ATLAS TRANSLATES

“What are you waiting for?”

After a long time, as Jing Yi was on the verge of tears, she quietly looked at the corner of her dress that he was holding. He was so careful, not daring to grip too tightly, yet unwilling to let go.

“What then, if you stand up?”

Shu He watched his momentary stiffness. The pain in her palm seemed to have lost its effect. Her long-numbed heart was still scalded by his moist eyes.

Her tone remained firm as she calmly asked him, “Do you want to get back together with me?”

Jing Yi’s fingers curled tighter, and Shu He continued, “Do you think that when you wanted to break up, I had to accept it, and now when you ask me to wait for you, I must agree?”

Her successive questions made the colour drain from Jing Yi’s face. His lips trembled as he stammered, “That’s not what I meant…”

His breathing quickened, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and his legs moved slightly, as if he wanted to stand up.

Shu He lowered her eyelashes and forcefully pulled her dress away from his grasp.

His hand instinctively curled, left hanging awkwardly in mid-air.

Shu He avoided looking at his rigid expression and stood up. “Write up the rest of the agreement yourself and stick it on the fridge. I’ll look at it.”

She walked around the other side of the sofa and left.

The living room fell into desolate silence.

Jing Yi slowly withdrew his hand. He looked down at the paper he was clutching, then instinctively reached out to smooth the mint leaf pattern crumpled at the corner.

Plop.

Plop.

Tears suddenly fell, soaking the woman’s neat handwriting. He removed his glasses and hung his head low, allowing the sourness in his heart to be released uncontrollably through his tears.

Even as he cried, he carefully wiped the tear-dampened paper.

He knew it.

After telling her, she still wouldn’t feel sorry for him.

Two years ago, he had finally managed to be with her. Now, he was still disabled.

Who would wait for a disabled person?

Who would love a disabled person?

He felt so devastated he could die.

A slight noise came from behind him, but he either didn’t hear it or ignored it, sitting motionless in the same position as when she had left.

Until her familiar dress appeared before him.

He raised his hand to wipe his eyes, making his already thin eyelids even redder.

His wet eyelashes trembled. He turned his head away, but the tears wouldn’t stop, sliding down his handsome, silent face to his pale jaw, slowly dripping down.

He looked utterly pitiful.

He quietly sniffled, his Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbing with a choked sob. When he realised his emotions were getting out of control, he bit down, not looking at her. Suddenly, he wheeled backwards, the veins on his pale hands bulging, his thick, curly-haired head instantly drooping.

No matter how fast he moved, he couldn’t outpace a person’s legs.

Shu He blocked his path, watching the man silently crying. Her deliberately cold demeanour collapsed, and amid her complex feelings, an uncontrollable pang of… sympathy arose.

Shu He had seen all his emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—but she had never seen him look so pitifully beautiful.

She stood blocking his way, and the quietly crying man had nowhere to escape. He dejectedly raised his hand to press against his eyelids, his lips tightly pressed together. The exposed skin of his neck showed a sickly pallor. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he desperately stifled his sobs, his shoulders involuntarily shuddering.

Like a crying puppy, he seemed deeply upset and devastated, yet unwilling to let her see him in such a wretched state.

Shu He found it hard to articulate her feelings.

It was he who had left without a word; she was the one who had been dumped.

She had been just as deeply involved in this relationship.

She had repeatedly told herself not to trust him again, not to indulge him…

But his tears made her clearly understand her guess was right—he had a reason for breaking up, and his pain was no less than hers.

But still.

She was pathetic enough to… want to kiss away his tears.

Not wipe them away with her hand.

But kiss them.

“Stop crying.”

Shu He let out a resigned sigh. Jing Yi lightly sniffled, stubbornly and pitifully wiping his tears, his voice still carrying a hint of unresolved choked emotion: “Do you… despise me that much?”

The person caught in his own emotions was being somewhat unreasonable. Shu He pathetically realised that she didn’t have the slightest urge to get angry.

Looking at his reddened eyelids, she inwardly cursed herself for being so weak.

Seeing the woman turn to leave, Jing Yi bit his lip and suppressed his emotions, about to return to his workroom, when he saw her come back with a familiar small bag in her hand.

Shu He gave him no time to react, directly taking his hand and placing the item in his arms.

The fleeting warmth on the back of his hand made Jing Yi’s eyelashes flutter. He looked at the bag in his arms, but his mind was on something else.

There was no scent of the perfume from that day.

Nor the familiar smell from before.

He hung his head, belatedly looking up at her. His wet black eyes appeared somewhat bewildered, still carrying unresolved hurt.

She should have turned and left, but her feet seemed rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Shu He felt somewhat helpless, resisting the urge to stroke his head, her tone unconsciously softening: “Didn’t you want to eat a brownie?”

He was clearly startled.

Shu He didn’t understand his reaction. Was he surprised that she remembered to bring him a brownie, or surprised that she had come back at all?

He lowered his head to peek inside the bag. His wet eyelashes fluttered, as if he had just taken a bite of the brownie—the bitterness vanished instantly, replaced by a sweetness that made him want to cry.

Shu He was amazed to see him seemingly smile faintly, his pitiful tears stopping.

He was so easily pacified.

She hadn’t even said anything special.

She couldn’t help asking, “Not crying anymore?”

Her question made his smile freeze. He slowly raised his eyes, and when he confirmed she wasn’t angry, or even cold, his heart began to race, and he obediently nodded.

Shu He studied him intently until he lowered his head again. Only then did she slowly say, “You weren’t such a crybaby before. Why now…”

She paused slightly. “You’re not putting on a show to make me feel sorry for you, are you?”

Jing Yi pressed his lips together, his dark eyes full of grievance: “I’m not.”

Shu He felt her heart ache from his crying. She contained her uncontrollable emotions. “Jing Yi, no one will wait forever in the same place.”

“…”

His chest rose and fell gently as he tried to hold back the sourness: “I understand.”

Hearing the tremor in his voice, as if a tightly drawn string had suddenly snapped, Shu He crouched down—

Jing Yi’s gaze followed her movement downward. She looked at him calmly with clear eyes, then reached out to open the bag he was holding.

He reflexively curled his fingers tighter, as if protecting food.

Shu He glanced at him, and he quietly relaxed his grip, watching her silently, lightly sniffling, his eyes still a bit red.

Shu He tore open the fork’s packaging and opened the cake box.

She placed the bag by her feet, then suddenly took his cold hand, making Jing Yi’s heart race.

Shu He placed the cake in his palm, but as she was about to withdraw her hand, he instinctively grabbed hers, his still-damp black eyes fixed on her, refusing to let go.

Shu He paused. His hand was half-covered by his sleeve, the exposed skin showing a sickly pallor.

“Jing Yi,” her voice was unusually gentle. He instinctively responded with a sound, then watched as she slowly withdrew her hand and stood up.

“I only have less than three months left living here. I’ll move out in February next year. What I mean is,” she suddenly smiled, her beautiful clear pupils quietly reflecting his image.

“By then, everything between us will be completely over.”

“Do you understand?”

…

After saying those words, Shu He returned to her room without waiting for his response.

The next day when she went out, she heard no movement from him, nor did she receive any messages.

When she arrived at the shop, she saw that the Christmas tree she had bought earlier had been delivered.

It was huge, and would make a good photo spot in the shop.

The seller had thrown in two small trees as extras, though they looked oddly out of place in the shop.

Shu He set them aside, planning to figure out what to do with them later.

When she was about to start decorating the Christmas tree, the wind chimes behind her tinkled. She automatically said “Welcome,” but her smile froze when she turned around.

The man wore a black woollen coat with a soft white turtleneck. His thick, slightly curly hair half-covered his face, and elegant silver-rimmed glasses sat on his distinguished nose.

Fortunately, there were no steps at the shop entrance. As his wheelchair moved slowly forward, he seemed somewhat cold, his hands resting on a file gently curled, his face rather pale, looking like a gentle, non-threatening beautiful person with a fragile appearance.

His clear black and white gaze accurately captured her eyes. His lips curved slightly, as if he had carefully thought about what to say: “Shu He… what a coincidence.”

“…”

Just as Shu He was about to say something, she saw someone pushing the door open behind him. The customer was startled to find someone blocking the entrance.

She immediately put everything aside, hurried forward to push Jing Yi’s wheelchair, and apologised to the customer.

Shu He pushed him to a spot near the edge. There seemed to be a hint of happiness in the man’s dark eyes. She didn’t let go of the wheelchair: “Why did you come here?”

His lips remained curved: “Looking for inspiration.”

“Finding inspiration in a coffee shop?” she questioned.

Jing Yi’s expression didn’t change: “Yes, inspiration can come from anywhere.”

“…”

A customer is a customer. Shu He wasn’t foolish enough to drive a customer away. She pushed him to a more secluded spot.

Jing Yi looked up, curved his lips and said thanks.

Shu He told him to order for himself, then walked away.

Jing Yi wasn’t upset. He scanned the code and ordered a flat white, along with the shop’s new Basque cheesecake.

Shu He went to get some small ornaments, preparing to climb the ladder to decorate the Christmas tree, when she glimpsed fresh flowers at the front desk.

She paused and called Tong Yuan over.

“Put the flowers somewhere further away,” she said.

Tong Yuan didn’t understand. Shu He explained calmly, “There’s a troublesome person over there who’s allergic to pollen.”

“Oh—” The young girl looked back curiously as she picked up the flowers and quietly asked, “Sister Shu He, is he your friend?”

Her movements with the ornaments didn’t pause. “No.”

Tong Yuan didn’t ask any more questions and took the flowers outside.

Shu He had originally planned to climb the ladder to decorate the Christmas tree now, but on second thought, with customers present, it wasn’t convenient. She decided to wait until they left.

She and Tong Yuan moved the Christmas tree to a spare spot. When she returned, she took out her phone and scrolled for a while, happening to see Liang Xu’s social media post—

[There’s no more unfortunate boss in the world than me, having to be a driver too. The world’s truly turned upside down.]

Below was a screenshot of a chat conversation, with a familiar profile picture.

Jing Yi: [3 o’clock, pick me up.]

Liang Xu: [? What for? Don’t you never go out? Rehab? Didn’t you just go yesterday?]

Jing Yi: [Don’t ask, just come pick me up.]

Liang Xu: [Jing, I’m your boss.]

Jing Yi: [Oh, then 3:30.]

Liang Xu: [… Is this about being half an hour late? Do you want me to arrange a dedicated driver for you? To pick you up and drop you off every day?]

Jing Yi: [Yes, as soon as possible.]

Liang Xu: […]

Even through the screen, Shu He could feel Liang Xu’s anger.

Whether in the past or now, she had never seen him reply to messages so tersely and coldly.

As she was thinking, she unconsciously switched to the “Tian Tian” coffee shop’s WeChat.

Coincidentally, a certain someone had “just” sent her a message.

Shu He casually glanced at the person not far away. He was sitting there properly, with the freshly served coffee and dessert on the table, but the file he had brought remained unopened.

She shifted her gaze back and opened WeChat—

Jing Yi: [Sister, can we go home together tonight? [Obedient]]