Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Shen Nian finally collapsed weakly onto the pillow, her wet hair spread out on both sides of her shoulders, feeling completely drained.

Jiang Fan reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling the blanket up a little.

"Your hair isn't dry yet, go blow-dry it."

"I don't want to move."

"You'll catch a cold."

"You're responsible if you catch a cold."

Shen Nian added, "Anyway, you can cure it too."

The voice grew softer and softer, the last few words trailing off indistinctly, until it was impossible to tell whether it was speaking or just mumbling in its sleep.

Jiang Fan glanced down at it.

Fell asleep.

His breathing was steady, his eyelashes were close to his eyes, and his lips were slightly parted, showing a completely relaxed expression.

The system panel lit up briefly in the corner of the screen.

[Deep Compatibility x2, Lifespan +1000]

Current lifespan: 34800

[Remaining lifespan: 36 days and 18 hours]

Jiang Fan glanced at the numbers, reached out and brushed Shen Nian's wet hair, which was scattered on the pillow, aside, and closed his eyes.

-

The next day, the two arrived at the studio at nine o'clock in the morning.

Zhou Yutong was sitting at the front desk scrolling through her phone when she saw the two of them come in one after the other. Her eyes darted around as she greeted them: "Good morning, Brother Fan and Sister Nian."

Shen Nian nodded in agreement, but Jiang Fan ignored her and went straight into his office.

Open the data panel in the Penguin Music backend.

The cover of "The Wind Rises" features Shen Nian's look on the stage of "The Voice of China"—a white shirt dress, clean and pure.

9:58.

Li Cheng walked in carrying several cups of coffee.

Zhou Yutong followed Li Cheng in and squatted down next to Jiang Fan's chair, staring at the computer screen.

"One minute left."

"Fifty seconds left."

"Zhou Yutong, can you please stop the countdown?" Shen Nian's voice drifted over from the sofa.

"Thirty seconds!"

"..."

10 o'clock sharp.

The Penguin Music homepage has been refreshed.

A pop-up window appears on the screen—a photo of Shen Nian, the words "The Wind Rises," and a line of smaller text below: Lyrics and music by Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan refreshed the backend.

Views: 1247.

Refresh again.

8903.

Shen Nian found herself standing behind Jiang Fan, staring at the numbers on the screen.

10:03.

Views: 47,682.

The comments section is already flooded with messages.

"Oh my god, is this the song from that live stream? The full version is amazing!"

"Shen Nian, my Shen Nian! Ahhhhhh!"

"Wishing Shen Nian releases an album!" (From the front row)

Ten past ten.

The number of views has exceeded 200,000.

Shen Nian stared at the numbers flashing on the screen, her fingers gripping the back of Jiang Fan's chair tightly.

Zhou Yutong had gone from squatting to kneeling, her hands clasped together, muttering incantations.

Li Cheng stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the data in the backend jump up.

"Two hundred thousand in ten minutes, at this speed, breaking ten million today is no problem."

"Mm." Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair.

Li Cheng glanced at him: "Could you act a little more excited?"

"I'm so excited. I'm really thrilled."

Li Cheng rolled his eyes: "Fine, whatever makes you happy."

Shen Nian was still standing to the side, her eyes fixed on the string of numbers on the screen.

I tried to suppress the corners of my mouth, but I couldn't.

"Go practice your singing." Jiang Fan turned his chair to look at her. "Practice the chorus again. Did you remember the feeling from yesterday's fifth take?"

"I've got it."

"Then go. You don't need to worry about the data."

Shen Nian hummed in agreement and turned to walk towards the recording studio.

Zhou Yutong got up from the ground, dusted off her knees, and ran out after him.

As he reached the door, he turned back and gave Jiang Fan a thumbs-up, silently mouthing the words:

"Brother Fan is awesome."

Jiang Fan waved his hand and turned back to the computer.

I opened the music production software and brought up the sheet music for "As You Wish" that I wrote yesterday.

The arrangement of this song is very sophisticated.

With the piano as the foundation, the guitar as an embellishment, and the trumpet as the soul of the song—the orchestra builds up layer by layer in the chorus, with emotions rising in waves.

Jiang Fan put on his headphones and began laying out the tracks one by one.

-

12:30 PM.

Zhou Yutong brought in the takeout and placed one on Jiang Fan's table.

"Brother Fan, dinner's ready. I've already sent it over to Sister Nian's."

Jiang Fan hummed in agreement, took off his headphones, and opened the takeout box.

I had just taken a couple of bites of food when my WeChat notification rang.

Xu Qingya.

"Xu Qingya: Shen Nian's song got three million plays in three hours?"

Xu Qingya: Jiang Fan, did you give all your best songs to others?

Jiang Fan put down his chopsticks and typed: "Yours is better. I'll give it to you tomorrow."

Xu Qingya: If you're trying to fool me, I'll break all three of your legs.

Jiang Fan's lips twitched as he looked at the message.

This woman's words are getting harsher and harsher.

He put down his phone and continued eating.

-

3 PM.

Jiang Fan looked up from the music production software, rubbed his eyes, and casually refreshed the backend.

Views: 487 million.

Number of comments: 12.

Penguin Music New Song Chart - Third.

The first two songs are Su Yuyan's "Poisonous Perfume" and "The Wind Blows".

Shen Nian's "The Wind Rises" closely follows Su Tianhou's.

At that moment, the office door was pushed open.

Shen Nian walked in with a glass of water and sat down on the sofa.

A thin layer of sweat covered her forehead, and the collar of her hoodie had been loosened, revealing a section of her collarbone.

"Finished practicing?"

"Yeah, I sang it ten times today." Shen Nian took a sip of water. "I've got the hang of the chorus. Can you listen to the whole thing for me tomorrow?"

"it is good."

Jiang Fan glanced at her.

Her face showed the fatigue of having finished singing practice, but her eyes were bright.

She is a completely different person from the one who was hiding in her rented room and afraid to go out a month ago.

"Go back and rest first, come back tomorrow morning."

Shen Nian placed the water glass on the coffee table.

"I'm not so frail anymore." She leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs. "I don't need to take my medicine anymore."

Jiang Fan turned around from in front of the computer.

"When did it stop?"

"Before going to Xingcheng, I couldn't sleep if I didn't eat, and my mind was full of all sorts of random thoughts."

She paused.

"Since I met you..."

Halfway through her sentence, Shen Nian raised her water glass to cover half of her face.

"...Once we're together, we won't need that anymore."

Jiang Fan didn't reply, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Shen Nian put down the cup and rubbed her face with both hands.

Don't make that face.

"What kind of expression is that?"

"That smug look."

"I don't."

"You have."

Shen Nian glared at him and stood up from the sofa.

"I'm going back now."

"Okay. Go to bed early tonight."

Shen Nian opened the door, took two steps, and then peeked back in.

"You're not coming tonight?"

Jiang Fan paused for a moment on the keyboard.

"You want me to come?"

"No. I was just asking."

The door closed.

Zhou Yutong's voice came from the corridor: "Sister Nian, why is your face red again?"

"Zhou Yutong, aren't you annoying? You ask me every day. If you ask again, I'll dock your pay."

"I was wrong, Sister Nian!"

The sound has faded into the distance.

Jiang Fan smiled and shook his head, then turned back to the screen.

It was getting dark outside the window, and only the light from the computer screen illuminated Jiang Fan's face in the office.

As the final note of "As You Wish" fades away.

He went through the entire arrangement from beginning to end, nodded in satisfaction, exported the file, and saved it to a USB drive.

Jiang Fan took off his headphones, leaned back in his chair, and put his hands behind his head.

He thought of Tang Yingxue.

A woman who is a level above Xu Qingya in terms of compatibility.

In the previous episode, her comments about Shen Nian might have received even more votes from the jury if Jay Chou hadn't chimed in.

The second episode of "The Voice of Heaven" will be recorded in a few days.

Tang Yingxue, you'd better behave yourself.

otherwise--

You might not be among the Four Heavenly Queens anymore.