Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

When it came to moving, Li Cheng acted with such swift and decisive efficiency that it was almost unreasonable.

At 8:30 a.m., a moving company's van stopped downstairs at Shen Nian's building.

When Shen Nian came downstairs, Zhou Yutong was already waiting at the door, carrying two bags of breakfast.

"Teacher Shen, would you like some steamed buns or soy milk first?" Zhou Yutong smiled, revealing her two canine teeth.

Shen Nian took the soy milk and got into the car with her.

She didn't have many possessions.

There were just two boxes of clothes, a cloth bag containing medicine bottles, and a potted green ivy that almost died from drought but was revived by watering.

The movers finished cleaning in two trips.

The new apartment is on the 23rd floor of an upscale residential complex in Jing'an, and access requires a security gate.

Shen Nian stood in the meticulously decorated living room, where sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the floor in its glow.

She stood there for about a minute.

Then I moved the potted green plant to the windowsill and carefully arranged it.

-

That same afternoon, Jiang Fan also returned the rental apartment he had previously rented in the north of the city.

The landlady took the key, glanced inside, and saw that the floor was clean and there were no nail holes in the walls.

She had prepared a whole host of complaints, but they were useless. She simply hummed in agreement and returned the deposit.

Jiang Fan had even less luggage than Shen Nian.

He took a suitcase, hailed a taxi, and gave the address of the same apartment building.

Li Cheng booked a room for him in the same residential complex and the same apartment building.

Jiang Fan is on the twenty-first floor, and Shen Nian is on the twenty-third floor.

It took less than twenty minutes to settle in.

After tidying up, he sat down on the sofa in the living room and habitually opened the system panel to take a look.

[Remaining lifespan: 34 days and 11 hours]

There is still plenty of time.

He turned off the panel, and his phone vibrated.

It was a message from Xu Qingya.

"Come to my place tonight, I need something."

-

Tianyu Media, Xu Qingya's private dressing room.

Chen Lan, holding a tablet computer, looked extremely grim and quickly pushed open the door.

"Qingya, something's happened."

Xu Qingya had just finished a shoot and was resting on the sofa with her eyes closed when she heard this, so she opened her eyes.

Chen Lan handed over the tablet.

The screen displays Su Yuyan's Weibo homepage.

The pinned image is a promotional picture for a new song, in a traditional Chinese ink painting style, with swaying willow leaves and two ancient-style characters hanging in the center – "Longing".

The comment section below has already been flooded with tens of thousands of messages, all filled with fans' screams and anticipation.

"Sister Yu Yan has finally released a traditional Chinese style video! I love this style!"

"The title 'Longing' sounds so heartbreaking; I've already prepared my tissues!"

"Launch tomorrow? That's so fast! This happiness came too suddenly!"

Xu Qingya's gaze fell on the style of the promotional image, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"Our publicity plan has been leaked." Chen Lan's voice was tense. "The pre-release promotion plan for 'Red Bean' mainly focuses on the ink painting style and the emotional keyword 'longing'. Their style is 90% similar to ours."

Xu Qingya's eyes turned cold.

The promotional plan for the new album is a top secret of the company, known only to a few members of the core team.

"Who leaked it?"

"Chen Weiyang," Chen Lan gritted her teeth and spat out the name. "I only found out today that he signed with Times Media. He participated in the brainstorming session for the promotion of 'Red Bean' once before, so he must have heard about the style and tone."

Chen Lan grew increasingly angry as she spoke: "Su Yuyan definitely timed the release of this song perfectly, launching it three days before the promotion of your 'Red Bean,' using a similar emotional theme to seize the market. By the time your song comes out, listeners' emotional thresholds have already been exhausted by 'Longing,' making your new song seem belated and even risking being labeled a 'copycat'!"

Xu Qingya didn't reply, but tapped her fingers lightly twice on the sofa armrest.

"Qingya, what should we do?" Chen Lan paced anxiously for a moment. "It's too late to change the publicity plan now."

"Let's listen to this 'Longing' song first and see what it's like." Xu Qingya's tone became calmer.

She clicked on the link to listen to Su Yuyan's newly released song.

The prelude has a melodious tune and a strong classical flavor.

Su Yuyan's singing skills are beyond doubt. Her voice is full of emotion, and every sentence hits the softest spot in the audience's emotions perfectly.

After listening to the song, whether you want to admit it or not, the quality of "Longing" is extremely high.

Chen Lan's face turned even paler.

"The style of this song is really similar to 'Red Bean'."

She remembered that Chen Weiyang, that bastard, was also outside in Studio No. 1 at the time. He had heard the demo of "Red Bean"!

Xu Qingya put down the tablet and remained silent for a moment.

Then, she picked up her phone and sent that message to Jiang Fan.

-

7 PM, Times Media Building.

In the top-floor director's office, Chen Weiyang was sitting on the sofa, leisurely sipping a cup of Da Hong Pao tea.

Opposite him was Wang Hao, the planning director of Times Media.

Wang Hao placed the tablet in front of him, and the real-time data of Su Yuyan's "Acacia" jumped rapidly on the screen.

The Weibo post had already topped the trending topics list in just over ten hours.

The online discussion has garnered over ten million views.

"The data is very good." Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction. "Wei Yang, your 'preemptive strike' caught Tianyu Entertainment off guard. I just received news that Tianyu Entertainment has urgently suspended all promotional plans for Xu Qingya's new song."

"Director Wang, you flatter me." Chen Weiyang put down his teacup, a smug smile playing on his lips. "I've been with Tianyu for ten years. I know exactly what they're up to, even what they fart at."

"Xu Qingya thought she could rest easy just because she got Jiang Fan's song. She's too naive."

Wang Hao smiled and said, "However, the quality of your song 'Longing' is indeed excellent. I thought you could only write catchy pop songs."

"Haha, inspiration strikes, and there's no stopping it." Chen Weiyang picked up his teacup, his thumb slowly rubbing the rim.

He really put a lot of thought into this song.

After listening to the demo of "Red Bean" once outside the recording studio, he memorized its melody and emotional core.

He is a top-notch producer himself. It's not difficult for him to imitate a style, find a top lyricist to write ancient-style lyrics, and produce a high-quality "imitation".

He defeated her in the same dimension, using the methods Xu Qingya was most skilled at.

Let her and that security guard named Jiang Fan both fall down hard.

Wang Hao stood up: "This collaboration was very pleasant. Su Tianhou is very satisfied, and the company has decided that you will officially take over as the deputy director of the music department of Times Media."

Chen Weiyang stood up, shook hands with Wang Hao, and his smile became even more arrogant.

"Thank you, Director Wang. It's been a pleasure working with you."

After seeing Wang Hao off, Chen Weiyang stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city's night view.

He took out his phone and opened Xu Qingya's Weibo homepage.

The latest update was posted three days ago, and many fans are already asking when Ya-jie's new album will be released.

Chen Weiyang locked his phone, tossed it onto the sofa, picked up the still-steaming Da Hong Pao tea, and took a sip while gazing at the night view outside the window.

"Good tea. Hehe, Xu Qingya, Jiang Fan, the show is about to begin!"