ATLAS TRANSLATES

Luo Jingyu hadn’t set a return date yet – it depended on when he would finish his major project.

A week ago, Mo Yang told him that he had met Zhan Xi at Zhou Lian’s house. Luo Jingyu remembered what Luo Xiaomei had told him before – about a girl who wanted to learn sign language through her introduction so she could communicate better with the boy she liked.

At the time, Luo Jingyu had envied that boy, never imagining it would turn out to be himself.

His heart stirred with emotion. After completing his project, he showed it to Professor Xu Qingyan. The professor smiled when she saw the title on the card:

—”Joy” X Level Examination Work Author: Luo Jingyu Classroom: Shanghai Classroom Supervising Teacher: Xu Qingyan

After Professor Xu guided Luo Jingyu through some minor revisions, he carefully packaged the work and sent it via international express to Japan. That evening, he packed his bags, checked out, and took the high-speed rail back to Qiantang.

He hadn’t told Huanhuan, wanting to surprise her.

By the time he returned to Qingque Gardens, it was past midnight. As soon as he dragged his suitcase through the door, a small shadow slipped over to his feet.

Luo Jingyu turned on the light and crouched down to pick up Gift, signing with one hand: [Did I wake you?]

Weighing Gift in his arms, he smiled: [You’ve gotten heavier and grown bigger, while Dad lost five pounds.]

Gift had just finished its heat cycle and was especially docile when held. Luo Jingyu put it on the bed and was preparing to shower and sleep when he suddenly froze – his big whale plushie was missing!

…

After leaving Zhou Lian’s house, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu walked hand in hand towards the subway station.

They hadn’t seen each other for a month. Instead of going on a date, Zhan Xi said she wanted to eat Luo Jingyu’s cooking, so they decided to go grocery shopping together and cook at home.

In the supermarket, Luo Jingyu pushed the shopping cart while Zhan Xi kept glancing at him. Little Fish had gotten thinner, his cheeks more hollow, with dark circles under his eyes suggesting he hadn’t been sleeping well.

They bought lots of groceries – three full bags. Back at apartment 1504, after washing his hands, Luo Jingyu put on an apron to cook while Zhan Xi snuck into the kitchen to help.

Gift crouched in the doorway, silently watching the scene. For the little cat, it had been a long time since seeing Dad and Mom together.

Zhan Xi’s cooking skills were still mediocre, but she could help Luo Jingyu wash and cut vegetables. The kitchen hadn’t been used in a long time – when the range hood roared to life, Zhan Xi turned to look at Luo Jingyu, her heart bubbling with happiness. Ah! Little Fish was really back!

How amazing – all the unhappiness at home, all the work troubles, they all vanished when she saw him.

Luo Jingyu was taking ingredients out of the bags when he felt warmth against his back. Zhan Xi had hugged him, pressing herself tightly against him.

He turned around to hug her too, looking at her sun-flushed cheeks before reaching up to gently tap her nose. Zhan Xi’s eyes were like two small flames, crackling and igniting the fire in Luo Jingyu’s heart. He lowered his head, first nuzzling her nose with his, then lightly touching her lips with his. As soon as Zhan Xi’s lips moved, Luo Jingyu captured them with his own.

A passionate kiss after their brief separation – though not quite as intense as a honeymoon reunion.

Luo Jingyu’s lips and tongue lingered on Zhan Xi’s mouth, his hands firmly caressing her back, not letting her escape at all. After what seemed like forever, Gift’s meowing finally made Zhan Xi push him away slightly, and Luo Jingyu reluctantly released her.

Zhan Xi looked up at him and said, “Call me.”

Luo Jingyu: “?”

“Say my name. I want to hear it,” Zhan Xi’s cheeks were still flushed red.

They had video called before, and Zhan Xi had tried to get Luo Jingyu to call her name then, but he had refused. When Huanhuan was in front of him, he could muster the courage to call her, but over the internet he just couldn’t open his mouth.

Now he could try. He cleared his throat first: “Wei er wei er.”

Zhan Xi took his right hand and placed his fingers on her throat. She enunciated clearly: “Huanhuan, huan.”

“Wei er, wei er.” Luo Jingyu could feel the vibrations in her throat, but what came out still started with “w” though the mouth shape was somewhat similar.

Zhan Xi decided to teach him the “h” sound first, saying: “h, Little Fish, repeat after me, h.”

Her right hand made the pinyin sign for “h”.

Luo Jingyu’s lips moved but he didn’t dare make a sound.

He must have learned it as a child, but he had forgotten.

Zhan Xi: “h, h.”

Luo Jingyu finally made a sound: “Er.”

Zhan Xi shook her head with a smile, not looking upset at all. Actually, when Luo Jingyu laughed he would make “he he” sounds, though he didn’t realize it himself.

The “h” and “e” sounds were not difficult for normal people – one consonant and one vowel. But for Luo Jingyu it was really hard to distinguish them, as the mouth shapes and tongue positions were so similar.

Zhan Xi opened her mouth wider to let Luo Jingyu see her tongue clearly. His fingers still pressed against her throat as she demonstrated how the tongue root lifted when making the sound, repeating: “h, h, h, h…”

Luo Jingyu would never get impatient or angry. Huanhuan had learned sign language for him – she just wanted him to call her name more accurately, so he knew he had to learn.

But it was really difficult. No matter how he tried, it didn’t sound right. After many attempts, Luo Jingyu finally made a clear sound: “h.”

Zhan Xi’s eyes lit up as she spoke and signed excitedly: “That’s right! You got it!”

Was it right?

Luo Jingyu was delighted too. Recalling how he had just made the sound, after several “er er er” attempts, he pressed his fingers to his own throat, adjusted his tongue position, and used his throat to make the sound: “h, h.”

“Yes yes yes! That’s exactly it!” Zhan Xi was overjoyed, almost jumping up and down. Luo Jingyu’s eyes also sparkled with excitement as he repeated: “h, h, h…”

“Amazing! You’re such a clever fish!” Zhan Xi brought her five fingers together at her forehead, then turned them toward Luo Jingyu before spreading them open and giving a thumbs up. “Okay, that’s enough for today. Let’s cook – I’m so hungry.”

Luo Jingyu was really getting into it, but since Huanhuan said she was hungry, he had to stop. He thought they could practice more later – he definitely had to learn to say “Huanhuan”, no matter how difficult.

Lunch consisted of four dishes and a soup, with both pork and beef, plus a green onion fish – as good as restaurant food. Neither Zhan Xi nor Luo Jingyu had eaten such a feast in a long time. They ate heartily until their bellies were round and full before putting down their chopsticks.

After lunch, they did a big cleanup of apartment 1504 together. Luo Jingyu was very clean, feeling that an uninhabited home would be somewhat dirty. He changed the bedding, vacuumed everywhere, then swept and mopped the floors and wiped down furniture. Zhan Xi helped clean the kitchen and bathroom, then came out to find Little Fish kneeling on the ground wiping the floor with a cloth. The sight was shocking!

She had never seen such a diligent man in her life…

The marks on the floor were Gift’s urine stains – female cats urinate everywhere when in heat. Luo Jingyu had already heard about this from Zhan Xi. After discussing it, they decided to take Gift to the pet shop for spaying once they finished cleaning.

The little cat was still playing on the cat tree, blissfully unaware. Luo Jingyu looked at it guiltily – little Gift wasn’t even fully grown yet and had never had a cat boyfriend, but now would never be able to be a mother.

Zhan Xi consoled him: “We have no choice. When it’s in heat the yowling is terrifying. The neighbors in 1503 even came to complain. I promised them we’d get the cat spayed when you returned.”

And so, little Gift underwent spaying surgery in its confused state. After three hours of observation at the pet hospital, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi brought it home.

Over the next few days, Zhan Xi had to work while Luo Jingyu took on the responsibility of caring for the cat. Gift wore an Elizabethan collar, and Luo Jingyu fed it special post-surgery cat food, applied medicine to its wound on schedule, hovered around it constantly, prevented it from jumping to avoid pulling the stitches, and took it for check-ups.

Under his attentive care, Gift recovered quickly. It stopped licking the wound and its temperament hadn’t changed – it was still a little female cat very attached to Luo Jingyu, showing no signs of holding a grudge.

Watching the interaction between cat and human, Zhan Xi felt that Luo Jingyu would definitely be a perfect father in the future. His patience and attention to detail were unmatched. But thinking of what he had said about hereditary deafness made her feel uncertain.

Once during casual conversation, Luo Jingyu had said that without absolute certainty, he wouldn’t want children. He couldn’t accept having a deaf child like himself, nor could he accept his wife having to get an abortion because of it.

Luo Jingyu signed to Zhan Xi: [It’s very hard being unable to hear, really very hard.]

This hardship was something Zhan Xi couldn’t truly understand, but she had common sense and knew that vulnerable groups like Little Fish lived like they were trying to survive in the cracks of society. Whether studying, job hunting, dating… even entertainment and leisure – everything was more difficult than for normal people, with far fewer choices available.

Luo Jingyu had never attended regular school. He said he had a middle school classmate who went to regular high school for mainstream education, but struggled terribly and was bullied and mocked for his unclear speech. He was eventually forced to return to the school for the blind and deaf for high school.

After spending a year outside, that boy’s personality changed completely. Someone who had been outgoing and cheerful became lifeless upon return. He didn’t do well on the college entrance exam either, and no one knew what happened to him afterward.

Luo Jingyu typed decisively: [My child cannot be like this. If my child gets sick later or something happens to make them unhealthy, I can accept it – I will love them and care for them, it’s fine. But being born this way is not okay!]

—

At the end of June, Shrimp was about to turn twenty-five, Zhao Qingqing was finishing her first year of graduate school and heading home for summer break, and Luo Jingyu had returned – so the three girls discussed in their group chat about the previously planned gathering with boyfriends that needed to happen soon.

[Luo Xinran]: Birthday girl gets priority – she wants Korean BBQ, any objections?

[Egg Pudding]: None! I love BBQ too!

[Zhao Qingqing]: No objections~

[Yao Ying]: looks at you all coldly.jpg

Luo Xinran private messaged Zhan Xi.

[Luo Xinran]: Shrimp says we need to go singing after BBQ. It’s fine normally, but would your boyfriend mind? If not we can do something else, like sit at a bar or just disperse after eating. What do you think? Huanhuan, just tell me directly if you have thoughts, no need to beat around the bush.

[Egg Pudding]: Let me ask him, hold on. My boyfriend has a really good temper, I don’t think he’ll mind.

Zhan Xi told Luo Jingyu about this, not being too indirect. She told him that Shrimp was a bar singer who loved showing off his voice to friends. If Luo Jingyu minded, they didn’t have to join the second part – it was fine, Zhan Xi didn’t want him to be uncomfortable.

Luo Jingyu replied—

[Big Fish]: It’s fine, they’re your friends. I can go as long as I don’t have to sing [covering face]

[Egg Pudding]: Okay then, I’ll say yes. Don’t worry, I’m not good at singing either, I never sing. We can just sit and have some drinks [shy]

[Big Fish]: [OK] I’ve never been to karaoke, I’m quite curious [grin]

Zhan Xi smiled at the screen. Little Fish who had never been to karaoke! How cute. Her roommates were all easy to get along with, and with her there, there was nothing to worry about. It was a good chance to let Little Fish see something new.

These days, Luo Jingyu hadn’t been idle at all. First, he arranged a time with Dong Cheng to install the cherry blossom tree at Mr. Chi Jiang’s home, then coordinated times with Zhong Peng, Mo Yang and Little Li. After aligning everyone’s schedules, they agreed to do the installation after the Dragon Boat Festival.

Then, Luo Jingyu went to Fang Xu’s workshop to propose participating in July’s Qiantang Makers’ Fair. Registration closed at the end of June, so he asked Fang Xu to help him register.

Before going, Luo Jingyu had a feeling Fang Xu wouldn’t agree. Sure enough, Fang Xu said he was too busy lately and had no time for this. He also felt that even the smallest booth cost 20,000 yuan for three days, which he thought was completely pointless. He wouldn’t contribute a third of the cost. If Luo Jingyu wanted to do it, he could do it himself – Fang Xu wouldn’t interfere but also wouldn’t help.

“Do you still want to do the hanfu festival or not?” Fang Xu asked Luo Jingyu. “Other places are already starting production in July, but here you are wanting to participate in some makers’ fair. How could hot-pressing possibly sell at a makers’ fair? Each piece costs four or five hundred, six or seven hundred – people will think you’re robbing them!”

Luo Jingyu had no intention of selling things to make money at the makers’ fair. The handcraft art section was really an opportunity for craftspeople to showcase themselves. He just wanted to display his work and promote the hot-pressing craft.

Professor Xu and the other sisters who learned hot-pressing with him had all participated in exhibitions or craft fairs, some large and some small. Only he had never participated. He was already twenty-seven years old, in the industry for so many years – couldn’t he showcase himself just once?

Their views didn’t align, so Luo Jingyu got up to leave.

Seeing him angry, Fang Xu chased after him from the office, blocking his path to ask: “Luo Jingyu, be honest with me, do you want to dissolve our partnership?”

Luo Jingyu stared at him with a tightly clenched jaw.

He did want to dissolve it. He had discussed it with Professor Xu in Shanghai too. He wanted to work independently but was afraid he couldn’t handle everything.

Luo Jingyu had an initial idea – hire a hearing person who understood hanfu culture to help manage client business, following the hanfu festival project from July onwards.

If the two of them worked well together, after the hanfu festival, he would dissolve the partnership with Fang Xu. In the future, he would pay this person a salary, but all business matters would be under his direction.

Professor Xu thought it was feasible and told him not to tell Fang Xu yet, but to start looking for this person first.

This time, Fang Xu hadn’t attacked Luo Jingyu’s deafness at all, considering himself very respectful. But the facts were clear – their business philosophies were too different. He knew Luo Jingyu had other intentions, and even if they completed this hanfu festival business, they would soon have new conflicts.

Luo Jingyu wouldn’t listen to him anymore – Fang Xu understood this very clearly.

He said: “I’m a businessman, Little Fish. Let’s part on good terms. If you want to dissolve the partnership, say it early. Don’t treat me like a fool. If you don’t do the hanfu festival, I can find someone else – there’s still time now. But if you dump this on me in August or September, what am I supposed to do?”

Luo Jingyu thought for a while, then took out his phone to type: [I’ll do it.]

Fang Xu gave a cold laugh, patting his shoulder: “Well then, pleased to work with you.”

Luo Jingyu returned home and opened his computer to search for the Qiantang Makers’ Fair website.

There was an online registration channel. He clicked in and filled out the requirements one by one, finally getting stuck at “Project Introduction.”

He had chosen the handcraft art section and applied for the smallest booth, about 3 square meters. Because there were more applicants than booths, there was a selection process. The organizers required applicants to write an industry introduction (500 words), exhibition content (1000 words), and applicant’s work history (500 words), plus upload product photos.

Luo Jingyu closed the page and opened a blank document, slowly starting to type.

Half an hour later he had written just over two hundred words. He read it once – it was a mess. Sighing, he quietly closed the document.

Ah…

One penny can stump a hero, and 2000 words can stump a fish.

The gathering with Zhan Xi’s friends was that day. At 5:30 PM, after Zhan Xi got off work, she and Luo Jingyu took a taxi to the meeting place.

The Korean BBQ restaurant was in a mall. Zhan Xi had prepared a birthday gift for Shrimp, and Luo Jingyu had also prepared simple, delicate hot-pressed brooches for Zhan Xi’s two roommates – they were simple and small enough to wear with regular clothes.

The other four weren’t office workers and had already started eating. When Zhan Xi led Luo Jingyu into the restaurant, he became nervous and his steps faltered for a moment.

Zhan Xi turned back to look at him. Luo Jingyu was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, pressing his lips together with a serious expression, looking super cool – where was the gentle warm guy she knew?

Zhan Xi couldn’t help laughing: “Little Fish, don’t be nervous. My roommates are all very nice – they’re my best friends.”

Luo Jingyu hesitantly signed: [Their boyfriends are here too, will they laugh at you?]

Zhan Xi signed back: [They won’t. They all know about it. Don’t worry about these things. I want you to meet my best friends, and I want them to meet you too.]

Luo Jingyu nodded and took Zhan Xi’s hand again.

After four months of dating, he still hadn’t met Huanhuan’s friends. Before, he only hung out with his deaf classmates and had never made hearing friends his age. He didn’t know how they normally socialized or what scenes like eating out and playing together were like.

When Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu reached Luo Xinran’s booth, the four young people were grilling enthusiastically at two stoves. As soon as Luo Jingyu stood still, four pairs of eyes turned to him simultaneously, making him nervous again.

Then they all started calling out:

“Finally, the handsome couple is here! Quick, go get some meat!”

“The pork belly is delicious, and the beef too! You have to grab it – it’ll be gone soon!”

“Wait! Introduce us first!”

Zhan Xi didn’t know who to respond to first, so she just stood there and pointed at Luo Jingyu saying: “This is my boyfriend, Luo Jingyu. You can call him Little Fish. Little Fish…”

Zhan Xi turned to face Luo Jingyu and slowly started signing while still speaking: [These are my friends. This is Luo Xinran, the melon-eating Luo Ran. This is Zhao Qingqing, they were my university roommates. That wild-haired guy is Luo Xinran’s boyfriend Shrimp, and that one…]

Zhan Xi had practiced this sign language sequence carefully. She looked at Zhao Qingqing’s boyfriend, a baby-faced guy wearing glasses with fair skin who smiled sweetly and kindly.

Zhao Qingqing watched Zhan Xi signing with amazement, thinking her friend Huanhuan was really impressive to have unlocked this new skill! Just as she was thinking this, her boyfriend nudged her and simply introduced himself: “I’m Xie Linshu, just call me Little Xie.”

Zhan Xi continued signing to Luo Jingyu: [And this is Zhao Qingqing’s boyfriend, Little Xie.]

After all introductions were complete, Luo Jingyu nodded to everyone and smiled while making a long series of signs.

Zhan Xi watched his signs carefully before translating: “Little Fish says he’s very happy to meet everyone. He can’t hear and can’t speak, but hopes you won’t mind. You can talk to him – if you speak slowly he can read lips. And Teacher Luo Ran Who Eats Melons, Little Fish says he’s your fan and has read all your articles.”

Luo Xinran laughed heartily: “Thanks for the support!”

While Zhan Xi was speaking, Luo Jingyu’s gaze was fixed on her lips. When she finished, he smiled slightly, suddenly feeling very at ease. Tonight, he probably wouldn’t need to type messages on his phone for others to read.