ATLAS TRANSLATES

Ji Feng sat on the bed and patted for Xu Miyu to come over.

Xu Miyu went over and leaned against Ji Feng.

She rested her head on his shoulder, and gently said to him: “Actually, the reason I chose to rent this place was because I could afford the rent myself.”

“I want to pay the rent myself, I don’t want you to reimburse me for it.”

She looked up at him and found he was also looking at her. She smiled at him, eyes sparkling brightly.

“Don’t underestimate my wallet, I have a high salary now too, because I’m the CEO’s specially approved assistant!”

After boastfully saying this, she was a little playful yet enchanting.

Ji Feng could no longer restrain himself and pulled her down with him.

But as soon as they moved, he realized this small apartment had poor sound insulation. He and Xu Miyu could clearly hear the squabble between the two kids next door.

Xu Miyu tensed up, afraid the strange noises she might make would also be heard by the neighbors.

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold back her voice, so she bit down on her own hand.

But her restraint only made Ji Feng like it even more. He pulled her hand away from her mouth, not letting her bite it.

Unable to endure, her voice was about to spill out. In desperation, she bit down on his shoulder.

He didn’t feel pain, only an intoxicating pleasure.

Afterwards, he raised his hand to wipe away the sweat on her cheek, and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

He leaned over her ear, his voice hoarse and magnetic with emotion, and softly told her: “You were so beautiful just now.”

Ji Feng rested by Xu Miyu’s ear for a good while after expending great effort. His breathing gradually calmed from urgent and erratic to steady and even.

Then he forced himself up, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Xu Miyu was already too tired to move. Besides, she had showered beforehand anyway, so she really couldn’t get up to wash again. She just cleaned herself with a towel. After cleaning up, she laid down, her eyelids growing heavy, but before falling asleep, she couldn’t help thinking about where Ji Feng got the stamina to stick to his cleanliness habits to the end.

Starting from the next day, Ji Feng would often come to the apartment he had complained endlessly about being too small, yet also reluctantly leave each time.

Gradually, traces of another person started appearing in Xu Miyu’s living space. These traces always gave her an illusory, dreamlike feeling, not very real, yet addictive.

The more addicted she became, the more she grew insecure, and wondered if she was even worthy of her boyfriend. So she drove herself madly, working hard, harder, wanting to improve herself as fast as possible.

Gradually Xu Miyu realized Ji Feng’s frequent visits were becoming an obstacle to her growth and studies. Whenever he came, she would be preoccupied with him, too tired to study and improve.

So she couldn’t help discussing with Ji Feng: “Can you come only three days a week and not the other days?”

When Ji Feng first heard this request, he was so shocked he almost lost his temper.

“What’s going on? You’re tired of me already?” He frowned and asked.

Xu Miyu patiently explained to him: “I still lack a lot at work, I need to cram, to study. When you come, I only revolve around you, unable to do anything else, let alone cram.”

Ji Feng refused to accept: “When I come, can’t I personally teach you? Isn’t that much more effective than self-studying?”

Xu Miyu rejected: “Keep dreaming. Every time you come, you only teach me a couple sentences before proceeding to snatch away my folders and do something else…”

Ji Feng rubbed his forehead in frustration, then negotiated properly with her: “Three days a week is too little, make it five days.”

Xu Miyu almost laughed. “Why, are you reporting to work at my place? Wanting weekends off after five working days? No, three days means three days. Even three feels like too many.” She earnestly persuaded him, “Also, you’re a man in his thirties. You should take care of your health. Use it sparingly.”

Ji Feng immediately became unhappy: “Are you saying I’m not up to it?”

Xu Miyu was at a loss, not knowing how to explain: “I’m just saying there’s no need to be so…frequent. Save some for your prime years in your fifties and sixties.”

Ji Feng didn’t listen to her explanation: “No need, I can still be in my prime even if I come here seven days a week now. Also…” His voice turned hoarse, and he became unlike his usual self, revealing a private, intimate side only shown to lovers. He leaned to her ear and whispered huskily, “You just took my innocence. I’m addicted to this now. How can you ask me to use it sparingly?”

To prove his virility, he snatched away Xu Miyu’s folder again.

In the end, it was only after Xu Miyu pleaded tearfully that he reluctantly finished.

But afterwards, he still respected Xu Miyu’s wishes, only going to her apartment three days a week, leaving the other days for her self-improvement.

Industry knowledge systems, company operations, structure, department functions, hotel marketing and large-scale event planning, business negotiation skills…Xu Miyu felt there was so much to learn, time always seemed insufficient.

She regretted a little. If she hadn’t been confined at home as a housewife the past six years, if she hadn’t whiled away her time watching dramas and cooking, if she could have left home and entered the workplace to struggle and gain experience like other girls, six years would have been enough time to learn and grow at ease.

Thinking of the long time she had squandered, she now only wanted to work doubly hard to make up for those lost years of her life.

During the day, Ji Feng would bring her to all sorts of work situations, personally teaching and honing her.

Xu Miyu saw what Ji Feng was like when out negotiating contracts. No matter how aggressive or well-prepared the other side was, he could always guide them onto his home turf, then lead them by the nose as he wished. He had thorough mastery of industry information, able to instantly provide the newest and most accurate data offhand. He was intimately familiar with industry regulations and legal changes, and could always effortlessly cite the newest and most precise legal basis when the other side was unsure about something.

Xu Miyu felt Ji Feng shone brilliantly during negotiations. She would sometimes fantastically think, his purpose in bringing her along was precisely to let her witness his work persona, so she would fall deeper for him.

If this outlandish idea held true, Xu Miyu thought then Ji Feng’s aim was achieved.

She really did seem to be more infatuated with him.

The first time Ji Feng brought her to the group headquarters for the monthly meeting, she spent almost the entire time in shock.

This was her first time participating in a meeting amongst so many elites, listening to their speeches, hearing their discussions, thinking about their conversations.

There was so much she had never heard before, never learned from written materials alone. She struggled but diligently absorbed everything she could. For things she couldn’t understand, she recorded them down to look up and cram on later.

Also at the monthly meeting, being in a room full of elite, high-level executives made her realize, the Ji Feng she saw at the Sui Hotel was only a small part of him. Outside the Sui Hotel, Ji Feng also had an entire business empire he had built himself. In this empire, Ji Feng was the undisputed ruler, commanding everything here with ease, having ministers submit to him.

She felt she had already submitted to Ji Feng. But this secret could not be known to him. She was abased enough already.

Apart from attending such important meetings, afterwards, Ji Feng also started bringing her on business trips. Though called business trips, they felt rather like honeymoons. In Xing City they carried on a secretive affair, but on business trips, in unfamiliar locales among unfamiliar environments and people, they could leisurely walk hand in hand at street markets during evenings.

The night before an important contract negotiation in a neighboring city, Ji Feng brought Xu Miyu to the most stylish and luxurious commercial center in the area. It gathered almost all the luxury brands in the world.

Ji Feng took Xu Miyu shop by shop through the brands, buying her bags, jewelry, clothes.

Xu Miyu was startled again and again by the prices of these brand name goods. Even during her small wealthy days married to her ex-husband, the latest seasonal goods at places like this were something she wouldn’t even ponder about.

They were too expensive. Facing them, it wasn’t her using them, but them lording over her.

Xu Miyu tactfully expressed to Ji Feng she didn’t want him buying her such expensive clothes, accessories, and bags.

She had another sentence held under her tongue she didn’t say.

Wearing these things would make her look like a mistress kept by a man.

She carefully deliberated her words, and said to Ji Feng in another way: “You unilaterally giving me these extravagant gifts, while I’m unable to give you gifts of equal value, makes me feel incompetent. So I don’t want them. When I have the ability in the future to reciprocate with equal value gifts, you can buy them for me then, alright?”

But Ji Feng bluntly told her: “No.”

When he spoke, his speed was a little fast, and his tone carried that “this isn’t a big deal” incomprehension and helplessness, but he still had to patiently explain to his girlfriend: “I’m not giving you things hoping you’ll be able to give back to me too. What are you doing, keeping score with me? Am I an outsider, do we have to calculate so clearly?” He pointed at the ostrich leather bag in the display case, signaling the SA to bring one over for a look, then continued speaking to Xu Miyu. His tone carried some mockery, “If you have time pondering how to reciprocate with your boyfriend, we might as well hurry up and buy out this place, so after you get back to the hotel you can prepare for tomorrow’s contract negotiation. It’ll be a tough battle, the other side is also powerful, if you don’t outfit yourself properly, they’ll feel we’re too casual and careless about them.”

He accepted the bag handed over by the SA, not even glancing at the price, only checking the quality and condition, confirming there were no flaws before telling the SA: “This one.”

Xu Miyu saw the SA’s teeth fully displayed in an eight-toothed smile.

Ji Feng turned and continued telling Xu Miyu: “Following me, you’ll experience many more important occasions in the future. Without proper attire, others will look down on you.”

Xu Miyu stood to the side, faint melancholy swirling in her heart, yet she forced a smile on her face, having no choice but to accept this extravagant gift.

After all, relying only on herself presently, she still couldn’t reach the level of propriety.

The next day going to meet the client, she was well-dressed in her newly purchased clothes and shoes. The other side’s VIP praised her exceptional temperament and said he liked facing counterparts who were thoughtful about dressing formally. If they had come to see him dressed casually without making an effort, how much importance could this counterpart place on today’s meeting?

The man’s words helped convince Xu Miyu that dressing formally was indeed necessary.

But she still felt uncomfortable wearing these luxury brand clothes.

It was as if they unceasingly reminded her of the huge gap between her and Ji Feng, and that she couldn’t afford things like this herself, only able to obtain them through Ji Feng’s casual bestowals.

Xu Miyu didn’t know what was wrong with her lately. She was gaining a lot of knowledge and learning many things from Ji Feng at work, her job should be giving her a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, yet she was somehow growing unhappier at work.

It seemed the more she followed Ji Feng out to see the world, the more it proved how insignificant she was.

The more she wanted to grow at work to narrow the gap between them, she instead repeatedly proved during actual work how wide the chasm was.

Her previously anticipated job was now giving her tremendous pressure daily.

But fortunately, during private time outside of work, there was still joy belonging purely to the two of them.

Xu Miyu had always believed an aloof CEO like Ji Feng wouldn’t see any other men as rivals. But she later discovered Ji Feng would actually get jealous.

And it was ridiculous jealousy – for example, he was even jealous of Xue Rui.

That blabbermouth Xue Rui loved to run off at the mouth, whether there was anything to say or not. Ji Feng was a clam reincarnate, speaking as concisely as possible if he had to speak at all. Usually when Xue Rui met Ji Feng, there were still many things he wanted to chatter about before being cut off by Ji Feng ordering “shut up”.

Since Xu Miyu started working upstairs as the CEO’s second assistant, the “shut up” sticker on Xue Rui’s mouth could no longer stick.

That Monday Xue Rui came to the hotel to report the Group’s situation for the past week to Ji Feng. After reporting, he took advantage of Ji Feng’s inattention to pull Xu Miyu out of the study into the living room’s mini bar, to complain to her.

“Sister Miyu, don’t you think Qi Qi is heartless? I told her a major client has taken a liking to me and wants me to marry his daughter, so I asked what she thought. Guess what she said?”

Xu Miyu put herself in Qi Qi’s shoes then answered Xue Rui: “She encouraged you to give it a try, saying you could take this chance to leap across social classes?”

Xue Rui slapped the bar counter: “Sister Miyu you understand her so well, almost word for word! But there’s more, afterwards she even more outrageously said, don’t worry, if after marriage I’m not happy with the young miss and we divorce, she’ll be there to catch me. I could go rely on her together with the assets I get from the divorce settlement. Can you believe her? Isn’t she the vicious female supporting character without a heart or liver from romance novels?”

Xu Miyu couldn’t help laughing hearing this.

“You’re quite familiar with character settings in romance novels.”

Xue Rui indignantly said: “It’s all because of that Qi Qi woman forcing me to read them! She said she reads too slowly herself and doesn’t have the patience, but still wants to know what happened in the story, so insisted on me reading and then telling her about it. Tell me, isn’t she just detestable?”

Xu Miyu smiled and said: “Maybe it’s precisely her detestableness that got you subdued by her.”

They were chatting merrily when Ji Feng suddenly appeared with a cold face.

He coldly glared at the two assistants who forgot there was still a boss in the room, then coldly reprimanded: “No work to do? Able to chat so delightfully, why not pour some drinks and fry up some dishes to chat over too?”

Xue Rui was nearly frostbitten. He stammeringly explained: “B-Boss, it’s lunch break now…”

Ji Feng’s long cold face seemed to reveal a flash of embarrassment for a second. But soon he concealed his awkwardness at catching them for no reason beneath a state resembling angry humiliation, and continued berating Xue Rui: “You also know it’s lunch break. Don’t I need to eat? Doesn’t my assistant need to eat? I’m not talking about you, don’t point yourself out! You chat her ears off, am I nothing in your eyes compared to her?”

This trumped up charge left Xue Rui about to kneel.

He was so scared he blurted out asking: “Boss, you aren’t jealous and taking it out on me, are you?”

Ji Feng’s eyes narrowed as if he wanted to murder: “I’m firing you this afternoon, scram.”

Xue Rui fled faster than a rolling donkey, leaving Xu Miyu alone to deal with the vexed boss.

Xu Miyu actually felt the situation a bit funny, also a little sweet and bubbly.

So even staunch, rational straight men who didn’t live grounded lives could be so down-to-earth jealous.

Somehow she felt a straight man’s nagging was even more touching than sweet nothings.

On impulse, she wanted to joke around with him a little, like an ordinary couple on the streets.

So she deliberately teased: “What if I can’t help laughing like that with Xue Rui?”

Ji Feng’s brows furrowed threateningly: “I’ll fire him.”

“You’ve said that so many times but I haven’t seen you actually fire him.” Xu Miyu laughed and poked a hole in him. “I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time, you don’t talk much yourself yet Xue Rui is so noisy, and you’re always threatening to fire him if he doesn’t shut up, but why haven’t you fired him yet?”

Ji Feng thought about Xue Rui’s chattering and scoffed, “He really does run his mouth like a magpie. But apart from the chattering, he does everything else very well. If I really fired him and got another assistant, what if the new one not only talked nonstop but couldn’t do the rest well? That’d be even

more annoying. So I’m still making do with him.”

Xu Miyu looked at Ji Feng and said: “But I feel you intentionally keep him around, also intentionally indulge his chattiness.”

Ji Feng looked at Xu Miyu, his gaze deepening.

He asked her: “Why do you think so?”

Xu Miyu told him: “I always feel you tolerate Xue Rui’s chattering because you want to know what else is happening in life apart from work. Xue Rui is like a big microphone able to take in gossip from all sides, then play it back to you. You’re aloof, yes, but you still want a taste of worldly affairs. If Xue Rui this chatterbox wasn’t around in your life, your days would be even quieter and more lonesome.” Xu Miyu smiled at Ji Feng, “Although you say you dislike Xue Rui’s blabbermouth, actually his chattering has probably brought a lot of color and amusement to your life.”

Ji Feng stared unblinkingly at Xu Miyu, his gaze delving deeply into her eyes, also into her heart.

It was as if no one had ever understood his thoughts so accurately, nor his loneliness unseen by others.

She understood him more than he imagined.

He was somewhat moved, but also unaccustomed to being moved this way. So he concealed it beneath a fierceness.

“I’m firing him tomorrow, for real this time.”

Xu Miyu smiled again: “You’re bluffing. I must’ve been right just now, you’re shy so pretending to be all fierce. You won’t fire him.”

Ji Feng was exposed yet made out to be angrily humiliated. He pulled Xu Miyu over and pressed her against the sofa, glaring at her.

The first time he did this, Xu Miyu was anxious without knowing what to expect. But now she had long seen through his blustering act. He was just putting on a scary front to frighten her.

Under his glower, she suddenly took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck, then leaned forward and kissed his lips.

His fierce look instantly crumbled away, replaced by shock and surprise.

She had never taken the initiative with him before, this was the first time. He inevitably felt somewhat stirred in his heart.

Taking advantage of his daze, she continued initiating, kissing him again and again, each kiss heavier and longer than the one before.

Finally she kissed until Ji Feng’s eyes darkened. He held the back of her head and hoarsely asked: “Seducing me again?”

He immediately regained the lead after asking, sealing her lips with a kiss.

Seeing it would soon be out of hand, Xu Miyu forced herself to push Ji Feng away and remind him they still had work that afternoon.

Ji Feng was very annoyed: “We’ve gotten to this point yet you can still hold back? Do I have that little appeal to you?”

He still wanted to continue, but Xu Miyu stopped him and reminded: “It was you who said to separate public and private matters clearly. It’s almost time to work!”

Ji Feng endured his discomfort and huskily said: “Can’t control it anymore, please sympathize with me a little. I just lost my innocence to you recently, of course I can’t resist this now, I’m not like you…” As he spoke he kissed her, plugging “able to restrain yourself” into her mouth.

But this unfinished sentence sounded like an explosion in Xu Miyu’s ears, instantly blasting away the intimate, tender atmosphere.

She couldn’t help mentally finishing that sentence: I’m not like you, married before, already experienced this many times, so of course not as starved for it.

She pushed Ji Feng away at once, not letting him continue kissing.

Ji Feng looked at her full of bewilderment, asking what was wrong.

Seeing her expression, he instantly realized his incomplete sentence could have triggered misunderstanding and hurt her feelings.

He hurriedly tried to explain: “Miyu, I didn’t mean…”

Xu Miyu loudly interrupted him, not letting him speak further.

“Mm! I understand, it’s okay, no problem. Time to work, let’s work.” She desperately acted relaxed and indifferent, finished speaking, and immediately left work.

On the way home, her forced composure and nonchalance all collapsed.

She kept inhaling and exhaling, inhaling, exhaling, all the way. Actually when Ji Feng said he wanted to cancel plans to accompany her home, how she wished she could lift her head and tell him: the more you want to accommodate and compensate my feelings like this, the more upset I’ll feel. If neither of us minded my past relationships and marriage, you wouldn’t want to indulge my feelings because of that half-finished sentence, and I wouldn’t feel somewhat apologetic to you because you saw through me – you’re my first romance, but my first romance wasn’t with you, I’ve married and divorced before. You make me subconsciously think this way, making me feel I’m not worthy of you because of this marital history.

But why hadn’t she said it? Was she afraid to? Afraid she would see it really did bother him from his expression and gaze?

Returning home, she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, hugging herself tightly under the water flow.

She forgot when and what she had eaten. Also forgot when she had lain down. She spent the entire night feeling lost and confused.

Lying in bed tossing and turning for who knows how long before falling into muddled half-wakefulness.

It seemed she had fallen asleep, yet also seemed awake. In this half-dreaming state, she only felt tired, breathing also strangely arduous.

Suddenly the mattress sank with additional weight behind her.

Someone embraced her from behind. She immediately awoke.

His heartbeat transmitted through her back, blending into her own heartbeat. The uneasy feelings the entire night seemed to silently dissipate all at once, her heart inexplicably calming down.

Eyes closed, she softly asked: “How did you come in?”