ATLAS TRANSLATES

Shu He had told Yao Qing in advance that she planned to bring Jing Yi back on Sunday.

During the night, Shu He woke up groggily to find the person beside her missing.

She put on a coat and opened the door to the studio, but didn’t see him there either.

Her heart skipped a beat, her drowsiness mostly gone. She finally spotted his silhouette on the balcony.

It had rained heavily yesterday, and the biting cold wind blew through her thin clothes. Shu He’s heart settled slightly.

“Why are you out here?”

“Why did you come out?”

Their voices collided in the thin air. He got up and took her hand, leading her back inside.

His hands were terribly cold. Shu He frowned as she helped warm them: “Couldn’t sleep?”

Back in bed, the warmth under the covers hadn’t yet dispersed. He made a sound of agreement, then embarrassingly admitted: “I’m a bit nervous…”

Shu He stroked his face, which had become somewhat stiff from the cold wind. “Don’t be nervous, I’m here.”

Jing Yi silently nuzzled her face. Previously, because of his legs, Shu Hua had strongly objected.

When he thought about her previous blind dates and the many quality men around her…

“Our Jing Yi is very good too.” She fought against drowsiness, casually praising him: “Especially how handsome you are. Initially, it was your face that made me waver a bit.”

“…..”

Jing Yi couldn’t help but curve his lips: “What if there’s someone even more handsome than me?”

Tears of sleepiness seeped from the corners of Shu He’s eyes as she expertly comforted him: “Someone more handsome than you wouldn’t have your cooking skills, wouldn’t know how to be as coquettish as you, wouldn’t sing as well as you, and wouldn’t look as good as you when crying.”

She thought he would be happy after hearing this, but unexpectedly, the warm body embracing her gently bit her ear: “So, sister, who do you think is more handsome than me?”

“………”

Shu He closed her eyes and perfunctorily rubbed his black hair, pretending not to have heard: “So tired, let’s sleep quickly, be good.”

“…..”

Jing Yi didn’t bother her anymore. He lay with his eyes open, staring blankly in the darkness for quite a while before succumbing to drowsiness.

On the way back the next day, he was quiet, only his tightly clenched hand revealing his emotions.

When they arrived home, Shu He took his hand, and he numbly came back to his senses.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“…..Mm.”

She’d thought only her parents would be home, but unexpectedly, there were many people there.

Besides her grandparents, Shu He’s little niece and her family were also present.

She clearly felt the hand intertwined with hers tighten. She reassuringly squeezed his hand and gave the things they’d brought to Yao Qing and the others.

“Why is everyone here?”

While they weren’t paying attention, she quietly asked Yao Qing.

Yao Qing hesitated for a moment, “Since you said he’s the person you want to marry, the family should check him out.”

Shu He frowned slightly. She saw Jing Yi sitting on the sofa maintaining a faint smile, politely answering whatever her grandparents asked.

“What’s the current situation with your legs?”

Grandmother’s tone was actually quite kind, but Shu He’s heart instinctively tightened. She looked toward Jing Yi; the man was calmly answering the question without any trace of discomfort.

Shu Hua, sitting to the side, had maintained an expressionless face throughout. Shu He suddenly understood the strange feeling she’d had—her grandparents’ presence was likely at his request.

“Little sister, didn’t you say you wanted bubble tea? Why don’t I take you to get some?”

They were deliberately trying to get her to leave. Shu He frowned, about to refuse, when Jing Yi’s dark eyes looked at her. He slightly curved his lips, as if telling her not to worry.

Shu He had no choice but to take her little niece’s hand and walk out.

The moment the door closed behind them, the room fell into an eerie silence.

Jing Yi’s tightly curled palm was sweating. Just as he was about to speak, Shu Hua, who hadn’t said a word the entire time, spoke up: “Because of you, our Hehe was forced into the trending topics, with many people online cursing her.”

Jing Yi felt as if someone had seized his breath. His throat tightened, and he lowered his eyelashes, responding with difficulty: “I’m sorry, Uncle. This matter is my fault.”

Shu Hua coldly snorted: “Your fault? If you really knew you were at fault, you should stay far away from our Shu He!”

“I’ve introduced her to many excellent suitors before, and I don’t understand why she would choose you.”

“Let me ask you, in what way are you better?”

“I didn’t mind you two dating in college, but marriage is no joke. I ask you, can you provide security for my daughter? Can you make her happy for a lifetime?”

When Shu Hua said this, Yao Qing, including the grandparents, all had serious expressions.

Perhaps because he and Yao Qing had married in such a hurry, they knew how fragile such a family could be.

They knew they had failed their daughter, and any remediation now seemed too little too late, but they still didn’t want her and Jing Yi to become a second version of themselves.

Moreover, Shu Hua was prejudiced against “artistic” people who had one foot in the entertainment industry, always feeling their work was unreliable.

After calmly listening to him, Jing Yi placed the files from his phone in front of the elders.

“Uncle, Auntie, these are proofs of all my assets. I’ve already had a lawyer notarize them. If I do anything to wronged Shu He after marriage, I’ll leave without taking anything.”

In an instant, Yao Qing looked at the young man before her.

From start to finish, he hadn’t shown much flattery or eagerness. He calmly and seriously mentioned a figure that made the elders gasp.

“This is my current fee for creating one song. I will entrust all my money to Shu He, and the two houses under my name will also be transferred to her.”

The Shu family were just ordinary people. Although Shu Hua was a manager before losing his job, with an annual income of 300,000, hearing that Jing Yi earned more than his annual income for just one song made him look at the young man differently.

“I know you’re also concerned about my legs.” At this point, he paused, “But rest assured, I’ve recovered quite well now. I can walk and run. I… am no longer disabled.”

Having personally uttered the word “disabled,” Shu He’s grandparents had already softened.

Jing Yi stood up. The elders looked up at him, and only then did they realize that this young man… was truly quite tall.

Jing Yi silently bowed to them, saying: “I have also severed ties with my family, and no one will be able to use me to hurt her again.”

“You are all Shu He’s elders, and I sincerely hope to receive your blessings at our wedding.”

“To me, Shu He is more important than life itself.”

—

After buying bubble tea for her little niece, the girl whined about wanting to go to the park.

Shu He had no choice but to take her there. Sitting on the side with two cups of bubble tea, watching her, her thoughts wandered.

With Shu Hua’s temperament, who knew what words he would say.

She suddenly felt anxious. Just as she was about to take her niece back, she looked around but couldn’t see her.

The children gathered around the slide were gone, now crowding elsewhere, chirping. Shu He had a bad feeling. She hurriedly ran over and saw that the little children all looked panicked. Seeing an adult approaching, they all pointed to a small lake not far away—

A figure was struggling, creating quite a splash.

Shu He’s heart jumped. She vaguely felt the pink figure looked familiar.

Without thinking, she ran over and jumped into the lake to rescue the child.

It wasn’t her niece. The little girl, seeing someone come to her rescue, coughed while tightly grabbing her clothes, crying heart-wrenchingly.

Although Shu He could swim, it was still difficult to carry a six or seven-year-old girl in cold water.

Finally climbing ashore, she had lost her strength. Her ears buzzed chaotically with adults’ voices and familiar crying.

“Oh my goodness! Call an ambulance quickly!”

“Baby, are you okay? How did you fall into the lake?”

“I was just trying to get the ball… Mommy, I was so scared…”

“My goodness, are you alright, little girl?”

Someone draped a coat over her. She gradually couldn’t hear clearly. Before fainting, Shu He saw not only her niece’s red eyes but also the little girl who had fallen into the water, tightly held in her mother’s arms.

—

When Shu He woke up, she was in the hospital.

Besides Jing Yi with his red-rimmed eyes, Shu Hua and the others were also there.

She struggled to sit up. Jing Yi placed a pillow behind her. She beckoned to her little niece, who immediately came over with a pouting mouth, clearly frightened as well.

“How is that child?” she asked.

Yao Qing frowned: “Scared, but physically fine.”

With her question, several people began to blame the situation.

The lake was some distance from the park. The child had gone to retrieve a ball that had rolled far away and accidentally fallen into the lake.

It was said that residents had requested the lake be fenced off long ago, but for some reason, it had never been arranged.

In Shu Hua’s words, the capitalists probably didn’t want to spend the money.

After Shu Hua finished speaking, looking at Shu He’s pale face, he held back but still said a couple of things: “You’re a young woman with a weak constitution. What if you had sacrificed yourself?”

“It would have been better to find a security guard nearby.”

After hearing his words, Shu He’s head throbbed painfully. She impatiently tugged at her lips: “By the time a guard arrived, she would have drowned.”

“…”

She was somewhat unwilling to listen to him talk. After Yao Qing and the others left, she looked at the man who had been silent all this time and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

But before she could say a word, he leaned forward and embraced her carefully, as if holding something fragile and precious.

“Were you frightened?”

She gently patted his back. He choked out a sound of agreement, the force of his embrace gradually tightening.

“Did my parents give you a hard time?”

She changed the subject. The man, infatuated and fearful, inhaled her scent and said softly, “No.”

Seeing him so deflated, Shu He didn’t quite believe it: “Really?”

“Mm.” He straightened up slightly: “They have agreed.”

She blinked, “What did you say to them?”

He thought for a moment, “Perhaps Uncle and Auntie were moved by my sincerity?”

Shu He knew he was probably hiding something from her, not wanting to say it, so she didn’t press further.

Jing Yi pressed his forehead against hers and said in a low voice: “I just found out that you… once fell into a lake before.”

He only knew she had been abandoned by her parents before, but had never heard her mention falling into a lake.

When Yao Qing told him, his heart suddenly contracted painfully, as if he too had fallen into an icy lake, his entire body stiffening.

No wonder… she hated winter so much and feared the cold.

He took a deep breath and embraced her tightly again: “Are you cold?”

Shu He instantly understood the meaning behind his words.

Not just now, but back then, when she fell into the lake—was she cold? Was she afraid?

How could she not have been cold?

When she was rescued and lying in the hospital bed, neither Shu Hua nor Yao Qing had asked if she was cold.

The bone-chilling temperature had frozen her heart that once yearned for her parents’ love.

She closed her eyes, feeling moist liquid slide down, and softly responded with a sound of agreement.

—

When Jing Yi went out, Yao Qing came in.

“He’s leaving all his assets to you.”

After hearing about their conversation with Jing Yi, Shu He felt a blockage in her heart.

Yao Qing seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Meeting her gaze, she finally spoke: “Hehe, Dad and Mom know we’ve wronged you.”

“All these years…” Her wrinkled eyes grew moist: “Was it very hard for you to come this far alone?”

Shu He’s heart immediately felt as if it had been struck. She found it difficult to articulate her current feelings.

Yao Qing and Shu Hua were inadequate parents. Their apology now couldn’t stir even a ripple in her heart. She had already raised an umbrella for herself; their umbrella no longer mattered.

But did she hate them?

Certainly, there was hatred, yet she couldn’t completely sever the relationship between them.

She knew they wanted to make amends, but Shu He didn’t know how to face their reparations.

Because she felt she had no childhood, and didn’t know from where they should begin to make amends.

She turned her head to look outside. Bright sunlight streamed in, completely different from that cold, desolate winter.

She sighed deeply, her tone calm, without reproach but also without excessive intimacy: “Mom.”

Yao Qing’s heart instantly trembled.

For so many years, Shu He hadn’t called her “Mom” again, only using a distant “Ma.”

“I saved her not because I’m so kind.”

“I just didn’t want that little girl to be like me, cold for so long.”

“The feeling of facing death is really quite frightening.”