She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

The wrap party for "Dream of Splendor" was held in the largest private room at the Hengdian VIP Building.

Yang Yang stood up, holding his wine glass, and looked at Liu Yifei and Xiao He across the round table: "Pan'er and Qianfan, you two acted exceptionally well."

After she finished speaking, she led the way in raising her glass, and the entire private room erupted in cheers.

The crew members took turns toasting each other. After several rounds of drinks and several dishes, the wrap party ended at 1 a.m.

When Liu Yifei walked out of the VIP building, she took off Zhao Pan'er's costume and wore a simple white shirt with dark gray wide-leg pants, her hair casually draped over her shoulders.

Xiao He walked beside her, and neither of them spoke, but their pace slowed down in unison.

From that phrase "Help me have a child" in the Shunyi villa last winter to the end of the wrap party today, they have come a very, very long way.

Zhao Pan'er's story has temporarily wrapped up filming, but HF's story continues.

A few days later, in the living room of a villa in Shunyi.

Liu Yifei nestled on the sofa, the orange cat lying on her lap, its tail brushing against the back of her hand.

Xiao He placed his laptop on the coffee table; an unfinished musical score was displayed on the screen.

"Sis, I've chosen a new song."

Liu Yifei tilted her head, looked at the screen, and read out the file name: "Sparrow?"

"Yes, though small, it has all the vital organs."

Xiao He leaned back on the sofa armrest.

He remembered this song very clearly. It was the title track of Li Ronghao's sixth solo album, released as a single on December 5, 2019. Li Ronghao handled all aspects of the song, including lyrics, composition, arrangement, production, guitar, and harmonies.

Within two hours of its release, the NetEase Cloud Music app garnered over 10,000 comments and briefly climbed to third place on the trending topics list.

The song uses sparrows as a metaphor to tell the story of ordinary people struggling and persevering in life.

"Flying too slowly will leave you alone, flying too fast will cause you to get hurt. That's just how life is."

Xiao He opened the music score.

"This song perfectly suits your current state, helping you climb out of the trough and take flight again."

He simply turned the sheet music to the chorus and pointed to the two lines of text that had been marked.

"In the bridge section, I push your voice to the front, and my harmony is placed back. Though the sparrows are small, when they fly, they form a flock."

A few days later, Xiao He officially submitted the copyright registration for his adapted version of "Sparrow". He retained the core framework of the original song, but made significant adjustments to the arrangement. He added a string base to the bridge section and added a duet between male and female voices to the chorus, changing the atmosphere of the song from a personal monologue to a dialogue between two people.

After Taihe Legal completed the copyright pre-clearance, Chen Zhu sent a message in the work group: "HF's fifth single, all copyrights are clear, ready to go into the studio at any time."

In the recording studio, Lao Zhou had already set up the equipment, and Han Dong hung the monitoring headphones around his neck.

Liu Yifei stood in front of the microphone stand, clutching the lyrics sheet in her hand.

She looked down at the few lines of text on the paper.

"I fly among the clouds, and you watch me without moving."

Last winter, when she was ridiculed online as box office poison, she was also flying alone in the dark clouds.

Back then, no one was watching, and she didn't need anyone to watch her. But now it's different—he's beside her.

The recording has begun.

The piano prelude gently rose, and she closed her eyes, putting her voice into the microphone.

"Mountains are always next to mountains, but they all have companions. I believe in the enduring power of time. Maybe I'm just being foolish."

In the chorus, Xiao He's harmonies gently support her from behind.

When she sang the line "I fly among the dark clouds, and you look at me without moving," she suddenly opened her eyes and glanced at him outside the soundproof glass.

He was leaning against the mixing console, his hands clasped in front of his chest, his gaze focused and resolute, and he nodded firmly.

As the chorus ended on the last note, Lao Zhou took off his monitoring headphones and gave a thumbs-up to the two people in the recording studio.

Han Dong saved the main track to the backup disk, glanced at Lao Zhou, and said, "Another chart-topping single."

On the day "Sparrow" was released, Taihe's marketing team went into full swing for the fifth time.

QQ Music's startup screen, NetEase Cloud Music's homepage featured image, and Kugou's pop-up recommendations—several major platforms simultaneously launched pre-launch campaigns.

Chen Zhu sent a message in the work group, which consisted of only one sentence: "HF's fifth single, Taihe will continue to provide full support. I want to see this song at the top of the charts within 48 hours of its release."

The data skyrocketed from day one. It jumped into the top three on QQ Music's new song chart within 48 hours, and the comment section on NetEase Cloud Music surpassed 10,000 on the first day—the most upvoted comment was from a long-time fan who wrote: "From 'Insomnia Flight' to 'Sparrow,' HF's songs have never disappointed me. This song, 'Sparrow,' is about ordinary people, but it sings about the extraordinary perseverance of everyone. The moment Liu Yifei's voice came through the ridge, I got goosebumps."

It surged to the top of the Kugou Rising Chart within 24 hours and was featured on the homepage for a full week.

Within a week of its release, "Sparrow" topped the QQ Music New Song Chart.

It simultaneously topped the NetEase Cloud Music Original Content Chart.

It has topped the Kugou Rising Chart for five consecutive days.

To date, all five singles released by the HF group, including "Insomnia Flight," "Mohe Dance Hall," "Mud," "The Only One," and "Sparrow," have entered the top ten of the new song charts on major music platforms, with four of them reaching the top spot.

This achievement is unprecedented among new groups in the entire Chinese music scene.

According to leaked internal data reports from Taihe Music, the five singles released by HF have accumulated over 5 billion plays, and the total pre-orders for the digital albums have exceeded 3 million copies.

As the new song tops the charts, the industry's reaction is becoming increasingly enthusiastic.

Zhang Liangying was the first to speak out.

She posted a long article on Weibo, accompanied by a photo of her and HF in the recording studio. It was taken last year when they were recording "Crossing the Line". She was in front of the mixing console, and Xiao He and Liu Yifei were standing next to the microphone stand. The studio lights were reflected in the soundproof glass.

"Last winter, when Yifei told me she wanted to record a duet, I thought she was joking. It's common for actors to be ridiculed when they cross over into singing, and she's been criticized before. But she said it wasn't just for fun, it was serious. Later, I listened to the demo of 'Crossing the Line,' and I was silent for a long time afterward. That song wasn't written for the audience, it was written for one person. From 'Crossing the Line' to 'Insomnia Flight,' from 'Mud' to 'The Only One,' and now this song 'Sparrow,' I thought you guys were just playing around, but I never expected you to light up half of the Chinese music scene."

Tang Yan's repost followed closely behind, with her usual sweet caption: "Princess Sissi, from acting to singing, I've watched you take every step of the way. People used to say you couldn't do it, but now you've shown them with five songs that you can do anything. By the way, I've been listening to 'Sparrow' on repeat for three days now. Xiao He, you wrote such beautiful string arrangements for the bridge section, please write more of those in the future."

Shu Chang reposted Tang Yan's Weibo post with the caption: "Me too."

Then she added, "From 'The Story of a Noble Family' to now, every step of Sisi's journey has been hard-won. In the past, others labeled her; now she labels herself: singer Liu Yifei. This label is something she earned by singing one song after another while standing in front of the microphone."

Taihe Music Group's official Weibo account also issued a statement.

They posted a long chart showing the ranking changes of HF's five singles on various platforms. Each curve started from zero, then soared all the way up, and finally stopped at the top of the charts.

The caption was just one sentence: "From zero to the top, from being doubted to being recognized. HF, the strongest new group in the Chinese music scene this year, truly deserves the title."

After dinner, Liu Yifei nestled on the sofa in her Shunyi villa, reading through all the reposts from various parties before leaning back against the sofa.

"Back when we were in HF, everyone online was saying that actors crossing over into singing was a pipe dream. Now, that pipe dream has become a fairy tale."

"Fairy tales usually end with the prince and princess living happily ever after. What about the ending of our story?"

Xiao He smiled and asked in return.