126: Chapter 126 What's the rush? Everything will come.

Jiang Fan arrived downstairs at Times Media at 9:30.

The two receptionists saw him, and the one on the left immediately beamed: "Hello, Teacher Jiang! President Su is already inside, you can head straight up."

The one on the right lowered her head to drink water, her cup blocking her face, but her eyes followed Jiang Fan until he entered the elevator.

The girl on the left nudged her with her elbow.

"Stunned?"

"... I'm drinking water."

— —

Jiang Fan walked to the door of Su Yuyan's office.

He pushed the door open and walked in.

Su Yuyan was sitting behind her desk, facing her laptop.

She was wearing a white cashmere sweater today, with a low neckline that exposed the blindingly white skin beneath her collarbone.

Her makeup was light, her hair loose, with a few stray strands hanging by her ears.

"You're here?" She looked up, her fingers gliding across the trackpad. "The Arrangement team arrives at ten, sit for a while."

Jiang Fan walked to the sofa, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea.

His gaze swept over Su Yuyan's profile.

Sunlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, gilding her silhouette.

Jiang Fan held his teacup, his eyes never leaving her profile.

Su Yuyan finally couldn't take it anymore and looked up: "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Jiang Fan set down his teacup. "President Su is becoming more charming by the day."

Su Yuyan hummed, not responding, and went back to her work.

At ten o'clock sharp, there was a knock at the door.

Su Yuyan said, "Come in."

Three people filed in.

Leading them was a man in his fifties, wearing black-rimmed glasses and holding a thick folder.

Behind him were two young assistants, one carrying a laptop bag.

"Teacher Jiang." The leading man greeted him with a smile.

"I've heard so much about you. I've listened to nocturne at least twenty times. That opening Arrangement—it's too wicked. How did you come up with it?"

"This is Old Zhou." Su Yuyan stood up to introduce him. "Our company's chief of Arrangement."

Jiang Fan stood up and shook hands with Old Zhou.

For the next two hours, the four of them went through the Arrangement of 《Sigh》 section by section.

Jiang Fan's explanations were concise, and Old Zhou nodded frequently, occasionally interjecting to ask about technical details.

When they reached the interlude, Jiang Fan took a pencil and drew a circle on the score.

"Here, the timbre of the guzheng and the electronic synthesizer need to interweave, with a layer of ethereal vocal humming in between."

Old Zhou stared at that measure for over ten seconds.

"This approach is brilliant." He pushed up his glasses, looking completely convinced.

Su Yuyan sat by the desk with her cup, the corners of her mouth curling up.

At 5:30, Old Zhou closed the folder and stood up.

Before leaving, he glanced back at Jiang Fan, his expression still not recovered from the shock.

After seeing off the Arrangement team, the office quieted down.

Su Yuyan stood up and stretched.

The hem of her cashmere sweater rode up, revealing a sliver of white skin at her waist.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"Where to?"

"The usual place."

She fished a hat and mask out of the drawer and picked up her bag from the sofa.

Jiang Fan got up and followed.

The two left the building one after the other.

In the underground garage, Su Yuyan opened the door of a black Mercedes G-Wagon and sat in the driver's seat.

Jiang Fan sat in the passenger seat.

The car pulled out of the garage and merged into the evening rush hour traffic.

They finished dinner at 7:30, still at the same private restaurant.

The dishes were about the same as last time—several signature dishes for vitality and kidney health.

After dinner, the two went straight to Su Yuyan's apartment on the Bund.

The car parked in the garage, and Su Yuyan swiped her card to enter the lobby and went straight to the elevator.

She swiped her card to open the door, and the lights in the entryway turned on automatically.

Su Yuyan kicked off her high heels and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.

She tossed her hat and mask onto the entryway cabinet, turned around, and looked at Jiang Fan.

Then she reached out, grabbed the hem of her cashmere sweater, and pulled it out from her waistband.

The sweater slid off her shoulders and fell onto the carpet.

It revealed a black lace bra underneath and a patch of blindingly white skin.

Jiang Fan leaned against the entryway cabinet, not yet having changed his shoes.

Su Yuyan walked over and stood in front of him.

She raised her hand, her fingers hooking the top button of his shirt, undoing it one by one.

The shirt opened.

She pressed her hand against his chest.

The heartbeat came through her palm, steady and strong.

"You performed well today." Su Yuyan's voice was very soft.

Su Yuyan looked up, the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye only a few centimeters from his chin.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Jiang Fan wrapped one arm around her waist, leading her two steps inside and turning into the living room.

Su Yuyan's lower back hit the sofa armrest, and she fell backward, sinking into the cushions.

"Wait a second." Su Yuyan turned her head, wanting to catch her breath.

Jiang Fan didn't wait; he lowered his head, his lips landing on the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye.

Su Yuyan's eyelashes trembled; this was the most sensitive part of her body.

His hand traced down her waistline, his fingertips hooking the edge of the lace.

Su Yuyan gripped the sofa cushion beneath her.

The lace shoulder strap slipped off her left shoulder.

Jiang Fan's lips moved from the teardrop mole all the way down, past her jawline, and stopped at the side of her neck.

Su Yuyan turned her head, giving him more room.

Jiang Fan's hand moved from her waist to her back, his two fingers resting on the bra clasp, twisting gently.

The clasp popped open.

Su Yuyan let out a muffled groan, her hands instinctively shielding her chest.

Jiang Fan pulled her wrists away and pinned them above her head.

Su Yuyan's legs clamped around his waist, her toes curled, the black nail polish shimmering under the warm light.

Three steps away, the Steinway stood silently, its pitch-black mirror surface reflecting the overlapping silhouettes of the two.

The sofa base let out a dull creak.

later, they moved from the sofa to the bedroom.

And later, to the bathroom.

The shower was on, and hot water poured down from above.

Su Yuyan's back pressed against the cold tiled wall, her hair soaked and stuck to her face.

Her legs were draped over Jiang Fan's arms, her whole body suspended, the only point of support being the wall behind her.

"You... let me down..."

The hot water splashed over both of them, steam filling the entire bathroom, turning it into a sea of white.

Su Yuyan saw herself in the reflection of the glass partition and quickly turned her head away.

It was too much.

— —

One o'clock in the morning.

Su Yuyan lay on the pillow, her face buried in it, only half an eye visible.

She had no strength left in her body.

Jiang Fan lay beside her, and at the edge of his retina, the system panel floated up.

[Deep Compatibility × 3, Lifespan Value + 3000]

[Current Lifespan Value: 40900 points]

[Remaining Lifespan: 118 days]

Su Yuyan took a long while to recover before lifting her face from the pillow.

She rolled over, lying on her side to look at him, one hand resting listlessly on his arm.

"Jiang Fan."

"What's wrong?"

Su Yuyan stared at the ceiling for a while.

"You've seen the momentum Xu Qingya has right now. The song as you wish is guaranteed to win a Golden Melody Awards, which basically leaves me behind."

Her tone was very flat when she said this, but the sourness was impossible to suppress.

Su Yuyan turned over, pillowing her head on Jiang Fan's arm.

"Even Tang Yingxue can't sit still, she's asking around about you—she feels her second-place spot is at risk."

Jiang Fan turned his head to look at her.

The teardrop mole at the corner of Su Yuyan's eye was faint in the moonlight, her expression carrying a bit of fatigue and a bit of unwillingness.

"What's the rush?"

Jiang Fan reached out and brushed the hair stuck to her face away.

"You'll have it all."

Su Yuyan buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

After a few seconds of silence, she said: "Then you have to treat me better."

"How am I not treating you well?"

"... Then you have to treat me even better."