She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

The quarterly planning meeting of Taihe Music Group was held on the 16th floor of its headquarters in Chaoyang District.

Hu Yiyou sat at the head of the conference table, with a progress chart of HF's first album spread out in front of him—from A&R positioning to recording studio sound, from cover photography to mastering, every milestone was marked with a green checkmark.

Real-time data scrolled across Chen Zhu's tablet screen: the album's total pre-orders across the three major platforms, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Kugou, had exceeded 870,000 copies.

She projected the number onto the conference room's large screen, and the entire table fell silent for a full three seconds.

"870,000 pre-orders—not for a single, but for the entire album." Chen Zhu placed the tablet on the table. "Zhang Yixing's 'Dream Never Falls in the Rainforest' broke eight music platform certification records as soon as the digital pre-sale opened, with Nine Percent following closely behind. And we still have two full weeks left in our pre-sale period. Based on the current growth curve, HF's debut album is expected to become the leader in digital album sales for 2018."

A hushed murmur arose in the conference room.

A manager in charge of distribution spoke up, his tone tinged with emotion: "When we first started this project internally, to be honest, nobody was optimistic about this group. Actors turning into singers, especially a group, was practically unheard of in the entire Chinese music scene. Actors crossing over to singing were usually ridiculed, and releasing an album? Selling 50,000 copies would be a miracle."

He opened the project approval document in front of him, which still had last year's notes on it.

"Crossing boundaries carries high risks, so marketing budgets are tight."

"And now?" Hu Yiyou picked up the conversation, his gaze sweeping across the conference table. "Of all the new talent projects at Taihe this year, HF has the highest return on investment. All four of their singles have made it into the top ten, with three reaching number one, and their total plays have exceeded three billion."

He paused for a moment, then said, "That's the musical genius of Xiao He."

"Besides Xiao He, who else?"

Chen Zhu flipped to the next slide, and a title popped up on the screen: "Should the follow-up singles from the new album be released ahead of schedule?"

"There are currently six unreleased tracks on the album, including the previously discussed track 'Drop Tower'."

Chen Zhu unfolded the track list, "According to the traditional promotion model, we would select two or three tracks as pre-release singles to generate buzz in stages before the album's release. But this time is different. All four released singles have become huge hits, and the album pre-orders have reached 870,000. If the subsequent singles are released in advance, it may dilute the overall impact of the album. So our final suggestion is: do not release any pre-release versions of the subsequent singles, but release them all at once on the day the album is officially released."

"A one-time explosive launch..." Hu Yiyou repeated the phrase, "meaning to stockpile all the ammunition together, and then fire a single shot."

"Yes. Moreover, these singles and the four songs already released have a unique structure that sets them apart from all other pop albums on the market." Chen Zhu pointed to the track list.

"The chorus of 'Drop Tower' blends future bass and R&B elements, and the emotional outburst of the entire song is the strongest among all the tracks on the album so far—it's not a traditional love duet, but more like an extreme emotional sport. If this song were released as the last track on the album, all the emotions built up before would reach their peak in this one. Listeners would experience a strong sense of catharsis after listening, an experience that cannot be achieved by releasing songs piecemeal. So what we need to do now is not to maintain our presence by releasing songs in fragments—on the contrary, we want the entire album to be a complete shock to the Chinese music scene. Just wait, as long as our music is tied to this group, or more precisely, to Xiao He, we will definitely become a monument in the music empire."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Hu Yiyou was the first to raise his hand, followed by Chen Zhu, the head of the channel department, and the brand director—one hand after another went up.

No one voted against it.

The number of online reservations is changing in real time.

On QQ Music's pre-order page, the album cover—a silhouette of a woman in a misty blue satin dress and a pure white linen shirt—was displayed on the homepage banner for a full week, and the comment section was flooded with thousands of "Finally!" messages.

On NetEase Cloud Music's pre-order page, the top-rated comment reads: "From 'Insomnia Flight' to 'The Only One,' I haven't missed a single song. The entire album is being released all at once; I've already prepared my tissues."

The number of pre-orders on Kugou Music surpassed 500,000 three days ago. A music critic wrote a preview of the album on Weibo, titled "HF's debut album will bring a surprise to the music scene."

Meanwhile, another meeting was being held simultaneously in another office building not far away.

Yang Yang spread the script out on the table. In front of him were head screenwriter Zhang Wei, producer Wang Yuren, and representatives of the investors.

The production of "Dream of Splendor" has officially entered the early preparation stage, but there is still one major issue that remains unresolved—the selection of the male lead, Gu Qianfan.

Zhang Wei spread a list of male lead candidates on the table. She adjusted her metal-rimmed glasses and said in a calm tone, "When we initially solicited opinions from netizens, the most popular candidate had a scheduling conflict, and another person preferred other projects. Currently, the most promising candidate is Chen Xiao—his period drama appearance has already proven his acting skills in previous dramas, and his schedule also matches up."

Wang Yuren picked up the conversation, leaning forward slightly: "But before finalizing Chen Xiao's casting, I'd like to raise a hypothetical question—can we step outside the traditional casting framework? Since Hechao Music is fully responsible for the OST of this drama, could we also have Xiao He audition?"

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room. Yang Yang leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. She recalled the scene from their last meeting when Xiao He wrote "FIRE" in her notebook. Zhao Pan'er—fire.

He defined the female lead of the entire series with a single word. And what about himself?

She silently recalled the scene of her first meeting with Xiao He—the young man who walked from the talent show stage to the recording studio. Although he might not be able to act, his image and temperament did have a natural sense of story.

The investor representative, flipping through the public opinion monitoring report, offered a more realistic consideration.

The report shows that Liu Yifei's online popularity is currently at its peak, with the vast majority of casual listeners and music critics actively paying attention to her next work.

The investors believed that they should take advantage of this wave of popularity to start filming, making "Meng Hua Lu" Liu Yifei's first work after her comeback. The timing was precious, and it would be best to start filming earlier.

Producer Wang Yuren also prefers to "start production ahead of schedule" and plans to begin filming in the second quarter of next year.

Zhang Wei's gaze returned to the list of male lead candidates, and he came up with another breakthrough: "If we want Meng Hua Lu to stand out, in addition to its quality, we also need a more special label to differentiate it from all other ancient costume dramas on the market."

She turned to the middle page of the script outline.

"The romantic storyline between Zhao Pan'er and Gu Qianfan was originally set up as being the same age. But if Gu Qianfan is set up as a character younger than Zhao Pan'er, adding a layer of tension in a May-December romance, the whole atmosphere of the story will be completely different. This tension in a May-December romance is closer to the real-life relationship between Liu Yifei and Xiao He than the traditional relationship between people of the same age. If we can get them to project their real feelings into their roles, the chemistry will be irreplaceable by any acting skills."

These words landed on the conference table like a pebble thrown into a calm pond.

Yang Yang shifted his gaze from the script to Zhang Wei's face.

Wang Yuren put down his pen, paused for a few seconds, and then slowly began to speak: "What is the relationship between Liu Yifei and Xiao He in real life—siblings, partners, or something else—we won't discuss for now. But the online discussion about their on-screen romance has indeed reached a fever pitch. If we can get them to complete the transformation from 'siblings' to 'lovers' on screen, then the audience will see not only Zhao Pan'er and Gu Qianfan, but also the on-screen couple that everyone has been shipping for months finally coming together. This kind of setting, projecting real-life relationships onto the screen—the audience likes it, and the investors are at ease."

Zhang Wei further added: "In terms of adaptation, we can retain Zhao Pan'er's maturity and resilience, and portray Gu Qianfan as a young general who, while fighting alongside Zhao Pan'er in the court, goes from admiration to growing closer. The relationship is not one of sibling dependence, but a natural attraction based on mutual respect. This way, we retain the original work's theme of female independence while adding a more contemporary sibling relationship."

The investor representative put down the public opinion monitoring report and slowly began to speak: "Liu Yifei's popularity with the public is currently at its peak, and coupled with Xiao He's image as a singer-songwriter, this combination is the first of its kind in a period drama."

Wang Yuren picked up the thread, conducting another comprehensive assessment of Chen Xiao's acting skills and schedule, before offering his final recommendation: "We will also extend an audition invitation to Xiao He. If he's willing to audition, we'll give him a fair chance. If he performs well, the role is his."

Zhang Wei held up the script outline in his hand, waved it to everyone, and finally made the decision: "Then let's set this direction. If Xiao He's audition is successful, we'll adapt the older woman/younger man romance. If Xiao He's audition is unsuccessful, Chen Xiao will be the backup, and the script will remain unchanged."

There were no dissenting voices.