As soon as the message was sent, before he could even put his phone down, it buzzed again.

Third Dad: [A 40% discount voucher? Can I get a 40% discount on the previous will project?]

Lin Chen: [Vouchers cannot be retroactively applied to consumed projects for a refund ^ ^]

Third Dad: [So stingy!]

Lin Chen: [Replying in seconds every time. My good Third Dad, do you not need to sleep or work?]

Third Dad: [This just proves that I’ve been working diligently until this hour.]

Third Dad: [You’re not planning to sleep yet, are you? I’ll introduce you to a good client in a bit.]

Lin Chen: [So you’re the unofficial head of our studio’s sales department? I’ve long heard of your reputation!]

Third Dad: [Likewise. You’re welcome.]

Since Qi Jingming had specifically mentioned it, Lin Chen had no choice but to postpone his bedtime.

Fang Chengyu’s parents and siblings hadn’t replied yet, so Lin Chen decided to check on the situations of Fang Ji and Qi Xiuyi while he waited for Qi Jingming.

Lin Chen rarely took the initiative to do after-sales work.

Except for when he ran into them directly, he had even specifically instructed the system not to observe or collect real-time information on his past clients.

If a problem arose with a client, their bosses would naturally contact him.

But if he took the initiative to show concern and track them every so often, the nature of the matter would change, and it might one day affect his mood and state when taking on new orders.

—Yes. He had always been strict in managing his own mood and emotions.

If he judged something to have an emotional risk while bringing him no benefit, he would preemptively separate it from his life.

But this wasn’t an absolute rule.

Sometimes… like now. Having spent three years in a foreign place and celebrating his birthday by himself for the first time, this situation and behavior would rarely stir some nighttime emotions in him.

He didn’t necessarily want to suppress them. If necessary, he would find appropriate ways to guide and release them.

Lin Chen first checked on Fang Ji’s status.

His status was very easy to check. His personal C Station account, [FJ-GoodMorningGoodAfternoonGoodnightAndAllIsWellBrother], had been continuously active since its creation.

Lin Chen first glanced at Fang Ji’s account data.

Whoa. 2.178 million followers!

The system was greatly shocked. “Two million followers! My god, Host, he only had a little over a million followers last month on New Year’s Eve!”

Lin Chen glanced at the latest New Year’s Eve video. “Oh, the new video blew up.”

In one year, Fang Ji had released a total of five musical pieces on C Station:
The first year’s New Year’s Eve music.
Music for the spring, summer, and autumn seasons.
The second year’s New Year’s Eve music.
Regular and stable.

However, Lin Chen knew that Fang Ji’s actual musical output was slightly faster than his video releases.

Because every time Fang Ji produced a piece of music, or every time an idea came to him, he would go to Fang Chengyu’s grave to rub the yin-yang ball and then chatter on about these things to his brother.

Just like when Fang Chengyu was really still by Fang Ji’s side.

Therefore, Lin Chen had actually already heard all of his compositions—both released and unreleased.

His progress was fast, his standard was high, and he was worthy of his current two million followers.

The only thing worth mentioning was that Fang Ji’s naming convention for each piece of music was just as blunt, direct, and simple as his C Station username—

The five pieces uploaded to C Station were named, respectively: “New Year’s Eve,” “Chengyu – Spring,” “Chengyu – Summer,” “Chengyu – Autumn,” and “The Second Winter.”

Lin Chen: “…”

Lin Chen remarked to the system, “It’s a good thing Chengyu was given a good name back then.”

Lin Chen had already seen the music itself in the live videos recorded by the system.

But by comparison, the online published versions were more formal and had one additional element—each piece of music began with a black screen and white text.

For example, the opening of “Chengyu – Spring”:
[Last spring, I was immersed in the joy of having a new brother.]
[But I never thought this joy would be so short-lived, fleeting in an instant. Looking back now, it’s like a fleeting dream, hard to find again.]

And for example, the opening of “The Second Winter”:
[Another New Year’s Eve.]
[This “Blue Whale” was a gift I had my eye on last year. I wanted to give it to my brother, but I couldn’t afford it.]
[This year, I’ve finally earned enough money. But… my brother is no longer here.]

Lin Chen watched the videos one by one.

The sincere emotions poured into the music and dance embraced him through the screen.

Lin Chen lowered his eyes, watched them seriously, and gave each video a “one-click-three-links” (like, favorite, and share).

Xiao Ji’s situation seemed much more stable than last year, but he didn’t know if he was still tinkling and clanging every day.

Lin Chen sighed for three seconds. Seeing that Fang Chengyu’s family still hadn’t replied, he simply opened the sixty-million work group chat and checked the operation of their competition mechanism over the past year—it was running well, which put Lin Chen’s mind at ease. Good!

Lin Chen closed C Station and switched Green Letter to Qi Wendong’s account.

Qi Xiuyi was the only one who had continuously reported on his life to him via Green Letter after he left.

Two years had passed, and the frequency of Qi Xiuyi’s messages was nowhere near what it used to be. In the year he had just left, Qi Xiuyi’s messages would easily reach 99+ a day!

Now, the frequency of Qi Xiuyi’s messages was much more normal. The number of video call attempts was no longer a barrage that lasted the entire night.

Now, there were usually only three to five failed video call records each night, and bombardments were rare.

However, this tireless, one-sided messaging behavior had never once been interrupted since the day he left.

Qi Xiuyi would share many things with him.

For example, delicious-looking meals.
For example, exceptionally good exam scores.
For example, his feelings when he was selected as the outstanding graduate to give a speech on stage.
For example, the overly scorching sunset at B University on graduation day.

Most of the time, Qi Xiuyi would just randomly drop a bunch of trivial little things and thoughts into his chat window.

For example, on an ordinary day during his senior year:
[Qi Wendong, look, this is the tallest and most robust plane tree outside your dorm window.]
[It’s going to be cut down next month. The school plans to widen and rebuild the road right in front of your window.]
[…Will you miss it?]
[Forget it, by the time you tell me the answer, who knows when that will be.]
[Here, I took a commemorative video for you. If you ever miss it one day, you can watch the video to remember. You’re welcome!]

For example, on an ordinary day after his birthday:
[It was my birthday a few days ago, and a friend gave me a case of Nine-Grain Liquor.]
[I remember its taste, it’s pretty good. If it were before, I would definitely have enjoyed it for a whole night, and looked forward to seeing you after getting drunk.]
[But you, you jerk… you actually issued me a ban on alcohol in your will!!!]
[Ahhh!!! Qi Wendong, you’re really so nosy. I think you’re deliberately trying to make my life difficult!!!]

For example, on an ordinary day on the eve of graduation:
[Qi Wendong, I’m graduating next month.]
[…To be honest, I really don’t want to leave B University. Oh, you’re definitely not the reason, don’t overthink it.]
[Last year, my counselor asked me about my plans after graduation. Guess what I said? Haha, I told him my family’s company had already signed the tripartite agreement with me!]
[This has always been my dad’s hope. I never wanted to go before, always feeling that being the curator of a Wendong museum would be a pretty good life.]
[But… when I think about how the illness that tortured you still has no cure, I always feel a bit anxious.]
[What if you’re reincarnated in your next life and inherit this life’s physical condition?]
[So I thought, at least before you grow up in your next life, I want to find a cure for it.]
[Oh, don’t overthink it. Of course, I can’t possibly do the research myself. If it were up to me, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to figure it out in three lifetimes. I can only work hard to earn some money to invest in existing research institutes… I’m really seriously thinking about the possibility of this, Qi Wendong, you’re not allowed to laugh at me!!]

The small chat window carried two years’ worth of one person’s ramblings.

When he couldn’t adapt after joining the company, he would complain to him. When he met a colleague he didn’t like, he would vent to him. When he encountered a difficult business task, he would cry to him.

Even when he saw beautiful scenery on his way to and from work, he had to share it, take pictures, and then mumble things like “too bad you can’t see it” and “you can just be jealous of me.”

…He seemed a little more mature, but not by much.

But… forget it, it was not bad.

The warm light generously filled the entire room.

Lin Chen patiently read through all the messages, saved all the photos and videos to his phone, and then moved them to an encrypted album.

After completing his undercover visit, Lin Chen suddenly felt that the day’s work was complete. He lay down on the bed with satisfaction and suddenly remembered that he hadn’t received Qi Jingming’s message yet.

He immediately switched Green Letter and saw the little red dot from Qi Jingming.

Third Dad: [[Recommended Green Letter Personal Card] Here. A very rich and good client. I’ve already talked to him for you, you just need to review and accept.]

Lin Chen: [So you also serve as the head of the studio’s legal department, my apologies for the lack of respect!]

Lin Chen: [What is this new boss’s name?]

Third Dad: [Li Zhengshen.]

Lin Chen: [?]

Lin Chen: [That surname seems a bit familiar.]

Lin Chen: [It looks exactly the same as the surname of that idle young master who’s been trying to dig up the truth about me lately.]

Lin Chen: [Don’t tell me Boss Qi has finally lost it and wants to take your son and me down with him?]

Third Dad: […What are you thinking?]

Third Dad: [How could I do something like that to my good son? Trust your Third Dad’s judgment. He’s really rich, go for it!]

Lin Chen pointed at the chat box and said to the system with absolute certainty, “Look, he definitely took a huge commission fee on the side!”