When Xu Zhiyuan woke up, she did as usual—first sitting on the bed to gather herself, then grabbing her hair as she headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and finishing her skincare routine, she returned to bed and lay down to play with her phone.
It was only 7:15 in the morning.
By nearly eight o’clock, Xu Zhiyuan finally got up to change clothes. Halfway through changing, she suddenly remembered something, quickly pulled on her clothes, and ran back to the room, staring blankly at the large bed for a moment.
Where was He Jiayu?
Could it be that last night was just a dream?
“You’re up?”
Just as she was thinking this, He Jiayu’s voice came from behind.
Xu Zhiyuan turned around and saw He Jiayu wearing workout clothes, the ends of his hair damp with sweat.
So last night wasn’t a dream after all.
“Good morning.” Xu Zhiyuan began to feel awkward again, though it was slightly better than yesterday. “You went out for exercise so early.”
“Good morning.” He Jiayu responded with a smile. “Breakfast is ready. You can go ahead and eat first.”
“Okay, I’ll head downstairs then.” Xu Zhiyuan quickly left the room because He Jiayu had already started taking off his clothes.
He Jiayu chuckled softly, removed his jacket, and headed toward the bathroom.
Downstairs, Xu Zhiyuan didn’t start eating right away. Instead, she sat at the dining table and waited for He Jiayu to arrive before beginning breakfast. She liked the feeling of the whole family eating together. When her parents were still around, she would always wait for them to return before starting the meal.
He Jiayu, however, found this experience quite novel.
In the He family, no one could touch their chopsticks before Grandfather He took his seat. Once he started eating, it didn’t matter who else was present—there was no concept of waiting for others. If anyone waited, it was only for the head of the family.
Outside the family, it was a different story.
Now, having someone to wait for felt like having an extra thread of connection.
“I’ll head out first. Yuan Yuan will bring some materials over later. Once you’ve made your selection, just let him know.”
“Okay, thank you.” Xu Zhiyuan was delighted. Her “porter” business was steadily progressing.
He Jiayu shook his head with a smile, his deep eyes fixed on Xu Zhiyuan. “We’re husband and wife, so there’s no need to be so polite with me. You can be a little more assertive.”
Under his gaze, Xu Zhiyuan’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly averted her eyes. “Um, don’t worry, I’ll definitely be very assertive from now on.”
See, she’s so adorably shy like this.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Mm, drive safely.” Xu Zhiyuan said.
After He Jiayu left, Xu Zhiyuan patted her cheeks and then turned to the media room to continue her work.
Around ten o’clock, Yuan Yuan arrived, handing Xu Zhiyuan a set of documents and a USB drive. These contained information about the singers from Guangsheng Entertainment, along with their recorded audio samples.
Xu Zhiyuan skimmed through the documents briefly and noticed that all the listed artists were already debuted, with relatively rich experience in the industry. She casually asked, “Why aren’t there any materials for trainees?”
“Is the young mistress planning to collaborate with trainees?”
Trainees were a good option—they were inexpensive and, for the chance to debut, might even work for free. Their cost-effectiveness was truly high.
However, trainees also had their disadvantages, primarily their lack of an established fanbase. If the song quality wasn’t strong enough, using trainees might not achieve the desired effect, and the impact could be minimal.
“Not exactly, just asking,” Xu Zhiyuan said. “But if there aren’t any suitable options, we should consider trainees.”
Yuan Yuan immediately suggested having someone look for suitable trainees, wondering if perhaps the young madam’s needed voice might be among them.
Because of Yuan Yuan’s phone call, Guangsheng Entertainment was bustling with activity again, though this time it was the trainees who were stirred up. Although they didn’t know what the company was planning, upon receiving the notice to record, none of the trainees wanted to miss the opportunity.
Before the trainees’ audio samples could be prepared, Xu Zhiyuan had already basically finalized her collaboration partner.
Wang Hao.
After listening to all the audio samples, Xu Zhiyuan found that this singer named Wang Hao had a voice closest to the original singer’s, and he could hit the high notes well. She felt that even if Wang Hao couldn’t perfectly replicate the original, he could at least achieve ninety-nine percent accuracy.
When the trainees’ audio files were sent over, Xu Zhiyuan listened to each one, noting down any good voices she found for potential future collaborations.
Guangsheng Entertainment.
Wang Hao’s manager excitedly found Wang Hao, who was practicing singing.
“Wang Hao, good news.”
“Brother, is there news about the new song?” Wang Hao asked excitedly.
He had debuted five years ago and still didn’t have a representative hit. Most of his work consisted of covers of others’ songs, with only two or three songs of his own. What kind of singer was that? Recently, his manager had mentioned requesting songs for him, but there had been no updates until now.
Manager Lin nodded emphatically. “That’s right, the company has given you a new song,” he said. “Although it’s a newcomer’s work, the company values it highly. You must seize this opportunity.”
A newcomer?
Wang Hao’s excited expression stiffened slightly but quickly returned to normal.
So what if it was a newcomer’s work? As long as it was a new song for him, as long as it wasn’t another cover.
Carrying the mindset that he would sing any song he got, regardless of quality, Wang Hao and his manager arrived at the recording studio, only to find the manager and a young man already waiting inside. Both were surprised by the company’s level of attention—even the manager had come personally—and then their focus shifted to the young man.
Yuan Yuan noticed their scrutiny and gave them a slight nod before handing over the prepared lyrics.
“Here are the song lyrics. Familiarize yourself with them, then we’ll record,” Yuan Yuan said. “It’s best to release it on Valentine’s Day.”
Wang Hao immediately reached out to take the lyrics. With the manager present, he didn’t dare underestimate the task. After reading the lyrics, he felt nothing but elation.
No wonder the company valued this so much.
Actually, he was mistaken. The company manager had come entirely because of Yuan Yuan’s status.
As He Jiayu’s assistant, Yuan Yuan was equivalent to a trusted confidant beside the emperor. Of course the manager had to accompany and wait on him.
Another reason was that the manager also wanted to find out more about this creator named Miss Xu. He had listened to the demo—although the singing wasn’t great, it was genuinely pleasant to hear.
While Wang Hao was familiarizing himself with the song, Xu Zhiyuan also added He Jiayu on WeChat.
This was done through Yuan Yuan’s recommendation.
Having promised to let He Jiayu listen once the demo was recorded, Xu Zhiyuan was someone who kept her word. But she didn’t even have He Jiayu’s phone number. Fortunately, she had Yuan Yuan’s number.
Yuan Yuan found it both strange and not strange—just felt it was quite novel.
After greeting, Xu Zhiyuan sent the sample to He Jiayu.
At that moment, He Jiayu had just finished a meeting. The attendees were packing up their things, waiting for him, the boss, to leave first.
He was in no hurry and opened the file first.
【I can’t hold onto love
Always watching helplessly as it slips away
Happy people are everywhere in the world
Why can’t I be one of them…】