ATLAS TRANSLATES

They sat close together, side by side.

Zhan Xi could clearly smell the cool, slightly bitter herbal scent unique to Luo Jingyu. She had gotten used to it now – as long as she didn’t inhale too deeply, she wouldn’t sneeze.

In the middle of the living room, boards, screws, and tools were spread all over the floor. Half of the cabinet frame was already assembled, and Gu Xinchi was watching a movie on the nearby sofa.

Luo Jingyu’s gaze met Zhan Xi’s. Not knowing she was speaking in a whisper, after understanding what she said, his heart became flustered. He instinctively turned to look at the sofa, worried the little boy would hear.

Actually, she hadn’t said anything inappropriate, but Luo Jingyu was still nervous and confused, probably because of her saying “want to understand you more.”

He thought, what was there to understand about him? Low education, slow-witted, deaf, unable to speak, couldn’t even type properly in chat. Why would Egg teacher, who was so excellent, waste time learning sign language to understand him?

Zhan Xi noticed his unnatural expression and didn’t say more, just smiled and took his cup back to the kitchen. Luo Jingyu forced himself to stop overthinking and continued assembling the cabinet.

At 9 PM, the side cabinet was finished. Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi carried it together to the white wall in the living room. Zhan Xi opened the cabinet doors to look inside, saying happily, “Now I can store all kinds of small things in here! And snacks too.”

Luo Jingyu couldn’t make out her lip movements clearly, but seeing her expression seemed satisfied, he felt relieved.

However… with the cabinet finished, he and Gu Xinchi should leave.

Gu Xinchi’s phone watch received a call from his mother saying she’d be home in ten minutes. The little boy climbed down from the sofa, organized his backpack, and Luo Jingyu changed his shoes. The tall and short pair stood at the door saying goodbye to Zhan Xi.

After much hesitation, Luo Jingyu typed to her: [Are you off tomorrow?]

Zhan Xi read it and scratched her head, answering, “Yes, but I have something to do tomorrow, need to go out.”

She didn’t give specific reasons, and Luo Jingyu didn’t dare ask. Zhan Xi saw he seemed a bit disappointed and said, “The day after…”

Luo Jingyu typed: [The day after, I need to go to my parents’ home.]

“Oh…” Zhan Xi nodded, feeling strangely disappointed herself.

Luo Jingyu typed again: [The day after, you eat?]

“Huh?” Zhan Xi wondered what kind of lazy impression she had left on him! She quickly said, “I’ll cook for myself that day! No takeout, I promise!”

Laughter appeared in Luo Jingyu’s eyes as he typed: [What can you cook?]

“Tomato and egg stir-fry!” Zhan Xi smiled too, “And I can steam the marinated duck, you gave me half a duck, right?”

Then she put both hands together in front of her mouth, imitating a duck’s quack, “Ga ga.”

Luo Jingyu understood and smiled even more broadly, lowering his head to type: [Then I’ll go upstairs.]

“Okay, oh right!” Zhan Xi remembered something and went to the fridge to get a box of cherries, pushing it into Luo Jingyu’s hands. “You didn’t eat any today, take these back, I bought them for you anyway. Little Chi finished the bowl from earlier.”

Gu Xinchi, who had been waiting at the side: “?”

Luo Jingyu felt very embarrassed. Yesterday he took a bowl of strawberries, today another box of cherries – it felt like he was always taking advantage of Egg teacher. But Zhan Xi gave him a thumbs up: “Thank you for treating me to dinner and helping me assemble the cabinet. Take these, otherwise I’ll feel bad.”

Before Luo Jingyu could think of how to respond, Gu Xinchi’s phone watch rang again. He tugged at Luo Jingyu’s clothes and raised his wrist to show him: “Little Fish brother, my mom’s home.”

“You better hurry upstairs,” Zhan Xi said. “Children need to sleep early.”

Luo Jingyu had no choice but to take the cherries and leave with Gu Xinchi. The little boy waved to Zhan Xi: “Bye Sister Zhan! Next time come to my house for dinner!”

“Okay, goodbye.” Zhan Xi waved back at them.

In the elevator, Luo Jingyu spaced out for a while, then held the fruit box with one hand and typed on his phone with the other. After hesitating, he still showed it to Gu Xinchi: [Does her voice sound nice?]

Gu Xinchi: “…”

The little boy lifted his head, looking into Luo Jingyu’s eyes as he answered: “Yes, it sounds really nice! Just like a little bird singing.”

Luo Jingyu didn’t know what bird songs sounded like. All onomatopoeia were just dry text to him – “ji ji ji” and “ga ga ga” had no difference.

He thought he hadn’t guessed wrong – Egg teacher’s voice must be very nice, gentle and sweet, like a flowing stream or warm spring breeze, just as books described.

Gu Xinchi tugged at his clothes again. Luo Jingyu looked down at him, and the little boy asked very seriously: “Little Fish brother, do you like Sister Zhan?”

Luo Jingyu was shocked and nearly panicked. It was one thing for Luo Xiaomei to see through his feelings, but how could even a ten-year-old child tell? Then what about Zhan Xi? Could she tell too?

He shook his hand several times, expression serious as he denied it, but Gu Xinchi asked: “Then why did you ask if her voice sounds nice? Why don’t you ask how my voice sounds? We’ve known each other for two years.”

Luo Jingyu’s head hurt. He frowned and typed to him: [Your voice will change.]

Gu Xinchi was thunderstruck. His voice was still high and clear, but having learned about hygiene in school, he knew boys’ voices would change in their teens. He immediately looked worried: “Will my voice become very unpleasant? My dad’s voice is very unpleasant, it’s hoarse!”

Luo Jingyu didn’t understand this topic and looked up at the display – fifteenth floor had arrived.

Gu Xinchi went home, and Luo Jingyu carried the fruit box into his apartment. He put the box on his workbench and opened it to see it was still more than half full of cherries, each one a glossy purple, looking delicious.

He took one and ate it without washing.

So sweet, as sweet as the strawberries, as sweet as the oranges. He had never eaten such sweet fruit before.

His phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. Luo Jingyu took it out to look – it was actually a WeChat message from Zhan Xi.

Egg Pudding: Little Fish, I didn’t explain in detail earlier because it would be too long and I was worried you wouldn’t be able to read clearly. Today my sister-in-law told me she has a meeting at work tomorrow afternoon, but my little nephew needs to go to class at the Youth Palace and no one can pick him up, so she asked me to take over at noon, wait for my nephew after class and then take him home. I won’t be back until after dinner.

Egg Pudding: Also, I haven’t been to my brother’s house for two weeks since I moved. My brother is quite worried about me and asked me to come back for a meal, probably wants to ask how I’m doing living alone. [happy]

After reading the two messages, Luo Jingyu found himself smiling, though he didn’t know what he was smiling about.

He replied to Zhan Xi.

Big Fish: Same for me, I go back to my parents’ home every Sunday because my sister and brother-in-law are busy with work on weekdays, Sunday is when they come home for meals.

Egg Pudding: Where do your parents live?

Big Fish: North city, Jiutang.

Egg Pudding: Oh! I know that place, I went there for an exam last month. It’s quite far.

Luo Jingyu sat down in his chair, thinking of something that had been on his mind for several days.

Big Fish: Egg teacher, I want to ask a question, may I?

Egg Pudding: Of course, go ahead.

Big Fish: How did you recognize me?

Zhan Xi was lying on the sofa at this moment, and seeing this question, she covered her face in embarrassment.

Oh no… what should she do, should she tell him the truth?

Would he think she was weird?

Egg Pudding: Try to guess~ [mischievous smile]

Big Fish: Did Fang Xu tell you?

Egg Pudding: No! I haven’t contacted him since, I didn’t even add his WeChat.

Big Fish: Did you check the unit’s surveillance?

Egg Pudding: What do you mean? What surveillance?

Big Fish: The cake, I delivered it.

Egg Pudding: You came to deliver the cake yourself???

Big Fish: Yes [embarrassed]

Egg Pudding: Oh my!! How could I possibly check surveillance?! How could I have guessed you came to deliver it yourself!! [freaking out][freaking out]

Big Fish: I can’t guess anymore.

Egg Pudding: [embarrassed] I’ll tell you then. Last Saturday night, when I went to Fenglin Night Market, I saw you.

Big Fish: ??? How did you recognize me? Have we met before??

Egg Pudding: You were braiding red string at the time, I recognized your hands [embarrassed]. We’ve met a few times in the hallway, you might not remember, but I could recognize you.

Luo Jingyu stared blankly at his open palms, looking at both sides of his hands. No matter how much he had calculated, he never would have thought he would be betrayed by his own hands.

However, this hanging case was finally solved. Egg teacher was too clever! He really had nothing to say.

Zhan Xi sent another message.

Egg Pudding: Little Fish, thank you so much these past two days, taking up your two evenings to help me assemble the cabinet. If we counted labor costs, it would be quite expensive.

Big Fish: I’ll do it for free [cool], I’m a generous fish!

Egg Pudding: And your cooking is really super delicious! Wuwuwu, how can I ever eat takeout again! [sad]

Luo Jingyu boldly sent a message—

Big Fish: Do you want to eat together? I cook alone every day.

Egg Pudding: [mischievous smile] No need! I was just joking, I’m going to start learning to cook! [strong]

Egg Pudding: Let’s chat later, I need to clean up the living room and take a shower. You should rest early too.

She didn’t agree.

Luo Jingyu thought it was normal – Egg teacher wasn’t that kind of casual girl, but he still felt somewhat disappointed.

Big Fish: Okay, Egg teacher, good night.

Egg Pudding: You don’t need to call me Egg teacher anymore, I’m younger than you. You can call me Zhan Xi, or Huan Huan, either is fine.

Big Fish: Huan Huan?

Egg Pudding: It’s my nickname, my family all calls me Huan Huan. [shy]

Big Fish: Can I call you that too?

Egg Pudding: Of course you can! Why couldn’t you?

Big Fish: Okay, Huan Huan, good night, sweet dreams [moon]

Egg Pudding: Good night~ Little Fish.

Huan Huan…

Luo Jingyu savored this chat once more before reluctantly putting down his phone.

Assembling the cabinet had made him sweat, so he planned to take a shower first.

Taking clean clothes with him into the bathroom, he took off his shirt and turned to see himself in the mirror.

Unlike Gu Xinchi, he was already an adult, with a tall frame, broad shoulders and firm muscles. All the parts that should develop in boys had long since finished developing.

He had also gone through voice change.

It should have been when he was fourteen or fifteen. Along with all the changes that came with puberty, Luo Jingyu grew a mustache, and his Adam’s apple became prominently visible on his neck.

The boys in his class were all the same. Chen Liang kept coughing at that time, forcing himself to cough when his throat felt uncomfortable. One teacher who could hear came to teach their class and signed: [Please be quieter, you’re supposed to be deaf students but you’re louder than the blind class next door! You’re going to make me deaf!]

Luo Jingyu forgot if he had made sounds then, but he probably did. Coughing, sneezing, yawning, pain, being startled, nervous, angry, happy… when emotions fluctuated, they would all involuntarily vibrate their vocal cords.

At home and at school, surrounded by deaf people, he didn’t mind this. He unconsciously grew from a little boy into an adult.

He didn’t know what his voice sounded like. Little Zhe had heard it and said it was okay, not unpleasant.

But because he had never spoken a single sentence or even a word in his life, he thought Little Zhe’s judgment of just his vocal timbre must be quite superficial.

Looking in the mirror, Luo Jingyu pressed his fingers to his throat. He opened his mouth slightly and vibrated his vocal cords to make sound.

His fingertips clearly felt the changes in his Adam’s apple, that slight vibration.

One sound, two sounds, three sounds… Luo Jingyu adjusted his mouth shape, trying to make different syllables. He was very nervous, not knowing if his volume would be too loud, if he would disturb the neighbors.

When he used to live in the welfare factory dormitory, Little Zhe’s father, being deaf and prone to shouting loudly, was once scolded by others who came to his door. Little Zhe even got into a fight with them over it.

After making sounds several times, Luo Jingyu closed his mouth, feeling dejected.

He would never hear his own voice, and that was fine – he had long accepted this. It was just that earlier, when Zhan Xi smiled and spoke to him, for the first time in his life he had a thought: he really, really, really longed to hear her voice.

—

The Qiantang City Youth Palace was in the city center, divided into two parts.

Half was a playground with childish amusement facilities suitable for younger children, the kind that Gu Xinchi wouldn’t even look at.

The other half housed extracurricular interest classes run by the Education Bureau. There were many courses, much cheaper than private training institutions, but registration required a lottery. So on weekends, the Youth Palace was full of parents with children, noisy and very lively.

Zhan Xi sat on a bench outside the teaching building in her down jacket, sunbathing. She felt fortunate that this cold had gotten better faster than the last one – after three or four days, she had no more symptoms.

It was still a long time until Wei Wei’s class would end. After playing on her phone for a while, Zhan Xi couldn’t help opening WeChat, wanting to ask Little Fish what he was doing.

Then she thought, Little Fish is very busy with work during the day! She shouldn’t disturb him. Besides, why was she always chatting with Little Fish? Didn’t she have other friends?

Changing her mind, Zhan Xi called Luo Xinran instead.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, and a slightly hoarse male voice came through: “Hello, Zhan Xi? Luo Xinran is taking a shower.”

Zhan Xi was shocked: “Shrimp?! Why is it you?”

“Why can’t it be me?” Shrimp said irritably. “I don’t care what Luo Xinran told you all, I solemnly declare that we haven’t broken up!”

“Oh… then I’ll call back…” Before Zhan Xi could finish, the voice on the other end changed.

“Get away! Don’t answer my phone.” Luo Xinran took over the phone. “Hi, little Xi, looking for me?”

“Ah…” Zhan Xi was still processing. “What’s going on with you and Shrimp?”

Luo Xinran laughed heartily: “Nothing much, I just felt sorry for him, so I’m playing along for a while.”

Zhan Xi heard Shrimp’s angry shout: “Get lost!”

Luo Xinran asked: “What did you need?”

“Nothing really, just waiting for my nephew to finish class and I’m so bored, wanted to chat. If you’re busy, never mind.”

Luo Xinran laughed: “I’m not busy at all, I’m the least busy person ever.”

Zhan Xi said: “Hey, Xinran, I’ll tell you something, I’ve been wanting to tell you for a few days – I finally saw the face of that guy in black from the elevator!”

“Oh? Is he handsome?” Luo Xinran was very gossipy.

Thinking of Little Fish’s appearance, Zhan Xi giggled: “Handsome, super handsome!”

“Oh my!” Luo Xinran asked, “That Moments post the other day, you posted it for him, right?”

Zhan Xi: “…”

Ahhh! Luo Xinran was so annoying! How could she guess even this! She was definitely a fortune teller!

Seeing Zhan Xi’s silence, Luo Xinran got excited: “Aha! Something’s up with you, Zhan Xi! Did you fall for him?”

“No!” Zhan Xi denied immediately. “You might not believe this, but I actually knew him before! We just hadn’t met in person, only chatted on WeChat.”

“An online friend?” Luo Xinran was very surprised. “Such a coincidence? And he’s handsome too, you should go for it! What does he do?”

“He…” Zhan Xi thought about what Little Fish did.

Just a worker! A folk craftsman, and in a super niche industry at that.

She answered: “Like you, he’s a freelancer, but he has a boss above him, he works for someone.”

Luo Xinran clicked her tongue: “Then I suggest you give up on this one, your mom won’t approve.”

Zhan Xi shouted: “I told you there’s nothing between us!”

Luo Xinran was unconvinced: “If there’s nothing, why did you specially call to tell me about this? In your three blind dates, did you ever tell me what any of those guys looked like?”

Zhan Xi couldn’t answer. She had made this call specifically to talk about Little Fish.

Forcefully changing the topic, Zhan Xi chatted with Luo Xinran about a few other things before hanging up.

Her thoughts drifted back to Little Fish…

Thinking of his cool, herbal scent, his beautiful hands, the graceful curve of his lips when he smiled, the tips of his ears turning red when he was shy.

Thinking of how he was always so quiet…

His eyes were gentle and deep, and when he looked at her, his gaze was always very focused, slightly furrowing his brows because he needed to read her lips.

Luo Xinran said she had “fallen for” Little Fish. Zhan Xi’s heart fluttered – how could that be! She had only known Little Fish for about twenty days, met him only three times, how could she have such thoughts?

Besides, Little Fish couldn’t hear…

Couldn’t hear at all.

Zhan Xi was sure she didn’t dislike Little Fish, and actually felt very comfortable when with him, but this didn’t mean she had the courage to like Little Fish.

She had never interacted with hearing-impaired people before, Little Fish was the first. Zhan Xi had no experience, didn’t know what she needed to pay attention to when interacting with Little Fish. Everything she did was instinctive, she hadn’t forced herself.

She sincerely saw Little Fish as a friend, a very, very good friend.

She thought, in the years to come, the girl who would be with Little Fish must be very brave, very resilient, unafraid of pressure and doubts from all sides. In terms of personality, she would need to be at least like Luo Xinran with her “heaven is big, earth is big, but I am the biggest” attitude.

And Zhan Xi felt she wasn’t up to it.

Over the weekend, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu followed their plans and had their own arrangements.

Zhan Xi kept her word and really cooked two meals at home on Sunday – tomato and egg stir-fry, cucumber and egg stir-fry, pickled vegetable egg drop soup… the only meat dish was the marinated duck.

However, when steaming the duck, she used a wok with water and a steaming rack, but found the duck was too tough to bite, nothing like the tender and soft duck Luo Jingyu had steamed.

She was very puzzled and sent a WeChat message to Luo Jingyu, asking why it turned out differently when it was the same duck. Luo Jingyu answered—

Big Fish: This is an old duck, needs a pressure cooker. Regular pot takes too long. Young duck can use regular pot. Young duck has more fishy taste, old duck tastes better.

[Egg Pudding]: What should I do? Keep steaming? [crying]

Big Fish: [covering face] Try steaming longer, if not good throw away, I’ll bring you two more when I come back from my parents’ house today.

[Egg Pudding]: No no no!! Really don’t need to bring me more!!!

Big Fish: It’s okay, my father makes many ducks, hangs many, can’t eat them all. [grinning]

[Egg Pudding]: [crying][crying][crying] Little Fish, wuwuwu…

Big Fish: Don’t cry Huan Huan.

That evening, when Luo Jingyu returned from his parents’ home, he really brought Zhan Xi two marinated old ducks and a box of vegetarian roast goose. He typed that the vegetarian roast goose was made by his mother and was also very delicious.

Zhan Xi accepted them nervously, feeling that since knowing Little Fish, she had been constantly receiving gifts from him – each item either made by him or his parents, all very thoughtful.

Yet she had nothing to give in return.

Christmas was in three days, followed by New Year’s.

Zhan Xi thought she should carefully choose a Christmas gift for Little Fish, otherwise, always taking and receiving from him made her feel really bad.

—

During Monday’s lunch break, while Zhan Xi was still thinking about what gift to buy for Little Fish, her phone rang with an unknown number.

She answered: “Hello.”

A male voice came through the phone: “Hello, is this Miss Zhan?”

“Yes.”

“Hello Miss Zhan, I’m Dong Cheng, Mr. Chi Jiang’s assistant. We met last week, do you remember?”

Zhan Xi certainly remembered: “Oh yes, I remember. Hello Mr. Dong, what can I help you with?”

“Lin Yan gave me your number,” Dong Cheng said. “It’s like this, Miss Zhan. I contacted the person from the hot-pressing studio you referred me to, but haven’t finalized anything yet. I discovered that Mr. Fang isn’t actually the hot-pressing teacher himself, and Mr. Chi Jiang has some matters that need to be discussed directly with the teacher. I asked Mr. Fang if we could have a phone call with the teacher, but he refused, saying the teacher wasn’t available for phone calls. I’m in quite an awkward position… Later I remembered you seemed to have direct contact with the teacher, so I took the liberty of calling you. Would it be possible for you to give me the teacher’s contact information?”

Zhan Xi heard clearly but felt troubled, saying: “Mr. Dong, I do have direct contact with the teacher, but I know why Mr. Fang wouldn’t give you his number. The teacher really can’t take phone calls, and it’s also difficult for him to chat via text. The situation is… quite complicated, he’s not deliberately avoiding you.”

Dong Cheng asked in confusion: “Can you tell me why? I need to report back to Mr. Chi Jiang. This way we might not be able to cooperate at all. We really just want to communicate briefly with the teacher himself to confirm some things.”

Ah! The business might fall through!

Thinking of this, Zhan Xi threw caution to the wind: “It’s like this, Mr. Dong, that teacher is… um… deaf, can’t speak, and well, his typing is also… not very good. But of course, of course! This doesn’t affect his hot-pressing skills at all! He’s really, really amazing!”

Dong Cheng understood and laughed over the phone: “I see, but this isn’t a problem at all. Miss Zhan, could you help me ask the teacher if he would be willing to meet in person? He communicates through sign language, right? We can arrange for a sign language interpreter.”

Meeting in person… Zhan Xi thought for a moment, this question probably didn’t need to go through Fang Xu, right? She could ask Little Fish directly.

Zhan Xi answered: “Okay, I can ask him, I’ll get back to you later.”