ATLAS TRANSLATES

Fang Xu sat at his desk with his legs crossed, talking on the phone with Guan Rujie.

“What did she say when you asked her for proof?” Fang Xu asked.

“She didn’t reply.” Guan Rujie asked, “Little Fang, do you think they kept any evidence? You took photos, but what if they did too?”

“How would I know if they kept evidence or not.” Fang Xu sneered, “That deaf guy is actually quite cunning. They might be trying to figure out who you are right now. Keep a low profile and don’t reveal your main account. As far as I’m concerned, I know nothing – when everything happened, I hadn’t split with him yet and wasn’t working with you.”

Guan Rujie whined coquettishly, “Are you using me as a pawn? What if they actually sue me?”

Fang Xu said, “If they have evidence, the most they can do is make you delete the Weibo post. Shasha wouldn’t deliberately make a big deal out of this – what’s in it for her? Just pretend nothing happened. Don’t scare yourself. The deaf guy isn’t one to cause trouble, but his girlfriend has a sharp tongue – watch out for her.”

Guan Rujie was silent for a moment before asking, “Then… Little Fang, what if they don’t have evidence? What should we do?”

Fang Xu laughed heartily, “No evidence? That’s hitting the jackpot! Ask Shasha for money – they’ll definitely pay to make this go away. Then Shasha will go after the deaf guy, but that’s none of our business. We can just enjoy watching the show.”

“If Shasha pays us but doesn’t go after Xiyu, and keeps things quiet, would you be okay with that?” Guan Rujie grumbled, “I’m not doing this for money. What if the deaf guy plays victim with Shasha and she lets him off? He’ll keep running Xiyu, and we won’t be able to expose him anymore even with the money. Shasha will be furious.”

Fang Xu pondered for a moment before saying, “I think if Shasha lets him off, we should leave it for now. Shasha will probably leak some information. After taking such a big hit, he probably won’t dare to be too arrogant anymore – he’s got dirt on him now. We hold the evidence, so we can go after him again whenever we want.”

“Are you satisfied with that?” Guan Rujie said sweetly, “We could completely ruin him this time, as long as he has no evidence. Little Fang, without the deaf guy, our business would be much better. Xu Qingyan rarely opens for orders now, and the others are small fry. In the hanfu circle, your business is still the best.”

Fang Xu lit a cigarette: “Sometimes you have to show mercy. Rujie, don’t push the deaf guy too hard. Who knows what a disabled person might do if pushed to the edge? If he decides to go down together with me, who can I complain to…”

Before he could finish, there was a commotion outside the office. Customer service staff Jingjing was shouting, “Hey hey, Xiyu! You…”

“Shit, speak of the devil! I’ll talk to you later.” Fang Xu had just hung up when the office door was thrown open with a bang. Luo Jingyu burst in, followed by two panicked female customer service staff calling out, “B-b-boss, he-he-he wants to see you! We couldn’t stop him.”

Fang Xu had warned them to keep Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi out of his office. He waved his hand now and said, “It’s fine, you can go.”

The two customer service staff left, closing the door behind them.

Fang Xu sized up Luo Jingyu, who was deathly pale with bloodshot eyes and lips pressed into a thin line, glaring at him with barely contained rage. Fortunately, his hands were empty – no weapons.

“What brings you here?” Fang Xu took a drag of his cigarette and asked, “How’s business? I see you’ve opened for orders. Your items look good, even prettier than what you made for me. You were hiding your skills to work on your own, weren’t you?”

Luo Jingyu started signing rapidly and forcefully, his gestures showing his anger.

Fang Xu laughed, “What are you doing? You know I can’t understand sign language. If you have something to say, use your phone or write it down.” He pulled two sheets of A4 paper from the printer tray and pushed them across the desk, tossing a pen over. “Lucky for you I’m in a good mood and can chat slowly. You know how much I hate talking to you.”

Luo Jingyu stepped forward, picked up the pen, and wrote three large characters on the paper: [Why?]

He held it up for Fang Xu to see, his lips trembling, eyes blazing with fury.

He pointed heavily at the three characters on the paper, as if asking over and over: Why?

“What do you mean why?” Fang Xu continued smoking leisurely, exhaling a cloud of smoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Xiyu, what happened?”

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Luo Jingyu was enraged. Not wanting to write or type on his phone, he stubbornly began signing: [Why are you treating me like this? What did I ever do to wrong you? I helped you make so much money! I never hurt or cheated you! You said we’d part on good terms, I agreed. You said my previous designs belonged to you, I agreed to that too! If you want to do Shasha’s business, you can have it, I don’t need it! Why are you trying to harm me? I never plagiarized! You know I would never plagiarize! Why did you give my designs to others? To harm me? I just want to make pressed flowers! We can compete fairly, I just want to make a living from pressed flowers!]

He was too agitated, completely unable to control his emotions. As he signed, his mouth opened and sounds burst from his throat along with his flying hands: “Uh ah ba oh, uh ba ah uh, ah ba en oh uh…”

His volume was loud, the syllables unclear and meaningless, gurgling from his throat, making Fang Xu’s back crawl.

He couldn’t understand Luo Jingyu’s signing or speech. After watching him make a long string of gestures like watching a show, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and frowned with a bitter smile: “Luo Jingyu, what are you doing going crazy in my office at noon? Giving me sign language lessons? Sorry, I don’t understand, not a single bit. You’re deaf and mute, my ears work fine. Either write or type for me, what’s this about? I don’t have time to play with you, it’s almost lunch time, hurry up and leave. Just looking at you makes me sick.”

Luo Jingyu’s face darkened, his whole body trembling from head to toe, as if trying hard to control himself. Gritting his teeth, he picked up the pen again and wrote on the back of “Why”: [I didn’t copy! The painting, fish, lotus – you framed me?]

Fang Xu: “…”

He lowered his eyes to look at the words on the paper, then lifted his eyelids and sneered: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Luo Jingyu could no longer contain himself. He circled around the desk to Fang Xu’s front, grabbed his collar and yanked him up. Fang Xu roared, “What are you trying to do?!”

What was Luo Jingyu trying to do?

What else could he do? He wanted to beat up Fang Xu!

But he still retained a thread of rationality, knowing he couldn’t act impulsively. The frustrating thing was that he couldn’t speak, couldn’t say a single word. He could only glare at Fang Xu furiously, holding that crumpled paper in front of him, almost pressing it against his face.

Fang Xu pushed the paper away, his eyes flashing with excitement as he mouthed clearly: “So worked up? Looks like you have no evidence.”

The thread of reason barely holding together in Luo Jingyu’s mind snapped completely.

He let out a loud “Ah!” and swung his fist hard, striking Fang Xu’s face, knocking him over along with his office chair.

Fang Xu hadn’t expected Luo Jingyu to actually hit him – in his memory, this person had always been soft and gentle, keeping any temper bottled up inside. Before Fang Xu could get up from the ground, Luo Jingyu pounced again, his clenched fist landing another blow on his face.

Fang Xu was stunned by the punches. When Luo Jingyu’s third punch came, he was finally prepared. He rolled away and scrambled up. As Luo Jingyu’s punch missed, Fang Xu kicked him hard in the stomach. Luo Jingyu grunted in pain, and Fang Xu followed up with a punch of his own.

Luo Jingyu stumbled back a couple steps, then turned to look at Fang Xu. Rage had destroyed all his reason – he charged forward like a wild beast, shouting “Ah ah” as he and Fang Xu began wrestling.

Outside the office, the female customer service staff heard a series of crashes and bangs – heavy objects falling, glass breaking, and men shouting in anger. The staff were all terrified, pushing and shoving each other to go open the door. They saw the chaos in the office at a glance.

The desk was crooked, chairs overturned, most items from the desk scattered on the floor, including the computer and printer. The bookcase door was open, its glass panels shattered on the ground. Luo Jingyu was on top of Fang Xu, both their faces and bodies bloodied and bruised, locked in a stalemate.

Jingjing screamed: “Boss!! Should we call the police?”

“Call them!” Fang Xu roared, pulling his phone from his pocket and throwing it over. “Find a woman surnamed Zhan, call her, tell her to come see what this guy has gone crazy doing!”

Luo Jingyu understood Fang Xu’s lip movements and started shouting “Ah ah ah” again. The two men rolled around wrestling on the floor. Jingjing trembled in fear, grabbed the phone and ran out.

This time, Fang Xu ended up on top of Luo Jingyu. Looking down at him, Fang Xu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and patted Luo Jingyu’s face, saying lowly: “Fighting me? Little deaf guy, you’re still too green.”

Luo Jingyu glared at him intensely. Fang Xu smiled and softened his tone: “Luo Jingyu, don’t look at me like that. You know what? I hate it most when you look at me like this. Who knows what you’re cursing me as in your head, right? Don’t act so pure and noble. We’re all just trying to make money. I can make you or break you. Think your wings are strong enough to fly? I’m telling you, it’s not that easy.”

Luo Jingyu used all his strength to knee Fang Xu in the lower abdomen. Fang Xu screamed in pain and rolled to the side. Luo Jingyu took the chance to get up, stumbling back a few steps, breathing heavily as he looked down at Fang Xu.

Fang Xu took a moment to recover from the pain, leaning against the desk as he sat on the floor. He looked up at Luo Jingyu and pointed at his right hand: “Your hand is injured, is it okay? That’s what you make a living with.”

Only then did Luo Jingyu feel the pain in his right hand. Looking down, he saw a large cut from his hand to the base of his ring finger, the whole hand covered in blood, with drops still falling from his fingertips.

This was from when he had missed punching Fang Xu and hit the bookcase glass instead.

The police and Zhan Xi arrived at the office one after another. Since both Luo Jingyu and Fang Xu were injured, police officers accompanied them to the hospital for treatment first, while another officer stayed at the office to take statements from the customer service staff.

At the hospital, Zhan Xi stayed by Luo Jingyu’s side as medical staff treated his right hand. There were even tiny glass shards in the wound that had to be picked out with tweezers.

Fortunately, the injury hadn’t damaged any bones or nerves. The doctor said it wouldn’t affect the hand’s fine motor functions, but it needed stitches and would definitely leave a scar.

Luo Jingyu remained numb throughout, as if the pain could no longer affect him.

He was in terrible shape – hair disheveled, face black and blue, split lip, left cheek badly swollen. When the doctor asked him to remove his shirt, large bruises and bloody marks could be seen on his body.

Zhan Xi couldn’t hold back anymore. She gripped Luo Jingyu’s left hand tightly as tears rolled down her face.

Seeing her cry brought Luo Jingyu back to life. He looked into her eyes and shook his head, squeezing her hand and opening his mouth slightly as if telling her not to worry.

Zhan Xi knew she should be calmer at this moment, but she wasn’t that strong. The more composed Luo Jingyu appeared, the harder it was for her to hold back. Large tears fell as she bit her lip to keep from sobbing out loud.

Fang Xu wasn’t in much better shape – he was also covered in injuries. When two grown men fight without technique, it’s just brute force punching and kicking. Besides Luo Jingyu’s hand being cut by glass, Fang Xu’s injuries were actually worse. Both cheeks were swollen like buns, and he kept complaining to the police about pain in his stomach, back, legs…

Between the two men, only one could speak. Fang Xu said Luo Jingyu struck first, which was true. After treating their injuries, everyone went to the police station.

Luo Jingyu didn’t call his family – Luo Xiaomei was pregnant and his parents were elderly. He didn’t want them to worry.

With such a big incident, and none of Luo Jingyu’s family coming, Luo Xinran felt they needed an older person to help handle things. After checking with Zhan Xi, she called Zhan Jie, who rushed over immediately after receiving the call.

Luo Xinran explained what had happened to Zhan Jie outside the police station. Zhan Jie remained silent with a dark expression.

By the time everything was settled, it was evening. Fang Xu agreed to settle privately, demanding Luo Jingyu pay not only his medical fees, lost wages, and office property damage, but also compensation for mental distress – asking for 50,000 yuan right off the bat.

“No need for an apology,” Fang Xu told the police. “He’s deaf and mute, it’s not easy for him. Maybe he just got a bit stressed and wasn’t thinking straight. Sigh… I won’t hold it against him. We worked together for years after all. When business doesn’t work out, we can still be civil. I don’t want to push too hard.”

After saying this, he turned and noticed Zhan Xi staring at him. Fang Xu smiled at her and gave a cold snort.

Zhan Jie went to negotiate with Fang Xu.

“Medical fees are clear, lost wages have regulations, and for your office damage, make a list – we’ll pay what’s fair,” Zhan Jie lit a cigarette for Fang Xu. “As for mental distress compensation… Mr. Fang, are you sure you want that? Let me put it this way – my sister didn’t know Luo Jingyu was coming to see you today. If you push him too far, we can’t guarantee he won’t come find you again or do something else rash.”

Fang Xu called to the police: “Officer, they’re threatening me!”

“Who’s threatening you?” Zhan Jie said coldly. “If my sister breaks up with Luo Jingyu over this, think about it – will he be traumatized? Who will he blame? Certainly not my sister!”

Fang Xu: “…”

“That’s enough, you know what you did,” Zhan Jie snorted. “What’s more important – money or other things? You decide.”

The police officer also thought Fang Xu was asking for too much and tried to mediate.

Finally, Zhan Jie proposed 20,000 yuan to settle everything privately. Fang Xu agreed.

Luo Jingyu silently signed the mediation agreement.

Fang Xu left the police station alone. Sitting in the taxi, he still couldn’t swallow his anger and called Guan Rujie: “I’m sure now – they have no evidence. You should know what to do, right?”

—

A small car stopped at the entrance of Qingque Garden residential complex. Chi Guilan and her sister got out, carrying large bags. They bent down to thank the driver through the window: “Thanks Achang. I’ll call you the day after tomorrow to get a ride back.”

This trip was because her sister Chi Guixian came to Qiantang for a follow-up check-up. They happened to have a neighbor driving to Qiantang on business, so Chi Guixian got a ride with him. When Chi Guilan found out, thinking it had been a month since she’d seen her daughter and her grandson Zhan Kaiwei was about to start second grade, she also tagged along, wanting to visit her children in Qiantang.

As the car drove away, Chi Guixian said: “Second Sister, you didn’t call Huanhuan again. Won’t she be angry?”

“I’ll call her now,” Chi Guilan pulled out her phone. “I also decided to come at the last minute. Even my old man doesn’t know. Your brother-in-law doesn’t know either.”

Chi Guixian shook her head with a smile: “You just love surprise attacks. No wonder Huanhuan gets upset. Are we staying at Ajie’s place tonight?”

“Let’s stay at Huanhuan’s. It’s hot but sleeping on the floor is fine,” Chi Guilan said while dialing. “Just thinking about Ajie makes me angry now. Getting divorced and then blaming me – did I tell him to get divorced?”

Zhan Xi was in Zhan Jie’s car when she saw her mother calling. Her scalp tingled but she tried to answer calmly: “Hello, Mom?”

“Huanhuan, where are you?” Chi Guilan asked.

“I… I’m out taking care of something.” The car was moving so there was noise – Zhan Xi knew she couldn’t hide it.

Chi Guilan asked: “Then when are you coming home?”

“Which home?” Zhan Xi didn’t understand. “Back to our hometown? I didn’t say I was going back recently.”

Chi Guilan: “What hometown? I mean your rented place.”

Zhan Xi: “I’m on my way home now. What’s up?”

“Nothing, we’ll talk when you get home.” Chi Guilan hung up with a smile and told her sister, “Huanhuan’s coming back soon. Let’s wait for her in the complex.”

In Zhan Jie’s car, after Zhan Xi’s phone call, no one spoke. The atmosphere was heavy and silent.

Luo Xinran was worried and followed them back, saying she’d keep Zhan Xi company for a while. She sat in the front passenger seat while Zhan Jie drove with a stern face toward Qingque Garden.

Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi sat in the back. His right hand was stitched and bandaged. Zhan Xi had been holding his left hand the whole time, never letting go.

But his spirit remained broken. No one knew what he was thinking. He hadn’t typed on his phone or used sign language. He wouldn’t even respond when the police questioned him, just stared blankly, letting Fang Xu say whatever he wanted.

He was willful, more willful than a 27-year-old adult should be, but who had the right to blame him?

He had done nothing wrong, yet might never be able to do pressed flower art again. Who could understand how frightened and heartbroken he felt?

The car arrived at Qingque Garden. The four got out. Luo Xinran was hungry, knowing Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi hadn’t eaten all day. She said she’d go get some takeout while Zhan Jie accompanied the couple upstairs.

Luo Jingyu was covered in blood stains, being led like a puppet by Zhan Xi toward the building entrance.

Zhan Jie was troubled. Knowing what had happened, he thought that Fang guy was inhuman, but also felt his sister and Luo Jingyu were foolish. Though angry, he couldn’t think of a solution yet. This was Fang Xu’s deliberate trap – if not this time, there would be another. He guessed Fang Xu just wanted to force Luo Jingyu out of the pressed flower industry.

It was dark already. All three were lost in complex thoughts as they walked, not paying attention to their surroundings. At the building entrance, Zhan Jie and Zhan Xi simultaneously heard a familiar voice from the side: “Ajie, Huanhuan?”

Zhan Xi felt like she was in a nightmare. She turned her head to see her mother’s figure, with her dumbstruck aunt beside her.

Zhan Jie reacted faster, moving to block Luo Jingyu as he called out: “Mom? Why are you here?”

Chi Guilan looked at him, then at the stunned Zhan Xi, finally moving her gaze to the only stranger present – the young man partially hidden behind her son.

It was dark all around, with only a dim bulb above the building entrance. Chi Guilan looked carefully. This man appeared to have been beaten up, his face covered in bruises and swelling, white T-shirt stained with dried blood, right hand vaguely wrapped in bandages, and his left hand… his left hand was tightly holding her daughter’s right hand.

Chi Guilan felt like she’d been struck by lightning. She stared wide-eyed at Zhan Jie: “I should be asking you why you’re here! Who is he?”

Her finger pointed at Luo Jingyu. Zhan Jie opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say or if he should say anything.

Seeing her son didn’t answer, Chi Guilan looked at Zhan Xi and pointed at Luo Jingyu: “Huanhuan, who is he?”

After that moment’s pause, Zhan Xi had calmed somewhat and answered: “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Why does he look like this? Where did you come from? What happened? Where’s he from? How old is he? What does he do? How long have you been dating? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zhan Xi didn’t want to answer anything. She was starving, having eaten nothing all day and not even had water since lunch. Her mind was blank.

Chi Guilan suddenly remembered something and turned back to Zhan Jie, her voice rising several pitches: “Ajie, you knew already? Knew your sister had a boyfriend? And you didn’t tell me?”

She tried to push Zhan Jie aside, wanting to face that man directly, wanting to pull apart his hand holding her daughter’s. The man looked too frightening! How could her precious daughter find such a boyfriend? Was he from a gang? A criminal?

Zhan Jie held back his mother and said sternly: “Mom! Calm down first. Today’s not the time to talk. You and Aunt go to my place first, I’ll explain everything slowly.”

Chi Guilan shouted: “You’re telling me to calm down? You knew your sister had a boyfriend and didn’t tell me! You’re telling me to calm down?! Just what kind of person is this – both of you explain clearly!”

Luo Jingyu stood still, watching everything unfold before him in confusion.

Who were these two old ladies?

Why were they so agitated?

What were they doing pulling at Zhan Jie?

Why did they look at him with such hostility?

Did they hate him too?

Did even strangers hate him?

Why?

Just because he was deaf?

Some residents passed by, glancing their way. Catching their looks, Luo Jingyu didn’t want to stay anymore. He just wanted to go home and be alone.

He tugged at Zhan Xi’s hand, wanting to use his right hand to sign but remembered it was thickly bandaged. Without thinking further, he opened his mouth and made some “uh ah uh ah” sounds, indicating to Zhan Xi that he wanted to go home.

All of this fell into Chi Guilan and Chi Guixian’s eyes.

After a brief silence, Chi Guilan started screaming, lunging forward like a madwoman, cursing loudly. Even Zhan Jie couldn’t hold her back. When she was about to slap Luo Jingyu’s face, Zhan Xi blocked her way. The “pa” sound rang out as Chi Guilan’s palm struck her daughter’s head so hard that Zhan Xi nearly fell.

But Chi Guilan didn’t stop, slapping again and again. Zhan Xi could barely stand, her ears ringing so loud she couldn’t hear what her mother was screaming. In her daze, someone hugged her, turning to shield her tightly in their arms, using their body as her shield.

After that, she didn’t feel any more hits, only sensing the person holding her shudder repeatedly, as if being attacked by something, but never letting her go.

Finally, Zhan Jie and their aunt managed to pull Chi Guilan away. Chi Guilan was in tears, looking at the people before her in disbelief, unable to understand how this could happen, unable to understand how the daughter she’d raised with such care could find such a boyfriend, unable to understand how her son could be an accomplice!

She cried bitterly, nearly sliding to the ground. People were watching nearby – fine! Let them watch! Watch this unfilial daughter who found a deaf-mute for a boyfriend! Why? Why? WHY?!

Zhan Jie was about to break down, thinking what a mess this all was! He held his mother’s body, trying to persuade her over and over: “Mom, come to my place first. I’ll explain when we get there. Don’t make a scene here. Aunt! Help me, take Mom away first!”

“Oh, oh.” Chi Guixian was shocked speechless. She and Zhan Jie supported Chi Guilan from both sides, walking toward the complex exit. Chi Guilan refused to leave, turning back to scream at Zhan Xi: “Zhan Xi have you lost your mind? Why would you date a deaf person? What kind of potion did he give you? I’m telling you! I’ll never agree to you being with him! Never agree even if I die!”

Zhan Jie dragged her away: “Mom, stop talking! Come home with me first!”

Chi Guilan kept crying: “I’ll never agree…”

Luo Jingyu kept holding Zhan Xi, closing his eyes and hearing nothing. Zhan Xi heard it all, but the words floated past her ears, mixed with an endless buzzing sound.

Her head hurt terribly. Her stomach churned violently, and suddenly she started retching.

She broke free from Luo Jingyu’s embrace and rushed to the roadside, crouching down to vomit repeatedly, but only bringing up some acid.

After throwing up, she tried to stand, but suddenly felt dizzy. Everything went white before her eyes, her legs gave out, and she collapsed. But instead of hitting the ground, she fell into someone’s arms.

She heard his anxious voice, a familiar voice, calling her “Huanhuan” in a language others couldn’t understand, but she could.

She wanted to tell him she was fine, probably just low blood sugar, maybe a concussion, nothing serious, just needed some rest, but she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t see or speak, the strength draining from her body bit by bit.

Her head grew heavier and heavier. Perhaps it was because the embrace was too warm, but finally, she closed her eyes and completely lost consciousness.