ATLAS TRANSLATES

Ji Feng glanced at Xu Miyu in front of him. She was kneeling half-squatting in front of the coffee table, taking out the pre-packaged food boxes and neatly arranging the braised meat and side dishes one by one.

After finishing, she lifted her head and smiled softly at him, saying in a gentle voice: “Yesterday afternoon at the catering department, I accidentally heard that Head Chef Xu injured his arm and needed to take two days off. I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to eat anything others made and might go hungry, so I cooked some food last night and brought it over for you today.”

Ji Feng listened to Xu Miyu’s words and looked at her suddenly beaming smile facing himself.

She had two large black circles under her eyes.

So she had specially stayed up late to cook for him?

Ji Feng squinted his eyes.

Working so hard to prepare food for him, was she plotting something?

Ji Feng probed subtly: “Have you considered not working in the lobby department and coming to work for me as a cook instead? After all, they’ve been giving you a hard time there, right?”

Xu Miyu was caught off guard upon hearing this and hurried to say: “It’s not that they’re giving me a hard time, it’s just an adjustment period. Don’t worry, I can still handle it fine. The hardest times are already behind me, these things don’t bother me at all now.”

Ji Feng looked at her smiling expression. Her smile seemed to dazzle even more than before.

Ji Feng squinted again.

So she wasn’t working this hard to get on his good side because of a job transfer.

It was because of him!

He picked up his chopsticks thoughtfully while his ears and eyes secretly monitored Xu Miyu’s interactions with Xue Rui in the corner.

She instructed Xue Rui carefully and thoroughly: “Assistant Xue, the food boxes that haven’t been opened, I’ve labeled them so you just find the corresponding label for each meal and heat it up for Director Ji. These should last the two days Chef Xu is away. I’ve also written the heating method, time, and temperature on each label for easy operation.”

After instructing Xue Rui, she turned her head again and seized the moment when Ji Feng looked at her to gently remind him: “Director Ji, since braised dishes tend to be saltier, remember to drink more water during the day, preferably warm or plain water to aid detoxification and digestion.”

After her reminders, Xu Miyu took the unopened food boxes from Xue Rui to pass to the kitchen for storage in the refrigerator.

Ji Feng sat on the couch slowly eating the braised meat while his eyes remained unwavering focused on observing Xu Miyu.

He felt she was being unusually attentive and caring towards him today.

He frowned.

Xu Miyu finished everything up properly and turned to bid farewell to Ji Feng. After bustling around, she felt a bit warm herself.

She turned to look at Ji Feng’s face.

To her surprise, she saw a piece of meat stuck on Ji Feng’s cheek – something she had never seen or imagined would appear on Ji Feng’s face before. He was always the picture of poised manners and would never allow food on his face.

Xu Miyu couldn’t help but stare at him wide-eyed.

So was he distracted thinking about something while eating for the meat to end up on his face? This must have been an exceptionally absent-minded moment.

Ji Feng also looked at Xu Miyu. He noticed a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. The sweat looked rather irritating to him.

Ji Feng squinted again.

Xu Miyu also hesitated a little, not knowing what to say.

The next second, Ji Feng and Xu Miyu almost simultaneously made a move.

Xu Miyu pointed to Ji Feng’s face and said: “Director Ji, there.”

Ji Feng also beckoned to Xu Miyu with a finger: “Come here.”

Both speaking at the same time, they paused briefly.

Then Xu Miyu took a step forward.

Ji Feng handed her a tissue: “Clean it off.”

Seeing the sweat on her forehead made him uncomfortable with the sticky feeling.

Xu Miyu went “Ah?” and took the tissue hesitantly.

“Should I wipe it?” She looked at the piece of meat on Ji Feng’s face and asked.

Ji Feng impatiently raised an eyebrow: “Then what?”

Did she dare to think he would wipe her sweat himself?

Xu Miyu hesitated again, thinking Ji Feng had her wipe the meat off his face because he couldn’t see it himself.

So she didn’t hesitate further, leaning forward abruptly across the coffee table. Raising her hand, she gently wiped Ji Feng’s face with the tissue.

She was so close to him.

Close enough for Ji Feng to become stunned.

Her touch was gentle, her body fragrant, almost nose to nose.

That brief wipe of her fingertips, even through the tissue, felt soft and tender with inexplicable intimacy, almost stirring his heart.

Stunned for an instant, his heart stirred, Ji Feng abruptly backed away and leaned against the back of the sofa. He frowned and asked coldly: “What are you doing?”

Xu Miyu was caught off guard by his rebuke, opening her hand to reveal the tissue with a small piece of braised meat residue. She answered Ji Feng: “There was a piece of braised meat on your face, you handed me the tissue to wipe it off, didn’t you?”

Seeing her innocent expression, Ji Feng locked his brows even tighter: “I asked you to wipe the sweat off your forehead, seeing it bothered me!”

“Ah?”

Xu Miyu was completely befuddled.

She didn’t even know she was sweating, only feeling a bit warm. Facing him, she still couldn’t help but feel nervous deep down, even as she tried her best to act naturally.

Ji Feng also swept another glance at Xu Miyu before extending his arm to shoo her away from the sofa: “None of your business, get lost!”

His tone showed hints of impatience.

Xu Miyu hesitated, wondering if she should apologize to Ji Feng. She knew he didn’t like others getting too close to him.

But she wasn’t intentionally wrong, it was because Ji Feng didn’t make himself clear which led to her misunderstanding of the instruction.

While she hesitated, Xue Rui had already returned after putting away the food. Ji Feng directly instructed Xue Rui: “Send her down.”

So Xu Miyu took the elevator back down to the hotel lobby.

Xue Rui escorted her back before returning to the suite, surprisingly seeing that Ji Feng seemed a little restless, something he had never seen before. Out of curiosity, he even dared to ask Ji Feng: “Boss, did something happen just now?”

Ji Feng, holding onto his braised meat, paused halfway and fiercely glanced at Xue Rui.

“Do you have to stick your nose into other people’s business everyday to live?”

Hearing this, Xue Rui was certain that something must have happened during that brief period when he was not around.

“Boss, didn’t Sister Xu do something to upset you again?” He began to probe.

He saw a hint of contemplation flashing across Ji Feng’s face.

After a long while, Ji Feng asked Xue Rui: “Lately, has that woman Xu Miyu been paying too much attention to me?”

Xue Rui thought about it and replied, “If you put it that way boss, it’s also true that you’ve been helping her out a lot lately.”

“Just now, you even asked her concernedly if she was adjusting alright in the lobby department and if she wanted to be transferred to work for you instead. After all, you’ve been lending her a hand frequently.”

Ji Feng sank in thought upon hearing this.

No wonder Xu Miyu might have gotten the wrong idea.

So was it possible she actually started to develop feelings for him, and was actively making moves with techniques and enthusiasm to seduce him?

Recalling how she leaned in so close to him just now, claiming to wipe the meat from his face but actually enticing him – getting extremely near, acting coyly intimate before distancing away instantly, only to show an innocent face afterwards. She was far more skilled and formidable at seducing him than those women from the past who tried to attract him.

How could he have ever thought her to be clumsy and timid? She was actually not ordinary at all!

Thinking this, Ji Feng suddenly stood up without a word and walked to the window.

He gazed down from the heights of a ruler’s standpoint, standing atop the highest floors while she had descended to the very bottom.

Thinking of the world from this dominance, he must absolutely not give Xu Miyu any more opportunities for misunderstandings.

She did not meet any of the standards for the ideal partner in his goals. Therefore, she could not develop feelings for him or harbor any inappropriate ideas about him.

He threw another glance at the braised meat on the coffee table, feeling a little restless.

He firmly told himself that little food was not enough to stir him. If she used bringing food as an excuse to come over again next time and enacted more hints to seduce him, he would make it clear to her face that she could not harbor any nonsensical thoughts about him!

The climate in Xingcheng was very pleasant, with mild temperatures year-round since it was by the sea. After the rainy season in autumn, the weather was no longer as scorching hot as midsummer or continuously damp with rain – it was fine sunny days with comfortable warmth every day. Such good weather brought Xingcheng into a tourism peak season. Dehui Hotel also welcomed a small influx of guests, with travelers or tour groups from all over the country staying every day.

The lobby staff became strained to cope with the influx of people. Xu Miyu acted like a jack-of-all-trades, rushing to wherever help was needed. She didn’t act like an assistant manager but more like someone who could lend a hand to everyone.

That afternoon, a middle-aged man with an accent dragged his luggage into the hotel. He was probably a first-time visitor as he walked through the entrance and stopped in the lobby, taking out a handkerchief to wipe sweat and clean his glasses while scanning the environment, looking for the check-in counter.

Xu Miyu quickly instructed the receptionist Deng Rong to assist the guest, asking her to help the customer complete the check-in process.

But Deng Rong did not listen to her instructions. Originally she had no tasks, but after Xu Miyu’s order she immediately found an excuse for herself – she told Xu Miyu she needed to attend to a VIP guest immediately and walked away.

Xu Miyu had no choice but to greet the customer herself and accompany him to the front desk warmly, letting the front desk clerk Shi Huanhuan help him with check-in.

The guest presented his ID card, which Shi Huanhuan took and said, “Mr. Huang, please wait a moment.”

Xu Miyu heard the guest reply, “Okay.” He then said, “Remember to call me for wake-up service at three in the afternoon tomorrow.”

He spoke with some accent that sounded quite pleasant with a Sichuan and Chongqing flavor.

At this time, many people from another tour group arrived together. Seeing the front desk was not in urgent need of assistance while check-ins were piling up at the tour group area, Xu Miyu hurried over to help out.

After much bustling, the entire business tour group was finally settled in. The lobby finally had some respite.

That night Xu Miyu was not originally scheduled for the night shift, but with the high guest volume that day, she decided to pull an overnight for stability. Fortunately, though there were constant minor issues, no major incidents occurred. In handling various matters, Xu Miyu rapidly absorbed and accumulated methods and experience in practical processing.

Finding some spare time, Xu Miyu looked at the time and was surprised it was already 2:30AM.

Being busy made time pass by quickly – she didn’t realize it was so late already.

She decided to review the wake-up call list and get some rest herself if there were no other pressing needs. When she checked on Mr. Huang from that afternoon, she vaguely remembered assisting his check-in personally and escorting him to the front desk.

She frowned slightly, feeling something was not quite right.

Recalling this afternoon at check-in, Mr. Huang had said “call me for wake-up service at three in the afternoon tomorrow”.

So was the “three in the afternoon” referring to 3AM, or 3PM?

If it meant 3AM, the sky would still be dark – it wouldn’t be daytime.

But if it was 3PM, normally one would say “please call me at three fifteen tomorrow afternoon” to avoid ambiguity. Of course, it’s also possible the guest had the habit of saying fifteen hundred hours as three.

So now it came down to whether the focus was on “afternoon” or “three”. If the focus was on “afternoon”, it should be 3PM for the wake-up call; if the focus was on “three”, it should be 3AM.

Xu Miyu thought about it and opened her computer to start searching flight schedules. Dehui Hotel was not far from the airport, taking only half an hour by car during the day and around fifteen minutes at night.

Since Mr. Huang spoke with a Sichuan accent quite heavily, it indicated he was a long-term resident of the Sichuan area – if a person lives outside their hometown for a long time, their accent would gradually soften.

Assuming he was a long-term resident of Sichuan based on his accent, she first looked up flights between Sichuan and their city, wondering if there were any flights arriving at 3AM or departing at 3PM.

Xu Miyu checked and found there were no flights at 3PM, but there was a flight from Sichuan arriving at their city at 3:30AM.

She then checked flights from their city to other destinations and found no flights around 3PM or 3:30AM.

Looking at it this way, Mr. Huang saying “three in the afternoon” seemed to lean more towards it being 3AM – based on the full day’s flight schedule, there was no urgency for him to rush to the airport at 3PM, but 3AM was highly possible if he needed to pick up someone coming from Sichuan.

Of course, these were just Xu Miyu’s one-sided deductions, she wanted to confirm some details with the front desk staff.

It happened to be Shi Huanhuan’s night shift, so she went to ask her: “When Mr. Huang from this afternoon mentioned needing a wake-up call, did he explicitly say it was at three in the afternoon?”

Shi Huanhuan, who was drowsing lazily behind the front desk, woke up startled by Xu Miyu. The abrupt awakening irritated her as it felt quite uncomfortable being jolted from her relaxed drowsiness.

She replied to Xu Miyu unhappily, “He must have said it, otherwise why would I record it? Don’t you think I’d just randomly write things down?”

Xu Miyu pressed further, “That afternoon when Mr. Huang was checking in, I heard him say he needed a wake-up call ‘tomorrow afternoon at three’. Did you later confirm with him that the ‘afternoon three’ he referred to was three PM specifically?”

Shi Huanhuan pouted, “My manager, it was so busy that day during check-ins, when would I have had time to ask such nitpicking details? Besides, he said afternoon three, so isn’t that obviously three PM? Three AM would still be dark out.”

Xu Miyu showed Shi Huanhuan the flight schedule clues, explaining her deduction that Mr. Huang likely meant 3AM for the wake-up call.

Shi Huanhuan’s previous discontent with Xu Miyu as her manager came bubbling back up. She shrugged annoyingly, “So what does my manager want to tell me now? That with this bunch of conjectures I should go immediately tell the switchboard operator to call the guest two minutes later for his wake-up? And if he gets woken from sleep and scolds us for it, whose fault would it be?”

Shi Huanhuan paused deliberately, smiling sweetly but scornfully, “Manager, you’re new to the front desk too and don’t have enough experience. Things will turn out just as I warned earlier – the guest will be very angry after being disturbed from sleep, and you’ll get an earful of complaints. This is what you brought upon yourself by insisting on doing it your way!”

Xu Miyu remained calm. She glanced at the time – it was now 2:58AM.

If the guest did need to be woken at 3AM, any further delay could cause him to miss his plans. She couldn’t keep dragging it out.

Seeing Shi Huanhuan still stalling obstinately despite her explanation, Xu Miyu stood up and strode straight to the switchboard operator herself. Before the operator could react, she directly told her to call Mr. Huang’s room immediately.

Of course, the switchboard operator’s attitude was the same as Shi Huanhuan – unwilling to accept Xu Miyu’s instructions due to looking down on her inexperience. Similar to Shi Huanhuan, she resisted passively without taking action, wanting Xu Miyu to hit another dead end.

Xu Miyu glanced at the time – 3:03AM.

If this was really Mr. Huang’s intended 3AM wake-up time, any further delay could affect his plans. She couldn’t keep dragging her feet.

Seeing the switchboard operator still stubbornly stalling, Xu Miyu decided to take matters into her own hands. She strode towards the elevator area and headed straight for Mr. Huang’s room.

Reaching the door, she saw the “Do Not Disturb” sign lit up, indicating the doorbell was on silent mode.

Seeing the words “Do Not Disturb”, Xu Miyu hesitated a little. The guest had obviously wanted to sleep well, if he had arranged for a wake-up at 3PM and she knocked to disturb him now, he might genuinely become angry and complain about the staff’s responsibility.

However, if she didn’t call him and it turned out he did schedule 3AM, they would still be responsible for causing him to miss his plans due to the ambiguity.

So was it worth the risk to knock on this door?

Xu Miyu looked at her watch again – it was now 3:07AM.

With no time left for hesitation, she raised her hand in a fist and rapped her knuckles on the door.

If it wasn’t the intended 3AM wake-up, she was willing to take the blame if the guest complained.

If it was 3AM, she did her part to avoid delaying the guest’s matters.

She chose the option with the biggest risk to herself and minimum losses for the guest. She felt this was what she should do and be responsible for in this position.

She knocked three times, paused, and called out “Mr. Huang”. No response from inside. She knocked again three times before stopping to call out once more “Mr. Huang”.

Repeating this several times, there was finally a sound of movement from inside the room – but it was not a positive response.

Mr. Huang seemed absolutely furious inside, roaring angrily: “Who is it?! Don’t you know I’m trying to sleep, knocking at this ungodly hour?”

Xu Miyu stood at the door and explained a sentence: “Mr. Huang, may I ask if you have scheduled a 3AM wake-up service?”

From inside the angry Mr. Huang continued shouting through the door: “What do you want?! Enough already! I’m sleeping here!”

Xu Miyu apologized repeatedly and hurried away.

Returning to the lobby, Shi Huanhuan tried feeling her out first: “It was 3AM, wasn’t it?”

Seeing Xu Miyu didn’t respond, she understood and let a hint of schadenfreude slip through her smile: “Manager, I told you didn’t I? With your limited experience in the front desk, we should have gone by the 3PM wake-up like I said. Now the consequence has proven me right – the guest is furious at being woken from sleep like I warned, right?”

A few minutes later, to their surprise, the person who came rushing out of the elevator area was actually Mr. Huang himself.