ATLAS TRANSLATES

From Monday when she received the task, to Wednesday when she handed the quotation to Wen Qin, and finally to Friday when Manager Sun approved it, Zhan Xi had preliminarily completed the task of sending pressed flower decorations to the Japanese clients.

Next, she would need to maintain contact with them until the work was completed a week later.

Manager Sun selected that “Good Fortune” flower arrangement, and naturally chose “Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” as the contractor because their quote was the cheapest at only 3,600 yuan.

Zhan Xi explained to Manager Sun: “This… is a limited-time special price, only for this design. The original price was 6,000 yuan!”

Manager Sun was very satisfied and praised Zhan Xi for her high efficiency, entrusting the entire matter to her.

Regarding the 3,600 yuan price, “Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” initially didn’t agree to it. Zhan Xi had to send them screenshots of her chat with “Big Fish” on P-station. The other party couldn’t deny it anymore and had to agree.

After paying the deposit, Zhan Xi finally had the chance to ask them a question.

[Strawberry Cake]: You and Big Fish aren’t actually the same person, right? [Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers]: Dear, why do you ask? [Strawberry Cake]: You two have completely different ways of speaking. [Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers]: Dear, to be honest, he’s just an assistant at our workshop. He’s not very educated, so sometimes his words might not come across well. Please be understanding.

So he’s a poorly educated assistant… I see.

Zhan Xi rested her chin in her hand, lost in thought. This meant that those beautiful hands must belong to “Big Fish.” What kind of person were they? A teenage or twenty-something boy? How could their hands be so skilled!

Fang Xu maintained a good attitude online, but privately he was angry enough to spit blood. This deal was more frustrating than if it hadn’t happened at all. If other competitors found out about this price, they would definitely hate him. So when he communicated with Luo Jingyu, his anger showed.

[Fang Xu]: You’re sick in the head! What’s this about “connected online”? Taking loss-making deals! Big Fish: It’s not a loss. [Fang Xu]: I demand we calculate the split based on 4,000! Not giving a single free gift! Big Fish: Fine. [Fang Xu]: This client is very troublesome, wants daily progress updates, says they’re worried it’ll turn out ugly. With the price you quoted, I can’t be bothered to relay messages. I’ll just give them your WeChat. Big Fish: Okay.

When Zhan Xi discussed delivery methods with Fang Xu, he suggested courier delivery. Zhan Xi worried that the courier packaging might damage the flower arrangement. Only after Fang Xu repeatedly guaranteed the packaging would be fine did Zhan Xi give him the company address.

When Fang Xu saw it, he was pleased.

[Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers]: Dear, you’re in Qiantang? [Strawberry Cake]: Yes. [Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers]: What a coincidence! My workshop is in Qiantang too. We won’t need courier service then. When it’s done, I’ll have someone deliver it to you in person. Saves us the trouble of packaging.

Zhan Xi couldn’t ask for more, and they agreed to meet for delivery next Friday during the day.

Fang Xu then sent her a WeChat ID to add as a friend, saying private messages on Q-station weren’t convenient, and they could use WeChat for daily progress updates.

Zhan Xi searched and found their nickname was “Big Fish,” with a blue cartoon whale as the profile picture. This ID gave Zhan Xi an inexplicable feeling of joy. She quickly sent a friend request, though their Moments were still private.

Soon, the other party accepted her request.

[You have added Big Fish as a friend. You can start chatting now.]

[Egg Pudding]: Hello!

Big Fish: Hello.

[Egg Pudding]: Were you the one chatting with me on P-station that night?

Luo Jingyu hesitated for a moment before answering.

[Egg Pudding]: So will you be making the flower arrangement I ordered?

Big Fish: Yes.

[Egg Pudding]: Will you be the one delivering it next Friday?

Luo Jingyu frowned at his phone screen. [Egg Pudding]’s profile picture was a round egg shell character. He thought, is this person [Sugar Poached Egg]? Do they really like eggs?

Big Fish: You’re in Qiantang?

[Egg Pudding]: Yes~ [Happy]

Big Fish: Can’t know who will deliver now.

[Egg Pudding]: Okay, it’s up to you then. Please make it very delicate, it’s a gift for someone. Pretty please, thank you!

[Egg Pudding]: [Cat begging.jpg]

Hmm… Luo Jingyu judged internally that the other party must be a young girl.

—

After a week of work, Zhan Xi finally welcomed a weekend without having to review coursework.

She quietly arranged to view apartments with Luo Xinran on Saturday. On Friday night, she explained to Qin Fei that she had plans to meet a university classmate the next day and couldn’t take Weiwei to his youth center classes.

This was a task Zhan Xi had taken on after her nephew started elementary school. The little nephew had it tough too – every Saturday from 9:00 to 10:30 AM, then 1:30 to 4:00 PM, going out early and returning late, needing to find somewhere to eat and rest in between.

Zhan Jie couldn’t be counted on, and Qin Fei sometimes had to work overtime on Saturdays, so Zhan Xi volunteered to handle the pickup and drop-off. However, over the past three months, even when Qin Fei didn’t work overtime, this task had unconsciously become Zhan Xi’s responsibility.

When Qin Fei heard this, her expression darkened. Zhan Jie asked: “Huanhuan, which university classmate are you meeting? Is it that Qingqing or the one surnamed Luo?”

Among her three roommates, Yao Ying had returned to her hometown to work, while Zhao Qingqing and Luo Xinran stayed in Qiantang. The former was pursuing her master’s degree at their alma mater, while the latter was working.

“Luo Xinran,” Zhan Xi answered, with a sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, Zhan Jie’s brows furrowed: “You’re still in contact with her? Didn’t I tell you not to associate with her? She’s not a proper girl, smoking and drinking. Aren’t you afraid she’ll be a bad influence!”

Zhan Xi hung her head without saying a word.

“If Mom finds out, she won’t just scold you, she’ll blame me too. Listen to your brother, it was unavoidable during school, but now that you’ve graduated, keep your distance!” Zhan Jie’s tone was harsh.

Zhan Xi still didn’t respond. It was impossible for her to agree, but she didn’t want to argue either. To their mother and brother, Luo Xinran had long been labeled as “improper.” No amount of explanation would help.

Seeing his sister’s dejected appearance, Zhan Jie softened, saying earnestly: “We’re only thinking of what’s best for you. You’re all grown up now, you need to be careful about choosing friends. You know what they say about keeping bad company, right? Alright, alright, come home early for dinner tomorrow.”

Zhan Xi said quietly: “I won’t be coming back for dinner, I’ll eat out.”

Seeing Zhan Jie’s expression change, Qin Fei cut in before he could speak: “It’s perfectly normal for a young girl to eat out occasionally. You’re being too controlling as a brother.”

Zhan Jie sighed and didn’t press Zhan Xi further. Qin Fei cheerfully linked arms with her husband and asked: “Hey, aren’t you working overtime tomorrow? If you’re not, we could go out to eat too! We haven’t taken Weiwei out for a nice meal in ages.”

Zhan Xi glanced at her, then silently retreated to her room.

—

On Saturday afternoon, Zhan Xi met Luo Xinran at the Qingque Gate subway station. They hadn’t seen each other since National Day due to Zhan Xi’s exam preparation, so she was very happy to see her friend.

However, Luo Xinran’s appearance gave Zhan Xi a huge shock. She wore a knit cap, and her formerly chestnut-colored long hair was completely gone from the back of her neck, making the rose tattoo there clearly visible.

“Where’s your hair?!” Zhan Xi asked with wide eyes.

Luo Xinran casually took off her cap to show her – it was a crew cut with just stubble on the sides. She asked, “Cool, right?”

“Oh my god! Why did you shave your head?!” Zhan Xi was truly startled.

“Don’t even mention it. That idiot Pipi Xia threw a fit when I got a short haircut recently. I got angry and just shaved it all off, then dumped him while I was at it.” Luo Xinran put her cap back on and smiled, “Pretty cool, right? Though it’s really cold.”

Zhan Xi: “…”

She was even more shocked: “Wait, what? You broke up with Pipi Xia?”

“Yeah, he was too controlling, really thought he was all that.” Luo Xinran was about the same height as Zhan Xi, nearly 1.7 meters, but unlike Zhan Xi’s sweet feminine style with her pink down jacket, Luo Xinran had always favored an edgy look – military green padded jacket, ripped jeans, and studded boots – the kind of outfit that would make Chi Guilan faint.

The two girls chatted about recent events as they walked, then met with a male real estate agent surnamed Liu who took them to view apartments nearby.

Among the residential communities near Zhan Xi’s workplace, Qingque Garden was the most suitable for renting, as it had many small elevator apartments that landlords had bought specifically for rental purposes.

After viewing two apartments, Zhan Xi and Luo Xinran followed the agent to see the third. This apartment was in the southernmost building, unit 802 on the eighth floor. The balcony had an unobstructed view of the street, and you could see Zhan Xi’s office building several hundred meters away. The apartment was a one-bedroom with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Though small, it was clean and tidy.

Agent Liu said: “This place was only renovated a year ago, comes fully furnished with all appliances. Perfect for a single girl. If you’re interested, you’ll need to act fast – these small units are very popular.”

The girls looked around inside and out, and Luo Xinran said: “This one’s nice, better than the previous two.”

Zhan Xi was quite satisfied too. She asked about the rent – 2,300 yuan per month, with three months’ deposit and one month’s rent upfront. She had over 20,000 yuan in savings, which would be enough.

She thought about having to tell Zhan Jie about this when she got home. She’d inevitably get scolded, but the thought of being able to move out and live alone still filled her with excitement and anticipation.

When they’d seen enough, Agent Liu said: “Shall we go? There’s one last unit to see.”

“Okay.” Zhan Xi put on her mask. After a week, her cold still hadn’t improved – if anything, it seemed to be getting worse. Her stuffed nose was making her uncomfortable.

—

With the order accepted and delivery due in a week, Luo Jingyu prepared to start work.

He printed out a color copy of “Good Fortune” and studied it carefully again.

Over the years of making pressed flowers, he mostly created jewelry, hair accessories, and clothing decorations. Occasionally he would help his teacher with large installations, and even when making floral arrangements, they were always his own designs, not copying from pictures like now.

This was like writing an essay on an assigned topic. Luo Jingyu understood the client’s needs – it wasn’t about making an exact copy of the picture, which would be impossible anyway. The client wanted to capture the essence of this flower arrangement, with an elegant and refined style, detailed and delicate workmanship that would convey the artisan’s sincerity when given as a gift.

This was a traditional Chinese flower arrangement using a jar as the container, with an asymmetrical vertical composition. In the lower left were three tiger lilies, their petals varying shades of purple-red fading to white at the edges, with deep purple spots; in the center and lower right were three staggered bird of paradise stems of different heights; the arrangement was complemented with layers of green leaves from Chinese juniper and mahonia. Each element would be challenging to create.

Tiger lilies and birds of paradise were flower types Luo Jingyu was familiar with – he didn’t need to buy fresh flowers to study them. The challenge would be in trimming, adjusting the flower shapes, and final assembly.

However, his first task at this stage was to go out and buy a small jar.

—

Zhan Xi and Luo Xinran stood with Agent Liu on the eighth floor, waiting for the elevator down.

The elevator stopped and the doors slowly opened, revealing someone already inside.

Zhan Xi looked up and saw a tall young man in all black clothes with fluffy hair and a black mask, his hands in his pockets.

As the three of them entered the elevator, the man’s eyes, visible above his mask, remained lowered without looking at them. He moved a step back into the corner, leaning against the wall with a lazy demeanor.

The elevator doors closed and they descended, no one speaking.

Zhan Xi stood closest to the man and sneaked a glance at him, noticing his long, thick eyelashes on his right eye blinking gently twice.

“Ding,” they reached the first floor.

The elevator doors opened and all four filed out, with the man in black last.

As they left the building, Agent Liu said to the girls: “Follow me, there’s one more unit on the west side.”

Zhan Xi looked back and saw the young man had pulled up his down jacket’s hood and was walking quickly toward the community entrance with his hands in his pockets.

She didn’t think much of it, but Luo Xinran whistled and nudged her with an elbow, saying quietly: “Hey, he was handsome.”

“Huh?” Zhan Xi was confused and looked back at the man again, but only saw his distant figure. “That guy just now? How could you tell? He was wearing a mask.”

Luo Xinran spoke with certainty: “His eyebrows, eyes, and nose bridge – his features were perfect, plus he’s tall with a great build.”

Zhan Xi laughed: “Aren’t you judging a book by its cover?”

“I’m seeing the whole picture through the details,” Luo Xinran said with a teasing smile. “Besides, weren’t you stealing glances in the elevator? Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“I was not looking,” Zhan Xi was thankful she was wearing a mask so Luo Xinran couldn’t see her blushing. She teased back, “You seem disappointed. Why didn’t you try flirting with him just now?”

“Ah…” Luo Xinran touched her knit cap, “I look like a terminal patient right now, better not flirt with handsome guys. If anyone’s going to flirt, it should be you – my Xixi is so pretty!”

Zhan Xi kept shaking her head: “I can’t, I’m too shy. If I tried to flirt, the first thing out of my mouth would be ‘Excuse me, are you a civil servant or do you have a permanent position at a public institution?’”

“You’re hopeless!” Luo Xinran laughed heartily, linking arms with Zhan Xi. “Come on, let’s see the last apartment and then get food!”