She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

Yang Yang called three days later in the afternoon.

"Liu Yifei's audition is scheduled for next Tuesday. Let her try out for Zhao Pan'er."

Her tone was direct and to the point, without beating around the bush.

"I've already spoken to the investors. I relayed what you said last time to the producer verbatim. He was silent for a while after listening, and then said to let her give it a try. But let me make this clear: the audition isn't just a formality; it's to see if she can truly capture Zhao Pan'er's spirit. If she can, the project will be launched ahead of schedule and we'll reserve a spot for her. If not, the OST will still be done."

Xiao He hung up the phone, leaned back on the sofa, and spun his phone around in his palm several times.

So much time has passed since that phrase, "Help me have a child," was uttered in the Shunyi villa last winter.

She caught the first wave of criticism with "Insomnia Flight" and secured the top spot with "Mohe Dance Hall," gradually suppressing the wave of ridicule about her singing skills across the internet.

He unlocked his phone and sent Liu Yifei a WeChat message.

"Sister Sissi, the audition is next Tuesday at Menghua Recording. Director Yang will be watching in person."

She replied instantly with two words and a punctuation mark: "What time?"

"Two o'clock in the afternoon. I'll drive you there."

"Okay. I'll get ready." The message "Typing..." kept flashing on the other end of the chat window for a long time before finally going silent. Then another message popped up.

"I'm a little nervous."

"What are you nervous about? You've been standing in front of the camera for over a decade."

"That was in the past. The last time I auditioned for a TV series was several years ago."

"But the advantage is that you now have one more thing than you did back then."

"What?"

"Her experience of climbing out of the trough. Zhao Pan'er also rose from the ruins. If you don't play her, who will?"

On Tuesday afternoon, a Porsche Cayenne drove out of the Shunyi villa area.

Liu Yifei sat in the passenger seat, wearing a simple white shirt and dark gray wide-leg pants, with her hair draped over her shoulders.

Clutching the printed script excerpt in her hand, the scene where Zhao Pan'er decides to reopen the teahouse on the ruins had few lines and relied entirely on her eyes.

"Little brother, you keep saying this drama is very important to me. How important is it?" Liu Yifei asked.

"It can bring you back to your peak in one fell swoop, isn't that important? It will allow you to regain all your goodwill. Actually, this capital was a misjudgment. You haven't lost your goodwill; it's just temporarily fallen to the ground, and you haven't prepared the tools to pick it up yet."

Liu Yifei was very happy to hear this, and even felt a little sweet.

"You're making me even more nervous during the audition later."

"You've been acting for over a decade, what kind of big directors haven't you seen?"

Liu Yifei placed the script on her lap and turned her head to look out the window.

"When I auditioned before, I would laugh when the director told me to laugh and cry when he told me to cry. I thought I was very professional back then, but looking back now, I was just following instructions. Later, when I acted in movies, I was criticized for many years. What I feared was not auditions, but being told 'no' after the audition."

At the entrance of the office building, Yang Yang's assistant was already waiting downstairs.

Xiao He sat on a bench in the corridor, watching Liu Yifei walk through the frosted glass door. Before the door closed, she turned around, and Xiao He mouthed "Good luck!" to her.

The door is closed.

Nearly two hours later, the frosted glass door at the end of the corridor was pushed open.

Liu Yifei practically rushed out, the hem of her white shirt billowing behind her, her high heels clicking crisply on the marble floor, a sound that could be heard throughout the entire corridor.

"How is it? How is it?"

Xiao He stood up—her face was full of smiles, a smile he had never seen before, a smile that welled up from the bottom of her heart.

It's a bit like the smile of a recent college graduate who gets their first job offer.

"Excellent! The director said this role is exactly what I'm playing, and no one can replace me!"

She rushed up to him, clutching the script she had read countless times, her breath still ragged as she spoke.

"Playing yourself? They saw through you too? Don't you only act like this in front of me?"

"Do you want to die?" Liu Yifei slapped him. "Director Yang said this is the feeling I want."

Xiao He looked at her and recalled the image of her walking briskly towards the frozen lake by the Guanting Reservoir last winter—her cashmere coat billowing in the wind, her long black hair dancing on her shoulders.

Now—she stands still, yet feels as light as if she has just taken off.

A full year separates these two moments.

"That's right. That's exactly what you, Liu Yifei, originally intended."

Yang Yang walked over from the other end of the corridor, holding a folder in her hand. She said the investors were very satisfied, and the project would most likely be launched soon.

Screenwriter Zhang Wei is finalizing the script, and the producer asked her to convey that the entire OST for "Ever Night and Dream Record" will be handed over to Hechao Music, and the specific contract process will begin next week.

After saying that, he extended his hand and shook hands with Xiao He.

She only said two words at the end: Thank you.

Xiao He also said two words: "It's a pleasure to work with you."

Yang Yang looked at him for a moment, then at Liu Yifei who was still trying to suppress her laughter, and nodded.

As the two walked back to the parking lot, the evening breeze blew through the buildings, carrying the cool temperature of early summer.

When Liu Yifei reached the passenger side door, she suddenly stopped.

She turned to look at Xiao He, glanced at him—and then pounced on him without warning, hooking her arms around his neck and hanging on his shoulder like a bird that had finally found a place to land.

"Wow, I haven't been this happy in a very long time."

Both of them were filled with a long-lost excitement.

"That would be even happier."

Xiao He sensed her unbridled enthusiasm and tentatively probed with a smile.

"A kiss?"

When she heard this, she didn't laugh, scold, or pinch him as usual. She just paused slightly, her arm still around his neck.

Unconsciously, her fingers pinched a small piece of fabric at the back of his shirt collar, her fingertips applying slight pressure and then releasing it.

She didn't push him away or respond; she just stood there, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Xiao He moved slightly closer, about half an inch, to look at her.

She did not dodge.

Xiao He immediately kissed her, and although it was just a quick kiss, it was the first real kiss between the two of them.

Liu Yifei's eyes were blank for a moment, and her lips were still slightly parted, as if the kiss had not yet ended.

The two were so close that he could even feel the lingering tension from her audition in her breath.

Xiao He wondered if the fact that the other person hadn't dodged meant he was being told to continue.

So he lowered his head and leaned closer.

Liu Yifei turned her head away. Not pushed away, but dodged.

Her cheek brushed against his chin, and a few stray hairs swept across the corner of his mouth.

She kept her head down and didn't look at him, remaining silent for a very long time.

She cleared her throat, the first cough was very light, the second one was a bit louder, as if she wanted to use the sound to cover up the panic and ambiguity of the moment.

"Um—we were just now—"

She finally looked up, and the moment her eyes met his, she coughed again.

"It's just an act of joy. Yes, it's just joy. I'm happy to have gotten the role, and you're happy for me. That's all. There shouldn't be any other meaning, right?"

Xiao He watched as the tips of her ears slowly turned red in the sunset, watched as she calmly finished speaking the first sentence, and then suddenly turned her head and looked out the car window.

He smiled and nodded: "Yes, yes, it's normal for close siblings to kiss each other when they're happy. So, for the next new song, would you like to hug me again to get inspiration?"

"Stop kidding, drive."

She spread the script on her lap, turned to the first page, and covered her face.

Liu Yifei's heart pounded like a drum. She thought to herself, "Qianqian, you're so pathetic! It's just a kiss! Why are you so flustered?"