ATLAS TRANSLATES

Li Xiaoqiang was still chatting with Ali when he caught sight of Xie Ci walking in through the rolling door.

He was completely soaked, still dripping water. His expression clearly wasn’t good.

Li Xiaoqiang checked the time – a full half hour. As he was mentally complaining, he saw Xie Ci walking straight towards him.

He reached out his hand, “Give me the car keys.”

Li Xiaoqiang made a confused sound, not understanding, and couldn’t help but study Xie Ci’s expression.

“Xu You’s.” He frowned, too lazy to say another word.

“Drive the car in.” Xie Ci had just ordered Ali, but changed his mind within thirty seconds.

“Never mind, don’t touch it.”

He irritably ran his fingers through his hair, went upstairs to change out of his wet clothes. After cleaning himself up, he grabbed an umbrella and went out to move Xu You’s car that was parked on the street.

No one had ever seen him being so particular before, and everyone exchanged bewildered looks.

A brother came over to ask Li Xiaoqiang, the insider, “That Audi outside, is that Ci-ge’s…?”

Before he could finish, Li Xiaoqiang nodded vigorously, and everyone understood.

The ordinary, low-key black Audi slowly drove in. It stopped in the center of the repair shop, standing out awkwardly among the top-tier sports cars parked beside it.

The car’s engine shut off, and Xie Ci leaned back in the passenger seat, not getting out for a long time. He just sat there lost in thought, who knows what he was thinking about.

Finally, Li Xiaoqiang couldn’t stand it anymore and opened the car door to call him.

There was a fragrance of soap mixed with jasmine in the car.

A woman’s scent.

Before he could say anything, Xie Ci’s eyes turned to him, his brows furrowed, “F*ck off, move your hand, don’t touch it.”

Who pissed you off? Look at that temper.

Li Xiaoqiang’s hand on the car door froze, “Fine, fine, I won’t touch it, okay?”

Later, when Xie Ci started repairing the car, someone came to help, but they were pushed away.

Ali came over too. He stood to the side in shock and said: “Bro, you’re actually doing it yourself? But with such a minor problem, can you even fix it?!”

People gathered around him, purely to watch the show.

Someone else wanted to help.

Xie Ci turned to look at them, “Have you no sense? Nobody f*cking touch anything!”

Everyone: “……”

Look how precious you’re being about it.

—

“Just now, I watched for quite a while.” Zhang Lili turned the steering wheel, changing lanes. This was at the highway exit, and she didn’t dare be careless, turning on the turn signal.

Xu You sat in the passenger seat, quietly looking out the window, not responding.

Seeing she was soaked through, still dripping water, her clothes clinging to her body, Zhang Lili worried she might catch a cold. She turned on the air conditioning and checked the rearview mirror, “You should change your clothes.”

Xu You reacted after a moment, “Oh, right, my clothes are still in the car.”

“You left your car at that shop for repairs? What about your things inside?”

“…We’ll see later.” Xu You tiredly rubbed her forehead, “I’ll buy a new set when we get to City X.” She was exhausted now, really too lazy to go back and face him.

“Why don’t you go back to your car and get your things before leaving?” Zhang Lili’s gaze swept over her, “Are you planning to go on a business trip with just your phone?”

“…….”

Seeing her silence, Zhang Lili sensed something was wrong, thinking back to the scene she’d witnessed earlier.

That man had stood with Xu You in the rain for so long, obviously not just anyone. Zhang Lili was a very gossipy girl, so she curiously asked, “That guy just now, what’s your relationship with him?”

“High school classmate.”

“Just a classmate, really?” She clearly didn’t believe it.

Xu You looked at the pouring rain outside the window, momentarily dazed, but quickly covered it up.

“When I went down to get you just now, I got a close look – he’s quite handsome. What kind of classmate was he?” Zhang Lili seemed very interested in Xie Ci.

Not knowing why she suddenly became so interested, Xu You could only casually reply: “High school classmate.”

“What kind of person is he?”

“Not much of anything.” Xu You paused, turning her face to the side window, “Back then at our school, he used to strut around with a group of people, getting into fights and causing trouble.”

“A bad boy, huh? Aren’t those really popular with young girls?” Zhang Lili recalled her own girlhood pink fantasies, shaking her head with a smile, sighing, “Why didn’t I ever see such a handsome troublemaker in my high school?”

Xu You neither confirmed nor denied, staying silent.

Then they stopped discussing this topic.

In the end, Zhang Lili still drove her back to the repair shop. The Audi couldn’t be driven, so it had to stay there. Xu You didn’t say goodbye to anyone, just packed up her basic things and got in Zhang Lili’s car to leave.

This business trip wouldn’t be long, and the distance wasn’t far.

They were meeting with the owner of an information technology company in Hecheng, doing a column report focused on entrepreneurship. The owner was born in the 90s, who built up his business after graduation and single-handedly brought the company into the market.

At night in the hotel, Xu You was organizing materials on her computer.

Keywords…. employment, career choice, entrepreneurship.

“Li Chao is quite inspiring.” Zhang Lili held a cup of water, leaning against the wall behind her to comment.

“Not just inspiring, he seems to be a good man too, very good to his current wife.” Zhang Lili added, thought for a moment, then said meaningfully: “Xu You, would you say this is the standard configuration of a successful man?”

“I don’t know.”

Xu You focused on work.

“That kind of man who has life experience and self-control.” Zhang Lili lowered her voice, “Sigh… doing our job, we see a lot and realize there are actually many good men out there, we just can’t meet them ourselves.”

“……”

Recording reached the final stage. Xu You typed the last line.

[Do the right thing, then do things right.]

Then closed her computer.

She had been caught in the rain today, and met Xie Ci – her body and mind felt like they’d been through a catastrophe.

As hot water poured down from the shower head, she closed her eyes, and memories surged up with it, instantly drowning her thoughts.

What she thought of in that moment.

Was the plain ring she had seen on his ring finger today.

After being busy all afternoon, they were both tired and went to bed early.

The bedside lamps were turned off, but the hallway light in front of the bathroom was still on, neither wanting to bother turning it off.

Zhang Lili couldn’t sleep and played with her phone for a while, then suddenly turned her head to ask: “By the way, Xu You, are you asleep?”

“What is it?”

So she wasn’t asleep either. Zhang Lili put away her phone and complained frustratedly, “That guy I had an arranged date with just now, he immediately wanted to video chat. And he kept bragging about how rich his family is, I was so annoyed.”

“……”

“But my parents really like him, sigh.”

Zhang Lili was from Shanghai. Her family elders were very conservative and didn’t want her to marry someone from outside the city, just wanted her to find a Shanghai man. Zhang Lili had been instilled with this concept since childhood, so when looking for a boyfriend, she first considered whether they were from Shanghai and if their family had a house in the city district.

So although she wasn’t old, as soon as she started working, she was constantly pushed to go on arranged dates, with different prospects every few days.

“Xu You, don’t your parents pressure you to get married?” Zhang Lili was curious, “I’ve never seen you dating anyone either.”

Xu You smiled slightly, “My parents don’t pressure me.”

“But you should at least find a boyfriend, right? You’re a girl, it must be so hard living alone out here.”

“It’s fine, I think being alone is quite nice, very free.”

Zhang Lili studied the person beside her in the dim yellow light.

Actually, Xu You’s first impression was one of gentleness, not strikingly beautiful. But after spending time with her, you’d discover this young woman truly had a good personality, and wouldn’t easily compromise. Moreover, she took everything seriously.

Like Zhang Lili herself, she was a typical girly girl. Just wanting to hide behind a man, act coquettish, live peacefully.

“Want freedom? Why don’t you just shave your head and go to a Buddhist nunnery, spend the rest of your life with ancient Buddha and oil lamps.”

Xu You said seriously: “That actually sounds quite nice.”

“Oh right.” Zhang Lili suddenly remembered, “That repair shop we went to today, I forgot to ask, why did you take your car to that kind of place for repairs?”

How did the topic come back to this again.

Xu You coughed once, trying to simplify things, “I went to the 4S store to fix my car, the owner there is my high school classmate, he took me there.”

“Was it the one who was with you just now?”

“No.”

Zhang Lili made no effort to hide her amazement, “Just casually taking you to that kind of place, your high school classmate must be quite a car-loving rich kid, right?”

Zhang Lili had done work-related research in this area before and could tell at a glance. Although that repair shop’s premises were somewhat crude, the cars casually parked there were top domestic supercars, both new and classic models rarely seen even at car shows. Some cars even had logos of famous clubs on them.

Her best friend’s husband was also in that circle, so Zhang Lili understood quite well. Actually, to many outsiders, supercars were just tools for rich kids to show off and pick up girls, and many supercar clubs spent all day eating, drinking, and wasting money. But many people truly loved cars, mostly because of shared interests, enjoying the thrill of racing on the track.

So they were usually willing to spend money on car modifications.

That place was clearly not somewhere ordinary people went.

What Zhang Lili said didn’t hold much interest for Xu You, as she didn’t really understand it anyway.

Xu You’s face pressed against the pillow, her eyes closing for a moment.

She was really too tired.

Seeing she was asleep, Zhang Lili fell silent after a while.

She started dreaming again at night, Xu You dreamed she was walking on campus. She looked around, her heart beating fast.

In a blink she was back in the classroom, wearing her school uniform and lying on her desk. The electric fan slowly turning overhead, golden sunlight pouring down, blue water cup rippling with light.

A boy called her name with a laugh, the corner of his mouth holding a nostalgic smirk.

But he hadn’t appeared for so long, she could no longer see clearly, nor remember what he looked like.

—

The next day they returned to Shanghai.

Xu You wasn’t feeling well, so she gave the materials to Zhang Lili and called in sick. She wrote several draft articles as backup and sent them to the chief editor’s email.

As soon as she got home, she saw instant noodle cups piled up all over the dining table. Knowing Yu Lele wouldn’t eat properly, she sighed helplessly and opened the living room window to air it out. After tidying up a bit, she took a shower, then collapsed into bed and slept like the dead.

When she woke up again, it was already dark outside. The room had grown dim, like an old and unclear silent film.

Yu Lele wasn’t home.

It had been raining in Shanghai these past few days, but the light drizzle outside seemed to have stopped, so quiet you could hear cars honking as they passed by on the street.

Xu You got up from bed and sat for a while. She randomly picked out a loose white top from the wardrobe to put on, casually throwing a black knit cardigan over it.

She tied her hair back casually. Grabbed her phone, wallet and keys to go downstairs for food.

It had just rained, and the ground was still wet. The air was cool, with darkness enveloping everything around.

Xu You lived on the edge of the inner ring road, where the landscaping was quite nice, built with a slight ancient feel. Red lanterns hung between trees every few steps, with a damp breeze in the air.

Xu You found a small restaurant to sit down in, casually ordering a small bowl of wonton.

Halfway through eating, she suddenly remembered something. Xu You picked up her phone from the side and sent Yu Lele a WeChat message.

[What about my car.]

Yu Lele showed ‘typing’ for a long time on the other end. Then directly called instead.

“Hello? You’re back?”

Xu You used her chopsticks to roll up some noodles, made an affirmative sound, then asked: “I asked you to get the car back, did you forget?”

“No, I went.” Yu Lele raised her voice, “You don’t even know, when I went, they absolutely refused to give me the car, saying you were an important customer and had to pick it up in person, I was so angry.”

Xu You’s movements paused as she heard the other side say, “Then I saw they were all tough-looking guys, didn’t want to argue anymore. And why did you go fix your car at that godforsaken place anyway, what important customer, it looked so sketchy to me.”

“…..” Xu You had a headache. She put her chopsticks down on the bowl.

“I have to get it myself?”

“Yeah, that’s what they told me, I was confused too. I swear this is the first time I’ve seen such an unreasonable repair shop.” After saying this, Yu Lele added, “Really, it’s not that I forgot, they just wouldn’t give it to me.”

Xu You rubbed her temples, “Okay, I got it.”

Yu Lele asked: “I’m going to be back late today, going clubbing with Pengpeng and them at Huinan, want to come?”

“No, I have work tomorrow.” Xu You refused.

“I knew it, I was just asking casually, you wouldn’t go even if you didn’t have work.”

Xu You said a few words then hung up the phone. She needed the car tomorrow, and after thinking for a while, still decided to call Li Xiaoqiang.

The restaurant was a bit noisy, so she paid the owner and went outside to make the call.

Cars flowed past like water beside her.

“Xu You?!” Li Xiaoqiang received her call, his voice clearly delighted for a moment.

Xu You hesitated for a few seconds, then responded with: “It’s me.”

“Something wrong?”

“My car….”

“Oh oh, your car was fixed yesterday.”

“When can I come get it?”

Li Xiaoqiang: “You don’t need to come, just give me an address and we’ll have someone deliver it to you.”

“No need.” Xu You politely refused, “That would be too much trouble for you all, I’ll just come get it myself.”

“Xu You, let me be honest with you, are you still hung up on Xie Ci?” Li Xiaoqiang carefully asked.

Since they weren’t very familiar, it wasn’t convenient to discuss such private matters. Mainly Xu You was really tired and didn’t want to say much. She stopped under a tree, naturally lowering her eyes, “What happened between us is in the past, he already has a girlfriend now, and I have my own life, let’s just let things be.”

Li Xiaoqiang listened in confusion: “What girlfriend? Who told you that? Xie Ci hasn’t had even a female fly around him these past few years, how did he suddenly get a girlfriend?!”

Xu You’s heart skipped a beat.