110: Chapter 110 Su Yuyan, You Still Have a Long Way to Go

On Wednesday morning, Jiang Fan sent the roadshow schedule to Sister Lan—

Arrive at 2:00 PM, go on stage at 2:30 PM, sing "fleet of time," do a fifteen-minute media interview, and leave at 3:30 PM.

He also sent a message to Su Yuyan.

[Jiang Fan: The roadshow is this afternoon, is everything ready on your end?]

[Su Yuyan: It's been ready for a long time. Don't worry.]

A few seconds passed.

[Su Yuyan: You're not coming?]

[Jiang Fan: Flying to Star City this afternoon.]

[Su Yuyan: Going to keep your little singer company again?]

Jiang Fan didn't reply to this one, put his phone away, picked up his suitcase, and went downstairs.

Only Shen Nian and Li Cheng were in the car.

"Where is Zhou Yutong?" Jiang Fan asked.

"I had her stay in Shanghai." Shen Nian adjusted her shoulder strap. "I can handle this episode on my own."

Jiang Fan glanced at her.

"Fine. Let's go."

—

2:00 PM, Hongqiao Airport.

The two of them went through security and sat down in the waiting area.

Shen Nian was wearing a mask and scrolling through her phone, while Jiang Fan came back with two cups of coffee.

At the same time.

In Shanghai, a university auditorium was packed with audience members and student representatives.

A row of cameras and microphones had been set up in the media area.

In the backstage dressing room, Xu Qingya sat in front of the mirror while Yang Lele fixed her skirt hem beside her.

Today, she was wearing a creamy white French-style dress, her hair worn down, with light, natural makeup.

The roadshow theme was campus youth, so her look leaned towards a student vibe.

Yang Lele smoothed out the wrinkles in the skirt, stood up, and studied her for two seconds: "Sister, you look amazing."

Xu Qingya turned halfway in front of the mirror and nodded with satisfaction.

At this moment, she didn't know that Su Yuyan was the one who had facilitated this project.

The two left the dressing room and walked along the backstage corridor toward the main stage.

The corridor wasn't long; after turning a corner, they reached the waiting area.

Xu Qingya had just turned the corner—when she bumped into someone head-on.

Su Yuyan.

She wore a black suit jacket over a camisole, her hair was tied up, and she had a pair of tassel earrings on.

It was the complete opposite of Xu Qingya's light, natural style—heavy makeup, seductive.

The two women stood face-to-face in the two-meter-wide corridor.

Su Yuyan spoke first.

"Oh, Sister Qingya."

She scanned Xu Qingya, from the hem of her dress to the tips of her hair.

"Congratulations. "as you wish" was accepted by the Civilization Office, and the National Day Gala is confirmed too—you're really the talk of the town lately."

Her tone was warm, her smile standard, like an old friend of many years.

But Xu Qingya had been dealing with this woman for years. She didn't believe a word of it.

"Why are you here?" Xu Qingya asked.

Su Yuyan blinked: "Oh my, didn't Jiang Fan tell you? I'm the one who introduced this theme song project. I also facilitated the connection with Director Lu Chuan, so of course, I have to be here to oversee the roadshow today."

Xu Qingya's smile didn't waver.

She cursed Jiang Fan in her heart.

You just up and flew off to Star City, leaving me here alone to stare down Su Yuyan. What a great scheme.

"Yuyan." Xu Qingya slightly lifted her chin, her tone rising by half an inch, "You still need to work harder. The road is long, after all. Let's all keep it up."

The words sounded humble. But paired with her expression and tone—it was pure humble-bragging.

Su Yuyan's smile held for about 0.3 seconds, and the muscle at the corner of her mouth twitched.

I must stay calm. I won't lower myself to her level.

Su Yuyan repeated this to herself three times, then piled the smile back onto her face.

"Sister Qingya is right. "fleet of time" really suits you; it's full of youthful vibes. Director Lu Chuan can't stop praising you, saying that choosing you to sing it was the best decision for this movie."

Xu Qingya's heart skipped a beat.

On the surface, this was a compliment, but in reality, it was a reminder—I facilitated this project, I introduced Director Lu Chuan, so don't forget who put in the effort to get this song into your hands.

Yang Lele stood behind, her eyes darting between the two divas, not daring to breathe.

"Thanks." Xu Qingya smiled. "Speaking of which, your song "perfume is poisonous" has been doing very well on the charts recently. I was listening to it in the car a couple of days ago; that chorus is really catchy."

Su Yuyan's eyelid twitched.

Both of them knew exactly what "perfume is poisonous" implied.

"It really is catchy." Su Yuyan switched her iced coffee to her other hand and straightened her suit cuff.

The two stood there in the corridor, smiling at each other. The scents of their two perfumes collided in the air.

A staff member poked their head in from the other end of the corridor: "Teacher Xu, you're on stage in five minutes."

"Coming." Xu Qingya dropped her smile and nodded at Su Yuyan. "I'll go on first, then."

"Go ahead, go ahead." Su Yuyan stepped aside.

The moment Xu Qingya walked past her, Su Yuyan's voice drifted from behind. It wasn't loud, just enough for the two of them to hear.

"Sister Qingya."

Xu Qingya didn't stop walking.

"On the left side of your neck—the concealer didn't cover it."

Xu Qingya's step faltered for a half-beat. Her left hand instinctively touched the left side of her neck.

That spot—left by Jiang Fan the night before last. She had applied two layers of concealer in the mirror this morning and had confirmed it was covered before leaving.

Behind her came Su Yuyan's laughter, filled with obvious triumph.

Xu Qingya didn't look back.

She walked into the waiting area, stood behind the curtain, and took out her phone.

[Xu Qingya: Jiang Fan, look at the mess you've caused! Wait until I get my hands on you when you get back.]

After sending it, she shoved the phone to Yang Lele.

"Touch up my makeup. Left side of my neck. Quick."

Yang Lele scrambled to pull the concealer out of her bag and dabbed it onto Xu Qingya's neck twice.

The music started. The host on stage called Xu Qingya's name.

Xu Qingya straightened her skirt, put on the smile a diva should have, and walked onto the stage in her high heels.

Applause and screams washed over her.

—

In the first row of the VIP section.

Su Yuyan sat with her legs crossed, holding a cup of iced coffee.

Xu Qingya began to sing "fleet of time" on stage.

As soon as the prelude started, the entire auditorium quieted down.

The melody was indeed good. Clear and clean, carrying that peculiar bittersweet feeling of recalling youth.

Xu Qingya's voice was naturally girlish, and with this kind of campus theme, it sounded absolutely perfect coming from her.

Su Yuyan took a sip of her coffee.

She had to admit—this song was indeed better suited for Xu Qingya to sing than for her.

Beside her, Director Lu Chuan was listening intently, nodding gently to the beat.

When the chorus arrived, he leaned over and whispered: "This song found the right person."

Su Yuyan smiled, didn't reply, and downed the rest of her coffee in one gulp.

On stage, Xu Qingya finished the last note and held it. The whole audience stood up and applauded.

Su Yuyan clapped twice as well.

—

When the plane landed, it was already dark in Star City.

Jiang Fan turned on his phone; a long list of messages popped up.

The one from Xu Qingya—he read it twice but didn't dare to reply.

He sent a message directly to Su Yuyan.

[Jiang Fan: Did the roadshow go well?]

Su Yuyan's reply came back quickly.

[Su Yuyan: It went well. Your Diva Xu performed very well.]

[Su Yuyan: That mark on her neck looked very good too.]

Jiang Fan stared at the screen for five seconds.

He replied after a long while.

[Jiang Fan: ...I'm already writing your song.]

Su Yuyan didn't reply again.

Jiang Fan put his phone back in his pocket and walked out of the arrival hall with Shen Nian.

—

Su Yuyan's van was driving on the elevated highway, neon lights flickering outside the window.

She locked her phone, put it in her bag, and closed her eyes.

Xu Qingya, just you wait.

The next song, it's my turn.