ATLAS TRANSLATES

When I feel particularly lonely and helpless, I especially miss Fu Junyan. Although I know he is so close to me, with only a street between us, I still miss his voice, which seems to be my only hope for salvation. Without a second thought, I took out my phone and called Fu Junyan. I said, “Fu Junyan, Fu Junyan?”

“I’m here.” He quickly answered the phone, sighing softly on the other end, and then he said knowingly, “Xiao’ai, don’t be afraid.” He always seems to be like this, easily striking the softest part of my heart.

Even I myself didn’t know that seeing those photos and that kind of newspaper, I was afraid, truly afraid. I even thought of my previous life, being chased and asked all day, “Why did you become a mistress? Why did you steal someone else’s man?” Everything was like a net trapping me and not letting go. But I didn’t, I really didn’t! When I was with Jay, he was single, truly single… But I had no way to defend myself…

Because of the past, I spoke incoherently, “Fu Junyan, I’m not sad. I, I don’t know why, when I saw the newspaper, I just felt so dirty, so dirty… So scary! It’s really too scary! I know I shouldn’t think this way, but if a woman can do this to get a man, can ruin him and then ruin herself without hesitation, such love is too terrifying! She must be crazy, completely crazy…”

Then I heard Fu Junyan’s clear and gentle voice. He said, “Don’t think like that. Love, it inherently makes people become crazy. Silly puffer fish, being crazy is not a bad thing. Drowning because of madness, that is also the ultimate love.” His voice was slow, incomparably objective and calm.

I was stunned, suddenly thinking of Dad. To prove his love for Mom, to hold on to that love in his heart, he still can’t accept other women to this day. That kind of foolishness, that kind of madness…

I said, “But a fool in love, even if they hurt the whole world and themselves, they should still protect the one they love…” How could it be like Jay and Xu Mei, making such a mess, shamelessly exposing themselves and hurting the person they love?

“Silly puffer fish, do you like drinking wine?”

“Huh?” I was dazed, a bit unable to accept Fu Junyan suddenly changing the topic, but I still answered, “It’s alright…” I prefer drinking milk…

“Love is like wine. The same glass of wine, if you hold cheese in your mouth, the aroma will become gentle and mellow. If you hold an apple in your mouth, the aroma will be sour and sharp. All love is the same, it just depends on what kind of mood you hold in your heart. Xiao’ai, love has thousands of forms, because the human heart has thousands of forms.”

I listened quietly, suddenly understanding a little. “You mean, no matter what kind of love, like wine, it will exude fragrance when shaken, it just depends on whether you like it or not?”

“Xiao’ai, so smart.” On the other end of the phone, Fu Junyan laughed lightly. I could even imagine his handsome brows and eyes.

I paused, but finally asked, “Fu Junyan, then what about Jay?”

His words were clean and concise. He said, “Adults should take responsibility for their own actions.” Bearing it is the only way out of all problems…

Later, regarding Jay and Xu Mei’s scandal, I always maintained silence, until I was inexplicably implicated.

That day, unlike usual, a large number of reporters suddenly crowded in front of our hotel’s crew entrance. I was surprised, carrying my bag and about to leave the hotel for work. I only walked a few steps before Fang Dingyue grabbed me and pulled me into his room without warning. He slammed the door shut and said to me seriously, “Xiao’ai, don’t go out for now.”

He scared me to death. Being locked in the room, I turned my head, raised my eyebrows and glared at him. Hearing his words made me even more surprised. But through the peephole, I saw that the hotel’s security guards could no longer withstand the reporters’ aggressiveness and soon scattered. However, after those reporters rushed in with their long lenses and cameras, they actually headed straight for the door of my room.

I was dumbfounded. I pointed at myself and asked belatedly, “Fang Dingyue, what happened to me? Why are they all rushing to my door?”

Only then did he sigh, pat my shoulder, turn around and hand me his laptop. I took it gloomily and looked closely. The image on the webpage was clearly a haggard Jay holding my hand. The headline read: “Gu Baobei, Xu Mei, Jay. Deformed love triangle, who is the third party?” “Jay loves goddesses and also loves old women, a confusing love triangle.” Seeing this, my hands holding the computer trembled. It was like this in my previous life too…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before pushing the laptop aside. I held my head and slumped on the table, suddenly losing strength, only feeling a sense of exhaustion surging through my body. So tired, it was like this in my previous life, endless muddy waters. Even if you’re not dirty, you get dirty. Too tiring…

I buried my face and said glumly, “Fang Dingyue, you know? They will pounce like starving wolves, no one will spare me. Regardless of whether I did or didn’t, whether I was in this pool of water or not…”

Fang Dingyue had been silent the whole time. Seeing my reaction, he furrowed his brows deeply and didn’t speak for a long time. But then he suddenly slapped the table hard and said, “Nonsense! What does such a dirty matter have to do with you?” When he said this, his face was extremely cold, as if he had made a certain decision in an instant.

As he spoke, he pulled my hand and opened the door, leading me towards that group of reporters. Then I heard Fang Dingyue clearly say, “Let me clarify, Gu Baobei and Jay are just ordinary friends!” Because of his words, the flashlights lit up and the reporters also surged towards us. Perhaps because of the fear of memories from my previous life, when I saw this scene, I instinctively wanted to shrink back, but Fang Dingyue held me in place.

I turned my head slightly, still wanting to hide, but at this moment, I saw Fu Junyan standing at the other end of the corridor behind the crowd. He had come in a bit of a hurry, standing there alone, looking at my hand held by Fang Dingyue with a gentle and faint gaze. At this time, the dim light in the corridor reflected the depth in his eyes, and his slender figure suddenly seemed a bit lonely. For some reason, I suddenly felt a bit of apologetic intent, trying to pull out my hand held by Fang Dingyue, but to no avail.

I heard a reporter ask, “Fang Dingyue, in what capacity are you speaking on behalf of Gu Baobei?”

“I am…”

Before he could start, I heard Fu Junyan say from the other side, “Of course it’s as a witness. Xiao’ai was scared by you all and called us to rescue her.” As he spoke, Fu Junyan walked over. The reporters’ expressions became very intriguing when they saw his appearance, and they all consciously made way. He walked to my side like this and also held my other hand.

With Fu Junyan here, I was no longer afraid. But with each of them holding one of my hands, I felt a bit awkward.

I heard Fu Junyan speak with suspicion, “I was very surprised to see the news. Obviously we were all there, why was only Xiao’ai photographed? That day, to celebrate the rare gathering of us few friends, we even specially took a photo with our phones.” As he spoke, he took out his phone and pulled up a photo. It clearly showed the four of us standing in that dim garage, looking like we were discussing something. I was dumbfounded… Where did this come from? Fu Junyan held it up like this, letting the reporters take photos of the phone for a while. Then he quickly put away his phone and smiled faintly, curling his lips.

Then I heard him say, “The so-called secret meeting is completely unfounded. That day was just old friends taking time to get together. You’ve already seen the photo just now, what else do you have to ask? I’m very curious, which news agency made such an irresponsible report first?” As he said this, Fu Junyan turned his face to look at Fang Dingyue.

Fang Dingyue paused for a moment. I couldn’t understand the complex emotions in his eyes. I only heard him say, “What I want to say is that I was a witness at the scene at the time, so naturally I can answer your questions. Some people only captured one scene and reported it maliciously, how can you all fully believe it?”

“Then why did Jay come to the set to find you guys?”

“Between close friends, there is nothing we can’t talk about. When encountering trouble, we just seek help.” Fu Junyan said indifferently. He turned his head and gave Fang Dingyue a look. Brother Dingyue paused for a moment and let go of my hand he was holding. Then I saw Fu Junyan turn his face slightly, curl the corner of his mouth, and smile at the reporters, saying, “Everyone, the crew is rushing to shoot. Please do us a favor.” With that, he calmly took my hand and walked through the circle of cameras.

It wasn’t until we walked far away and got into Fu Junyan’s van that we heard a flurry of voices chasing behind us. An entertainment reporter shouted, “Damn it! Which idiot let them go first? They’re not even from the same crew! Damn it! One smile from Fu Junyan and everyone’s dazed!”

I quickly closed the door of the van, watching the car speed away, and then covered my mouth and laughed out loud. But I was the only one laughing. The atmosphere in the car was very cold. Fu Junyan and Fang Dingyue didn’t say anything either. I looked left and right. The one on the left glared at me with a mix of anger and amusement, while the one on the right glared at me coldly. I shut up and tried to remain silent as well.

But I thought and thought, and couldn’t figure out where Fu Junyan produced that photo that didn’t exist at all. No matter how we explained, there might be people who didn’t believe it. But with the photo, with physical evidence, any scandalous love triangle became irrelevant… I couldn’t hold back the joy in my heart and reached out to tug on Fu Junyan in the passenger seat in front, asking, “Fu Junyan, where did that photo come from?”

Without even raising his eyes, he said indifferently, “Photoshopped.”

Photoshopped?! This move is poisonous! In my heart, I once again worshipped the almighty Mr. Junyan… Awesome!

Originally, the matter should have been settled like this, but I never expected that as soon as we arrived at the set, there was actually a white stretch Bentley parked in front of the set. The corner of my eye twitched. I turned my face away pretentiously and rubbed my nose, inwardly thinking it was a bad sign. Just as I was about to sneak into the studio as if nothing had happened, the rear door of the Bentley was pushed open a crack, and a small head slowly poked out from inside, with big eyes blinking on the cute little face. After a while, a circle of white fluff emerged in front of him, shook, revealing watery black eyes, and barked once. My whole body shuddered and froze…

Then I heard Gu Xiao’an’s delicate and soft voice, “Sister! Sister!” The little one seemed to have grown a bit taller, raising his little face happily and running into my arms. Xiao Qi followed him, jumping a few steps, then turned direction and ran straight towards Fu Junyan behind me, wagging his tail and barking wildly.

Then the front door of the Bentley opened, and the man who stepped out was handsome and dashing, wearing a pink Armani shirt, exuding an air of charm. It’s just that his expression was extremely flirtatious. A pair of flirtatious eyes looked at me with a half-smile, and he called out sickeningly, “Baby…” My heart trembled, and I felt a chill all over. This is my cousin Mo Nuoyun, the child of my biological father’s younger sister, taking my biological father’s surname Mo. To the public, he is the chairman of the company I signed with. I looked at him and sighed in my heart. Cousin, can your entrance today be any more flirtatious?

Sure enough, he walked over, picked up An’an who was hugging my leg, and pulled me into his arms, saying extremely affectionately, “Baby, you must have been scared! It’s okay! I’m here.” Ugh… I was so conflicted. Looking at the entertainment reporters rushing over and the constantly flashing camera lights, I felt the world was chaotic enough! And not chaotic enough…

Of course I knew about this act. I always thought my cousin wouldn’t do this again. But it seemed he still hadn’t grown up…

In my previous life, I always felt guilty and let the media say whatever they wanted without fighting back, and didn’t allow my family to step in. Until Jay told me he was going to marry Xu Mei, my world collapsed. At that time, my cousin couldn’t be bothered with me anymore and just did this on his own. The implication was, with a dazzling and handsome CEO like me, how could Gu Baobei be entangled with Jay? It’s just that Fu Junyan and Fang Dingyue had just cleared up the rumors for me, and you jumping in like this, isn’t it just getting more and more confusing?

Gu Xiao’an was unhappy when my cousin picked him up from my side. His little face drooped and he pouted, looking at him pitifully from the side. Those big eyes were so resentful. Then the little guy raised his face, stretched out his little hand, then withdrew it, and finally looked at my cousin with disdain. He only stretched out two chubby fingers to tug at my cousin’s pant leg, and said with a flat mouth in a muffled voice, “Brother! Go away…”

Mo Nuoyun looked down at Gu Xiao’an, raised his eyebrows, and also said with disdain, “Go away!” He also ignored An’an who continued to tug at his pant leg with two little fingers. My cousin turned his head and said to me, “Baby, the kid you picked up is no joke, a little fox!”

I glared at him disapprovingly and pushed his shoulder with my hand, “Brother Nuo, watch your mouth!”

He wasn’t angry when he heard that, and even smiled with raised eyebrows. He tapped my nose and said, “Little girl, you have no guts no matter what you say.” I took the opportunity to take a step back and glared at him.

Gu Xiao’an probably thought he had been abandoned seeing this situation. His mouth flattened and he lowered his head, turning around and throwing himself at Fu Junyan. The little guy hugged Fu Junyan’s leg, tightly covering his face, his little shoulders heaving. His little face rubbed against him coquettishly for a while, and then he went still without a sound. Xiao Qi also seemed to sense Gu Xiao’an’s mood. Suddenly, he stopped circling around Fu Junyan, stood still, and first stared fiercely at Mo Nuoyun with a pair of eyes. But when my cousin glared at him, his little ears drooped. Then Xiao Qi turned around and stared at me. The little furball suddenly got excited and barked at me loudly a few times. I was furious. It had grown some guts after not seeing it for a few days! And it knew to pick on the easy target!

I looked at Gu Xiao’an who was feeling sorry for himself while leaning against Fu Junyan’s leg, feeling both distressed and amused. I glared at Mo Nuoyun and said unhappily, “What kind of person are you, bullying even a child!”

“What kind of silly girl are you, even a dog bullies you.”…

Then, my cousin raised his lips and smiled. Ignoring the two people behind him, he leaned close to me and said, “Baby, I sent An’an back. Remember to check out our scandal tomorrow.” Just as I was startled and about to step back, he leaned over and kissed my forehead, then turned around and left with unparalleled suaveness. Leaving me dumbfounded, raising my hand and rubbing my forehead incessantly.

In the end, I sighed very weakly and could only mutter to myself, “Just take it as being bitten by a dog…” But as I said that, I was met with an angry roar from Xiao Qi and a glare from my cousin… Instantly, I wilted again…

With this happening, I looked back at the two men behind me, not knowing how to start or what to explain. The more said, the more confusing it would be. Sighing, I finally walked over, bent down to pick up the self-pitying Gu An’an, glared at Xiao Qi unhappily, turned around and entered the studio first.

Sister Ruofan was very excited to see Gu Xiao’an and kept wanting to take photos of An’an. Shuang was the same as her. An’an turned his little head to look at me. I smiled and nodded at him. He then obediently raised his lips and smiled at Sister Ruofan, calling out, “Hello, sister!” It made Sister Ruofan keep saying, “My mom is coming tomorrow, coming to bring you good food!”

Then I pointed at Shuang on the side. Gu Xiao’an tilted his head and looked at her. The little bun’s smile was warm as he called out to Shuang, “Hello, brother!” His voice was soft and very cute, and the dimples on his little face were brightened by the warm sunlight. However, Shuang’s face darkened. Instantly, the smile froze on her face and she jumped up, repeating over and over, “Kid! Look clearly, I’m your sister! Sister!” Gu Xiao’an stared at her with big eyes, then still called out with certainty, “Brother!”

So Shuang began a new round of arguing about her gender. Then, Gu Xiao’an boredly turned around and ignored Shuang. No matter how Shuang called him or shouted at him, Gu Xiao’an only lay on Xiao Qi and played. Those eyes looked at the agitated Shuang with surprise and seriousness, and continued to call out with unshakable certainty, “Brother.” My heart was instantly very comforted… very fulfilled… My An’an is great! Venting for his sister…

Then I heard Gu Xiao’an look at Shuang, who was still insisting on her gender, and say very seriously, “Brother, lying to kids, bad…” Neither Ruofan nor I could hold back. We leaned on each other and laughed until our stomachs hurt.

Fang Dingyue didn’t ask me anything, just said to me, “Xiao’ai, if you have any problems, you can also come to me.” I nodded and smiled at him sincerely.

But Fu Junyan was also calm and composed. Why wasn’t he jealous? I was hugged by someone too! And he even kissed my forehead!

In the end, I couldn’t help but send a text message saying, “The one you saw today was my cousin.”

But he only replied with two words: “I know.”

I looked at it, pouted and felt very conflicted. I didn’t know if it was just me being neurotic. I always felt that this guy was too calm, which made me feel a bit unhappy. After a long time, my phone vibrated again. It was another text message from Fu Junyan, with only four words, but I covered my mouth and smiled when I saw it.

He said, “Disinfect it tonight.” I really think that Fu Junyan actually has a bit of a childish side.

Gu Xiao’an didn’t know where he learned it from. Seeing me covering my mouth and laughing, he suddenly ran over and gave me a big kiss on the face. Then he shyly buried his little face, puffed out his cheeks and said, “A kiss of love…” I suddenly wanted to go crazy. Why did Dad have my cousin bring An’an back? What on earth did my cousin do with An’an? What kind of things did he learn?