Once everything at home was settled, the two of them set off for Modu.

This time, returning to Modu, it was just Gu Xingyi and Xia Xiyao—husband and wife.

Gu Xingyi couldn’t help but sigh. In his previous life, even as a single dog, he hadn’t been this busy. Who would’ve thought that in this life, as a full-time stay-at-home dad, he’d actually end up going out this often?

In the morning, Xia Xiyao had already sent the competition song to Yun-jie. As usual, Yun-jie took the song to the company’s recording team to produce the backing track and register the copyright.

When the two of them arrived in Modu, they only rested briefly at the apartment before heading straight for Yin Hai Entertainment Tower.

They were already familiar with the place and quickly made their way up to the eleventh floor, where Yun-jie was already waiting.

Even from a distance, Yun-jie saw the two of them still holding hands, and a smile appeared on her face. She looked closely at Xia Xiyao’s beautiful face—somehow, even though they’d only been apart for three days, Xia Xiyao looked different this time.

There was a radiant glow coming from within her, something Xia Xiyao had never shown before.

Seeing this version of Xia Xiyao warmed Yun-jie’s heart.

She had been by Xia Xiyao’s side for so long and always felt sorry for this little girl. She also knew that Xia Xiyao had always been cautious when dealing with people.

Who would’ve thought the one who changed her would be Gu Xingyi—the man she didn’t think much of at first?

But this… this was great.

“Yun-jie.”

Xia Xiyao and Gu Xingyi walked up and greeted her in unison.

Yun-jie nodded and looked at the couple before her, as if they were gods descended from heaven, her gaze soft.

“You’re back. Are you heading straight into practice now?”

“Mm~ The pressure’s pretty big! I mean, I’m not a professional singer, so I need to practice as much as I can. I don’t want to embarrass myself too badly in the competition.”

Gu Xingyi scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

Though he was confident in his voice and knew he wouldn’t be off-key—after all, the reason A Lifetime With You went viral back then was partly because of his vocals—he was still not as technically trained as a professional singer. That wasn’t something he could change. He was probably going to hold Xia Xiyao back this time.

“I believe that no matter how you sing, as long as Xiyao is happy, that’s enough, right?”

Hearing Yun-jie’s words, Xia Xiyao’s cheeks flushed, and she instinctively tightened her grip on Gu Xingyi’s hand.

Gu Xingyi smiled. That was something he could agree with.

The three of them chatted as they entered the recording studio. Xia Xiyao pulled the sheet music from her bag and placed it on the music stand, and both she and Gu Xingyi began to seriously study the song.

When it came to music, both of them were incredibly focused—that was one trait they shared.

This was the first time they were singing a love duet together, and Xia Xiyao’s eyes sparkled brightly the whole time. Singing a love song with Gu daizi—this feeling was amazing.

As Xia Xiyao looked at the song title and lyrics on the sheet, she felt a little nervous.

The lyrics said exactly what she had always wanted to say to Gu Xingyi.

Through rivers and seas, we live the rest of our lives together. And for the rest of my life, it’s all you.

And the name of the song?

“The Rest of My Life.”

Gu Xingyi was already familiar with this song, so at first, during practice, he was clearly more comfortable than Xia Xiyao. He was even able to coach her in some parts.

But soon enough, Gu Xingyi had to admit defeat. After just a few runs, Xia Xiyao was already singing way better than him.

Especially when it came to breath control and tone precision—she left him in the dust.

So, by the later part of practice, the roles reversed, and it was Xia Xiyao coaching Gu Xingyi instead.

The two of them spent the entire afternoon immersed in music. Thanks to Xia Xiyao’s guidance, Gu Xingyi improved significantly compared to when they first started.

But Gu Xingyi really felt that practicing songs was exhausting!

From 1 PM to 5 PM, he felt like his throat was about to catch fire. Especially after singing a song he liked over and over again—it honestly became a bit of an auditory fatigue.

He looked at Xia Xiyao with a bit of heartache. It was clear how much effort she had put into practicing those previous songs to get so good.

They say, "One minute on stage takes ten years of practice offstage"—not an exaggeration at all!

In the end, it was Xia Xiyao who noticed the fatigue on Gu Xingyi’s face and was the first to stop today’s practice.

Gu Xingyi let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he felt like being a full-time stay-at-home dad was actually way easier!

As he walked out of the recording studio holding Xia Xiyao’s hand alongside Yun jie, Gu Xingyi leaned toward Xia Xiyao and whispered softly in her ear:

“Wife, you really worked hard~”

Xia Xiyao blinked and didn’t respond. She didn’t actually feel like it had been that hard—there had been much tougher times back when she used to sing. But hearing those words from Gu Xingyi still filled her heart with unexpected sweetness.

At that moment, someone else happened to come out of the recording studio, brushing past the three of them.

Gu Xingyi looked up—it was a woman draped in a shawl, looking elegant and dignified, followed closely by a young assistant with glasses and a bowed head.

The woman just gave them a sideways glance, let out a soft “hmph,” and walked past them toward the elevator, the sound of her high heels clicking sharply on the floor.

What was her problem???

The three of them hadn’t done anything to offend her, right?

Gu Xingyi had thought she looked vaguely familiar but couldn’t recall where he had seen her before. Her attitude, though, left him confused.

He turned to Yun jie and asked curiously, “Who’s that? Did she and Xiyao have some kind of conflict?”

Yun jie quickly shook her head and gave a bitter smile as she glanced toward the elevator where the woman had disappeared.

“There’s no conflict. Her name is Lina—she’s one of the company’s top-tier singers.”

“You two are always so lovey-dovey, no time to care about the entertainment world. But the entertainment circle is only so big. And with the two of you constantly dominating the trending searches, others get less exposure. Naturally, they start to feel some resentment.”

“This Lina, when Xiyao first joined the company, she already didn’t think highly of her. Now, she’s probably gone from looking down on her to being a little jealous.”

Hearing Yun jie’s explanation, Gu Xingyi finally remembered where he’d seen that woman named Lina before.

It was during those TV shows he watched—she was the one in that commercial that always popped up.

This was something they had to be careful about. The entertainment industry was a limited pie—the more they took, the less others got. That kind of imbalance naturally bred resentment.

But that couldn’t be helped. It was the same in every industry—survival of the fittest. Gu Xingyi wasn’t about to back down just because of that.

Besides, the reason they had chosen Yin Hai Entertainment in the first place was because it focused on cultivating singers and had strong star-making capabilities.

The other two major companies were different. Shengshi Entertainment, although one of the big three, took a much more hands-off approach with singers. Their main focus was the film and television industry, and their strength lay in producing actors.

As for Tianmei Entertainment—well, let’s not even talk about them. Also part of the big three, but with the worst reputation.

Xia Xiyao was a pure singer, so Yin Hai Entertainment was naturally the most suitable for her. But even if Yin Hai hadn’t been willing to accept her back then, Gu Xingyi still had backup plans.

After all—there was always the “sneaky development” route to fall back on!