ATLAS TRANSLATES

After Lu Jiaheng left, Chu Zhi’s life went on as usual. She combined two meals into one, had her upper body dragged out of bed by Ms. Deng while her lower half remained stuck to it, and didn’t go out much with friends.

Father Chu and Ms. Deng found it strange. After starting university, Chu Zhi had become more social, often going out and not coming home for meals until late at night. Initially, Father Chu would call her repeatedly, but later Ms. Deng said their daughter was growing up, so he stopped, though he’d still be unhappy when she came home too late.

Now that Chu Zhi stayed home every day, he felt uncomfortable again and tried various ways to get her to go out with classmates.

When junior year started, Yuan Ci graduated. Before graduation, the drama club had one more gathering.

Octopus had already left the club to focus on his internship at a foreign company, converting to full-time right after getting his diploma. That day was also the first time Chu Zhi properly drank alcohol.

With Lu Jiaheng absent, she had no restrictions or supervision. Having no idea about her alcohol tolerance or drinking behavior, she simply dragged Lin Tong along.

Before starting, Chu Zhi looked seriously at Lin Tong: “Tong, if I try to do anything irreversible later, remember to stop me.”

Lin Tong looked at her vigilantly and confused: “What counts as irreversible?”

Chu Zhi recalled how people acted drunk in TV shows and movies, thinking seriously: “Like standing on the table to do a striptease?”

“…”

Lin Tong imagined the scene and felt it was quite terrifying. Even if Chu Zhi hadn’t said anything, if she failed to stop her, she probably wouldn’t be alive the next day – Young Master Lu would fly over to kill her.

Only Lin Tong knew about Chu Zhi and Lu Jiaheng’s relationship. Initially, Chu Zhi hadn’t found the right opportunity to tell others, and after putting it off for so long, she never specifically mentioned it. Lin Tong only found out by chance when they met at the library.

The battlefield moved from the hotpot restaurant to a barbecue place. Chu Zhi meticulously accepted the beer Octopus passed her, carefully pouring it into a glass when she saw Octopus beside her wipe the bottle mouth and drink straight from it.

Chu Zhi was amazed, thinking it looked quite heroic. She pushed her glass forward and drank too.

After one bottle of beer, Chu Zhi’s little face was flushed, and she started hiccuping.

By then, Octopus had already drunk three or four bottles, his face red as a monkey’s bottom. The two hugged and cried together, Octopus wiping snot and tears while rubbing Chu Zhi’s little head: “Sister, from now on I’m your real brother. If anything happens, if you face any grievances, tell your brother.”

Chu Zhi’s face was as red as a little cat: “Brother! I’ll miss you!!!”

Lin Tong had a bit of a headache and quickly went to pull her away: “Zhi’er, come eat some meat.”

Yuan Ci was like an old father, grilling meat for her on the side. When Chu Zhi was pulled over, she saw Yuan Ci and moved her red little flower-like face closer, looking extremely sad: “Senior! I’ll miss you too!!!”

Yuan Ci had also drunk two or three bottles of beer, but looked like he’d just had water, maintaining his composure without showing any signs of drinking.

He looked at Chu Zhi crying confusedly while hugging his arm and smiled, his little tiger teeth gleaming white: “I’ll come visit you, the graduate dorm isn’t very far anyway.”

Something seemed to trigger Chu Zhi. She wiped her red eyes, looking at him while hiccuping.

After hiccuping twice, she suddenly licked her lip corner, mumbling as she let go of his arm, like a child who had done something wrong, honestly hanging her head while sitting in her seat.

Before Yuan Ci and Lin Tong could react, Chu Zhi started crying.

Besides Lu Jiaheng, no one in university had seen her cry before.

Though she looked like a soft little girl, appearing honest and easy to bully, as if a light squeeze would make her cry, she didn’t actually cry easily.

Now, unlike her earlier theatrical crying with Octopus, the young girl seemed deeply wronged. She started with small sniffles while quietly wiping tears, but eventually, tears rolled down like strings of pearls. She cried uncontrollably, her delicate shoulders shaking.

Octopus was also shocked, looking between the crying little girl and Yuan Ci: “Is my little sister Zhi this sad about you leaving?”

Seeing this, Lin Tong quickly pulled Chu Zhi over. With almost 20 centimeters height difference between them, Lin Tong holding Chu Zhi looked like holding a girlfriend. The little girl sobbed while wrapping her arms around her neck, looking at her through tear-filled eyes, her rosy lips moving upward.

Lin Tong’s mind flashed with a capital “FUCK.”

Her first thought was thank goodness she grabbed her in time, otherwise tomorrow a certain Lu surname male might really make her lose her head.

Lin Tong patted Chu Zhi’s back twice while pinching her face to push her away: “Chu Zhi, get a grip!”

Her little face was warm, and being pinched like that, her lips slightly pouted while tears continued streaming down.

When Lin Tong first met her, she was still like a child.

Her face was slightly chubby, tiny, looking not quite grown up yet.

Now after two years of university, the young girl had subtle changes in her temperament. Her cheeks had thinned, making her already small face look even smaller, with a pointed chin. She frowned, her whole body softly pressing closer, still trying to kiss her.

Lin Tong’s second thought was thank goodness Lu Jiaheng wasn’t here, otherwise this beast might have taken who knows how many advantages of the situation.

In that moment, as if possessed by something, she was filled with maternal light, pinching Chu Zhi’s face while holding her protectively in her arms like her own child. She said goodbye to Yuan Ci and left early with Chu Zhi.

The barbecue restaurant was quite far from school. Lin Tong half-dragged, half-carried Chu Zhi to find a hotel nearby and got a room. As soon as they entered, Chu Zhi obediently took off her shoes and socks, sat on the bed, and stared blankly at the white sheets.

Lin Tong locked the door and hung a cup on the doorknob. When she turned around, she saw Chu Zhi staring straight at her: “Tong Tong.”

Lin Tong was wary: “I like men, don’t try to take advantage of me.”

Chu Zhi looked at her quietly, her voice hoarse and low from crying: “Time passes so slowly…”

Lin Tong was stunned.

This was the first time she had seen Chu Zhi show genuine emotion about Lu Jiaheng.

All along, at least on the surface, she had seemed relaxed and unconcerned, as if whether he left or not didn’t really affect her much.

She never actively mentioned her relationship with Lu Jiaheng, to the point where Lin Tong had thought she was somewhat heartless and hadn’t invested much in the relationship.

As she was lost in thought, Chu Zhi was also dazed. After a while, she rubbed her eyes and curled up on the bed hugging her knees: “I hope tomorrow will be two years.”

Chu Zhi woke up late the next day, showing no adverse effects, looking energetic except for a slight headache.

Lin Tong had been tormented enough the previous night, being hugged and nibbled on for half the night. The little girl was like a puppy when drunk, biting whatever she could reach, mumbling something incomprehensibly that Lin Tong couldn’t make out.

The next day after waking up, she remembered nothing. Seeing Lin Tong’s neck covered in bite marks, her face turned red with shock and hesitation: “Tong Tong! What happened to you!?”

Lin Tong gave her an annoyed look: “Dog bites.”

Chu Zhi also realized and immediately panicked, checking if her clothes were still on.

Lin Tong: “…”

After checking, Chu Zhi sat cross-legged on the bed, carefully and honestly, scratching her chin embarrassedly: “Is my drinking behavior really bad?”

Lin Tong laughed and reached out to scratch her chin: “No, it’s quite good, you went to sleep after some coaxing.”

Chu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Tong paused, then couldn’t help emphasizing: “But next time when I’m not around, no drinking.”

“…”

Chu Zhi wasn’t sure if her drinking behavior was good or bad anymore.

After junior year started, the coursework increased, and everyone began getting tense. Xue Niannan was rarely seen, often leaving early and returning late, only using the dorm for sleeping.

Chu Zhi was also busy, working on TEM-8 papers, writing proposals. Academic pressure was only part of it; more came from the pressure of entering society soon.

Lu Jiaheng was busy too. They already had a time difference, with her sleeping when he woke up. Their messages usually had long gaps between responses, barely chatting a few sentences each day. When she video called him in the morning, it was already midnight in America.

Several times, while Chu Zhi was working and talking to him, she’d look back at the screen after a quiet moment to find he had fallen asleep.

When he was here, Chu Zhi had never seen what he looked like sleeping, but now that he was gone, she often got to see it.

He looked truly exhausted, his thin lips slightly pressed together, his sleeping face tense and tired.

Chu Zhi quietly ended the video call and continued looking for internship information.

As the holiday approached, most classmates had started looking for holiday internships, wanting to gain more experience while still in school.

Father Chu somewhat wanted Chu Zhi to continue with graduate studies, but she wasn’t interested anymore. During the winter break after the first semester of junior year, she found her first internship.

It was a big company, recommended by Xiao Yi. They interviewed together for marketing department internships.

Given their school’s reputation and Chu Zhi’s good academic performance, especially in foreign languages, she received a call from HR within days.

As soon as she hung up, Chu Zhi cheered happily, rolling back and forth on her bed several times.

Her first reaction was to tell Lu Jiaheng.

She checked the time – at four or five in the afternoon here, it was still early morning there, he should still be sleeping.

Chu Zhi absent-mindedly read for a while, ate dinner absent-mindedly, took a shower absent-mindedly, then continued reading.

After reading for almost an hour, she hadn’t turned a page.

Finally, when it was past eight in the evening here, it was past eight in the morning there, about time for him to wake up.

Chu Zhi happily threw her book aside, lay on the bed and video called him.

Soon, Lu Jiaheng answered.

He was brushing his teeth, a toothbrush in his mouth, unshaven, his hair messy from sleep.

Several buttons on his pajama top were undone, revealing his collarbone and a large expanse of muscular chest, the bare skin continuing downward until it disappeared at the edge of the screen.

Chu Zhi’s ears hidden in her hair felt hot, but she couldn’t care about that, eager to share her good news.

She excitedly called his name several times: “Lu Jiaheng, Lu Jiaheng!”

Lu Jiaheng casually ruffled his hair, propped his phone on the rack beside the sink, and continued brushing his teeth.

His mouth full of toothpaste foam, unable to speak, he just looked at her in the screen and made a muffled sound of acknowledgment.

But the little girl froze.

Her gaze fixed steadily on him, seeming to look past him at something else.

Chu Zhi slowly pressed her lips together, completely forgetting what she was about to say.

His phone was placed to the side, him standing in the bathroom with a clothes rack behind him, holding several cleaned clothes.

A purple silk nightgown hung near the wall, glaringly obvious and eye-catching.