95: Chapter 95 Tang Yingxue, you'd better behave yourself

Shen Nian finally collapsed limply onto the pillow, her wet hair splayed across her shoulders, her whole being looking as if she had been hollowed out.

Jiang Fan reached out to wrap his arm around her waist and pulled the quilt up.

"Your hair isn't dry yet, go blow-dry it."

"Don't want to move."

"You'll catch a cold."

"If I catch a cold, you're responsible."

Shen Nian added another sentence: "Anyway, you can cure it."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter, the tail end of her words dragging on indistinctly, until the last few words made it impossible to tell if she was speaking or muttering in her sleep.

Jiang Fan lowered his head to take a look.

She was asleep.

Her breathing was steady, her eyelashes pressed against her under-eyes, and her lips were slightly parted, looking completely relaxed.

The system panel lit up in the corner of his vision.

[Deep Compatibility × 2, Lifespan Value + 1000]

[Current Lifespan Value: 34800]

[Remaining Lifespan: 36 days 18 hours]

Jiang Fan glanced at the numbers, reached out to brush the wet hair scattered on the pillow away from Shen Nian's face, and closed his eyes.

— —

The next day, it was already nine in the morning when the two of them arrived at the Studio.

Zhou Yutong was sitting at the front desk scrolling through her phone. Seeing the two of them walk in one after the other, her eyes rolled: "Morning, Brother Fan, Sister Nian."

Shen Nian nodded in acknowledgment. Jiang Fan ignored her and walked straight into the office.

He opened the data panel for the Tencent Music backend.

The cover for "the wind rises" was Shen Nian's look from the "The Sound of Nature" stage — a white shirt dress, clean and pure.

Nine fifty-eight.

Li Cheng walked in carrying a few cups of coffee.

Zhou Yutong followed behind Li Cheng and snuck in as well, crouching down beside Jiang Fan's chair, staring at the computer screen.

"One more minute."

"Fifty seconds left."

"Zhou Yutong, can you stop the countdown?" Shen Nian's voice drifted over from the sofa.

"Thirty seconds!"

"..."

Ten o'clock sharp.

The Tencent Music homepage refreshed.

A pop-up appeared on the screen — a photo of Shen Nian, the words "the wind rises," and a line of small text underneath: Lyrics/Composer / Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan refreshed the backend.

Play count: 1247.

Refreshed again.

8903.

Shen Nian didn't know when she had stood behind Jiang Fan, staring at the numbers on the screen.

Ten-oh-three.

Play count: 47,682.

The comments section had already started flooding.

"Oh my god, is this the song from the livestream that day? The full version is too good!"

"Shen Nian, my Shen Nian, ahhhhhh!"

"Commenting early to wish for Shen Nian to release an album!"

Ten-ten.

Play count surpassed two hundred thousand.

Shen Nian stared at the jumping numbers on the screen, her fingers gripping the back of Jiang Fan's chair never loosening.

Zhou Yutong had gone from crouching to kneeling, her hands clasped together, muttering something under her breath.

Li Cheng stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the backend data jump up.

"Two hundred thousand in ten minutes. At this speed, breaking ten million today won't be a problem."

"Mm." Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair.

Li Cheng glanced at him: "Can you try to look a bit more excited?"

"I am excited. Very excited inside."

Li Cheng rolled his eyes: "Fine, as long as you're happy."

Shen Nian was still standing to the side, her eyes fixed on the string of numbers on the screen.

The corners of her mouth pressed down and down, but she couldn't suppress them.

"Go practice singing." Jiang Fan turned his chair to look at her, "Practice the chorus section again. Do you remember the state you were in on the fifth take yesterday?"

"I remember."

"Then go. You don't need to worry about the data."

Shen Nian gave a "Mm" and turned to head toward the Recording Studio.

Zhou Yutong scrambled up from the floor, patted the dust off her knees, and ran out after her.

When she reached the door, she turned back and gave Jiang Fan a thumbs up, silently mouthing:

"Brother Fan is awesome."

Jiang Fan waved his hand and turned back to the computer.

He opened the Arrangement software and pulled up the score for "as you wish" that he had written yesterday.

The Arrangement of this song is very sophisticated.

Piano as the foundation, guitar as embellishment, trumpet as the soul of the whole song — the chorus orchestra pushes forward layer by layer, with emotions piling up wave after wave.

Jiang Fan put on his headphones and started laying down the tracks one by one.

— —

Twelve-thirty in the afternoon.

Zhou Yutong came in with takeout and placed a portion on Jiang Fan's desk.

"Brother Fan, time to eat. I've already delivered Sister Nian's portion."

Jiang Fan gave an "Mm," took off his headphones, and opened the takeout box.

Just as he had eaten a couple of bites, his WeChat pinged.

Xu Qingya.

[Xu Qingya: Shen Nian's song, three million streams in three hours?]

[Xu Qingya: Jiang Fan, did you give the best songs to someone else?]

Jiang Fan put down his chopsticks and typed: "Yours is better. I'll give it to you tomorrow."

[Xu Qingya: If you're fooling me, I'll break your three legs.]

Jiang Fan looked at this message, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

This woman's speech is getting increasingly ruthless.

He put down his phone and continued eating.

— —

Three in the afternoon.

Jiang Fan lifted his head from the Arrangement software, rubbed his eyes, and refreshed the backend.

Play count: 4.87 million.

Number of comments: 120,000.

Tencent Music New Song Chart — Third place.

The two songs ahead were Su Yuyan's "perfume is poisonous" and "the great wind blows."

Shen Nian's "the wind rises" was biting closely at the heels of Diva Su.

At this moment, the office door was pushed open.

Shen Nian walked in holding a glass of water and sat down on the sofa.

There was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and she had loosened the collar of her hoodie, revealing a glimpse of her collarbone.

"Finished practicing?"

"Mm, sang it ten times today." Shen Nian took a sip of water, "I found the feeling for the chorus part. Help me listen to a full version tomorrow."

"Okay."

Jiang Fan glanced at her.

Her face carried that kind of exhaustion after practicing singing, but her eyes were bright.

She was a completely different person from the one who was huddled in a rental house a month ago, not daring to go out.

"You go back and rest first, come tomorrow morning."

Shen Nian placed the water glass on the coffee table.

"I'm not that fragile anymore." She leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs, "I don't need to take the medicine anymore either."

Jiang Fan turned from the computer.

"When did you stop?"

"Before going to Star City. Before, I couldn't sleep without taking it, my head was full of messy things."

She paused.

"Ever since I was with you..."

Halfway through the sentence, Shen Nian held up the water glass to cover half her face.

"... after being together, I don't need it anymore."

Jiang Fan didn't respond, but the corner of his mouth moved.

Shen Nian put down the cup and rubbed her face with both hands.

"Don't give me that expression."

"What expression?"

"That one — the smug expression."

"I didn't."

"You did."

Shen Nian glared at him and stood up from the sofa.

"I'm going back now."

"Mm. Sleep early tonight."

Shen Nian opened the door, walked two steps, then poked her head back in.

"You're not coming tonight?"

Jiang Fan's fingers paused on the keyboard.

"Do you want me to come?"

"No. Just asking."

The door closed.

From the corridor came Zhou Yutong's voice: "Sister Nian, why is your face red again?"

"Zhou Yutong, are you annoying? Asking every day. Ask again and I'll deduct your salary."

"I was wrong, Sister Nian!"

The sound faded away.

Jiang Fan shook his head with a smile and turned back to the screen.

Outside the window, it had grown dark, and in the office, only the light from the computer screen was reflected on Jiang Fan's face.

The outro of "as you wish," the last note faded away.

He went through the entire Arrangement from beginning to end, nodded with satisfaction, exported the file, and saved it to a USB drive.

Jiang Fan took off his headphones, leaned back in his chair, and rested his hands behind his head.

He thought of Tang Yingxue.

A woman with even higher compatibility than Xu Qingya.

In the last episode of the show, her critique of Shen Nian—if Heavenly King Zhou hadn't added a comment, the Audience Jury's votes might have dropped even further.

In a few days, the second episode of "The Sound of Nature" would be recorded.

Tang Yingxue, you had better behave yourself.

Otherwise —

The position of The Four Heavenly Queens might no longer have a place for you.