ATLAS TRANSLATES

From any perspective, Cheng Shu was truly an exceptional person.

He knew that Shu He deserved all good things, but he always felt that no one was worthy of her.

Including himself.

Shu He was the direction he pursued his entire life.

Two years ago, he was eliminated from her world. Yet now he found himself jealous, realising he didn’t want to leave at all.

He wanted Shu He to see only him.

Jing Yi looked up at her, his heart aching from her words: “Anyway, he’s not good enough.”

Shu He thought this man was truly unreasonable. She tugged at her lip: “Do I need your approval? When I get married someday, will I need to ask for your opinion too?”

“…”

Though Shu He was cold by nature, she rarely confronted people directly.

Jing Yi felt full of grievance after her words. He turned his head away, hugging the two small Christmas trees, clearly sulking in silence.

Shu He didn’t coddle him at all. Once they entered the complex, she continued questioning: “I haven’t asked you yet—how do you know Cheng Shu?”

The man looked weary. After entering the lift, she thought he wouldn’t answer, but then he tightened his grip on the Christmas trees: “Saw him in high school.”

Shu He connected everything with a delay: “We went to the same high school?”

“You were my junior?”

He nodded glumly. Shu He was rarely stunned, but remained so until the lift chimed and reached their floor. She finally came to her senses, muttering: “What a coincidence.”

After entering their home, Jing Yi placed the Christmas trees on the coffee table. He curled his fingers and slowly touched his cold, hard cheek, letting out a slight hiss as if unintentional. His originally pale hands were reddened from the cold, impossible not to notice.

Shu He pretended not to see. She went to unwrap the Christmas tree, casually asking: “Why did you never mention it before?”

She considered decorating the Christmas tree tonight. Behind her, the man quietly moved closer. “Why mention someone so irrelevant?”

“…?”

Shu He was speechless. This man had clearly misunderstood her question, and from his tone, he was still unhappy.

Jing Yi acted as if he hadn’t seen her looking. He picked up a Christmas tree, but as soon as he touched the hard branches, he suddenly withdrew his hand, frowning slightly as if pricked.

Shu He eyed him suspiciously: “What are you pretending for?”

“…”

He sulked with his head hanging low. “Not pretending.”

Shu He’s heart was now extremely hardened. She responded with a simple “Oh” and said: “If you’re pricked so easily, I shouldn’t have given it to you. Give it back.”

After speaking, she reached for the Christmas tree in his hand.

The man’s wheelchair was exceptionally nimble as he retreated, as if afraid she would snatch it. He hugged it with both hands, no longer concerned about being pricked, his clear black and white eyes filled with vigilance and grievance.

Shu He looked down at him: “Give it back.”

He simply stopped talking and turned to leave.

The wheelchair moved away quickly. Seeing she didn’t call him back, he turned his head unhappily: “Sister.”

The woman glanced at him. His eyes were downcast as he mumbled: “Why aren’t you calling me?”

Shu He unwound her scarf and placed it on the sofa. Her cool gaze remained unruffled: “You still haven’t paid me for the oden today.”

“…”

He turned away silently. As the door closed softly, Shu He finally withdrew her gaze.

Shortly after, her phone buzzed with a transfer notification.

Jing Yi has transferred 1000 yuan to you.

Shu He: [?]

Jing Yi: [Can we eat oden together every night from now on?]

Shu He: [Don’t push your luck.]

Jing Yi: […anything else would be fine too, okay?]

Shu He didn’t respond again. She sat on the floor decorating the Christmas tree. Being small, it was finished quickly.

The heating had been set quite high earlier, and after sitting for a while, she’d broken into a light sweat.

Shu He went to get water when her peripheral vision caught the paper stuck to the refrigerator.

On the rental agreement, the top half was written by her, while the bottom half had the man’s handwriting right next to her content.

However, he hadn’t written his own requirements, but rather… his schedule.

13:00—15:00, Rehabilitation. 15:30—20:00, Coffee shop, then home with you at night.

His daily routine was truly simple and boring.

Shu He’s gaze lingered on the word “rehabilitation” for a long while, lost in thought under the bright white light.

Until someone messaged her again.

She took a sip of water before slowly opening WeChat.

Jing Yi: [Sister, do you still use this brand of hand cream?]

Shu He didn’t know what he was up to now: [?]

Jing Yi: [My hands are too cold in winter. Thinking of buying hand cream.]

Shu He remembered his hands were indeed red when he was holding the Christmas tree earlier.

Before she could reply, he sent another message: [I don’t really understand these things, so I wanted to ask you. Am I bothering you?]

Shu He read these words several times, suddenly curious about what he looked like right now.

With this thought, she decided to walk over and knock directly on his studio door.

The person inside seemed surprised by her visit. The door opened from within after several seconds.

He looked up at her, dark eyes watching quietly, though his complexion seemed poor for some reason: “What is it?”

Shu He looked him up and down, about to say something when her nose twitched. She smelled a strong fragrance.

She frowned, “Why is it so fragrant?”

Jing Yi himself was almost dizzy from the scent. The windows in the room were already open, yet the mixture of dozens of perfumes hadn’t dissipated.

Meeting her puzzled gaze, Jing Yi showed rare discomfort. He couldn’t help touching his nose, “Just looking for inspiration.”

“Smelling perfume… for inspiration?”

He gave a mild affirmation. The perfumes Liang Xu had bought earlier, he’d brought them all out at once.

Jing Yi wanted to find her scent, but after smelling one bottle after another, not only had he failed to find the one she used, he’d nearly made himself pass out.

His complexion was truly poor. Since she couldn’t let her flatmate be suffocated, Shu He expressionlessly pushed him out and closed the door behind him.

She approached him, immediately making Jing Yi’s heart leap with excitement.

But he was indeed affected by the fragrance, which made his chest feel tight.

Seeing him cover his chest in discomfort, Shu He finally went to pour him a glass of water.

“Thank you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, though just minutes ago he’d been sulking.

Shu He stood with her arms crossed, “There’s one thing I forgot to mention.”

His clear black and white eyes watched her quietly, looking just like an obedient puppy gazing up expectantly.

“No polluting the air in common areas.”

“…Oh.” He responded listlessly, then seemed to protest softly: “But I was in my own room just now.”

“…” Shu He laughed in frustration. She walked over, “Fine, then I’ll push you back now—”

“Ah! Sister—”

He quickly grabbed her hand on the wheelchair, turning his porcelain-white face up to her, his dark eyes staring intently: “Don’t be angry, I know I was wrong.”

The heating had been on for a long time, yet the man’s large hand was still somewhat cold.

Shu He pulled her hand away, her red lips moving: “What did you do wrong?”

“Future best songwriter in Chinese music, how could you be wrong?”

Her words were heavy with sarcasm. Jing Yi silently followed her. As he continued following, Shu He turned back, her beautiful eyes glaring: “Why are you following me?”

Jing Yi blinked in confusion, only then realising she was heading to her bedroom.

He paused slightly: “Are you not going to look after me anymore?”

“How do you want me to look after you?”

Jing Yi’s lips moved, but he just didn’t want her to leave.

Shu He was particularly merciless. Without waiting for his answer, she turned back to her bedroom and shut the door with a “bang,” leaving him outside.

Jing Yi could only silently rub his uncomfortable nose. He returned glumly to the sofa, his gaze falling on the scarf she’d left behind—

In the silent living room, he picked up the scarf with both hands. His nose surrounded by the soft cashmere, extremely greedy. This scarf that had wrapped around the woman’s neck had touched her skin and caught her breath.

Her jaw, her lips, had also been nestled in its close embrace.

His lips unconsciously caressed the soft fabric, eyes closed, attempting to drown in her scent.

Shu He completely forgot she’d left her scarf outside. Before going out for water, she thought for a moment and grabbed the hand cream from her dressing table.

When she came out, Jing Yi was holding a Christmas tree, about to return to his room.

She found it strangely familiar and narrowed her eyes, calling to him: “Wait, what are you doing with my Christmas tree?”

He looked at her innocently: “This is mine. Yours is over there.”

Following his direction, Shu He’s tree was indeed sitting obediently in its place.

But she felt something was off. Staring at the Christmas tree in his arms, she noticed a pink clownfish hanging from the lower right branch.

Her gaze was too intense, and Jing Yi silently tightened his grip.

That gesture, as if afraid she would snatch it.

Shu He mentally rolled her eyes and gave him the hand cream.

Jing Yi didn’t even blink, realising after a delay what it was: “For me?”

A hint of joy flashed in his dark pupils. Shu He looked down at him, her tone casual: “Bought too many. Can’t use them all.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Thank you.”

Shu He felt uncomfortable under his burning gaze. She turned to get water: “It’s just hand cream. If you feel bad, you can pay me.”

She said it casually, but he agreed crisply: “Alright.”

Shu He held her cup, watching as he lowered his head to press a few buttons, immediately transferring money to her.

She took the Christmas tree back to her room and checked her phone to see his transfer amount.

Why did this person like to transfer in thousands?

She began to wonder—didn’t Auntie Li say he was tight on money?

As she thought about this, she placed the Christmas tree on the table and finally noticed something wrong.

The Christmas tree Jing Yi had decorated was a perfect copy-paste of hers.

If she remembered correctly, she had disliked the clownfish and had chosen the only star to hang on top.

Now her star was gone.

In its place was a clownfish identical to the one on Jing Yi’s tree.

Shortly after, Shu He returned with her scarf. She keenly detected an unfamiliar scent.

It matched the fragrance from Jing Yi’s room perfectly.

She laughed coldly inside and went to settle accounts.

She took a photo of the scarf and sent it to him. He must have been waiting by his phone, as he replied quickly: [What’s wrong, sister?]

Shu He typed expressionlessly: [My scarf smells like your perfume now.]

Jing Yi: [Oh.]

Oh?

Shu He had no idea what he’d done earlier. She glanced at the Christmas tree and typed furiously. Before she could finish, he quickly added: [I’ll wash it clean for you.]

Shu He’s fingers paused as she considered how to respond. The man was extraordinarily eager: [Or I could buy you a new one.]

Without waiting for her agreement, he sent a transfer: Jing Yi has transferred 10000 yuan to you.

Jing Yi: [Sister, don’t be angry anymore, okay?]