A song called "The You of the Past" has prompted the entire internet to beg me not to leav

"Ring ring ring!"

At 11 p.m. on the third floor of the Xinghai Academy of Arts' comprehensive office building, the five landlines in the admissions office were ringing incessantly, like an overloaded alarm.

Old Liu, sporting two enormous dark circles under his eyes, grabbed the phone on his left, his voice hoarse as if he had swallowed sand.

"Feed? Xinghai Arts School Admissions Office... Yes, Lin Yan is from our school."

"What? You want to know which dormitory Lin Yan stayed in? And you want to pay extra to reserve that bed?"

"Comrade, this is a proper school, we don't do those 'famous people's former residences' stuff! *beep*..."

He had just slapped the phone back when the red-lined private jet on his right started calling again.

"Hey? Looking for Principal Chen? He's not here... Oh? You're the top scorer in the college entrance exam in Jiangnan Province? You want to apply to our vocal music department?"

"Wait a minute! Shouldn't the top scorer go to Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"For Lin Yan? For 'The Wind Rises'?"

That's absolutely outrageous.

A series of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Principal Chen Boping, beaming with excitement, stormed into the admissions office, followed by two equally enthusiastic vice-principals.

"Old Liu! How's the situation?!" Chen Boping slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup lid jump.

"It's paralyzed." Old Liu pointed blankly at the computer screen.

"The school's official website server crashed ten minutes ago. The campus forum's traffic is five hundred times its historical peak."

"Right now, more than half of the calls are from recent art school graduates and their parents. And..."

Old Liu swallowed hard: "And the Xinghai City Tourism Bureau asked if we could put up a sign at the school gate that says 'Lin Yan's Check-in Spot,' and they'll pay for the road repairs."

Chen Boping took a deep breath, and his face broke into a wide smile.

"Worth it! That was so damn awesome! We definitely made the right choice hiring them."

The usually refined and scholarly principal suddenly swore.

"Two hundred pounds of seafood and three whole roasted lambs in exchange for our golden reputation for the next ten years! A steal!"

"Call the network center immediately and upgrade the server capacity! Get me a high-definition video of Lin Yan singing 'The Wind Rises' and have it featured on the homepage for 24 hours straight!"

Meanwhile, the entire internet has been overturned by the video from Lin Yan's gala.

The top ten trending topics on Weibo are incredibly popular, dominating the entire list.

#LinYanTheWindIsRising# (Breaking News)

#I once turned my youth into her# (Breaking news)

#Xinghai Arts School Admissions Brochure# (Hot)

#Lin Yan Roasted Whole Lamb# (Boiling Point)

The most popular direct shot clip garnered over 80 million views in just three hours.

The comments section has completely become a scene of massive breaches of defenses.

"At 2 a.m., I was listening to this song on repeat in the empty office, and I wasn't sleepy at all."

"The moment 'Stopping Along the Way' came out, my youth was completely dead; it should just be cremated."

"That question, 'Is the whole roasted lamb ready yet?' was absolutely mind-blowing! Brother Yan, please have some decency! I was in tears, but I also laughed so hard I blew snot bubbles out of my nose!"

Meanwhile, the culprit was comfortably nestled in the back seat of a black Maybach.

The carriage was very quiet.

Lin Yan was holding a plate of sliced ​​roasted lamb leg, eating and taking some with him.

"Old Chen is easy to get along with; I had a very enjoyable meal today."

Shen Qingqiu sat down beside him.

She took off her high heels, stepping barefoot onto the soft wool carpet, her arms crossed over her chest.

The black dress accentuated her cool and noble demeanor, yet her eyes held a hint of warmth.

Looking at Lin Yan's expression, she couldn't help but chuckle.

To outsiders, he's a genius producer who sweeps the music scene and effortlessly throws out hit songs, but in private, all he cares about is making a living.

"Boss, is tonight considered overtime? I not only made an appearance, but also helped my alma mater generate an incredible amount of traffic."

"With this performance, we'll have Old Chen settle the appearance fee later. One whole roasted lamb isn't enough."

Shen Qingqiu looked at him but ignored him.

The light from the streetlights swept across her profile in segments.

The carriage was eerily quiet. The bodyguards and assistants in the front row kept their eyes straight ahead and didn't dare to breathe.

Shen Qingqiu suddenly spoke softly, her voice extremely low.

"Lin Yan".

"Hmm?" Lin Yan closed his eyes, still savoring the taste of the mutton.

Shen Qingqiu's mind was filled with the image of him singing against the light on stage.

That last line of lyrics hooked at her heart like a hook.

She looked at her interlaced fingers, her voice slightly hoarse.

"Let your heart's desires drift away with the wind. In the name of love, are you still willing...?"

These are clearly lyrics.

But in the quiet carriage, when the cool and aloof diva read it out in that voice, the ambiguity between them exploded.

Lin Yan opened her eyes.

He caught a glimpse of Shen Qingqiu's slightly reddened ears. With his experience of living two lives, how could he not hear the unspoken meaning?

This is definitely a subtle way of testing the waters and confessing one's feelings through the lyrics.

But he's an absolute straight man, with no woman in his heart. He's a god when it comes to drawing his sword, and when it comes to dating, making money and eating is much more appealing.

Lin Yan's eyes darted around, and she suddenly sat up straight, her voice firm and resolute:

"I'd be happy to! I'm eating your food and living in your house. Of course, if I could get a raise, I'd be a hundred times more willing!"

"puff......"

The assistant in the front row almost fell headfirst into the instrument panel.

The bodyguard's hand trembled, and the car swerved in an "S" shape on the empty road.

The pink bubbles that had just appeared in the carriage were smashed to smithereens by Lin Yan's straight-man iron fist.

Shen Qingqiu's face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

She gritted her teeth and stared intently at Lin Yan. If looks could kill, Lin Yan would have been sliced ​​into pieces long ago.

"Lin Yan, is there nothing else on your mind besides money and food?" she squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.

Lin Yan spread his hands confidently: "Boss, is there anything in this world purer than making money and living off others?"

"Get out!" Shen Qingqiu grabbed a cushion and smashed it hard in his face.

Lin Yan caught it steadily, placed it behind his head, and closed his eyes in an extremely comfortable position.

"Okay, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there, and remember to put the lamb leg in the trunk in the refrigerator; we'll make lamb noodles tomorrow morning."

Seeing his shameless way of falling asleep instantly, Shen Qingqiu rolled her eyes in anger.

But after a while, looking at his peaceful sleeping face, the anger in her eyes turned into helplessness.

She picked up a thin blanket and gently covered Lin Yan with it.

"What a blockhead," she muttered softly, her voice gentle as water.