After lunch, Li Yue carried the baby upstairs to the third floor.
Zhang Yichen and Chen Xiaoxi didn't rest. Instead, they began tidying up their belongings.
The bedroom was chosen by Xiaoxi—it was the master bedroom on the second floor.
The room was huge, over a hundred square meters.
With just the three of them living there, it felt a little empty.
Of course, emptiness also meant spaciousness.
For some reason, ever since she came to find Zhang Yichen, Xiaoxi had been unusually drowsy.
As soon as they finished setting up the room, she could hardly keep her eyes open.
Zhang Yichen more or less understood why.
Before, she had no one to rely on. She had raised her child alone, always in a state of tension. Naturally, her sleep quality was terrible.
Now, with someone to lean on, her mind had finally relaxed, and the exhaustion she'd been suppressing for so long came flooding out.
That was why she was so sleepy now.
But it wasn't a bad thing—sleep meant her body was beginning to repair itself.
"Haah~" Xiaoxi yawned again, her eyelids fluttering shut.
"Xiaoxi, I'll step out for a bit. You should take a nap," Yichen said softly.
Seeing how tired she was, he decided to let her rest first.
It was Sunday today.
Tomorrow morning was the opening ceremony for the new school year.
He had to use the free time to visit the old medicine shop.
The herbs he'd bought before were only enough for Xiaoxi.
Now with Li Yue added—and her treatment expected to take about a month—he had to prepare more in advance.
"Alright… be careful on the way," Xiaoxi murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.
Her body sank into the bed, her fingers absentmindedly clutching the corner of the blanket. "Come back soon…"
Moments later, her breathing grew steady as she drifted off completely.
Yichen stood by the bed, gazing at her face. Faint weariness lingered in her features, and dark shadows under her eyes spoke of countless sleepless nights.
He reached out gently, brushing a few strands of hair from her forehead and tucking them behind her ear, his touch tender as if handling fragile porcelain.
Then, quietly, he stepped out and closed the door without a sound.
Yue had likely fallen asleep too—after all, she'd been carrying the baby all morning.
Without disturbing anyone, Yichen drove the Benz SUV to the old medicine shop.
Everything went smoothly; all the herbs he needed were available.
From leaving home to returning, he spent just over forty minutes.
When he came back, both women were still asleep.
Not wanting to wake them, he set to work on another task.
Since he had decided to debut as an internet singer, he would "borrow" the internet hit songs from his previous life.
The thought quickly turned into action. Yichen entered an empty study and began writing furiously.
He started with Ten Thousand Reasons—a song that had once swept through every street and alley, with over a hundred million ringtone downloads.
Since he was already copying that one, why not include a few more by Prince Zheng and round it out into a full album?
Prince Zheng had no objections.
So Yichen took that as silent consent and copied nine more of his songs, forming a ten-track album.
The only pity was that he had no "system" like other transmigrators in novels. He couldn't just summon songs onto a USB drive or have the system automatically handle copyright registration.
He had to do everything himself.
After transcribing the songs, he uploaded them to the copyright bureau's official site and registered them one by one.
In his past life, he'd read many novels and knew that copyright disputes were common.
Xiaoxi's return to the stage would block many people's paths.
When her rivals realized they couldn't take her down directly, they'd surely target him instead.
And if they hit him, it would hurt Xiaoxi by extension.
That was something he would never allow.
So he dealt with all these hidden troubles in advance.
Of course, registering copyrights wasn't enough. He still needed to create the instrumental tracks.
That wasn't too difficult—just arrange the music properly, then let the software generate the accompaniment automatically.
"Phew…"
After finishing everything, Yichen finally let out a long breath.
"Done already?"
A soft voice suddenly came from behind him, startling him so much he almost jumped.
He'd been so absorbed that he hadn't even noticed Xiaoxi enter.
"Yeah, just finished! Xiaoxi, how long have you been here?"
Glancing past her, he saw she'd come alone. Without hesitation, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap.
The next second—before she could even react—he lowered his head and kissed her.
He had promised himself he'd practice more, yet more than ten hours had passed since last night.
He couldn't hold back anymore.
Caught off guard, Xiaoxi instinctively pushed at his chest.
But her strength faltered, her trembling fingertips pressed against him helplessly.
Her heart pounded wildly, their breaths mingling, weaving an invisible net that trapped her in place.
Yichen's kiss wasn't rushed. Instead, it carried a gentle reverence, as though he was cherishing every second.
His lips brushed hers lightly, testing, waiting for her response.
Her lashes quivered. Closing her eyes, she let the panic and shyness hide behind her lids.
Slowly, her hands slid upward, wrapping around his shoulders, her arms encircling his neck.
The kiss deepened, his emotions pouring into her with each breath.
Her face flushed red, her chest heaving with uneven breaths.
Her fingers curled against the back of his neck, clinging to his warmth.
But then—
Footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by Li Yue's muttering voice:
"Weird… where did those two sneak off to, doing who knows what?"
Startled, Xiaoxi pushed Yichen away, her expression flustered.
She hastily smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes, trying to erase any trace of what just happened.
Yichen, however, simply gave her a calm smile, patting her hand reassuringly before standing up.
He adjusted his shirt, then walked over to the door.
"Li Yue, we're in here."
He opened the study door, meeting Yue's curious gaze.
She glanced between the two of them, her eyes flickering knowingly.
"What, the giant bedroom isn't enough for you two to mess around in?"
Xiaoxi's cheeks turned scarlet. She dropped her gaze, unable to meet Yue's eyes.
Yichen, however, remained unruffled.
"I just finished writing a few new songs. I was going to let Xiaoxi give me some feedback."
"New songs?" Li Yue perked up. "That fast?"
"Of course. As the saying goes, music comes naturally—sometimes it just flows." Yichen grinned, handing her a few sheets of music. "Take a look, give me your opinion."
"Alright, let me see." Yue eagerly accepted the scores, studying them seriously.
"Xiaoxi, you look at these few," Yichen said, passing the rest to Xiaoxi.
With that smooth move, he successfully shifted Yue's attention—and spared Xiaoxi further embarrassment.
Truly killing two birds with one stone.