ATLAS TRANSLATES

June 30th was Zhan Xi’s last day at work. On this day, she received two phone calls.

The first call was from the organizers of the Maker Festival, confirming some details with her and notifying her that her booth application had been approved. They asked her to pay the booth fee as soon as possible.

The second call was for a second interview with a media company. After some thought, Zhan Xi apologetically told them she would have to decline the interview.

She had a vague feeling that these events were connected by some mysterious logic.

Zhan Xi already knew about the conflict between Fang Xu and Luo Jingyu, and she knew that if Luo Jingyu participated in the Maker Festival, he would have to handle everything alone.

Her Little Fish was indeed multi-talented and brilliant, but Zhan Xi also understood that it would be very difficult for him to manage a three-day exhibition by himself.

Communication was Luo Jingyu’s weakness in life. Facing such a rare opportunity, Zhan Xi couldn’t stand by and do nothing as his girlfriend.

She decided to help Little Fish get through this difficult time. It would only be about half a month, and she could look for a new job after the Maker Festival.

After work, Zhan Xi packed up all her personal belongings and said goodbye to her colleagues, including Yuan Sichen.

After taking the elevator down, she ran into Lin Yan, who was working overtime and had just bought coffee from the café. When they saw each other in the lobby, Lin Yan stopped and said, “I’m sorry about that day.”

It took Zhan Xi a while to realize he was probably apologizing for what he said in the stairwell. She quickly replied, “It’s fine, I didn’t take it to heart.”

“You…” Lin Yan hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “I wish you all the best.”

Zhan Xi smiled at him: “Thank you, I wish you all the best too.”

She walked out of the building without looking back.

This company had been her first job after leaving the ivory tower. Over the past year, she had learned many things, experienced a lot, and grown as a person. She had even met her boyfriend because of this job.

But she didn’t feel too nostalgic. People need to look forward, and this was just a small choice in life.

That evening, while having dinner with Luo Jingyu, Zhan Xi told him about the approved registration and her decision.

She signed: [I won’t look for work right now, Little Fish. I want to help you prepare for the exhibition.]

Luo Jingyu stared at her in shock until she repeated herself.

He anxiously signed back: [I don’t want to delay your job search.]

Zhan Xi shook her head: [It won’t delay anything.]

Luo Jingyu looked at her for a long time, feeling extremely nervous.

The Maker Festival registration had been his idea, and he had been watching Huanhuan’s job search all along. Before receiving the call from the organizers, he hadn’t really grasped the concept of this exhibition. Now that the registration was approved and his first-ever booth was going to become a reality, he felt confused and overwhelmed, unsure if he could handle everything alone.

At this moment, Huanhuan voluntarily offered to help him.

Seeing his conflicted expression, Zhan Xi smiled and asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you want my help?”

Luo Jingyu shook his head vigorously.

“Then let’s do it together!” Zhan Xi said excitedly. “Little Fish, we have half a month. Let’s plan this properly – we need to make those twenty thousand yuan count!”

Luo Jingyu looked at her for a while before finally smiling and nodding gently.

He went online and paid the twenty thousand yuan participation fee, securing a small booth.

The Maker Festival had been in preparation since May, and other exhibitors had already started their preparations. With Luo Jingyu only confirming his participation now, time was very tight. He and Zhan Xi had many things to do, so they held a small meeting to plan out their respective tasks.

First was the booth’s theme. Zhan Xi showed Luo Jingyu her written proposal. Looking at her imaginative ideas, Luo Jingyu was stunned.

Originally, he hadn’t thought much about it, figuring he’d just need a table and chair to quietly make pressed flowers, maybe letting customers try it out. But Zhan Xi’s plan was very detailed, requiring significant effort just for the theme setup.

“What do you think?” Zhan Xi asked.

Luo Jingyu: “…”

“Not good?” Zhan Xi asked again, “Too complicated? Not enough time? What was your original plan?”

Luo Jingyu pursed his lips, pointed to a line in the document, turned to look at Zhan Xi, and drew a question mark in the air with his index finger.

“Oh, that? That’s me!” Zhan Xi said with a grin. “You don’t think I can do it?”

Luo Jingyu shook his head, looked at the document again, and after thinking for a long time, decisively signed: [I think it’s good, very good. Let’s do it this way.]

In Zhan Xi’s vision, the most important part of the exhibition wasn’t Luo Jingyu demonstrating how to make pressed flowers, but rather the pressed flower interest class experience. Teacher Luo would teach customers how to make beginner-level flowers, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. He needed to prepare materials for the interest class and make finished products in advance to show visitors.

Thinking about the difficulties he encountered when teaching Mrs. Chi Jiang, Zhan Xi said, “Little Fish, I’ve thought about it. You need to teach me first, then I can help explain while you just focus on demonstrating each step.”

The Maker Festival organizers had a WeChat official account, and since May, they had been posting several booth information updates daily according to different sections. When the staff notified Zhan Xi about her approved registration, they asked for her social media accounts on WeChat, Weibo, or short video platforms. Zhan Xi didn’t give them the “Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” account because all the social media accounts of this so-called pressed flower studio were managed by Fang Xu, and Luo Jingyu had no control over them. Fang Xu might not even cooperate with their promotional efforts.

With Luo Jingyu’s permission, Zhan Xi decided to register a new account, a temporary one specifically for the Maker Festival.

Time was very tight, so she chose the name casually, combining the homophone of her name with Little Fish’s name. Soon, WeChat official account, Weibo, and Q Station had a new “Xi Yu Pressed Flower Art” account.

Fang Xu and Luo Jingyu had collaborated for four years, deeply rooted in the Hanfu circle. Now their client channels were mostly through various Hanfu groups, and they no longer focused on platform management and display.

“Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” didn’t even have an official account, and their Weibo hadn’t posted new content for two years. They only occasionally uploaded some videos on Q Station, though their Taobao shop was quite well-maintained.

Zhan Xi felt that Fang Xu’s approach wasn’t worth referencing, so she went to study the social media content of Teacher Xu, Sister Shao, Sister Xiao Zhu, and others. After carefully analyzing each post, she assigned Luo Jingyu the task of properly making the flower designs for the experience class and recording the entire process on video, which she would edit later.

Luo Jingyu asked her in surprise: [You know how?]

Zhan Xi couldn’t help but laugh: “I studied media! How could I not know how to edit a video? Though I haven’t done it for a while, don’t worry, I’ll make it look beautiful for you!”

Luo Jingyu’s eyes sparkled as he signed with genuine feeling: [Huanhuan, you’re really amazing!]

While the edited videos would be showcased on Weibo, the official account needed articles, which Zhan Xi would naturally write.

She had Luo Jingyu find photographs of his numerous pressed flower works from over the years, and they sat with their heads together, carefully selecting images to accompany the articles.

Zhan Xi wrote one article every day, not too long. She didn’t specifically talk about pressed flowers, but instead used different fresh flowers as leads, introducing a solar term or Chinese traditional festival in each article, finally returning to pressed flowers. With so many flower designs that Little Fish could make, she wouldn’t be able to write about them all before the Maker Festival.

After more than a week, the Maker Festival’s official account posted an article introducing “Xi Yu Pressed Flower Art,” which was actually written by Zhan Xi. It included QR codes for the booth’s main social media platforms, and in just one day, their official account and Weibo gained quite a few followers.

Everything was progressing rapidly. The materials needed for the booth setup were bought one by one, and Luo Jingyu made the pressed flower exhibits one piece at a time. Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu were busy from morning till night, barely getting enough sleep, their minds occupied with almost nothing else. The calendar was filled with work items, each completed task marked with a circle.

With just the two of them and no exhibition experience, there were many things they didn’t understand. Zhan Xi would shamelessly ask several young ladies for help, and they would patiently answer her questions and tell her about important exhibition considerations.

In another week, the Maker Festival would open.

The day Fang Xu came uninvited, Luo Jingyu was teaching Zhan Xi how to make lily of the valley.

When he opened the door and saw Fang Xu, he was startled. Fang Xu’s expression was very calm as he walked in carrying a bag of fruit, smiling and saying, “I was just passing by after some business, thought I’d come see you.”

He saw Zhan Xi sitting at the workbench and waved: “Hello, Miss Zhan.”

Zhan Xi didn’t like him, but out of politeness still responded: “Hello, Mr. Fang.”

Luo Jingyu invited Fang Xu to sit on the sofa and brought him a drink. Fang Xu craned his neck to look at the half-finished pressed flowers on the workbench and asked Zhan Xi: “Miss Zhan, are you also interested in pressed flowers?”

Zhan Xi smiled: “Yes, it’s quite interesting, so I asked Little Fish to teach me.”

Luo Jingyu pulled up a chair and sat across from Fang Xu. Zhan Xi didn’t leave either, sitting at the workbench playing with her phone while listening to their conversation.

“What have you been busy with lately? The Maker Festival?” Fang Xu asked.

Luo Jingyu nodded. He hadn’t hidden the registration from Fang Xu and had told him at the beginning of the month.

Fang Xu asked again: “So you’ll only have time to design the Hanfu Festival custom pieces after the exhibition?”

Luo Jingyu nodded again.

Fang Xu shook his head and sighed: “Our business definitely won’t do well this year, starting so late will have a huge impact.”

Luo Jingyu didn’t react, but Zhan Xi said: “There are gains and losses, Mr. Fang. If Little Fish becomes more well-known, it will only help your business, not hurt it.”

Fang Xu smiled: “I know, Little Fish has his ambitions, and I definitely support him. Did you hear me say anything against it?”

He turned back to Luo Jingyu and asked: “How’s the co-branded design coming along?”

Luo Jingyu got up and brought over several colored design drafts to show him.

This was a co-branded design commissioned by a Hanfu studio through Fang Xu at the beginning of the month. They wanted to launch new autumn styles with a Tang Dynasty theme, and several sets needed matching pressed flower hair accessories. Luo Jingyu had found time to draw the design sketches by hand.

“Not bad at all! Does it need any changes?” Fang Xu asked after looking at them.

Just as Luo Jingyu was about to type on his phone, someone patted his shoulder. He looked up to see Zhan Xi standing beside him.

Zhan Xi signed to him: [Just say it directly, I’ll translate for you.]

Luo Jingyu felt warmth in his heart and smiled, then signed a few sentences. After watching, Zhan Xi said to Fang Xu: “Little Fish says you can send it to them first to get their opinion, then he’ll make modifications.”

Fang Xu stared at them in amazement and asked: “Miss Zhan, you know sign language?”

Zhan Xi said flatly: “I’ve been learning for four months, I can communicate with Little Fish pretty well now. Sign language isn’t hard to learn.”

How could sign language not be hard to learn? Fang Xu had seen Luo Jingyu use sign language, it was dizzying to watch.

He felt very complicated inside. In the four years he had known Luo Jingyu, Fang Xu had never thought about learning sign language, only feeling that communicating with Little Fish was troublesome, especially with his poor typing.

Why couldn’t Luo Jingyu improve his written communication skills? Fang Xu thought, why should he, a person with normal hearing, learn sign language? Just to communicate with a deaf person like Luo Jingyu? Why should he?

Indeed, the power of love is great, Fang Xu coldly watched Zhan Xi, thinking this pretty girl must have been blinded by love, her head not quite clear.

He took photos of the design drafts with his phone and said: “Alright, I’ll send these to them and ask, then get back to you with their feedback.”

Afterwards, Fang Xu sipped his drink and casually asked Luo Jingyu how he planned to set up his booth at the Maker Festival. Luo Jingyu looked at him seriously. In the past, he wouldn’t have hidden anything from Fang Xu, but now, unless necessary, he didn’t want to tell him anything.

Zhan Xi helped him out, smiling and saying: “Mr. Fang, you said you wouldn’t interfere or help, so don’t worry about this. Besides, pressed flowers are such a niche thing, what else could we do? Little Fish will just set up his booth and make pressed flowers while visitors watch. It’s not much different from making sugar figurines.”

Luo Jingyu: “…”

Fang Xu laughed loudly: “That’s true.”

He didn’t stay long before saying he had to leave. Zhan Xi held the gift while seeing him off, and Luo Jingyu accompanied Fang Xu to the door, watching him take the elevator down.

After going downstairs, Fang Xu went to get his car while making a phone call.

A coquettish female voice answered: “Brother Fang.”

Fang Xu said: “I’m out.”

The other person asked: “Did you find out?”

“He didn’t say, he’s being sly,” Fang Xu answered, “But I got the stuff.”

After hanging up, Fang Xu opened WeChat and looked again at the article posted by the Maker Festival official account.

“Xi Yu Pressed Flower Art, hmph.” He read out loud, ending with a cold laugh.

The little deaf guy’s wings have really hardened, Fang Xu thought, thinking he can just kick me aside and fly off on his own?

Heh, is anything in this world that easy?