Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Shen Nian's kiss was greedy.

When Jiang Fan rolled over and pressed down on her, the belt of her bathrobe had long since come undone, and she was sprawled on the white sheets, her hair wet and spread out.

Her fingers dug into Jiang Fan's back, her nails digging in, and she made two intermittent calls before biting her own wrist.

Jiang Fan pulled her hand away.

"Don't worry, this hotel has excellent soundproofing."

Shen Nian glared at him, her ears turning bright red.

"Get out of here—ah~"

-

After all that fuss, Shen Nian collapsed onto the bed, not even wanting to move a finger.

The sheets were crumpled up, and the pillow had fallen to the floor sometime during the night.

Jiang Fan sat up and looked down at her.

Her hair clung to her face, her neck and collarbone were flushed, and there were still tear stains at the corners of her eyes.

"Go take a shower."

Shen Nian didn't move.

"My legs are weak."

He uttered two words, his voice hoarse beyond belief.

Jiang Fan didn't say anything, but bent down and scooped her up.

With one hand supporting her back and the other hand slipping under her knees, she carried her horizontally towards the bathroom.

Shen Nian buried her face in the crook of his neck, her body covered in sweat and sticky.

Is it heavy?

"It weighs less than 100 pounds, what's so heavy about it?"

Shen Nian snorted, too weak to argue.

The bathroom light was turned on, casting a warm yellow glow.

Jiang Fan put her in the bathtub, turned on the shower to test the water temperature, and then rinsed her off when it was just right.

Shen Nian leaned against the bathtub wall with her eyes closed, her head tilted back, revealing a section of her slender neck.

Jiang Fan squatted by the bathtub, running his fingers through her hair, rubbing the shampoo into her hair strand by strand.

Shen Nian opened her eyes, looking at him through her misty eyes.

Aren't you coming in?

Jiang Fan paused for a second.

Are you sure?

Shen Nian turned her face away, and the tips of her ears turned red again.

"...Why ask so many questions?"

-

When Shen Nian came out of the bathroom, she was completely out of power.

Jiang Fan wrapped her in a bath towel, dried her hair, and tucked her into the blanket.

I sat by the bed for two minutes to make sure her breathing was steady before I got up.

Pick up the pillow from the floor and put it back next to her head, then turn off the bedside lamp.

He got dressed and quietly opened the door.

After swiping his card to enter his room, Jiang Fan stood leaning against the door for a few seconds as the door closed.

The system panel pops up.

[Deep Compatibility x2, Lifespan +1000]

Current lifespan: 28300 points

[Remaining lifespan: 39 days and 5 hours]

Jiang Fan turned off the control panel and threw himself onto the bed.

He closed his eyes and set an alarm for eight o'clock.

-

Nine o'clock the next morning.

Jiang Fan sat on the sofa in the hotel lobby, scrolling through his phone.

The total number of views on topics related to "The Wind Rises" exceeded 300 million, and Shen Nian's personal Weibo account gained 1.2 million followers overnight.

The clip of the performance taken on Douyin (TikTok) has garnered over ten million views, with the comments section filled with questions about when the full version will be released.

Various marketing accounts reacted even faster—"Midnight Music Hall" published a long article at 3 a.m. titled "Shen Nian: The Wind Rises, She's Back," which has already garnered over a million views.

The elevator made a "ding".

Shen Nian and Zhou Yutong walked out from inside.

Zhou Yutong, dragging her suitcase, waved to Jiang Fan and called out, "Good morning, Brother Fan."

Shen Nian walked behind.

Wearing a white sweatshirt, jeans, and her hair tied in a low ponytail.

She was without makeup, but she looked great – her skin was radiant, and she walked with much lighter steps.

She glanced at Jiang Fan out of the corner of her eye, then quickly looked away, quickening her pace slightly as she passed by him, her ears still covered in a thin layer of pink.

Zhou Yutong chased after her for a few steps: "Sister Nian, why are you walking so fast?"

-

At 2 PM, the Rainbow Bridge landed.

Li Cheng was already waiting at the airport.

As soon as the car entered the elevated road, Zhou Yutong fell asleep against the window, her mouth slightly open and drool almost dripping out.

"Cheng-ge, let's take Shen Nian home to rest first," Jiang Fan said to Li Cheng. "We'll go straight to the company."

"receive."

When the car arrived at Shen Nian's apartment building, Zhou Yutong was shaken awake and groggily dragged her suitcase out of the car.

Before getting out of the car, Shen Nian glanced at Jiang Fan and finally said, "Then I'll go up first."

Jiang Fan hummed in agreement.

The car door closed, and Li Cheng glanced at it in the rearview mirror.

"Shen Nian is in great spirits today, she's a completely different person from before."

"I'm in a good mood because I got first place."

"Yeah, that's true." Li Cheng stepped on the gas and merged into traffic. "By the way, could I have a copy of your rock sugar pear soup recipe? I've been feeling a bit feverish lately—"

"Drive your car."

-

Fanyin Studio.

Li Cheng brewed two cups of tea and brought them over, then pulled up a chair and sat opposite Jiang Fan.

"Let's get down to business first. Penguin Music is pressing us hard for 'The Wind Rises,' asking when it will be released. My suggestion is to strike while the iron is hot, the sooner the better."

"Next Monday, please." Jiang Fan took the teacup. "Have Zhang Lei prepare the featured placement, the homepage banner, and the top spot on the new song chart. We can't leave any of them out."

"Okay." Li Cheng wrote it down in his notebook and then looked up at him.

"Anyone free tonight? Let's go out for a couple of drinks. To celebrate."

Jiang Fan put down the teacup.

I have plans tonight.

Li Cheng paused for a moment, then gave a knowing look.

"Xu Qingya?"

Jiang Fan did not deny it.

"Fine," Li Cheng shrugged. "How about tomorrow? Tomorrow's fine, isn't it? Can't we even have time for a drink together as brothers?"

"Not tomorrow either."

Li Cheng's expression froze.

"...Su Yuyan?"

Jiang Fan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and didn't reply.

Li Cheng stood up, the chair leg scraping against the floor.

He walked to the door, put his hand on the doorknob, turned back and tossed out a sentence:

"You'll crash and burn sooner or later."

-

Jiang Fan sat down in front of the computer.

He didn't rush to deal with his work; instead, he opened the system panel first.

Shen Nian ranked first in the first episode, so her position is safe. However, she cannot perform poorly in the second episode, otherwise her overall ranking will drop, and she will be in danger in the third episode.

We need to choose a song that can keep her calm and composed.

"The Wind Rises" plays on empathy; if the second song follows the same path, the audience will get tired of it.

Jiang Fan opened the system store and entered the following filter criteria: female voice, mid-to-high vocal range, strong rhythm, and high recognizability.

He read through them one by one.

Too old. Too niche. Mismatched vocal range.

Turn to the second page.

My gaze lingered on a song.

Jiang Fan stared at the song title for five seconds.

The chorus of this song features a series of leaps in the high register, requiring extremely high breath control, but the melody is very memorable and can be remembered after just one listen.

Most importantly—this song is not sentimental.

This was just enough to shut Tang Yingxue up.

Jiang Fan clicked "redeem".

[Exchange for "Invisible Wings"? Consumes 200 Life Points]

confirm.

[Exchange successful. Current lifespan: 28100 points]

The lyrics and melody refreshed my mind.

Jiang Fan closed his eyes and listened to it once, finding it increasingly suitable.

He opened his eyes, picked up the pen on the table, and began writing on the musical staff.

I wrote two lines when my phone rang.

Xu Qingya.

Xu Qingya: What time will you arrive?

Jiang Fan glanced at the time.

"6:30."

After replying to the message, Jiang Fan placed his phone face down on the table and continued writing the score.

My phone rang again while I was writing the chorus.

Su Yuyan.

Su Yuyan: "Poisonous Perfume" will be released tomorrow, so nervous [facepalm]

Su Yuyan: Tomorrow night's celebration banquet, just the two of us, the usual place?

Jiang Fan typed with one hand: "Didn't you say you weren't going?"

Su Yuyan: I'm thinking about it again!

Jiang Fan turned his phone over and continued writing.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, filling the entire office with a soft, rustling sound.

As darkness slowly fell outside the window, at 5:20, Jiang Fan put down his pen.

The lyrics and music framework for "Invisible Wings" are complete, and the arrangement direction has also been marked.

I'll rest tomorrow, and give it to Shen Nian the day after tomorrow so she can start practicing.

He stood up, grabbed his coat and car keys.

As I passed Li Cheng's workstation, Li Cheng didn't even look up: "Go on, take care of yourself."

"..."

Jiang Fan ignored him and went out.

Li Cheng shook his head at the computer screen, opened a food delivery app, and ordered a single-serving meal for himself.

"Sigh, even single people can't afford to drink celebratory drinks."