71: Chapter 71 There's only one way to save her voice.

"Sister Nian, I'm here!"

Zhou Yutong rushed in carrying a breakfast bag, not even having had time to change out of her canvas shoes.

Then—she froze.

Jiang Fan had one arm around Shen Nian's waist, while Shen Nian rested one hand on his shoulder.

The two of them were walking out from the bathroom doorway in an impossibly intimate posture.

The key was that Shen Nian was wearing a loose silk pajama top, the neckline skewed to one side, revealing half of her shoulder.

Her hair was messy, and her face still carried a flush that hadn't quite faded.

The three of them looked at each other.

The air was silent for about three seconds.

The breakfast bag in Zhou Yutong's hand hit the floor with a "thud."

White soy milk began to leak out from the opening of the plastic bag.

"Ah, I—I—I didn't see anything!!"

Zhou Yutong turned and ran out the door, her right hand already diving into her pocket to reach for her phone.

"You stop right there."

Jiang Fan's voice wasn't loud, but Zhou Yutong's heels felt as if they were nailed to the floor, her entire body freezing in place.

"Pick up the breakfast."

"Oh, oh, oh."

Zhou Yutong squatted down to pick up the bag; a small half-cup of soy milk had spilled, but the steamed buns were fine.

Shen Nian wished she could shrink into the wall.

She pulled back the hand resting on Jiang Fan's shoulder, grabbed her neckline to pull it up, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's not what you think."

Zhou Yutong nodded vigorously, so hard it felt like her neck might break.

"I know, I know, Sister Nian, you don't need to explain. I didn't see anything, I don't know anything, my lips are sealed—"

"She has a fever and weak legs, so I'm helping her to the bathroom." Jiang Fan let go of Shen Nian's waist, offering a rare explanation.

Zhou Yutong's head nodded even faster.

"Yes, yes, yes, the bathroom, that's normal, very normal—"

While she said "normal," her eyes uncontrollably scanned back and forth between Jiang Fan and Shen Nian.

Her expression was written with "I don't believe you for a second."

Shen Nian held onto the wall and slowly shuffled two steps, then looked back at Zhou Yutong.

That look needed no translation—

Zhou Yutong pulled her hand out of her pocket, folded both hands obediently in front of her, and stood there like a schoolchild who had done something wrong.

"I'll go set up the breakfast."

Zhou Yutong slipped into the kitchen, placed the breakfast bag on the counter, and while tidying things up, couldn't help but peek outside again.

Jiang Fan had already helped Shen Nian sit back down on the edge of the bed.

Shen Nian lowered her head, clutching the corner of the quilt with both hands, the tips of her ears bright red.

"Let's check your temperature again." Jiang Fan picked up the thermometer from the nightstand and handed it to her.

Shen Nian took it, tucked it under her arm, and didn't make a sound.

In the quiet room, only the rustling sound of Zhou Yutong setting the table from the direction of the kitchen could be heard.

Five minutes later, the thermometer was taken out.

Thirty-seven point six degrees.

"It's gone down quite a bit." Jiang Fan put the thermometer back. "Stay home and rest well today, don't let your mind wander."

Shen Nian nodded.

"Take your medicine on time."

"Mm."

Jiang Fan walked out of the bedroom.

In the kitchen, Zhou Yutong was arranging the steamed buns on a plate. Seeing Jiang Fan come out, her movements paused.

"Brother Fan."

"Mm."

"Did you really sleep on the sofa last night?"

Jiang Fan glared at her.

Zhou Yutong immediately pulled her head back. "You definitely slept on the sofa, I was just asking."

She placed the last steamed bun onto the plate.

"Brother Fan, um... will Sister Nian's illness really be better before the recording?"

"You're responsible for making sure she eats well and sleeps well, you don't need to worry about anything else."

"Also, about this morning—"

Zhou Yutong cut in with the answer: "What matter? Nothing happened this morning. When I arrived, Sister Nian was lying on the bed alone, and you, Brother Fan, were sleeping on the sofa. The scene was perfectly normal and healthy."

She said it all in one breath, looking at him with big, blinking eyes.

Jiang Fan grabbed his jacket and left.

Zhou Yutong waited until he closed the door before she leaned against the counter and let out a long sigh.

She carried the plate toward the bedroom.

Shen Nian was leaning against the headboard, the quilt pulled up to her chest, the flush on her face having faded somewhat.

"Sister Nian, eat breakfast."

"Mm."

Zhou Yutong placed the plate on the nightstand and pulled up a chair to sit beside her.

Shen Nian picked up a steamed bun and took a bite. Her throat still hurt when she swallowed, and she frowned.

Zhou Yutong quickly handed her the soy milk.

"Sister Nian, did you drink the pear water that Brother Fan stewed?"

Shen Nian, biting into the bun, gave an "Mm" of confirmation.

Zhou Yutong's mind had already automatically filled in the whole scene—Brother Fan holding the bowl, feeding Sister Nian the pear water spoonful by spoonful, the lights dim, BGM playing—

"What are you thinking about?" Shen Nian's hoarse voice pulled her back.

"Nothing, nothing, I wasn't thinking about Brother Fan feeding you water."

Jiang Fan returned to his room, showered, changed clothes, and arrived at the company at 9:20.

Li Cheng walked into Jiang Fan's office holding a tablet.

"How is Shen Nian doing?"

"The fever has broken, but her throat is still the same."

Li Cheng sighed. "Is Zhou Yutong looking after her today?"

"Mm."

Li Cheng nodded and placed the tablet on the desk.

"'blue and white porcelain' and 'nocturne' went live today."

Jiang Fan sat down, picked up the tablet, and glanced at it.

Manager Zhang Lei had given them S-tier recommendation slots.

Tencent Music's homepage banner, splash screen pop-ups, new song recommendations—every resource they could provide was maxed out.

Nine hours since launch.

'blue and white porcelain'—18.58 million streams.

'nocturne'—17.2 million streams.

He opened the backend and clicked into the Hot Songs chart.

'sorrow relief' was ranked third. It was still consistently behind 'Red Bean' and 'the woman who easily gets hurt.'

On the New Songs chart, 'blue and white porcelain' was first, and 'nocturne' was second.

And based on the current growth rate, these two songs would soon break into the top five of the overall Hot Songs chart.

Added to 'sorrow relief,' 'the ordinary road,' and 'deep sea,' which had already gone live two days ago—five songs were on the charts simultaneously.

In the entire Chinese music scene, you couldn't find a second person who could achieve this.

"'sorrow relief' still hasn't surpassed Xu Qingya on the Hot Songs chart."

Li Cheng glanced at him. "Are you really listening to her?"

Jiang Fan didn't respond.

"By the way, regarding 'The Sound of Nature,' Director Fang Yiming's assistant called today to confirm if Shen Nian can participate in the competition as scheduled."

"She can."

Li Cheng looked at him for two seconds. "Give me the bottom line, what exactly is your plan to get Shen Nian back to a state where she can perform on stage within a week?"

Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair. "Let her rest well, and her throat will naturally get better."

"What if—"

"There is no 'what if.'"

Li Cheng opened his mouth, then swallowed his words. Before leaving, he muttered, "You, talking to you is fucking exhausting."

The door closed. Jiang Fan's expression darkened.

He brought up the system panel.

[Notification: Deep Compatibility with the target can accelerate the repair of her immune system.]

He stared at this line of text for a long time. This was the fastest and only way.

But Shen Nian was not Xu Qingya, nor was she Su Yuyan.

She had been hurt by Hua Xingyu and trampled underfoot by the entire industry.

This past year, she hadn't even dared to leave the house, unable to even manage normal social interaction.

She trusted him because he had pulled her up, helped her with her lawsuit, and paved the way for her.

Now, asking him to open his mouth and say to Shen Nian—sleep with me, and your throat will get better?

Jiang Fan reached up and pressed his temples. No matter how you phrased it, it was wrong.

He closed the panel, his gaze landing on the manuscript of Shen Nian's song 'the wind rises' on the desk.

In order to record this song well, Shen Nian had spent all day soaking in the Recording Studio, even eating her meals inside.

But he had paved the road, and he had set the direction. He couldn't shirk the responsibility.

A long time later, he dialed Zhou Yutong's number.

"Brother Fan!" Zhou Yutong answered quickly.

"Has Shen Nian eaten?"

"She ate two steamed buns and drank a small half-cup of soy milk."

"What about the medicine?"

"She just finished it, she's sleeping now."

There was a silence on the other end of the line for a second.

"Brother Fan, are you still coming over tonight?"

"We'll see about tonight."

After hanging up, Jiang Fan tossed his phone onto the desk.

If she recovered normally, Shen Nian's throat couldn't possibly be healed in five days.

When the time came for 'The Sound of Nature' recording, she would stand on stage, and when she opened her mouth, it would be hoarse—

All the previous preparation would be in vain.

The little bit of confidence Shen Nian had managed to build up would be crushed once again.

Jiang Fan turned his chair around to face the window.

The system had given him an answer. But this answer was not one he could decide unilaterally.