ATLAS TRANSLATES

“Is this not a convenient place for your friend?” Xu You asked Li Xiaoqiang after waiting for a while.

Although she didn’t usually pay much attention to cars, those sports cars casually displayed on low racks were clearly not affordable for ordinary people.

And this place didn’t look like a simple repair shop at all.

Several men sat on car hoods nearby, smoking and chatting. The others, either standing or sitting, didn’t look like regular workers at all.

Recently, there had been an accident where a high-end supercar crashed into a barrier. One of Xu You’s colleagues had gone to cover the story. While researching for the news article later, that colleague had mentioned it to Xu You in passing.

Some rich kids were too extravagant with their cars; even minor repairs could cost millions.

Xu You recalled some photos and finally understood why the staff member had looked so shocked when she mentioned wanting to repair an Audi.

She glanced at her long-unseen former classmate, “Let’s not trouble your friend. I’ll have a colleague pick me up later.”

After saying goodbye to Li Xiaoqiang, Xu You sensibly prepared to leave.

“What’s wrong, aren’t you getting your car fixed?”

Li Xiaoqiang thought she was worried about the price and explained, “It’s fine, don’t leave yet. Don’t worry about the price, I know the owner here, we’ll give you the lowest discount, guaranteed satisfaction.”

“It’s not about the price, I’m just in a hurry now.”

As she was about to leave, someone rushed over and stopped her.

“—Miss, wait!”

A Lei wiped his sweat and handed Xu You a form, “Miss, please fill this out, we can fix your car right now. You can tell us any performance requirements you have, we guarantee satisfaction.”

“Ah? No need to trouble yourselves, I’m not here for car modifications.” Xu You quickly waved her hands, “I have something to do later, let’s discuss this another time.”

Li Xiaoqiang glanced at A Lei, giving him a look.

A Lei persisted enthusiastically, “No, it’s just that since you’re already here, we can’t let you leave empty-handed, right?”

“Really, it’s fine. I just happened to be passing by.”

Xu You smiled helplessly, noticing his young age, and asked casually, “Are you still in school?”

“Me? I quit school long ago, hehe.”

“Why? You’re so young, what about your family?”

“My parents passed away early, just my sister at home, she’s in university,” A Lei rubbed his head.

A Lei’s full name was Xu Li.

He used to be a small-time gangster. His parents died early, and his relatives were poor. To support his sister’s education, he’d even participated in underground fighting, did all sorts of things, been to hospitals and police stations. Until he met Xie Ci, who became a benefactor in his life.

He taught him a trade to make a living.

Xu You realized her professional habits were showing and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I asked too many questions because of my work, please don’t mind.”

“Work?” A Lei blinked, noticing the work ID hanging around Xu You’s neck, and immediately realized: “Oh, you’re a reporter!”

“Mm.”

“Your name is Xu You?” A Lei raised his voice, “What a coincidence, I’m also surnamed Xu! Our boss says he has special connections with people surnamed Xu, today you must get a discount on your car repair!”

His sweet talk made Xu You laugh, “Really?”

What a strange coincidence.

“Yeah, yeah, how about this.” A Lei followed up, eagerly saying, “I’ll get you an annual membership card, we can discuss the price.”

“…..”

“How about 20% off, or maybe 50%? Whatever makes you happy.”

“……”

Li Xiaoqiang looked at A Lei speechlessly. He wondered when their shop had ever begged someone to let them repair their car…

“A Lei, don’t you know better, why are we even talking about money? This young lady here is your boss’s former classmate, back then.” Li Xiaoqiang suddenly stopped, thinking of something.

He silently regretted… damn… he’d slipped up.

Fortunately, Xu You hadn’t heard clearly, she only caught the word “classmate.”

Just as Li Xiaoqiang was breathing a sigh of relief.

A Lei loudly exclaimed: “Oh, so you’re Brother Ci’s former classmate! No wonder!”

Xu You froze, turning to ask, “…Who?”

“—Me.”

Time had passed so quickly, and with such a casual sentence, that familiar yet distant voice was almost unrecognizable.

But only almost.

Xu You’s back stiffened, and she quickly turned toward the sound, suddenly meeting a pair of dark eyes.

The overhead lights, the half-open window, a slight breeze.

And him, seemingly unchanged.

Xie Ci stood by a car not far away, hands in his pockets, still tall and slim. He wore a blue crew-neck t-shirt that revealed most of his collarbone. Who knew how long he’d been standing behind her.

It would be a lie to say her heart wasn’t stirred. Xu You’s mind went blank. At that moment, she seemed to return to many years ago, when she first saw him in Class 9.

Golden sunlight falling on the desk edge, white scratch paper and a ballpoint pen. Him holding his school uniform, stopping at her side, carelessly picking up the scratch paper.

She was slow to react.

For an instant, she couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

“Xu You…?” When he called her name, he was so nervous he had to swallow, his Adam’s apple moving slightly.

Then both fell into silence. Under the oppressive atmosphere, it felt like a storm could break at any moment.

Noticing this strange atmosphere, A Lei looked back and forth between them, not daring to make a sound.

Before long, Xie Ci was the first to give in. His lips pressed tight, his eyes flustered, habitually pulling out a cigarette to hold, but found his fingers trembling too much to grip it.

People were all around, and the guys kept stealing glances at Xie Ci and Xu You, laughing: “So you know each other, no wonder A Ci was staring at her for so long earlier, I thought he’d fallen in love at first sight with a beauty and couldn’t move.”

“Hahahahaha damn love at first sight.”

“Pretty good.”

There’s a phrase for this…

Oh right… like a lifetime ago.

“Xie Ci, long time no see.” Xu You finally came to her senses, as if just remembering him. She dug her fingers hard into her palm, but wore a smile on her face, dimples showing faintly, “Your hair is still black.”

Hearing these words, Xie Ci didn’t dare move, his eyes reddening.

Hasn’t someone said before?

Only when you meet that long-unseen person face to face do you realize how deep your longing was, how real the pain of missing them was.

Xu You pretended not to see his expression and dropped her smile. She looked away, nodding to Xie Ci, “I should go now, we can talk another time.”

She stepped back half a step, turning to leave.

Yes, that’s right.

She couldn’t say one more word to him.

Nor could she smile and make casual small talk with him like an ordinary friend.

Afraid of saying too much wrong, and afraid of losing control of her emotions, she instinctively wanted to escape.

“Tsk tsk.”

A man in a leather jacket leisurely poured some water into a cup, putting out his cigarette in it, “Finally saw her.”

Someone nearby asked quietly, “Saw what?”

“What else?” The leather jacket man pulled up one corner of his mouth, “The one Song Yifan always told me about, the one we can’t mention to Xie Ci.”

“What was it again?” He recalled for a moment, “Just mention her when he’s drunk, and he goes crazy, no one can stop him.”

“…..”

At this point, everyone else understood.

“When was it? Must have been quite the memorable relationship.”

“Second year of high school? I think so, that’s what I heard.”

“Damn, A Ci, so young yet fell so hard, no wonder.”

“It’s a good thing.” Someone laughed, “Thought he was going to be single forever, but look, his beloved girl has appeared.”

—

Dozens of meters after leaving the repair shop, Xu You looked up at the sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, and being close to the highway entrance with few buildings around made it feel desolate. The tree branches swayed in the wind. She took a deep breath, her feet feeling like lead.

Xu You took out her phone, head down, standing by the road to call Zhang Lili, sending her location on WeChat.

Everything was quiet around her, with the wind howling softly. Gradually, raindrops fell from leaves onto the dirt. Pitter-patter.

Suddenly, a sports car roared past her. Xu You kept her head low, the hair beside her cheeks lifted by the wind.

She walked along the empty road, mind blank, aimlessly waiting for a passing taxi.

But the dark clouds overhead signaled an impending storm. Once it started, the rain couldn’t be stopped, pouring down suddenly. Catching people off guard.

There was a bus shelter not far ahead where she could temporarily take cover. Xu You walked faster, and when she turned her head, Xie Ci was only ten steps away.

A few strands of Xu You’s hair stuck to her cheeks. With her delicate frame, being soaked through meant her cotton-linen clothes clung to her skin.

The semi-transparent color revealed her body’s curves faintly.

She stamped her feet, hugging herself, hiding under the mere meter-long glass awning.

Not far away, Xie Ci just stood silently in the pouring rain.

In truth, meeting again after so long held no earth-shattering drama.

Just not knowing what to do, what could be done.

The downpour grew heavier until rainwater slid down their eyelids, blurring their vision. Xu You asked, “Do you want to come take shelter?”

Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the rain.

Xie Ci remained silent for a while, then shook his head, “No need.”

He called out her name.

Xu You seemed to be looking somewhere, or nowhere at all, “Xie Ci, you don’t seem to have changed much these years.”

“Really?” Xie Ci hesitated, “I’m still quite handsome, right?”

Seeing her not respond, Xie Ci tried to keep things light, “You haven’t changed either, how have you been?”

They chatted like reunited friends, calm and ordinary.

He had finally learned the adult way of making small talk, treating her like any long-unseen classmate.

The past seemed to hold no more grudges.

Xu You suddenly felt a bit bitter, but said nothing.

On such an empty road, there were still no taxis passing by. The wind was strong, blowing rain onto them, and Xu You’s fingers were ice cold.

She gripped her phone tightly in her pocket.

Suddenly, a huge crash startled them both. A metal advertising board nearby was caught by the strong wind, and in the blink of an eye, it slammed down just meters from Xu You.

She reflexively dodged aside, fortunately reacting quickly, only hitting her shoulder. Before she could steady herself, Xie Ci pulled her over, making her stumble a few steps.

His tone was anxious as he held her shoulders, asking several times, “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Such intimate contact made her uncomfortable.

Xu You felt a bit awkward, stepping back two steps to keep some distance from him, “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

Xie Ci immediately realized and loosened his grip, “Sorry.”

The way people interact is strange – even when feelings are gone, they still maintain their usual ways of interacting.

“It’s fine,” she shook her head.

“Xu You, I’m sorry.” Xie Ci’s voice was hoarse as he repeated.

His apology was ambiguous, so this time Xu You didn’t respond.

But she couldn’t help feeling a weak sadness in her heart. Dealing with feelings was really too troublesome.

Xu You felt a bitter surge in her throat. She took a deep breath and said: “It’s fine.”

After being apart for so long, he seemed to truly haven’t changed at all, still not knowing how to control his emotions. Smiling when happy, frowning when angry. Even his unhappy expression was exactly the same.

But Xu You was no longer the Xu You of before. She was no longer that girl who only knew how to study. She had grown up too, experienced society, tried hard to adapt. She even had to spend a lot of time socializing with others every day.

Time had been kind to him, but hadn’t spared her.

This rain suddenly became so heavy, sweeping across the entire world. It seemed only they remained.

Suddenly she remembered their student days, when Xu You had just transferred to the neighboring city. It was summer, right at dismissal time, when a sudden downpour trapped her in the corridor, hugging her books waiting for the rain to stop.

Xie Ci sat on the windowsill not far from her, accompanying her just like this.

Only back then he talked much more, much more than now.

Thinking of the past, her heart suddenly pulled. Not obvious pain, but what sudden sadness is there really – it had always been in her heart.

Composing herself, she forced a smile, saying perfunctorily: “You should go back, I have something to do later, when there’s time… I’ll treat you to a meal.”

—

[Side Story One]

Summer vacation.

Xu You was lazy by nature, always staying at home doing homework, refusing to go out no matter who called. After a few days like this, she got sick from the air conditioning, both coughing and having a sore throat.

Coincidentally, there was a class gathering in a couple days. She wore long sleeves and pants, receiving shocked looks from many people.

“Xu You, are you from the North Pole? My goodness.” Song Yifan pointed at her and exclaimed. Following that, the private room was filled with his hahaha giggle giggle goose-like loud laughter, until he finally laughed himself speechless.

Because of this, a large portion of the gazes in the room suddenly focused on her.

What’s so funny…..

After standing frozen for two seconds, just as Xu You was awkwardly unsure what to do, the door beside her was suddenly pulled open.

Some boys inside were playing poker and heard the commotion, poking their heads out to look.

Xie Ci had just left the card game, one hand on the door handle, one hand propped on the doorframe. He first lazily looked Xu You over for two seconds, then turned his gaze, asking with a half-smile, “Oh, bullying my wife?”

No one spoke.

Xie Ci suddenly shouted at Song Yifan, “Song Yifan!”

“Present!” came a loud response.

“Get in position and get out of my sight!” Xie Ci said, releasing the door handle and walking forward to pull Xu You.

She resisted somewhat, dodging.

The rest applauded loudly, whistling and laughing, “Damn, Xie Ci protecting his wife.”

Song Yifan shouted: “Ah Ci has no humanity…..”

It wasn’t mealtime yet, so few people were at the table. Xu You pulled out a chair and sat down, and someone immediately sat beside her.

She couldn’t be bothered to pay attention, directly taking off her backpack.

“Teacher Xu, are you here to teach or eat, bringing a schoolbag?”

When he called her, she propped her elbow on the table, covering her ears.

Damn.

Xie Ci propped his chin with one hand, carelessly stretching his long legs toward her side, tilting his head to ask inquisitively: “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

Xu You ignored him.

“I just, kissed you a bit too long last time—”

His voice deliberately raised.

“Shut up!” Xu You hurriedly covered his mouth with her hand, palm against his lips. After making eye contact with Xie Ci for two seconds, she reacted first, hastily withdrawing her hand.

“Don’t talk nonsense.” There were many people here, and she didn’t dare speak too loudly to attract attention, so she could only quietly get angry at him.

He didn’t respond, and things suddenly became quiet.

Xie Ci just looked at her like this, not moving, who knows what he wanted to do. Just that his roguish appearance, smiling or not, made people feel he was up to no good.

Just as she was feeling uncomfortable from his staring, Fu Xueli suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Xu You secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fu Xueli came for summer vacation homework — it was in Xu You’s schoolbag, a big pile of test papers.

While Xu You was looking down searching, Fu Xueli chatted casually with Xie Ci on the side.

“Xie Ci, what did you do to get so dark?”

The summer vacation hadn’t been long, but Xie Ci’s originally fair skin had already tanned until it was barely one shade lighter than Song Yifan, approaching a dark wheat color.

Her voice carried a tone of disbelief, “I thought you could never get tanned!”

Xie Ci lowered his head, playing with the teacup lid in his hands, saying carelessly: “Playing basketball.”

“Playing basketball can make you this dark?”

He twisted his mouth, neither confirming nor denying.

Xu You found the papers and handed them to her. As Fu Xueli took them and was leaving, she teased one more time, “You didn’t go play basketball in the sky, did you?”

“…..”

Her words made Xu You unable to hold back, bursting out laughing with a “pft.”

Xie Ci kept watching her from the side.

Having just walked half a day in the scorching summer heat, still wearing long sleeves, her neck was covered in fine beads of sweat.

He reached out his hand, his fingertip just touching her when she sensitively shrank away, turning her head to glare angrily.

Xie Ci absent-mindedly withdrew his hand, then suddenly grabbed the rabbit ears decorating her clothes, pulling them toward himself.

“What are you doing?” Xu You was a bit angry.

They had argued a few days ago, and she hadn’t been speaking to him. Now here, he was starting to get physical again.

“Xu You…” Xie Ci called her name in a low voice, tilted his head, and unexpectedly leaned in to kiss her.

Xu You was quick, blocking with the back of her hand against his lips.

He directly kissed her palm instead, and even laughed.

The exhaled heat made her tremble. Xu You pushed away the person in front of her, biting her lip and covering her face, “I have a cold.”

“Doesn’t matter, let’s share it.”

“……”

Seeing Xu You speechless, Xie Ci laughed again.

Damn.

How can my girlfriend be so cute.

A million times cuter than pink cotton candy and white little rabbits.

[Side Story Two]

These years, Xu You went back to the neighboring city with Xie Ci for New Year.

The day before New Year’s Eve. In the evening, it was still snowing lightly, red lanterns hung everywhere on the streets.

After eating with family, Xie Ci drove, taking Xu You to the riverside where they first watched fireworks.

Most of the original buildings in that area had already been demolished, leaving only a bridge of love.

The car found a random place to park.

Xu You pushed open the car door first to get out, the crisp cold air rushing to meet her face, making her shoulders shrink from the cold. She pulled up her knit scarf, covering the lower half of her face, stamping her feet in place.

Xie Ci turned off the engine and got out, keys dangling in his hand. Just then a piercing cold wind blew, making him shiver, exhaling a white mist, “Damn, why is it so cold by the river?”

Xu You stood not far away, only showing a pair of wet black eyes, looking at him faintly, “Serves you right, who told you to wear so little.”

It was a bad habit he never changed since childhood, incredibly stubborn. No matter how cold the winter, he wouldn’t wear a down jacket, and would never wear thermal underwear even if it killed him.

It was the same in high school, back then Xu You sat in her seat, hugging a hot water bottle, feeling cold every time she saw him swaying back and forth in front of her in just a black jacket.

Xie Ci wore a blue sweater and black jacket. He grinned, opening his arms, “Wife, come give me a hug quick.”

Xu You didn’t move. After staring at each other for a while, she still compromised and walked over. She started unwinding the scarf from her neck circle by circle, preparing to wrap it around him.

Xie Ci suddenly unexpectedly leaned in, tilted his head, and quickly kissed Xu You’s cold cheek once, then abruptly hugged her.

After walking on the bridge facing the cold wind for a while, they got used to it and didn’t feel so cold anymore.

Leaning on the love bridge railing, looking out at the night view in the distance, voices and lights floating. Xu You remembered something from before.

“Xie Ci, do you remember when we came here before, we also hung a lock on this bridge.”

This bridge of love had a legend, that it had been blessed by the matchmaker god for thousands of years. If couples in love came here to put up a lock, they would never separate. Even if they did separate, they were destined to be entangled together in this life, never parting. Until they personally opened this lock.

Xie Ci turned his head to look at her, “Of course I remember.” The cold wind blew his soft black hair.

She looked at the lake water and lights, sighing, “In the blink of an eye so many years have passed.”

Just feeling that the days spent with him, early or late, all passed very quickly.

“Xie Ci.” She called his name.

Xie Ci looked into the distance, casually responding, “Mm?”

“I gave you the key to the lock, are you still keeping it?”

He hesitated for a moment, “Key?”

“You lost it.” Xu You wasn’t surprised, her tone as calm as ever.

Xie Ci immediately denied, “No!”

So they didn’t continue this topic, and she didn’t ask anymore.

Walking down from the bridge, several winter sweet trees were planted by the river, in the bitter cold winter night, some yellow small flowers still remained on the branches.

Xu You stopped, randomly choosing one to smell its fragrance.

Xie Ci stood behind her, reaching out his arms, extremely naturally embracing her. Taking advantage to stick close.

“There are many people, let go of me.” Xu You tried to remove his hand from her waist, but he grabbed her wrist instead.

Xie Ci’s fingertips were very cold as he kissed her earlobe with his lips, asking casually: “Xu You, are you angry?”

“No.”

“The key wasn’t lost.”

“…..”

He had thrown it away on purpose. After carving their names, the moment Xu You turned around, Xie Ci had tossed the key into the river.

He knew then that he probably wouldn’t be able to like any other girl for his whole life.

Later it really became his whole life.