ATLAS TRANSLATES

The domestic Boyuan summer camp had the highest gold content.

For both high school and college students, getting a spot in the Boyuan summer camp during vacation basically guaranteed admission to graduate school without exams.

It was second only to the Ross summer camp, but Boyuan didn’t accept international applications for the high school level, only accepting foreign students at the college level.

Even so, for domestic high school students, the special training spots were still highly competitive each year.

Only thirty to forty students were admitted each time, with almost thirty spots going to Jiangjing Affiliated High School students. The other four major cities only got four or five spots.

Basically, those who studied here already had one foot in Jiangjing University.

Song Min was the only student from North City First High to come to the Boyuan base.

But—

Why was Bai Lian here too?

Bai Lian glanced at him once before looking away, lowering her head to continue leisurely replying to Dean Ma’s message.

Bai Lian: [Boyuan.]

Dean Ma was just at nearby Jiangjing University. Ji Heng might not know what Boyuan was, but Dean Ma definitely knew.

Dean Ma: [.]

Next to Bai Lian, Ning Xiao sat one seat away, with Tang Ming sitting beside Ning Xiao. The two felt intense pressure as soon as they entered the classroom, and were now bent over their notebooks solving problems.

**

At eight o’clock.

An elderly professor with graying hair entered. He wore a heavy gray cotton jacket and held only a set of iron Jiulianhuan puzzles. “Everyone knows about topology. This subject’s prototype, the Jiulianhuan, has 5000 years of history. I’ll give you three minutes to solve the Jiulianhuan.”

“Excuse me.” A male student carrying a thick book arrived just in time outside the door.

The professor turned his head, then smiled gently: “Liang Wuyu, you’ve come at the right time. Please hand these out to everyone.”

Swoosh—

The entire classroom fell silent.

Almost everyone’s gaze fell on that male student.

This was the first time the professor had shown warmth since entering.

After all, the professor himself was also a genius. Although most of the students in the classroom were very smart, the professor saw so many smart people every year that he no longer cared about ordinary geniuses.

Unless it was a rare genius, like Liang Wuyu.

Bai Lian also looked up. The classroom had the heater on. Liang Wuyu took off his long cotton jacket, wearing a black knit sweater underneath. He held a number theory book in one hand while distributing the Jiulianhuan puzzles with the other. His complexion was somewhat pale, with thick hair nearly reaching his eyebrows. He reached out to take the Jiulianhuan puzzles from the professor’s hand and handed them out one by one.

“Liang Wuyu…”

“Isn’t he in your class? Why do you all look like you’ve never seen him before?”

“We hardly ever see him come to class.”

“He spends most of his time in the lab. And guess what? He scored 739 on the final exam.”

“That’s so insane, he can probably compare to that He Wen now, right?”

“How did Xu Zhiyue only score 712?”

“Only? Those questions were set by the Physics Department and were so difficult. I got 669 points, ranking fifth. In previous years, I could have easily been in the top three…”

“…”

Liang Wuyu’s appearance set off a storm in the classroom.

Compared to the pressure Song Min put on all of North City, what Liang Wuyu gave Jiangjing Affiliated High School was no longer just pressure, but a shadow. Faced with him, most people couldn’t even muster the thought of comparison.

Because the gap was too big.

Tang Ming sitting outside handed the Jiulianhuan puzzles to Bai Lian and Ning Xiao, while speaking to them in a low, excited voice: “Damn, that’s Liang Wuyu? Even this professor knows him. But how do you solve this?”

He had never played with Jiulianhuan before and was trying to solve it by feel, only getting to the fifth ring.

“To unlock any ring, you need to make sure the one before it is on top,” Bai Lian casually unlocked it while speaking leisurely.

She only said one sentence, but Tang Ming understood.

He lowered his head to study it for two minutes and unlocked the rest.

In the classroom, most people had already solved it. The professor then opened a PowerPoint presentation. “This is just an introduction. Everyone’s spatial imagination is very good. So we’ll use B to represent any spherical neighborhood of Rn. Now let’s prove open sets…”

Everyone was a high school student, so the professor only taught the basics, in detail and with humor.

Bai Lian and her two companions listened very attentively.

After a morning of classes, the professor brought in test papers from outside. He scanned the people here and smiled: “You all know that the Boyuan base has an initial assessment for each person. Different papers are distributed according to each person’s ability – A, B, and C sets. Do a comprehensive test, and starting from today, everyone needs to prepare for academic presentations.”

“Liang Wuyu, A paper.”

“Xu Zhiyue, A paper.”

“…”

“Ling Ziyao, B paper.”

“…”

“Song Min, C paper.”

“Ning Xiao, C paper.”

“Bai Lian, C paper.”

“Tang Ming, C paper.”

Only a few got A papers, not many got B papers, and C papers made up the majority.

Bai Lian and her two companions received C papers.

Tang Ming looked down at the paper in his hand, “Even the C paper is so difficult, I can’t imagine what kind of genius can do the A paper.”

People in the classroom gradually left. Tang Ming stood at the classroom door talking to several people.

When Bai Lian stood up holding her cotton jacket, she saw that apart from herself, the only short-haired girl was standing two meters away from Tang Ming and the others. She looked up at Tang Ming and the others, then repeatedly pinched her backpack strap.

She wore a white mask, glasses, and a hat, wanting to approach but not daring to.

Bai Lian put on her jacket and pulled Tang Ming aside, “You’re blocking her way.”

The other boys also made way.

Seeing the path cleared, the girl quickly lowered her head and walked past, not lifting her head as she left the room.

Fortunately, Bai Lian had keen ears and heard a very soft “thank you.”

“Huh?” Tang Ming only saw a gust of wind and didn’t see the girl’s face from start to finish. “Sis, Ning bro, these are all from the affiliated high school.”

Tang Ming introduced these boys to them, clearly they were from the same class.

“This is Ling Ziyao. He has a B paper in his hand. He’s amazing, an IMO gold medalist!” Tang Ming finally introduced the leader of the group with great enthusiasm.

Ning Xiao was very surprised. He looked at Ling Ziyao in amazement.

A gold medalist could only do the B paper?

Ling Ziyao wore black-framed glasses and looked honest and steady. He was used to such gazes and only said: “Hello, if you encounter any problems with the academic presentation later, you can come ask me.”

This was a polite way of refusing to form an academic presentation group with Bai Lian and the others.

“Thank you,” Bai Lian expressed her gratitude.

They had to say thanks, but they wouldn’t dare to ask.

Otherwise, Young Master Jiang would remember it for a hundred days.

“Our sister is also very good at math,” Tang Ming added.

Hearing this, Ling Ziyao and his group looked at Tang Ming, not commenting on this statement. Unlike Tang Ming, it wasn’t their first time at the Boyuan base. Different students from other places came here every time—

The Boyuan base gathered geniuses. These people were all top students from various places and had some pride in their hearts. But these top students from other places still had a big gap with them. After finishing today’s test papers, this Tang Ming would start to feel dejected and wouldn’t be so confident anymore.

**

There were three hours of academic exchange in the afternoon.

Those who could be here were all elites. Some added everyone in the class, while Bai Lian and other “out-of-town students” from the four major cities added fewer people.

After the academic exchange, Bai Lian didn’t stay at the base.

Ji Heng asked her to go eat at Xu En’s place.

Bai Lian packed up her things and left.

Song Min finally chased after her at this time. He looked at her with a very complex expression: “Bai Lian, how are you here?”

He knew Bai Lian’s grades.

She was almost completely ignorant of science subjects. The incident of the homeroom teacher sending her to the arts class was still vivid in his memory. Later he seemed to have heard that Bai Lian had transferred to science, but Song Min didn’t care about Bai Lian at that time.

He hadn’t paid attention.

Recently, he had heard his mother mention that Ji Mulan had married into a family in Jiangjing. The recommender might be someone from Jiangjing, but… what credentials did she use to get in?

He had a lot he wanted to ask.

Bai Lian, who was looking down at her phone, only raised her head slightly. Her pale face showed a lazy and cold expression. “Excuse me.”

Two words without any emotion.

The previous Song Min had been extremely impatient with Bai Lian. He would rather do two more math problems than say one more word to Bai Lian. Now Bai Lian made him feel completely unfamiliar.

Song Min unconsciously moved his steps aside.

Bai Lian walked past him towards the main gate of the Boyuan base.

At the main gate.

Jiang Fuli was waiting for her.

Bai Lian fastened her seatbelt while telling Jiang Fuli the address. The Xu Corporation was in the office building in Yunxiao District.

Yunxiao District was the economic center of Jiangjing, right across from Chang’an District, with Xingjiang District in between. It was quite far across districts, but it was not yet 5 o’clock now, so there was no traffic jam.

“What did you send to Academician Ma?” Bai Lian leaned back against the seat in a relaxed posture, turning her head to look at him.

Jiang Fuli was very calm, “Nothing.”

The corners of his tightly pressed lips looked very aloof.

If it were someone else, they wouldn’t dare to look at him at this moment.

Bai Lian’s only connection with Academician Ma was through Jiang Fuli. She didn’t believe him at all. When they reached a two-minute red light, she finally spoke: “Open your WeChat.”

Jiang Fuli: “…”

He silently took out his phone to show Bai Lian—

Academician Ma: [Give me Jiang He too]

Jiang Fuli: [?]

Academician Ma: [It’s best if you come too]

Jiang Fuli didn’t respond to him.

Academician Ma: [Did you know that Student Bai is also studying quantum mechanics]

Academician Ma: [Strange, she’s not studying dark matter]

Jiang Fuli: [(smile)]

Jiang Fuli: [[Picture]]

Jiang Fuli: [I’m helping her get her clothes now, don’t disturb me]

Academician Ma: […]

After reading it all, Bai Lian: “…”

Fortunately, Young Master Jiang was quite polite.

She handed the phone back to Jiang Fuli. Jiang Fuli’s phoenix eyes swept over lightly as he reached out to take the phone back. His right hand elegantly rested on the steering wheel, noble and cold. “Although you went to study quantum mechanics, if you’re not happy about it, I won’t send anything in the future. It’s okay.”

Bai Lian: “No… you can send whatever you want.”

“Oh.”

**

Yunxiao District.

The largest hotel was the Yunxiao Hotel, towering into the clouds.

It had over 70 floors in total. Xu En had booked the top floor private room. At this moment, Shen Qing was sitting on the luxurious sofa in the private room, feeling very stiff, not daring to move her bottom even a bit.

The Xu housekeeper came on behalf of the old madam. He stood to the side, smiling: “Ms. Shen, there’s afternoon tea over there. It’s a Yunxiao specialty. You can try some.”

He pointed to the cakes on the left.

Shen Qing looked at the good-looking cakes and various wines. She didn’t know how to eat them. “I’m not hungry.”

She picked up a cup of tea.

The Xu housekeeper withdrew his gaze.

Ji Mulan glanced at Shen Qing, slightly pursing her lips. The smile at the corners of her mouth faded a little.

Xu En and Ji Heng stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking at the gradually rising lights outside. Ji Heng looked at the bustling streets below, “Jiangjing is still so lively.”

It was almost like two different worlds compared to Xiangcheng.

“The lights aren’t fully on yet,” Xu En pointed at the square below. “After 7 o’clock, this place becomes a sleepless city.”

“One group of people living in debauchery, another group sitting on pins and needles.”

Hearing Ji Heng’s words, Xu En couldn’t help but look at Ji Heng again. He and Assistant Xu had always known that Ji Heng’s speech was extraordinary, but they were still curious about the Ji family.

Downstairs.

“How ridiculous,” Xu Shujie had just gotten off work and ran into Xu Wenyao. She frowned: “Are these Ji family people worth you putting down your books?”

She knew how hard Xu Wenyao and Xu Zhiyue worked, especially Xu Zhiyue. During the New Year, when a bunch of people came to the Xu house, she stayed alone in her room, burying her head in homework, not seeing any visitors.

Xu Wenyao was preparing for graduate school entrance exams and rarely came home. The old madam was afraid of disturbing Xu Wenyao’s studies and didn’t dare to bother him even for small matters.

“Aunt,” Xu Wenyao’s voice was as gentle as ever, “After all, Aunt Ji is about to marry my dad…”

“Alright, don’t give me that official talk,” Xu Shujie glanced at him, uninterested in the Ji family’s affairs. “I don’t care about the rest, just don’t let their matters disturb you and Zhiyue’s studies.”

The Xu family had developed to its current state, and the old Madam Xu was very particular about the family background of Xu En’s spouse. She didn’t like Xu En’s previous wife either. That woman directly left Xu En and quickly married a foreigner.

Ji Mulan obviously didn’t meet the old madam’s standards either. She nitpicked about Ji Mulan.

But Xu En didn’t care about her opinion at all and moved out to live with Ji Mulan, which made the old madam even more displeased with Ji Mulan.

“Would you like to go up together?” Xu Wenyao asked.