Chapter 110: I, Lin Baiyi, Really Am Amazing!
Xia Zhilan was someone who had been through a lot in life.
So she understood very well how life works, especially things like marriage.
And that made her like Lin Yibai’s character even more. In her eyes, even if their family lost everything in the future, as long as her son didn’t gamble or act lazy, they would still live a better life than most people.
It’s like playing a game where you draw random cards, Lin Yibai was like a card that shines with golden light no matter what. A guaranteed win.
Xia Zhilan couldn’t help grabbing Lin Yibai’s hand and spoke warmly like a mother would.
“You’re such a good girl... can I introduce my son to you?”
Lin Yibai was surprised. “Your son?”
Xia Zhilan nodded, “Yes, yes.”
Lin Yibai shook her head right away and politely declined, “Sister Xia, your son must be only three years old at most, right? Sorry, I’m not interested in little kids.”
Xia Zhilan burst into laughter and felt super happy. She asked excitedly, “Wow, do I really look that young? Everyone else calls me ‘auntie,’ but you call me ‘sister.’”
“Should I start calling you ‘auntie’ instead?”
“No!”
“Huh?”
“‘Sister’ sounds so much better!”
“Okay then, Sister Xia.”
“Ahhh, Baiyi, you have such a sweet mouth!”
Because Baiyi was being so sweet with her words, Xia Zhilan got so happy that she completely forgot about worrying over her son’s marriage. But who could blame her, being called “sister” felt amazing!
By the time Lin Yibai realized what she was supposed to be doing... she was already getting up to start working again.
Their group arrived at the recording studio. Once everyone was there, Lin Yibai said to the team, “I might not sing very well, and I might make some mistakes. Please don’t laugh at me!”
“No, no way!”
“Lin Baiyi, you’re the best!”
“The boss even said last time that your humming voice sounds like the best in the world!”
“Miss Baiyi is unbeatable!”
“......”
Lin Yibai’s face turned red right away. Weren’t they praising her too much?
On the other side, Xia Zhilan had already set up the guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument. The song Lin Yibai was going to sing was called “Rowing Through Mist and Rain,” which had a classic southern china-style feeling that matched Chinese traditional culture perfectly.
That soft and gentle melody. Lin Yibai actually liked it a lot.
She glanced at Xia Zhilan again and asked, “Are you really okay with playing?”
Xia Zhilan smiled, “Me?”
She just shook her head, showing that she was totally confident. Back in the day, she was known as a talented musician from the Imperial Capital Music Academy. Although her main instrument was piano, she had also practiced guzheng (a traditional Chinese instrument) a bit.
Let’s just say, her level was definitely above average.
Xia Zhilan thought that if even she couldn’t handle it, then even if they invited a professional teacher from the music academy next door, it probably wouldn’t turn out much better either!
With the soft sound of the guzheng playing in the background, Lin Yibai focused all her attention.
She might not be a trained singer, but her voice was definitely a gift from nature!
The moment she started to sing, everyone turned their heads in surprise.
【Mist and rain fall over Jiangnan.】
【Mountains and rivers like ink paintings.】
【As if a painting hasn't fully dried.】
【Pick up the brush, press gently and deeply.】
【Surname Zhou, lives by Xiu River.】
【Draws a parrot to stir the quiet water.】
【Soft, gentle, peaceful...】
There was no love story in the lyrics. No drama of falling in love and getting heartbroken. It simply painted a beautiful picture of Jiangnan, like a watercolor painting. A young girl rowing a boat through misty rain.
The melody was soft, gentle, and slightly lazy, as if someone was singing it casually, yet it carried the calm feeling of southern river towns.
When the song ended, loud applause filled the room.
Lin Yibai’s face turned red again.
Sigh, what’s going on lately? Why is she blushing so easily?
Still feeling a bit shy, Lin Yibai walked over to the new head of the photography team and said, “I don’t really know much about filming, editing, or Photoshop, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
The new head of the department patted his chest and promised, “Don’t worry! However you want it, we’ll make it happen!”
“My requests might be a little strict.”
“Then we’ll work overtime and make changes until you’re happy, how about that?”
“That would be perfect. Also, I want to include a pen holder in the video, that’s something young people might like. And for the food display, I think that pizza pan looks really good. Today’s trendy young people should like that kind of style. Also, also...”
She ended up talking for over half an hour again.
The new head of the photography team filled pages with notes. He didn’t dare argue. After all, his promotion was partly thanks to this girl’s efforts. And besides, he didn’t really have a reason to say no.
The only way to describe Lin Yibai’s attitude was with two words, dedicated worker.
She was just a girl who loved her job and worked hard to do her best.
In short, she was trying to build an online store from zero. Testing traffic, testing images,
trying out different product names and selections.
If the new head of the photography team had to say something, it would be: ‘Giving her just 10,000 yuan a month? That’s capitalism squeezing a hardworking girl!’
The video was less than five minutes long in total. It would be done as soon as tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.
During this time, Lin Yibai finally got a chance to rest.
Xia Changyu tried several times to ask her out to hang out, but she politely turned him down each time.
"I'm already so tired I could die. How would I have the time to go on a date with him, or go shopping and watch movies or whatever?"
Lin Yibai lay face-down on the white hotel bed, still scrolling on her phone.
Her good friends in the dorm had helped her sign in for class so she could skip a day, but that kind of trick wouldn’t last forever.
There was no guarantee she’d be that lucky tomorrow or the day after. Soon, she’d have to ask for leave.
Asking for leave would cost her participation points. If too many points were lost, she might fail the class. Can life just slow down a little?!
Lin Yibai rolled over and buried her head in the blanket, letting out a long, painful groan.
“Once I finish this project, I’ll finally have money... enough to pay for a retake if I fail?”
But truthfully, what worried her more was that the video was about to be posted online.
That was even scarier than the final exam, because it was part of the project work.
If you mess up a final exam, you can retake it. But if the project fails, it’s real money down the drain.
She was putting too much pressure on herself.
Finally, on the third day, the final version of the video was done. After reviewing it once and seeing no issues, she posted it across several platforms.
But the project’s budget was limited. Her assistant, arranged by Xia Changyu, asked her, “There’s only this much money left. So, where do you want to spend it?”
Where should she spend the money?
Right now, it basically came down to a choice between two platforms, Bilibili or TikTok. And clearly Bilibili couldn’t compete with TikTok.
If you wanted to sell products and get real exposure, TikTok was the better option.
She thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go with TikTok. The competition’s tougher, sure, but you know how Bilibili users are. They’ll spend 648 yuan just to pull some cards in a game, or even 6480 yuan for merchandise, but ask them to spend money on something practical, and it’s like asking them to give up their lives.”
So Lin Yibai poured all her effort and budget into TikTok, unaware that someone else had been waiting for this moment on the other side.
Xie Xinyi, a Bilibili-born internet influencer, was about to lose her mind. Seeing the new video posted on Xia Changyu’s company account, she nearly smashed her phone in anger.
“A 12,000 yuan brand deal! That should’ve been mine! Now all that money went to that b*tch? What a waste!”
She didn’t care, she was going to leave a brutal review. She wanted to tear the video apart from beginning to end, top to bottom.
What she didn’t know, however, was that the guzheng player featured in the video, the video’s main selling point, was actually a true master.
Someone her own music academy had spent a fortune and huge effort to invite in the first place.
But during her livestream, Xie Xinyi bluntly said, “Guys, who can relate? This video is just trash. The singing is mid, and the guzheng playing? Total garbage!”
Her sharp commentary throughout the entire live stream can actually be summarized as her expressing, ‘This video isn’t even worth a strand of my pubic hair.’