She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

The Spring Festival Gala is here.

The backstage corridor of the Spring Festival Gala was filled with a strong atmosphere of hairspray, foundation, and tension.

The doors on both sides of the corridor were labeled with the names of the various programs and the cast lists. Every few steps, staff members would jog past with walkie-talkies in hand.

Liu Yifei wore a misty blue satin slip dress with a cream-colored cashmere coat over it. Her hair was styled in waves, and her makeup was exquisite, with a few small diamonds placed on one corner of her eye.

Xiao He wore a pure white linen shirt with dark gray suit trousers, the top button of which was left open as usual, and the hem of the shirt was loosely tucked into the waistband.

With nearly four hours to go until midnight, actors were already practicing their voices in the corridor. Occasionally, you could hear someone going over their lines over and over in the next room, their voices squeezing out from under the door and muffled by the buzzing of electricity in the corridor.

The closer they got to the main stage, the more people there were in the corridor. Staff members and actors waiting to go on stage hurried past the two of them, and almost everyone would turn their heads to take another look at Liu Yifei as they passed by.

Happy New Year, Teacher Yifei!

"Sister Yifei, you look amazing tonight!"

Happy New Year, Teacher Liu!

Liu Yifei felt a little embarrassed by the constant New Year's greetings, nodding in response while pulling her coat tighter.

This was indeed Liu Yifei's first time performing on the Spring Festival Gala, so it was impossible for her not to be nervous.

Xiao He walked beside her, turned his head, and lowered his voice: "Your sister has a lot of influence; everyone knows you."

Liu Yifei tugged at the hem of her coat, and when she looked up, the corners of her lips curled up slightly: "It's just politeness. Look, William Chan is coming over."

Xiao He looked in the direction of her gaze.

William Chan was walking over from the other end of the corridor, wearing a red suit, with a neat hairstyle and a brisk pace.

He had already walked past, but when he caught sight of Xiao He out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly stopped and took a half step back.

"Xiao He! I've finally met you in person. Your song 'Wild Wolf Disco'..."

He stretched out his hand, gesturing as he continued speaking.

"Draw a dragon on the left, a rainbow on the right. This hook is so catchy, everyone on my team is listening to it. I'm telling you, I want to cover this song at my Hong Kong concert, a Cantonese version, officially licensed, is that okay?"

Xiao He reached out and shook his hand: "I'm glad you like it, Brother Weiting. The authorization is no problem. I'll have our legal department from Hechao Music coordinate with your team later."

William Chan patted him on the shoulder, laughed, turned to Liu Yifei and said that this younger brother was very interesting, then waved to the two of them and turned to walk towards his rest room.

Liu Yifei tilted her head and looked at Xiao He: "I find the image of William Chan singing the Cantonese version of 'Wild Wolf Disco' hilarious."

Xiao He gently pulled her hand out of his coat pocket, his fingertips interlacing with hers: "Then we'll go to his concert as guests and dance as backup dancers for him."

Before Liu Yifei could figure out how to retort, footsteps came from the other side.

Zhang Yixing walked out from the corner of the corridor, wearing a dark blue suit and with a neat hairstyle. He smiled noticeably when he saw Xiao He.

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The kind of gratifying smile you get when you see the students you've mentored establishing themselves on a bigger stage.

Standing next to him was Dilraba, wearing a red and white performance dress, with exquisite makeup, and her eyes filled with excitement and nervousness about her first time performing on the Spring Festival Gala.

"Teacher Yixing," Xiao He spoke first.

"It wasn't easy to see you backstage at the Spring Festival Gala."

Zhang Yixing walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

"I mentioned on the show that your stage was complete, and now... now your stage is the biggest in the world. Come, let me introduce you, this is Dilraba. Tonight we'll sing 'Chinese Wedding' together."

Dilraba nodded and smiled politely at Xiao He and Liu Yifei: "Hello, Sister Yifei, hello, Xiao He. I've been listening to your songs a lot lately, and I've been listening to 'Sparrow' on repeat for several days."

She glanced at Zhang Yixing and added with a smile.

"Yixing said you are a student he mentored from 'Idol Producer,' and tonight is our year's performance."

Zhang Yixing smiled beside him, a smile that conveyed a sense of pride that "the student has made something of himself."

Xiao He bowed slightly: "Thank you. Good luck tonight, Sister Reba."

Zhang Yixing reached out and gently pressed on his shoulder, then he led Dilraba to the other end of the corridor.

The number of people in the corridor gradually decreased, and most of the actors had taken their places.

The lighting crew began adjusting the spotlight angle on the main stage, and the countdown announcement could be heard from the control room.

Liu Yifei stood in the corner of the corridor, leaning against the wall, watching the actors coming and going.

Some people were doing a final sound check, some were adjusting their ties in front of the mirror, and some were silently memorizing lyrics with their eyes closed in a corner.

Every expression says the same thing: This is the Spring Festival Gala.

"Sis, are you nervous?"

"A little. In the past, when acting, if you forgot your lines, you could start over. When singing, if you cracked your voice, you could re-record. But the Spring Festival Gala is live; there's no chance to do it again."

"That was before. Now you're a singer, and tonight we have a new song that belongs to us."

She didn't speak, but simply looked up at him.

Then he extended his little finger and gently hooked it, just like he did in the rehearsal hall in Wuhan when he was a child.

Xiao He also extended his little finger and hooked it with hers. Neither of them spoke, but the tacit understanding and sweetness on their lips did not need words to express it.

The main stage was being broadcast live on the screens in the waiting area, and the host was giving introductions in a loud and rhythmic tone.

He was all too familiar with those faces on the screen.

Qin Lan, Jiang Shuying, Jing Tian, ​​TFBOYS, and Wu Lei—seven young figures—stood in a row on the stage as background music played and the song title "We Are All Dream Chasers" appeared on the screen.

The audience below the stage clapped softly in rhythm, and the glow sticks gathered into a flowing galaxy in the darkness.

Looking at the seven artists on the screen, Xiao He recalled the more than ten hours of training he had spent every day in the training room at the factory last spring—at that time, he thought the road from the training room to the debut night was long enough.

Those people shining on the Spring Festival Gala stage on the screen now, and the person sitting next to them, are actually walking the same path.

They just start from different points, but end up in the same place.

As the show ended, the camera panned across the audience, some holding up TFBOYS light boards, others shouting Wu Lei's name.

The applause from the audience hadn't subsided, and the lights weren't fully on yet, but his heart had already begun to race.

He knew that in a few dozen minutes, the spotlight would shine on another person—on him and her.

They are not dream chasers, but people who stand on the midnight stage with a brand new blessing.

Next up is a crosstalk performance by Yue Yunpeng and Sun Yue.

The audience burst into laughter as soon as the two stepped onto the stage. Yue Yunpeng hadn't even finished his signature "Oh my God" when he started laughing himself.

Liu Yifei looked at the screen and couldn't help but laugh.

Yue Yunpeng laughed several times, each time trying to hold it in, but the more he tried to hold it in, the more he laughed, and even Sun Yue was influenced by him.

The audience not only didn't lose interest in the story, but laughed even harder.

Liu Yifei leaned on Xiao He's shoulder, her laughter muffled on his sleeve: "He's laughed so hard he's burst out laughing several times, each time like it's the first time he's heard his own joke."

The clock is about to strike midnight.

The spotlights on the main stage and all the sub-stages lit up simultaneously, and the countdown signal from the control room was transmitted to every waiting area.

HF walked through the side aisle and could hear the final interlude before midnight already taking place on the main stage.

The stage manager stood beside the side curtain, whispering camera positioning instructions over a walkie-talkie, and everyone held their breath.

Liu Yifei stood at the edge of the stage, looking up slightly at the row of huge LED lights on the ceiling.

"Feifei, what are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about that little girl from over a decade ago, who released an album at nineteen and was told she was just dabbling. She didn't know that someone would one day accompany her back onto the stage. But she knew one thing: as long as she kept going, she would eventually reach her place. And now, she has."

"There are still farther places to go, let's continue our journey together."

The clock struck midnight.

The entire venue erupted in cheers, applause, and the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers bursting from the speakers, as people across the country celebrated the New Year together.

The main stage was brightly lit, and the various performance groups returned to the stage one by one, capturing the smiling faces of the audience.

Xiao He stood at the intersection of light and shadow at the side entrance, quietly watching the light on the stage.

The lights stretched his shadow long—but he was no longer the boy who bumped fists with Cai Xukun in the practice room corridor.

The person beside him is no longer the Sissi who was wrapped in a down jacket and said, "Help me have a baby."

Together they weathered the lows and made it to the Spring Festival Gala stage at midnight.

He clenched his fingers slightly at his side, waiting for the production team to call out his name.

"HF group!" the stage manager's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "Camera three, prepare, spotlight..."

The first song after midnight is "Good Morning, Motherland".

The piano prelude gently flowed up from the speakers.

Two spotlights swept diagonally from the top of the stage, one enveloping Xiao He and the other Liu Yifei.

She stood half a step to his left, her profile softly outlined by the spotlight, her eyelashes trembling slightly in the light.

Liu Yifei had to take deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"Spring Festival Gala, sis, here it comes."