ATLAS TRANSLATES

Oh… Ming Dongheng fell silent instantly.

Chief Chen didn’t practice proper martial arts, but he knew about the Dongwu Club.

“Miss Bai,” he pondered for a moment, then explained to Bai Lian, “The Dongwu Club only recruits top experts in each field. Previously, it was limited to a small domestic circle and wasn’t so strict. But now it has expanded worldwide. Joining represents being at the peak of your field, but getting in is extremely difficult.”

“Let me put it this way, as far as I know, only Yu Shen received an invitation in the past two years. Her specialty is the long spear.”

When a club develops globally, it means the entry threshold is exceptionally high.

Yu Hongyi’s status in Jiangjiang rose dramatically after joining the Dongwu Club as a regular member, and the Yu family transformed from an insignificant clan.

Ming Dongheng drove onto the main road.

While Chief Chen was speaking, he just nodded in agreement.

“What style do you practice?” Bai Lian asked Ming Dongheng while listening to English in her earphones.

Ming Dongheng replied, “Boxing.”

He practiced proper boxing techniques.

Bai Lian leaned back in her seat, tapping her fingers lightly on her phone screen, and pondered briefly: “Then you haven’t mastered it yet…”

To master boxing, one must achieve “internal cultivation and tranquil emptiness.”

Bai Lian remembered the invitation Xiao Qi gave her last night. She hadn’t looked at it after returning home and didn’t know if it was the one Ming Dongheng and the others were talking about.

She’d check it out when she got back tonight.

The car gradually approached the library.

Bai Lian took Jiang He to the second floor, where Ning Xiao and Tang Ming were already doing their homework, sitting upright.

Seeing Bai Lian come alone, they both sighed in relief.

“Sister Lian,” Tang Ming relaxed against the chair back, inquiring about the notes he and Ning Xiao had made, “How’s that good person learning? Is this pace okay?”

“It’s fine,” Bai Lian calmly placed her books on the table and instructed Jiang He to fetch two books from the shelf behind her, “I’ll check his progress next week.”

Tang Ming and Ning Xiao were confident in what they had produced, “He should be able to learn well. He shouldn’t be that stupid.”

Jiang He slowly brought over the books Bai Lian wanted.

Bai Lian helped him open the milk and inserted a straw for him to drink, then patted his head and sighed.

She didn’t say anything, but Tang Ming spoke earnestly from across the table: “Little He, you need to drink more milk to grow taller.”

Jiang He finished the milk in one go and glanced at the book in Tang Ming’s hand.

Then he slowly took out his own book to read.

Tang Ming unconsciously looked at the book Jiang He was reading—

“Everything is Plural”

Tang Ming: “…”

Ning Xiao glanced at Tang Ming without saying anything, but that look seemed to say, “Why did you have to be so mean?”

Bai Lian didn’t start solving problems right away. Instead, she took out a blank sheet of paper.

She wrote neatly on it.

After finishing, her phone had two unread messages.

Bai Lian glanced at them—they were from Lu Xiaohan:

[Is it here?]

Bai Lian opened the attached image—

[1]

***

On the street in front of the Calligraphers Association.

After several bus routes were added, some entrepreneurs were already planning to open shopping malls and supermarkets here. This area used to be the old town, with seven or eight miles of alleys full of old houses, similar to the city gate area.

Lu Xiaohan immediately spotted an old man sitting on a carrying pole by the roadside, holding strings and performing “The Monkey King Thrice Defeats the White Bone Demon” for a group of children watching.

His finger bones were skinny, and his skin was wrinkled like tree bark.

But the puppets in his hands seemed to come alive.

“Grandpa,” Lu Xiaohan squatted in front of him with her phone, watching him finish performing the Monkey King before politely asking, “May I film a video of you?”

“What kind of video?” The old man looked up, revealing a withered face with very cloudy eyes.

Lu Xiaohan thought for a moment, “My classmate said you’re very skilled, and I’m a content creator. I’d like to film a video of you to share online so more people can see your work.”

The old man was stunned, “…Me?”

Lu Xiaohan nodded at him.

“But…” the old man hesitated, “Would anyone like to watch an old man like me?”

He couldn’t even find an apprentice now.

“How could no one like it?” Lu Xiaohan patted a nearby child, “Little one, do you think grandpa’s Monkey King is good?”

“It’s great!” The children chorused.

Lu Xiaohan smiled and took out her phone, “Grandpa, I’ll record your puppet show first. If it’s convenient, could I visit your home later to film your daily life?”

As soon as Lu Xiaohan mentioned recording his puppet show and sharing it online for more people to see, the old man quickly stood up from his carrying pole.

He brought out his best skill and performed a puppet writing scene for Lu Xiaohan. Although the strings were soft, he made the puppet write with a forceful spirit that seemed to penetrate the wood.

This was true skill.

Lu Xiaohan had a natural talent for video photography. She chose various angles, filmed the puppet writing, then the Monkey King, and finally followed the old man to his home.

The old man’s home wasn’t far from there.

They chatted as they walked, and Lu Xiaohan learned that the old man’s surname was Tao.

It was just one room, neatly filled with various puppets.

“Do you live alone?” Lu Xiaohan looked around and saw no signs of other people living there.

The old man rolled a cigarette and nodded, “My grandson is afraid of these things. My son wanted me to throw them away, but I couldn’t bear to, so I moved here to live alone.”

Lu Xiaohan took some general shots with her phone, “Grandpa Tao, I’ll come visit you again next week to film some more scenes.”

Grandpa Tao smiled happily, “Alright.”

He went back to the bedside and took out a box of milk that had been stored for a long time, giving it to Lu Xiaohan.

Lu Xiaohan left with the milk.

She opened her video account. She hadn’t updated in the past few days, but due to her previous edit, her follower count was still growing steadily, reaching 5.6 million.

Her edited videos were of high quality but lacked some sci-fi techniques.

She routinely opened her chat with Jian Zhongyou—

[Today?]

One Big Bowl Eater: [Nope.]

Lu Xiaohan looked at their increasingly concise conversations and felt that one day, she and Principal Jian would inevitably become like Bai Lian—

[1?]

[1.]

In the evening.

Bai Lian took Jiang He on a bus to the Zhang family’s house.

In the Zhang family’s backyard, Yan Lu was still holding her long spear. This was what Bai Lian had told her – even if it was just for show, she needed to learn how to hold the spear steadily.

“She’s still practicing at midnight every day,” Mrs. Zhang watched Yan Lu’s back as she spoke to Bai Lian, “She makes breakfast before 6 AM, then comes here to hold the spear.”

Yan Lu was practicing with the spear. Sister Xin hadn’t come; she was outside looking for opportunities and bookings for Yan Lu.

Bai Lian observed Yan Lu’s straight back and how her spear-holding posture was no longer as soft as before. She nodded.

In less than a week, Yan Lu already looked a bit like someone who knew how to handle a spear.

Yan Lu was going to perform, so she didn’t need to learn to be as skilled as a grandmaster. But even for show, a certain level of proficiency was required.

“Take a break.” Bai Lian handed a towel to Yan Lu.

Yan Lu’s usually languid long hair was tied back with a rubber band. She was now living her life very seriously, “Thank you.”

Jiang He sat on the steps, holding grapes that Mrs. Zhang had washed for him.

He ate while looking up at the two of them.

“Here,” Bai Lian handed a piece of paper to Yan Lu, “Take a look at this.”

Yan Lu wiped her sweat and put away the towel. She lowered her head to look at the paper Bai Lian gave her.

After receiving the paper, Yan Lu was stunned.

“This is…”

Some customs and etiquette of the Great Yong Dynasty were recorded in history books, but not many books on the market covered these aspects in detail. Yan Lu would read books on this topic during her breaks from spear practice.

After all, to act a role, one needed to understand the character’s living environment, especially since she was auditioning for a historical drama.

But none were as comprehensive as what Bai Lian had given her.

It was densely packed with information about daily life, etiquette for various occasions…

Even personality analyses and brief biographies of the Bai family members were written very thoroughly. How much reading and research must have been done to write so meticulously? Yan Lu pursed her lips, not knowing how to thank Bai Lian.

When she asked Bai Lian about this, Bai Lian, who was busy stealing grapes from Jiang He, “…”

How much research?

It was just a casual thing for her.

“Ah,” Bai Lian said nonchalantly as she finished eating a grape, turning back casually. Her tall figure was graceful, “I used to study literature and was interested in this period of history, so I researched it a bit more…”

She spoke eloquently.

Yan Lu was quite confused by all this and ended up just staring at Bai Lian’s face, “Mm-hmm, right.”

Bai Lian raised an eyebrow. The languid and beautiful young woman was quite bewitching: “Go hold your spear.”

As Yan Lu picked up the long spear and held it again, she felt increasingly that something wasn’t right.

There was a knock at the back door.

Bai Lian opened the Jiangjiang University app while going to answer the door.

Outside was a tall, imposing middle-aged man.

His eyebrows were thick and neat, and his eyes were bright and piercing.

Seeing Bai Lian, he grinned, very amiable, “Miss Bai, are you here to play with our Xiao Ze?”

This was Zhang’s father.

Because Bai Lian, Lu Xiaohan, and Zhang Shize often walked together, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were very familiar with Zhang Shize’s classmates.

As he spoke, he walked inside.

“Oh, Xiao Lu!” Mr. Zhang saw Yan Lu and was very surprised, “How come you’re back in Xiangcheng!”

Seeing Mr. Zhang, Yan Lu put down the spear, her voice a bit choked, “Uncle!”

“Xiao Lu, child, what’s wrong,” Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were people who couldn’t bear to see children cry, especially this child they had watched grow up, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

He walked over and patted Yan Lu’s shoulder.

Inside the house, Mrs. Zhang heard the noise and came in with a cloth.

After Zhang Shize’s verdict came out, Mrs. Zhang had been very proactive. Now, seeing Mr. Zhang return, she couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t you say you’d be back tomorrow?”

Every time Mr. Zhang went out, he would give her a date.

He would usually return on time, and if he was going to be a few days late, he would inform Mrs. Zhang in advance.

Mrs. Zhang wouldn’t disturb him while he was on business trips.

“I completed the task early,” seeing the state of these two, Mr. Zhang’s heart sank, and his expression became serious: “What happened? Where’s Xiao Ze?”

He realized something was wrong.

Seeing Mr. Zhang return, Bai Lian didn’t interfere with the family’s conversation. She beckoned to Jiang He, calling him over.

She said goodbye to the Zhang family.

Jiang He got up from the ground and walked to Bai Lian’s side, holding onto the hem of her white clothes.

Mrs. Zhang wanted to invite Bai Lian to stay for dinner, but Bai Lian tilted her head slightly, politely declining.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang watched as Bai Lian left with Jiang He.

Mr. Zhang took an extra look at Jiang He, feeling a bit familiar, but this was his first time seeing Jiang He. However, now wasn’t the time to discuss this.

He closed the back door and said in a deep voice, “What exactly happened?”

“Thankfully, we had Lawyer Chi, Ah Lian, and Mr. Jiang and the others,” Mrs. Zhang wiped her eyes, “Everything’s fine now…”

Half an hour later.

Mr. Zhang finally heard the whole story from Mrs. Zhang and Yan Lu.

“Uncle, I…”

“This is my fault,” Mr. Zhang pulled out a cigarette, his face stern, “I promised your father I would take care of you, but I didn’t do a good job. That silly boy did it for me. Xiao Lu, you must forgive your uncle.”

Yan Lu’s eyes were full of tears, she just shook her head without speaking.

Mr. Zhang smoked his cigarette and stood up, “You two wait at home, I’m going to see that boy.”

He left quickly.

Yan Lu and Mrs. Zhang didn’t even have time to react.

“Xiao Lu,” Mrs. Zhang glanced at Yan Lu, “Don’t we need to make an appointment first?”

“Uncle is probably just going to look outside,” Yan Lu took out a piece of paper and handed it to Mrs. Zhang, her gaze also fixed on the door.

Xiangcheng Prison.

In the west of the city.

A concrete road led straight to the prison gate, desolate and uninhabited.

Mr. Zhang parked his car by the main gate and got out.

The tall iron gate opened from the inside, and two people came out. The one in front, seeing Mr. Zhang, hurried forward, “Mr. Zhang, we’ve made all the arrangements.”

“Mm.” Mr. Zhang’s face lacked its usual warm smile, looking stern as he went in.

The two led him to a small room.

After the door closed.

A prison guard asked the man beside him, wiping sweat, “Boss, what’s going on? Who exactly did we lock up?”