CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 83: YOUMENG TAKES ACTION AGAIN! DREAM-THEMED

"Chu Tian, I want to drink... Will you keep me company?"

What in the world? Drink? What kind of drink?

"No way, don’t even think about it."

"Why? Aren’t you the one who loves drinking the most? I haven’t had a drink in a long time. Can’t you just have one with me?"

What could Chu Tian say? Could he admit that he hated drinking the most?

His predecessor was undoubtedly a drunkard, but he himself wasn’t. In his past life, he could handle his liquor well and had a high tolerance, yet he simply disliked drinking. Whether it was beer, spirits, red wine, imported liquor, or even cocktails, pre-mixed concoctions, and a whole host of other miscellaneous drinks—there wasn’t a single one he liked. Yellow wine was somewhat tolerable; the only alcoholic beverage he could genuinely enjoy was probably sweet rice wine. Why drink for no reason? He wouldn’t touch alcohol unless absolutely forced to, so he refused without a second thought.

"No drinking. What’s so good about alcohol?"

"Huh? Something’s off. Aren’t you the one who loves drinking the most?"

"I do not! Stop spouting nonsense. That’s an insult to my character!"

"Besides, why should a girl like you be drinking?"

"Aren’t you afraid the headlines tomorrow will blare ’#FormerQueen Falling on Hard Times, Drowns Sorrows in Alcohol’?"

"And you still have to record songs. If you drink tonight, will you even be able to record tomorrow?"

Facing Chu Tian’s barrage of questions, Xu Qingqiu pouted aggrievedly, looking at him stubbornly.

"But I’m feeling really upset. I want to drink!"

Looking at her eyes, Chu Tian felt he had no way to refuse her and finally relented, "You can drink, but not today. Wait until you’ve finished recording. If I think it’s okay then, I’ll drink with you, alright?"

"Okay! You said it, it’s a promise!"

Seeing Xu Qingqiu’s seemingly triumphant and playful smile, plus the delicate, jade-like pinky she extended, Chu Tian inwardly scoffed, Childish!

But his body betrayed his words. He still obediently extended his hand to hook her small finger. Xu Qingqiu then grabbed it and pressed their thumbs together to seal the deal.

"Sealed! Done! Anyone who goes back on their word is a puppy!"

"How old are you, still playing these games?"

"None of your business. Can’t I like it?"

"Sure, no problem at all..."

After sealing their pinky promise, the two of them stood up in unison and headed towards the company, chatting and bantering along the way.

As their voices faded into the distance, Yiyi, who had been sitting outside with wide eyes and puffed cheeks, had already forgotten to chew.

She stared blankly in the direction they left, her mind like a tempestuous storm, unable to calm down for a long while.

No way, they just left like that?

Didn’t they see me? How could they miss such a large, living person right here?

I’m not invisible; I’m sitting right under the streetlight! How could they still not see me?

"AHHHHHHH!"

Yiyi felt as if she’d suffered a critical hit of ten thousand tons.

It was too humiliating! She was such a large, fair-skinned, and cute girl; how could two grown adults walk right past her without even a single glance?

She had painstakingly sat here all night feeding mosquitoes, and they just left like that?

Furious, Yiyi grabbed the empty box, resentfully swallowed the food in her mouth, stomped her little feet, and hurriedly chased after them.

"Sister Qiu!~ Wait for me! I’m afraid of the dark!"

「」

By the time they got back to the company, it was already empty. It had been several hours since closing time, and all the lights inside were off.

"Chu Tian, are you going home? Do you need me to drive you?"

"Ah? No need. I still have some things to do. You guys go on ahead."

"Something to do? What do you have to do?"

Xu Qingqiu looked at him strangely. I’m the boss; if you had any company work, how could I not know?

She planned to see just what Chu Tian was busy with every day.

"Um... it’s not company business. It’s that I... I’ve made plans with someone. Yes, that’s right, I have plans with someone. We’re going to have dinner later."

An appointment? With whom?

"Are you going on a date?"

"What? No way. It’s just a friend I met playing games. We hit it off, so we’re just grabbing a meal together. What date are you talking about? You’re overthinking it."

"Drinking?"

"...What are you implying? No alcohol, just a simple meal to get acquainted."

"Oh, I see. Alright then, remember to head back early."

"Alrighty, bye-bye then!~"

"Are you that eager for me to leave quickly?"

"HEH HEH. Just a casual remark, just a casual remark~"

"HMPH!"

Xu Qingqiu shot him an eye-roll, huffed, and walked away, leaving him with a view of the back of her head.

Watching her go downstairs, Chu Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been incredibly tense just now.

He couldn’t help but be tense; after all, what Xu Qingqiu had said earlier had infuriated him.

Putting other things aside, at the very least, Xu Qingqiu had been loyal and kind to him over these years. Moreover, from his perspective, she was a pretty good girl—very innocent and kind. Her only dream was to sing many, many songs for many, many people to hear.

Yet, she kept hitting walls everywhere. Now, she was even being openly humiliated by a show’s production team. How could he stand for that?

From the moment the show started recording, he couldn’t stand the production team’s conduct. Not only did they completely lack professional ethics, but they were also opportunistic, arrogant, and incompetent.

Previously, he had thought of writing a few songs to teach them a lesson, to make them regret looking down on people. But later, he forgot, and the matter was dropped.

But the production team kept pushing their luck, becoming insatiable. Did they really think someone without backing could be bullied at will?

He refused to accept that. In his past life, he had been powerless against such things, having seen them too often. But in this life, equipped with a system and a host of abilities he had yet to display, someone was foolishly stumbling right into his path, courting death.

Since that’s the case, I’ll grant you your wish!

Yes, he planned to take action again! He would make everyone firmly remember the name ’Youmeng’! Lest certain people think they controlled everything, that they could call the shots, that capital could do as it pleased!

So tonight, he planned to give Xu Qingqiu a few songs. Her show was gone, follow-up resources hadn’t materialized, and her album was still up in the air. Giving her a few songs to release now would, on one hand, teach the production team a lesson, and on the other, earn him some Reputation Points. It would also be greatly beneficial for Xu Qingqiu herself.

Mainly, the system had issued an unlock mission some time ago that he hadn’t gotten around to doing. He used to think it was unnecessary and wouldn’t need it, but now was the perfect opportunity to complete it.

He’d almost let it slip.

After finally seeing Xu Qingqiu off, Chu Tian sat in his seat, pondering which songs to give her.

He currently had only a limited number of songs on hand. Excluding those he had already given away, he had exactly ten left:

"Red Roses," "He Doesn’t Understand," "Direction of Light," "Hello Tomorrow," "My Dream," "The Farthest Place I Can See," "Flower In The Wonderland," "Invisible Wings," "Blooming All The Way," and "Thousands of Songs."

Among them, "Red Roses" and "He Doesn’t Understand" were songs for a male vocalist, but he could adapt them for a female singer. After all, he had existing references from his past life, and with his own background in composition and his experience from that previous life, it was hardly a challenge.

However, if they were to produce an album, it definitely needed a theme. He couldn’t just give her random songs.

As he looked over these songs, he increasingly found that several of them shared a common thread.

"Dreams."

"Inspirational."

That’s it! The theme would be dreams, focusing on inspirational stories of persevering in the pursuit of one’s dreams!