ATLAS TRANSLATES

A bright crescent moon hung in the sky, casting shadows on the pointed roofs of Western-style buildings.

Fu Xueli felt helpless. Her ankles were sore and itchy, making her body stiff. She had no strength left and couldn’t move. The handcuffs made her feel both excited and deeply humiliated.

Finally, unable to bear the pain in her feet and hands any longer, Fu Xueli took a deep breath and deliberately provoked him, “Xu Xingchun, why did you handcuff me? Are you a weirdo?”

From what she could see, Xu Xingchun had his head down, hiding his expression. He was unnaturally still, like a rock, which made her feel scared inside.

This kind of quiet reminded her of movie scenes with serial killers enjoying a calm moment before their frenzy.

Fu Xueli’s fingers felt cold. Her cuffed hands rested on her knees, clenched into fists. Her shoulder strap had slipped, exposing her delicate collarbone.

She turned her head to one side, stubbornly silent.

After a while, her temper flared up again. With her anger came a bit more courage, and with that courage came a sense of grievance.

Unable to control herself, Fu Xueli childishly kicked off the shoes he had just put on her. She struggled to move, placing her pale foot on his shoulder and using her toes to lift Xu Xingchun’s chin.

He easily raised his head. In the faint moonlight, she finally saw his face clearly.

She had been drinking earlier and still felt slightly dizzy. Suddenly, the face from their teenage years overlapped with the present. His features were handsome, his expression calm but gloomy. His eyes were like a deep abyss, filled with an icy beauty that couldn’t be melted.

“What… what are you going to do?” she asked, her teeth chattering.

Without realizing it, tears had started flowing down her cheeks.

In just a few seconds, she went from choking up to wailing. Her body shook as she cried, her voice full of blame, “Xu Xingchun, you’re so scary.”

“Please don’t frighten me… my hands hurt.”

Her complaints, mixed with those worthless tears, seemed both real and fake. Fu Xueli couldn’t even tell if it was just the alcohol bringing out her inner feelings of hurt and helplessness, or if she was deliberately acting pitiful to gain Xu Xingchun’s sympathy.

Using coy behavior is the most basic way for a woman to deal with a man.

The emotions came so naturally, as if they were justified. No matter how many years they had been apart, since their school days, Fu Xueli had been spoiled by him without realizing it. Whether she was being reasonable or not, throwing tantrums or not, she always did as she pleased.

It was extremely rare for her to show feminine weakness, shame, and the dependence ingrained in her bones. When she did, it was always directed at Xu Xingchun.

Her eyelashes were wet with tears, and half of her delicate makeup had smeared. She looked nothing like her usual charming and proud self. Her skin was as white as snow, looking so fragile that it might shatter at the slightest touch.

After a moment of silence, Xu Xingchun held her chin with one hand. His fingers were cold as he casually wiped away her tears.

She continued to sob, the clear liquid burning hot against her skin.

“Fu Xueli, you really like to lie,” he said.

He bent down to pick up her high heels and put them back on her feet.

Wrapped in a loose coat, Fu Xueli took off her shoes, reclined the seat, and curled up in the passenger seat, hugging her knees.

After staring at the trees and traffic outside the window for a while, she looked back and noticed Xu Xingchun watching her face in the rearview mirror.

She turned her head to look at him directly. “Sneaking glances at me again?”

Fu Xueli sat up, still holding the coat. Her eyelids were a bit swollen. Despite her embarrassing behavior earlier, she now seemed calm and collected. She slowly licked her dry lips and asked, “Xu Xingchun, what are you thinking?”

Xu Xingchun kept his eyes on the road as he drove, his elbow resting lazily on the car door. He pressed his fingers against his brow, his eyes half-closed, seeming reluctant to speak.

“Why did you say I like to lie?” she asked again.

Fearless and naive.

He turned the steering wheel and spoke flatly, “Isn’t that how you’ve always been?”

Another sarcastic remark.

Fu Xueli was about to argue when her phone started buzzing.

Tang Xin was frantic on the other end. As soon as Fu Xueli answered, Tang Xin shouted, “Where are you?! You’ve disappeared again! I couldn’t find you when Xi Xi went back to the hotel. We start work at 5:30 tomorrow morning, don’t tell me you forgot! Do you have any professional ethics, Fu Xueli?! What time is it now? Where are you?!”

“5:30? Okay, I got it. I’ll be back soon. That’s it, bye-bye.” Fu Xueli agreed to everything, using polite words to brush off the call before hanging up abruptly.

She didn’t take it to heart and remained calm. She yawned and looked at his expressionless profile. “Your car is so clean, there’s nothing in it. Is this a habit of people who studied medicine?”

Xu Xingchun ignored her. Bored, Fu Xueli looked around, shaking her head. Still bored, she took out a pack of cigarettes from her bag to smoke.

She opened the car window, letting the night wind blow in and instantly mess up her hair. She paused midway and turned to ask, “You don’t mind, right?”

After a few seconds, she snorted softly, with a hint of mockery: “Why am I even asking you? You’re a much heavier smoker than I am.”

She couldn’t remember exactly how she found out that Xu Xingchun smoked.

It seemed to be during a high school physical test when Xu Xingchun was the only one with low lung capacity. The teacher had a talk with him. Fu Xueli later caught him smoking a few times.

In the hazy smoke, Xu Xingchun’s eyes looked sunken. He would prop up one arm, holding a cigarette in the other hand, inhaling and exhaling skillfully, looking indifferent and lazy. She immediately guessed that he must smoke heavily.

Later, she also secretly learned to smoke with Song Yifan.

But she couldn’t learn to inhale deeply like them, always stopping at her throat before exhaling. After Xu Xingchun found out, she never saw him smoke again.

Her memories were interrupted by another phone call. Xu Xingchun freed one hand to put on his earpiece, connecting to Bluetooth.

The person on the other end spoke for a while. Xu Xingchun’s brow gradually furrowed. “Where?”

Fu Xueli looked over at the sound of his voice. He hung up the call.

She was about to ask what happened when Xu Xingchun said, “Get out.”

“……”

Without asking for her opinion, the car slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

Fu Xueli clenched her fists. She felt very resentful of his coldness and indifferent attitude. She had a strong sense of rejection and discomfort. Anger welled up inside her, but she didn’t speak.

“Get out, I have something to do,” Xu Xingchun repeated, his face dark and his tone almost cruel.

Fu Xueli didn’t know where she got the courage, but she stubbornly insisted, “Then take me with you. I’m not getting out. Wait until you’re done and then send me back. Don’t even think about leaving me alone.”

Xu Xingchun was silent for a while.

The car sped up again.

It was around 2 or 3 in the morning.

The gas station attendant yawned, looking tired. The white fluorescent lights gave off a dim, pale glow. There were dark alleyways nearby.

A black Honda without license plates pulled up and stopped. Two young men with blank expressions got out. They told the attendant to fill up the tank, then walked unsteadily to the rest area, each lighting a cigarette to relax.

In the long corridor with flickering lights, the two men whispered to each other in low voices. Suddenly, one of them felt something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

There was someone else there.

The scent of nicotine spread faintly.

He turned his head, ready to observe quietly, when suddenly his phone rang. He looked up and met the eyes of the stranger.

They were some distance apart. The man had a pale face and terrifyingly cold eyes. His expression was stern, and the overhead light flickered.

That look…

In just a second, his heart sank. He stepped back, pushing his companion.

Before they could react, Xu Xingchun quickly drew his gun and aimed at them, showing his badge. He said in a deep voice, “Police. Hands on your heads, everyone get down!”