From the corner of her eye, Tao Zhi saw him sit down across from her.

He actually sat down?

What was wrong with this person?

She frowned and looked up. The man wore a camel-colored coat, had handsome features, and was smiling at her.

Tao Zhi blinked: “Xiao Lin?”

“How heartless, you won’t even give your old classmate your phone number?” Lin Suyan said sadly, “I thought I’d get special treatment, but I guess I thought wrong.”

Tao Zhi looked at him with amusement: “What contact information do you want from me? You already have my WeChat and phone number, want my QQ?”

“Sure,” Lin Suyan readily agreed, taking out his phone, “Young people these days all use QQ.”

Tao Zhi rolled her eyes.

She and Lin Suyan had shared a farewell meal after the college entrance exam. Back then, he was still a sensitive and fragile delicate youth who cried about not knowing when they’d meet again. But after the exam results came out, they ran into each other at C University’s registration office, and ended up spending four years at the same school.

Tao Zhi studied film while Lin Suyan studied finance. After graduation, he went to England for a year of master’s studies and had only recently returned to China.

When he chose his major back then, Tao Zhi found it quite surprising. Lin Suyan’s family was traditionally scholarly, full of artists, teachers, and university professors, but his biggest goal since childhood was to master the art of playing with money.

During university, he’d said more than once that if Tao Zhi were his father’s daughter, his dad would probably be so happy he’d tie himself to fireworks and fly to the heavens.

Having not seen each other for over a year, they had endless things to talk about. Lin Suyan, always a chatterbox, finished updating her on recent events and started bragging about his new boss.

“Graduated from a top domestic university in three years, double major GPA both ranked first, completed Penn master’s in 9 months, spent a year on Wall Street, published more international papers than the number of exam papers I did in high school, annual salary—” he paused and made a gesture, “this much.”

Tao Zhi listened to his boasting with a blank expression.

Seeing her lack of reaction, Lin Suyan insisted: “Annual salary this much! And can you believe he’s the same age as me? He probably doesn’t sleep, his brain must work 24 hours a day.”

Tao Zhi’s expression remained unchanged.

Lin Suyan’s arm got tired from holding it up. After a while, he sighed, feeling lonely that no one was playing along: “I almost forgot, you’re Zhou Zhirong, devoid of emotions and desires.”

Tao Zhi felt a bit sorry for his cold reception and decided to play along: “More like Quasimodo.”

Lin Suyan: “He’s really handsome, trust me.”

“200 pounds?”

“Better build than a boxing champion,” Lin Suyan said exaggeratedly.

“So definitely 200 pounds then.”

“…”

Lin Suyan sighed again and made his final conclusion: “You’re hopeless, you’ve become immortal.”

After chatting about everything under the sun for a while, the coffee shop’s doorbell jingled, and Xiao Jin stood at the door with a large bag, scanning around until she spotted Tao Zhi.

The young girl huffed and puffed as she ran over, putting the bag on an empty chair nearby: “The client said they won’t shoot today, asked me to apologize to you, they’ll pay for the photos already taken today plus 5% compensation fee.”

Tao Zhi snapped her laptop shut with a “click” and said happily: “Yay, off work!”

Lin Suyan watched her cheerfully pack up with a dejected expression: “No man makes you as happy as getting off work.”

“What’s so special about men,” Tao Zhi looked at him puzzled, “I really wonder, you love matchmaking so much, you’ve been dawdling through university until graduation, why bother with finance? Just switch to working at a marriage agency tomorrow.”

“I don’t like matchmaking in general, I just like matchmaking for you,” Lin Suyan said, propping his chin, “I just want to see what you’re like when dating.”

Tao Zhi waved her hand and turned to leave: “Keep wondering then, I’m going home to sleep.”

Xiao Jin lifted the big bag from the table, looked at Tao Zhi who had already left, quickly bowed to Lin Suyan, softly said goodbye, then scurried out after her.

“She wanted that fairy feeling, like a peony spirit in the snow,” Tao Zhi said, phone wedged between her shoulder, while putting a milk cup in the microwave, “Her fiancé is just an ordinary person who stumbled into a fairyland, falling at the feet of a fairy with frozen red feet. I can’t believe they could argue over something so ridiculous.”

On the other end of the phone, Fu Xiling laughed heartily: “Didn’t you say before this job was troublesome? Yet you still lowered your standards and took it.”

“They paid well,” Tao Zhi leaned against the kitchen island and said, “Whoever pays is daddy, who cares about standards when faced with money.”

Fu Xiling: “But you’re not short on money, genius young photographer.”

Tao Zhi counted on her fingers, realizing that at her age she couldn’t really be considered young anymore, but still very smoothly and satisfactorily accepted the title.

“I need to save up gift money for our Lingling’s wedding, I’ll give you a big red packet then,” Tao Zhi took out the heated milk and said with a smile, “Working overtime tonight?”

“No!” Fu Xiling’s voice suddenly became cheerful, she said quietly, “Our editor-in-chief is on a business trip today, everyone’s slacking off, I’ll leave after I finish organizing the materials at hand.”

Fu Xiling studied journalism in university and worked as a reporter at a newspaper, working early mornings and late nights with frequent overtime. In her words, rookie reporters only deserve to do the most work for the least pay.

And she did it without complaint.

From major gas leaks and explosions to neighbor Grandma Liu Cuifang’s lost dog, she enthusiastically walked the streets conducting interviews and reports.

After hanging up the phone, Tao Zhi finished her milk, threw the cup in the sink, and walked into the digital darkroom.

After graduating from university, she and Fu Xiling had rented this house together, moving out from their families. The community was newly built, with impeccable security, environment, and location.

The three-bedroom house had Tao Zhi paying the bulk of the rent, and she converted the extra room into a darkroom for developing photos.

Pushing open the door revealed pitch darkness, with only a small red light emitting a weak glow. Under the dim light, Tao Zhi glanced at the rows of photos hanging on the wall, and somehow thought of Lin Suyan, who had completely ignored his family’s arranged path.

She suddenly found it amazing.

When she was choosing her major, her homeroom teacher recommended science, technology, or law, and Tao Xiuping also hoped she would study finance or management so she could help at the company later. But Tao Zhi, possessed by some unknown force, listened to no one and impulsively wanted to study photography.

She hadn’t taken art exams or school exams, so she couldn’t choose photography as her major, and finally chose film studies which had photography-related courses.

She had never played with cameras before, though she always loved watching movies. Life’s trajectory is something no one can explain clearly. Even at the moment of making the decision, she hadn’t imagined she would become a photographer.

Photos are magical things.

They are always faithful to reality, never deceiving anyone, able to record the past and engrave time.

Happy moments, sad moments, disliked things, loved things.

Even when they yellow and fade, the moment you see them, those memories piece together like fragments and flood back into your mind.

Tao Zhi had always thought she was probably just acting on a whim, until her sophomore year when she submitted a photo to National Geographic’s global photography competition and won first place in China’s regional category, causing quite a stir when it was sent for international competition.

Only then did she realize that this path was one she could continue on.

Tao Zhi spent the entire afternoon in the darkroom, losing track of time while inside. It wasn’t until she finally finished her work and came out that she realized night had begun to fall.

The next day was Saturday, and Fu Xiling had arranged a dinner with Tao Zhi, Li Shuangjiang, and a few others. After starting work, everyone had their own busy lives, and gathering together became increasingly rare. Being able to meet up for a meal during the weekend was already a luxury.

Tao Zhi washed her hands, went back to her room to touch up her makeup and change clothes before heading out, arriving last at the agreed Japanese restaurant.

Having known each other for so many years, everyone was already used to her being fashionably late. When Tao Zhi pulled open the private room door, the people inside were already drinking.

Zhao Mingqi studied sports medicine in university, Jiang Zhengxun followed his own path and became a planner, both couldn’t come due to work. Li Shuangjiang looked almost unchanged from high school, seeing her he stretched his neck and called out “Boss.”

The small pot of sake was warming and soothing to the stomach. Tao Zhi only had one small cup, then honestly ate sashimi and sukiyaki.

Since that high school graduation gathering five years ago, she rarely drank alcohol. Everyone knew this habit of hers and didn’t press her to drink.

This Japanese restaurant was in a secluded location, had high-end decor, and occupied a separate small building with three floors. The first floor was for walk-in customers, while the second and third floors had these small private rooms, each with its own bathroom and small balcony.

The floor heating in the restaurant was very strong. After several rounds of drinks, Tao Zhi felt a bit stuffy and got up to get some air on the small balcony.

The moment she pulled open the wooden sliding door, the cold night wind hit her face. Small red lanterns hung at both ends of the tiny balcony, intricately painted with Japanese geishas in gorgeous kimonos, with red lips, white faces, and upturned eyes.

Tao Zhi leaned against the wooden railing and looked up.

This area was mostly filled with these low-rise standalone buildings of a few stories, offering an unobstructed panoramic view. In the distance through the thick fog, high-rise buildings stood in orderly rows, their lights hazy in the night mist.

Tao Zhi took a deep breath, the cold air filling her lungs made her feel completely awake. After standing for a while, she was about to turn and go back inside.

The door of another private room next door was pulled open with a “whoosh” as a man walked out.

Tao Zhi instinctively glanced over.

The man wasn’t wearing an outer coat, just a black sweater. He tapped out a cigarette from a pack and put it between his lips.

The lighter’s flint made a slight sound as it struck.

He raised his hand slightly, long fingers cupping the flame to light up, a crimson point of light flickering between his fingers. The man tilted his head back slightly, his neck line stretched long, his sharp Adam’s apple bobbed, and wisps of grayish-white smoke dispersed into the night sky.

His forearm rested on the wooden railing, eyes lowered, expression indifferent.

Though the wooden door perfectly blocked out the noise from the private room, Tao Zhi felt as if the night scene before her was boiling and burning.

Perhaps because her gaze lingered too long, or perhaps because in the quiet space there was no one else besides him and her, Jiang Qihuai suddenly raised his eyes and turned his head.

Their eyes met.

Tao Zhi felt like a puppet on stage, her mind stopped thinking, her limbs bound by steel wires pinning her in place, unable to move.

She exhaled imperceptibly, using all her strength to control her voice, and said softly: “What a coincidence.”

Jiang Qihuai’s peach blossom eyes were deep, appearing an illusory intense black in the dim red light. He just looked at her like this, as if looking through her at something else, yet also seeming to look only at her.

As if an eternity had passed, he finally lowered his eyelashes slightly, his lips twitching.

That icy voice, having lost its pure youthful quality through time’s settling, slow and deep, with a slight hoarseness: “Mm, what a coincidence.”