Chapter 90: Sweetness That Lingers Long

"Li Bai" was sweeping through all the major radio stations with tremendous popularity. At the same time, on the internet forums of Haizhou, Jinling, and Pengcheng, the topics concerning Guo Lin's corruption and his affair with Zhao Lina were heating up, but Li Mu still felt that the current momentum was far from the effect he desired.

Although Guo Lin was already being cursed and reviled online, the only thing that had been confirmed was a personal conduct issue. Guo Lin's real problem was embezzlement and abuse of power; only by finding concrete evidence in that area could this trouble be dealt with once and for all.

On the fifth day after Xue Guilan was taken into custody, there was still no movement among the higher-ups of the Pengcheng Mining Group, not even any sign of investigating Guo Lin for his misconduct.

During these five days, Guo Lin had been quietly working behind the scenes. He sent a million yuan in cash to his old superior, Han Lu, and handed over three properties he had purchased in Pengcheng for Han Lu to use as leverage with the higher-ups.

After five days, with no sign of an impending investigation, Guo Lin gradually calmed his anxiety. He realized that with Han Lu's help, he was not in any real danger for the moment. The only problem left to solve was Zhao Lina's lawsuit against his wife.

Guo Lin did not go to the detention center to pick up his wife himself; instead, he entrusted his brother-in-law to do it while he made a phone call to Zhao Lina that lasted over an hour.

Zhao Lina dared not meet Guo Lin again. Guo Lin, knowing that their fleeting affair had come to an end, spoke frankly with her, asking what it would take for her to drop the charges against Xue Guilan.

Zhao Lina said she was too ashamed to stay in Haizhou any longer. Starting over in a new city would mean rebuilding everything from scratch, so she demanded a million yuan to withdraw the lawsuit.

Guo Lin hesitated only briefly before agreeing. A million to settle the matter and put his mind at ease—Zhao Lina would be gone, and in the future, if anyone tried to use this against him, there would be no evidence to rely on.

Meanwhile, after five days in the detention center, Xue Guilan gradually came to her senses. She realized her visit to confront Zhao Lina had been reckless, especially considering the risk it brought to her husband. At a time like this, the two of them needed to work together to weather the storm outside.

Guo Lin had spent over two million yuan in cash and several properties. When Xue Guilan found out, her heart bled, especially over that woman who seduced her husband—after merely getting beaten, she dared to demand a million in compensation. It was daylight robbery.

But then again, perhaps it was for the best. Pay her a million to make her leave for good—far better than having her remain as her husband’s mistress.

The following day, Zhao Lina received the million she had long dreamed of and went to the authorities to officially withdraw all charges against Xue Guilan. The news was leaked online by well-informed sources by ten in the morning. Shortly after, at eleven, a user claiming to be from the Education Bureau posted that Zhao Lina had resigned, apparently preparing to leave Haizhou.

Having gotten rid of Zhao Lina, reassured his wife, and brought the situation under control, Guo Lin could finally breathe a sigh of relief after days of torment. What he did not know was that Li Mu was still lurking in the shadows, watching him like a hunter eyeing his prey, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal blow.

...

The day before the first round of the Simple Plan finals, Yiting Music released their second song, "Sunflower." At the same time, Li Mu, under the name Muzi, released his second song, "When You're Old."

Thanks to Simple Plan’s growing popularity online, "Sunflower" became an instant hit both online and offline upon release. Just as "Li Bai" was topping several major radio music charts, the highly inspirational "Sunflower" quickly followed, climbing straight up the rankings.

The success of these two songs brought Simple Plan into the national spotlight. Data analysis from Yiting Music showed that when the site first launched, 80% of users were from Southern Su Province, but now, local and out-of-province users were evenly split.

Li Mu believed that with the finals approaching, the proportion of out-of-province users would soon surpass the local users, ushering in a new peak in traffic for Yiting Music.

Both of Simple Plan's songs had reached over a million plays, but Muzi’s releases lagged far behind in plays—a fact that didn’t concern Li Mu much. What he didn’t realize was that “Zebra, Zebra” was already gaining popularity among university students.

On the night of the finals at ten o’clock, Li Mu received a call from all four members of Simple Plan, who had just finished competing in Yanjing. Thanks to their performance of "Old Boy," they took first place in the first round, and their excitement was nearly uncontrollable.

Zhang Kexuan, barely able to contain himself, immediately called Li Mu and asked breathlessly, "The finals are on August 15th, just one week left. Mu, have you got our next song ready?"

"It’s ready. I’ll give it to you when you get back."

All four chimed in, "What’s the name of the next song?"

Li Mu smiled and answered casually, "Flying Higher."

...

Li Mu smoothly passed the driving test. Although Zhao Kang and Su Yingxue both lightly grazed the poles during their exams, the proctors waved it off and let them pass. All things considered, getting a license in this era was about a fifteenth as hard as it would be fifteen years later.

That afternoon, the four members of Simple Plan returned to Jinling. Without time to celebrate the victory of the first finals round with their families, they drove straight to Li Mu’s home.

Li Mu had already prepared the lyrics and chords for "Flying Higher." In front of the four, he sang the song several times and outlined his ideas for the arrangement.

The song’s style was grand and stirring. The original arrangement had a long synthesizer introduction, but since Simple Plan lacked a keyboardist, Li Mu suggested hiring a professional to record the accompaniment and adding some strings during the ** section of the chorus.

For the live performance, the pre-recorded instrumental tracks would be combined with the band’s live playing and vocals, producing a fantastic effect—a common practice at many band concerts.

As Li Mu finished explaining his ideas, the four members of Simple Plan took notes while imagining the final arrangement, their faces full of both excitement and amazement.

Li Mu reminded them to continue strengthening their relationships with the radio stations. With "Li Bai" and "Sunflower" both already charting, and "Li Bai" having held the top spot for several days, some critics were calling it a contender for Song of the Year. In Li Mu’s eyes, both "Old Boy" and "Flying Higher" were just as capable of dominating the charts.

All four songs were being released in step with the band competition’s schedule. If the radio promotion was handled well, Simple Plan could see all four tracks top the major music charts—potentially sweeping the nation by the end of the summer.

The success in Yanjing made the four treat Li Mu like a deity. They handed him two hundred thousand yuan as payment for the songs and another hundred thousand for future promotion. Li Mu refused the two hundred thousand, accepting only the promotion fee.

Zhang Kexuan and Ye Tianming tried hard to persuade him to take the payment for the songs, but Li Mu waved them off. "I’m not short of money right now. After opening my shop, I still have some left. Since you guys have always covered the website costs, let’s not split hairs over these two songs. It’s too formal."

They tried to insist, but Li Mu changed the subject and asked Zhang Kexuan, "Has Sister Wan contacted you recently?"

"She called me before the competition."

Li Mu said, "Strange, she hasn’t reached out to me at all these past few days."

Zhang Kexuan countered, "Well, have you tried reaching out to her?"

Li Mu admitted, "No, I’ve just had too much going on lately."

Zhang Kexuan rolled his eyes. "Well, there you go."

He added, "Wan said she’s been really busy, but she did ask about you. She wanted to know if I’d invited you to Yanjing. I told her I had, and that you were too busy, so she didn’t ask again."

Li Mu nodded. He really had been busy lately, especially with the tension over Guo Lin trying to frame his father. In the past few days, Zhao Kang was almost the only person he had truly interacted with; he hadn’t even reached out to his parents, Chen Wan, or Su Yingxue.

After the four left, Li Mu called his parents. Their training was nearly finished, and all three sounded in excellent spirits on the phone. It seemed that experiencing something new had done them a world of good.

After hanging up, Li Mu was about to call Chen Wan when, as if by some hidden connection, he received a text from her.

"What are you up to, you troublemaker?"

"Missing you."

"You’re so cheeky."

"Seriously, I was just about to call you when your message arrived."

"Do you really miss your big sister?"

"I do!"

"I miss you too…"

The two exchanged a few tender messages, the most intimate of which simply read "I miss you." Both tacitly avoided taking things any further.

Li Mu always felt that his relationship with Chen Wan was ambiguous and hard to define. Although there was a mischievous thought in his mind to deepen their subtle intimacy by a level or two, reason told him that things were perfect as they were—not too much, not too little, sweet and lingering.