She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

Before the buzz surrounding "Sparrow" had died down, Hechao Music and Taihe Music simultaneously entered the final sprint stage of their debut albums.

Old Zhou personally oversaw the mastering process. He ensured that the loudness of all ten songs was consistent, the frequency bands were balanced, and the track spacing was adjusted.

Each item is produced to the highest standards of digital distribution.

After listening to the entire album from beginning to end, Han Dong took off his monitoring headphones and said three words to Xiao He: "That's enough."

Next up is the music video shoot.

Nie Yongzhen was in charge of visual coordination, and he chose a reed marshland on the outskirts of Beijing as the filming location for the music video of the title song "The Only One".

The same lake that Liu Yifei took photos of during her road trip last winter is Guanting Reservoir; it's just that the photos were taken in a different season.

The reeds in early summer are green, the lake has thawed, and the sunlight shines on the water, making it shimmer.

Unlike the profile shot of her in a misty blue satin dress on the album cover, Liu Yifei stands barefoot on a wooden boardwalk by the lake in the music video, with Xiao He standing beside her, holding a natural wood folk guitar, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

Director Lao Wu was recommended by Nie Yongzhen. He has directed several music videos, including Hebe Tien's "My Own Room," and is skilled at using soft lighting to capture an atmosphere that is "unintentional yet confident." On set, he only made one request: "You don't need to look at me. Just look at each other. Just look at each other."

Thus, the most classic shot in the entire music video was born.

Liu Yifei turned around at the end of the wooden boardwalk, the wind blowing through her hair, and looked at Xiao He.

Xiao He's fingers just brushed across the guitar strings when he looked up and met that gaze.

When the two people's eyes met in the shot, there were no lines, no movements, but everyone knew it wasn't acting.

Old Wu whispered from behind the monitor, "This take will be perfect in one go."

The music videos for the remaining songs on the album, as well as the cover and inner pages photos, are all on the agenda.

The cover shoot was scheduled after the music video shoot wrapped up, which saved on makeup and hair expenses.

The styling team prepared four outfits for Liu Yifei: a white dress, a misty blue satin skirt, a black turtleneck sweater, and a beige cashmere coat, each corresponding to the visual imagery of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Xiao He's style remained consistent: a pure white linen shirt, dark gray casual suit pants, and other color schemes.

Nie Yongzhen selected the final film from more than 6,000 photos.

The cover features a photo of two people standing at the end of a wooden boardwalk, their backs to the light, outlining their side-by-side silhouettes. There are no frontal views, no eye contact, just their backs and a lake.

This is a concept that Xiao He himself mentioned at the planning meeting.

"It's not a couple's photo, nor is it a siblings' photo. So what's their relationship? Let the audience interpret it for themselves."

The caption reads only one line: HF's debut self-titled album.

On October 19, 2018, HF's first digital album, "HF", was officially released simultaneously on four major platforms: QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, Kugou Music, and Kuwo Music.

Taihe Music has fully utilized its promotional resources—QQ Music's splash screen, NetEase Cloud Music's homepage featured image, Kugou's pop-up recommendation, and Douyin's news feed—with simultaneous pre-launch promotions on four major platforms.

Chen Zhu only posted one sentence in the work group: "Today, witness the history of the Chinese entertainment industry."

Nine Percent's album "TO THE NINES" also broke into the top three with sales of 1063.6 million.

HF's album broke all records in just one week after its release.

By the end of the week, HF's self-titled debut album had sold over 400 million copies across all platforms.

Total sales exceeded 120 million yuan, making it the first digital album in the history of Chinese music to break the 100 million yuan mark.

Thus, HF, as a rookie group that debuted less than a year ago, broke all the digital album sales records previously held by many music industry veterans, including Lu Han's milestone in 2017 with the "XXVII" series, which set a record of more than 10 million digital music albums sold in the Chinese music scene.

All ten tracks included in the album entered the top ten of QQ Music's Hot Songs Chart.

HF occupies six of the top ten spots on Kugou's Rising Chart.

Jane Zhang was the first to post on Weibo.

"Yifei, He Ge, you deserve all the applause today. 400 million tickets, 1.2 million, these are not just numbers, they are your shining pride."

Tang Yan followed closely behind, her caption as always featuring her signature sweetness and teasing: "Hey haters, say something. Now you've shown them with 400 million albums that you can do anything. By the way, I've been listening to the whole album on repeat for three days now. Also, I bet you guys will win Best Group of the Year, the bet is a meal. @Liu Yifei @Xiao He"

Shu Chang's repost was concise: "Sister will always be the sister on Mount Everest. 400 million photos, well-deserved."

Chen Linong also spoke out on Weibo. After the members of Nine Percent went their separate ways, he focused on making music and rarely posted personal things on Weibo, but this time he made an exception: "Brother He said he was going to write a hundred songs, and I thought he was bragging. Now I'm convinced. Every song on this album is worth listening to on repeat."

He Jiong, posing as a fan on his personal Weibo account, posted: "I heard about it first, I said I liked it first, please give me the appropriate treatment!"

Music blogger "Erdi" posted a long Weibo post titled "From Talent Show Center to 400 Million Albums - Xiao He Redefines the Upper Limit of New Singers in One Year".

"A year ago, when Xiao He left the talent show with 'Wild Wolf Disco,' everyone said he was just a talent show idol. A year later, he came back with ten songs, each one of which he wrote himself. From 'Wild Wolf Disco' to 'Qilin,' from 'Insomnia Flight' to 'Sparrow,' he turned the dragon dance into a national hit, made the suona a new favorite among young people, and set new records for duet love songs on various platforms. This album is not the starting point for HF—it is the ceiling of the new generation of creativity in the Chinese music scene."

Taihe Music Group's official Weibo account posted a long data chart showing the sales growth curves of HF's debut album on four major platforms—each curve starts from zero, then soars all the way up, and finally stops at the top of the chart.

The caption was just one sentence: "From zero to 400 million copies sold, from being doubted to being admired. HF, the strongest new group in the Chinese music scene this year, records are meant to be broken."

The record industry media outlet "Music First" subsequently published an analysis: "HF's rise signifies the return of creators' voice in the music industry. Xiao He, being both an artist and a singer-songwriter, has made the independent label HF Music a new benchmark in the industry. The 'HF + Taihe' partnership model, where the independent label protects creative freedom and Taihe protects distribution channels, provides a replicable model for the entire industry. From Xue Zhiqian to Xiao He, the Chinese music scene is experiencing a revival of singer-songwriters."