ATLAS TRANSLATES

It rained again at night, washing away the scorching heat that had lingered in Luolin for several days. By midnight, there was a slight chill in the air.

Ruan Mian had finished her work after eleven o’clock. This was the last night of her night shift, and once tomorrow came, everything here would become the past.

Clutching the medical record board, she came out of the temporary ward and walked to the registration desk, where Song Yangling was writing prescription notes. Looking up and seeing someone, she called out, “Dr. Ruan.”

Ruan Mian halted her footsteps, and in the next second, her toes changed direction and walked over to the registration desk, casually asking, “Why haven’t you gotten off work yet?”

“I’ll leave after I finish tidying up these notes.”

Song Yangling stopped writing and looked at her, “Hey, why didn’t you accept my WeChat request last time?”

Ruan Mian’s eyelid twitched. She had been so busy these days that she barely had time to check her phone. She only texted her parents every morning to let them know she was safe. Because of this, WeChat was filled with a pile of unread messages that she didn’t have time to check recently.

She pursed her lips apologetically, “Sorry, I’ve been too busy these past few days to look at the messages on my phone.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Song Yangling picked up her phone next to her, “Then I’ll add you again now. Remember to accept me this time when you get back.”

“Okay, I’ll go get my phone in a bit.”

Ruan Mian actually guessed the reason why Song Yangling wanted to add her on WeChat, but neither of them directly acknowledged it.

“No rush.”

Song Yangling smiled, “You guys are leaving early tomorrow morning, right?”

The medical team Song Yangling was in was the second batch of reinforcements sent from the affiliated hospital, and they probably wouldn’t be able to withdraw from here until the end of the month.

“Yes, the morning flight tomorrow.”

“I really envy you guys, but I also really admire you all. At that time, in such a dangerous situation, you still persevered.”

Ruan Mian smiled, “Desperate times call for desperate measures. If it were you all, it would have been the same.”

“Maybe so.”

Song Yangling’s gaze just happened to be on the main entrance. She noticed Chen Yi coming in folding up his umbrella with just a glance.

At that time, Ruan Mian was just thinking about how to end this meaningless small talk, when she raised her eyes and saw Song Yangling staring at something behind her without moving her eyes away. She subconsciously looked back.

Chen Yi had just come in after folding his umbrella and had not entered yet. He stopped at the door and chatted with Yu Zhou and Zhou Ziheng who had come out for some fresh air.

Zhou Ziheng had injured his left leg during the earlier rescue and was left with permanent disability. After this trip back he would have to withdraw from the frontline.

Although he looked alright after getting injured, and would occasionally even joke around with the team members, Chen Yi knew he was hurting inside.

In their line of work, they would rather be wrapped in horsehide upon death than live a life of regret like this. Chen Yi couldn’t comfort him too much, he just hoped Zhou Ziheng wouldn’t give up on himself.

“I understand, thank you Captain Chen.”

Sitting in a wheelchair, Zhou Ziheng’s face was resolute and steady, but in fact he had just turned twenty-one before coming here.

Chen Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, “It’s cold outside, let Yu Zhou push you in.”

Zhou Ziheng smiled, “It’s fine, I want to look at this place a bit longer.”

Chen Yi nodded, not saying anything more. He signaled to Yu Zhou with his eyes, then walked inside. Seeing the two people standing in front of the registration desk, his gaze faltered for a second but his footsteps did not stop.

It wasn’t until Chen Yi walked closer that he realized there was another person sitting behind Ruan Mian. The other party greeted him first, in a soft voice, “Captain Chen, good evening.”

He nodded in response, scratching his eyebrows looking at Ruan Mian, “Are you busy now? I need to change my bandages.”

“Not busy, let’s go.”

Ruan Mian picked up the medical record clipboard on the counter and said to Song Yangling as she turned around, “I’ll head over first.”

“Oh, okay.”

Song Yangling stared at the backs of the two as they left, with a thoughtful expression on her face.

At this late hour, there weren’t many people in the treatment room. Outside was the pattering sound of rain. Chen Yi sat at the table while the nurse prepared the tools they would need.

Ruan Mian pulled over a stool and sat down, unwrapping the bandages on his arm. Her voice was a bit muffled through the mask, “It’s healing very well. Probably just needs to be changed one or two more times.”

Chen Yi looked at her profile and lightly hmm’ed in response, asking, “When are you guys heading back?”

“The early morning flight the day after tomorrow.”

Ruan Mian casually asked, “How about you all?”

“Also the early morning flight the day after tomorrow.”

Chen Yi looked away, his gaze falling to the side, looking at the two shadows on the ground leaning against each other. As they moved the two shadows silently kissed.

Chen Yi lightly coughed and uncomfortably shifted his gaze away.

But Ruan Mian didn’t notice any of this. She was just thinking that after returning from here, she and Chen Yi would go back to their own separate lives, perhaps becoming two lines again that rarely intersected.

Just like before, only a brief moment of intersection and convergence, and then moving further and further apart in the days to come.

Silence crept in unnoticed.

Neither of them spoke again, only the occasional sound of tools colliding. The nurse at the side was puzzled, not understanding why the atmosphere had suddenly turned cold, her eyes kept darting between the two of them.

After finishing with the wound, Ruan Mian also put away those random thoughts. She took off her gloves and mask, and gently instructed, “Okay, be sure to pay more attention these next few days, try not to get it wet.”

“Got it, I know.”

Chen Yi put on his coat, buttoning up one by one, his figure tall and straight. “Then I’ll get going first.”

Ruan Mian looked up at him, her eyes dark and bright, “Okay.”

Chen Yi didn’t say anything more either, just nodded and started to walk forward. Ruan Mian didn’t move, just staring blankly at his back. But before she realized it, he suddenly stopped and turned his head back to look at her.

Caught off guard, she suppressed her panic and pounding heart, blinking and pretending to calmly ask, “What’s wrong?”

But Chen Yi didn’t say anything, just laughed lightly, “Nothing, let’s talk again when we’re back in B City.”

After saying this he left. Ruan Mian was stunned for a good while, not coming back to her senses until the nurse had finished cleaning up and called out “Dr. Ruan.”

She sighed softly, not taking his words too seriously.

The next morning, after a brief rest, Ruan Mian began handing over work to the colleagues who had come to take over. It kept her busy for most of the day.

In the afternoon after the rain, the local Luolin TV station sent people over to interview the personnel who were about to withdraw, especially the first batch of unofficial medical teams that had spontaneously organized at the time of the earthquake.

After the interview ended, the photographer took a group photo of them, and someone from the medical team added the photographer’s WeChat to get that photo, which was then shared to the medical team’s big group chat.

In that photo, Ruan Mian and Chen Yi stood under the same stretch of blue sky and white clouds, very far apart from each other. But still, this was one of the few photos they had taken together thus far.

Ruan Mian saved that photo, and later after returning, she mixed it with other photos and posted it on Moments.

The morning they evacuated, the military sent vehicles to take medical staff to the airports and train stations. Ruan Mian only found out when she got on the bus that the team leader of the group escorting them to the airport was Chen Yi.

But the two were in separate compartments on the bus, apart from when Chen Yi helped her up onto the bus and said “Be careful”, they had no other interaction.

Luolin was in the mountains, and the road leading out went through a stretch of rugged, steep mountain paths. The bus bumped along the whole way, some people started feeling nauseous and leaned out the back of the bus to throw up.

Sitting at the front, Chen Yi noticed the commotion in the bus and told the driver to pull over to the side of the road. He told his teammates to watch their surroundings while he went to the back to check things out.

He stood outside the bus in the bright sunshine, squinting as he looked inside. His voice was gentle as he asked “What’s going on?”

“Nothing major, just a bit carsick and threw up.”

The female doctor had thrown up so much her face was pale, and her voice sounded somewhat weak.

Chen Yi raised his hand and scratched the back of his neck, saying “Still quite a ways to the airport, I’ll have the driver stop here for a bit, you guys can get off and take a break.”

“Ok then.”

Chen Yi lowered the tailgate and stood to the side, helping whoever got off if they needed it. When it was Ruan Mian’s turn, he took a small step forward, holding her arm to support her until she was steady before letting go.

As he let go, Ruan Mian lowered her head and said softly “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

He went back to stand where he was before, his footsteps crushing the gravel beneath, making faint sounds. Behind them, the bus Shen Yu was on also pulled over to the side after seeing what was happening up ahead.

He jumped down from the passenger seat, hands on his waist as he walked over asking with a frown, “What’s going on?”

Chen Yi had his hand hooked around his belt as he slowly went up to meet him, “Nothing, someone felt carsick, letting them rest here for a bit before we set off again.”

“Then we’ll take a break too.”

Shen Yu called back for Xiao Du to let everyone disembark and stretch their legs, then turned back to Chen Yi, “What did you go find Ruan Mian to talk about last night?”

Chen Yi squinted at him, “The matchmaker doesn’t care about such matters, right?”

“Piss off!”

Shen Yu gave him a displeased thump on the shoulder, “I already told you beforehand, I’m trying to help you out of goodwill here, don’t bite the hand that feeds.”

Chen Yi just laughed without responding.

Both were exceptionally good looking, just standing there chatting attracted several female doctors over with their phones.

Sitting to the side, Lin Jiahui nudged Ruan Mian’s shoulder, “Look, if you don’t stake your claim, there will always be others who take the initiative. Are you really willing to let these ill-intentioned people snatch away such a good catch?”

“There’s no name etched into the ‘catch’.”

Ruan Mian looked towards the lush, verdant pine trees at the bottom of the cliff, an image of carefree detachment.

“You’ll regret this.”

On the other side, after rejecting the fifth person who came to add him on WeChat, Chen Yi patted Shen Yu’s shoulder and pulled his hat down, “Let’s go, no more breaks.”

Seeing his impatience, Shen Yu gave a snort of laughter, and seemed to remember something. “Oh right, did you add Ruan Mian on WeChat?”

Chen Yi was taken aback. “No.”

“Then her number at least? You must’ve gotten at least one form of contact right?”

Shen Yu laughed aloud, “Can’t have come this far just to be stuck in the same spot right?”

There was still half an hour’s drive to the airport. Chen Yi didn’t manage to find a suitable chance to speak with Ruan Mian. By the time they arrived, airport staff had already put up the send-off banners.

The medics trickled out from the vehicles. Chen Yi and the other escorts stood in formation in front of the vehicles. Ruan Mian stood in the crowd carrying her own bag.

All around were sounds of applause and cheers. Chen Yi stood straight and proper at the front, tall and handsome, his voice steady and powerful. “Attention!”

“…Salute!”

Their motions were neat and uniform, every gesture somber and solemn. Their composure and restraint clashed with their attire, appearing especially crisp and efficient.

The scene quieted down, some unable to stop their eyes from reddening. Ruan Mian watched that upright figure through the crowd, and her heart that had seemed calm began to fluctuate.

She silently drew her gaze back, taking a deep breath to suppress the loss of control, and let everything revert back to the starting point.

The group headed into the airport terminal with their luggage. Looking back, the escorts still stood in place, tall and upright like pine trees.

Ruan Mian walked quickly, accidentally bumping into a man head on. They both stopped to apologize before brushing past each other.

This was just a minor incident, but when Ruan Mian boarded the plane and heard the flight attendant remind them to turn off their phones, she suddenly realized “Could that man who bumped into me have been a pickpocket?”

Lin Jiahui lowered the window shade and looked at her. “Your phone is missing?”

“Don’t know, try calling me.”

Due to work habits, their phones were usually left on all the time.

Lin Jiahui called several times consecutively, all going straight to voicemail.

She turned off her phone saying, “It’s not necessarily lost, maybe you put it in your bag or somewhere and didn’t notice. We’ll look again after we land, can’t get off now anyway.”

Ruan Mian sighed, “No other way then.”

The flight from Luolin to City B took several hours. Their flight was filled with medical staff responding to the earthquake relief effort, and most were fast asleep not long after takeoff.

Ruan Mian had originally felt drowsy as well, but thoughts about her phone kept her awake for a long time, inevitably leading to other thoughts.

Several hours passed in this fashion until she finally fell asleep shortly before landing, only to be woken by Lin Jiahui telling her to get ready to disembark.

After leaving the airport and boarding the shuttle bus back to the hospital, Ruan Mian searched her minimal luggage front to back five or six times, but did not find her phone.

Lin Jiahui also checked her own bag to no avail.

“Forget it, stop looking. It must be lost.”

In her mind, Ruan Mian recalled the thick browed, small eyed man she had bumped into, wearing a mask so she couldn’t make out his features clearly. Even if she wanted to find him now it was too late, moreover she had no evidence that he had taken her phone. She could only chalk it up to bad luck.

From the airport to the hospital was still over an hour by bus. Ruan Mian suddenly recalled something and borrowed Lin Jiahui’s phone to fiddle with for a while.

Lin Jiahui asked, “What are you doing?”

“Sending something.”

She found the group photo in Lin Jiahui’s QQ and sent it to herself, before deleting the record and returning the phone.

Lin Jiahui took the phone back, amused as she said, “You’ve been so secretive lately.”

“Have I?”

She just laughed without elaborating.

When they arrived at the hospital, the hospital leaders grandly gave them three days off. Ruan Mian and Lin Jiahui were roommates, when they got home Lin Jiahui showered first while Ruan Mian took out her other old phone from her drawer. After charging it and turning it on, she tried calling her missing phone again.

This time it didn’t go straight to voicemail, but hung up automatically after ringing for a long time without being picked up.

A trace of hope inexplicably rose in Ruan Mian’s heart. She called several more times but it was still the no answer state. On the last try, as Lin Jiahui came out after her shower and asked “What are you doing?”, Ruan Mian was sitting there motionless still holding her phone. She turned back and said “That phone of mine…”

Before she could finish speaking, the endless ringing tones suddenly cut off, replaced by a low, pleasing male voice answering, “Hello?”