ATLAS TRANSLATES

Ji Feng, as if enchanted, used his fingertips to touch Xu Miyu’s lips.

So soft, it could almost melt one’s heart.

Suddenly, he noticed she was awake, looking at him with open eyes.

He pretended nonchalance and withdrew his hand.

She lay on the table, smiling.

He stared at her smile, sighed, and said, “Don’t smile at me like that; I won’t be able to resist.”

Xu Miyu stopped smiling.

She raised herself from the table. Her arm felt a bit numb from the pressure, and it took a moment for her to move it.

While moving her arm, she found herself wearing a coat. Pulling it over, she looked at the brand of the clothes.

Xu Miyu looked at Ji Feng.

Ji Feng immediately became cautious. He remembered what Xue Rui had taught him before: if she says the clothes are too expensive and she can’t accept them, he should say, “I’m buying you this not because it’s expensive, but because it’s only valuable when worn by you.”

But what surprised him was that Xu Miyu only asked, “Did you help me put it on?”

Ji Feng nodded.

Xu Miyu smiled, thanked him, and then confidently put her arms into the sleeves and wore the coat.

She also recalled what Li Qiaoqi had said. When she was confident enough, she could gracefully accept his gifts. Those expensive clothes, jewelry, or other presents were just his way of cherishing her. With growing confidence, she would no longer see them as indirect proof of the gap between them.

Though she hadn’t fully built up her confidence yet, she would strive to accept the gesture graciously.

“Just wearing a shirt was a bit cold. Thank you for the coat.”

Ji Feng, hearing this, stood there somewhat stunned. She could actually accept the clothes he gave her without hesitation. In that moment, something seemed to revive and surge within him.

Changing the subject, Xu Miyu asked, “How is Uncle Qi?”

Ji Feng told her, “When we first got him to the hospital, it was dangerous, but after treatment, he’s fine now.” He paused and looked at Xu Miyu, saying, “Before leaving, he specifically asked me to tell you that he’s really grateful for helping him achieve two fulfillments in his life, with the old friend and the son.”

Xu Miyu couldn’t help but sigh, “That’s wonderful.”

“Wonderful what?” Ji Feng asked.

“It’s wonderful that he’s out of danger, and it feels wonderful to help someone fill in regrets. When I was shivering in the cold, you gave me a coat – that was wonderful.” She smiled again.

Ji Feng stared at her and said, not too kindly, “No more laughing. If you laugh again, I won’t be able to resist kissing you.”

Xu Miyu suppressed her smile.

Ji Feng looked at her and asked, “Why were you laughing when you were lying on the table just now?”

Xu Miyu blinked and stared at Ji Feng.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw him, and suddenly felt reassured in her heart.

Thinking of Uncle Qi and Aunt Yan, she immediately thought of Ji Feng and herself. So at that moment, she smiled, thinking that if this banquet had happened before they broke up, they might not have reached the point of separation. They might have been inspired by this banquet to interact with each other more maturely and properly.

But after all, they had already broken up. Instead of trying to figure out what he was thinking while looking at him with open eyes, she decided not to say anything.

Xu Miyu told Ji Feng, “It’s nothing; I just want to thank the boss for helping today.”

Then she flipped her wrist to check the time and said, “It’s late; I have to go off duty. Goodbye, boss.”

Before leaving, she broke the rules and smiled at him again.

Ji Feng stood at the elevator, watching Xu Miyu leave with a slightly gritted teeth.

Telling her not to laugh, but she insisted on smiling. After making him feel a bit unsettled with her laughter, she walked away confidently.

He angrily went to the top floor.

Standing by the French windows, watching the city being slowly cleansed by the light rain outside, he began to reflect on the events of the day.

He realized he was somewhat like Uncle Qi, arrogantly thinking that his son didn’t need him to pick up the dishes.

He arrogantly believed that Xu Miyu would naturally know about his affection for her.

He also arrogantly assumed that if she didn’t make any requests, it meant she had none.

Like Uncle Qi, he didn’t know to ask: What do you really want?

If he didn’t ask, how would he know if she had no requests?

If he, for once, didn’t hold himself aloof and took the initiative to ask: What do you want me to do?

Wouldn’t she tell him that in those past events, she needed his response, explanation, clear attitude, and a sense of security?

She needed him to explicitly tell her that no matter what she and others thought about her being divorced and not matching up to him, he felt she was more than worthy.

He should make it clear to her that he truly didn’t care about her past marriage, even if sometimes they talked about her past during their conversations. He wasn’t showing disdain; rather, he was not avoiding her past experiences. Avoidance would truly indicate concern.

He should have clarified these things face-to-face with her. Since he didn’t ask, she had no way to explain. As a result, she didn’t know his attitude towards her and naturally felt insecure. He didn’t give her a sense of security, yet blamed her for suddenly becoming inexplicably strange when things were originally fine.

He raised his hand and patted his forehead, trying to make himself more clear-headed.

He wondered if it was still not too late to start making changes now.

Two days later, Xu Miyu’s assistant Zhou Qingqing excitedly ran over to tell her: “Sister Miyu, the wedding and birthday banquet event you were in charge of earlier was reported on by journalists and went viral!”

Xu Miyu was puzzled what could be newsworthy about such a private, small-scale event.

She sat down at the computer and opened the web page. As expected, she saw a headline about the event at the top of the trending topics chart.

She clicked it and found that two journalists had published an article with embedded video that was being widely reposted. The media outlets they worked for were quite small and obscure, not ones she had heard of before. Of course, the major media outlets had all gone to cover various other large-scale business events that day. Xu Miyu figured that the two journalists credited in the report must be the same two she had seen at the event venue.

It seemed that after leaving the banquet, those two journalists had uploaded the video footage along with an article to their media account. Then the news suddenly went viral as it got reposted more and more, and the video itself started trending.

In the video comments and article comments, people were all saying things like:

—”The two elders were holding a script about reunion after separation, what a pity the grandfather is terminally ill now. His reflections on life were so touching I cried!”

—”What was the deal with the grievances between the grandfather and his son? It had me laughing and bawling!”

—”When the grandfather and son were bickering I laughed like a pig, but when the son toasted his father and said he hoped his dad could live another year so he could celebrate his next birthday, I howled like a donkey! We must cherish those around us!”

Some also noticed the shot of Xu Miyu swiftly taking off her coat to catch Grandpa Qi’s vomit. So in the comments people also said things like:

—”This girl is so beautiful! Not only is she gorgeous on the outside, she has a beautiful heart too!”

—”This girl reacted so quickly. I want to marry her!”

—”When will I become this kind of steady and capable career woman who stays cool under pressure?”

—”Because of her I want to study hotel management now!”

Some people also dug up Xu Miyu’s identity in the comments:

—”I know who this gentle, graceful and beautiful girl is. She’s the supervisor of the event planning department at the Sheraton Hotel and has collaborated with many major companies to organize all kinds of events!”

…

Thanks to this news story, Xu Miyu gained some minor fame and became an increasingly hot commodity in the industry. Whereas previously she had to actively go out to meet clients and recruit business for events, now business came knocking without her needing to lift a finger, as many event and meeting planners sought her out by name and reputation.

Xu Miyu reflected that sometimes a person’s trajectory could be so serendipitous—those major events allowed her to build up confidence and experience, yet what truly put her in the spotlight was this small, personal event.

Upon further thought, she figured that what enabled this event to go viral might just be the sincerity between the people involved.

The mutual understanding between Grandpa Qi and Aunt Yan was sincere.

The gruff yet tender affection between Grandpa Qi and Qi Yunguang was sincere.

Her own wish to make up for their regrets and leave them with a sense of completeness was sincere.

It was precisely this sincerity that allowed others to empathize. Their hearts warmed by sincerity, they also wished to pay it forward. And so the video and article were shared far and wide.

Xu Miyu solemnly told herself that no matter how far she might go in her career, she must never forget this sincerity.

Recently over the past couple days, Xu Miyu noticed that the noisy neighbors who lived next door with many children had suddenly become very quiet.

Later she heard from the property manager that the family had moved out, and a new homeowner had moved into that unit, someone living alone.

Xu Miyu figured that was why it had become quiet next door, since the occupancy had gone from a large family to a single resident.

When she returned home from work one evening, she saw a note stuck to the door. It was printed with a few words: “Hello, I’m your new next door neighbor who just moved in, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Glancing down, she noticed a small bag hanging from the door handle. Xu Miyu took the bag and opened it to find a lovely box of chocolates inside.

Delighted, she peeled the note off the door, holding the little bag as she unlocked the door and entered.

Since the new neighbor had already taken the initiative to greet her and even gifted her favorite chocolates, Xu Miyu felt she should return the courtesy.

So she cooked up a pot of braised pork belly.

Chopping up the fragrant braised meat and putting it into a food container, Xu Miyu figured that unless this new neighbor was even more difficult to please than Ji Feng, he should be able to eat this.

She picked up the container and headed out the door, walked over to ring the next door neighbor’s doorbell.

But the door had scarcely opened when she froze in shock at who was standing inside.

The solitary new occupant, legendary neighbor who had moved next door, turned out to be Ji Feng!

Xu Miyu gaped at Ji Feng, astonished.

She could never have imagined the new arrival living next door would be this person standing in front of her now.

He had complained in the past about how small this place was, even writing in a letter to his future self about it. Yet now he had actually moved right next door to her? Why??

She instinctively tried to turn around and leave, but was grabbed by Ji Feng who pulled her inside.

“Since you’re already here, come in and sit for a while before leaving.”

Xu Miyu was standing at the door with a food container in hand, staring blankly at Ji Feng. She did not expect him to have such a shameless side.

“The braised pork is for me, right?” Not only did he pull her into the room, he very naturally took the braised pork from her hands as well.

Ji Feng carried the box of braised pork over to the sofa. He was tall with long legs, and as soon as he sat down, the sofa seemed smaller.

He placed the box on the small coffee table, opened the lid, found a pair of disposable chopsticks and started eating, while commenting, “After eating takeout for two days, I almost died. Now that I’m eating the braised pork you made, I feel alive again.”

While taking big bites of the braised pork, he beckoned to Xu Miuyu, who was still in a daze, and patted the seat next to him, “Come, sit here. I just moved in as your new neighbor, aren’t you going to chat with me for a bit?”

Xu Miyu rolled her eyes slightly and walked over to look at the sofa that now seemed too small for two people. If she sat down too, it would be like squeezing into his embrace.

After hesitating for a moment, she simply sat down on the carpet below the sofa.

Seeing this, Ji Feng slid down from the sofa and sat on the carpet as well.

Xu Miyu’s eyes widened in surprise.

The esteemed Chairman Ji becoming so down-to-earth was really unexpected.

Looking at him, Xu Miyu finally couldn’t help but ask, “How did you end up moving here? What happened to the previous residents?” She guessed in astonishment, “Did you pay them to leave?”

Ji Feng held the disposable chopsticks with a piece of meat still between them. Squinting at Xu Miyu, he asked, “What if I said that in order to get closer to you, I wanted to live next door, so I did pay them to find another place and then moved in myself. Would you be unhappy?”

“…” Xu Miyu had somewhat complicated feelings about this. She definitely didn’t like him doing that, but in the past, she would have just kept that unhappiness to herself.

However, ever since Grandpa Qi’s banquet, she felt that people should voice their true thoughts in a timely manner.

So she honestly told Ji Feng, “I would feel like such flashy behavior is too prodigal. Rich people may not care about money and spend it recklessly to impress women. But what if he runs out of money? Would he lose his charm? So is it his own charm or the charm of his money?”

Ji Feng put down his chopsticks, turned to face Xu Miyu, and said solemnly, “I guessed you would think that. So they really moved out on their own, I didn’t interfere.” He then explained, “I heard the woman of the house was pregnant with her third child, and this place was too small, so they moved out.”

Xu Miyu couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. “How do you know they were having a third child?” As their neighbor who heard this family yelling every day, even she didn’t know.

Ji Feng stroked his brow and mumbled, “I added your property manager on WeChat.”

Xu Miyu’s eyes widened even more. He had become so down-to-earth to an unbelievable level, even adding the apartment property manager on WeChat.

But she was still surprised that Ji Feng was willing to move here. “Didn’t you complain that this place was too small?”

He had complained in the letter he wrote for their 100th day anniversary after their breakup, hoping that she would hurry up and move to a bigger place because he thought it was too cramped here.

When that letter arrived, Xu Miyu opened it expectantly. In the end she was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. She had looked forward to it in vain, thinking he would write her some sweet words, but it turned out to be a serious complaint about her rented apartment being too small.

Yet now he had willingly dived into this small apartment himself.

“Did I say that? Then I was wrong. This place isn’t small at all. When I’m in the bedroom, there’s still a whole living room left empty.” Ji Feng repeated what Xu Miyu used to comfort him that the apartment wasn’t too small.

Seeing Ji Feng’s dead serious yet slightly shameless appearance, Xu Miyu couldn’t help laughing softly.

But she quickly composed herself and asked him, “When did you add the property manager on WeChat?”

“When I decided to move in.” Ji Feng looked into her eyes as he answered.

“So when did you decide to move in?” Xu Miyu continued asking.

Ji Feng gazed deeply into Xu Miyu’s eyes and told her, “When I received that letter from the time capsule for our 100th day.”

At that time, he had guiltily realized that she had been constantly thinking of him in her heart, while he was merely complaining about the small apartment.

Ji Feng’s intense gaze made Xu Miyu’s heartbeat become erratic. She saw a glass of water on the table. Without thinking too much, she immediately picked it up and drank it all in one go before putting it down.

Ji Feng silently watched as she left a faint lip print on the rim of the glass.

“Since you moved in, what are you planning to do?” Having drank the water, as if to bolster her courage, Xu Miuyu asked Ji Feng directly.

“Hmm?” Ji Feng’s gaze moved from the cup to Xu Miyu’s face. He said stubbornly, “Not doing anything.”

But he immediately thought of the enlightenment brought by Master Qi’s banquet – if you want something, say it directly. So instead of being stubborn, he spoke his true thoughts: “Actually I just want to be closer to you.”

He saw Xu Miyu’s cheeks flush red all at once, looking powdery white, lighting up even this endless dreary rainy day.

Ji Feng couldn’t help but feel his heart stir. He encouraged himself further, then said directly: “Because I want to pursue you.”

Xu Miyu was stunned for a moment. She didn’t expect his answer to be so direct. Her cheeks were completely red, not knowing whether it was from nervousness or fear.

Seeing the confusion flashing through Xu Miya’s eyes, Ji Feng confirmed while chasing her gaze: “I can pursue you, right?”

Xu Miyu immediately said: “No, you can’t.”

“Why not?” Ji Feng asked.

Xu Miyu also decided to speak her true thoughts. She said seriously: “I’m currently on the rise in my career, you would hold me back.”

Now it was Ji Feng’s turn to be stunned. “What?” He was so surprised that even English came out, “I would drag your work back?”

He would only give her work the green light!

Xu Miyu seemed to see through his thoughts: “You giving me the green light is dragging me back. I have to make achievements on my own.”

“……” Ji Feng was rendered speechless.

Xu Miyu didn’t dare to keep talking, afraid that if the conversation went deeper, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She still wasn’t ready to face feelings again.

So she got up and said good night before leaving.

Ji Feng stood up, watching her back as she was already at the door. He raised his voice to hurriedly say: “I’m serious, Xu Miyu. But don’t worry, I’m only pursuing you, not pestering you, and definitely not interfering with your work.”

Xu Miyu heard all of Ji Feng’s words, but she didn’t turn back. She pulled the door handle and ran out, running back home next door.

Back home after closing the door, the thumping heartbeat in her chest could no longer be contained, pounding loudly as if thunder was sounding in her eardrums.

With one hand patting her chest, her other hand couldn’t help but press against the wall she shared with Ji Feng’s room. Along with the thumping heartbeat she asked herself, was it still possible between them? Had all her emotional knots been untied by now? Had all the issues between them been resolved? If they rekindled their past connection now, would it ensure that the same problems don’t occur again in the future?

Xu Miyu realized she still seemed a little ambivalent.

With her palm against the wall, she thought, why not just give herself a bit more time to consider.

After Xu Miyu left, Ji Feng picked up the cup on the coffee table. Seeing the faint lip print imprinted on it, the corners of his lips curved up. He kept the cup in a display cabinet, treasuring it like a beloved art piece.

Then he went to the door, subconsciously putting his palm against the wall shared with Xu Miyu’s room.

He wondered if she was also pressing against this wall. Perhaps they were connected through this wall.

He smiled silently, feeling that living next to her was romantic and wonderful.

Thinking back on that conversation, he realized that directly saying what he wanted actually felt so good.

Xu Miyu discovered that ever since Master Qi and Aunt Yan’s banquet, Ji Feng seemed a bit different than before.

To be specific, he was no longer loftily composed, and had become proactive. He started taking the initiative to express his thoughts and feelings.

He also actively cared about her thoughts and feelings. During the day meetings at the hotel, his attitude and methods in handling matters were quite tough, so much that she almost felt uncomfortable and displeased. But after going back to the apartment in the evening, he would come and knock on her door, proactively asking her, “For the things during the day, with me handling it that way, would you feel uncomfortable? If so, what exactly made you uncomfortable? Tell me and I’ll correct it.”

He had become willing to directly ask her – what do you want? What are you thinking? He would also directly tell her his attitude: What others think is their business, I won’t be influenced by their perspectives, don’t you be either. You just need to know, I forever stand by your side.

He would actively ask about her feelings: “In the past, always making you come up to cook for me, did you feel like I was very overbearing then?”

So Xu Miyu was very direct in telling him: “Of course I felt that way, you were so nitpicky and demanding, multiple times I even wanted to directly put some poison in to settle you.”

They both laughed.

He would actively ask her: “What did you dislike the most about me in the past?”

Xu Miyu honestly told him: “What I disliked the most, and also feared the most, was when you used to look at me with that impatient, mocking and disdainful expression. That kind of look from you could demean a person into the dust, making one feel completely worthless.”

Seeing her expression when she said this, seemingly still haunted by his habitual way of looking in the past, Ji Feng immediately felt distressed and remorseful.

“Alright, I’ll definitely change from now on.”

I must get rid of those habits I had that you dislike, those that once hurt you.

Before business trips, Ji Feng would inform Xu Miyu of his schedule and ask her, “Is there any gift you’d like me to bring back for you?”

Xu Miyu would always reply, “None.”

But after every business trip, regardless of her “none”, Ji Feng would still bring back gifts for her each time.

Knocking on her door and stuffing the gift into her arms, he would promptly retreat back to his own place.

Xu Miyu looked up some of those gifts, and some were very expensive.

She wanted to knock on his door to return them to him, but he adamantly refused to open up.

So she could only make a call to her annoying next door neighbor: “I can accept an expensive gift from you, but many is a bit overwhelming for me, because I can’t reciprocate gifts of equivalent value to you. I’d feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

Ji Feng immediately employed the rhetoric Xu Rui once taught him: “Giving you this gift has nothing to do with its monetary value, whether it’s two dollars or twenty thousand, if I see it I’ll buy it to gift you. I merely feel it’ll look perfect on you, able to live up to its full worth.”

Xu Miyu was stunned speechless by Ji Feng. With him putting it this way, if she still insisted that the gift’s value was too high for her to accept, she would be the one appearing pretentious instead.

And then Ji Feng followed up with another blow: “If you still can’t get over it, then make it up to me by cooking me dinner tomorrow night, alright?”