ATLAS TRANSLATES

In the twenty-two years Lu Jiaheng had been alive, he had gotten into a fierce and prolonged battle with You Guess.

After finishing his meal, Lu Jiaheng pushed back his chair. The moment he stood up, You Guess leaped onto the sofa armrest in a flash. His fluffy tail swished back and forth imposingly as his bright blue cat eyes fixed on the person before him, letting out a “meow” that seemed to signal he was ready for battle.

Lu Jiaheng let out a disdainful laugh. He lazily raised his hand and lightly pushed the seal-colored little head that looked like it had been smeared with something, knocking him over.

You Guess tumbled off the sofa armrest and sprawled onto the couch. After being stunned for a second, he quickly recovered, scrambling up on his legs and continuing to bare his teeth at Lu Jiaheng.

He probably felt he had underestimated his opponent’s fighting power earlier, not expecting the enemy to be so formidable. This time, he crouched down, his chubby body planted firmly on the sofa.

Lu Jiaheng bent down and grabbed his two front legs, applying slight force to easily lift him up.

The entire cat was suspended in front of his opponent, unhappily kicking his legs around in protest.

Lu Jiaheng looked him up and down, tilting his head: “Has this cat been neutered?”

Chu Zhi happened to come in from the kitchen, placing a glass of juice on the coffee table: “Unless you’re buying from a certified cattery for breeding purposes, all Ragdolls have to be neutered before they can be brought home, or the owner needs to take them to be neutered and provide video proof.”

Lu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow at the lively little creature in his hands, smiling somewhat wickedly and with a hint of schadenfreude: “Oh.”

You Guess frantically thrashed about in his hands: “Meow meow!!”

Lu Jiaheng seemed to have found some amusement, playing with You Guess for a while until the cat was so angry he started biting him.

Close to nine o’clock, Lu Jiaheng helped clean up the takeout boxes, getting ready to leave.

Chu Zhi walked him to the door but couldn’t help asking: “So where will you sleep up there?”

Lu Jiaheng fell silent too, standing there for a moment before saying stiffly: “The bedroom is furnished.”

Chu Zhi’s eyes widened, completely unable to imagine that the seemingly disastrous house had a bedroom that was furnished enough to be livable.

She nodded, casually asking: “Do you have blankets?”

Lu Jiaheng: “…”

Chu Zhi: “…”

“What about pillows?”

“…”

“…The bed?” Chu Zhi probed.

“There’s a bed,” Lu Jiaheng answered immediately.

Chu Zhi sighed: “Senior, are you planning to sleep on wooden boards tonight?”

Lu Jiaheng didn’t say anything.

Actually, he had planned to stay at a hotel.

Seeing him stay quiet for so long, Chu Zhi assumed he was agreeing. She sighed again and gestured to him with parental authority: “Wait a moment.”

She went back inside and came out a while later carrying a blanket and a pillow.

The small girl was dwarfed by the soft blanket with the pillow stacked on top, reaching up to about her nose level. She was completely hidden behind the bedding except for her eyes.

Up close, it became clear there were two blankets – a thin one and a thick one, probably for summer and winter use.

She wobbled over to him carrying the almost person-high pile. When Lu Jiaheng reached out to take it, what felt like iron plates in her arms felt like cotton in his.

Chu Zhi pushed all the bedding into his hands and adjusted the pillow on top: “These are mine, but the sheets and pillowcase are newly changed, so don’t mind using them.”

Lu Jiaheng lowered his eyes at the soft, warm blankets and pillow in his arms. The pink and white sheets had printed animals on them, with fluffy lace trim. The fabric was soft, carrying a faint scent of laundry detergent and a hint of vanilla.

He raised his lashes to look at her and said slowly: “It’s fine even without changing them.”

Chu Zhi’s ears started burning again.

She rubbed her ears, mumbling quietly: “No, they have to be changed…”

Lu Jiaheng gave a soft laugh, holding the blankets and pillow: “Alright, thank you.”

Chu Zhi leaned forward to open the door for him, her doe eyes bright and curved in a smile: “Goodnight, senior.”

The October wind was a bit cold, blowing in through the open corridor window.

Lu Jiaheng stood at the door holding the pink and white bedding, his eyes downcast with long lashes casting shadows, looking strangely docile.

Like some fierce large animal that had been tamed, his gaze was soft and harmless.

He quietly looked at her for a moment before obediently nodding: “Goodnight.”

Chu Zhi was woken up by the sound of the door opening and voices.

She had slept very deeply, truly tired from several days of traveling. Early in the morning, voices came from outside her bedroom. You Guess jumped onto the bed with a meow, nuzzling her face with his nose.

Chu Zhi pushed him away with her eyes still closed, drowsy. The cat had been pampered so much he was almost too fat to push away. Chu Zhi barely opened her eyes a crack.

Before she could sit up, her bedroom door opened and Ms. Deng came in wearing a Bohemian style long dress, having been somewhere that left her with an overly healthy tan, but still looking very energetic.

However, at this moment, Ms. Deng was greatly alarmed: “Honey, where are Mom’s blanket and pillow?”

Chu Zhi yawned, propping herself up on both hands to slowly sit up.

Still not having slept enough, she looked too lazy to speak. She grabbed the corner of her blanket and shook it to show that it was here.

Ms. Deng made a questioning sound: “Then where’s your blanket?”

Chu Zhi rubbed her eyes: “Mmm…”

She slowly “mmm”-ed for a while without getting any words out when the doorbell rang.

Chu Zhi continued rubbing her eyes and yawned again, her eyes full of sleep-induced moisture.

Three seconds later, she suddenly dropped her hands and widened her eyes, looking at Ms. Deng standing by the bed. She was half awake now: “Mom?! You’re back?”

“We got back this morning—”

Chu Zhi didn’t wait to hear what else she was saying, quickly jumping out of bed without even putting on slippers, her bare feet pattering on the floor as she ran out of the room with a tragic cry: “Dad—!!”

Mr. Chu hadn’t even changed his clothes yet and was standing at the door with a water cup when, accompanied by her wailing, he opened the door.

Lu Jiaheng stood at the door holding the pink and white lace-trimmed blanket and pillow, making eye contact with Mr. Chu.

The two men stared at each other for ten seconds, neither speaking.

Twenty seconds later, Mr. Chu raised his water cup to his lips and took an unhurried sip, saying kindly: “Young man, we’re not buying.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

Before she could react, Mr. Chu closed the door with a bang.

Turning around, he saw the young girl standing frozen in the living room with wide eyes: “You’re up? Go put on shoes before coming out, the floor is cold.”

Chu Zhi trembled: “Dad dad dad… that just now was…”

Mr. Chu said cheerfully: “It’s nothing, just a salesperson, right? They even do door-to-door sales for bedding now? I have to say though, that young man was quite handsome, kind of reminds me of myself back in the day.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

Chu Zhi was at a loss for words, not knowing how to explain. She simply walked to the door and hesitantly opened it again.

Lu Jiaheng hadn’t left, still standing at the door in the same position as before, looking lost in thought.

Hearing the door open, he turned his head.

Chu Zhi felt quite awkward, randomly smoothing her sleep-mussed hair a couple times, extremely embarrassed about her father just shutting the door on him thinking he was a salesperson.

After careful consideration, just as she was about to speak, Lu Jiaheng glanced down at her and calmly said: “Go put on shoes, the floor is cold.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

In this short time, Mr. Chu had already gone to the bedroom to get her slippers. Seeing the door open again, he made a questioning sound and looked at Lu Jiaheng very patiently: “Young man, we really aren’t buying anything, you can go.”

Mr. Chu walked over, put the slippers by Chu Zhi’s feet, straightened up, and with a bang, closed the door again.

Chu Zhi: “…”

Lu Jiaheng: “…”

Regarding this incident, Chu Zhi had no idea how to explain. In the end, Lu Jiaheng was quick to react, saying he was the upstairs neighbor who saw their blanket had fallen and helped pick it up.

Chu Zhi nodded rapidly like a pecking chick: “Yes yes yes, I hung it out to dry yesterday.”

Mr. Chu, like a naive innocent, had an expression of sudden enlightenment and kept apologizing to him.

However, Ms. Deng looked confused: “How did you know these blankets were from our home?”

“…”

Chu Zhi was extremely nervous, though she didn’t know why she was nervous, since she hadn’t done anything wrong.

She also didn’t know why she instinctively went along with his lie, when really she—

Hadn’t done anything wrong…

Lu Jiaheng’s expression didn’t change at all, remaining so calm that not a single flaw could be found. He smiled slightly and said composedly: “I didn’t know, I went door to door asking.”

Chu Zhi who lived on the sixteenth floor: “…”

The next few days, Chu Zhi spent all her time at home watching movies, reading novels, and eating snacks.

The night before school started after the October holiday ended, she returned to school.

Xue Niannan also brought food back. Chu Zhi brought a full box of braised pork ribs. They ordered bubble tea and fried chicken in the evening, had a small feast, and started playing mahjong while chatting.

Lin Tong was talking about when they were stuck on the cable car for over three hours at Cangyan Mountain. Gu Han held a Want Want rice cracker in one hand while arranging tiles with the other, her expression changing dramatically as she listened.

Xue Niannan hadn’t said anything, just eating and arranging a row of tiles. When Lin Tong mentioned that Pink Water Cup had also gone to Cangyan Mountain with them, she casually drew a tile and finally made an “ah” sound.

Chu Zhi blinked: “Did you win with a self-drawn tile?”

Xue Niannan shook her head: “I just suddenly remembered, when I went to the student council this afternoon, I saw your Pink Water Cup again.”

Gu Han was rather indifferent, saying casually: “What happened, did he get scolded by his dad again?”

“No, I saw a stunning busty girl asking for his WeChat.”

Lin Tong, who had seen more interactions between Chu Zhi and Lu Jiaheng, glanced at Chu Zhi and asked uncertainly: “Did he give it?”

“No, he said—” Xue Niannan cleared her throat and lowered her voice, lazily mimicking: “‘Sorry, I have a girlfriend.’”