Fu Xuan: I Hear You're Very Good at Massage?

Naturally, Lin Shuang did not go to Tingyun's room in the end.

Mainly because it was the middle of the night—what would she even be doing by running into a girl's room? It would not have been appropriate.

The secondary reason was that Lin Shuang had never even been to Tingyun's residence on the Xianzhou, so she could not have gone even if she wanted to.

Of course, Lin Shuang had not been idle either.

She sent Acheron the music files Silver Wolf had dug up, one by one.

She had assumed Acheron might not be online at this hour, but Acheron appeared almost immediately and accepted the files.

[Acheron: ?]

[Lin Shuang: I found the music files from Greatsword. You said they were pretty good before, so I sent you a copy.]

[Acheron: Thank you. They should help pass quite a bit of time.]

[Lin Shuang: I'm glad you like them.]

Watching Acheron accept every music file one after another, Lin Shuang did not ask about her memories.

She was somewhat afraid to.

She worried that Acheron might have already forgotten many of the memories they shared.

And she did not know whether, one day in the future, she might wake up and message Acheron, only for the other woman to ask who she was.

Seeing that Acheron had stopped talking, Lin Shuang opened the Interastral Peace Corporation's music platform.

Firefly was not an exclusive name, but with the keywords Celestia Race and singer added, it was easy enough to pinpoint her social media account.

She could also find the music platform Firefly normally used.

If Lin Shuang wanted to get close to—or rather, make contact with—Firefly, then the songs in her hands could be considered bargaining chips.

In this grand interstellar age, differences in species, culture, and even ears meant that—

Different people could listen to the same song and come away with entirely different feelings.

After all, different races did not necessarily have auditory organs capable of hearing the same frequencies.

That was why the Interastral Peace Corporation's many music platforms were, in truth, divided into separate user groups.

Lin Shuang had looked over the platform Firefly used, and it really was better suited to her.

And fortunately, Firefly's preferred style—even her singing style—was more or less the same as Lin Shuang remembered.

Lin Shuang did not think the songs in her possession would somehow become the absolute best just because they were uploaded to an interstellar platform. But with similar styles, they would naturally be more likely to reach Firefly.

Lin Shuang did not know much about Firefly. However, according to the information she had found on her phone, Firefly still frequently listened to new songs despite already being famous and successful. And she listened to quite a lot of them.

In her own words:

"People often say that the pickier the diner's taste, the better the chef's skill. No matter what others say, I will always be the pickiest listener."

That pickiness was not only directed at others, but also at herself. Firefly held her own music to high standards, and she held others' music to the same standards.

That was why Lin Shuang wanted to take a chance with these songs.

But when all was said and done, it was only an idle move.

It would be great if it worked. If it did not, she could always cling to Asta, that rich lady's thigh.

Compared to that, Asta's thigh was easier to cling to.

After registering an account on the music platform, Lin Shuang picked three songs, shamelessly tagged them as "original," and uploaded them.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Shuang looked at the hundred million Credits Silver Wolf had transferred into her account—and had surprisingly not taken back. She directly spent ten million to buy promotion and recommendations for her three songs.

"Silver Wolf really is such a good godfather. If I can't get in, maybe I should just ask her to transfer a few billion Credits to my account."

Looking at the three songs that had already been pushed onto the homepage, Lin Shuang could not help smacking her lips. If Elio really could see her future, he would probably be willing to help with such a small favor.

Thinking about it that way, Lin Shuang suddenly felt that she actually had plenty of ways to get to Penacony. It was not as difficult as she had first thought.

Meanwhile.

Inside a luxurious apartment.

Firefly wore a long house dress. Its loose fit could not conceal the graceful curves of her figure.

She was currently sitting on the sofa, idly scrolling through her phone and listening to new songs one after another.

Her manager and assistant were not here. At this hour, she was alone.

For Firefly, listening to music was both work and a hobby.

Recently, though, this time had felt more like relaxation.

During these moments, she did not have to think about too many things—she did not have to think about the discord hidden within the Family, nor did she have to think about her lost voice.

Just as she returned to the homepage again, she suddenly noticed that the recommended song had changed names.

It had become a music producer she had never heard of, and the song title was one she had never seen before.

"Rubia."

A song title she had never heard.

"A new song?"

Intrigued, Firefly tapped the creator's profile picture.

"A newcomer who just registered... They must have bought promotion. They're really rich. I wonder which company's creator they are?"

After all, if they were an independent creator and a newcomer at that, they should not have spent so many Credits on promotion all at once.

There were cheaper promotional packages available if they were willing to sign a contract with the platform.

Getting onto the homepage right after registering simply did not fit the most cost-effective promotional process.

"Or maybe some rich person is just playing around."

Though she did not have a particularly favorable guess, Firefly still tapped the play button.

As a professional, Firefly would not dismiss a song she had never heard based on a first impression like this.

But very quickly, from the opening notes to the start of the singing, Firefly's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Even the wings beside her head twitched unconsciously a few times.

"It's good."

It was exactly the style Firefly liked, and also the style she could sing.

After hearing only a short section, Firefly had already fallen in love with the song.

It might even become popular on the platform.

The experienced Miss Firefly quickly made her judgment.

She listened to all three songs in one go, but each was sung in a different voice, which left Firefly puzzled.

"Were the voices tuned with AI? Is the creator not confident in their own voice?"

Seeing the same name listed under each singer, Firefly instinctively assumed that the creator did not like singing in their natural voice.

And had chosen other voice sources instead.

"How can that be... These songs are all quite high-quality. Using someone else's voice source is such a waste—!"

Firefly was a little dissatisfied.

Nowadays, there were plenty of creators who used AI voice sources to compensate for shortcomings in their own voices. Firefly knew not everyone possessed the singing voice of the Celestia Race.

But that was one thing, and this was another.

Hearing such good songs only to find out that the creator had used AI voice sources was a little hard for Miss Singer to bear.

It was like eating pineapple pizza in front of an Italian—it left a lump in one's throat.

"No! I need to find time to ask this person whether they'd be willing to let me buy the songs and sing my own version! These songs can't go to waste!"

Though she had lost her voice, Firefly still wanted to hold good songs close first and worry about the rest later, as a professional musician.

Fu Xuan: I Heard Your Massage Skills Are Excellent?

The next day.

Early in the morning, Lin Shuang opened her door and saw Tingyun standing outside with a folded fan in hand, smiling sweetly as she blocked the doorway.

"Benefactor~ This little lady waited for you all night yesterday, until dawn. Yet you were unwilling to come see this little lady even once. How terribly cruel of you."

"...Stop messing around. You don't look like someone who stayed up all night."

Lin Shuang knew Tingyun was talking nonsense. How could someone who had not slept all night be so energetic and smile so happily?

"Sigh, really now. Couldn't you just play along with this little lady?"

As she spoke, Tingyun ducked down. Her fluffy ears brushed against Lin Shuang's arm as she bent over and slipped into Lin Shuang's room.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Shuang looked curiously at Tingyun as she entered her room, unsure what she wanted this early in the morning.

Tingyun raised the paper bag in her hand and placed it on the coffee table.

"This little lady specially brought breakfast for her benefactor. It's all your favorite food."

"That nice?"

"What are you saying, Benefactor? This little lady has always treated you this well~"

Listening to Tingyun chatter away, Lin Shuang sat beside her and looked at the breakfast, which was perfect in color, aroma, and taste. She took a deep breath.

"Mmm~ It really smells good. Thank you for making breakfast."

"Oh my~ If Benefactor truly wishes to thank this little lady, then you must give this little lady a good massage later."

Lin Shuang immediately knew that Tingyun had come so early today just to say that.

"So early? Not tonight?"

Unexpectedly, Tingyun pursed her lips and complained unhappily when she heard that.

"But Benefactor clearly refused to come over last night."

"..."

Lin Shuang stiffened and hurriedly surrendered.

"Okay, okay, my fault, my fault. I'll massage you after breakfast."

"Hehe~ I knew Benefactor would pity this little lady for being so tired."

After saying that, Tingyun snapped her folding fan shut and changed the subject.

"After we parted yesterday, this little lady gave Qingque Miss the letter of recommendation for the Master Diviner. Miss Qingque guaranteed that she would settle things with the Master Diviner this morning."

As Lin Shuang listened and ate breakfast, she nodded.

"So I should head over around noon?"

"Mhm. Miss Qingque also said that if we go during the lunch break, the Master Diviner is more likely to agree."

"You two really are making my life difficult~"

Tingyun instead tapped Lin Shuang on the forehead with her fan and teased her.

"When Benefactor saw the Master Diviner yesterday, you were clearly staring at her little feet the whole time. Qingque told this little lady all about it. You may say no with your mouth, but Benefactor must already be overjoyed inside."

"Cough, cough—"

Lin Shuang nearly choked. She hurriedly gulped down two mouthfuls of water before retorting.

"I didn't! I wasn't! I wasn't looking! Why does Qingque tell everyone everything?!"

"~"

Tingyun smiled as she watched Lin Shuang drink water in a panic. She did not say a word, yet her smiling eyes seemed to have already said everything.

"Stop looking at me!"

Lin Shuang could not keep her composure any longer. She reached out, intending to turn Tingyun's face away. Tingyun did not dodge, letting Lin Shuang's fingers press against her cheek and push her face aside as she continued teasing her.