Have you ever been a celebrity? Why are you writing about entertainment?

Chapter 103 Diao Chan is on her way on horseback.

"Scenic spot? Singing?"

As the show continued to gain traction, the number of followers on the "Old Age" account reached 200,000. Qi Luoan opened the short video platform intending to manage it, but instead saw a trending topic about Yu Wei.

The trending topics on short videos are updated very quickly, and unlike Weibo's trending topics, they can't be bought directly. They are still quite authoritative in terms of real-time popularity.

Qi Luoan hurriedly clicked on the relevant entry, and then saw Yu Wei sitting there in a tour guide uniform, holding a guitar...

Did I get the tour guide from this blind box?
There were quite a few videos under the related keywords, obviously all taken by tourists at the scene. She randomly picked one with a good angle and clicked on it to get a sense of what was happening.

The crowd gathered and dispersed like a tide, eventually forming a loose circle. At the center of the circle, Yu Wei, holding an old wooden guitar, began to strum the prelude.

His fingertips glide across the strings, and a series of metallic arpeggios suddenly resounds.

Qi Luoan was unfamiliar with this melody, and unsurprisingly, it was another new song. Among the songs that appeared in the novel but had not yet been sung, only "Blue Lotus" and "I Am Free Like the Wind" remained.

She felt it should be the latter, because "Blue Lotus" was both a piece that Yu Wei and Meng Han had competed against and one of the works that appeared in the movie, so there was no need to bring it out so easily.

The song's intro lasts forty seconds, a style rarely seen in Yu Wei's works. Someone unfamiliar with the song might think he was trying to show off his guitar skills.

I am as free as the wind

Just like your tenderness, which cannot be retained.

Yu Wei's voice was not clear; it even had a rough, gritty quality, as if it had been repeatedly worn down by the journey of wandering.

As the first line of lyrics burst forth, his strumming rhythm suddenly intensified, his right wrist moving up and down with an almost obstinate force, causing all six strings to vibrate simultaneously, producing a roar like waves crashing on the shore.

This lyric proves Qi Luoan's conjecture, but Yu Wei's slightly rough singing style today is something she's never heard before.

AI needs new material...

His navy blue shirt paired with dark trousers made him look mature, but it was precisely this maturity that added a touch of wild vitality to his singing.

A gentle breeze ruffled the hair falling across his forehead, revealing his slightly furrowed brows and tightly closed eyes, as if he were alone, contemplating the loneliness of "bearing all the vicissitudes of life alone" in the lyrics.

Qi Luoan subconsciously began to imagine whether he had also repeatedly adjusted the curve of his mouth in front of the mirror when he practiced this song alone, so that the vulnerability and stubbornness at this moment were so natural.

Actually, it was because someone at the scene used a flash...

Before the chorus, Yu Wei's fingers quickly switched, transitioning from strumming to a rapid series of arpeggios, the piano notes like shattered jade falling onto a plate, urgently building up to the emotional outburst.

I offered you tenderness, but you refused to accept it.

I'll give you the real feeling of my hands.
I give you the freedom to remember forever.
I give you everything, but I cannot stay.

The singing suddenly soared, tearing through the lens, carrying an almost painful frankness. Every "give" seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of the chest, making Qi Luo'an's scalp tingle.

She subconsciously imitated Yu Wei's strumming gestures and played an air guitar, her fingertips quietly tracing the hem of her skirt, the soft rustling of the fabric becoming her own secret chord.

I feel like this every time I watch Yu Wei sing...

She has to pay for the video.

Qi Luoan adjusted her mindset and continued listening. Because it was a live performance, Yu Wei didn't just sing a demo; instead, she sang the entire song properly.

During the interlude, Yu Wei lowered his head and moved his left hand quickly across the fingerboard, playing a low, almost sobbing melody. At this moment, the piano music was no longer just an accompaniment; it became the wind itself.

It wasn't a gentle breeze, but a howling, aimless, free wind that swept by.

Before the last note of "freedom" had faded, Yu Wei suddenly pressed down on all the strings with the heel of his right hand, and the music stopped abruptly, leaving only the background noise of the scenic area.

He opened his eyes, let out a long sigh, and the video abruptly ended. Qi Luoan felt a little unsatisfied and watched another video.

The second video, viewed from a different angle, revealed more details, such as the sweat on Yu Wei's temples and the damp fabric on his back during the performance.

It must be tough on him in this heat...

Qi Luoan glanced at Yu Wei with a hint of sympathy. Just as she was about to close the video, a girl in ancient costume wearing a plain dress appeared in the background from the corner.

Her fingers suddenly stopped. This figure was too familiar; she wouldn't mistake it even if it were just a fleeting shot.

Qi Luoan sat up abruptly, dragged the progress bar back three seconds, and carefully observed Shen Yutong's expression. In the video, she was looking in Yu Wei's direction with a smile in her eyes.

"not good."

……

The Bianliang Dream Theater was performing an acrobatic act depicting Zhang Zeduan's creative process. Yu Wei watched the silk dancers soaring through the air, and while he was in awe, he was thinking about something.

Acrobatics is also a form of entertainment and art. If it were written into a novel, would people be able to learn it?
It doesn't seem to make much sense...

When I run out of things to write about, I'll give it a try. I can go to the circus and compete with the monkeys for jobs, and crush them.

After Yu Wei finished singing, the seven members of the small group completely accepted him as their tour guide. Although his guiding skills were lacking, his emotional value was off the charts. Those short videos circulating online showed them standing right next to Yu Wei, which at least counted as participation – something the other tourists couldn't do.

As for guided tours at the scenic area, they can just tag along...

"The wind in your lyrics, on the surface, emphasizes freedom, but it also seems to be writing that the price of freedom is loneliness. Is it a paradoxical narrative?"

As the performance ended, Shen Yutong, who was sitting next to Yu Wei, asked him a question about song composition.

To facilitate filming for the production team, their seats were placed in the front row of the theater in the flower effect area. Yu Wei didn't expect her to ask this question, but she still explained it to her seriously.

This freedom is not a proactive choice, but a passive response to the inability to retain gentleness, implying the helplessness of being "forced into freedom".

Serious singer-songwriters all have their own focuses; some emphasize lyrics, while others emphasize melody. Shen Yutong, for example, is the type who emphasizes lyrics.

Yu Wei looked up Shen Yutong's resume in the car. She was a child star who studied in a choir when she was young, but she never became very popular.

She re-entered the public eye two years ago, participating in a talent show and bringing several high-quality original songs. Coupled with her solid singing skills, she directly won the championship and became a top-tier singer.

Shen Yutong is a very pure musician. Since her resurgence in popularity through a talent show, she hasn't appeared on any variety shows. "Music Blind Box" is her first reality show appearance.

She has a high level of skill in writing lyrics. Yu Wei listened to a few of her songs when she had some free time. The poetic narrative and delicate language were almost in the same style as "Red Bean," which is why she liked this song so much.

"It feels like you have three identities in this song: the awakened one, the bearer, and the one saying goodbye. What are the spiritual portraits of these identities?"

Such an abstract question... It's fortunate that he has a complete grasp of it; even an ordinary plagiarist wouldn't be able to answer that.

"The theme of wandering travelers symbolizes spiritual rootlessness; taking responsibility emphasizes the individual's complete acceptance of fate; and a sober farewell highlights the intertwining of self-respect and pain."

Xu Wei's musical style is unique, and his lyrics are profound and introspective. They are indeed very interesting when you listen carefully, so it's normal for Shen Yutong to be interested in them.

In the past, when Yu Wei watched those kinds of celebrity interviews, she would think, "Hey, what do entertainment industry stars do when they get music interviews? They can't be at the top of the world and not get any interviews, can they?"

Fortunately, his cheat skills were superior...

After the performance, it was lunchtime. Logically, the tour guide should have taken the tourists to sample the local delicacies, but Yu Wei really didn't like that.

Anyway, he traveled a lot, and he was always ripped off when buying things at tourist attractions. Many things were not meant to cheat poor people, but he simply couldn't afford them.

Yu Wei isn't a real tour guide, and the scenic area has no vested interest in him, so he definitely wouldn't do something like that.

He simply went back to the production crew's rest area and casually ate a boxed lunch from one of the staff members.

Yu Wei's act of writing while eating shocked passersby. It turns out that the rumors about his love for writing are true. He's making every second count, so it can't just be a persona, right?
The novel's plot has recently been adapted into a movie, and in order to include a song, Yu Wei decided to write a small subplot where a scenic spot asks the protagonist to advertise and promote the area, so he wrote a song.

Although the plot is full of allusions, it's still better than writing a poem... No one can really believe a story about writing a poem to advertise a scenic spot.

In today's era, poetry is actually very difficult to spread, and the brilliance of any literary or artistic work is inseparable from the context of its time.

These days, what's the difference between a truly good poem and one generated by AI in the eyes of netizens? Poems that have lost their historical depth are not appreciated by literary giants.

All that's left is to hurry up and write, and try to finish the whole song before my tour guide job ends tomorrow.

Just as his hands were flying across the keyboard typing, a seemingly random message from Qi Luo'an interrupted his train of thought: "Are you still there?"

He'd only ever seen this kind of question in the comments section of videos of handsome men and beautiful women falling down...

"What do you mean?"

Is it still in the Qingming Riverside Scene scenic area?

Yu Wei then realized that Qi Luoan must have seen the video of her singing at the scenic spot, which was why she asked this question.

"Still there, but I might go to Guangzhou Street and Hong Kong Street this afternoon."

"OK, I'm on my way."

What the heck? She's on her way?
Her home is at least three or four hours away from Hengdian by car, so why did she come all this way?
Surely she couldn't have just wanted to visit him, could she? It's not that serious. Even couples deeply in love don't go that far; they're nowhere near that level...

"Are you serious?"

"This time I really have to come."

Qi Luo'an answered firmly. Based on her understanding of Shen Yutong, Yu Wei would be in real danger if he encountered her, and he had no choice but to go.

She and Shen Yutong were childhood friends and had always had a good relationship. She was not a bad person, much less a scheming girl.

But she has one bad habit: she likes to overthink and research this and that.

The kind of thing that treats people like guinea pigs...

(End of this chapter)