Chapter 252 Taking Your Own Path
The online disputes did not affect Lu Yanhe's studies and life.
However, his classmates seemed to be quite cautious towards him because of this incident, as if they were worried that he was in a bad mood. They would speak softly whenever they got close to him.
Lu Yanhe didn't know what to say. He couldn't just tell everyone he met, "I wasn't affected by those online attacks, you don't need to do this."
Fortunately, since the morning was filled with classes, Lu Yanhe was able to focus on listening to lectures and taking notes most of the time.
The main courses in the first semester of freshman year are literary history, cultural introduction, and basic linguistics.
Lu Yanhe found these courses very difficult to teach.
Because he wasn't really interested in literature or language; he just liked reading novels and, at most, some poetry.
He lacked relevant background knowledge, and Lu Yanhe didn't understand most of the anecdotes and stories that the teachers cited in class. He could only write them down temporarily and then look them up after class to understand them.
I chose history as my first choice and literature as my second choice because I preferred history a little more.
However, I wasn't admitted to the history program, but instead to the literature program, thinking it would help me as an actor in the future and improve my cultural literacy.
Looking back now, dreams are beautiful, but reality is not so beautiful.
As soon as get out of class ended at noon, Lu Yanhe opened his phone and saw that Li Zhibai had asked him and Yan Liang in the group chat five minutes earlier if they were going back for lunch.
Yan Liang replied with "OK".
Lu Yanhe: I'm not going back. I'm going to the library. I didn't understand a lot of the classes this morning, so I need to catch up.
Li Zhibai: So you just eat a piece of bread for lunch again?
Lu Yanhe: Yeah, I'm having dinner with my classmates tonight, so I'll just grab something quick for lunch.
Li Zhibai: Don't end up malnourished.
Lu Yanhe: That's alarmist. It's not like we didn't eat.
Li Zhibai: It's the same as not eating at all.
Lu Yanhe: ...
-
Today is also the second day that "Jump Up" has been available on Yemai.com.
On his way to the library, Lu Yanhe immediately opened the app.
On the reading homepage of "Jump Up", the number of people who have added it to their bookshelves has exceeded 390,000.
According to YeMai.com's rules, only registered users can read "Jump Up," while unregistered visitors can only read the first three pages.
Therefore, Lu Yanhe guessed that most of these 390,000 people were probably fans of Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai.
Without them, the numbers certainly wouldn't be this impressive.
Lu Yanhe mainly looks at the comments section.
He wanted to know what people thought of the book.
However, just like the market's positioning of this book, it has inevitably shown a trend towards being geared towards fans.
In the comments section, most of the comments were from fans of several celebrities praising their idols.
Novels written by authors such as Liu Jiazhen, Mingyin, and Baiyu are rarely discussed.
Lu Yanhe was somewhat disappointed.
The book's popularity met or even exceeded expectations.
However, this popularity did not stem from the content itself, which relieved Lu Yanhe but also made him hesitate. Under these circumstances, could he still make a second book?
Just then, Chen Siqi called.
"Are you done with get out of class?" Chen Siqi asked.
"get out of class is over, I'm on my way to the library," Lu Yanhe said. "I was just reading a review of 'Jump Up'."
Chen Siqi: Me too. I've been watching the comments section almost every day yesterday and today. Are you a little disappointed?
"Um?"
"Because most of the comments section is related to celebrities."
Lu Yanhe thought to himself that Chen Siqi was really good at figuring out his thoughts.
"Yes, a little."
Chen Siqi said firmly, "There's nothing we can do about it, but as long as there's a chance to continue to the second and third seasons, I want to keep doing it. You won't be discouraged, will you?"
Lu Yanhe: "..."
Chen Siqi: "Lu Yanhe, you can't give up halfway."
"No, that won't happen." Lu Yanhe smiled and looked down. "I'm just worried that when it becomes a paid service, there won't be any data like this anymore, and maybe no one will be willing to pay for it."
Chen Siqi: "You have no idea how well the pre-sales of the physical book 'Jump Up' are. It was put on free of charge on Yemai.com yesterday. Logically speaking, if it's free to read, people won't spend money. But just yesterday, the number of new pre-sales of the physical book on various channels exceeded 10,000 copies. Sister Xiaoyin told me that this number is outstanding."
"Oh, really?"
“You were recording a show, so we didn’t disturb you,” Chen Siqi said. “Don’t underestimate yourself; the book we made is very good.”
Chen Siqi's voice was full of vigor and determination, like facing the sun and moving forward with unwavering resolve.
Lu Yanhe was also encouraged by Chen Siqi's momentum.
"Let's keep doing it together."
-
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yanhe's mood improved somewhat.
But he didn't expect to run into Zhou Mukai at the library.
He also reads books in the library's study room.
Lu Yanhe went inside and sat down, giving Zhou Mukai a quiet greeting.
Zhou Mukai looked surprised when he saw him, as if he hadn't expected to run into Lu Yanhe here.
As Lu Yanhe passed by him, he glanced at the screen and noticed that the tablet in front of Zhou Mukai was displaying a page from "Jump Up".
It is a short story from Liujia Town.
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Zhou Mukai didn't say anything.
Everyone was quietly studying.
Lu Yanhe silently took out his book and began to study—he didn't know what was bothering him, but after learning that Zhou Mukai was reading this book, he really wanted to ask Zhou Mukai what he thought of it.
But I'm too embarrassed to ask that question out loud.
Zhou Mukai would never say it looked bad to his face.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, focused his attention, stopped thinking about other things, and began to read the book seriously.
Lu Yanhe had an elective class in the afternoon, during the seventh and eighth periods. Before that, Lu Yanhe had been sitting in the library reading.
When he left, Zhou Mukai was still sitting there.
"I have class, I'm leaving now." Lu Yanhe sent a message to Zhou Mukai and packed his things.
Zhou Mukai glanced at his phone and nodded at him.
The tablet screen in front of him no longer displayed the "Jump Up" page.
-
In the evening, Miao Yue organized a gathering, which was attended by nearly forty people.
Lu Yanhe was shocked. He didn't expect there to be so many people. They even needed to set up four tables for the meal, and it was quite crowded.
Miao Yue is a social butterfly, very familiar with everyone, and constantly talking to different people.
Lu Yanhe went in, and was stunned to see so many people.
Miao Yue spotted him immediately and waved, "You're finally here! Why are you so late?"
"I have elective classes in the seventh and eighth periods this afternoon, so I came after class," Lu Yanhe asked in a low voice. "Are all the students in the entire college here?"
“Some students had classes in the evening or other things to do, so this is all that came,” Miao Yue said.
According to Miao Yue, "only this many people came."
Lu Yanhe stared at her in astonishment, speechless for a long time.
"Why don't you sit next to me?" Miao Yue asked. "The other two tables seem to be full."
Lu Yanhe had originally planned to treat everyone to dinner tonight, but with so many people, well, he decided to just buy something.
Unexpectedly, Miao Yue suddenly said at this moment, "Don't pay the bill. We agreed to split the bill, so this kind of thing doesn't apply."
Lu Yanhe had no choice but to nod.
More than forty people sat around a table, the atmosphere lively. In the eyes of others, the students of Zhenhua University are the pride of heaven, the elite, the pillars of society. But strip away all the halos bestowed upon them, they are just a group of eighteen or nineteen-year-old young people who also love excitement and playing with their peers. They are not a group of students who only think about sitting in the library studying, nor are they arrogant individuals who look down on others.
Miao Yue asked Lu Yanhe, "You probably don't know everyone yet, right?"
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "I only know these classmates from my class right now."
“And me,” Miao Yue emphasized.
Lu Yanhe nodded with a smile, "Yes, and you too."
Miao Yue whispered to Lu Yanhe who was who.
Lu Yanhe really had to use all his memory to remember who was who in that short introduction.
Clearly, although everyone was a top student from all over the country, they still couldn't take it for granted that their classmate was a celebrity. Everyone was still curious about Lu Yanhe.
Especially their celebrity classmate, who is still trending on social media and being criticized by many people.
"Yan He, aren't you worried at all about the criticism you receive online?" Han Yue asked.
Han Yue is an ethnic minority from Northeast China, but she looks like a girl from the South, with a small frame and a delicate voice.
Her question drew everyone's attention to Lu Yanhe. It was something everyone was curious about.
“There’s nothing to worry about. When this happened during the recording of the show, my manager gave me a heads-up,” Lu Yanhe said. “Whenever there’s a conflict, there will definitely be people who criticize you. Different people have different perspectives, but I know what I’m doing, and I don’t think I did anything wrong, and that’s enough. People who think I did nothing wrong will support me, and people who criticize me mean they think I did something wrong. It’s fine. Anyway, it’s impossible for everyone to like me. Just keep a calm mindset.”
Lu Yanhe thought this was good, as he could finally explain the matter in front of everyone in a legitimate way.
He smiled.
"Many more things like this may happen in the future, and I can only try to get used to it."
“Although we are the same age, you seem much more mature than us.”
"No, no." Lu Yanhe quickly waved his hand. "These are just my manager's words to comfort me. I just copied them. If I see someone scolding me, I will definitely still be angry."
Everyone immediately burst into laughter.
Zhou Qingcheng was also sitting at their table.
There aren't many boys in the School of Arts. Today there are over forty people, but only about ten are boys.
Zhou Qingcheng immediately said, "I even argued with people online for a long time. Those people were like they couldn't understand human language. One minute they asked me how much money I received, the next they called me a brainless fan, and then someone called me an elementary school student."
Lu Yanhe looked at Zhou Qingcheng in surprise: "Why are you arguing with someone online?"
Zhou Qingcheng: "I watched your show too. I think what you said about Meng Li is very true. You didn't say anything wrong. Her fans are like they've taken the wrong medicine. They can't distinguish right from wrong, and you can't reason with them."
Lu Yanhe was surprised that Zhou Qingcheng was actually arguing online on his behalf.
“There are always some people like that online. What do you say to them?” Miao Yue said. “If what you say isn’t what they want to hear, then you are their enemy.”
Zhou Qingcheng: "I was too hasty. I actually thought I could reason with them."
"But why did you clash with Meng Li on the show?" Ji Qianxing, who had shown goodwill towards Lu Yanhe that night, suddenly asked, "Since you knew that clashing with her would get you scolded by her fans?"
"Because I couldn't stand her behavior at the time," Lu Yanhe explained.
"It's mainly because Meng Li has been targeting Li Zhibai, not you," Ji Qianxing said.
Lu Yanhe: "But Li Zhibai is my friend. I can't just stand by and watch her target Li Zhibai."
“I just think what those people on the internet said was excessive, but it’s not entirely unreasonable. After all, it was Mengli and Li Zhibai who were arguing in the first place. Once you get involved, Li Zhibai has people helping him, but Mengli doesn’t,” Ji Qianxing said. “Of course Mengli has problems, but I think it’s understandable that her fans feel she was bullied.”
Miao Yue glanced at Ji Qianxing in surprise.
Lu Yanhe was also somewhat surprised, but looking at Ji Qianxing, he did not refute her, but nodded.
“Yes, from your perspective, that’s correct,” Lu Yanhe said.
“What do you mean, ‘not wrong’? If your friend gets into a conflict with someone, would you just stand by and watch because that person is alone?” Zhou Qingcheng looked at Ji Qianxing speechlessly. “According to your logic, when two people are arguing, no one should interfere. If someone does interfere, it becomes one side ganging up on the other. What kind of logic is that?”
Ji Qianxing blushed after being rebuked by Zhou Qingcheng's words.
"Why are you being so aggressive? I'm just saying that what people say online isn't entirely without reason."
"Holy crap, you're not one of those idiots arguing with me online, are you?" Zhou Qingcheng stared wide-eyed in shock at Ji Qianxing.
Ji Qianxing's cheeks flushed red, as if Zhou Qingcheng's words had hurt her pride, and her eyes instantly reddened.
"Zhou Qingcheng, you've gone too far with your words." The girl sitting next to Ji Qianxing immediately stood up for her friend.
Zhou Qingcheng: "Wait a minute, you'd better shut up, otherwise, according to Ji Qianxing, you can gang up on me now."
He looked at the two of them with a completely indifferent expression.
Ji Qianxing was so angry that her face turned green.
The consequence of this was that Ji Qianxing left directly.
The group of people left at the table looked at each other in bewilderment.
She left so quickly that no one even had a chance to stop her.
At this moment, the girl sitting next to Ji Qianxing, who was standing up for her, glared at Zhou Qingcheng and said, "You're so annoying, you never let things go even when you're in the right."
Zhou Qingcheng pursed his lips, but this time he didn't refute her.
Lu Yanhe was also somewhat embarrassed. Although Ji Qianxing had been driven away by Zhou Qingcheng, ultimately it was still related to him. He didn't know if Ji Qianxing truly believed that, or if her previous polite refusal had caused her to have some resentment towards him. In any case, Lu Yanhe felt ashamed for causing such an unpleasant situation today.
Fortunately, no such unpleasant incident occurred again.
The people at the table were all very interested in entertainment news and had a lot of gossip they wanted to ask Lu Yanhe if it was true.
Lu Yanhe quickly raised his hands in surrender and said, "Everyone, although I am an artist, I don't actually have many more channels to get the gossip than you. I just get the gossip online and don't know if it's true or not. I can't possibly ask the other party if it's true or not."
The others agreed, but were still somewhat disappointed.
After all, everyone wants to hear the real juicy gossip.
-
Halfway through the meal, Lu Yanhe went to the restroom and ran into Zhou Qingcheng, who had left earlier. Zhou Qingcheng was standing at the window at the end of the corridor, smoking.
Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised to see him smoking.
Zhou Qingcheng saw him, waved, and greeted him.
After Lu Yanhe finished using the restroom and came out, he washed his hands and saw that Zhou Qingcheng had finished smoking his cigarette, put it out, and then came over to wash his hands.
"When did you start smoking?" Lu Yanhe asked, somewhat surprised.
"Last year." Zhou Qingcheng was even a little embarrassed, and smiled with his head down.
Last year? That was when I was a senior in high school.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"And you? Do you smoke?" Zhou Qingcheng asked.
"I won't smoke." Lu Yanhe shook his head.
"That makes sense, you're public figures, smoking is really not good for you."
"Not really, quite a lot of people smoke," Lu Yanhe said. "I just haven't tried it, and I don't really like the taste."
Zhou Qingcheng: "It's a good thing not to smoke. I'm trying my best to control myself and quit."
Why do you smoke?
“I was under a lot of pressure back then. I was studying for the exam from morning till night, so I started smoking secretly,” Zhou Qingcheng said. “I had to hide from my teachers and parents, and I had to wash my hands immediately after smoking.”
Lu Yanhe laughed.
Zhou Qingcheng: "To be honest, I really admire you."
"Hmm?" Lu Yanhe looked at him with some surprise.
Zhou Qingcheng said, "I've seen your news online, especially your story of turning your life around in your senior year of high school. It's really amazing. I guess the whole college admires you."
"How could that be? I'm the one who should admire you."
“Nonsense, you accomplished in a year what took us many years to achieve,” Zhou Qingcheng said. “Besides, aren’t you still working while studying? I admire you for that; you’re really amazing.”
No, no.
“Don’t be modest. I even registered for a membership today and read the book you edited,” Zhou Qingcheng said. “The novel written by Liu Jiazhen is very good.”
"Thanks."
"I heard that you originally intended to publish this book as a magazine. Will you continue to publish it in the future?"
"It depends on whether the publisher and YeMai.com are willing to continue publishing. Of course, I want to continue publishing."
Zhou Qingcheng nodded and said, "If you can continue doing this for a long time, you will become an idol of the entire academy."
"ah?"
“These days, besides you, who else can start a new magazine and keep it going?” Zhou Qingcheng said. “And a literary magazine at that, you’re amazing.”
-
Lu Yanhe never expected that he would be seen this way by his classmates.
He was still vaguely worried that his status as an artist might make his classmates mind.
Celebrities may seem to be surrounded by various halos, but Lu Yanhe is also very clear that in the eyes of non-fans, they are just people with some fame, commercially packaged, and good-looking.
Zhenhua University is a top-tier institution of higher learning. The students who can study here are the best of the best, or rather, 99% of them are outstanding from childhood. Therefore, Lu Yanhe never felt that he was any different from them, nor did he think that his status as an artist would help him gain a foothold in this school. People's curiosity and attention towards him were simply because of his fame.
To some extent, Lu Yanhe even felt that he was not as good as everyone else—just like in class, he always encountered allusions he didn't understand and knowledge he didn't know, and it was very difficult for him to keep up with the teacher's pace.
Unexpectedly, in the eyes of others, he was another shining figure.
-
Lu Yanhe couldn't help but wonder when this false bubble surrounding him would be torn off.
He really didn't think he was particularly "shining".
After the dinner, everyone prepared to leave.
Lu Yanhe glanced at the time and decided not to go back to his dorm tonight, since he had no classes in the first two periods tomorrow morning.
So, Lu Yanhe said goodbye to everyone and walked in another direction alone.
"I'm really a little envious of Lu Yanhe, being able to rent a place to live off-campus." One girl said enviously.
"Don't be envious. They started building their careers when they were fifteen, while we were just students who only knew how to study back then."
"Speaking of which, Miao Yue is really enviable. She has already published two books." Another person sighed. "My mom told me to be humble after I came to Zhenhua, saying that Zhenhua is full of hidden talents. Now I understand. There are so many amazing students here."
"Let's not be so competitive, okay? We've only just entered university, how can we compare to them? Lu Yanhe's book is already on the shelves, have you read it?"
"I read it, but I didn't find it very interesting. Most of it was written by celebrities, and there was very little real literary creation."
"The inaugural issue, putting that aside, I think it looks pretty good."
"Don't you also like to write? Why don't you submit your work for publication?"
"What I write is not worthy of serious consideration."
...
Lu Yanhe returned to the dormitory, where only Yan Liang was there.
"Li Zhibai is home?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise.
Li Zhibai never stayed in the school dormitory. He thought the dormitory environment was too bad and said that he could not sleep a wink every night he wanted to stay there.
Therefore, if Li Zhibai is not here, it means he has gone home.
Yan Liang shook his head and said, "Zhou Ping'an gave him a temporary role in a movie, and he hurriedly packed his things and sent them over."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was shocked. "Isn't his next film 'Washe'? It won't start filming until the end of the year?"
"We added another film, also a male lead film, originally starring Zuo Xing, but Zuo Xing canceled at the last minute, so the crew searched everywhere for someone to fill in and found Li Zhibai," Yan Liang said. "Li Zhibai went there cursing and swearing."
Lu Yanhe could almost imagine Li Zhibai's reaction.
He smiled too.
Why are you back so late?
"I just had dinner with my classmates, and it got quite late. I'm going to read for a while, but if I read in the dorm, it might disturb the other people's rest, since they all go to bed quite early."
"I see." Yan Liang nodded, giving him a rather strange look.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm a little surprised. I didn't expect you to be so hardworking even after getting into Zhenhua High School," Yan Liang said. "You won't be working in this field anyway, so why are you working so hard? Getting an 80 or 90 won't affect your graduation, right?"
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
He thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don't know, but it's not for getting 80 or 90 points. But if I don't give it my all while studying at Zhenhua, I feel it would be a real shame."
Yan Liang looked puzzled.
Lu Yanhe shrugged and said, "It's probably because they're unwilling to just do a half-hearted job when they could do better."
“Alright.” Yan Liang nodded. “Although I don’t quite understand, it’s impressive that you can think this way. Sometimes I wonder if my efforts are too opportunistic. I was reflecting on something today. It seems that I’m only willing to work hard on things related to acting. I have no interest in other areas at all. Some classmates asked me if I wanted to learn archery together, and I refused outright. Then they said that maybe they would use this skill in acting in the future, and I suddenly became interested. I realized that in this aspect, how should I put it, I’m quite utilitarian.”
“You can’t say that. Effort is effort. Taking shortcuts means not wanting to put in the effort. If you don’t want to shoot arrows, you don’t want to learn. But if you think you might need it for acting and suddenly you’re willing to learn, doesn’t that show that you’re actually working hard? People who take shortcuts only think they’ll need it later and then cram at the last minute, or simply use camera tricks,” Lu Yanhe said. “Don’t use me as a reference. If it weren’t for Phoenix Terrace, I wouldn’t be able to get up and run every day to exercise.”
Yan Liang smiled instantly.
"Alright."
-
Lu Yanhe never expected that Yan Liang would also be confused in this way.
Actually, both he and Yan Liang are people who tend to think things through a lot.
Too many thoughts lead to too many worries.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, and just as he sat down, his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw a message from Xin Zixing: "The number of readers of 'Jump Up' has exceeded 500,000!"
"Jump Up" was launched on Yemai.com on the 25th. According to the previous agreement, the three days from the 25th to the 27th are free to read.
Lu Yanhe was overjoyed to receive the message: That's fantastic!
Xin Zixing sent a second message: "It attracted nearly 200,000 new registered users, amazing!"
Lu Yanhe was equally delighted upon seeing this data.
Xin Zixing said: "Our official account will release the good news soon, so please remember to share it!"
Lu Yanhe: Mm-hmm.
Xin Zixing said: Let's find some time to discuss how to proceed with "Jump Up"? The feedback for the first episode was much better than we expected, and the market response was also very good.
Lu Yanhe said: Okay.
Xin Zixing: I'll also try to schedule a time with Siqi to see if she can come back for the National Day holiday. It would be best if we could sit down together and discuss it in person.
Lu Yanhe: Okay.
-
The day that "Jump Up" officially became a paid service was also the day that the physical book of "Jump Up" was officially released.
Lu Yanhe was picked up by Xu Xiaoyin at midday and taken to the Chengpin Bookstore in the Guangmao Building to participate in a book signing event with the large bookstore.
Besides Lu Yanhe, there are also Liu Jiazhen and Mingyin, all of whom were arranged by Jiangyin Publishing House.
Lu Yanhe could only do the book signing for an hour, as he had a class to catch up on at 2:30 pm.
Some media outlets were also present to film the autograph session.
Jiangyin Publishing House arranged interviews with two media outlets, but only had time to complete one interview, and the other had to be done on the road.
"Sorry, I have to rush to my afternoon class." Lu Yanhe apologized to them as soon as he got in the car.
The media were very understanding and said there was no problem.
These interviews are routine and promotional in nature, and the questions have all been discussed with the publisher beforehand.
Lu Yanhe gave a standard answer.
As we approached the school, the interview was about to end when the other party suddenly asked, "Yan He, what sales figures do you expect for your book 'Jump Up'?"
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback; he hadn't prepared for this question.
"Did you see the post that Teacher Yu Jiang made on her social media today?" the other person asked.
Lu Yanhe shook his head, somewhat bewildered.
This vehicle belongs to the media company. Everyone from the driver to the reporter to the photographer works for this media company; no one from the publishing house is involved.
At the time, Lu Yanhe was thinking that after the interview in the car, he would go straight to school. The autograph session was not over yet, so Lu Yanhe told Xu Xiaoyin and the others that they didn't need to follow.
Lu Yanhe is now having some regrets.
When he was struggling to cope, no one stepped forward to help him.
He had a feeling that the content of the post by Teacher Yu Jiang was probably not very positive.
He also remembered the name Yu Jiang, the female writer who hadn't been very friendly to him on a TV program and had said some unpleasant things.
He remembers.
The reporter took out his phone and said, "Professor Yu Jiang said: 'Hiring a celebrity as editor-in-chief is a move by the publishing industry to bow to online popularity and traffic. True creators would not deign to contribute to such an editor-in-chief. Creation has dignity and is not something that just anyone can do. Its threshold is not so-called popularity and traffic. Even if its sales are high, it is just empty talk.'"
Lu Yanhe's heart skipped a beat.
Okay, here it comes.
Sure enough, it wasn't anything nice.
Lu Yanhe frowned silently.
The other party is still waiting for his reply.
Lu Yanhe pondered for a moment and said, "I don't actually want to respond to such remarks."
The reporter asked, "Why?"
“If you start a discussion with a preconceived attitude, you can find fault with anything you want. Professor Yu Jiang is also a very famous writer. She has her views, and I have my attitude. If she thinks I am not suitable to be an editor-in-chief, she can be the editor-in-chief herself and run a magazine.” Lu Yanhe said, “In this world, it’s not that if I become the editor-in-chief, others can’t. The path is open. If you don’t like my path, there’s no need to deny it. Just go and find your own path.”
(End of this chapter)
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