You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

Three days before the wedding, Lu Ran sat in his office with a document in front of him that he had glanced at two weeks ago but hadn't opened since.

The cover of the document read "Second Quarter Business Analysis Report," and the edges of the paper were already a bit curled.

He flipped through the first page and found the data to be even better than he had expected, so he closed the book.

Chen Mo walked in with a cup of coffee, sat down opposite him, glanced at the closed report, and asked, "Have you finished reading it?"

"I've finished reading it."

"You call it finishing reading just because you closed the book after reading the first page?"

"The first page is a summary; once you've read the summary, you don't need to read the rest." Lu Ran pushed the report aside. "The second quarter is over; the question now is how to proceed in the third quarter. Tell me your thoughts."

Chen Mo put down his coffee cup, leaned back in his chair, and went over the key milestones of the third quarter.

Contract renewal negotiations with three European distributors will begin next month, server expansion plans for North America are already on the agenda, the team at the Guangzhou branch still has a few vacancies to fill, and three new potential clients have been added for the AI ​​engine, one of which is a leading company in the logistics industry.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Lu Ran, as if waiting for him to make a decision.

After listening, Lu Ran nodded, then said something that made Chen Mo pause for two seconds: "Just do what you said according to your own ideas, you don't need to ask me."

Chen Mo leaned back in her chair and stared at him for a few seconds, making sure he wasn't joking: "Are you serious?"

"I'm serious," Lu Ran said. "If you're unsure about strategic issues, come to me. As for tactical issues, you can handle them yourself. You've been in this position for so long; you know better than me who to use and who not to use, what should be prioritized and what can be postponed."

Chen Mo picked up his coffee, took a sip, and put the cup down much more gently than before, saying, "Okay. I'll go back and work on the schedule then."

As he reached the door, he turned back and asked, "How many days until your wedding?"

"the day after tomorrow."

"Then you really don't need to worry about company matters these next few days. Focus on being a good groom the day after tomorrow, and don't stare at your phone checking data."

"When did I ever stare at my phone looking at data?"

Chen Mo pointed to the spot on his right, where the spare phone's screen was still lit up, with a push notification popping up on the lock screen that read: "The peak concurrent online users of the European server for League of Legends have just broken a new record."

Lu Ran glanced down and then turned off the screen.

Chen Mo chuckled and pushed open the door to leave.

Lu Ran sat in the office for a while longer, tidying up the things on his desk.

He doesn't usually tidy up his desk; files are piled up on top of files, and notebooks are stacked on top of notebooks, with only a small area in front of the computer being clean.

After tidying up, the desk looked much more spacious. He stood in front of the desk, looked around the office, and, finding nothing missing, turned off the light and left.

As I passed by the technical department, the door was open, and Zhao Yiming was sitting at his workstation with three monitors lit up in front of him. The middle screen displayed scrolling log outputs.

Next to him was a bowl of uncooked instant noodles and a bottle of mineral water with the cap unscrewed.

Lu Ran paused at the doorway: "You're still working overtime?"

Zhao Yiming looked up, took off one earphone, and said, "Finish this tonight and then we're done. Isn't your wedding the day after tomorrow? Aren't you going back to prepare?"

"Everything's ready. What about you? Are you coming?"

"Here I am. I've taken the day off. Brother Zhou said if I don't come in that day, he'll change my workstation to one where you have to stand."

Lu Ran chuckled but didn't reply. He noticed that the bowl of instant noodles on Zhao Yiming's table hadn't been prepared yet, so he casually filled a cup with hot water from the water dispenser next to the bowl, placed it beside the bowl, and then turned and left.

It was almost dark when I left the company gate. The evening heat of August in Shanghai had not yet dissipated, and the asphalt road still retained the warmth of the day, giving it a soft and spongy texture when stepped on.

He stood by the roadside for a while waiting for a car, and took out his phone to look at the few unread messages from Shen Yuege.

The last item was a photo of four dresses hanging on racks, ranging from dark gray to navy blue to black. The caption read: "Which one are you wearing the day after tomorrow?"

Lu Ran replied, "The second one. It looks cool."

Shen Yuege replied instantly with an "Okay," followed by, "I had Sister Chen iron your tie and hang it on the entryway cabinet."

Lu Ran glanced at the message but didn't reply.

The car arrived, he opened the door, got in, and gave an address. The car merged into the evening rush hour traffic, inching forward little by little.

At the same time, Shen Yuege was sitting in the conference room of Xingyue Studio.

On the table lay a newly compiled list of artist profiles, three in total, each containing a small passport photo and a brief resume.

Two of the three are men and one is a woman. They were all eliminated in the final round of the recently concluded "Super Boy" competition. After being eliminated, they did not immediately sign with another company, but instead contacted Xingyue Studio through various channels.

Shen Yuege flipped through the three documents from beginning to end, then handed them to Chen Jing and Xu Manxue sitting opposite her: "What do you think?"

Chen Jing took the book first, flipped through a couple of pages, and said, "The first one has a good voice, but the typhoon was too intense; she didn't even know where to put her hands on stage. She needs some time to hone her skills. The second one's singing is average, but she has a good appearance and a strong presence on camera. If we can find a suitable song for her, her chances of succeeding as an idol are quite high. The third girl has relatively balanced overall qualities; she doesn't have any particularly outstanding weaknesses, nor does she have any particularly eye-catching strengths."

Xu Manxue took the documents, flipped through them, and then closed them on the table. "I met the second one once. We chatted briefly while waiting in the recording studio. He's quite quick-witted, not shy at all, and he can write some simple melodies himself. Although his skill level is average, he has ideas."

Shen Yuege leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment: "Let's sign the second one first, and keep the contact information for the other two. We'll wait for the buzz from the 'Super Boy' finale to build up for a while longer, and see if they have any further developments before making a decision."

Chen Jing made a note in her notebook, then looked up: "Oh, right, besides these three who approached us, two other people from talent agencies contacted me today, saying their artists are interested in transferring to Xingyue and asking if we'd take them in."

Shen Yuege sat up straight: "Which two?"

Chen Jing gave the names of the companies, all of which were medium to large-scale brokerage companies in the industry. Most of the artists under their management were idols with good popularity but lacked depth in their works.

Shen Yuege didn't respond immediately after listening, but glanced at Xu Manxue first. Xu Manxue continued, "If they're only here because of the hype surrounding our recent Golden Melody Award win, they'll want to leave after six months. It depends on whether they can adapt to our pace."

Shen Yuege nodded: "Then let them send over their work first, we'll listen and then decide. We'll discuss signing a contract only if their singing skills, the quality of their work, and their attitude all meet our standards."

The meeting lasted for about twenty minutes, going over the promotional schedule for the new season of "Super Boy" and the rhythm of artist activities for the next two months in the studio.

Xu Manxue reported on the follow-up arrangements for the finalists. Six of the top ten have already signed with other companies, while the remaining four are still observing. Among them, three have proactively contacted Xingyue and expressed their intention to sign with them.

After listening, Shen Yuege instructed them not to rush into signing contracts. She told them to let the work be presented first, and then discuss the terms after reviewing the work. She advised against signing long-term contracts right away.

After the meeting ended, Chen Jing and Xu Manxue left first.

Shen Yuege sat alone in the conference room for a while, flipping through the artist profiles for the second time.

She noticed a line of handwritten small print on the second boy's file. The handwriting was messy, as if he had filled it in himself. It read, "I hope to make music that people will remember, not just a face that people will see."

She glanced at it twice and then folded a corner of that page.

As she packed her things and left the meeting room, she passed by the tea room at the end of the corridor and saw several newly hired young employees gathered around the TV watching a replay of the "Super Boy" finale.

In the video, a contestant is standing on stage singing a slow song. There is obvious tension in his voice, but the chorus is handled much better than the first half.

Several employees watched and discussed, with some saying, "His pitch is a bit off," and others saying, "His breath control is okay, but his enunciation is too tight."

Shen Yuege didn't say anything, stood there for a short while, then turned and left.

When I got home, Lu Ran was already there, sitting on the sofa scrolling through his phone.

On the coffee table sat a glass of cool water and two oranges, the peels already prepared and placed on a plate. Shen Yuege changed into slippers, sat down next to him, and took a segment of orange from the plate, popping it into her mouth: "Today, Chen Jing received three sets of artist profiles, all from the finals of 'Super Boy.' I've reserved one; I'll hold off on the other two for now and see how things go."

Lu Ran put down his phone: "So your studio has new talent again?"

"One. We don't know if we can keep them yet; let's sign a short-term trial contract for six months."

Shen Yuege swallowed the orange, then took another segment: "What about your company?"

"Nothing serious on my end. Zhou Ge and Chen Mo are both here; they've handled the small things themselves, no need to bother me." Lu Ran picked up a glass of cold water and took a sip. "What time are you leaving the day after tomorrow morning?"

"Around 8:30 or 9:00. Makeup and changing clothes will take more than two hours, and then we'll need to adjust again once we get on set. What about you?"

"I'll get there an hour earlier than you to take a look at the equipment first."

Shen Yuege chewed the remaining orange segments, then patted the orange peel off her hands: "Don't stand in front of the speakers for half an hour adjusting them. Just let the event planning company do it."

"I'll just take a look. I won't adjust it," Lu Ran said.

Shen Yuege looked at his expression but didn't say anything.

Having known him for so long, she knew that when he said "I'll just take a look," he would most likely end up not only taking a "look" but also turning the volume knob a couple of times and adjusting the microphone stand height.

But she didn't expose her; instead, she took another segment of orange from the plate and handed it to him.

Lu Ran took the food and ate it. The two sat quietly for a while.

The TV was on but there was no sound. The screen was showing the end credits of a food program. The chef was holding a plate of food and smiling at the camera, with the caption "See you next time."

It was completely dark outside the window. Occasionally, the sound of a car door closing could be heard downstairs, but it quickly returned to silence.

Lu Ran didn't sleep much the night before the wedding.

He tossed and turned in bed several times, not out of nervousness, but because he was going over the next day's schedule in his mind.

What time to get up, what time to leave, what to look at first and then what to look at upon arrival, how to check the equipment, how to test the microphones, when to turn on the lights, when to set out the gifts, and what time the guests arrive.

He knew that someone else would do everything for him, but he had to mentally review each task before he felt at ease.

He finally closed his eyes around 1 a.m.

Shen Yuege's breathing was even and long, and she was wrapped tightly in the quilt, with only the top of her head showing.

He turned his head to look at her for a while in the darkness, but couldn't see her face clearly, only a blurry outline. Then he turned over and went to sleep too.

I'm getting married.

...