Entertainment: After singing her CEO best friend to tears, she repaid him with her body.

Chapter 26 I will send you postcards from all over the world

Su Yiyi scolded, "How old are you? Still playing this?"

Su Xiaoxiao surfaced, wiped her face, and suddenly asked, "Sister, do you think a 'temperature' like Zhou Yuji's is good?"

Su Yiyi was taken aback.

"Zhou Yuji has been quite compassionate towards her artists, hasn't she?" Su Xiaoxiao's tone was emotionless. "She supported those people for three years, providing them with resources that weren't top-tier, but she never shortchanged them. When someone cried, saying they couldn't go on, their dreams shattered, she waved them off, terminating their contracts without asking for a penny in breach of contract fees, even giving them several months' salary as severance pay. And what was the result?"

She counted on her fingers: "That trainee named Li something, he immediately signed with Starlight Media—the same company that poached Wang Bo's ex-girlfriend. There was also a singer who said he was going back to his hometown to open a milk tea shop when he terminated his contract. Three months later, I saw him on an online variety show, sitting on the very edge of the guest seat, desperately trying to get screen time."

"Yu Ji truly treats her artists as friends, even like children." Su Xiaoxiao shook her head. "When she's happy, she treats everyone to meals and drinks; when she's sad, she hides away and cries. She manages the company terribly, and in the end, she has to rely on the savings left by her father to keep it afloat. She's completely open and honest with everyone, and what's the result? The company closes down, and the artists go their separate ways—oh, except for Wang Bo, who was a lucky break for us."

Su Yiyi gently stirred the water, watching the ripples spread outwards: "But Xiaoxiao, Yuji is happy. She did what she wanted to do, treated those she thought deserved kindness kindly, and finally left gracefully, preparing to travel the world. Isn't that another kind of success?"

"Success?" Su Xiaoxiao scoffed. "Sister, you're a music teacher, so you can be pure. But I run a company. A company needs to make a profit, grow, and be responsible to its shareholders—although I'm the only shareholder right now, that's precisely why I can't be willful. I need warmth, but not to be indiscriminate. I need kindness, but it has to be tempered with a sharp edge."

She sat up straight, water droplets sliding down her collarbone: "I have feelings for Wang Bo—otherwise I wouldn't have given him the opportunity to attend the provincial celebration, and after seeing his successful performance, my first thought wouldn't have been how to protect him, instead of how to extract the maximum value from him."

"But my warmth is the warmth of reason." Su Xiaoxiao looked at her sister, her eyes clear and firm. "I signed him because he truly deserves it. I gave him good terms because he can create greater value. I protect him because he is an asset of our company—yes, an asset, but also our most important asset. I will respect his music, support his creations, and even, like you, be moved and happy for his success."

"But this is different from the warmth of Yu Ji's 'I'm nice to you because I like you, I don't expect anything in return'." She concluded, "I will not follow the path of Zhou Yu Ji. The path I want to take is to let talented people get the rewards they deserve, let sincere music be heard by more people, and at the same time, my company must develop healthily, my team must have food to eat, and my investments must yield returns."

Su Yiyi listened quietly for a long time, then smiled and reached out to pinch her younger sister's still chubby cheeks: "Our Xiaoxiao has grown up and thinks very clearly now."

Su Xiaoxiao slapped her hand away: "Come on, maybe I'm the older sister and Mom and Dad got it wrong... But seriously, sis, do you think Wang Bo will accept the offer from Tianyin Media or other companies? Their offers are definitely better than ours."

Su Yiyi shook her head without hesitation: "No!"

Why?

"Because Wang Bo isn't stupid," Su Yiyi smiled. "He's experienced being ignored and buried, and he's also experienced so-called 'opportunities'—like those catchy pop songs that Yu Ji gave him back then. What he needs most now isn't a big company that simply throws money at him, but an environment that truly understands him, respects his music, and is willing to grow with him."

She looked at her sister: "And you, although you talk a lot about commercial value, you've given him precisely this kind of environment. You saw his potential, gave him a stage, secretly formed a band for him, and stood up for him when he was looked down upon. Bosses of Zhao Ming's caliber might not be willing to do these things, nor could they necessarily do them."

Su Xiaoxiao seemed to be deep in thought.

"Moreover," Su Yiyi blinked, "Wang Bo is very loyal and sentimental. He remembers how good Yu Ji is to him. When he sings 'Once Upon a Time,' I always feel that part of it is sung for Yu Ji. If you are good to him—even if it's conditional—he can feel it. This kind of person will repay you tenfold if you are even a little bit good to him."

Su Xiaoxiao finally smiled, a hint of slyness in her smile: "Then I'll continue to treat him well, so well that he won't want to leave."

"However," she suddenly remembered something, "I have to go to sign the contract in person tomorrow. And while I'm at it... I'll give him a small gift."

"What gift?"

"A watch," Su Xiaoxiao said, "not too expensive, but not cheap either. It symbolizes 'time has begun'—his era, and the era of our cooperation."

Su Yiyi chuckled: "Isn't this just a standard business tactic?"

"But it's thoughtful," Su Xiaoxiao said matter-of-factly. "A business strategy with warmth, or simply 'Wenzhou business strategy'."

The two sisters laughed, and the bathroom was filled with a relaxed atmosphere.

After soaking for a while, the two got up, dried themselves off, and changed into silk bathrobes.

Su Yiyi carefully hung up the two sisters' dresses, preparing to send them to be cleaned the next day.

Su Xiaoxiao was already holding a tablet computer, leaning against the headboard, and starting to look through the public opinion report and draft contract sent by her assistant.

"By the way," Su Yiyi said suddenly while combing her hair, "Did Yuji message you? She cried so much tonight, she'll probably have another drink when she gets home."

Su Xiaoxiao paused her swiping on the screen, opened WeChat, and sure enough, Zhou Yuji's profile picture had a red dot.

Clicking on it reveals a photo: Zhou Yuji, without makeup, wearing a white bathrobe, holding a glass of red wine, smiling carefree at the camera in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, with the city's dazzling night view in the background.

The caption reads: "Congratulations to Xiao Wang on his amazing achievement! As his former boss, I'm extremely pleased. This toast is to you, and to myself—I finally did something right! PS: Don't worry about my flight to the Western Regions tomorrow morning. I'll be sending you postcards from all over the world, and the first one I'll write is 'Wang Bo is awesome!'"

There is another audio message below.

苏筱筱点开，周雨姬带着微醺的、慵懒的声音传出来：「筱筱啊，还有依依，王博那小子，以后就交给你们啦。替我好好照顾他，但也别太惯着，该骂骂，该夸夸。要是他敢欺负你们，告诉我，我飞回来揍他……虽然可能打不过，但我可以骂他，骂人我可厉害了……嗝。」

The two sisters smiled.

Su Yiyi said softly, "You see, although Yu Ji is extravagant, she lives life with clarity and retains her true feelings."

Su Xiaoxiao was silent for a moment, then replied with a message: "Have a safe journey, send many postcards, Wang Bo, don't worry."

Putting down her phone, she looked out at the deep night and suddenly realized that perhaps temperature really can have different scales.

Zhou Yuji is like boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius—scalding, direct, and potentially scalding, but also passionate and pure.

And what about her? Perhaps it's lukewarm water at 40 degrees Celsius, neither too hot nor too cold, just right to drink, quenching thirst, warming the body, and lasting for a long time.

And the older sister, Su Yiyi... is probably like 25-degree mountain spring water, clear, sweet, and always maintaining its purity and temperature.

"It's fine," she murmured to herself.

"What?" Su Yiyi looked up.

"It's nothing." Su Xiaoxiao turned off the tablet, slid into the covers, and said, "Go to sleep. Tomorrow we still have to go to 'Wenzhou Merchants' to swindle our future cash cow."

"He's a musician," Su Yiyi corrected.

"Okay, okay, musician, money-making musician." Su Xiaoxiao closed her eyes, a smile on her lips.

In the vast ocean of the internet, the wave of discussion about "Once Upon a Time in You" is spreading and fermenting at an astonishing speed.

The name Wang Bo went from being unknown to being hailed by countless people as a "treasure singer," "the hope of the Chinese music scene," and "the one who sang my heart out."

At that moment, Wang Bo was in the company's soon-to-be-vacated apartment, holding his guitar, looking at the scattered lights outside the window, revising another piece of music over and over again.

The phone screen lights up intermittently with incoming calls and friend requests from various unknown numbers.

He didn't answer or accept any of them.

I only occasionally open WeChat to check the three-person group called "Provincial Grand Celebration Operation Command".

In the group chat, Zhou Yuji posted that selfie and a voice message.

Su Yiyi sent a message: "Get some rest, let's talk tomorrow when we meet."

Su Xiaoxiao wasn't in the group chat, so she sent him a private message that was concise and to the point: "See you at the company tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., and bring your ID card."

Wang Bo replied to Su Yiyi: "Okay, Teacher Su, get some rest too."

Reply to Su Xiaoxiao: "Received, President Su."

Reply to Zhou Yuji: "I'll come see you off!"