Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

At 10 a.m. on Monday, the lawyer sent a message that the court had confirmed the settlement agreement was officially in effect.

Sheng Hai Entertainment returned all copyrights to "Stars" and paid 26 million yuan in compensation. Hua Xingyu himself appeared in an apology video, which was simultaneously released on Weibo and Douyin.

Jiang Fan went through the terms of the agreement but couldn't find any problems.

"Where's the apology video? When will it be released?"

"At 2 PM today, Hua Xingyu posted the message simultaneously on Weibo and Douyin. Shen Nian's account reposted it three minutes later."

At that moment, Shen Nian was practicing singing in the recording studio.

Jiang Fan watched from behind the glass window of the control room for a while.

She was in good form today; she sang the chorus of "The Wind Rises" very steadily, and her breath control was much better than last week.

Zhou Yutong squatted at the entrance of the recording studio, holding a bag of cashews in her hands, waiting to hand it to Shen Nian when she came out to rest.

Jiang Fan didn't disturb them and returned to his office.

-

1:55 PM.

Jiang Fan sat at his desk and opened Weibo.

It's exactly 2 o'clock.

Hua Xingyu's Weibo has been updated.

The comment section exploded instantly.

For the first thirty seconds, the influx was entirely made by Hua Xingyu's fans, all expressing their unanimous support for their idol.

"Sheng Hai must have forced my brother to apologize, right?"

"I feel sorry for my brother."

But this wave of protecting its master only lasted for less than five minutes.

The details of Shen Nian's copyright case have been thoroughly exposed.

Hua Xingyu stole songs, Sheng Hai suppressed her, and Shen Nian withdrew from the entertainment industry due to depression—the entire timeline is crystal clear.

Five minutes later, comments from passersby started to rise to the top.

"Finally apologized? Don't you have any idea how badly you've hurt Shen Nian?"

"Can a fifteen-second apology really make up for someone's year-long depression?"

"When you were being criticized by the entire internet last year, I joined in the criticism. Today, after seeing the truth, I deleted all my comments from last year. I'm sorry."

"Shen Nian, keep going! We're waiting for you to come back."

2:03.

Shen Nian's Weibo account reposted Hua Xingyu's apology video.

The copy only has five words: I accept the apology.

These five words are more powerful than any lengthy discourse.

Because it's too respectable.

She was so dignified that everyone felt sorry for her.

The trending topic shot up at an extremely rapid pace.

At 2:15 PM, #HuaXingyuApologizesToShenNian# rose to fourth place on the trending topics list.

The sentiment in the comments section has completely shifted.

Hua Xingyu's fans dared not speak up, and all the bystanders sided with Shen Nian.

Someone dug up a video of Shen Nian participating in a talent show back then. The sixteen-year-old girl was singing with a guitar, looking clean and tidy. The comments section was filled with "heartbreaking".

Li Cheng kept refreshing the trending topics page, muttering to himself.

"It's the third time, and it's still rising."

Zhou Yutong lay on her workstation, tears streaming down her face, having used half a pack of tissues.

"Sister Nian has had it so tough, sob sob sob..."

Jiang Fan glanced at the time and walked out of the office.

"Alright, stop crying. Call Shen Nian out."

When Shen Nian came out of the recording studio, her forehead was still covered in sweat.

Zhou Yutong handed over a bottle of water and a bag of cashews.

"Sister Nian, Brother Jiang is looking for you."

Shen Nian wiped her forehead and walked into the office.

Jiang Fan pushed the tablet in front of her.

The screen displays Hua Xingyu's apology video.

Shen Nian glanced down at the title, her fingers trembling slightly.

"Take a look," Jiang Fan said.

Shen Nian clicked on the video.

Hua Xingyu's voice came from the loudspeaker as he read the apology.

Shen Nian remained expressionless throughout.

After the video finished playing, she put the tablet back on the table.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"The compensation is 26 million. After deducting court fees and taxes, you'll probably have around 2.3 million left."

Shen Nian's fingers rested on the edge of the tablet, her fingertips curling slightly.

"I want to donate six million."

Li Cheng nearly dropped his cigarette. "Donate?"

"During my hospitalization, a charitable foundation helped pay my medical expenses. I looked it up; it specializes in providing psychological support to teenagers. I donated six million to them."

Li Cheng looked at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan nodded. "It's your money, you decide what to do with it."

It was quiet for a while.

"Jiang Fan."

"Um."

Why did you help me?

She had actually been holding this question in for a long time.

From copyright cases to finding lawyers, from "The Wind Rises" to securing a spot on "The Voice of Heaven," Jiang Fan did so much for her.

Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"Your song was stolen, and nobody cared. This industry owes you justice. I happened to be able to do something about it, so I did."

Shen Nian looked at him.

"No other reason?"

"Hmm...yes."

A slight smile appeared on Shen Nian's lips as she waited for him to continue.

Jiang Fan pointed towards the recording studio, "You have a good voice. It would be a waste to waste it."

Shen Nian opened her mouth, then closed it again.

After waiting for two seconds, I realized that Jiang Fan really didn't have a next sentence.

"I'm going to practice singing."

She stood up and went back into the recording studio.

The door closed.

Zhou Yutong peeked out and saw the smile on Shen Nian's face, and almost took out her phone again.

Li Cheng slapped him on the back of the head.

"If you take another picture, I'll confiscate your phone."

"I didn't take any pictures! I didn't take any pictures!"

-

At 4 PM, the data continued to develop.

The hashtag #ShenNian'sFiveWordResponse# also trended on social media.

Some people dug up her Weibo posts from when she was depressed, and every word was filled with despair.

Now, watching Hua Xingyu's fifteen-second apology video again, the anger in the comments section has reached a new level.

Some people also noticed the signature in the reposted text—Fanyin Studio.

"Wait, Fanyin Studio? Is that Jiang Fan's company?"

"So Shen Nian is now an artist under Jiang Fan's management?"

"That security guard is amazing! I'm bowing down in admiration."

Jiang Fan's name was once again thrust into the spotlight.

Li Cheng scrolled through Weibo, his expression complex.

"You have too many labels now. Singer, songwriter, producer, boss—"

"That's great. It saves on labor costs."

"..."

Li Cheng put down his phone and changed the subject.

"We've got another message from Tencent Music. Your three songs have surpassed 80 million plays by 3 PM. At this rate, they should reach 100 million plays before midnight."

"Um."

"The single 'Sorrow' has entered the top three on the hot songs chart. The top spot is held by Xu Qingya's 'Red Bean,' and the second is 'Easily Hurt Woman.' The difference isn't significant."

Jiang Fan recalled what Xu Qingya had said—"You dare to surpass me, just try."

"Have Tencent move 'Sorrow' down the recommendation list by one tier."

Li Cheng looked up at him. "Are you serious?"

"Adjust."

Li Cheng opened his mouth, but swallowed the words that were about to come out.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to the contact person at Tencent Music.

After sending it, I sat on the sofa, stared at the ceiling for a moment, and muttered something under my breath.

"You have times when you're afraid too."

"What did you say?"

"I told them I've already sent it to Tencent."

— 7 p.m.

Jiang Fan returned to his apartment.

After I finished showering, I saw three unread messages on my phone.

First, Su Yuyan: "I've listened to 'The Wind Blows' five times. I have an idea for the arrangement. Let's discuss it in detail when we meet on Wednesday."

The second message was from Xu Qingya: "Did you lower the recommendation ranking of 'Sorrow'?"

Jiang Fan stared at the message for five seconds.

Just how dense is this woman's intelligence network?

How could they even detect adjustments to the recommended placements?

He replied with two messages.

He replied to Su Yuyan, "Okay."

He told Xu Qingya, "The internal restructuring at Tencent has nothing to do with me."

Xu Qingya was silent for about ten seconds before replying with three words.

"Hmph, liar."

But it was followed by an emoji.

It's the kind of giggle that involves covering your mouth.