ATLAS TRANSLATES

During the standoff, Xu Mizi pulled Jiao Xiumei aside and softly told her: “Mom, don’t push her too hard. If you really drive Old Three to desperation, she’ll do anything right now. She’s truly willing to stake her life.”

Jiao Xiumei gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressed her anger, and forcibly put on an appeasing demeanor: “Old Three, believe mom, this is the last time I’ll ask you for money, okay? Consider this mom begging you, you can’t just watch your brother become homeless, watch your sister-in-law miscarry our Xu family’s sole descendant! Be obedient, unlock the phone and call your boyfriend, just ask him for money this one time, okay?”

Xu Miyu thought for a moment, then said: “Fine, then give me the phone.”

Jiao Xiumei handed the phone back to her.

After Xu Miyu got the phone, she fiercely smashed it on the ground. Afraid it wasn’t thoroughly broken, she stomped it a few more times.

She looked up at Jiao Xiumei and said: “There, I’ve now thoroughly killed any thoughts of asking my boyfriend for money.”

After speaking she wanted to break through their encirclement and leave. But the wooden stick in her hand was snatched away by their combined strength. Jiao Xiumei pushed her back and completely lost her temper: “Xu Miyu, you want to defy me? I’m your mother! I don’t believe I still can’t deal with you! Let me tell you, if you don’t make that call today, don’t get me the money, then don’t think about leaving this shed!”

She told the others: “Lock her in here. Starve her for two days, let’s see if she’ll stay obedient and stop being stubborn with her own parents!”

She left the shed with the others, also calling Xu Mbao to bring the big padlock from the house to tightly lock the door.

Xu Miyu wanted to rush out when they weren’t paying attention but was pushed back by their combined strength. She staggered back and sat down on the brick floor, ironically thinking this selfish family was only united when dealing with her.

Xu Mbao had already fetched the padlock. Jiao Xiumei locked up the shed from outside while instructing him: “Didn’t I tell you to bring the big padlock? This one’s not enough. If she goes crazy, she may charge and break it open. Go and bring the biggest lock from the outer house too.”

Xu Mbao ran off.

Sitting on the dark shed’s floor, Xu Miyu loudly called to the outside: “This is illegal, you’re illegally detaining me!”

Jiao Xiumei scoffed from outside: “Hilarious! A mother disciplining her disobedient daughter she gave birth to, what law is that breaking? Xu Duoyu, reflect in there tonight. Whenever you come to your senses and are willing to help your brother, call for me and I’ll come open the door.”

Xu Mbao had brought the big padlock back for Jiao Xiumei to lock up with.

He said outside the shed: “Mom, the light’s still on inside, leaving it on all night?”

Eldest sister said: “Might as well leave it on. There’s no windows inside, once the door’s closed it’ll be pitch black, kinda creepy if the light’s off.”

But Jiao Xiumei told her son: “Why waste electricity leaving it on all night? I can leave it on for her if she’s obedient. She’s being so disobedient now, turn it off! Bao’er, go, go flip the switch off.”

Xu Miyu’s surroundings immediately went pitch black.

The darkness brought coldness. After a night of chaos, she now felt hungry and cold.

Using the sliver of moonlight coming through the door crack, she found a cleaner spot and sat down leaning against the wall, hugging herself and closing her eyes.

She didn’t know how much time passed before waking up again. The light coming through the crack was now a greyish white.

It seemed the outside was getting bright, just unsure what time it was exactly. Outside was very quiet, so it should still be very early, not time to get up yet.

Looking at the crack of light coming in from outside, she suddenly understood a little that forcibly confronting her “family” members in the main house didn’t seem wise. She was the only one suffering, yet she also couldn’t get out.

She thought she should figure out a way to make them think she had compromised, then escape when their guard was down.

The first thing after escaping would be to call the police. She must report them for illegal detention. Now she only harbored indignation towards her “family”.

Having planned this out, she thought she would call for someone after those people woke up and came out to the yard. Pretend to compromise.

While waiting, she leaned against the wall. Not knowing if she fainted or fell asleep, she unknowingly sank into a spell of grogginess again.

She didn’t know how much time passed before being woken by loud noises outside the door.

Trying hard to open her eyes from the grogginess, she suddenly saw the shed door smashed open violently by someone from outside.

The padlock was thrown away, the big door pulled open. From that doorway, looking outside, it was broad daylight. Someone stood silhouetted at the entrance, like a descended deity.

Xu Miyu’s eyes stung from the light.

Resisting the sting, she forced her eyes open, finally making out the person standing at the entrance was Ji Feng.

She looked up at him, surprised and shocked, blankly asking him: “How can it be you? How did you get here? How did you know this place?”

Ji Feng walked in and carefully helped her stand from the corner, reaching around behind her to pat the dirt off her coat.

Xu Miyu’s heart stirred. At such a disgraceful time, he was still trying to help her regain some cleanliness and dignity.

“You went incommunicado after last night. I assumed you were too busy caring for your mother at the hospital, with a dead phone no time to charge. But when your phone was still off up till this morning, I felt something was off and wanted to come see. As for how I found this place, did you forget you set me as emergency contact? Your travel route and destination were sent to my phone. Although the destination address didn’t specify a number, your family’s so bizarre and easy to inquire about, I simply asked around to learn the exact location.” Ji Feng explained to Xu Miyu. Suddenly his tone chilled, “Your family really is as absurd as expected, actually doing something as preposterous as illegal detention!”

He supported Xu Miyu out of the shed.

Xu Miyu saw Ji Feng’s driver/bodyguard currently blocking Jiao Xiumei and the rest outside.

Just now Ji Feng hadn’t even looked straight at them, charging into the yard and straight into the main house searching room by room. Not finding anyone, he returned outside for an axe to smash open the shed door.

That solid door had been hacked open in just a few strikes. The savage gashes left on it shocked Xu Miyu. Her heart softly warmed. He must have been very anxious and concerned for her to have hacked at the door with such force.

When Ji Feng finally came out supporting Xu Miyu, his face was clearly revealed.

Jiao Xiumei immediately recognized him. This new boyfriend of Xu Miyu’s turned out to be a big shot at the hotel she worked at, also the vicious man who had driven her out of that hotel.

She felt somewhat intimidated on one hand, somewhat shocked on the other. She hadn’t expected that the superfluous child she had most wanted to discard after birth would have such great fortune, with one capable man after another willing to stand up for her.

Even divorced, she actually still had such a good-looking and wealthy man desperately rushing a long way to find her, moving heaven and earth to hack open that thick shed door for her.

Jiao Xiumei was originally deterred by Ji Feng’s ferocity, but thinking of her son, thinking of the daughter-in-law threatening divorce and abortion over the lost house, she suddenly became brave.

She stepped forward from the five family members’ formation, putting on an imposing air, yelling and pointing: “You’re Old Three’s boyfriend right? Fine, sooner or later we’ll be family, no need to waste words. I raised Old Three painstakingly, if you want to be with her, that’s allowed too, but we have customs here. You need to pay bride price money to me and her dad. One million, cash, right now, or I won’t consent to you marrying her!”

Hearing Jiao Xiumei’s words, Xu Miyu almost fainted from shock. She felt both humiliated and indignant.

She heard Ji Feng ask beside her in surprise and mockery: “Marriage? Bride price?”

It was an unexpected and ironic tone. As if he had never considered marrying her before, and was now suddenly being forced to marry her by her mom.

Xu Miyu’s heart violently twisted. She didn’t even dare look at Ji Feng, afraid she would see the habitual disdain and contempt in his eyes. She ordered herself to quickly suppress this awful feeling.

“You sure dream big about selling your daughter.” Ji Feng coldly retorted with sarcasm.

Jiao Xiumei placed both hands on her hips, putting on a confrontational stance: “You say selling daughter then it’s selling daughter. In any case, if you don’t give me one million, then don’t think about marrying her in the future!”

Xu Miyu was simply mortified to the point she couldn’t show her face. Who was rushing to marry her? He probably hadn’t ever thought about marrying her in the first place, how could her parents be so shameless?

She loudly stopped Jiao Xiumei’s nonsense: “Can you please stop spouting rubbish? You’re truly making me feel ashamed!”

She turned to Ji Feng: “Could you please step outside for a bit? I want to talk to them alone for a moment. Don’t worry, with you standing guard outside, they won’t dare do anything to me.”

Ji Feng seemed unwilling to leave her, staying put without moving.

Xu Miyu lowered her voice, almost pleading: “Wait outside please, help me call the police okay? Let me handle my own family matters. It’s too dirty and shameful, don’t listen or watch.”

—Also don’t keep making me face the fact you never intended to marry me but are being coerced into it.

Ji Feng glanced at the five people opposite, his eyes chillingly warning them. Then he left the yard with his bodyguard, waiting outside.

Xu Miyu watched Ji Feng exit before turning to directly face her five “family” members.

With someone guarding her outside, she was fully emboldened and could thus speak her mind bluntly.

She looked at Jiao Xiumei and Xu Guangzhong, and categorically stated: “You took advantage of the fact I wanted approval and attention from my family, constantly bleeding me dry. I thought I could obtain familial love, but I actually got your insatiable greed. Now I’ve finally seen through this sham of kinship completely. So from today onwards, I won’t just stop being your ATM, I’ve also completely lost all familial feelings for you.”

Her tone turned vicious: “For the elderly support fees in the future, take me to court for them. I’ll provide however much the court rules, nothing more otherwise. Also, I absolutely won’t tolerate what you’ve done to me this time! I already had my boyfriend call the police. I hope you can receive due legal punishment!”

Her words were like a bomb thrown among the few people opposite.

Jiao Xiumei exploded into curses, demanding repeatedly: “You dare? Let’s see you dare?!”

Xu Guangzhong’s eyes were round with shock beside her: “You dare treat your own parents like this? You unfilial ingrate, see if I sue you! I’ll pull banners outside your workplace, let the whole world know you don’t support your parents, see how you’ll show your face then!”

“You don’t feel ashamed about how you treat your own daughter, so why would I feel ashamed? It’s because you brainwashed me since I was little that not obeying you is unfilial and disgraceful, which made me become that silly past self. Feel free to continue making a scene at my workplace in the future. Rest assured, I won’t hesitate to call the police out of fear for trouble or shame ever again. I’ll report every instance from now on, let’s see who ends up losing more in the end!” Xu Miyu’s voice was more vicious than ever before.

Xu Guangzhong was rendered speechless by Xu Miyu. He had never imagined this insignificant daughter he never paid attention to would actually be so ruthless.

After Xu Miyu finished, Jiao Xiumei, along with Eldest Sister and Second Sister and Xu Mbao, were also somewhat deterred.

They had never known that Old Three, who was so easy to manipulate and would immediately soften and plead when treated a little coldly or fiercely, could completely change and actually have such a vicious side now.

Xu Miyu said lastly: “That’s it then.”

After speaking she turned to leave the yard, departing from that filthy past, from her unbearable family of origin, departing the confines of her former life that left her utterly without a self.

On the return trip, Xu Miyu sat in the backseat and leaned her head on Ji Feng’s shoulder.

Ji Feng comforted her: “Don’t worry, trust the authorities will properly handle subsequent matters. They’ll receive due criminal punishment.”

Leaning on his shoulder, Xu Miyu nodded and softly told him: “Thank you.”

—Thank you for coming. Thank you for protecting me this way. Thank you for doing so much for me.

Ji Feng lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, enclosing her in his embrace.

“Still being polite with me?”

Xu Miyu smiled.

She felt happy, but also a little sad.

She didn’t know a person could hold happiness and sadness simultaneously.

She was happy he felt their relationship was beyond needing courtesy. But she also felt a little sad, recalling his tone and words of “Marriage?” at the Xu residence just now.

That tone seemed to prove that deep down, he had never considered marrying her before.

Xu Miyu silently comforted herself that it was fine. After all, the time they had been in a romantic relationship was still short. Not thinking about marriage wasn’t too egregious. She shouldn’t overthink so much.

Wasn’t it enough that he could rush over like a descending deity when she was most helpless and alone?

After thoroughly cutting ties and settling matters with her dreadful family of origin, Xu Miyu felt a mournful yet refreshing sense of liberation.

As if gaining new life from now on.

Only Ji Feng’s appearance and tone when he said “Marriage?” that day in the Xu yard would repeatedly appear in her dreams over consecutive nights.

She discovered that nightmares weren’t only frightening dreams, but also this two-word kind.

She had resisted thinking about these words during the day. Whenever she couldn’t help it and thought about them, she would immediately stop herself. But unexpectedly, the thoughts suppressed during the day would surge out even more aggressively at night, relentlessly crashing into her dreams.

Sleeping poorly for several consecutive nights, dark eye circles started emerging under her eyes. She put great effort into acting indifferent when Ji Feng asked.

She increasingly felt her troubles weighing heavier, increasingly felt unable to grasp security. She gradually felt she was perhaps becoming depressed, neurotic from the relationship.

Finally she told herself to first stop overthinking so far ahead. Since she was still with Ji Feng presently each day, then she should earnestly cherish every single day of this romance.

Ji Feng also felt Xu Miyu seemed a little listless recently.

He assumed it was because she had been impacted by the family matters, hence in this state. Thus he thought to bring her out to participate in an activity, let her see the world and rouse her spirits.

He told Xu Miyu: “Keep tomorrow afternoon and evening free. I’m bringing you to attend an elite summit to broaden your horizons and connections. Pull yourself together, you’ll be meeting many industry leaders.”