ATLAS TRANSLATES

When Lu Jiaheng arrived home at ten in the morning, the Lu family mansion was silent.

The spacious living room was empty, with one crystal chandelier lit, its shadows flickering across the mirror-like marble floor, cold and lifeless.

A little boy sat on the stairs, lifting his head at the sound of the door opening. Seeing Lu Jiaheng enter, he dropped his toy car and sprang up excitedly, running over with a “Brother!”

The boy looked about four or five years old, his chubby legs carrying him to Lu Jiaheng’s front, where he looked up with his round little face, expression both happy and fearful: “Brother.”

Lu Jiaheng gave a slight “mm” and looked around: “Where’s Dad?”

“Daddy’s making money for Yiyi and brother.” The little one said in his childish voice.

Lu Jiaheng nodded while touching his neck and walked inside.

“He’s coming back this afternoon,” the little one continued.

Lu Jiaheng’s steps faltered, and the hand on his neck paused. After just a moment’s stiffness, he continued walking.

The boy seemed to want to call out to him but didn’t dare. He hesitantly followed behind him up two stairs, finally raising his hand to tug at Lu Jiaheng’s pants.

Lu Jiaheng stopped and turned around, standing one step higher, looking down at him.

The little boy’s expression remained timid, shrinking his neck when Lu Jiaheng looked at him, but still said earnestly: “Brother, don’t fight with Daddy. Daddy likes brother,” his little hand clutched Lu Jiaheng’s pants, his voice soft and small, weak and low, “Yiyi likes brother too.”

Lu Jiaheng stiffened slightly.

He gave a brief laugh, his lips curling into a mocking smile: “He only likes you.”

The boy unconsciously wanted to get closer to him, leaning forward slightly before quickly withdrawing, looking at him helplessly.

The little one was young, not yet grown into his features, with bright round eyes, large black pupils clear and transparent, cheeks still carrying baby fat, staring at him with a wronged and helpless expression.

Lu Jiaheng suddenly deflated, somewhat resignedly raising his hand to perfunctorily ruffle the top of the boy’s head. Without saying anything more, he turned and went upstairs.

That afternoon, Lu Hongsheng did indeed return.

Lu Jiaheng’s door was half-closed. He treated the voices from downstairs like a fart blown away by the wind, sitting cross-legged on the plush carpet playing games with a lollipop in his mouth, rapidly hitting the mechanical keyboard. His hand paused briefly as he reached over to grab and put on his headset.

Sure enough, after a while, Lu Hongsheng kicked his door open.

Lu Jiaheng didn’t even blink, acting as if he hadn’t noticed or seen him, fingers still hitting the keyboard while drawling: “No skills, let’s retreat first.”

Lu Hongsheng walked right over and kicked over the small table on the carpet.

Lu Jiaheng was someone who knew how to enjoy life. His room’s decor style matched his personality perfectly, with soft rugs and cushions everywhere, making it feel like one could lie down and sleep anywhere in the room.

Everything on the table fell onto the plush carpet, making almost no sound. A cup of scalding coffee also fell, spilling directly onto Lu Jiaheng’s hand.

His fair, slender hand immediately turned red, covered in brown coffee liquid that flowed down from the back of his hand, dripping from his fingertips into the carpet.

Lu Hongsheng was so angry he hadn’t noticed the coffee on the table, and even when he saw it, he only paused briefly.

Just briefly.

The laptop’s power cord was yanked out forcefully, cutting the power, and the screen instantly went black.

The headset was also pulled off, and because it was worn too tightly, it caught his ear as it was yanked off, painfully dragging against his ear cartilage.

Lu Jiaheng’s eyes remained slightly lowered, his pupils completely still.

After a while, he carelessly pulled out a tissue to wipe the coffee from the back of his hand, then propped himself up on the carpet, leaning back slightly and lazily raising his head.

Lu Hongsheng looked down at him, pressed his lips together, and the anger that had been slightly contained due to the earlier small accident seemed to be reignited by Lu Jiaheng’s nonchalant expression and behavior.

Lu Jiaheng acted as if he hadn’t noticed, raising an eyebrow and his eyes, still maintaining his flippant attitude: “Boss, any other orders?”

Lu Hongsheng’s face reddened with anger as he pointed at Lu Jiaheng’s nose: “What do you mean ‘any other orders’? What kind of talk is this! How did I end up with a son like you! Look at yourself, what have you become!”

Lu Jiaheng tilted his head mockingly, seeming somewhat confused by why he would ask such a question: “A spoiled rich kid with a mother who gave birth to me but never raised me – what did you expect me to become?”

This time, Lu Hongsheng’s reddened face drained of color as if paint had been wiped away, turning deathly pale, too angry to speak for a long while.

Lu Jiaheng remained lazily seated on the carpet, the lollipop in his mouth crushed, crackling like pop rocks.

The two stared at each other silently for a long while. Lu Hongsheng lowered his trembling hand that had been pointing at Lu Jiaheng. He looked at his son deeply, as if admitting defeat, and finally left without saying anything.

The room door clicked shut, and Lu Jiaheng’s smile, maintained for too long, had become somewhat stiff.

He slowly lowered his eyes, his gaze scattered, staring blankly at the dark gray carpet.

His phone rang at just that moment.

It took Lu Jiaheng a while to reach over and find his phone on the ground, picking it up to answer.

Before he could even get out a “hello,” the little girl’s soft voice came through: “Why don’t you save phone numbers properly, are you called ‘Brother’?”

Lu Jiaheng was stunned for a moment.

He lowered his eyes to look at his reddened hand, suddenly laughing as he gave a low, hoarse “ah”: “Yes, surname Lu, first name Brother.”

The girl probably hadn’t expected him to be so straightforward about it, or maybe she was shocked by his shamelessness, falling silent for a moment before continuing: “I was just looking at clothes but couldn’t find the one you had. Is it okay if I pick another one of similar price?” She negotiated with him, and seeming worried he wouldn’t trust her judgment, quickly added, “My taste is pretty good, if you’re worried I can send you pictures before buying?”

Lu Jiaheng paused for a second, then stood up supporting himself against the bed: “Where are you?”

He spoke rather quickly, making the little girl pause: “Hm?”

Lu Jiaheng had already rushed into the bathroom, turning on the faucet and putting his reddened hand under the cool water.

The empty sound of running water echoed in the bathroom as he lowered his eyes and slowly repeated: “Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

Chu Zhi sat on a long wooden bench in the second floor rest area of the mall, holding a bubble tea. She leaned forward slightly, phone propped under the cup, elbow resting on her thigh supporting her chin as she waited.

Half an hour ago, a mysterious unnamed Mr. Lu had told her on the phone: “Stay there, don’t leave, I’m coming over now.”

And so she had waited for half an hour.

Chu Zhi bit her straw, looking left and right, searching for him.

The weekend mall was full of people, couples and groups of friends walking past laughing and chatting. It wasn’t until her bubble tea was almost gone that she spotted a familiar figure.

He came up the escalator at one end, raising his eyes to look across.

Their eyes met across the mall’s huge atrium, and Chu Zhi waved at him.

The distance was a bit far, only allowing her to vaguely make out his features, as the man walked along the atrium’s edge toward her.

Chu Zhi also stood up, holding her now-empty bubble tea cup as she walked to meet him.

It seemed that whenever she had seen him at school before, he was always wearing hoodies – various colors and brands of expensive hoodies. Today he was unexpectedly wearing a shirt.

In northern China in late September, the weather was turning cold with big temperature differences between day and night. By evening the temperature would drop sharply, so he had added a thin windbreaker jacket, which accentuated his broad shoulders and long legs. He was extremely tall, almost immediately drawing attention as soon as he appeared on the second floor.

Due to Ms. Deng’s work, Chu Zhi had known or seen quite a few handsome men growing up, but even among them, this man would easily rank in the top three.

He had the casual, frivolous air of a young master, plus a face that could effortlessly make a living on looks alone.

The first time she met him and got hit on, there was definitely a reason for it.

Chu Zhi walked toward him while absently shaking the two remaining tapioca pearls in her empty bubble tea cup, lost in thought.

As the two walked toward each other around the mall’s circular atrium, when they were about ten steps apart, a girl suddenly walked quickly past Chu Zhi.

The girl wore a light perfume that smelled nice. She held her phone and stopped in front of him, shyly asking: “Hi, could I have your WeChat?”

As she spoke, she held out her phone.

The scene unfolded right in front of her, so close, and Chu Zhi felt it would be impolite to stare.

She blinked and turned away.

There happened to be a bathroom nearby, and Chu Zhi had just finished a bubble tea, so she might as well use the restroom. Without thinking much about it, she ducked inside.

When she came out after washing her hands, the young master had somehow already finished his battle and was leaning against the wall by the ladies’ room entrance waiting for her.

Chu Zhi didn’t like using hand dryers, so her hands were still wet as she shook them while walking toward him: “I’m here, I’m here.”

The young master had his hands in his windbreaker pockets, looking down at her with a smile: “Why did you run off?”

Chu Zhi blinked, her expression innocent and confused: “To use the bathroom.”

He laughed again and straightened up to walk out: “Let’s go.”

Chu Zhi obediently followed behind him, still shaking her hands.

The two unhurriedly circled the second floor, with Chu Zhi on a mission. Every time they passed a shop that looked decent, she would pull him over, carefully selecting clothes to hold up against him for comparison.

The little girl was short, gripping clothes hangers with her arms raised high to reach his neck level. Each time she came close, he would lower his head to look at her.

Chu Zhi had almost all her attention focused on the clothes, choosing each piece carefully and meticulously, not wanting him to doubt her aesthetic judgment.

She held up clothes high against his body, tilting her head back to look up at him and ask: “How about this one?”

Lu Jiaheng looked down.

The distance between them was already extremely close, definitely an inappropriate distance between members of the opposite sex. He could even see the fine, soft down on her upturned little nose.

Yet she still hadn’t noticed anything inappropriate, her clear doe eyes looking at him seriously.

This girl had been raised too well by her family.

So well that she seemed to have no wariness toward people at all.

Like a clear mountain spring, with pure blue-green water, where you could see all the fish and pebbles at the bottom in one glance.

A life and character completely free of impurities.

Was she like this with everyone?

Lu Jiaheng suddenly felt an inexplicable annoyance.

Without saying anything, he reached up to grab the clothes from the girl’s hands and hung them back on the rack, turning to walk out.

Chu Zhi was a bit confused – they had been looking just fine, why did he suddenly turn and leave?

They had basically visited all the similar stores on the third floor too, but this young master seemed to have his mind completely elsewhere, not liking a single piece.

At this rate, how long would it take to buy something? Chu Zhi’s face fell as she followed behind him with her head hanging.

Then the man walking in front suddenly stopped.

Chu Zhi, head still lowered and unable to react in time, lightly bumped into his back.

The impact wasn’t strong, just feeling the hardness where her forehead touched. Chu Zhi raised her head and quietly said sorry.

As she spoke, the man had already turned around.

His thin lips were slightly pressed together, peach blossom eyes narrowed as he suddenly asked: “How exactly did you grow up?”

Chu Zhi thought this question came out of nowhere – how did shopping for clothes turn into her life story? She made a confused “mm?” sound.

Lu Jiaheng was about to lecture her about being too trusting, tell her she needed to be more cautious, that she shouldn’t just hold clothes up against strange men, stare into their eyes, or suddenly get so close to men, when the little girl tilted her head to look at him: “That’s a long story, not something I can explain quickly.”

Lu Jiaheng: “…”

In all his life, Lu Jiaheng had never met someone with this kind of thought process.

Author’s Note: Lu Jiaheng: Damn it, I got flirted with again.