ATLAS TRANSLATES

Duni is the Ragdoll cat raised by Chen Jinyao.

With clear blue eyes, snow white fur, and only the ears and tail tipped with shades of light or dark grey, it is very spirited. It does not pay much attention to strangers, and most of the time it is nobly cold and aloof like a king. But when it gets lazy and clingy with Chen Jinyao, it becomes an out-and-out sly little demon.

The pretty, well-behaved, and lovable Duni has everything going for it, except that it just doesn’t get along with Yan Cheng. It doesn’t get along to the point where it is always ready to bare its claws and fangs, hissing and snarling as if wanting to get into a big fight with Yan Cheng. It probably sees Yan Cheng as a third party who has suddenly wedged himself between it and its owner, disrupting the affectionate relationship between itself and its owner.

This stereotype has destined them to be radically incompatible and mortal enemies.

“I will make this stupid cat acknowledge me,” Yan Cheng finally got annoyed when Chen Jinyao buried her face in the pillow and laughed uncontrollably.

In the days off staying home afterwards, he was confident enough that through interacting morning and night, he could change the relationship between himself and this feline family member.

Chen Jinyao laughed until her shoulders shook. She couldn’t help but remind him, “First of all, you shouldn’t call it a stupid cat. Don’t assume Duni doesn’t understand you.”

Yan Cheng glanced at her coldly. He pinched the cat’s neck to lift it up. They stared at each other face to face. Duni struggled hard, looking like it wanted to claw him again. He lazily tutted, “Duni is a little bastard.”

“……”

It had been snowing heavily in the capital for a few days.

The branches on both sides of the roads were bent over from the weight. The asphalt was also covered with a thick layer of snow. When cars drove over it, they left behind two conspicuous tracks, as if they had opened up a small road exclusively for vehicles to drive on the snowy roads.

At half past four in the afternoon, Chen Jinyao finished her work at the clinic. She took off her white coat, tidied herself up simply and got off work. When she passed by the duty room, she tilted her face slightly and curved her lips to bid the duty nurse goodbye.

This was her clinic, a dental clinic. She was a dentist.

After graduating, she had utilized her expertise at work.

Pushing open the glass door, as soon as she got outside, she was shuddered by the knife-like cold wind. Chen Jinyao stamped her feet and exhaled with difficulty.

She jogged to where she had parked her car. Just as she got into the car, her phone rang.

She thought it was Yan Cheng calling at first, but it turned out to be her younger sister, Chen Jinyao.

“Sis!” Chen Jinyao sounded very excited, yelling loudly.

Hearing this sudden loud shout, Chen Jinyao reflexively held the phone further away and frowned, “Why are you still so noisy?”

Chen Jinyao obviously didn’t want to pay attention to her nagging. She talked about things that Chen Jinyao couldn’t even understand: “Sis, you’re so awesome!”

“Awesome about what?” She turned on the heater with one hand on the steering wheel.

“Brother-in-law! Has brother-in-law been tamed by you?” Chen Jinyao was at the age where she loved to play around. She often went out to party with her friends around the same age. She was young after all, unlike Chen Jinyao who had been isolated from high society circles. She enjoyed the world of money and debauchery. “Sis, do you know what people are saying about you out there now?”

“……” Were they talking bad about me behind my back?

“They all say that you are a tigress who has your brother-in-law under strict control. Mom even praised you in front of me, saying that you are good at controlling your husband.” After a short pause, she finally lowered her loud voice a little and whispered mysteriously, “Sis, have you secretly blocked all the suggestive contacts of the opposite sex in brother-in-law’s phone when he was sleeping?”

Chen Jinyao: “……” This was too unjust.

Only my closest mother and sister would think that was being good at controlling one’s husband.

Was the rumor demonizing me?

Blocking contacts in the phone… As far as she knew, the only person she had blocked under Yan Cheng’s nose was Zhou Xue. Chen Jinyao frowned. She vaguely began to speculate maliciously.

That’s why she said Yan Cheng was a neurotic with incomplete brains.

The sudden irritation ruined her good mood for the whole day.

On the way, she bought dinner at Jude Lou.

After returning home, she placed the food on top of the shoe cabinet. Chen Jinyao bent down to change her shoes in the foyer. Her expression was not very good. Usually when she came back from outside, Duni would amble over no matter how aloof, and circle her legs a few times to welcome her when there was the slightest wind blowing at the security door. But there was none of that today. Chen Jinyao even deliberately slowed down her pace and called out Duni’s name a few times.

“Stop calling it.” An ostentatious voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of smugness from unknown sources, “The little bastard is in my hands.”

Hearing this, Chen Jinyao shut her mouth up. She calmly stepped into her slippers.

“You’re not being a dutiful wife at all. At least when you come home, the first thing you should say is ‘Honey, I’m home’, not Duni this and Duni that.” Yan Cheng lazily complained half jokingly. Before he finished complaining, he suddenly changed the subject, unusually gentle, “Don’t move, stay put.”

When Chen Jinyao walked out of the foyer into the living room, this was the scene she saw: Yan Cheng was sitting on the sofa wearing casual home clothes, holding Duni in his arms, pinning it down with absolute strength while trimming its sharp claws.

The irritation dissipated considerably. She narrowed her eyes slightly.

The daily battles between human and cat were gradually subsiding. Duni no longer had so much hostility towards Yan Cheng now. Since neither had a good temper, they could both take a step back to reconcile and get along harmoniously, which was not easy.

“Wash your hands for dinner after you’re done.”

She got off work at four thirty, and it was almost five now.

No talking during meals.

In fact, the rumor about her being a tigress that Chen Jinyao’s sister talked about probably wasn’t caused by something as simple as blocking other women’s phone numbers.

It had been almost a week since Hechang Teahouse closed down. Yan Cheng really kept his word to happily stay at home and be a family man. Every day, he was lazy and carefree, living in the moment, only knowing to “develop father-son bonds” with Duni.

The prodigal young master Yan who used to fool around wildly suddenly became low-key and stopped going out to party. To outsiders, this situation was as improbable as the sun rising from the west! Then, people’s inquisitive mentality led them to continue speculating downwards. The most straightforward conclusion they speculated was that Yan Cheng got married. Marriage represented having a wife and restrictions.

Together with the rumor “she blocked all Yan Cheng’s female contacts in his phone”.

It affirmed her identity as a tigress, and also affirmed that Yan Cheng was afraid of his wife.

Although it was not a big deal, it was still quite uncomfortable to inexplicably become a topic of gossip over tea and meals, and even felt like being poked in the spine.

When you didn’t know about something like this, it was fine. But once you knew, it was impossible to say that you didn’t care.

Dinner later.

She stood and walked around in the living room for a while to aid her digestion.

When she felt it was about time, Yan Cheng sprawled lazily on the sofa, watching sports news on the sports channel on TV with his face sideways.

Chen Jinyao walked over and kicked the dignified young master lightly. “Move over and give me some space.” With him lying stick straight like that, he took up the whole sofa even though it was so long.

The corners of Yan Cheng’s lips curled up as he whistled, “You can lie on top of me.”

“I can also dance on your belly.” She said.

Silent staring contest. The atmosphere quieted down for a while.

Yan Cheng heaved a deep sigh. “Oh forget it, I’m intimidated by you. Here, lie down instead of me.” He changed from lying down to sitting properly.

Chen Jinyao rolled her eyes. How could he live without quipping! She sat next to him, “Lately, I’ve been very disturbed that you haven’t been going out socializing. Maybe one day there will be police at our door suspecting that I murdered my husband.”

“……” The topic jumped too abruptly, abruptly enough to catch Yan Cheng off guard. “Who said I haven’t been socializing?”

“I just happened to leave the house later and come back earlier than you.”

There was no evidence against this. Chen Jinyao was rendered speechless: “……”

Winter nights fell early.

There were colorful city lights outside the window, and bright ceiling lights inside.

Yan Cheng frowned slightly, then suddenly reacted. He gasped, “Oh, did you hear something?”

“Don’t you know about it?” Chen Jinyao was not surprised. “You should know.”

There were only so many prominent families in the capital after all.

By marrying Yan Cheng, she had completely left those social circles, but Yan Cheng hadn’t.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Jinyao asked back, “What do you think?”

“Just live your own life well, why care so much about others!”

There were still some differences between how men and women think after all. Even if they could guess the truth, men would feel that these were just trivial matters without the need to get to the bottom of it. But women were different. Women liked to fuss over tiny problems.

And Chen Jinyao just happened to be extremely petty: “Am I a tigress?”

Yan Cheng lazily lifted his eyelids and shook his head.

“Then saying I’m a tigress is destroying my reputation.”

“That makes some sense.” He was listening.

Chen Jinyao: “So?”

“I’ll listen to you.” Yan Cheng narrowed his eyes.

This answer satisfied Chen Jinyao very much, but there was one thing she still had to remind him: “Yan Cheng, you may know Huo Qidong, but you definitely don’t know women.”

Women like Zhou Xue for example. From just this matter, you could see her die before being broken character.

Who knows, she might insist on pestering you endlessly.

Of course Chen Jinyao would not do something stupid and hysterical.

She even regretted a little marrying Yan Cheng.

Because given Yan Cheng’s neurotic level, he would definitely get himself into huge trouble.

And she, as his ally, as his wife, as someone tied to him by the agreement, still had to clean up the mess of the trouble he caused.

What’s most frightening was that Yan Cheng actually still looked clever all the time.

“……” He really was just a prodigal who knew how to eat, drink, and have fun.

Chen Jinyao sighed. She suddenly got up and stood in front of Yan Cheng with one leg raised. She supported herself on the sofa with her knees and looked down at Yan Cheng condescendingly.

Yan Cheng reflexively stretched out both arms to wrap them around her slender waist.

Then he deliberately pulled her into his arms with force when she was off guard. Chen Jinyao unwittingly sat on Yan Cheng’s thigh. Their distance became closer. Looking into each other’s eyes when raising their gaze, the subtle atmosphere quietly emerged.

If they continued staying quietly and let the atmosphere spur them on, things might spiral out of control with physical contact and intense eye contact being very dangerous.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to introduce me to your friends last time?” Chen Jinyao spoke up.

The sultriness instantly vanished. Yan Cheng pursed his lips. He felt it was a pity. His Adam’s apple rolled lightly a couple times. His voice was low as he hmm-ed.

“How many friends?”

“Two or three.” He had many friends to eat, drink, and party with, but confidants who knew him deeply were just a handful.

Chen Jinyao nodded. She cupped Yan Cheng’s face with one hand, “Then it’s set. Let them come over for a meal this Sunday.”

The two looked at each other intimately, nose to nose.

“I need someone to spread the word.” She said.

Yan Cheng’s mouth curved up as his brow quirked, “?”

Chen Jinyao chuckled lightly, “For example, that the Chen Jinyao who has Yan Cheng the prodigal young master under control is actually a wife with a lot of charm.”

“Or rather… you actually submit under my pomegranate skirt and are willing to form a model couple with me.” She tilted her head, her smiling deepend, “I definitely can’t be the only one shouldering those groundless accusations.”

“……”