ATLAS TRANSLATES

“What do you mean?”

The sunlight from the window formed a clear boundary between the two of them. Jing Zeliang lazily crossed his legs, his dark eyes reflecting unfathomable depths.

“Hasn’t your father told you? No wonder… I was wondering why you would still stay by his side.”

“By the way, your father probably doesn’t know who did it yet.”

“Was it you?” Shu He’s fingertips dug into her palm.

Jing Zeliang didn’t deny it, and even smiled: “Young lady, don’t look at me like that.”

“I’m not the one who sent him to jail.”

“Besides, who told you to be with Jing Yi? If you want to blame someone, blame him.”

Shu He felt stunned by his words. Jing Zeliang’s smile was gentle, and anyone would think he was a respectable, refined, and approachable professor.

But his words sent a bone-chilling cold down her spine.

“You see, originally your life could have been smooth sailing, your father wouldn’t have been laid off. Because of him, your family experienced all of this.”

“He is a disaster. Young lady, listen to me.”

“Stay away from him, discard him.” He smiled gently, but in each word, there was clearly detectable hatred. “He’s not worth it.”

The reason for Shu Hua’s dismissal, Jing Zeliang’s contempt and disgust for Jing Yi in his words—all hit her hard—

Shu He’s chest felt tight. When she spoke, her voice was cold, even filled with undisguised mockery: “Why should he be responsible for your mistakes?”

“It was you who took him away, you who hurt him, and you who interfered with my father’s work. Mr. Jing, how dare you blame everything on him?”

He was an elder, Jing Yi’s father. By reason, Shu He should respect him.

But now, she found she simply couldn’t.

Jing Zeliang didn’t seem the least bit displeased by her words. He looked at her as if facing a disobedient child, shaking his head with extreme disappointment: “No wonder he likes you.”

“He used to be just like you, not listening to me or his mother, but in the end…” The man laughed softly, beneath his gentle and refined appearance was a hint of madness that made one’s heart tremble: “He still gave in.”

—

All the way home, Jing Zeliang’s words lingered in her mind like an inescapable shadow.

Jing Yi had just finished rehabilitation. When he saw her return, before he could say a word, Shu He walked straight past him without a glance and went directly to the bedroom.

She called Yao Qing. After connecting, she asked straightforwardly: “Why was he laid off back then?”

Over the years, she rarely called him “dad.” Yao Qing paused for a long time on the other end.

Shu He guessed Shu Hua was beside her, staring at the lit-up phone as she pressed: “Why did you suddenly come to Litang to see me that year? What exactly happened?”

Shu Hua’s vague accusatory voice came through the phone, “Why are you asking about this? Did someone tell you something? Children shouldn’t—”

“I’m asking you to tell me.”

She coldly interrupted him.

Shu Hua seemed surprised by her harshness. The man mumbled, acting like someone who’d done something wrong but was relying on his status as an elder to scold her: “How dare you speak to your father like that? It was just industry downsizing, what other reason could there be?”

The more he tried to bluster, the more it proved her guess was right.

Seeing the father and daughter about to argue again, Yao Qing seemed to take the phone to another place.

“Hehe…” She seemed to sigh, but finally told her: “Your dad didn’t want to tell you because he felt he let you down.”

Shu Hua was laid off because he had a criminal record that year.

When he was young, he made some friends and valued brotherhood so much that he would do anything for his brothers, putting his friendship with them even above his wife and daughter.

When the incident happened, Shu He had just graduated from university and hadn’t returned from Litang. They had never gone to see her.

Shu Hua’s friend was cheated, and to help him, he impulsively got into a fight. Eventually someone called the police, and everyone at the scene was locked up for several days and got criminal records.

During that time, the company already had layoff plans. After he was released, someone leaked the news about his jail time, and Shu Hua became the first to be laid off.

Knowing he was in the wrong, he didn’t make a fuss.

When visiting his friend in the hospital, another patient in the ward was also hospitalized after a fight. It wasn’t his first time, and he had fought until his family fell apart, leaving him to lie alone in the hospital room.

Perhaps because of this, Shu Hua finally remembered he had a daughter.

After four years of college, until her graduation, they finally went to Litang to visit her.

In the cold room, Shu He laughed, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

She looked at the light of her phone and said mockingly, word by word: “No wonder you suddenly came to see me in Litang.”

No wonder they suddenly cared about her.

So that was why.

“Hehe…”

And Yao Qing actually said Shu Hua felt he had let her down.

It was laughable. Shu He mockingly asked: “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Yao Qing stammered, “You were just a child then, what good would telling you do…”

A child?

Shu He’s cold eyes held no trace of a smile. She vaguely recalled a name and asked: “Was it him?”

Yao Qing replied with a sound of agreement.

Shu He laughed, finding it more and more absurd. Her hands and feet gradually turned ice-cold, even her blood slowly congealing, as if taking her back to a night when she was eight years old.

Even though she was a good, obedient child, she never received much love from Shu Hua and Yao Qing.

That day was just an ordinary Saturday, but Shu He overheard them discussing who would look after her.

When Shu Hua asked with a stern face if she wanted to go out with him, Shu He looked at her happy mother getting ready to leave, nodded, and agreed obediently.

But actually, she didn’t like going out with Shu Hua.

He always stayed with those uncles, and although they wouldn’t deliberately tease her, they always smoked, and she didn’t like the smell.

So she could only hide in a corner, sometimes waiting until three in the morning, sometimes until the next morning.

But that day, when she woke up on the small sofa, she couldn’t find Shu Hua.

She couldn’t find Shu Hua, nor those uncles.

Fear spread limitlessly in her heart. She ran out of the private room, and there were all kinds of improper people in the corridor, looking at her strangely.

She cried in fear, and a passing waiter saw her and said with some surprise: “Your father had to leave, why didn’t he take you with him?”

She also wanted to know why her father had abandoned her again.

She couldn’t find her way back, so she could only sit outside the club and wait.

But that night was so cold. She wiped her tears and tried to tell herself it was okay, that her father would come back, but the fear in her heart made her tremble uncontrollably.

She asked the waitress to help her make a call, but neither Shu Hua nor Yao Qing answered.

That night, no one noticed a little girl huddled in the cold shadows, not daring to close her eyes for fear of missing Shu Hua.

She didn’t know how long she waited. When she saw Shu Hua’s figure, the sky was already bright. She even felt a bit dazed, afraid it was an illusion.

Later she learned that one of Shu Hua’s friends was in trouble, and he had gone to help.

Once again, she was left behind, but she no longer dared to cry in front of him.

Or perhaps her tears had all been shed before he arrived.

Like expectation and longing that could no longer take root and sprout, they had dried up.

Shu He laughed until tears came to her eyes. Shu Hua and Yao Qing might be good friends in others’ eyes, good partners, but they were definitely not good parents.

“So, the layoff was his own fault.”

Even without Jing Zeliang, the criminal record would eventually be discovered, and Shu Hua might still have been laid off.

Yao Qing wanted to defend Shu Hua, but mumbled and ultimately said nothing.

Until the call ended, Shu He sat rigid like a stopped clock for a long time.

Until there was a slight noise outside the door, she looked up woodenly.

The door was opened from inside, and Jing Yi immediately noticed something was wrong with her mood. He instinctively reached out to touch her face, but she avoided it emotionlessly.

Her clear, cold eyes held an unsettling calmness he couldn’t understand: “Did you know about my father being laid off?”

He froze completely, his throat dry as if plunged into an ice cellar, “…You found out?”

Shu He looked at his tightly curled hand, “I met your father.”

In an instant, Jing Yi’s face turned pale. He stammered, extremely panicked: “What did he say to you? I…”

“The reason you didn’t dare tell me is because you felt my father’s layoff was related to you, you felt guilty, right?”

Shu He didn’t answer him. Jing Yi was silent for a moment, then with some difficulty, he responded: “Yes.”

During the time he was confined, Jing Zeliang had told him, “That girlfriend of yours, her father is a man who values friendship.”

Looking at his miserable and unwilling appearance, behind Jing Zeliang’s smile was the same obsession and madness as Ren Yinyue: “If Shu He knew all this was because of you, would she hate you?”

“Xiaolin, listen to your mom, don’t make trouble.”

“Otherwise, I’ll have to go find her myself.”

He had been using this to torment Jing Yi all along. Making him feel that if it weren’t for him, none of it would have happened.

So for all these years, he had always felt he had let her down.

Shu He closed her eyes briefly. She knew it was Jing Zeliang who had leaked the news, but it was Shu Hua who broke the law.

It didn’t really have much to do with him.

But everything, like an unpredictable typhoon, swept her away. When she opened her eyes again, there was clearly some indiscernible emotion in her clear gaze, “Strictly speaking, it’s not entirely because of you.”

Jing Yi was extremely shocked, and Shu He said quietly: “The criminal record was his own doing.”

Shu Hua’s job placed great importance on employee conduct. Even without Jing Zeliang, he might have been laid off in the future.

After finishing, Shu He looked at him calmly: “You’ve kept this from me for so long, yet I had to learn it from others.”

Jing Yi’s lips moved. Though they weren’t far apart, in fact quite close, he somehow had the illusion that he couldn’t reach her. This illusion gave rise to a sense of panic.

“Your father told me that everything was because of you, that you’re not worth—”

Shu He’s voice halted, seeing his bloodless face. She forced herself to continue: “I wanted to protect you, but do you know? My defense was so weak and fragile it couldn’t hold up to a piece of paper. Even I didn’t have confidence.”

“Because I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know if what he said was true or false, and I didn’t know if you would abandon me again because of this self-righteous guilt!”

She tried to adjust her breathing, but her emotions were completely out of control. The feeling of being kept in the dark by everyone made her feel like a clown: “Tell me now, are you worth it?”

“I want you to tell me yourself, are you worth my love?”

When they first started dating, he was full of passion, while she maintained some distance and caution.

Now, as she was rushing towards him, he was running away.

Jing Yi was tortured by her questioning. Images of several people flashed through his mind—disappointed, scolding, tearful…

Subconsciously, he felt he didn’t deserve it.

But now, he instinctively grabbed her hand, saying with difficulty: “I want you to love me.”

Shu He caught the trembling plea in his dark pupils. She shook her head, softly, as if cutting his invisible heart: “What about you?”

“Is what you feel for me guilt, or love?”

Her question made his pupils contract sharply. He stumbled backward, seemingly unable to believe she would question him like this.

Shu He’s eyes burned with disappointment: “Jing Yi, I can’t tell anymore, can you tell yourself?”

—

After that day, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and Shu He no longer tried to comfort him as before.

The previously scheduled house viewing with Tang Yun was on Saturday. She was busy at the store for a while until Xiang Lanye came to pick her up.

Tang Yun personally accompanied them for a tour. Xiang Lanye was very satisfied and signed the contract with the landlord on the spot.

Shu He waited with Tang Yun on the side, and she thanked him again during this time.

She currently had no plans to move, but Xiang Lanye wanted to move out from home recently. When Tang Yun heard about it, not only was he not angry, but he was still willing to help.

He smiled gently: “Then thank me with a cup of coffee?”

Shu He joked: “I thought you’d charge by the hour.”

Tang Yun said helplessly: “I’m not that money-hungry.”

There was no longer that awkwardness between them as before. Shu He’s mind inexplicably recalled Jing Zeliang’s words. She looked at Xiang Lanye in the distance and asked casually: “Do you know Jing Zeliang?”

Tang Yun thought seriously: “I have heard of his wife.”

Shu He withdrew her gaze, “You know them?”

“Just heard of them.” Tang Yun looked at her: “What’s wrong?”

Remembering what Jing Zeliang had said, she shook her head and didn’t say anything more.

After signing the contract, Tang Yun had work to attend to. Shu He and Xiang Lanye had originally planned to go to a hot spring, but she received a call from the store.

Since there was still some time, Xiang Lanye accompanied her back.

When they arrived at the store, Tong Yuan pointed to a distance: “Sis, that customer has been waiting for you for a while.”

Shu He came to the window. The woman drinking coffee moved with grace and elegance. She looked up, her exquisite makeup somewhat familiar, the upturned corners of her eyes showing a few fine wrinkles, but not diminishing her dignified and noble demeanor.

Seeing that she didn’t recognize who she was, the woman showed no displeasure, smiling appropriately, “Teacher Shu, long time no see, I am Xiaoqi’s mother.”

Shu He was stunned, clearly not expecting to see her.

The moment she sat down, the woman took out a bank card from her bag and slowly pushed it towards her.

Shu He just glanced at it, without a ripple: “What do you mean by this?”

The woman looked at her, calmly stating her intentions: “Xiaoqi likes you very much. As his mother, I naturally hope my son can get what he desires.”

“So, Miss Shu, any amount of money is fine, as long as you are willing to be with Xiaoqi.”