"What kind of scheme are you plotting now?" Chen Xiaoxi caught the flicker of mischief on Li Yue's face and frowned suspiciously.
Li Yue merely gave a mysterious smile, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk. "You'll find out soon enough. Tomorrow is going to be full of surprises."
Zhang Yichen raised an eyebrow, not the least bit surprised. "Looks like you've already figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Chen Xiaoxi blinked, glancing between the two of them in confusion.
"Nothing much," Zhang Yichen said casually, waving a hand. "Just… a few tricks of the trade."
"Tricks?" Chen Xiaoxi frowned even deeper. Why did it feel like the two of them were speaking in riddles?
Li Yue finally stopped teasing and came clean. "Since we've already released the songs and stirred up some buzz, we might as well make sure everyone hears about it. Tomorrow's publicity move will also promote Joy, our new app. Killing two birds with one stone."
"Publicity move?" Chen Xiaoxi tilted her head, still not fully following.
"Exactly." Li Yue grinned, her eyes glinting with mischief. "The headline will be something like—'Confirmed! The Actress Who Allegedly Kept the Top Exam Scorer Is Her! Once a Fallen Star, Now Returning—Can She Regain Her Glory?'"
Chen Xiaoxi's expression shifted slightly. "Isn't that a bit… too deliberate?"
"It's fine," Zhang Yichen cut in, his tone calm and confident. "As long as we control the narrative, people won't find it distasteful. Besides—since when does self-deprecation ever backfire? Everyone will just assume it's a smear campaign from competitors."
Chen Xiaoxi fell silent, absently twirling a strand of hair as she weighed the pros and cons.
"Don't worry." Zhang Yichen reached out and gently patted her head. "I won't let you get caught in the crossfire."
Before the atmosphere could soften further, Li Yue suddenly yelped, shattering the calm.
"What now?" Zhang Yichen sighed helplessly.
Li Yue laughed awkwardly. "Uh… we forgot to upload the songs to Joy."
"Oh no!" Chen Xiaoxi's expression changed as she grabbed the mouse. "I almost forgot! Thank goodness you reminded me."
Zhang Yichen, however, remained perfectly composed, hands in his pockets and a small smile playing on his lips. "Relax. I already took care of it."
He pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, and handed it to her.
Chen Xiaoxi looked down—sure enough, the Happy app's backend was already open, and both songs from the afternoon sat neatly in her music library.
"You… how did you—" She looked up at him in surprise.
"I anticipated this," he replied smoothly, a hint of pride in his voice.
For a moment, Chen Xiaoxi simply stared. Then her lips curved into a soft smile, her eyes bending into crescent moons. "You're amazing."
Her tone carried pure trust—and something warmer.
"Naturally," Zhang Yichen replied with a smirk. "After all, I'm the man standing behind you."
"Pfft—" Li Yue burst out laughing. "You two, seriously. Have some mercy on this single woman's fragile heart."
"Enough," Zhang Yichen said with mock seriousness. "Laugh again and I'll dock your salary. Now upload your part too."
"Salary? Oh right—what is my salary?"
Zhang Yichen instantly regretted opening that can of worms. He hadn't even discussed her pay yet.
"Don't worry about it," he said quickly. "Once the results start showing, I'll make sure you're rewarded fairly."
He wanted to smack himself. Why bring up salary at all? Free labor was a blessing!
Still, the regret lasted all of three seconds—apparently, being a boss came with an instinctive talent for selling dreams instead of paying cash.
"Alright then," Li Yue agreed cheerfully. "You said it yourself!"
She had no idea how much she would regret that decision later.
"Xiaoxi! Look—you're in the top twenty already! Wait—top ten! Oh my god, you beat me!"
Even as she complained, Li Yue's grin was wide and genuine.
She wasn't jealous—just thrilled. For Chen Xiaoxi, and honestly, for herself too. In just a few minutes, her own songs had climbed two spots up the chart.
"Already?" Chen Xiaoxi exclaimed, leaning closer to the screen.
Comments were flooding in at lightning speed, scrolling like a rushing river.
Her throat tightened. Her breath hitched. She could feel the energy surging through her veins.
"Ah Chen…" Her voice trembled slightly. "I really did it."
Zhang Yichen stepped behind her, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. "You did more than that. Look at the comments—they're all cheering for you."
Her fingers curled slightly, brushing against the cool surface of the mouse, grounding her emotions.
On the screen, comments poured in—
"Xiaoxi, after listening to Courage, I can feel that you've been through something painful…""A'Diao gave me goosebumps! Thank you for the strength in your voice!""I downloaded Joy! It's such a fun app—thanks for recommending it!"
Her vision blurred. Tears welled up, but she quickly blinked them away.
Her lips quivered; she wanted to speak, but no words came out.
"Xiaoxi!" Li Yue's excited voice rang out again. "You—You're about to blow past Zhang Yichen's rankings!"
At that moment, Courage had soared to fifth on the new song chart, with A'Diao close behind at sixth.
Chen Xiaoxi's heart skipped a beat. She gripped the edge of the desk tightly.
"Wait—what did you just say?" Her face flushed as she caught the phrasing. "Yue! That sounded so wrong!"
Li Yue laughed awkwardly, glancing nervously at Zhang Yichen. "Uh… that's not what I meant."
Then, almost instantly, she reverted to her cheeky self. "But seriously—look! You really did beat him!"
Chen Xiaoxi leaned closer—and froze.
Both her songs had surged into the top five.
Another refresh—
Courage and A'Diao claimed first and second place.
Li Yue's songs weren't far behind, ranking seventh and eighth.
At that point, every single one of the eight newly released songs dominated the top eight spots on the new song chart.
They were officially the hottest thing on the internet.
What they didn't know, however, was that at that very moment, the entire entertainment industry was in chaos—frantically searching for one name.
Zhang Yichen.
Because all eight chart-topping songs—were written by him.
And three of them—were sung by him.
A phenomenon like that… every company wanted him.
Too bad for them—wanting him and getting him were two very different things.