"Wait—something's not right!" Li Yue suddenly realized. She turned to Zhang Yichen with a puzzled look. "If I'm the one slaving away for you, then what exactly are you going to do?"
"Me?" Zhang Yichen raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lips curving into a faint smile. "I'm going to be a star. I plan to spend the next six months competing for the title of King of Singing."
"What?!" Li Yue almost screamed. "Are you insane, or did I hear that wrong?"
"I'm not insane, and you heard me correctly."
"Do you even know what it takes to become the King of Singing?"
"Of course. Six platinum albums, right?"
"You make it sound so easy! Do you think six platinum albums are like six bowls of rice?"
"Pretty much. Both are for filling the stomach."
"You—! You really must have lost it." Li Yue was on the verge of collapsing from exasperation.
The fastest anyone had ever reached the rank of King of Singing was Heavenly King Li Wei. It had taken him two years.
Those years, he released twenty albums—an average of one per month.
And success hadn't come without hardship. Half of those albums were sabotaged and suppressed by rivals.
His path to fame was later called the "Twenty Steps to Kingship."
Countless singers had tried to follow in his footsteps, but none had succeeded.
Becoming King of Singing was harder than climbing to heaven itself.
So where did Zhang Yichen get his confidence?
Just from those few songs stored on his phone?
Not nearly enough. Absolutely not.
"Enough. My mind is made up," Zhang Yichen said firmly. "You just focus on finishing your last task as a counselor. Think of it as your test before becoming CEO of my company."
Li Yue understood. What he asked wasn't difficult—it was simply a test of her ability to execute orders.
If she couldn't handle even this, then the shares he promised—and the position of CEO—would vanish into thin air.
"Fine. You wait here, I'll get the director's approval."
She quickly printed several contracts, had Zhang Yichen sign them, and then took them upstairs.
Sure enough, things went smoothly.
The vice principal in charge of properties barely glanced at the papers before agreeing to exchange an unused gym for a house.
The entrepreneurship director and the server room director also signed off without hesitation—after all, Zhang Yichen didn't want funding, just six months of free server use.
They couldn't possibly have imagined that today's cheerful signatures would become tomorrow's painful regret.
But that was none of Li Yue's concern. By then, she'd have already left the school… to become Zhang Yichen's workhorse.
Of course, that was a matter for the future.
It wasn't long before she returned with the approved contracts.
"Not bad," Zhang Yichen said, clearly satisfied with her efficiency.
"Let's go. Time to check out the gym."
Yesterday, he had promised Chen Xiaoxi that he'd build her a recording studio within seven days.
They couldn't start today, which meant only six days were left. Time was tight.
"Alright." Li Yue nodded.
The two of them headed for the gym.
It spanned two floors, about two thousand square meters in total.
The upper floor held private training rooms, which could be converted into offices for managers, artists, and influencers.
The ground floor was a wide hall—partitioned with dividers, it could easily become large departmental offices.
The basic renovations were already in place, so there was no need for major work.
All they needed were desks, and the company could start running.
Both were quite pleased with the site.
"Come on, let's head to my place," Zhang Yichen suddenly said.
"Your place? Don't tell me you expect me to agree to some shady deal!"
"What? Shady deal? You think too highly of yourself. Weren't you the one who wanted to see Chen Xiaoxi?"
"I—what do you mean, I think too highly of myself? Are you saying I'm not beautiful enough? And why is Xixi at your house?"
"What's it to you?"
"I…"
The two bickered all the way, sounding nothing like teacher and student—or boss and employee.
"Enough nonsense. Let's get back to business," Zhang Yichen cut her off.
"You have five days to remodel those two training rooms in the far corner of the second floor into fully equipped recording studios. Full surveillance included. The company's framework must be finished within half a month."
"Understood, boss."
"Next, split the remaining training rooms into artist offices and influencer streaming rooms. And partition the hall downstairs into departmental offices."
"Understood, boss."
"I've already registered the company. The legal representative is just a proxy I hired. On Monday, you'll arrange to switch the name to yours and update the office address."
"Yes, boss."
"As for equity—once your hundred million arrives, we'll redistribute shares. You'll hold ten percent. Chen Xiaoxi will get twenty percent—"
"What? Twenty percent for Xixi? She's just signing on as ambassador and artist, and she gets that much? That's unfair! I don't accept it!"
"Unfair? You'll understand soon enough."
"…Fine. Any other orders, boss?"
Li Yue knew well enough—her role as CEO was purely execution. She had no real decision-making power.
Still, as both a shareholder and CEO, she couldn't stay silent. Even if she was secretly happy for her best friend, she had to at least protest on the surface.
A classic case of pretending to complain while secretly pleased.
"Hmm… you've got plenty of influence in Shanghai, right?"
"Yes, boss."
"Good. Then forge a medical record showing Chen Xiaoxi was treated for depression. Timeframe—once a month from last September to December. No problem?"
"No problem."
"And you've got connections in Sichuan too, correct?"
"Yes, boss."
"Good. Forge another record there, showing her fully cured of depression between January and August. No problem?"
"No problem. But, boss… why?"
"For her comeback, we have to wash away the stain of her breach of contract from last year."
"Then… why did she breach it back then?"
"We're here. You'll find out inside."
They had unknowingly reached Zhang Yichen's modest apartment.
"You actually live in this dump?" Li Yue wrinkled her nose.
"What's wrong with it? I'm an orphan. Having a roof over my head at all is already a blessing."
With that, Zhang Yichen knocked on the door.
"Coming!" Light footsteps approached from inside.
The door opened.
Chen Xiaoxi stood there, holding a baby in her arms, a faint smile on her lips.
"You're back?" Her voice was soft, careful, as if she was afraid of waking the child.
"Xixi, it really is you?" Li Yue's eyes went wide. She rushed forward with open arms, but froze a step away.
"Xixi, you…" Her gaze locked on the child in Xiaoxi's embrace. Her lips parted, but no words came out.
"Come in," Xiaoxi said gently, stepping aside. Her eyes lingered on Li Yue's face, flashing with a complicated emotion.
"Inside. We'll talk there," Zhang Yichen added, taking the child from her arms and walking in first.
Li Yue followed, her steps unsteady, as if she were walking on clouds.
Never in her life had she imagined that her reunion with her dearest friend would be like this.