ATLAS TRANSLATES

The traffic jam lasted nearly an hour, with rain still pouring heavily.

The driver in front cursed a few times. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed the door open, instantly letting in a gust of bone-chilling wind mixed with cold rain.

“Miss, wait here a moment. I’ll go check what’s happening.”

Shu He’s phone had automatically shut down. She gazed out of the window disinterestedly as the sound of car horns rose and fell. Many private car drivers had also stepped out to assess the situation.

The driver returned shortly. “There’s been a multi-car accident up ahead. Even the ambulance can’t get through. This wretched weather is truly annoying.”

Another half hour crawled by. When they reached the entrance of the residential complex, the driver looked in the rearview mirror and said, “Miss, is it alright if I drop you here? The traffic jam took too long, and I need to pick up my next customer—I’m running late.”

Shu He agreed good-naturedly, but as the car pulled away, it splashed up a wave of water, instantly soaking her beige skirt hem and leaving a large dirty patch.

“…..”

Seeing another car approaching through the misty rain, she instinctively lifted her skirt and moved aside. But the black sedan with hazard lights flashing didn’t speed past like the others. The moment Shu He recognised the number plate, before the car had fully stopped, the back door flew open—

He was using only one crutch, holding a black umbrella, limping towards her.

His steps were unsteady; several times he nearly fell. Shu He’s heart lurched. She quickly walked forward, but before she could say a word, she was pulled into an embrace. The black umbrella and crutch clattered to the ground, splashing up a small burst of water.

She was held tightly—so tightly she could hear his irregular, hurried breathing.

“Why are you—”

“I thought something had happened to you.”

The cold rain beat sideways against their skin, but Shu He could still hear the trembling fear in his voice.

She pushed away slightly and saw his pale face, though his dark eyes remained fixed intently on her.

Words caught in her throat. She bent down to pick up his crutch—the black umbrella had already been blown away by the wind. Frowning, she struggled to move her umbrella between them.

“Let’s go back first.”

He wordlessly took the crutch, but his other arm didn’t loosen. Instead, it wrapped firmly around her waist, either using her for support or deliberately staying close.

Shu He didn’t think much of it. Once they were back in the car, the driver, Yu Mo, glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Shall we head back now?”

“Yes, let’s go back.”

Shu He looked at the person beside her. His thick, slightly curly black hair was damp, as were his eyelashes and the high bridge of his nose. His entire face was soaked with rainwater. He seemed to have rushed out, having merely thrown on a coat over his familiar loungewear.

Now he looked completely bedraggled, like a wet puppy.

Shu He took tissues from her bag and handed them to him. “Why did you come out?”

He took them but instinctively leaned forward to help wipe her dirty skirt hem.

Shu He stopped his actions with a hint of resignation. He froze, his hand cold and wet, dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on her.

“I meant for you to wipe yourself.”

Shu He looked at her dirty skirt, feeling somewhat troubled. “I’ll wash the skirt when we get back.”

Only then did he withdraw his hand and slowly answer her question: “I saw news about a car accident. You weren’t coming back, so I thought…”

His words abruptly stopped. He wiped his clothes distractedly with the tissue, looking utterly dejected.

After a moment of heavy silence, the car slowly came to a stop. Shu He’s soft sigh filled the quiet car: “Silly.”

After the car parked, Yu Mo tactfully left.

Shu He brought out his crutch, which he took and slowly followed beside her.

He was almost completely soaked, looking quite pathetic as he leaned on the crutch.

Shu He’s irritation faded. After all, he’d ended up like this because he came looking for her.

She switched the umbrella to her other hand and supported his arm with her right hand.

He turned to look at her, his bright dark eyes clearly surprised, as if he hadn’t expected her to touch him.

Shu He merely said casually, “You’re walking too slowly.”

He made a soft sound of acknowledgement, secretly glancing at her, unable to suppress a slight smile.

“You supporting me like this… actually doesn’t help much.”

As they slowly entered the lift, before he could push his luck and say anything more, Shu He let go. “Then I won’t support you—”

“Sister—”

His tall body suddenly swayed, and Shu He reflexively steadied him again.

“You’re faking, aren’t you?”

She glared at him, unhesitatingly questioning him.

He looked somewhat wronged. “No, I’ve been walking too long and got rained on. I can’t hold up.”

“I wanted to ask if you could hold me like you did earlier…”

Earlier?

Shu He’s waist suddenly felt warm as she belatedly guessed his thoughts. She mercilessly refused: “No.”

“……”

The lift numbers steadily rose. Shu He’s hand still firmly held his arm. He lowered his eyes to look at her porcelain-white hand, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Fine, this was acceptable too.

But when they exited the lift, they stood facing each other awkwardly at the front door.

A blue vein throbbed on Shu He’s forehead. “You came out without your keys?”

He pressed his lips together pitifully. “I forgot…”

The digital lock was broken, so they had to contact property management to come up.

While waiting, Shu He looked at the tightly closed door opposite and asked, “Is nobody living across from us?”

Jing Yi glanced over. “Don’t know.”

“……”

They waited over ten minutes before property management finally arrived. After completing a series of registrations and verifying the contents, they were given the key.

Back home, Shu He couldn’t stand her damp clothes any longer and hurried to her bedroom to shower.

After her shower, she began looking for her keys that had been missing for a day.

She couldn’t find them anywhere, then belatedly realised they might have fallen into the rubbish that the cleaner had taken away.

Someone knocked on her bedroom door. Shu He set aside the key issue. He had also just showered and changed clothes, though his hair was still wet.

“Would you like some brown sugar water?”

Fearing she might catch a cold, Shu He didn’t refuse. She followed him out, her gaze settling on his thick, damp black hair.

“Can’t you dry your hair first?”

He paused, clearly not expecting her to show concern for him. His tone became somewhat excited: “My hairdryer is broken, but it’s fine—it’ll dry quickly. Don’t worry.”

Shu He didn’t understand what he was so happy about, but since he got wet looking for her, she went back to her room and returned with her own hairdryer.

“If it’s broken, just buy a new one.”

She couldn’t help muttering, but he didn’t mind being scolded, simply agreeing with her: “Yes, I’ll buy one when I have time.”

Shu He snorted lightly. “You must be busy if you need to wait for free time to buy a hairdryer.”

“…..”

When he came back out, Shu He glanced up. His black hair looked thick and fluffy, seemingly nice to touch.

But she suddenly remembered something, put down her cup, and walked directly in front of him, eyeing him warily.

He also seemed confused: “What’s wrong?”

Shu He frowned. “Are you itchy anywhere?”

“Hmm?”

She had hugged flowers when leaving the hospital and wasn’t sure if any pollen had stuck to her.

His puzzled expression gradually cleared. The corners of his eyes curved with pleasure as he shook his head: “No, I don’t think anything transferred. Don’t worry.”

Shu He’s heart finally settled. She turned back to drink her brown sugar water: “Who’s worried about you?”

With nothing else to say, she reverted to her cold demeanour. Jing Yi silently curved his lips, but instead of going for the brown sugar water, he slowly took out the medicine box and retrieved two cold remedy packets.

Shu He immediately looked away, but he simply prepared the drink in front of her.

“Drink this, or you’ll catch a cold.”

Shu He frowned, somewhat reluctant to drink it.

During university, after finishing a part-time job, she once got caught in the rain.

Although it was only for about fifteen seconds, she inevitably fell ill the next day.

Jing Yi, seeing her sickly yet unwilling-to-take-medicine appearance, touched her forehead and then prepared a cup for himself too.

Her mood had been quite low then, especially since they’d both been caught in the rain, yet only she fell ill while he remained energetic.

Why had she always been so physically weak since childhood?

She even unreasonably lost her temper with him: “You’re not sick—why are you drinking medicine? And don’t stand so close to me.”

Jing Yi casually stirred the medicine, then clinked his cup with hers: “You don’t like taking it, right? I’ll drink with you. You know I hate bitter things.”

“Look at my suffering face—perhaps it’ll make you feel better?”

But watching him grimace at the bitterness, Shu He suddenly felt her nose tingle. The white mist rising from the cup made her eyes grow hot, and her irritation unknowingly transformed into a sour feeling.

He keenly noticed her mood change, finished the remaining medicine in one gulp, and frowned as he went to hug her. Without mocking her for being afraid of medicine, he simply touched her face and coaxed softly: “How about I sing to you?”

When she remained silent, he continued: “You’re not getting a fever, are you?”

“Do you remember who I am? I’m your boyfriend. Never mind… if you don’t want to drink it, let’s go to the hospital.”

“In future, I’ll carry an umbrella with me at all times.”

At that moment, Shu He felt she was being a bit petulant.

When she was little, taking medicine always made her sick to the point of vomiting. During such times, she would tremble from the retching but didn’t dare look up because Shu Hua would give her an impatient look and harshly criticise her.

“You can’t even take medicine properly. Do you know how much money was spent on it?”

Somehow, she eventually got used to taking medicine.

Although she had exercised properly as she grew older and rarely fell ill, on the few occasions she did, she would swallow the medicine expressionlessly.

When alone, she didn’t feel bad, but with him standing before her, coaxing her softly, her emotions suddenly breached. The rational part of her was gradually consumed by an inexplicable sense of grievance.

Just like before, he had prepared a cup for himself too.

Shu He drained the medicine in one go, then picked up the brown sugar water to wash it down.

Watching her gulp down both drinks, he couldn’t help but curve his lips in a smile.

Shu He caught his smile and asked irritably: “What are you smiling at?”

He thought for a moment and honestly admitted: “I just find it cute when you don’t want to take medicine.”

“……”

His dark eyes were too straightforward and serious. Shu He looked away. She had drunk too much, her stomach felt full, so she simply got up to wash the cups.

Soon, a figure quietly moved beside her, washing at another sink.

Shu He didn’t even raise an eyelid. After washing, she put the cups in the cabinet without looking at him, her tone casual, as if mentioning in passing: “My phone died today—it was an accident.”

Jing Yi blinked, taking a moment to realise she was explaining to him. But before he could become too pleased, she continued: “Next time this happens, you don’t need to come looking for me.”

His face immediately fell, and he retorted unhappily: “Why not?”

Shu He’s gaze settled on his fluffy, thick black hair. She said absently: “You didn’t even know where I was—where would you look? Aren’t you being silly?”

“What if you needed me?”

Shu He was speechless at his stubbornness. “…Fine, do what you want.”

“Anyway, if something happened to you, I wouldn’t be as foolish as you. After all, we’re just flatmates.”

She coldly threw out these words. Jing Yi slowly followed behind her. She had just showered, and whether it was her perfume or body lotion, the mixed fragrance lingered faintly around his nose—but it smelled nice.

Never mind, I’ll still come looking for you, he thought secretly.

“By the way.” Shu He seemed to remember something. She turned around, nearly bumping into the person behind her.

“Are you free tomorrow to help me open the door? My mother is being discharged and wants to come see where I live.” After saying this, she realised she should ask her flatmate’s opinion: “Is that convenient for you?”

He only paused briefly before nodding: “That’s fine.”

“Good.” Shu He thought for a moment: “I’m not sure when they’ll come, but I’ll let you know in advance. Or you can remotely open the door like before—you don’t need to show yourself.”

Seeing he had no objections, Shu He turned to leave.

But Jing Yi remained silent for two seconds, then called after her: “What do your parents like to eat?”

He looked somewhat nervous: “Do they have any dietary restrictions?”

Shu He couldn’t help but find him amusing. Her gaze fell on his slightly curly black hair, which looked very soft. She couldn’t resist reaching out to ruffle it.

“They’re coming to see me, not to meet a future son-in-law. What are you nervous about?”