Yang Yi wanted to get a piece of the Sahara Publishing House, or more strictly speaking, the Sahara Online Bookstore. Of course, a small manager like Mr. Lu couldn't make that decision. Mr. Lu, trembling with deference, consulted his boss, and then the negotiations were postponed as the boss stepped in personally.
Only after seeing the guests off did Yang Yi finally breathe a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Xi Xi, who had been hiding nearby and peeking over the sofa, came running over with a patter of little feet, acting coy and asking for her daddy to hold her.
Yang Yi had a soft spot for the little girl—after all, she was the closest person to him, both by blood and emotion, over all these years. He scooped Xi Xi up in one go and sat her on his sturdy arm.
"Daddy, do you have a lot, a lot of money?" Xi Xi's voice was soft, and her little hands were soft too, as she grabbed the flesh on her daddy's cheek, playing with it while asking.
Yang Yi was all muscle, but when his daughter grabbed him like that, even steel would melt into molten iron, and a tough guy couldn't escape being softened by her touch!
"Hmm, I have some money. What's up? Is our Xi Xi going to be daddy's little accountant?" Yang Yi chuckled warmly, his tone so gentle it didn't even seem like him!
"No, no!" The little girl wiggled her bottom and waved her hands to clarify, "Xi Xi wants daddy to give some money to mommy. Mommy is so pitiful!"
At that, Yang Yi was baffled. Give money to Murphy? Setting aside whether Murphy would even take his money, Yang Yi giving her money would be insane, wouldn't it?
That woman was ridiculously wealthy—not to mention her lavish house, she had no idea how much money she'd saved up over the years!
Thinking of his own six-figure savings, Yang Yi chuckled inwardly. Her money was probably dozens or even hundreds of times more than his!
"Why do you say your mom is pitiful?" Yang Yi asked, puzzled.
"On TV, mommy is so pitiful, she gets bullied!" Xi Xi pouted. "Auntie also said mommy works really hard, but that bad guy on TV said she doesn't."
Xi Xi's thoughts were still naive. She tugged at her daddy's hand, looking up at him with big, pitiful eyes, and begged, "Daddy, can you give some money to mommy so she won't be so sad? Then she can spend more time with Xi Xi!"
Yang Yi finally understood the whole story. He smiled helplessly and reached out to ruffle the little one's head. She hadn't had her hair braided today, so it was soft and smooth, feeling especially nice to touch!
"Your mom... how should I put it? She's not working for the money," Yang Yi said, choosing his words carefully. "Your mom loves singing, so she wants to give it another shot, to get back to the stage she knows."
Xi Xi looked at her daddy with a dazed expression, trying hard to understand what he was saying.
Yang Yi did his best to explain in simple terms: "So in this process, she might face some criticism or doubts from others, but that's something your mom has to go through! It's like when Xi Xi wants to eat delicious tiramisu, she has to wait a long time for daddy to make it!"
"Then Xi Xi doesn't want tiramisu anymore; Xi Xi will just eat little cakes!" The little girl didn't get it at all, and she said anxiously, "Xi Xi doesn't want mommy to be scolded."
As she spoke, a mist welled up in her eyes. The little girl's skin was fair and translucent, making changes easy to see, so soon her eyes were red and she looked on the verge of tears, pitifully endearing.
Yang Yi quickly comforted her: "Alright, alright, Xi Xi, don't worry. Daddy will figure something out. I won't let your mom stay down like this."
"Really?" Xi Xi's eyes sparkled with tears as she brightened up, asking happily, "Is daddy going to help mommy?"
Deep down, she was still thinking about money. After all, Yang Yi had taken her to the bank to withdraw cash before, and she'd seen it with her own eyes. She believed that with all that money, her daddy could definitely help her mom!
"Of course! If I don't help your mom, who else can?" Yang Yi said with a faint smile, calm but with a confident gleam in his eyes.
What Yang Yi had in mind wasn't money. He had actually already started picking out songs suitable for Murphy! With the vast library of songs from his past life, Yang Yi wasn't worried at all about being able to "write songs" for Murphy!
He had also contributed to the sales of Murphy's new album—he'd cleared out an entire shelf of Murphy's new albums at a music store. But after bringing them home and listening, he could understand why the media was so pessimistic about Murphy's comeback.
The new album had a few excellent old songs, but the eight new tracks, including the lead single, were all of poor quality! Maybe Yang Yi's standards were indeed strict, but he felt that if Murphy weren't Xi Xi's mom, he would never have bought an album like this.
Still, Murphy's voice and singing style were flawless. Yang Yi even thought Murphy was better than before she retired—maybe it was because she had more life experience, or because she had kept practicing tirelessly over the years, or perhaps it was the accumulation and refinement from various aspects.
Yang Yi believed that with good songs, Murphy could definitely make a stunning comeback!
Of course, there was still one problem!
Murphy's attitude earlier had given Yang Yi the wrong impression: she definitely wouldn't want him meddling in her career. If he offered to write songs for her, with her stubborn personality, she would surely refuse!
From an outsider's perspective, this idea was clearly a misunderstanding, but who could blame Murphy for still holding an outdated view of Yang Yi? Whenever Yang Yi brought up Murphy's work, she got sensitive.
Yang Yi also had another concern: if he wrote songs for Murphy, wouldn't she start getting suspicious again?
He had already shown three skills that the old Yang Yi never had: brewing coffee, writing, and cooking. Murphy could barely accept those!
But in music, Murphy was an insider herself. Wouldn't she know that music wasn't something you could learn in just a few years? The old Yang Yi had not only resisted the entertainment industry but had also shown zero knowledge of music. If he suddenly produced a few well-crafted songs, how could Murphy not be suspicious?
So Yang Yi had been keeping it under wraps, only playing guitar in private or after Xi Xi went to sleep, strumming songs he liked from his past life or learning some excellent music from this world.
In front of Murphy, he absolutely dared not show off!
Maybe later, he could gradually let Murphy "discover" his musical talent, but that would take a process for it to feel natural.
For now, though, Yang Yi decided to use the alias "Mu Zi'ang" to write songs for Murphy.
To that end, he had already closed off the private information entry for the alias "Mu Zi'ang" on the copyright organization's platform. Apart from Chen Yijie and others at Tianxiang who knew who "Mu Zi'ang" was, no one else—especially Murphy—would be able to find out who wrote the songs for her!
This was going to be fun!