ATLAS TRANSLATES

People say 10-year-olds are the most difficult and unlikeable age, but Lu Jiayi seemed completely free of this issue.

Not knowing when Lu Jiaheng would return and with no food at his place – plus Chu Zhi couldn’t cook – she decided to bring Lu Jiayi back to her home.

In the kitchen, her father and Mrs. Deng had finished their daily battle and were lovingly making dinner together. Mrs. Deng opened the door and was about to speak when she saw a small dark head peeking out behind Chu Zhi.

Lu Jiayi hid behind Chu Zhi, only half his face visible as his bright black eyes blinked at her.

Mrs. Deng looked down at him, also blinking.

As Chu Zhi watched these two staring at each other, before she could speak, she saw Mrs. Deng glance inside with a panicked expression before mysteriously pulling Chu Zhi outside. She pointed a shaking finger at Lu Jiayi: “Chu-Chu-Chu Zhi explain this to me clearly, this child—” Mrs. Deng’s face was pale as she lowered her voice, “Chu Zhi, tell me honestly, when exactly did you and that young Lu meet?”

“In university,” Chu Zhi hadn’t quite processed what she meant. She also looked down at the young boy with a smile: “When I first saw him he was just a little dumpling, but now that he’s grown he looks quite like his brother, except for the eyes.”

The young boy’s round bright eyes looked at her, seeming happy that she mentioned his resemblance to Lu Jiaheng as he gave a somewhat shy smile.

Mrs. Deng still looked rattled: “His eyes look exactly like yours.”

Chu Zhi thought for a moment, “I don’t remember what his mother looks like, I only saw her once.”

And in the darkness, under those special circumstances, Chu Zhi hadn’t really noticed what that woman who started hitting people looked like.

Mrs. Deng let out a long breath.

Chu Zhi led Lu Jiayi inside. Her father had just turned around with a large ladle, plating some braised pork when he looked up and saw the child Chu Zhi was leading. His hand shook and he nearly dropped the ladle.

The next second, her father roared: “CHU ZHI?!”

Mrs. Deng quickly went over: “This is young Lu’s little brother.”

The shout startled Lu Jiayi, who quickly hid his head behind Chu Zhi again, though curiosity made him peek out sneakily, meeting her father’s fierce gaze.

Lu Jiayi looked at him in confusion, his dark eyes blinking as he nodded obediently: “Hello uncle.”

Her father was charmed.

Her father was caught off guard.

Her father put down his large ladle, his expression stiffening slightly as he pressed his lips together: “Why did you bring her brother back?”

Chu Zhi also blinked, the two small figures looking at him: “Brought him back for you to play with, I thought you’d like him.”

Her father coldly snorted, “Like what? Stop trying these tricks with me! You’ve learned bad habits being with that boy.”

Half an hour later, Lu Jiayi sat at the dining table covered in dishes. Her father had placed the braised pork and sweet and sour ribs in front of the child before returning to the kitchen. After bustling around for a while, he came out with another plate.

Chu Zhi looked – candied apple.

Mrs. Deng laughed: “Chu Yunfei, your daughter stopped liking these after starting high school.”

Her father didn’t respond, just placing the plate in front of the child.

Lu Jiayi held his chopsticks, eating obediently and quietly with neat, refined manners. Looking at the candied apple plate, he carefully reached out his chopsticks to pick up a piece.

The light brown transparent syrup coating the apple stretched into strings as he lifted it, getting longer and longer. Lu Jiayi’s eyes widened as he raised his arm high but the string still wouldn’t break.

The child ate slowly. Though Chu Zhi and Mrs. Deng had finished and left, her father still hadn’t moved, sitting at the table chatting with him. Initially he maintained a stern face, but somehow the child managed to charm him into smiling warmly, his gloomy expression of the past few days finally brightening.

After dinner, when Lu Jiaheng came to pick him up, her father stood at the door glaring at him for a long while before suddenly asking: “When will you come again?”

Chu Zhi: “…”

Lu Jiaheng: “…”

After the door closed, Lu Jiaheng looked down at him: “Why did you come?”

Lu Jiayi looked at him, his eyes reddening.

He lowered his head, saying dryly: “Brother…”

“What is it?”

“Mom is going to take me away. She was really angry today and smashed everything at home. Has she gone crazy…” Lu Jiayi’s eyes were red as he looked up with tears, “Brother, I don’t want to go. She said she’s going to divorce Dad. Will I not have a father anymore? Will Dad not want me anymore?”

Lu Jiaheng didn’t speak.

He bent down slightly, grabbed his wrist to pull him close, and led him upstairs.

At the door, he opened it and called out softly: “Lu Jiayi.”

The youth looked up.

Lu Jiaheng looked down at him, his lips drooping without expression: “Don’t be afraid,”

He turned his gaze away as he pushed open the door: “Don’t be afraid, you have your brother here.”

When Lu Jiaheng brought Lu Jiayi back to the Lu residence, Jiang Ruan was packing.

She truly matched her son’s description of “nearly crazy” – her usual refinement gone, hair messy, the huge house empty and bare looking.

She walked back and forth erratically, with four or five large suitcases by the door. The moment she saw Lu Jiayi, she rushed over like a madwoman.

“Yi Yi!!!”

Jiang Ruan called out before seeing Lu Jiaheng enter behind Lu Jiayi.

She stopped abruptly.

Across the bright living room, Lu Jiaheng quietly watched her.

Jiang Ruan froze for a moment, her expression becoming hysterical, her eyes bloodshot: “Lu Jiayi!! Go upstairs!!!”

Lu Jiayi shrank back beside him, not moving.

She screamed: “Go! Go upstairs right now!!”

The boy turned back to look at Lu Jiaheng.

He didn’t speak, just lowered his eyes and patted his shoulder.

Lu Jiayi ran upstairs. After the sound of a door closing, Jiang Ruan looked at him with terror and fury: “What are you trying to do…”

“Where did you take him…”

“You stole my home, my husband, and now you want to steal my son…”

“I have nothing now, nothing at all, and you still want to take my son. Lu Jiaheng, why are you so cruel to me?”

Lu Jiaheng had remained silent, just watching her, when he suddenly laughed.

“Are you joking?” He tilted his head, looking at her like some strange unfamiliar creature, “I thought you just didn’t know what shame was, but it turns out you really don’t have any at all.”

Lu Jiaheng raised his chin slightly, eyes cold as he looked at her: “Don’t act so righteous. You’re the thief here.”

Jiang Ruan met his gaze but quickly looked away as if burned: “What are you saying… I truly loved him, I didn’t steal anything…”

Lu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow: “As soon as something happened to Lu Hongsheng, you’re in such a rush to find your next target. Your ‘true love’ is truly chilling.”

Jiang Ruan’s lips went white as she trembled: “Then what should I do… what can I do? Lu Hongsheng has nothing now, even the house belongs to his father. Now with this situation—” She raised her eyes with a self-mocking smile, “Would you give us mother and son a way to survive?”

Lu Jiaheng curled his lips: “I’m surprised you’re taking Lu Jiayi with you, since it would be easier to find your next target alone.”

Jiang Ruan stared at him vacantly: “I’m over thirty now, I’ve been with Lu Hongsheng for ten years, a full decade, where could I—”

—Where could I find another man willing to support me.

Lu Jiaheng’s face showed contempt.

This woman had lived off others at home for ten years, and now that something happened, her first thought wasn’t how to support her son but that she couldn’t find another man willing to support her.

Lu Jiaheng let out a soft laugh: “You’re finished.”

Jiang Ruan hadn’t heard, her expression still dazed.

He looked down at her, his lips drooping with an expressionless face: “Go wherever you want, I don’t care about you, but Lu Jiayi has the Lu surname. The old master won’t let you take him away.”

Jiang Ruan looked at him in a daze, slowly processing his words before her eyes widened slightly: “No— Jiayi is my son, my child… what will I do without him…” She suddenly reacted, glaring at him venomously, “You hate him, you hate him because you don’t have a mother, so you want him to not have a mother too!”

Lu Jiaheng looked at her coldly: “I don’t hate him. I used to be jealous of him, but now, I even feel a bit sorry for him. At least I know what kind of person my mother was, but his mother is actually—” he smiled, “Would you dare let him know?”

Jiang Ruan didn’t dare.

She didn’t dare let her son know he was illegitimate, nor could she imagine how he would react to her after learning these things.

She wanted to forever be someone worthy of respect in her son’s eyes, the most gentle and wonderful mother.

Three days later, Lu Jiayi appeared at Lu Jiaheng’s door again.

When he opened the door, the boy hugged him crying uncontrollably.

Jiang Ruan had left.

Lu Jiayi stood at his doorway, hugging his waist with red swollen eyes: “Brother, I actually know how I was born, and I know why you hate me. I overheard Mom and Dad fighting once. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, brother, I’m sorry…”

The boy sobbed, his voice hoarse and thick with tears: “I wish I had never been born.”

In early November, Lu Jiaheng held a press conference for the CBD construction project in the neighboring city’s development zone. At the end of the month, for Jinghen Group’s 50th anniversary celebration, Chu Zhi was brought by Lu Jiaheng as family to attend.

When told that Old Master Lu would be present, Chu Zhi fell into unprecedented nervousness.

The last time she saw Old Master Lu was years ago.

The old man had brought her to his study, examining her carefully from all angles for quite a while, before letting her go without saying a word.

Chu Zhi didn’t know if she had passed muster then.

Thinking back now, she had been both dull and speechless, not even sweet-talking him, just staring back at the old man eye to eye. It would have been strange if he had liked her.

Chu Zhi wanted to cry, feeling that for her first appearance after several years, she should really make a good impression.

That morning, she anxiously bombarded Lin Tong with over ten calls, anxiously following her to get her hair and beauty treatments done, and had her makeup done by a supposedly Milan-returned stylist that was infinitely more sophisticated than at graduation.

Though Chu Zhi looked in the mirror and felt she hadn’t changed much.

Then, just like in fairy tales and TV dramas, when Chu Zhi appeared before Lu Jiaheng in a deep red strapless petal-hemmed gown, Lu Jiaheng was stunned by her beauty.

He was silent for three seconds before suddenly lowering his head with a soft laugh.

Chu Zhi was a bit nervous and expectant, her big eyes watching him like a puppy waiting for praise and rewards, eagerly awaiting his evaluation.

Lu Jiaheng raised his hand, his fingertip lightly touching the outer corner of her right eyebrow: “Did your makeup too early, right? Took a nap in the afternoon? Half your eyebrow got rubbed off.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

Chu Zhi angrily stomped on his foot with her 8cm heel.

The venue was at Cheng Yi’s hotel. Going with Lu Jiaheng meant arriving early. When Cheng Yi saw her, he cursed in surprise while hanging onto the doorframe.

As he led them upstairs, he stared at Chu Zhi unblinkingly and cursed again: “Hold on, Little Zhi, what exactly happened to you after all this time?”

Chu Zhi blinked, her long false eyelashes fluttering: “Have I changed a lot?”

“I can’t quite describe it,” Cheng Yi paused, narrowing his eyes as he looked her up and down before stroking his chin mysteriously, “Your features haven’t really changed, but your aura is completely different. Like you’ve gone from a little white rabbit to a white rabbit spirit.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

Lu Jiaheng pulled Chu Zhi behind him, blocking Cheng Yi’s gaze while pushing his head away: “Enough. Why do you have so much nonsense to say? Get lost.”

He pushed him out and turned around after closing the door.

Cheng Yi had prepared a temporary rest room for them, a good-sized suite with large floor-to-ceiling windows and luxurious European-style furnishings. Combined with the formal gown, it gave Chu Zhi the illusion that adding a crown would turn her into a real princess.

And Prince Lu Jiaheng was currently looking down at her.

When Cheng Yi had been looking at her earlier, Chu Zhi hadn’t felt anything wrong, but being examined up and down by Lu Jiaheng like this suddenly made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

She shyly shrank her shoulders and straightened her back, lowering her eyes: “When do we go down?”

Lu Jiaheng didn’t speak.

After a while, he suddenly said without context: “Cheng Yi was right.”

Chu Zhi paused and looked up: “Mm?”

He had already walked over, standing before her, his fingertip sliding from her slender neck to her delicate shoulder. The collarbone’s lines were smoothly beautiful, leading down to where the red dress wrapped around her chest and slim waist.

And the view below that, he had already seen.

Yet somehow it never seemed enough.

His fingertip rested on the smooth valley above her chest at the edge of the strapless dress. His voice was very low, carrying the magnetic huskiness of arousal: “Shall we go down an hour later?”

Chu Zhi had seen him like this many times and instantly understood his meaning.

She shrank her shoulders, dodging his fingers as she shook her head frantically: “The dress will get messed up and my makeup will smear.”

Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips together, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at her: “Little Zhi, count how many months you’ve made me fast.”

Chu Zhi lightly tugged her earlobe, her voice tiny: “Can you not think about these things every day… You’re so busy with work, you still have energy for this?”

Lu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow, deliberately lowering his voice wickedly as he moved to her ear: “I do, saving all my energy and vigor for you.”

Chu Zhi: “…”

The next second, Chu Zhi’s 8cm heel connected with his foot again.

Still early before the party, Chu Zhi napped for half an hour in Lu Jiaheng’s room.

When she woke up, Lu Jiaheng had already gone down. Chu Zhi got up and took a moment to clear her head before running to the bathroom to touch up her makeup. Then she slowly put on her shoes and went downstairs.

The anniversary celebration had already started and the leaders had likely finished speaking. The banquet hall was filled with glamorous guests, including popular male and female celebrities chatting with champagne.

Chu Zhi walked in and saw many familiar faces. A waiter immediately came over with a tray, and Chu Zhi casually took the prettiest colored drink, finding a corner by the window to secretly take a sip.

Knowing her poor alcohol tolerance, she didn’t dare drink much, just taking a small taste of what seemed like peach mixed with tropical fruit sparkling wine.

After standing there a short while, Pink Shirt and Project Manager Xu whom she hadn’t seen in ages spotted her. Pink Shirt had lost weight and his features had become more handsome. He ran over happily to catch up, with Ye Kangning following behind.

As Chu Zhi chatted with them while sipping her drink, she looked up to see someone walking toward her.

A man.

A man wearing light-colored formal wear.

A well-maintained, handsome and gentle-looking man in his forties.

Chu Zhi nearly spat out her sparkling wine.

Because the man had also seen her and was walking over.

Chu Zhi cleared her throat and stood straight, quietly placing her glass on a nearby table and pushing it behind some dessert plates to hide it.

The man had reached her.

Chu Zhi looked up honestly with surprise: “Why are you here too?”

Her father looked extremely hurt, with a very genuine wounded expression: “You told me earlier you were going to your company’s party.”

Chu Zhi reacted extremely quickly, looking at him earnestly without blinking: “Yuema and Jinghen had previous cooperation and are discussing long-term partnership intentions now. Of course they’d invite us to Jinghen’s 50th anniversary.”

Her father made an “oh” sound and nodded, seeming to believe it temporarily. After a moment he added: “I saw you drinking just now?”

“No way, I can’t drink, I’m so well-behaved.”

Pink Shirt and the others listening to this increasingly strange conversation were confused, not quite understanding what was happening.

What was going on? What was the relationship between these two? The direction of this development seemed a bit wrong!

Project Manager Xu felt like she could see raindrops falling on green grass above her magnificent and mighty general manager’s head.

Her father looked like he wanted to say something else when his gaze shifted slightly and he paused, turning his head.

Chu Zhi also turned to look, and her face went white.

Pink Shirt and the others also turned to look, and also went white.

Old Master Lu wore light-colored traditional Chinese clothing, and though his hair was graying he looked spirited as he strolled over with his hands behind his back like he was taking a walk.

Lu Jiaheng followed behind him. His gaze met Chu Zhi’s, and seeing her father in front of her, he also paused, seeming not to have expected to see him here.

By now, Old Master Lu had walked over. Her father went to greet him, very naturally exchanging pleasantries and some casual chat.

Old Master Lu called her father “General Manager Chu” while her father naturally called him “Uncle Lu.”

How are you, how’s your health, how are your parrots doing, and your flowers and plants?

It was well known that Old Master Lu had become proud and solitary in his later years, spending his days tending flowers and birds, basically only speaking with old acquaintances. So seeing him chat now with such a smile that his face wrinkled up, those who noticed were quite surprised.

Chu Zhi stared in shock, having never imagined her father knew Old Master Lu, as he had never mentioned it even once.

She stood quietly behind her father watching these two chat like old friends for a while until Old Master Lu finally turned slightly to look at her: “You know this young lady too?”

Her father paused slightly at that “too”: “I do. You know her as well?”

Old Master Lu smiled: “She’s my grandson’s little girlfriend, and my future granddaughter-in-law.”

Her father also smiled: “Well what a coincidence, she’s my daughter.”

Old Master Lu: “…”

Lu Jiaheng: “…”