ATLAS TRANSLATES

Fu Xueli didn’t sleep well that night before, and couldn’t get out of bed the next day. It was nearly noon when she was woken up by the doorbell downstairs. As she got up to look for clothes, her right eyelid kept twitching. She thought something unlucky must be about to happen. After packing some clothes into her suitcase, she discovered she couldn’t find her ID card.

Well, damn it.

She jumped out of bed anxiously and opened the door, calling down from the second floor, “Auntie Qi, I can’t find my ID card, have you seen it? I need to catch a flight this afternoon.”

“Where did you put it?” Auntie Qi put down the groceries she bought and wiped her hands, muttering: “So careless, I’ll help you look. It’s so cold, and you’re wearing so little – you’ll catch a cold sooner or later.”

Leaning on the handrail, Fu Xueli called Tang Xin. Before the other end could speak after connecting, she said directly, “I can’t find my ID card, I won’t be able to make it back for a while, is there anything urgent?”

As expected, Tang Xin scolded her, “So many problems, causing trouble as soon as you start. You have an interview tomorrow, I don’t care how – go get a temporary ID at the airport, crawl back here if you have to!”

Then she hung up.

After lunch, Auntie Qi finally found the ID card. Fu Chenglin had nothing to do that afternoon, so he could take her to the airport.

As soon as they went out, Fu Xueli’s face was hit by wind and rain. She pulled her coat tighter, and her right eyelid twitched again.

Fu Chenglin poked his head out, “Stand there, don’t move, I’ll drive the car over.”

The whole city was covered in wind and rain, dark and gloomy, the sky was too dark. Fu Xueli felt uneasy, taking her gaze back from outside the car, “I feel something’s really off today, my right eyelid keeps twitching.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fu Chenglin held the steering wheel with one hand, taking out a cigarette.

“Left eye twitching means wealth coming, right eye twitching means disaster.”

Fu Chenglin said: “Superstitious.” As he spoke, his right hand suddenly turned the wheel sharply as a black Volkswagen brushed past them, almost crashing, “Holy shit.”

Fu Chenglin broke out in a cold sweat. Seeing Fu Xueli silent, he said, “Did someone bless your mouth or something?”

“So annoying.” Fu Xueli lowered her head to fiddle with her phone, “Don’t talk to me for now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I keep calling Xu Xingchun but he’s not answering, don’t know what he’s doing.”

“He must be busy for now.” Fu Chenglin had just been scared, now he wasn’t even smoking, driving with full attention, “Try calling again later.”

“I’ve been calling since morning, still can’t get through—” Just as she finished speaking, suddenly it showed connected. Fu Xueli happily answered, “Hello? Xu Xingchun!”

There was silence on the other end first, then after a few seconds came the response, “Uh, yeah.”

Fu Xueli glanced down at the name then put it back to her ear, “Who are you? Where’s Xu Xingchun, why do you have his phone?”

“I’m his friend, Pure Bro had too much to drink at lunch, he’s sleeping now…”

“Then can you have him call me when he wakes up?”

“……”

Both were silent for a moment, then Fu Xueli suddenly asked, “What exactly happened to him, did something happen?”

After hanging up, Fu Xueli completely panicked. Fu Chenglin made some calls to help with the paperwork, and accompanied her to catch the fastest flight to Dali.

During the two-hour journey, her mind was a mess, only able to keep saying, “Brother, they only told me Xu Xingchun is in emergency surgery… I’m so scared… that big liar…”

Xu Xingchun really was a big liar… how could he do this…

She still had so many things to tell him, waiting for him to come back.

When they arrived, Xu Xingchun still hadn’t woken up. Several people were sitting outside, and seeing people rushing over, Ah Si stood up, “Are you… Pure Bro’s family?”

Xu Xingchun lay motionless on the white hospital bed, connected to tubes. Only the beeping of the heart monitor could be heard in the room.

He lay there, too quiet.

So quiet that Fu Xueli didn’t dare take a step forward.

People are always like this – once something is in your mind, you can never forget it. Just like how Xu Xingchun had laid in the hospital after saving her before, she remembered it again now.

On the way here, Fu Xueli had thought about many things, until her head hurt. But now that she was really in front of him, her mind went blank, with a cold feeling stuck in her throat.

Her lips trembled slightly, opening her mouth but unable to say a word. For a moment, she didn’t even know where to put her hands. She weakly held onto something nearby for support.

Even though she had vaguely guessed his injuries from the phone call and tried to mentally prepare herself. But seeing it in person, Fu Xueli really couldn’t accept it for a moment, feeling like her heart had died along with him.

Turning her head away, her eyes reddened first, then she couldn’t help but cry. Her legs went weak, and Fu Chenglin beside her supported her.

Fu Xueli grabbed the doctor nearby, still in a daze, “Doctor, how… when will he wake up?”

Looking at Fu Xueli, then thinking of Xu Xingchun, Ah Si roughly guessed their relationship, feeling shocked while also having an indescribable feeling.

When they rushed in, they had just seen Xu Xingchun lying on the ground. He was already in hemorrhagic shock. Someone nearby had stepped hard on his shoulder, gun loaded and aimed, just seconds away…

Ah Si smiled bitterly, feeling he couldn’t really smile, and walked to Fu Xueli’s side, “This fell from Pure Bro’s pocket, I guess, it was probably meant for you.”

Fu Xueli froze as she took it, looking at that ring. She felt tears streaming down her face unstoppably.

The two of them shouldn’t end up like this.

At 4 AM, Xu Xingchun woke briefly, not very clear-headed, then fell back asleep. This sleep lasted until the next afternoon.

During this time, several leader-like people came to visit, but left shortly after.

Around 2-3 PM, the doctor came to check on him, leaning over to gently call him. Fu Xueli rushed to the bedside.

The moment she saw him open his eyes, she couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into tears at the bedside.

The tightly wound string finally loosened.

She hadn’t cried so uncontrollably in a long time, making the doctor beside her not know whether to laugh or cry, thinking she was scared, and comforting her: “It’s nothing serious, he’s awake now which is what matters…”

Xu Xingchun struggled to raise his hand, Fu Xueli immediately held it back, but didn’t dare squeeze too hard. She crouched by the bed, “Xu Xingchun, does it hurt? Does it hurt…?”

“Stop crying.” His voice was like it had been scraped with sandpaper, dry and hoarse.

The night he woke up, they removed the breathing tubes from his face. But his spirit hadn’t recovered, and the doctor wouldn’t let Fu Xueli stay too long. Before leaving, she quietly moved close to his ear, “Xu Xingchun, I have enough savings now. I don’t want you to earn money anymore, will you promise me not to do such dangerous things anymore?”

Unfortunately, before getting a response, she was pulled out of the room.

Xu Xingchun’s recovery took over half a month. Fu Xueli ignored Tang Xin’s frustration, cancelled all activities to stay by his side day and night. Liu Jingbo and his group received the news and came from Shencheng to visit him, sighing, “Ah, Chief Xu must be having an unlucky year, spending more than half his time lying in hospitals.”

In the evening, after Fu Xueli sent the special assistant away too, only she and Xu Xingchun were left in the hospital room.

The two rarely had time together, moments like this were rare.

“What happened here, what happened to your shoulder, it’s still not better.” Fu Xueli moved closer, carefully pulling open his hospital gown collar. There was a visibly large red swollen area, and many small scars on his back.

Xu Xingchun’s skin was quite fair, with visible blue veins, making these marks particularly shocking.

She used to be eager to learn about his past, but now she hardly dared to ask. She also had a vague feeling that those past events would hurt her heart if she heard them.

She wanted to cry again… Fu Xueli felt she had been really careless, never thinking to properly care about him before.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Fu Xueli couldn’t hide her sadness, “Some time ago, my brother told me my uncle was hospitalized for high blood pressure. I felt really bad, even though we haven’t had a good relationship these past few years, but it still hurt, you know? My parents left me very early, actually I’m really afraid of anything happening to the people around me.”

Xu Xingchun sat leaning against the headboard, looking at Fu Xueli’s expression, feeling his heart silently squeezed. It was his oversight, not taking care of her emotions, he sighed, meeting her eyes, “Once this case is resolved, I’ll apply to the higher-ups.”

She frantically suppressed her urge to cry, “Really…?”

“Mm.”

Xu Xingchun held her, giving her face several light kisses, asking, “Why so salty?”

Fu Xueli went quiet for a moment, finally mumbling, “Because I was crying!”

The day before discharge was a rare nice day. The evening breeze carried warmth, the sunset hung on the horizon as Fu Xueli helped Xu Xingchun walk in the park below the hospital ward.

After walking around holding his hand, Fu Xueli suddenly said, “I’ll take you somewhere nice.”

The nice place was the hospital rooftop she had discovered a few days ago. There was no railing, so they stopped after walking a few steps, with half the city spread out below their eyes.

“Xu Xingchun.” Fu Xueli suddenly called his name, “During this time, I’ve thought about many things.”

He wore a somewhat thin coat, turning his head in slight confusion, just happening to look into her eyes.

The sky had turned red, the evening breeze lifting her hair.

“Do you know why I like you?”

Seeing Xu Xingchun silent, Fu Xueli said seriously, “Because you’re different from everyone else around me.”

She went over these words in her mind before speaking, “These past few years, thinking of you always made me happy and sad.”

Xu Xingchun’s heart softened, after staying quiet for a while, he turned his head, “Don’t you find it boring being with me?”

“How about this.” She put her arms together, holding them out, “If you don’t trust me, you can handcuff me.”

Xu Xingchun looked at her with amusement.

From the plaza not far away drifted Emil Chau’s song, “Love comes and goes, hate comes and goes, the past all follows the wind…”

Taking two steps forward, hugging Xu Xingchun’s waist, head resting on his shoulder, her disobedient fingers slipped inside. Xu Xingchun just indulged her actions.

Feeling his abdominal muscles slightly tense, Fu Xueli sniffed, “When I was little, I always wondered what freedom was. I didn’t think about anything else, didn’t understand.”

When she was young she didn’t understand his love.

Really didn’t understand.

Also never imagined what it would feel like to lose Xu Xingchun one day.

Just that one day, she looked back through the crowd but could no longer find Xu Xingchun.

Then one day, watching cars come and go by the road, she suddenly missed him so much. She suddenly realized she probably couldn’t like anyone else anymore.

Fu Xueli continued, slowly talking to herself, “Then I gradually realized that maybe what I thought was freedom, compared to Xu Xingchun, wasn’t so important.”

His forehead touched hers, their noses too. Xu Xingchun turned his head, kissed her lips, and after pulling away, his voice was terribly hoarse, “Wait a minute, Fu Xueli. Wait a bit, if you continue talking like this, I probably won’t be able to leave the hospital tomorrow.”

Her heart was pounding. Fine beads of sweat seeped out. She suddenly looked up at his face, so close. Fu Xueli’s hands trembled slightly as she took out her phone.

Her fingers pressed the screen a few times, after going black for a few seconds, an alarm clock appeared in the center. She held it in front of his eyes, “Xu Xingchun, look carefully.”

As she finished speaking, the second hand and hour hand on the alarm clock began rapidly moving backwards.

Time also began moving backwards with them, bit by bit going back.

Finally, it stopped.

Xu Xingchun had already realized something, but couldn’t make a sound. His hands tightened slightly, then loosened.

Actually Fu Xueli was also completely flustered, her mind in a fog. Not knowing if what she was doing was right, if it was too hasty. But in her heart she felt she had to do this now, so she wouldn’t regret it later.

“Do you… remember this day?” Fu Xueli’s hand shook a little, then she took out that ring and gave it to Xu Xingchun, “Ten years ago, you once asked me if I would marry you.”

Using almost all her strength, her eyelashes a bit wet, “Now, can you ask that question again?”

Almost without any hesitation, Xu Xingchun held the back of her neck, pulling her completely into his arms. Just holding her quietly like this.

The wind seemed to stop at her ears as Fu Xueli heard him ask, “Fu Xueli, will you marry me? We’ll be buried together in the future.”

If not for that summer’s brilliance, thirteen-year-old Xu Xingchun’s cold calmness would never have met such a bad yet beautiful girl.

In the small alley covered with vines, a few cute morning glories were blooming. The sun was bright as he held a cigarette in his mouth, stopped by her on the road, “Xu Xingchun, guess what I’m doing?”

Back then, Fu Xueli was the bad student teachers didn’t accept.

Wearing not-so-white white sneakers, a blue short skirt, beautiful smooth long curly black hair, doll-like big eyes with long eyelashes. Not waiting for his answer, she smiled sweetly and said, “I’m waiting for the wind.”

There were dense, trembling tree shadows by the road as her fingers seemed to touch his ears. As her flower-like lips came close, the wind blew past, Xu Xingchun was burned by the warmth of her breath, then heard the whisper he could never forget for his entire life.

-I’m waiting for the wind.

-Waiting for the wind to kiss you passionately.

End