I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

As soon as Jay Chou said "Open the door" on the phone, the smart lock in the entryway made a "ding-dong" sound.

Song Yuqi was still stubbornly arguing with Jiang Che when she heard that highly recognizable voice on the phone.

Upon hearing the doorbell again, she took a large step back.

"Jay...Jay the Heavenly King?" She pointed at the door, her eyes wide. "Is he outside?"

Jiang Che took the phone away from his ear and turned off the screen.

"Obviously." Jiang Che walked past her, his hand on the doorknob. "If you're worried about being photographed, you can still hide in the bedroom now."

"Why should I hide!" Song Yuqi immediately stood up straight, casually tidying her slightly messy hair. "I haven't done anything shameful!"

She said that, but her hands, unsure of where to put them, had already creased the pockets of her work jacket.

Jiang Che pressed down on the door handle.

As soon as the door opened, the motion-sensor lights in the corridor turned on.

Zhou Dong was wearing a low-key black hoodie, sunglasses, and a black mask, and was carrying a milk tea bag with his logo printed on it.

"Hey, Che, it's been a long time."

Zhou Dong pulled his mask down, grinning from ear to ear, and walked straight inside.

"Let me tell you, I specifically canceled a gig to come see you today, for this milk tea..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when his gaze passed over Jiang Che's shoulder and landed on Song Yuqi, who was standing next to the entryway cabinet.

Zhou Dong stopped in his tracks.

He glanced at Song Yuqi, then turned to look at Jiang Che, his sunglasses sliding down to reveal a pair of gossipy eyes.

"Oh?" Zhou Dong's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them twice before finally landing on Jiang Che. "Not bad."

Song Yuqi's cheeks turned bright red.

She quickly bowed at a ninety-degree angle: "Hello, Teacher Zhou! I'm Song Yuqi!"

The commotion was so loud that even the Corgi Ggigi on the ground was startled and barked.

"Hello, hello." Zhou Dong took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his collar, his smile widening. "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"Knowing it's not the right time, why don't you hurry up and put down the milk tea and leave?" Jiang Che didn't stand on ceremony with him and closed the door directly.

"That won't do." Zhou Dong changed into slippers as if he knew exactly what to do, and put the milk tea on the dining table. "If I don't get the song today, this milk tea will have been a waste of my money."

Jiang Che walked over, opened a cup of milk tea, inserted a straw, and pushed it in front of Song Yuqi.

"After you finish drinking, keep an eye on the dog and take a taxi home yourself," Jiang Che said.

Holding her milk tea cup, Song Yuqi looked at Zhou Dong's "I understand, I understand" expression and couldn't sit still any longer.

She came along today to test Jiang Che's limits.

Now that Jay Chou himself has come knocking on her door to urge her to sing, what's the point of her, a junior artist, staying here?

"Um, Ms. Jiang, Ms. Zhou, you two talk about serious matters. I have a nail appointment today, so I'll be going now!"

After saying that, Song Yuqi didn't even hold her bag properly before rushing towards the door.

"Hey little sister, take your milk tea and drink it!" Zhou Dong called out from behind.

"No, no more! Thank you, Teacher Zhou! Goodbye, Ggigi!"

With a "bang," the door slammed shut.

The entryway became completely quiet.

Zhou Dong pulled out a chair and sat down, took out another cup of milk tea from the bag, and took a big sip of the pearls through the straw.

He pointed to the closed door and winked at Jiang Che: "Are you really dating?"

"Colleague." Jiang Che pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.

"Don't give me that crap." Zhou Dong scoffed. "I've seen that 'Heartbeat 138' video online, you know."

Jiang Che leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the table: "President Zhou, you came all this way just to gossip with me?"

"Yes, yes, it's important." Zhou Dong put down his milk tea cup, his smile fading slightly.

He took his phone out of his pocket, opened the Weibo post that the state media had reposted, and pushed it in front of Jiang Che.

"You've really made something of yourself now; your song 'As You Wish' has caught the attention of the authorities."

"All my friends who make music were asking me in the group chat today, 'Who exactly are you?'"

Zhou Dong looked at Jiang Che and sighed.

"I told you then and there, you can't hide behind the scenes forever. Sure enough, you couldn't hide it this time, could you?"

Jiang Che stared at the four words on his phone screen but didn't reply.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense." Zhou Dong leaned forward. "Three years ago, you owed me those three traditional Chinese style songs. You should at least give me a heads-up today, right?"

"I'll write it for you now."

Anyway, it's just copying your song. No, this is called returning something to its rightful owner.

Jiang Che turned the notepad to a blank page and unscrewed the pen cap.

The marker fell onto the paper.

Three words.

Blue and white porcelain.

Zhou Dong was initially leaning back in his chair.

Upon seeing these three words, he sat up straight.

Jiang Che wrote extremely quickly. He didn't need to conceive the words; they were already ingrained in his very being.

"The blue and white porcelain is outlined on the unglazed porcelain, with the brushstrokes going from thick to thin."

"The peony depicted on the bottle is just like your first makeup."

"The rising sandalwood incense through the window reveals my unspoken thoughts."

By the time he finished writing the third sentence, Zhou Dong had already stood up, his hands on the table, his face almost touching the notepad.

"Wait a minute." Zhou Dong grabbed the edge of the paper. "This word... it's something."

Jiang Che didn't stop; he twisted his wrist around Jiang Che's hand and continued writing.

"The sky is the color of rain after a storm, and I am waiting for you."

"Smoke rises from chimneys, thousands of miles away across the river."

The pen tip stopped.

Jiang Che threw down his pen, leaned back, and pointed to the paper: "Read these few sentences first."

Zhou Dong stared at the line "The sky is the color of blue awaiting the rain" for a full minute.

The living room was so quiet that only the sound of Corgi Ggigi gnawing on a toy bone could be heard.

A minute later, Zhou Dong swore.

"Depend on."

He looked up, and the way he looked at Jiang Che had completely changed; it was as if he were looking at a monster.

"Did you come up with this word just now?"

"I was thinking about it three years ago when I drank that cup of milk tea from you," Jiang Che casually made up.

"Where's the melody? Is there a melody?"

Zhou Dong panicked and reached out to grab Jiang Che's arm. "Lyrics alone aren't enough. These lyrics must be paired with top-notch Chinese-style music, otherwise it'll all be a waste!"

Jiang Che stood up and walked towards the dusty Yamaha electric piano in the corner of the living room.

He opened the piano lid and pressed the power button.

Zhou Dong ran over and stood beside him, even his breathing became soft.

Jiang Che placed his hands on the black and white piano keys and pressed down with his fingers.

That was the prelude to "Blue and White Porcelain".

Jiang Che played a few extremely simple notes, yet he evoked a scene reminiscent of misty Jiangnan, where ink wash paintings are applied.

The five-tone scale—Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, Yu—twisted at his fingertips.

There are no complicated techniques, only artistic conception.

As Zhou Dong listened, his hands began to tap out a rhythm on his trouser leg.

After playing the verse, Jiang Che hummed along with the melody.

Having just achieved SS-level singing skills, his casual humming instantly brought out the song's essence with its clarity and vivid imagery.

"The sky is the color of rain after a storm, and I am waiting for you."

The singing filled the living room.

The phone screen, which was resting on the corner of the electric piano, suddenly lit up.

A notification popped up asking me to pay special attention to a Weibo post.

Jiang Che finished playing the last measure and took his hands off the keys.

He picked up his phone.

The screen displays: Song Yuqi has just posted a new update.

The accompanying picture is a photo taken in the entryway.

In the photo, she is squatting on the ground rubbing Ggigi's head. The background is blurred, but it happens to show a pair of legs of a man wearing casual trousers.

The caption was only one line: "[My first photo with Ggigi.]"