Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Two o'clock in the morning.

Su Yuyan was completely exhausted and curled up in Jiang Fan's arms, her breathing gradually becoming even.

The system panel pops up.

[Total Lifespan Gained: 3000 points] (Deep Compatibility x3)

Current lifespan: 27300 points

[Remaining lifespan: 41 days and 6 hours]

Jiang Fan glanced at the numbers and closed the panel.

Su Yuyan pressed her face against his chest, her nose rubbing against his.

"What time is your flight tomorrow?"

"10:30."

"Would you like me to take you to the airport?"

"Need not."

Su Yuyan poked his ribs with her finger. "Are you afraid of being seen?"

"I'm afraid you won't be able to get up."

Su Yuyan didn't say anything, but pinched his ribs hard.

-

At six o'clock in the morning, Jiang Fan quietly got dressed.

Su Yuyan rolled over, only half of the blanket covering her, revealing a large expanse of her back.

Jiang Fan pulled the blanket up a bit, grabbed his coat, and went out.

I went back to my apartment, took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and dragged my suitcase out of the closet.

There wasn't much stuff—two sets of clothes, a laptop, and a portable hard drive containing the accompaniment to Shen Nian's songs.

My phone rang as I zipped up my jacket.

Li Cheng.

"Come down, we're here."

Jiang Fan carried his suitcase out the door and took the elevator down to the first floor.

A black van was parked at the entrance of the building, and Li Cheng leaned against the driver's side door, smoking.

Seeing Jiang Fan come out, he stubbed out his cigarette, opened the trunk, and put his luggage inside.

Jiang Fan walked around to the right side of the car and opened the rear door.

Shen Nian sat by the window, wearing a light blue jacket, her hair tied in a low ponytail, and light makeup.

She saw Jiang Fan and her lips moved slightly. "Good morning."

Zhou Yutong sat on the left, holding a bag of cashews in her hands, about to open it.

Good morning, Brother Fan!

Jiang Fan closed the back door and got into the passenger seat.

Zhou Yutong took a small packet out of the bag and handed it to Shen Nian.

"Sister Nian, I bought this yesterday. Try it; this brand tastes better than the last one."

Li Cheng got into the driver's seat, stepped on the gas, and drove off.

As the car turned onto the elevated highway, Li Cheng increased his speed.

"Let's go over the itinerary again," Jiang Fan said.

Li Cheng held the steering wheel with one hand and pulled a piece of paper from the sun visor with the other, handing it over.

"My flight is at 10:30 AM, and I arrive at Xingcheng Airport at 1:00 PM. The production team will send a car to pick me up and take me directly to the hotel. There are no plans for tonight, so Shen Nian can rest. Tomorrow morning we'll do a run-through, in the afternoon a dress rehearsal, and the actual recording will start at 8:00 PM."

Jiang Fan scanned it and found no problems.

"What about the competition format and procedures?"

"The entire process will be broadcast live without any audio editing. In the first round of the initial stage rankings, each of the eight singers will perform one song, and a live audience of 500 and an off-site audience of 500 will vote in real time. Each person will have three votes, which can only be cast for different people. There will be rankings only, no eliminations."

"Where is your advisor?"

"The three mentors only provide feedback, they don't vote. But what they say can influence the jury's judgment."

Jiang Fan folded the paper and stuffed it back into the sunshade.

Li Cheng glanced at the back row through the rearview mirror.

"I'm not going with you this time; I have a lot of things to do at the company. Zhou Yutong will stay with Shen Nian to take care of her; call her anytime if there's an emergency."

Zhou Yutong, sitting in the back row, straightened her back and held up her Nokia old-fashioned mobile phone.

"Report! Communication equipment is in place!"

Jiang Fan turned around and glanced at her.

Zhou Yutong waved the Nokia in her hand; the black and white screen displayed the time.

"Don't worry, Brother Fan. I'll be going everywhere with Sister Nian these three days, and I won't post a single thing on my WeChat Moments."

"You can't send it even if you want to," Jiang Fan added.

Zhou Yutong pouted and stuffed the old-fashioned phone back into her pocket.

Shen Nian was munching on a cashew nut beside her, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

Li Cheng continued, "There's something I need to remind you of."

"Among the regular mentors of this season of 'The Voice of China,' there is one person you should pay attention to—Fang Yiming invited Tang Yingxue."

Jiang Fan blinked.

Tang Yingxue.

One of the four queens of mainland pop music, and a three-time winner of the Golden Melody Award for Best Female Singer.

She has more seniority than Xu Qingya and her words carry a lot of weight in the industry.

Li Cheng twisted the steering wheel to change lanes. "She has a very close relationship with Hua Xingyu; everyone in the industry knows that."

The back row quieted down for a moment.

Shen Nian stopped eating cashews.

Zhou Yutong's eyes shifted from Shen Nian's face to Li Cheng.

"What if she makes things difficult for Shen Nian on the show?" Zhou Yutong blurted out.

Jiang Fan glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

"The mentors on 'The Voice of Heaven' only have the right to comment, not the right to vote. The final ranking is determined by the on-site audience and off-site voting. Tang Yingxue alone cannot influence the result."

"What if she gives a bad review during the evaluation session? The panel of judges will follow suit."

"Then let her give her the review." Jiang Fan's voice was calm. "If the song is good enough, a bad review will actually generate more buzz."

Zhou Yutong opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but Shen Nian tugged at her sleeve.

"I'm fine," Shen Nian said.

-

The car drove for forty minutes to reach Hongqiao Airport.

Li Cheng escorted the three people to the departure level, and their luggage was unloaded from the trunk.

"Be careful. Call me if anything happens."

Jiang Fan nodded.

Li Cheng glanced at Shen Nian again, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just patted Jiang Fan on the shoulder, got into the car and drove away.

Shen Nian wore a mask and a baseball cap during the security check.

She's not very popular right now, but after the copyright case went on for a while, some people recognized her.

Zhou Yutong walked beside her, carrying a carry-on suitcase in one hand and protecting Shen Nian with the other, like a bodyguard.

After boarding, Jiang Fan sat next to Shen Nian, while Zhou Yutong sat across the aisle.

As the plane taxied, Shen Nian kept staring out the window.

It's taking off.

The buildings on the ground got smaller and smaller until they became a gray grid.

"Are you nervous?" Jiang Fan asked.

Shen Nian shook her head.

After a few seconds, he nodded again.

Jiang Fan didn't say anything more. He took out his earphones from his backpack and handed them to her.

Listen to it twice.

The music playing in my headphones is the instrumental version of "The Wind Rises".

Shen Nian took it and put it on, closed her eyes, and leaned her head back in the chair.

The plane pierced through the clouds, and sunlight streamed in through the porthole, falling on her eyelashes.

Over in the aisle, Zhou Yutong was playing Snake on her Nokia phone.

I got bored after playing for five minutes, so I put my phone back in my pocket and pulled out a magazine from under my seat to flip through.

-

1 p.m., Changsha Huanghua Airport.

As soon as I exited the arrival gate, a young man holding a sign that read "Fanyin Culture" came up to me.

"Teacher Jiang? I'm Xiao Chen from the production team. The car is outside."

The young man, in his early twenties, wearing a work badge, deftly took the suitcase.

The three people got into a Buick minivan.

Xiao Chen sat in the passenger seat and explained tomorrow's schedule along the way. He went over everything in detail, including the rehearsal time, the rehearsal order, the location of the dressing room, and the dinner arrangements.

Jiang Fan listened, occasionally asking a question.

"Have the other seven singers arrived?"

"We've reached five people, and there are two more on tonight's flight."

The hotel is located in the city center of Xingcheng, a 15-minute drive from the recording venue.

When checking in at the front desk, Xiao Chen handed over three room keys.

"Teacher Jiang has one room, and Teacher Shen Nian and Teacher Zhou have another room; the two rooms are next to each other."

Zhou Yutong took the room key and whispered in Shen Nian's ear, "Sister Nian, we'll share a room. I don't snore when I sleep."

Shen Nian glanced at Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan took his room key without changing his expression.

"Rest first, I'll call you for dinner tonight."

The three people walked toward the elevator.

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened.

A woman walked out of there.

She was in her early thirties, with fair skin, wearing a well-tailored black dress, and a Cartier necklace around her neck that covered her collarbone.

Three assistants followed behind: one carrying a bag, one carrying a phone, and one holding a glass of iced Americano.

It was quite a grand affair.

As the woman exited the elevator, her gaze swept over Jiang Fan and his two companions.

His gaze paused on Shen Nian's face.

Then she looked away, walked past them in her high heels, leaving a trail of perfume behind.