ATLAS TRANSLATES

After being up all night, I slept in until late afternoon, finally crawling out of bed around 1 PM.

By then, Suzhou had a touch of coolness in the air, but it was still a pleasant breeze, gentle like a mother’s hand, caressing my face through the window. Fu Junyan sat in a rocking chair not far from the bed. He wore an elegant white shirt, his shoulders relaxed against the chair back. His right hand rested on the armrest, holding an old-style book, and he was quietly turning the pages, reading intently.

I hugged my blanket and peeked out, staring at him. As if sensing my gaze, he soon looked up. His refined features were clean and bright. He put down his book and said, “Awake?”

I nodded and reached out both hands from under the thin blanket, opening and closing them at him. He smiled, put the book on a nearby table, stood up, and walked to the bedside. He held out his hand to pull me up, saying with a smile, “Spoiled little thing.”

After tidying myself up in the bathroom and returning to the room, I saw a steaming cup of milk on the table. I happily picked up the cup, enjoying the warm sensation in my hands, feeling incredibly comforted. Fu Junyan found a long silk scarf in the luggage and came over to wrap it around me, tying it neatly.

Then he stepped back to look, adjusted my clothes a bit, and nodded with satisfaction before saying, “Baobei, let’s go out for food.” I nodded, then shook my head, my eyes darting around. I tilted my head and mumbled to him, “I haven’t really seen this place yet!” With that, I carelessly pulled at Fu Junyan’s fingers, holding my half-cup of milk, and began excitedly exploring each room of the small courtyard.

Fu Junyan let me wander aimlessly through the rooms, allowing me to pull him along. He smiled and said, “Looks like I’ve fed you well, you’re not hungry at all…” His tone was low and sexy, so suggestive that my ears turned red, and I turned to give him a reproachful look.

In the corner room, we found an inconspicuous bicycle with things like a pump nearby. Fu Junyan looked and said it might be a storage room for the original owner’s odds and ends. He waved his hand in front of me, frowning slightly, and said, “Let’s go, it’s too dirty in here.”

But I didn’t move. I just tilted my head and stared at the bicycle. It was a very old-fashioned black Phoenix brand, once popular but rarely seen on the streets now. I couldn’t help but curiously reach out to touch it. The bell on the handlebar still rang, and the sound was quite pleasant, but it was very dirty, leaving my hand covered in dust. Yet I felt increasingly happy. I opened my eyes wide and turned to look at Fu Junyan with bright eyes, saying, “Let’s go out on the bicycle!”

Fu Junyan frowned slightly. Seeing me about to drink the remaining milk, he quickly took the cup from my hand, shaking his head and saying, “Don’t drink it, dust has fallen in.” I obediently nodded, giving the remaining milk a pitiful look. The milk’s surface indeed looked like it had been sprinkled with cocoa powder due to the dust. I felt conflicted, but glad he was so attentive…

I knew the place was very dusty, and Fu Junyan was a neat freak. Looking at the bicycle covered in dust, he would surely feel uncomfortable. But… isn’t riding a bicycle with your man very romantic? I looked up at him, blinking innocently, and tugged at his sleeve.

Fu Junyan tilted his head to examine me, his long eyelashes blinking, his eyes showing a mix of defeat and indulgence. He took a light breath, handed me back the cup, and instructed, “Don’t drink it.” He paused for two seconds in front of the bicycle, then asked me to move aside. He rolled up his white shirt sleeves even higher, gripped the dirty handlebars, and wheeled the bicycle out of the room.

In the courtyard, Fu Junyan found a hose and connected it to a faucet, thoroughly washing the bicycle from top to bottom. Then he crouched down, turned the pedals, and squeezed the tires. After stabilizing the bike, he went back to the room to bring out a pump, washed it clean like before, and began pumping air into the tires.

Watching him like this, I couldn’t help but giggle behind my hand. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at me. Even while doing such an unglamorous task, his innate elegance and nobility remained undiminished. He remained meticulous throughout; his white shirt stayed clean and neat even after doing such dirty work. I was truly speechless.

Afterwards, Fu Junyan crouched down again to check the tires, then took out a clean cloth he had found earlier and wiped the bicycle dry from top to bottom. Only then did he look up at me and say, “Try sitting on it.”

I smiled and hopped onto the back seat, sitting sideways to watch him. He nodded at me and straddled the front seat, telling me to hold on tight. He put his feet on the pedals, turned them a few times, and rode forward a few steps. Excited, I hugged his waist and peeked out from behind, asking, “How is it? How is it?”

“It’s still usable,” he answered. Hearing this, I was so happy that I started kicking my legs wildly on the back seat.

There’s a Pingjiang River along Pingjiang Road, and they’ve been companions for thousands of years. The street is full of stone slabs, year after year worn smooth by time. Pingjiang Road is quite narrow, and riding a bicycle on the stone slabs was bumpy. At first, I found it fun and laughed happily, but later I could only cry out miserably, “My bottom! Ouch… Fu Junyan, my bottom!”

Fu Junyan heard this and burst into laughter, his laughter carried by the wind sounding particularly pleasant. Even my hands around his waist could feel his chest vibrating. He’s usually a reserved person, rarely laughing so freely. This made me feel playful, and I shamelessly poked his waist, teasing, “How dare you laugh? Still laughing?” He twisted his body trying to dodge my poking and pinching, which made it hard to keep the bicycle steady. We zigzagged down the road, riding crookedly. With the city moat on one side of the street, Fu Junyan was afraid I might fall, so he stopped trying to dodge and let me have my way, only gently calling out, “Little ancestor, sit steady, hold on tight, don’t move around.”

“Hehe,” I heard this and became even more unruly, tickling him with all my might. Fu Junyan finally had no choice but to steer with one hand and use the other to grab my mischievous hand. His thick palm soon pressed my hand against his chest, holding it so tightly that I couldn’t move at all.

I simply rested my face on his back, nuzzling and mumbling, “Stingy, won’t even let me touch a little.”

“Spoiled girl, be good now, and you can touch all you want when we get home…” This was said so suggestively that I immediately became obedient…

Later, we parked the bike somewhere, and Fu Junyan led me to find food. He seemed to know all the good places to eat, like a local guide, and appeared very familiar with the roads, effortlessly leading me through the streets and alleys.

I asked, “Fu Junyan, how do you know all this? Have you been here before?” He smiled and shook his phone at me to show me. I saw the words “Suzhou Travel Guide” on the screen and was left speechless.

We were too conspicuous on this trip. Our playful antics on the bicycle had almost turned us into a local attraction. Gradually, people began to recognize us, but we tacitly chose to ignore it and continued enjoying our little outing.

Fu Junyan first took me to eat chicken feet. The taste was truly amazing, the chicken feet were stewed until very tender, and eating them was so warm and comforting. I got hooked and even snatched a bite from Fu Junyan’s mouth. He willingly pecked me back, like a thief stealing a kiss.

On Pingjiang Road, there’s a Huamao Yogurt Cafeteria with all kinds of yogurt. It was very crowded, with a long queue at the entrance. Fu Junyan and I obediently lined up. This naturally drew some attention. Fu Junyan was holding a flower cake, and I was using a toothpick to eat it piece by piece. Whenever he looked at me, I would feed him a bite, and another look would get him another bite. He just smiled at me, his eyes full of warmth. At that moment, I thought his smile was so beautiful, and it also seemed to have a touch of silliness.

This shop had so many varieties of yogurt, but there were also too many customers. When it was our turn, the server said many flavors were sold out, but there were still eight flavors left. This put me in a difficult position, struggling to decide what to drink.

Looking at them, I thought they all seemed delicious, so I didn’t know which flavor to choose. So I just stood there foolishly in front of the counter, puffing out my cheeks, unable to decide. Seeing this, Fu Junyan gently poked my head, took my hand, stepped forward, and said, “Hello, we’ll have one of each, please.”

I grinned, looking at him speechlessly, then shuffled a bit closer to whisper in his ear, “How can we finish all of that?”

Fu Junyan lowered his head and smiled, paid, took the bag of yogurts from the cashier, and led me out. Then, he rummaged in the bag, took out a cup of light green yogurt, inserted a straw, and handed it to me. Then, he smiled, glanced at me, and said word by word, “Last time, a silly pufferfish said, ‘It’s great to be rich! Buy two bowls of bird’s nest, eat one, pour out one!’”

He imitated my tone perfectly. I was stunned and rubbed my nose, saying quietly, “Daddy always taught me to be frugal…”

He glanced at me with a smile, raised the bag containing seven cups of yogurt, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Today, we’ll fulfill your wish. Our Baobei can drink one sip and pour out one cup, how about that?”

I was embarrassed. I took out a cup from the bag, inserted a straw, and handed it to him. My eye twitched as I said, “Thank you for your great kindness, young master…” But in my heart, I thought, if only An’an were here! If An’an were here, he would surely protect all the yogurts like he protects his milk bottles, and then share them with Xiao Qi…

Of course, later, those remaining six cups of yogurt weren’t really poured out. Instead, they were given to the six fans who had been secretly following us and sweating in the heat from the beginning – not too many, not too few, just six of them.

When Fu Junyan turned to walk towards them, those people were completely stunned. They didn’t know whether to run, all standing frozen in place, just shrinking their heads and staring at us in a daze. Their expressions were like children caught doing something wrong, waiting to be scolded. Moreover, they all obediently held up their ‘weapons’ – phones and cameras – in front of them, gripping them tightly, their faces full of reluctance. The most timid girl hiding at the back was already crying. She sniffled and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I, I will delete your photos, I, I just like you…” But as she spoke, her hand holding the camera reluctantly pulled back.

Looking at her, I suddenly felt very sorry for her. I remembered a very sensational incident from my previous life. It was about a 14-year-old boy who liked a certain actress. Once, the boy met this actress on the street and quietly followed her. As a result, the actress actually called her bodyguards to beat the child severely, breaking his leg and smashing his phone. Later, in a journalist’s interview, I saw in the footage that it was just a skinny boy with no threat at all. He cried hoarsely, saying, “I just liked her and wanted to see her more. I didn’t know she would be scared. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” At that time, I thought, why should that child have to apologize? And I remember, at that time, Fu Junyan rarely expressed his opinion in front of the media. I remember he said, “How can things be that good? Everything has a price. Choosing to be a celebrity, losing some freedom is part of the price.” His words were too real, not blaming anyone, but precisely hitting many people’s sore spots…

And they are all someone’s beloved children, just like us. It’s because they like us that they’re willing to follow us like this, secretly taking photos. Although our freedom is slightly affected, what right do we have to blame them? And why should they be mistreated for this unconditional, humble love they place so low?

I quickly took out tissues from my bag and ran over to give them to the girl who was crying her eyes out. Seeing me approach, her eyes showed both expectation and fear, her timid appearance very pitiful. Afraid of scaring her, I didn’t dare speak first, just smiled kindly at her. Seeing her in a daze, I had to reach out and wipe the tears from her face, comforting her like I would An’an, saying, “Why are you crying? We’re not here to take your cameras, we’re good people…”

Saying this, I pointed at Fu Junyan, who was giving out yogurt to the fans in front who had also started crying, and said, “Look at Fu Junyan, he saw that you’ve been following us for so long and bought yogurt for you! Are you thirsty?” As I said this, I took a sip of yogurt from my cup, and after my taste buds were satisfied, I smiled and said, “Don’t cry anymore, if you don’t go get it soon, all the good flavors will be taken by your friends! Quick, go!”

Hearing this, the little girl’s eyes didn’t move, she looked a bit dazed, looking at me and then slowly at Fu Junyan, and as a result, she burst into loud sobs. I was stunned, not knowing what to do. I thought I really don’t have a talent for comforting people, An’an is really the easiest child to comfort…

Luckily, one of her friends had already calmed down. She came over, looked at me half admiringly, then quickly hugged the little girl and comforted her not to cry. I gave all the remaining tissues to that girl and gently patted the crying girl’s head. I thought this might give her some warmth because every time Fu Junyan patted me, I felt warm all over.

Later, I punched Fu Junyan’s shoulder irritably and said, “Fu Junyan, you had it all planned out, right? How come there were exactly six people following us, and you bought exactly six extra cups? Huh?” He smiled at me when he heard this. I pouted and mumbled, “What happened to ‘drink one cup, pour out one cup’? Tricking Baobei!”

He patted my head and said, “Daddy said to be frugal…”

I poked his arm, stuck out my tongue, and muttered, “Sly fox! Still tricking Baobei!…” But as I complained, even my eyes were smiling.

“Mm, I’m a sly fox,” he agreed, extremely cheerfully.

Later, he told me that when he went over and first asked the boy standing at the front, “Are you thirsty?”, the boy nodded in surprise, then shyly scratched his head and said, “We didn’t dare to drink water, we were afraid if we went to the bathroom, we’d lose sight of you.” Then Fu Junyan put his arm around my shoulder and said, see how kind they are… But I thought, Fu Junyan is cool, yet also tolerant and compassionate…

On the way, we saw the same old gentleman several times. The old man was dressed in a suit and leaning on a cane, obviously carefully dressed up. He was holding a Shar Pei dog on a leash. The Shar Pei looked quite proud, with yellow and white fur, triangular eyes, and a face full of wrinkles. Its fur was short and stiff, looking like it had a comb stuck in it. But its expression, with that wrinkled face looking woeful and solemn, was hilariously funny.

I shook Fu Junyan’s hand that I was holding and said, “Look, look at that wrinkly dog!” Fu Junyan glanced over and raised an eyebrow.

I squinted my eyes and looked again at the little creature that wasn’t as good-looking as Xiao Qi, and said, “When I was little, I went to a dog café once, you know, one of those pet cafés with lots of dogs. The staff there was very enthusiastic, introducing me to the breeds of dogs in the store. As she was explaining, she brought out a dark Shar Pei and told me, ‘Its place of origin is China.’ I cried right then and there, babbling, ‘Wah, why is it that the ugliest dog, the ugliest dog here, is my compatriot…’”

“Compatriot?” Fu Junyan heard this and chuckled softly, raising an eyebrow and looking at me, saying, “So you were quite silly even as a child…”

The third time we encountered the old gentleman, many people had gathered around him. I curiously pulled Fu Junyan into the crowd, and what I saw made me laugh. The Shar Pei had all four of its fleshy paws splayed out, its head drooping, lying motionless on the stone pavement, with an expression of deep melancholy… The old man was pulling on the leash, trying to drag it, but it just wouldn’t get up, not even bothering to bark. The people around were all laughing. I leaned back against Fu Junyan, encircled in his arms, also covering my mouth and giggling.

Finally, the old man had no choice but to pull the dog’s front legs to get it up, using both hands to make the lazy little dog stand and walk. But after just a few steps, the Shar Pei gave up again, impudently flipping over and simply lying on its back on the ground.

I tugged at Fu Junyan’s arms around me and sighed, “It’s a good thing our Xiao Qi isn’t like this… Is this laziness or just a bad temper?”

Fu Junyan made no comment, but remarked thoughtfully, “Good thing pufferfish and Shar Peis aren’t compatriots…”

I exploded! “Are you asking for a beating, Fu Junyan!”

“When we get home…”

By the afternoon, Fu Junyan and I were both full. There was a stall on the street blowing sugar figurines, amazingly blowing out a Monkey King figure. I watched intently, and Fu Junyan held my hand and asked, “What does Baobei want?”

I thought for a moment and grinned, “I like Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West the most! Zhu Bajie is great, so cute, he can eat and sleep…”

Fu Junyan smiled at me when he heard this, bought me a Zhu Bajie figurine, but only let me play with the stick and wouldn’t let me eat it, explaining like he was taking care of a child: “It’s dirty.” Hearing this made me feel warm inside…

As the sky gradually darkened, we entered a teahouse and chose a seat by the window. From where we sat, we could see the river in the distance outside the window, which was very poetic.

After sitting down, Fu Junyan adjusted the long silk scarf around my neck. He called the waiter over to order some snacks and a pot of flower tea. There were some local Suzhou people in the teahouse, their soft voices filling the air. Listening closely, it was all in the Suzhou dialect. The intonation was so charming it made one’s heart melt, feeling soft and carrying a lingering sweetness.

There was a small stage in the teahouse, and soon two women in qipaos walked up. They sat down gracefully, one holding a sanxian and the other a pipa. They both nodded to the audience below and began to play and sing. Their voices were enchanting, with a slow and rhythmic melody.

They sang: “Jiangnan dream, ethereal as immortals. Peach blossoms and willow leaves, the moon more hazy. Talented scholars and beautiful ladies, faces like paintings. Even now, lingering.”

I couldn’t help but say to Fu Junyan, “When I was little, Daddy used to say that the girls in Suzhou speak the most beautifully, with a charm that can’t be imitated no matter how much you try.” As I spoke, I imitated the old gentleman next to us, squinting my eyes and listening intently.

But soon, I heard the women sing: “Pine smoke curls around green towers, sparse lanterns dot the river. Good dreams should end early, beautiful scenes are hard to come by again.” I opened my eyes, my eyelids suddenly twitching twice. The lyrics made me feel uneasy, and I lost my mood to listen further. I tugged at Fu Junyan’s hand, asking to pay the bill and leave.

When we left the teahouse, the moon was already high in the sky. My stomach was full, and I felt lazy. Standing up, I had no energy and clung to Fu Junyan’s arm, acting spoiled like a boneless creature.

He turned his head to look at me gently and stroked my head, asking, “Tired?”

I pouted and nodded. He smiled knowingly, warm and gentle, and gave me a quick, light kiss on the lips. He patted my hand, and I let go, tilting my head to look at him.

Then Fu Junyan stepped forward, slightly bending his back and facing away from me, saying, “Get on, I’ll carry you.”

Hearing this, I smiled, squinted my eyes, and jumped onto his back, hugging his neck. I closed my eyes and lazily rested on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.

He walked very steadily, his hands supporting my legs and holding me up.

I nuzzled his head again and asked, “Fu Junyan, what about the bicycle?”

“I’ll ride back to get it later.”

“Why? Are you afraid you won’t be able to ride steady and might end up in the river?” I laughed, reaching out to tug at his delicate, handsome ear.

He didn’t dodge, just said softly, “I don’t know which spoiled little thing said it was uncomfortable to sit on.” As he spoke, he patted my bottom, his movement very gentle and tender.

“Oh.” I curled my lips into a smile and mischievously licked his earlobe. His pace didn’t falter at all. He gently patted me again and said good-naturedly, “Be good, don’t tease. Let’s go home.”