Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

"Zhou Yutong—"

Shen Nian held the bowl of porridge, her eyes filled with warning.

Zhou Yutong swallowed the rest of her words.

She dragged a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Sister Nian, I have one last question."

"Don't ask."

"Just one, really just one."

Shen Nian lowered her head and drank her porridge, ignoring her.

Zhou Yutong pressed her face close to the edge of the bed, her voice extremely low: "Where did Brother Fan sleep last night?"

Shen Nian paused for half a second in the bowl with her spoon.

"sofa."

"I don't think the sofa looks like it—"

"Zhou Yutong," Shen Nian put down her spoon, "one last question, done."

Zhou Yutong shut her mouth.

It closed for about three seconds.

"Okay, okay. Sister Nian, but you look amazing today." She drawled, tilting her head to examine Shen Nian's face. "Your cheeks are rosy, and your eyes are sparkling. You're a completely different person from the other day."

Shen Nian's hand holding the bowl of porridge tightened slightly.

"Once the fever subsides, you'll be fine."

"Even reducing fever wouldn't have this effect, right? Look at your face, it's practically glowing—"

Shen Nian placed the bowl of porridge on the bedside table, and the porcelain bowl clattered on the table surface.

"Zhou Yutong, if you have nothing better to do, go wash the dishes."

"oh."

Zhou Yutong stood up, took the bowl, and walked towards the kitchen.

After taking two steps, she turned around and her gaze landed precisely on a certain spot.

"By the way, Sister Nian, what about your neck—"

Shen Nian suddenly covered the left side of her neck with her hand.

Zhou Yutong laughed out loud, turned around and darted into the kitchen.

Shen Nian froze on the bed, her hands pressing tightly against her neck.

After several seconds, she slowly pulled open the bedside table drawer and took out a small makeup mirror.

He held the mirror to his neck and tilted his head to look at himself for a long time.

There was nothing there.

Shen Nian put down the mirror and glared at the kitchen through gritted teeth.

Zhou Yutong was standing by the sink washing dishes, humming some song, her shoulders swaying as she clearly suppressed a laugh.

"Zhou Yutong".

"Um?"

"If you do this again, I'll have Jiang Fan deduct your salary."

"I was wrong, Sister Nian!" Zhou Yutong's voice came from the kitchen, her attitude of admitting her mistake was very sincere.

Zhou Yutong wiped her hands as she came out of the kitchen, but after being serious for less than five seconds, she squatted down by the bed again.

"Sister Nian, take your medicine. Brother Fan told you to before he left."

Shen Nian took the pills and water glass that she was given, tilted her head back, and swallowed the pills.

Zhou Yutong squatted down beside her, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at her.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nianjie is getting prettier and prettier."

Shen Nian rolled her eyes.

But the corners of her mouth couldn't be suppressed, and they curved slightly.

-

Fanyin Studio.

Jiang Fan arrived a little after nine o'clock.

Li Cheng brought in two cups of coffee.

"I need to get back to the production team about Shen Nian's situation." Li Cheng pushed a glass towards him. "The 'Voice of Heaven' team has contacted us twice to confirm the health status of the participating singers. Give me a definite answer."

"It's all set."

Li Cheng's hand, holding the cup, hovered in mid-air.

"You're all better now? Your voice was so hoarse yesterday it sounded like you were sawing wood, but it's all better today?"

"Yes, the recovery is faster than expected."

Li Cheng put down the cup and stared at him for a long time.

"I don't believe it. I'll call and ask myself."

Li Cheng picked up his phone and dialed Shen Nian's number directly.

I answered it after it rang twice.

"Feed? Brother Li Cheng?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was clear and strong, completely different from the person who coughed after saying only half a sentence a couple of days ago.

Li Cheng held up his phone, opened his mouth, but couldn't form a complete sentence.

"Brother Li Cheng? Are you there?" Shen Nian asked again.

"Yes, yes, yes." Li Cheng snapped out of his daze. "Your throat... is better?"

"It's mostly better now, though the high notes are still a little off, but everyday speech is fine. A couple more days of rest should and it should be fully recovered."

Li Cheng hummed in agreement and hung up the phone.

He looked at Jiang Fan.

"How exactly did you do that?"

Jiang Fan put down his coffee cup and thought for a moment.

"Rock sugar and snow pear".

"..."

Li Cheng stared at him blankly for five seconds.

Can rock sugar and pear soup cure pharyngitis with high fever?

"Okay." Li Cheng swallowed his anger. "I'll go back to the production team now."

Li Cheng took the coffee and went out the door.

The office quieted down.

Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair and turned on his phone.

A new message popped up in my Weibo special attention list.

Xu Qingya reposted an official celebratory poster from EE-Media, featuring the cover of the new album in the background, with a large line of text in the center—

"The 'Red Bean' album series has sold over 100 million copies across all online platforms."

It broke the sales record for all singers' albums in the past five years.

The comment section was flooded with hundreds of thousands of messages, all unanimously praising the "Queen of Pop" as a god.

"The last queen of the Chinese music scene".

Jiang Fan switched to WeChat and sent a message to Xu Qingya.

Jiang Fan: Congratulations, Qingya!

Xu Qingya: Who's your sister?!

Jiang Fan: Congratulations, Xiaoya.

The other end hasn't replied.

I waited for about twenty seconds.

A kitchen knife emoji was thrown at me.

Jiang Fan didn't continue his reckless actions and put his phone on the table.

A few minutes later, WeChat rang again.

Xu Qingya: The company is preparing to hold a concert for me. The preliminary plan is already being worked out.

Xu Qingya: Next, I need to choose a venue, decide on the repertoire, rehearse, and contact sponsors, so I may be very busy.

Jiang Fan looked at this passage and roughly guessed what she was going to say next.

really--

Xu Qingya: Come to my house tomorrow.

The meaning couldn't be clearer—I'm going to be busy, so you should come over in the next few days.

Jiang Fan: Okay, see you tomorrow.

The message was sent, and the other party replied instantly with an "Mm".

Putting down his phone, Jiang Fan picked up a pen from the table and made a few strokes on a sticky note.

Tomorrow, Xu Qingya.

Next Thursday, Shen Nian will participate in the recording of "The Voice of Heaven".

Between these two events was Su Yuyan's movie theme song.

In fact, Jiang Fan had already chosen the theme song.

"Fleet of Time"

He already has the answer as to who is the right person for this song.

Xu Qingya.

But considering the relationship between Xu Qingya and Su Yuyan—

He felt like he was playing with fire.

But he was unwilling to give the song to someone else.

Jiang Fan picked up his phone and sent a message to Su Yuyan.

[Jiang Fan: I have an idea for the theme song. I'll confirm the singer selection and give you an answer in the next couple of days.]

Su Yuyan replied quickly.

[Su Yuyan: Okay. Tell me who the actor is, and I'll contact the production company.]

After sending that message, a few seconds later, another one came in.

[Su Yuyan: By the way, when are you free? That private kitchen restaurant from last time has a new menu.]

Just as Jiang Fan was about to reply, the door was pushed open.

Li Cheng came in, carrying a file folder.

"It's all settled. The production team has confirmed that Shen Nian's recording time remains unchanged, next Thursday at 8 PM."

"Have you booked your plane ticket?"

"It's booked. You and Shen Nian will fly to Xingcheng next Wednesday."

Li Cheng sat down opposite him, flipping through the schedule on his phone and verifying each item one by one.

The hotel, shuttle bus, makeup team, and even Shen Nian's dietary restrictions were all listed.

Jiang Fan glanced at the list, and Li Cheng's managerial skills were on full display.

"There's something else." Li Cheng put down his phone. "Zhou Yutong asked me for leave, saying she wants to go with me."

"Where is she going?"

She said, "Sister Nian has just recovered and can't be left alone to take care of her."

Jiang Fan thought for a moment.

"Let her go. But hand over her phone, and she's not allowed to post anything related to Shen Nian."

Li Cheng took an old-fashioned mobile phone out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Fan.

Nokia, black and white screen, the kind that can only make calls and send text messages.

"I had already prepared a substitute for her."

Jiang Fan looked at the Nokia and chuckled.

"Okay. I trust Brother Li to handle things."

After Li Cheng left the office, Jiang Fan's gaze fell on the unanswered message from Su Yuyan on his phone screen.

If I tell Xu Qingya that the project for this song was introduced by Su Yuyan when I go to her house tomorrow—

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

Xu Qingya's kitchen knife emoji suddenly flashed through my mind.

This time it's a real kitchen knife.