ATLAS TRANSLATES

At first, Lu Jiaheng’s thoughts were quite simple, he hadn’t thought much about it. He wasn’t used to formal wear and just felt the tie was a bit stuffy.

But seeing Chu Zhi’s reaction, it seemed to have an unexpected effect.

The young girl watched him with a flushed face, her delicate ear tips bright red. She tilted her head up to look at him, then averted her gaze, wavered for a moment, then looked up again, unable to resist.

Lu Jiaheng had never seen her so captivated by his looks before. His interest piqued, he leaned closer to her, one hand reaching for the third button of his shirt.

His fingers were long and elegant, with defined knuckles, his skin a cool white with faint blue veins visible on the back of his hand.

Without his suit jacket, the white shirt created folds as he leaned forward. The third button came undone, revealing the man’s smooth neck and collarbone.

Then his chest.

Chu Zhi swallowed again.

Lu Jiaheng chuckled softly, licking his lips, his fingers moving down, then stopping.

With his shirt half-open, his dark eyes fixed on her intently, his voice low and coaxing: “Still want to look?”

Chu Zhi’s eyes widened as she stared at him, paused for three seconds, then raised both hands and clapped them over her eyes: “No more looking, no more…”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen him like this before – she had seen him just after waking up during their video calls.

But she had never seen him undress in front of her.

And never seen him in person like this.

She was so close she felt she could see the texture of his muscles, the quality of his skin.

Every movement, the wrinkles in his shirt, his faint breathing and his presence – everything seemed to make her heart race.

Male beauty could be quite bewitching sometimes, Chu Zhi thought embarrassedly.

After a while, Lu Jiaheng fell silent.

Chu Zhi cleared her throat, and slowly, very slowly, parted her tightly closed fingers, peeking through the gap between her index and middle fingers.

She met a pair of upturned peach blossom eyes.

Lu Jiaheng looked at her with an ambiguous smile.

Chu Zhi: “…”

Chu Zhi quickly closed her fingers again and backed up two steps, leaning against the wall by the wine cabinet, stammering: “Lu-Lu-Lu Jiaheng, we’re at the company, put your clothes back on…”

Lu Jiaheng laughed again as he straightened up.

There was a soft rustling of fabric, then silence.

Chu Zhi carefully, slowly opened her fingers, her big eyes peeking out from behind them, darting about as she looked at him.

The blush hadn’t faded from her face, and her gaze unconsciously fell to his neck. The buttons below his shirt were fastened again, leaving only two open at the collar. The collar drooped slightly, his tie loosely symbolic around his neck, matching his indolent, frivolous air with a strange sense of decadence.

The beast had put his clothes back on, finally becoming a well-dressed beast, now standing before her in suit pants and white shirt, looking somewhat presentable.

Everything had happened so quickly that Chu Zhi hadn’t had time to process it before Lu Jiaheng started undressing, but now she finally caught up.

She turned around and looked around the whole office again, confirming there really was no one else besides him.

Lu Jiaheng had started work today, and the new boss had taken office.

And just now, Ye Kanning had also said something about “President Lu.”

Chu Zhi hadn’t realized it at the time, but thinking about it now, how coincidental that they had the same surname.

And these past few days, she had complained to him about so many things – about heartless capitalist exploitation, about false advertising and inhumane treatment of employees, about being as ugly as Quasimodo.

Chu Zhi felt a bit guilty and quietly lowered her head, standing obediently against the wall, saying nothing.

After half a minute of silence, Lu Jiaheng said: “Why so deflated?”

Chu Zhi licked her lips, cheeks slightly puffed up as she raised her head, blinking at him: “Are you my new boss?”

Lu Jiaheng tilted his head and curved his lips: “No, you’re my boss. I’m just Quasimodo, the evil capitalist exploiter.”

Chu Zhi lifted her little head, looking at him pleadingly with eager eyes.

Lu Jiaheng didn’t react, just kept his eyes lowered.

Today she wore a lotus-colored chiffon blouse and wide-leg pants that revealed her slender ankles, with a pair of small leather shoes with medium heels in a simple style.

Her long hair was neatly tied in a high ponytail, the ends slightly naturally curled, her bangs had grown long and softly parted to both sides along with some wisps by her temples.

On her chest was an ID badge with a one-inch photo and her name and position written beside it.

The position was perfect, hanging right in the middle of her chest, outlining the beautiful curve of the indentation.

This was Lu Jiaheng’s first time properly seeing how Chu Zhi looked at the company.

His little girl was like uncut jade, like a flower blooming in morning dew. Now some of her innocence and naivety had faded, making one’s heart both complicated and restless looking at her.

After a while, Lu Jiaheng ground his teeth and said softly: “Don’t wear your ID badge at the company anymore.”

Chu Zhi’s eyes widened as she looked at him, finding his request absolutely incredible: “Do you want me to get scolded by the supervisor eight hundred times a day, have all my internship wages deducted, and finally get kicked out of the company early?”

After she finished, Lu Jiaheng seemed to seriously consider it: “Then you can come be my secretary directly.”

Chu Zhi suddenly remembered his earlier message by the elevator about [He might want to seduce you].

Chu Zhi immediately straightened her attitude and looked at him very seriously: “Lu Jiaheng, don’t always think about letting me freeload, I can support myself,” she thought for a moment and continued, “If someday you don’t want to work and want to freeload, just tell me.”

Lu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow: “You’ll support me?”

Chu Zhi said earnestly: “I’ll give you ideological education.”

“…”

Chu Zhi had been called up by Lu Jiaheng through Ye Kanning, and didn’t dare stay too long, hurriedly preparing to go back down after chatting briefly.

Before leaving, Chu Zhi tried to corner Lu Jiaheng menacingly, attempting to act like a tough girl but looking more like a kitten with “I’m fierce” written all over its face, seriously threatening and warning him not to reveal their relationship at the company.

Lu Jiaheng felt wronged – he had been her underground boyfriend since her freshman year, hidden from view for years.

Young President Lu was sulky and unhappy for three seconds, leaning against the door and letting his little girlfriend kabedon him, watching as she struggled to prop her short arms against the door, standing very close and looking up at him.

He lowered his eyes and suddenly said: “You don’t love me.”

Caught off guard by his sudden statement, Chu Zhi couldn’t react in time, her mouth slightly open but speechless.

“You don’t like me.”

His voice was very low and muffled, with a barely noticeable hint of grievance if you listened carefully, head lowered obediently like a big child.

Chu Zhi froze, taking several seconds to come back to her senses. Seeing him like that left her dazed, and she hurriedly said: “I do like you!”

Lu Jiaheng bent down, his tall figure curving as he rested his head on her shoulder, his black hair falling forward with a few strands brushing against Chu Zhi’s neck, tickling her.

“Chu Chu, I’ve been hidden from view for several years,” Lu Jiaheng said glumly.

Chu Zhi thought of those fluffy large dog breeds, affectionate and loving to act spoiled, who would run to their owner when unhappy and rest their fluffy head on their shoulder, being unreasonable.

Chu Zhi was at a loss.

They had been dating for years, but it seemed none of her friends knew about it.

The only person who knew was Lin Tong, and that was because she had stumbled upon them.

She suddenly felt very guilty towards him.

But at the company, how could such things be openly proclaimed?

She had originally chosen to intern here just because he had interned here, so she wanted to come too, as if this way she could be a little closer to him.

Although at the time this person had his own independent office as just an intern, Chu Zhi had only thought his family might know someone at the company, never imagining it was their family’s company.

Chu Zhi felt extremely guilty, feeling like Lu Jiaheng had endured so much grievance in their years of dating. She raised her hand and carefully stroked his head buried in her neck.

The last time she had played this role was before they were together, when he was sick one time and had no heating at home, knocking on her door late at night.

Since then, he had always been the one indulging her.

This was Chu Zhi’s first time touching his hair – it wasn’t as coarse as she had imagined men’s hair to be. His hair was quite soft, feeling unexpectedly good.

Chu Zhi’s small hand fell on his head, rubbing and grabbing, playing with it for a while as if addicted.

It definitely wouldn’t work at the company, Chu Zhi thought, and decided to make it up to him in other ways.

“Lu Jiaheng, do you want to have dinner with my friends in a couple of days?”

She spoke softly, unsure if he would want to.

He still kept his head lowered, not moving or speaking.

Chu Zhi didn’t know if he was unwilling or still unhappy.

She frowned and thought hard for a while, but couldn’t figure it out, so she simply gave up.

After a few seconds, she took a deep breath, and her fingers stroking his hair paused and stopped.

Lu Jiaheng was being petted by his girlfriend for the first time, an unprecedented treatment that made him so happy he almost wanted to hum, but suddenly the little girl’s movements stopped.

He thought she had grown impatient and was about to lift his head when the delicate shoulder he was leaning on moved back slightly.

Lu Jiaheng’s heart tightened, thinking she was really angry.

Just as he was about to comfort her, the little girl in front of him suddenly raised her arms, one hand on his shoulder, the other gently pulling down his loosened tie.

Lu Jiaheng was already bent over, and before he could straighten up she pulled him down again. She lightly rose on her tiptoes, and her soft red lips pressed against his.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Lu Jiaheng stood completely still, frozen in place.

It was her first time initiating a kiss.

And when she was gently stroking his hair and comforting him just now, Lu Jiaheng had thought nothing better could happen.

A few seconds later, he came back to his senses and lowered his eyelashes.

The little girl looked extremely nervous, her eyes tightly shut, her thick eyelashes covering them like fans, her skin delicate and porcelain-white, with faint blood vessels visible on her thin eyelids.

Her slender hand on his shoulder trembled slightly, and the fingers holding his tie were also somewhat stiff, not quite managing the right pressure as she pulled down, making him follow her force and lower his head.

Like her most devout believer, letting her guide him, letting her arrange him.

Her simple and pure kiss, light as a dragonfly touching water, could instantly ignite all the heat and desire in his heart.

Lu Jiaheng finally agreed to keep their relationship secret at the company, in exchange for having dinner with her friends.

The man took advantage and still acted coy, leaning against the wine cabinet and looking down at her: “Then what if I miss you too much at the company and can’t help wanting to see you?”

The little white rabbit who had just taken the initiative and then been caught and nibbled on by the big bad wolf looked at him with still-glistening eyes and pouted: “Nothing to be done, just endure it.”

“I can’t endure it.”

“Try harder to endure it.”

“Can I come see you?”

“No.”

“Then what if I really miss you too much?”

Chu Zhi was both embarrassed and helpless at his pestering: “Lu Jiaheng, aren’t you being annoying?”

Lu Jiaheng licked his lips and coaxed her gently: “Just occasionally come look once, pretending to check on work progress, I’ll pretend I don’t know you.”

Chu Zhi thought about it and reluctantly compromised: “Fine then.”

But these words would come back to haunt her.

It took Chu Zhi quite a while to return to the office from the top floor, and she had even prepared herself for Ye Kanning’s scrutiny. But unexpectedly, the glass office was empty, the director wasn’t there at all.

Chu Zhi secretly let out a sigh of relief.

However, Pink Shirt was very concerned about her, spinning his chair and poking his head out from behind the cubicle, his double chin trembling as he looked at her curiously: “Did you go argue with our sea turtle?”

Chu Zhi was stunned: “What?”

Pink Shirt looked at her with an understanding smile, patting her shoulder: “You had just left Director Ye’s office when he left, and now he’s back just as you’re back. No need to hide it from your Brother Du, don’t worry, I’m definitely on your side.”

Chu Zhi looked completely confused: “Why would I argue with him?”

“Because you two are competitors, because you humiliated our elite sea turtle at the last regular meeting,” Pink Shirt counted on his fingers, “Haven’t you noticed how his eyes have been full of daggers when looking at you since then?”

Chu Zhi really hadn’t noticed.

Just keeping up with assigned tasks was already quite challenging, where would she have time to notice whether others’ gazes were full of love or hostility?

She looked at him with a bewildered expression, and Pink Shirt was about to educate her about the dangers of the workplace when the research supervisor suddenly ran in, clapped twice, and cleared his throat.

Everyone’s attention was drawn over. The supervisor stood at the door, his usually gloomy face completely transformed, now radiant and rosy, gentle and kind: “The new President Lu will be coming over shortly to inspect and understand the marketing department’s work progress and promotion plans, everyone please be mindful.”

Instantly, the whole office was in a commotion.

Chu Zhi: “…”

Chu Zhi slowly raised her head and looked at the clock.

It hadn’t even been ten minutes since she came down, she hadn’t even warmed her seat yet.