Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The taxi driver pulled over at a private beach.

  There was an upscale restaurant beside the beach. After the driver got out of the car, he motioned for Nan Zhi and Xiaojie to get out of the car too.

  The driver removed his mask and hat. It was not Mu Sihan, but an ordinary face.

  The driver took a phone and put it in front of Nan Zhi. It showed the reason why he had brought Xiaojie and her here.

  He said that he was mute, his wife and children did not want him and he missed them very much. When he saw Xiaojie and her, he thought of his family.

  Today was his birthday and he wanted them to have a meal with him. Were they willing to grant his request?

  Xiaojie also looked at the request on the phone. As a child, he was soft-hearted and he pulled on Nan Zhi’s hand, blinking his big eyes. “Pretty Zhizhi, let’s celebrate Uncle’s birthday together!

  “Uncle should not be a bad man. If he wanted to hurt us, he could have done it in the car. Let’s help him fulfill his wish!”


  Nan Zhi pursed her lips. After giving the phone back to the man, she did not agree or disagree, but she felt strange.

  The man gestured to them to enter the restaurant.

  Xiaojie was in front of them skipping and Nan Zhi walked behind, looking at the man’s back.

  Was she too reluctant to let Mu Sihan go, or was she hallucinating? She felt that this person’s back was very similar to his!

  The other time at the ski resort, she felt that the trainer’s back looked like his and sure enough, when he took off his helmet, it was him.

  But the man in front did not look anything like him except for his eyes!

  The restaurant had a variety of dishes. Xiaojie could not eat spicy food so the man ordered a big table of Cantonese dishes.

  They sat near the french windows and with a turn of their heads, they could see the vast sea and golden beach outside.

  “Pretty Zhizhi, the sea here is so beautiful!” Xiaojie said, his eyes bright.

  Nan Zhi touched his little head, smile and nodded. “Yes, eat your food first then you can go to the beach to play.”


  They had already come here and she felt that the man opposite her did not seem to be a bad person. Since they were already here, they might as well stay and enjoy it!

  This inexplicable sense of comfort made her feel incredulous.

  She was not a person who could relax in front of a stranger. What was so different about this man? Maybe Xiaojie’s inexplicable trust had infected her……

  The man looked at the smiling Xiaojie, who was sitting beside Nan Zhi, and his lips curved into a small smile, his heart seemed to almost melt.

  Nan Zhi carefully looked at the man’s gaze, and saw his dark eyes staring fixedly at Xiaojie, with a trace of gentleness and she was even more doubtful.

  While waiting for the food to arrive, Nan Zhi took out her phone from her bag, found Ji Chuan’s WeChat and sent a message to him.

  Perhaps Ji Chuan was busy and did not reply to her message immediately.

  During the meal, the restaurant launched an event.

  It was a chilli eating competition where whoever finish eating the set amount of chilli in the shortest amount of time would be able to stay in the newly launched wooden cabin villa by the beach, which was not yet opened to the outside world. There were fireflies around the wooden cabin, and it would be just like living in the forest.

  Xiaojie was very interested and his eyes lit up like the sun.

  Nan Zhi held on to him to stop him leaping forward. “You can’t eat chilli.”


  “But Pretty Zhizhi, I really, really want to stay in the wooden cabin villa.”


  Before Nan Zhi could say anything, she saw the man who was sitting opposite, stand up and walk towards the competition stage.

  Nan Zhi’s fingers that were holding the chopsticks tightened slightly.

  This man……

  Soon, the tall man stood in line with a dozen or so contestants.

  In front of them, twenty bright red and slender chillis were placed on large plates. Nan Zhi felt her stomach ache in pain just by looking at it.

  At the restaurant manager’s command, the contestants began to eat fiercely.

  Only the man by the side did not gobble up the chilli like the other contestants.

  He was eating gracefully but looking closely, he was eating very fast, just that the way he was eating gave the impression that he was not eating chilli, but eating steak.

  Her phone vibrated.

  Nan Zhi looked down at her phone.

  Ji Chuan had replied.

  Nan Zhi had asked Ji Chuan when Mu Sihan’s birthday was. She felt ashamed as she had fallen for him but knew so little about him.

  Not only did she lose the chance to get to know him well, they were already well on the verge of becoming strangers.

  Ji Chuan had replied with one word. “Today.”


  Nan Zhi’s eyes widened.

  She exited WeChat and looked at the man on stage whose mouth had become swollen and red, but he did not at all look flustered.

  He only continued to eat those chilli.

  Although his looks were ordinary, his upright posture, distinctive aura and elegant table manners successfully attracted the attention of many customers.

  Many girls were cheering for him. “Come on Number 10, come on Number 10……”


  Xiaojie was also shouting excitedly, “Go for it, Uncle! Go for it, Uncle!”


  After eating more than ten chilis. the man’s palms were beginning to sweat.

  This was not human food, especially for a person like him who could not eat spicy food. This was worse than someone stabbing him with a knife.

  His mouth and stomach all felt burning hot.

  But once he heard Xiaojie’s voice cheering him on, he sped up.

  He wouldn’t lose.

  The other contestants either were slowing down or had given up.

  It was really unbearable.

  It was so spicy!

  Nan Zhi saw several people giving up but the man was still speeding up. She shuddered with fear.

  Even Xiaojie had widened his eyes, his delicate little face worried. “Pretty Zhizhi, will Uncle get a stomach ache eating like this?”


  Nan Zhi pursed her lips and could not bear to watch any more. “I have to tell him to give up!”


  Nan Zhi had just stood up when the man stuffed the last chilli into his mouth.

  When the restaurant manager saw this, he raised the man’s hand. “The winner is…… Number 10!”


  The man threw aside the manager’s hand off and ran into the washroom, vomiting out all the chili he had just eaten.

  His throat felt like it was cut by a million sharp knives, his tongue and lips were swollen and numb.

  He leaned against the wall like he was going to collapse, his hand holding on to his stomach, feeling a scorching, fiery pain that made him feel like he had crawled into the depths of hell.

  After a while, a slender hand appeared in front of him.

  The hand was holding a bottle of stomach medicine.

  The man looked at the woman and shook his hand, signalling that he was okay.

  Nan Zhi’s eyes became moist. She did not take back the hand holding the medicine, She looked at the man with a complicated expression. “What are you wanting to do?”


  The man looked at her and said nothing.

  “Take the medicine first.”


  Seeing that he was not moving, Nan Zhi took out two pills. “If you don’t eat it, I’ll leave with Xiaojie now.”


  The man took the medicine and water from her hand, before swallowing it. After a while, the discomfort in his stomach eased a little.

  When the man entered the washroom, Nan Zhi also followed in. She heard him vomiting inside. It must have been painful for him, eating those spicy chillies.

  If it was not for the people he cared most about, he definitely would not have done it.