ATLAS TRANSLATES

Gao Yan had known about Bai Lian for a long time.

Xu Nanjing had only shown her a few photos, and he would fall silent when she asked questions about her.

Gao Yan had been wanting to find a chance to see her in person, but she didn’t know when she would come to Jiangjing.

After she finished speaking, Xu Nanjing fell silent.

Gao Yan raised an eyebrow and said slowly, “Do you think the person Principal Liang recommended isn’t good enough? But this is the best teacher I could find, and they only agreed to help because of Sisi.”

Gao Si was Jiang Fuli’s birth mother.

“No, thank you mom,” on the other end of the phone, Xu Nanjing tilted his head back and sighed softly, “but we probably won’t need them now.”

With Bai Lian’s grades, an ordinary tutor wouldn’t be enough.

“Won’t need them?” Gao Yan didn’t understand. She walked along the corridor, the lanterns above not very bright.

Xu Nanjing explained helplessly: “Sister Bai Lian’s grades… might be better than mine.”

Of course, Xu Nanjing was too embarrassed to remove that “might.”

Gao Yan: “…??”

“So, I can’t go to Xiangcheng?” Gao Yan came to this conclusion, feeling a bit unwilling, “Then when will I be able to meet her?”

“After the college entrance exam.” Bai Lian would definitely get into Jiangjing University, there was no doubt about that.

** Sunday afternoon.

An Qi finally found the segment mentioned by netizens among many recordings. He cut it out separately and analyzed it sentence by sentence. One part of the arrangement did sound similar.

“It’s just one sentence,” An Qi’s manager frowned at the chord comparisons produced by the studio staff, “is that convincing enough?”

The studio staff laid everything out in front of him, looking calm, “That depends on how we handle it. Just say, do you want to do this?”

An Qi’s manager didn’t think for long. Currently, most of the company’s resources were focused on Yan Lu.

Major music websites were promoting Yan Lu’s new song, and An Qi’s resources had decreased significantly. “Come On Friend” was also going to invite Yan Lu, and An Qi’s position as “number one” was no longer secure.

Those resources were limited.

“Contact all the entertainment bloggers, arrange everything and then release it,” An Qi’s manager made the final decision, “Remember after all accounts post, the top comments need to be pushed up immediately.”

That way, the first thing people would see would be the top comments, and even if they had doubts, they would be influenced.

This wasn’t the first time they had done something like this.

** Monday.

Yan Lu’s song was released Saturday night, and Xiangcheng First High School’s broadcasting room started playing “Rewriting Old Days” after morning classes.

This song was more popular than anyone had imagined, from lyrics to melody.

Bai Lian was eating in the cafeteria with a group from Class 15.

Tang Ming escaped from his class carrying his tray, sat next to Wen Qi and finally let out a sigh of relief, “People in my class are asking for photos of Sister Lian and the study god.”

Bai Lian quietly ate her food, head lowered.

“What for?” Wen Qi was puzzled.

“To worship them,” Tang Ming said lifelessly, “I’m already printed on their bedside.”

Wen Qi pondered, “That’s possible?”

Today there was a group meeting, and Jiang Fuli was usually busy with people in the lab.

After finishing her meal, Bai Lian picked up her phone and looked down at some problems. She noticed He Wengang had just sent her an emoji:

?[Hopeless pig life.jpg]?

Obviously he’d been scolded. Bai Lian casually replied with an emoji and reopened the prep camp app to look at new problems.

At one in the afternoon.

On Weibo and various short video platforms, multiple marketing accounts started posting the same video.

The video content was simple – it isolated one segment of Yan Lu’s melody and compared it with a video from two years ago. The style was very similar, with similar chords.

The first comment from paid posters was:

?It’s so similar, do they think we’re blind and can’t see it??

?I’ve been wanting to ask, why are Yan Lu’s songs so popular? She’s not an original singer, now the truth is out (eating melon)?

?Few people haven’t heard Yan Lu’s songs, I must be the first on the internet??

?Check the lyricist and composer, there must be dirt?

?…?

Yan Lu had affected many people’s profits. As soon as the marketing accounts posted, many people in the industry secretly added heat to this topic.

When a wall falls, everyone pushes.

In just one afternoon, “Rewriting Old Days Arrangement Exposed” was hanging on all major platforms.

Following this, Yan Lu’s previous “black history” was also dug up by netizens.

Her new song already had high popularity, and with these things being brought up, the heat rose even higher.

** Class 15’s students were all attending classes properly in the afternoon.

After school, the school broadcasting station was still playing Yan Lu’s song.

Bai Lian, Lu Xiaohan and their group headed out in a grand procession. Yang Lin went to the bubble tea shop, while Bai Lian and Ning Xiao’s group went to the Zhang family backyard as usual. The truck was already parked at the backyard entrance.

The group of students finished moving the flower pots in just a few minutes.

Zhang Ma put two plates of watermelon on the small table in the yard and invited everyone to eat fruit, “Everyone stay here for dinner today. In a few days, Little Lu has to go record a show and won’t make it for this occasion.”

She tied on her apron.

“Alright,” Bai Lian took a slice of watermelon and pulled out her phone, “I’ll let my grandfather know.”

While Bai Lian was texting, someone knocked on the yard gate.

Yan Lu tucked her hair behind her ear and went to open it.

As soon as he saw Yan Lu, Ah Huang anxiously spoke up, “Sister Lu, was your phone off? Sister Xin couldn’t find you and asked me to check on you.”

“I went to sweep tombs this afternoon and didn’t bring my phone,” Yan Lu was on vacation and Sister Xin had said she hadn’t arranged any activities recently. While going back to get her phone, she asked, “Why did Sister Xin look for you?”

Little Tian was about to speak when he saw students in Xiangcheng First High uniforms sitting in a row in the backyard, each holding a slice of watermelon, eating and curiously watching them.

Bai Lian wasn’t sitting though. She stood in the tree shade, casually wearing her blue and white school uniform jacket open, one hand holding watermelon and the other holding her phone, looking down to send messages.

When they were speaking, Bai Lian had just finished messaging and happened to look up at Little Tian and Ah Huang. Her fair face tilted up slightly, appearing quite relaxed.

The sunset dyed her loose hair on both sides a golden yellow.

Even though it was an urgent moment, seeing Bai Lian made Little Tian feel calm.

“You two take a break.” Bai Lian put her phone back in her pocket and took a bite of watermelon after speaking.

Beside them, Zhang Ma also brought watermelon for Little Tian and Ah Huang.

Ah Huang held the watermelon but had no appetite to eat.

Inside, Yan Lu had just picked up her phone to see many missed calls from Sister Xin, the CEO of Time Light Entertainment…

She was about to call Sister Xin back when the Time Light Entertainment CEO called.

“Ah, Yan Lu,” the Time Light CEO exchanged pleasantries with Yan Lu, “You must know about what’s happening online. The impact is too big this time. The PR department wants you to post on Weibo first. Distance yourself from the arranger, this matter has nothing to do with you. Minimize the situation. But Wang Xin disagrees, you should try to persuade her…”

“Distance myself?” Yan Lu replied politely, “I can’t do that in this matter.”

The Time Light CEO had thought Yan Lu would be more clear-headed than Wang Xin, but didn’t expect her to be even more resolute. He frowned: “With these lyrics and composition credits, don’t worry about the arrangement. Don’t be so stubborn.”

“Let me look into it first.” Yan Lu didn’t want to explain much, just briefly explained a few sentences before hanging up to call Sister Xin.

Sister Xin explained the whole thing in a few words.

Only one chord progression was similar, completely unrelated to the main melody. It wasn’t plagiarism or theft.

But netizens wouldn’t listen to such a dry explanation.

“Don’t know who started it, but they’re making this bigger than it is,” Sister Xin pressed her brow, “I know it’s already the number one trending topic. The boundaries in this matter aren’t clear. The company wants to distance you from the arranger, but I advise against it. He’s still being implicated because of you in this.”

Sister Xin was very clear about how Yan Lu became popular.

Bai Lian was her biggest benefactor on this path, and Dean Jian was someone Bai Lian had found.

“I understand. First get the trending topic taken down. Any issues can be directed at me.” Yan Lu managed her own Weibo. As soon as she opened it, she was stuck due to private messages.

Between her song’s reception from the past two days and this afternoon’s exposé, a large number of drama-seeking netizens had flooded her Weibo.

Seeing Yan Lu come out, Ah Huang stepped forward, “Sister Lu.”

Yan Lu raised her hand, “Let’s talk outside.”

She took Ah Huang and Little Tian out. In another yard, Little Tian anxiously said: “Sister Lu, are you going to clarify this?”

“When they want to blame you, they’ll find any excuse.” Having experienced being hated by everyone online before, Yan Lu didn’t react much to this. What she cared about was that Bai Lian and Jian Zhongyou would be implicated.

And the song “Rewriting Old Days.”

Ah Huang’s phone rang. He looked down, “It’s Li Yang’s assistant. Sister Lu, they must want to talk about being a guest on ‘Come On Friend’. What should we do now?”

Yan Lu was supposed to record “Come On Friend” in a few days, then go study acting afterward.

Li Yang was the “friend” the show arranged for Yan Lu. He was also currently a popular star. They had just confirmed privately two days ago.

“Answer it.” Yan Lu said calmly.

“Little Huang,” on the other end, Li Yang’s assistant was very polite, “Brother Li has a bit of a cold recently, he might not be able to record Sister Lu’s show…”

Yan Lu gave Ah Huang a look.

Ah Huang held back his anger and smiled, “Tell Brother Li to take care. We’ll collaborate another time.”

After hanging up, Little Tian couldn’t help saying, “What health issues? He’ll go record other shows right after this!”

“So what do we do now?” Ah Huang asked.

From inside the yard, Zhang Ma called for Yan Lu, “Little Lu, have your two assistants stay for dinner too.”

“Okay,” Yan Lu answered loudly. The blue smoke made her face appear snow white. She looked at the two of them, “Don’t let Auntie and the others know about this.”

Huh? Ah Huang had trouble understanding – was Auntie and the others the priority right now?

Yan Lu took her two assistants in to help Zhang Ma cook.

** In the yard, Bai Lian had just finished a piece of watermelon. She stood in place, casually tossing the rind which landed with a “clang” in the trash bin at the yard entrance.

She unhurriedly pulled out a tissue and slowly wiped her fingers.

Lu Xiaohan, sitting on the steps, took out her phone and walked to Bai Lian’s side, clicking her tongue, “This must be it.”

Lu Xiaohan showed her phone to Bai Lian.

The Class 15 students weren’t stupid. Little Tian’s expression made it obvious something was wrong. Coincidentally this was also a major public incident. Since Bai Lian didn’t like going online, Lu Xiaohan casually checked her phone.

Bai Lian crumpled the tissue into a ball and took Lu Xiaohan’s phone to look at a Weibo post:

?@Time Light Entertainment, you give such big resources just to promote Yan Lu? Is Yan Lu your dad? LOL, besides these two songs what else does Yan Lu have to show? Now the new song arrangement is exposed. This is what you neglected other artists for, to create your superstar? LMAO!?

Comments below:

?Predicting Yan Lu Studio’s PR: Yan Lu only has a working relationship with “Jian”. “Jian’s” personal actions shouldn’t be linked to the artist. Yan Lu also strongly condemns this behavior and has already terminated cooperation with “Jian”. (dog head)?

This completely blocked all possible paths Yan Lu could take.

Lu Xiaohan was also half in the entertainment circle. She got another piece of watermelon and squatted to eat: “How many rivals does Sister Lu have? So many marketing accounts getting involved, and blocking all her paths. Do you know this ‘Jian’?”

“Mm, you know them too.” Bai Lian glanced over, then took out her phone to photograph Lu Xiaohan’s phone screen.

She remained calm and unbothered.

“I know them too?” Lu Xiaohan counted on her fingers – among the people she knew who could do this, there should only be one person. She suddenly realized, “Holy…”

Dean Jian?

After taking the photo, Bai Lian leisurely opened WeChat and sent it to Dean Jian.

Bai Lian: ?[Image]? Bai Lian: ?.?

One minute later.

Dean Jian: ???? Dean Jian: ?!? Dean Jian: ?(Angry)?

Jian: Who! Who dares to slander me like this!