Sister Xin and Bai Lian were connected on their private accounts, which not many people knew about. When she opened her friends list and checked, though the other party’s verification page had no information, the account name was three characters:
Jiang Fuli.
Just from seeing the profile picture and name, Sister Xin felt an inexplicable chill down her spine.
Back in Xiangcheng, she had never heard anyone call Jiang Fuli by name – even a prominent lawyer like Chi Yundai called him “Young Master Jiang”. But Jiang Fuli had introduced himself by his full name before.
Sister Xin remembered the pronunciation but didn’t know the characters.
Now she finally matched the characters to the pronunciation.
She reached out to add him and sent a greeting first.
Jiang Fuli didn’t reply, only recommending a contact card to her.
Jiang Fuli: [Add him]
Sister Xin didn’t dare ask who this person was and directly added them as a friend. Just as she wondered who Young Master Jiang wanted her to add, the other party’s message came through—
[Hello, I’m Qiu Rong, Xijiang’s planner]
Xijiang was one of the top three marketing companies domestically, mostly handling national brand projects. This was Sister Xin’s first time connecting with such a high-level executive.
**
On the other end of the phone.
Jiang Fuli sent Bai Lian back.
It wasn’t late today. Ji Heng was still embroidering in the courtyard, with the yard lights on, casting his shadow long.
Next to the embroidery frame sat his phone – he was video calling with Ji Shaojun and Shen Qing.
“Early today too.” Hearing the door open, Ji Heng slightly raised his head.
“Yes,” Bai Lian put down her backpack, washed some fruit from the kitchen to eat with Ji Heng. She sat beside him, greeted Shen Qing and Ji Shaojun, while talking to Ji Heng, “Grandfather, do you know about the Landau-Siegel zero point?”
What zero point? Ji Heng’s wrinkled hands paused – his mind was still stuck on “wave-particle duality of light”.
Bai Lian hadn’t mentioned switching subjects early either.
He calmly made another stitch, deflecting skillfully: “I have something to tell you.”
“Please speak.” Bai Lian took a bite of pear, responding unhurriedly.
“Your uncle is in Jiangjing now,” Ji Heng knew Bai Lian had excellent grades, probably the highest IQ among all the Ji family members, “Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?”
Bai Lian: “Quantum mechanics.”
She answered decisively.
Ji Heng: “…You want to research this? Wave-particle duality?”
“What’s that?” On the phone, Shen Qing asked in confusion, while Ji Shaojun also leaned in closer.
Bai Lian looked encouragingly at Ji Heng. Ji Heng put down his needle expressionlessly, “This can’t be separated from quantum mechanics. In short, light quantum is the superposition of waves and particles… To put it simply, you know online games, right? You know there’s a stone ahead, but it won’t load until you get close to it. As soon as you walk over, it immediately renders.”
Shen Qing didn’t understand but felt it was somewhat bizarre, unconsciously rubbing her arms.
“I see,” Ji Shaojun nodded. His brain had recently been overwhelmed with data. “So Ah Lian will study physics?”
“That’s the plan for now.” Bai Lian finished her pear, “Uncle, did you have something to discuss?”
Shen Qing said from the side, “He wants you to help him handle some data.”
Ji Shaojun: “…”
Ji Heng picked up his needle again, “Let’s wait until after Ah Lian’s college entrance exam.”
Beside him, Bai Lian didn’t bring up the “zero point” matter again, and Ji Heng finally felt relieved.
**
Meanwhile, at Jiang Fuli’s.
In the study.
His phone was lit up, on speaker. On the other end, Jiang Xiju’s voice was puzzled, “Marketing?”
“Mm,” Jiang Fuli reached down to pick up a cushion from the carpet with two fingers, casually tossing it onto the sofa, his voice indifferent: “Just get me the people.”
“Alright,” Jiang Xiju arranged it, curious about what was happening but didn’t dare ask, “Are you coming back next month?”
Jiang Fuli paused briefly, “Yes.”
He hung up, returned to his seat, and opened his computer. The screen’s glow cast his face in white light as he logged directly into WeChat.
Dean Jian had already accepted his friend request and sent Jiang Fuli a video and a file.
The video was an internal performance from Jiangjing Music Academy, and the file contained the list of performers and times.
He edited a segment of the video and took screenshots of the list with Dean Jian’s name and the school seal.
Jiang Fuli: [Mind if I reveal you’re Jian?]
Jiang Fuli knew Dean Jian had used the alias “Jian” to quietly collaborate with Bai Lian on music, purely focusing on the craft, but hadn’t anticipated this situation after the song became popular.
At that time, Yan Lu was still semi-famous, and Dean Jian didn’t want to label this song with “Dean Jian.”
Now after two songs, both the lyrics and music had gained recognition – “Baijian” and “Jian” were both new gods in the industry.
Whether Dean Jian came forward or not didn’t matter anymore – at least new songs wouldn’t be labeled as “Dean Jian’s work.”
Dean Jian: [I don’t mind]
Jiang Fuli had guessed this point. His fingers tapped casually on the desk. With Dean Jian’s approval, things would be much easier to handle.
**
The next day, Tuesday.
Yan Lu’s popularity remained high.
During afternoon classes, Bai Lian received a WeChat message from Sister Xin saying she had driven to Xiangcheng overnight.
After afternoon classes.
At the Zhang residence.
Zhang Ma knew Yan Lu and the others had matters to discuss, so she stayed in front selling flowers, leaving the back courtyard and main hall for Yan Lu’s group.
Sister Xin had driven to Xiangcheng last night, arrived in the morning and got a hotel room to sleep. She had just arrived at the Zhang house.
“Sister Xin, Sister Lu doesn’t agree to post a clarifying Weibo,” Ah Huang hadn’t slept all night watching the public opinion. He poured Sister Xin a cup of water, “You haven’t seen how people online are talking about Sister Lu.”
Yan Lu treated her assistants very well, wasn’t pretentious or demanding, and Ah Huang really liked this boss.
“I know,” Sister Xin held her teacup, looking at Yan Lu: “Li Yang’s side rejected you?”
“Mm.” Yan Lu wasn’t surprised by this.
“I’ll check with some previous friends.” Sister Xin took out her phone to call an industry contact, looking for temporary help.
When the other party heard it was about Yan Lu, who was currently at the peak of controversy, they politely declined, “Are you sure you’re recording in Xiangcheng? Isn’t that a bit too far? We’re filming in Xicheng recently…”
After hanging up, Sister Xin felt somewhat helpless.
Just then, the back door was pushed open. Hearing the sound, Sister Xin quickly stood up.
The person who entered was Bai Lian, holding a black backpack in one hand and her removed school uniform in the other, closing the door with her elbow as she walked in.
“Miss Bai,” Sister Xin gave her seat to Bai Lian, her tone very apologetic, “It’s my fault, I’ve implicated you and Dean Jian.”
“It’s my problem,” Yan Lu was also very sorry. She hadn’t expected this matter would disturb the study-focused Bai Lian, “There are too many marketing accounts attacking me, and there were many previous negative materials about me.”
“It’s fine.” Bai Lian understood everything about the entertainment industry and didn’t care much about it. Even Lu Xiaohan, who only focused on making videos, would get attacked, let alone a public figure like Yan Lu, “Teacher Jiang will arrange the follow-up clarification.”
Sister Xin noticed Bai Lian’s expression, and seeing she wasn’t concerned, finally felt relieved, “I know.”
Jiang Fuli had mentioned this to her last night, but Sister Xin still hadn’t seen him take down the hot search.
The “Qiu Rong” in her contacts hadn’t made any moves either.
For Sister Xin, what mattered wasn’t Yan Lu’s negative news, but rather Bai Lian and Dean Jian – that they wouldn’t resent Yan Lu because of this. She had already put her mind at ease.
Across from them, Ah Huang watched as Sister Xin and Yan Lu treated this high school student with increasing respect, feeling amazed inside.
As Sister Xin was speaking, her phone lit up.
She glanced at it and immediately looked up, exclaiming happily: “Yan Lu, Teacher Mei Yi is willing to be the celebrity guest for this episode.”
“Teacher Mei Yi?” Yan Lu was very surprised, “Why would he come?”
Bai Lian also raised her head at this name – she had been to the “Da Yong” film set.
This Teacher Mei Yi was the actor playing “Bai Chongyu.”
“Maybe he sees your potential?” Sister Xin held her phone, clearly very excited, “I’ll discuss this variety show with his manager first.”
Bai Lian looked back at her phone, where Jiang Fuli had sent her a WeChat message—
[Do you want to register for Weibo?]
Bai Lian: [?]
Jiang Fuli: [[Screenshot]]
Bai Lian opened it to look – it was a topic about “Baijian”. She didn’t have Weibo, but after three compositions, the Weibo topic already had over 100,000 fans.
She was rarely caught off guard. As she downloaded Weibo, she suddenly realized she was leaving more and more traces in this era.
Bai Lian thought quietly as she registered for Weibo.
**
Jiang Fuli got Bai Lian’s Weibo account – she had simply used one character, “Jian”.
Like Jiang He, when he saw this character, he felt somewhat guilty.
After following Bai Lian.
His phone rang – it was Qiu Rong’s call.
“Young Master Jiang,” on the other end, Qiu Rong’s voice was very respectful. Back when Xijiang was almost unable to continue operating, it was the Jiang family who had invested, “The marketing accounts and trending topics have all been arranged.”
Their team had planned the strategy over one night.
Ensuring Yan Lu wouldn’t be left with any stains from this incident, while pushing this song toward another level of popularity.
Though Qiu Rong didn’t quite understand why such a small matter in the entertainment circle would alarm Jiang Fuli, who was said to have been hands-off for a long time.
“Mm,” Jiang Fuli walked to the isolation room, his voice light: “Good, I’ll have Dean Jian post on Weibo.”
Jian Zhongyou did have a Weibo account.
When he received Jiang Fuli’s message, Jian Zhongyou was still at school. He stopped in the middle of the path to log into his Weibo account, which had just been registered last night at Jiang Fuli’s request. Though he only had a few bot followers, it had already been verified.
“How did it get verified as a Big V so quickly?” Beside him, a teacher looked at Jian Zhongyou’s V account, very confused.
Jian Zhongyou hadn’t even posted anything yet.
“Don’t know.” Jian Zhongyou opened Weibo and posted according to Jiang Fuli’s requirements.
**
North City.
At Time Entertainment, Man Xi and An Qi’s teams met.
“Man Xi,” An Qi’s manager smiled, “Perfect Day is still yours, right?”
Man Xi nodded with a cold smile.
“As expected,” An Qi’s manager smiled and tilted her head, “I thought they would clarify that Yan Lu had nothing to do with the arrangement, didn’t expect Wang Xin to be so stubborn, actually refusing.”
An Qi took off his sunglasses, “Are you sure she has no one backing her?”
“With the situation blown up like this, and no marketing company stepping forward for her,” the manager had been on pins and needles yesterday but finally felt relieved now, “Don’t worry.”
There were rumors online that Yan Lu was backed by a senior executive from Zhongguang Group.
Compared to Zhongguang, Time Entertainment was like an ant to an elephant, but paparazzi had stalked Yan Lu for months without spotting anyone who could be her “sugar daddy.”
Yan Lu’s matter was still trending on Weibo, with no signs of forceful removal.
It seemed the rumors were just rumors.
Everyone was relaxed together. An Qi’s manager smiled and said, “An Qi, you and Man Xi should go out for a meal in a couple days, I’ll arrange for someone to take photos.”
An Qi’s studio had spent a large sum on this wave of public opinion.
As they were talking, outside, an assistant hurriedly walked in with their phone, “Teacher An Qi, something’s wrong, look at the trending topics!”
“What’s the fuss about,” An Qi’s manager frowned, “What happened?”
Everyone in the room took out their phones to open Weibo.
Weibo was a bit laggy.
Netizens thought Yan Lu’s matter had concluded, but who knew another big drama would explode at six o’clock today.
The number one trending topic was “Drama”, marked with “Explosive”.
Clicking in, they saw several major marketing accounts reposting a Weibo from someone called “Jian” – these accounts all used drama emojis while reposting:
v Jian: [Maybe because I composed all the music [Picture][Picture]] //@Black Friday: [[Screenshot] So similar, treating me like I’m blind and can’t see the arrangement?]
Was this that mysterious composer?
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then went to look at “Jian’s” Weibo verification:
[Jian Zhongyou, Dean of Jiangjing Music Academy, National Team Guzheng First Chair, Royal Music Academy…]
Looking at Jian’s two screenshots again – the first was a screenshot of the music performance that netizens had compared, the second was the list of performers from that performance, with three characters written under the supervising teacher column:
Jian Zhongyou.
Complete with an official seal.
The top comment was direct: “Holy shit???”
“The legendary self-referencing?”
“Shouldn’t the biggest drama be that Jian is actually Dean Jian???”
“The composer is Dean Jian, damn, who wrote the lyrics and music? Who? Who? Who could make Dean Jian willingly do arrangements???”
“Why don’t we check his following list?”
Leave a Reply