ATLAS TRANSLATES

Ji Shaojun took the soy sauce into the kitchen. Chief Chen’s voice called out, asking him to quickly hand over the soy sauce.

Lance, unfamiliar with Chinese cuisine, went to watch Dean Jian and Ji Heng play chess instead.

Rather than the elegant game of Go, they were playing Five-in-a-Row.

The two were evenly matched. Even after covering half the board, there was still no clear winner.

Little Jie didn’t know Dean Jian or Lance, meeting them both for the first time. However, he recognized Chief Chen’s voice from the kitchen. He entered nervously, greeted Ji Heng, and left.

As he walked out, passing by the door, he noticed two suit jackets hanging on the wooden coat rack.

Next to them was a blue guest badge.

Little Jie gently closed the door. Before it shut completely, he caught sight of the top line of text and emblem on the blue badge—

“X4 Global Medical Summit”

After closing the door, Little Jie stood outside as realization struck him.

Wasn’t this the medical summit that was causing such a buzz in Jiang Jing lately? This year’s summit was being held in Jiang Jing, which explained why so many visitors had flooded the city since National Day. The summit gathered medical experts from around the world, and many patients’ families were trying to schedule appointments during this time.

It seemed odd since neither the Ji family nor the Mu family had anyone in the medical field.

—

As he walked out, he saw Xu En approaching with two jugs of alcohol – not the high-end whiskey from premium clubs, but rather two jugs of aged wine wrapped in red cloth.

Little Jie already knew that Xu En was this year’s new elite in Yunxiao District. He stepped aside, saying “Mr. Xu.”

Xu En ran private equity. Even Mu Yining had invested 80 million to play with them. While not a huge amount, it showed her stance. Though Xu En mainly dealt in hotels and restaurants, for this private equity venture, despite his familiarity with Chief Chen, many internally weren’t optimistic. Mu Yining was currently the highest investor.

The fund’s name was quite interesting – Little Grape.

A small fund that had just gone public.

Xu En greeted Little Jie kindly.

—

Jiang University.

Today was another bi-weekly literature report.

Bai Lian was presenting again. However, this report was mainly written by Ding Wenyang and his group. Though it didn’t get an A, achieving a B+ was enough to excite Ding Wenyang and the others. Their best expectation had only been a B.

The Tongfeng class’s literature reports were always open, allowing students from other majors to observe.

Today there were even more observers than last time, with students from other majors filling the empty seats.

At 8:30 PM, the report ended. Bai Lian left with her group members.

Outside the lecture hall, on the left path, Jiang Fuli had been waiting for ten minutes already. The west gate of Jiang University was closer to Shanhai Apartments, so he had walked over instead of driving.

The evening had brought a light autumn rain. The air was humid, with water droplets clinging to the grass and trees along the path. The ground hadn’t dried yet, with occasional puddles reflecting the shimmer of streetlights.

The school atmosphere was always peaceful and harmonious.

Jiang Fuli stood lazily by the path, gazing toward the distant gate. Just as he was about to take out his phone, a group of students emerged from the gate.

He straightened slightly as Bai Lian’s figure quickly appeared.

The weather had turned cooler. Today she wore a beige hoodie that was somewhat long, with two red decorative buttons at the collar and red split embroidery at the cuffs.

The hem had irregular patchwork that hung lazily, perfectly highlighting her relaxed yet gentle temperament.

Many female students had taken a liking to her hoodie.

They chatted with her while asking for the product link.

Bai Lian stopped, lowering her eyes to patiently explain that this was modified by her grandfather and had no purchase link.

Jiang Fuli waited patiently for her from a distance. Under the streetlight, the girl’s face was incredibly beautiful and gentle. People came and went on the path by the lecture hall, with her figure silhouetted against the light behind her.

Tang Ming and Ning Xiao wouldn’t dare walk with Bai Lian at this hour. They took Ding Wenyang and the others toward the cafeteria path instead.

“It’s a bit cold today. Why are you only wearing one layer?” As Bai Lian approached, Jiang Fuli took her laptop and held her right hand, his fingers methodically intertwining with hers.

“I’m not cold,” he was wearing an extra coat, yet his fingertips were cooler than hers. Bai Lian tilted her head and said unhurriedly, “Young Master Jiang should wear more. Colds are going around lately, be careful.”

Jiang Fuli felt a bit dejected. He changed the subject, “My aunt is back.”

Last time he had mentioned that he only had one relative – his aunt.

Bai Lian responded with a “mm,” waiting for him to continue. However, Jiang Fuli didn’t say more, only giving Bai Lian one conclusion: “Just letting you know. The others don’t matter.”

Young Master Jiang, the unique ruler of the Jiang family, had never put others on his schedule. Mentioning these things was just to change the subject.

After all, even the current second-in-command Jiang Xiju hadn’t met Bai Lian in person yet.

—

They walked all the way to Shanhai Apartments.

The street lights weren’t bright, and there were many people out at this hour. Along the way, several people recognized Bai Lian but didn’t dare approach due to the intimidating man beside her who required courage just to glance at.

They returned to room 303. Ning Xiao and Tang Ming had already returned and were reviewing Zhang Shize’s test papers.

Lu Xiaohan was downstairs in room 103.

Bai Lian went to 103 to get the fish soup Shen Qing had left for them. Jiang Fuli pushed open the study door, put down Bai Lian’s laptop, and helped her print the documents. As the printer whirred, he looked outside and suddenly felt an odd sense of peaceful contentment.

In room 103, when Bai Lian came down, Dean Jian, Lance, Chief Chen, and Ji Heng were playing mahjong in the downstairs lobby.

Xu En and Ji Shaojun stood behind Lance, teaching him how to play mahjong.

Everyone was smoking. Despite the glass doors to the courtyard being open, the smoke was still heavy.

Shen Qing brought out the soup for Bai Lian and urged her to go back upstairs quickly.

Dean Jian put down his cigarette, enjoying this rare moment of leisure. Seeing Bai Lian, he lifted his head slightly, “At six tomorrow evening, I’ll have Old Hu pick you up.”

He was referring to the music exchange event.

Bai Lian was already at the door. Hearing this, she gave him an “OK” gesture.

Lu Xiaohan, who had been asking Xu En questions, saw Bai Lian return and went upstairs with her.

After they both went up, Xu En finally had a chance to chat with Ji Shaojun, “I heard Miss Mu is going to help you and Mu Lan arrange a ceremony to return to the clan?”

Ji Mu Lan was still recovering. Her heavy bleeding had left her in poor health. The Mu family matters hadn’t been told to Ji Mu Lan yet, but based on Xu En and Ji Shaojun’s understanding, she would definitely agree to hold this ceremony.

Speaking of which, Xu En was also surprised to learn that Ji Mu Lan was from the Mu family.

Although the Mu family had declined, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. Just their hundreds of years of family heritage was something they couldn’t match. The Mu family had heritage comparable to the direct line of the Xu family.

They were truly an aristocratic family in every sense.

“Two circles,” Ji Shaojun stood behind Lance, directing him to play two circles, then answered Xu En, “Our household registrations have all been transferred in. Ah Lian’s registration is still with my father, she won’t transfer. You should contact my cousin sometime to transfer Mu Lan’s registration.”

Bai Lian’s registration remained lonely on Ji Heng’s household.

Both Old Lady Xu and Mu Yining coveted it greatly but didn’t dare make a move.

As for Ji Mu Lan, everyone present knew her well – she never tried to hide her opportunistic nature.

About the household registration, anyone might not want to transfer, but Ji Mu Lan definitely would.

“Has a date been set?” Listening to Ji Shaojun’s words, Xu En also marveled – who could have known that the Ji family, backed by Xiangcheng, were actually descendants of Jiang Jing’s Mu family?

Once this news got out, Jiang Jing would surely be abuzz. Xu En thought of the Bai family in the North City, wondering what they would think when they learned of this.

Ji Shaojun replied unhurriedly, “End of the month.”

It was originally scheduled for the beginning of the month, but with Ji Mu Lan’s appearance, the Mu family pushed the ceremony back to give her time to recover.

—

Just as Jiang Fuli finished printing, Bai Lian had come back up from downstairs.

Lu Xiaohan was excitedly telling Tang Ming about the “Little Grape” situation.

Jiang Fuli gave Lu Xiaohan an extra glance.

Lu Xiaohan handled her attitude toward Young Master Jiang very well, explaining the “Little Grape” fund incident to him in a low voice. She didn’t study finance but had just been asking Xu En about private equity funds downstairs.

“Little Grape?” Jiang Fuli leaned slightly against the sofa back, his well-defined fingers pressing on the armrest. His posture was elegant and relaxed as he watched Bai Lian pick up a pen to write answers for Zhang Shize at the living room table.

He stood up straight and headed downstairs, very gracefully.

Private equity funds all had thresholds.

As soon as the Little Grape fund was launched, some big players took a wait-and-see attitude, while others were already looking for ways to get involved.

The Yin family was naturally the same. During the weekend, Song Min returned to the Yin family to discuss this matter with Mr. Yin.

Nearby, Bai Shaowei and Mrs. Song were discussing the music exchange event.

“Professor Jia is taking you to the music exchange?” Mrs. Song could anticipate Professor Jia valuing Bai Shaowei this much, after all, both the Bai and Song families had invested considerable money in Professor Jia.

“It’s this Sunday. Dean Jian and Jiang Music’s principal will both be there,” Bai Shaowei put down her teacup. “Auntie, will you join us?”

These large music exchange events were for people within the circle, and Mrs. Song naturally wouldn’t miss it.

After their chat, Song Min had also finished discussing the private equity matter with Mr. Yin.

Song Min and Bai Shaowei went upstairs. Only then did Mr. Yin look at Mrs. Song. Hearing her mention the music exchange event, he spoke up: “Haven’t you contacted this Dean Jian? I heard the private equity has some connection to the Chen family, he should know some inside information.”

“No.” Mrs. Song shook her head. “Forget it… Dean Jian isn’t so easily approached.”

She had stayed in Jiang Jing long enough to understand the situation here.

“That’s true.” Mr. Yin nodded.

—

Sunday.

Jiang Jing’s large music exchange event was happening while the medical summit still had two days to go. With these events coinciding, Jiang Jing had been particularly lively this past month.

6:30 PM.

Old Hu’s car stopped at the music exchange venue.

Bai Lian got out, taking her phone and the invitation Old Hu had given her. She was on the phone with Sister Xin, who was asking if she had time. Mei Yi happened to be in Jiang Jing during this period and wanted to have dinner with her along with Wan Qiushan.

Bai Lian unhurriedly handed her invitation to the receptionist at the door and followed behind her inside. “Classes are quite busy, I might only have time in the evening.”

A woman happened to be coming out through the door. Bai Lian moved slightly to the side to make way.

The woman’s gaze fell on her.

Bai Lian lifted her head slightly. It was a woman wearing a black cheongsam with gold flowers, her features refined and her manner very dignified.

Seeing Bai Lian’s gaze, the woman smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgment.

Bai Lian also gave a slight nod in return as they passed each other.

After Bai Lian went inside, Gao Shu hadn’t left yet. Her gaze lingered on Bai Lian’s retreating figure. Bai Lian’s face was too distinctive, so even from just a photo, Gao Shu had recognized her.

Compared to the photo, the real person was naturally more vibrant. Her graceful bearing in every movement was rare even among those who had specifically studied opera.

Gao Shu stood at the entrance, starting to consider that what Gao Yan said about performing together might not be impossible.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Li Jiu and the secretary. Secretary Xue asked: “Vice Dean, what did Dean Jian say?”

“He said he’s too old and can’t take on such a big responsibility,” speaking of business matters, Gao Shu shook her head. She withdrew her gaze and sighed, “We couldn’t persuade him.”

“Flowers on the Tree” was a new play launched by the old dean of the drama theater, but its theme music hadn’t been finalized yet.

This matter was very important to Gao Shu. With promotion imminent, while this issue wasn’t major, it wasn’t minor either. Another vice dean was also eyeing the position, and it all depended on who could handle things more beautifully.

“Teacher hasn’t composed in recent years,” Li Jiu stood to the side, explaining for his teacher. “He really doesn’t have the energy anymore.”

“I was just asking,” Gao Shu turned her head to ask Xue Na, “What did Teacher Shi say?”

She was referring to the classical music composition master, Shi Qingyu.

Many plays and previously published large-scale historical TV series from the national station had his compositions.

“Teacher Shi has time recently,” Secretary Xue opened her notebook. “I’ve made a reservation at Qingxin Tower for 8 PM, will you go directly there?”

“Let’s go.” Gao Shu nodded.

—

Dean Jian’s rest room.

Bai Lian knocked and entered.

Dean Jian was talking to someone. Seeing Bai Lian, he smiled and stood up, introducing her, “This is the principal of our Jiang Music School, Principal Yin.”

“Principal Yin.” Bai Lian greeted him.

Principal Yin looked at Bai Lian, naturally recognizing her as the guzheng girl with such spirit from Lu Xiaohan’s lens.

But thinking that she was from Jiang University and couldn’t be poached, he felt quite dejected, “Student Bai, our Jiang Music School’s doors are always open for you.”

“Dean Jian, please rest first.” Knowing Bai Lian and Dean Jian had things to discuss, Yin Chang didn’t stay long, opening the rest room door to leave.

Downstairs.

Bai Shaowei was with Mrs. Song, along with the female student who often studied with Bai Shaowei on the fifth floor. In front, Professor Jia was chatting with someone.

Yin Chang came down, and Professor Jia quickly put down his glass and walked over, “Principal, you’ve come down.”

“Yes.” Principal Yin put away his dejected expression, appearing calm and steady.

“How is Dean Jian’s health? When will he come out?” Professor Jia asked a few questions, then remembered the students behind him and introduced them, “These are all my students.”

Bai Shaowei and Yu Ning quickly greeted Yin Chang, “Principal.”

Yin Chang nodded to them, looking up to see several leaders of the music exchange. He walked over to chat with them.

After Yin Chang left, Mrs. Song lowered her head slightly, “Was that just now the Jiang Music principal? He must be quite close with Dean Jian, right?”

“Yes.” Bai Shaowei also withdrew her gaze.

Although Jiang Music didn’t have Jiang University’s influence, it wasn’t something ordinary schools could compare to. The position of Jiang Music principal also carried significant political influence.

The Song family could influence Professor Jia with money because Bai Shaowei was introduced by the principal of North City Music School.

They were all acquaintances, so Professor Jia would accept resources and gifts from them, but with the Jiang Music principal—

Without a familiar intermediary, who would dare accept gifts from someone of unknown origin?

Upstairs.

“Let Yan Lu go accept the award,” Bai Lian had asked Dean Jian about the Hua Song Award matter. Dean Jian casually moved past it, “I need to chat with several organizers. Let Old Hu take you down to eat something. It doesn’t start until seven, there are many exhibition booths downstairs.”

“Alright.” The two left the rest room together.

Old Hu followed behind Bai Lian.

At the stairway, Dean Jian suddenly remembered something, “Oh right, there’s a play composition, an ancient battlefield type, the theme music hasn’t been decided yet. I think it would suit you well, are you interested?”

Bai Lian hadn’t written music for quite a while.

Not to mention Yan Lu’s fans were eagerly waiting, Dean Jian had also been urging repeatedly, but Bai Lian remained unmoved.

Young people rarely studied plays nowadays. Dean Jian thought if he let Bai Lian compose, he would be willing to arrange the music. With the influence of the name “Bai Jian” among young people and the impact of each of Bai Lian’s songs…

Dean Jian thought, why should the name “Bai Jian” only circulate in the entertainment circle?

He always felt Bai Lian still had untapped potential. Look at how effortlessly she wrote “Gambling Wine” and “Revisiting Old Days”, yet each became a hit.

If she truly unleashed that potential, would she create another piece like “White Robe” that would be passed down through generations?

Dean Jian’s heart rarely stirred with such passion. He stopped walking, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked at Bai Lian, “What do you say, want to really give it a serious try?”