87: Chapter 87 You'll Crash Sooner or Later

Shen Nian's kiss was laced with greed.

By the time Jiang Fan flipped over and pressed her down, the belt of her bathrobe had long since come undone. She lay sprawled across the white sheets, her hair spread out in damp strands.

Her fingers dug into Jiang Fan's back, her nails sinking into his skin. She let out a few intermittent cries before biting down on her own wrist.

Jiang Fan pulled her hand away.

"Don't worry, the soundproofing in this hotel is excellent."

Shen Nian glared at him, her ears flushed bright red.

"Get lost—ah~"

—

Once it was over, Shen Nian lay paralyzed on the bed, not wanting to move even a finger.

The sheets were crumpled into a heap, and the pillow had fallen to the floor at some point.

Jiang Fan sat up and looked down at her.

Her hair was plastered to her face, her neck and collarbone were flushed, and tear tracks that hadn't yet dried still hung at the corners of her eyes—

"Go take a shower."

Shen Nian didn't move.

"My legs are weak."

Just two words, her voice raspy beyond belief.

Jiang Fan said nothing; he leaned over and scooped her up.

With one hand supporting her back and the other hooked under her knees, he carried her horizontally toward the bathroom.

Shen Nian buried her face in the crook of his neck, her body covered in sticky sweat.

"Am I heavy?"

"You don't even weigh a hundred pounds. What's there to be heavy about?"

Shen Nian hummed, lacking the strength to retort.

The bathroom light clicked on, casting a warm yellow glow.

Jiang Fan placed her in the bathtub, turned on the showerhead to test the water temperature, and only turned it on her once it was just right.

Shen Nian closed her eyes and leaned against the tub wall, her head tilted back, exposing a slender stretch of her neck.

Jiang Fan crouched by the edge of the tub, his fingers weaving through her hair, working the shampoo into a lather strand by strand.

Shen Nian opened her eyes, looking at him through the misty steam.

"Aren't you coming in?"

Jiang Fan's movements paused for a second.

"Are you sure?"

Shen Nian turned her face away, the tips of her ears turning red again.

"...Why are you asking so much?"

—

When they emerged from the bathroom, Shen Nian was completely drained.

Jiang Fan wrapped her in a bath towel, dried her hair, and tucked her into the duvet.

He sat by the bed for two minutes, confirming her breathing had steadied, before getting up.

He picked up the pillow from the floor, tucked it back beside her head, and turned off the bedside lamp.

He got dressed and quietly pulled open the room door.

Swiping his card to enter his own room, the moment the door closed, Jiang Fan leaned against the door panel for a few seconds.

The system panel popped up.

[Deep Compatibility × 2, Lifespan Value + 1000]

[Current Lifespan Value: 28300 points]

[Remaining Lifespan: 39 days 5 hours]

Jiang Fan closed the panel and threw himself onto the bed.

He closed his eyes and set an alarm for eight o'clock.

—

The next morning at nine o'clock.

Jiang Fan sat on the sofa in the hotel lobby, scrolling through his phone.

The total view count for topics related to "the wind rises" had exceeded 300 million, and Shen Nian's personal Weibo had gained 1.2 million followers overnight.

The performance clip cut on Douyin had over 10 million views, with the comments section uniformly asking when the full version would be released.

Various marketing accounts reacted even faster—the "Late Night Music Hall" posted a long article at three in the morning titled "Shen Nian: the wind rises, she has returned," which had already surpassed a million views.

The elevator "dinged."

Shen Nian and Zhou Yutong walked out.

Zhou Yutong was dragging a suitcase; seeing Jiang Fan, she waved and called out, "Morning, Brother Fan."

Shen Nian walked behind her.

She was wearing a white hoodie and jeans, her hair tied in a low ponytail.

She had no makeup on, but her overall state was excellent—her skin was translucent, and her steps were much lighter.

She swept a glance at Jiang Fan from the corner of her eye, then quickly looked away, speeding up her pace by half a beat. As she walked past him, a faint pink hue still lingered on the tips of her ears.

Zhou Yutong chased after her a few steps: "Sister Nian, why are you walking so fast?"

—

Two o'clock in the afternoon, landed at Hongqiao Airport.

Li Cheng was already waiting at the airport.

As soon as the car got on the elevated highway, Zhou Yutong fell asleep against the window, her mouth slightly open, drool almost dripping out.

"Brother Cheng, take Shen Nian home to rest first," Jiang Fan said to Li Cheng. "We'll go straight to the Studio."

"Received."

When the car arrived downstairs at Shen Nian's apartment, Zhou Yutong was shaken awake and dragged her suitcase out of the car in a daze.

Before getting out, Shen Nian looked at Jiang Fan and finally only said, "Then I'm going up first."

Jiang Fan gave an "Mm."

The car door closed, and Li Cheng glanced through the rearview mirror.

"Shen Nian's in great shape today, like a completely different person compared to before she left."

"She took first place; she's in a good mood."

"That's true." Li Cheng stepped on the gas and merged into traffic. "By the way, can you give me a copy of that rock sugar and pear recipe? I've been feeling a bit inflamed lately—"

"Just drive your car."

—

Fanyin Studio.

Li Cheng brewed two cups of tea, brought them over, and pulled up a chair to sit across from Jiang Fan.

"Let's talk business first. Tencent Music is pushing hard for 'the wind rises,' asking when it will go live. My suggestion is to strike while the iron is hot; the sooner, the better."

"Next Monday, then." Jiang Fan took the teacup. "Have Manager Zhang Lei prepare the recommendation spots. Add a homepage banner and top the new song chart; not a single one can be missed."

"Got it." Li Cheng noted it down in his notebook, then looked up at him.

"Free tonight? Let's go out for a couple of drinks. To celebrate."

Jiang Fan set down his teacup.

"I have plans tonight."

Li Cheng paused for a moment, then revealed a knowing expression.

"Xu Qingya?"

Jiang Fan didn't deny it.

"Fine then." Li Cheng shrugged. "How about tomorrow? Tomorrow should be fine, right? We don't even have time to have a drink between brothers?"

"Tomorrow doesn't work either."

Li Cheng's expression stiffened.

"...Su Yuyan?"

Jiang Fan picked up the teacup and took a sip, not responding.

Li Cheng stood up, the legs of his chair scraping against the floor with a loud sound.

He walked to the door, his hand on the doorknob, and threw a parting shot over his shoulder:

"You'll crash sooner or later."

—

Jiang Fan sat down at the computer.

He didn't rush to handle work; he first opened the system panel.

Shen Nian took first place in the first episode. Although her position was safe, the song for the second episode couldn't be a flop, otherwise, if her total ranking dropped, the third episode would be dangerous.

He had to choose a song that would keep her steady.

"the wind rises" played the empathy card; if the second song followed the same path, the audience would suffer from aesthetic fatigue.

Jiang Fan opened the system store and entered the filter criteria: female vocals, mid-to-high range, strong sense of rhythm, high recognizability.

He looked through them one by one.

Too old. Too niche. Vocal range didn't match.

He flipped to the second page.

His gaze rested on a song title.

Jiang Fan stared at the song title for five seconds.

The chorus of this song had a continuous leap in the high-pitched range, which placed extremely high demands on breath control, but the melody had an incredibly strong memory point; one could remember it after listening just once.

The most important thing was—this song wasn't sentimental.

It would perfectly shut Tang Yingxue's mouth.

Jiang Fan clicked exchange.

[Exchange "invisible wings"? Consumes 200 Lifespan Value]

Confirm.

[Exchange successful. Current Lifespan Value: 28100 points]

The lyrics and musical score refreshed in his mind.

Jiang Fan closed his eyes and went through it; the more he listened, the more appropriate he felt it was.

He opened his eyes, picked up the pen on the table, and began to write on the staff paper.

He had written two lines when his phone rang.

Xu Qingya.

[Xu Qingya: What time are you arriving?]

Jiang Fan checked the time.

"Six-thirty."

After replying to the message, Jiang Fan placed his phone face down on the table and continued writing the score.

When he reached the chorus, his phone rang again.

Su Yuyan.

[Su Yuyan: "perfume is poisonous" goes live tomorrow, nervous [covering face]]

[Su Yuyan: Celebration dinner tomorrow night, just the two of us, same place?.]

Jiang Fan typed with one hand: "Didn't you say you weren't going anymore?."

[Su Yuyan: I changed my mind!]

Jiang Fan flipped his phone over and continued writing.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, the rustling sound filling the entire office.

The sky outside slowly darkened. At 5:20, Jiang Fan put down his pen.

The composition and lyrics framework for "invisible wings" were finished, and the Arrangement direction was marked as well.

He would rest for a day tomorrow and give it to Shen Nian the day after, so she could start practicing.

He stood up and grabbed his coat and car keys.

When passing Li Cheng's workstation, Li Cheng didn't even look up: "Go on, go on, take care of your health."

"..."

Jiang Fan ignored him and pushed the door open to leave.

Li Cheng shook his head at the computer screen and opened a food delivery app to order a solo meal set for himself.

"Sigh, a single dog can't even drink a celebratory toast."