Huayu 02: The Days of Extreme Pulling and Rolling with the Fairy

After the recording ended, Cheng Qian escorted Xie Jin to the backstage corridor.

"Director Xie, our show was a great success today! I personally love the new song!"

Xie Jin grasped Cheng Qian's hand. "Thank you, Brother Cheng. You've been a huge help this time."

Cheng Qian's experience told him that the young boy in front of him was no ordinary person, and he was about to give everyone a surprise.

Cheng Qian waved his hand dismissively, displaying a chivalrous air.

"It's nothing! Even if Brother Song had given me a heads-up, just because your song was so good today, I'll definitely go see the movie when it's released."

"Your album will be released tomorrow, I'll buy twenty copies to give to my colleagues."

..........

..........

Xinhua Bookstore in Xinjiekou

In the early hours of the morning, a crane replaced the 15-meter-long giant poster with a GG logo.

The poster depicts a long street with a man and a woman in the center, exuding beauty, ending at a winding coastline. The setting sun casts long shadows on the two figures.

[When a Man Falls in Love] to be released nationwide on July 25

When Xue Wan was on her way to her tutoring class in the morning, she passed by the bookstore in a hurry and unintentionally saw the huge poster. She stood under the poster for a few seconds.

From the bookstore's speakers came a slightly hoarse and soulful male voice singing.

"The past doesn't lie, so don't dwell on it."

"We don't need this between us."

--"I think"

--"The bittersweet experience of cultivating love..."

Xue Wan looked at the young man arranging the goods; he seemed quite neat and easy to get along with...

Despite being somewhat socially awkward and shy, she mustered up her courage and asked.

"Hello... what song is playing on your speaker...?"

The guy setting up the stall was also shy; he stared at the girl with the oval face and big eyes for two seconds, stunned.

Her face flushed slightly: "Xie...Xie Jin, do you know him? His new album, 'When a Man Falls in Love,' is the same album as the movie of the same name, and the song is called 'Cultivating Love.'"

  

Xue Wan picked up the CD case the delivery guy handed her, looked at it, and muttered to herself, "Cultivation...love...what strange names. Do monks and Taoist priests fall in love too?"

How much is it?

"Thirty-two, buy an album and get a movie poster for free, that movie."

The young man pointed to the poster above, about to introduce the remaining songs to her...

A sound came from afar

"Xue Bao, stop standing there, we're late!" Lin Ge, who was across the street, ran towards them with a scallion pancake in his mouth.

This guy grabbed Xue Wan and tried to run towards the tutoring center.

"Hey, I'm taking a look," Xue Wan said, pulling Lin Ge along as she quickly put down the CD.

"Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

"Thank you."

The shopkeeper watched the girl run away, momentarily stunned, and swallowed the "You're welcome" that was on the tip of his tongue...

.........

.........

There were more than a dozen people in the tutoring class, and Xue Wan sat in the first row.

While I was in class, that poster would pop into my head every now and then.

The more you try to stop thinking about it, the more it lingers in your mind.

That melody, like a stubborn plaster, lingered in my mind, playing repeatedly.

The teacher pushed up his glasses, a cold glint flashing across them... He'd caught a daydreaming, sleepy student! "Xue Wan, what's the answer to this question?"

Lin Ge looked at Xue Wan in a daze and nudged her: "BBB chooses B."

Xue Wan blushed and quickly stood up: "Choose...choose D."

Lin Ge covered her face... Oh no...

The teacher frowned slightly. "Choose D? Choosing D will cost you three points on the college entrance exam, and everyone on the third playground will be in front of you! Sit down and listen to the lesson."

Xue Wan sat down, her face flushed, biting her lower lip. It was all that Xie's fault! That bewitching bastard!

···········

···········

After school in the afternoon, the two left the tutoring class.

Back home, Xue Wan couldn't stop thinking about that song, as if she were possessed. What was its name again?

Thank... thank you for what?

As soon as the father, who was lounging like Ge You, saw his daughter return, he quickly greeted her, "Oh, my darling is back! Quick, quick, eat this chilled watermelon, it's ice cold!"

The elderly father slumped on the sofa, flipping through channels with the remote control, and happened to dial Tianjin TV.

-- "Slowly Falling in Love with You"

-- "Slow Intimacy"

-- "Let's talk about ourselves slowly"

--"Walking slowly with you"

Seeing the familiar figure on TV, Xue Wan was certain!

This scoundrel Xie Jin is the culprit who made me feel dazed all day!

"Dad, wait! I want to see!"

A few minutes later, Xue Wan hid in the small house, opened the piggy bank, and looked at the twenty-odd coins she had saved, only to find that it wasn't enough.

The little boy stretched out his hand towards Old Deng, who was showering coins, and said, "Dad, I want twelve dollars!"

"What? If you don't give it to me, I don't even have money to buy cigarettes."

Xue Wan narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure, Lao Xue...?"

The old man stiffened his neck and said, "I'm sure! I'm not giving it to you."

"Okay, okay, okay"

Xue Wan pursed her lips, her smile utterly sinister: "I need to talk to Mom. Someone was chatting with Aunt Wang, the dance teacher downstairs, yesterday! They were talking animatedly for a full three minutes!"

Old Deng's face changed, and he quickly covered his daughter's mouth, glancing guiltily at the bedroom: "Darling! I've only had two good days, and my allowance has finally increased to 100."

"Wasn't it your Aunt Wang asking me about work? Why are you all so excited...?"

Old Xue secretly turned the calendar around, and there was a twenty-yuan note pasted on the back. Old Xue felt a pang of heartache, looked at the money and then at his daughter, his eyes pitiful like a puppy's.

"Give me eight dollars!"

Xue Wan slowly pulled out the old comrade's large bill and took it into her hand.

Sticking out her tongue, she said, "No!"

.........

"Lin Ge, I'm going to buy CDs, do you want to come?"

"Oh, let's go together."

The two glanced at their watches and hurried toward the Xinhua Bookstore.

"Only twenty copies left! Only twenty copies of the deluxe collector's edition CD!"

"What does this mean? We've been queuing for so long and it's still not done?"

"You're Xinhua Bookstore! How come you're out of stock? When will you restock?"

Lin Ge looked at the crowd of people, layer upon layer, and the lollipop in her mouth fell to the ground...

"What's going on?"

The vendor, sweating profusely, watched the crowd gather around him.

What's going on with Xie Jin's album?

Sales were slow yesterday. We sold about 30 units in the morning and 50 units in the afternoon.

Everything has changed today.

People started coming in early in the morning, and before 11 a.m., the store had almost sold out of 500 CDs.

"Manager, please get more stock quickly, we're sold out."

The manager glanced outside, his forehead covered in sweat.

Holding the phone, he frantically dialed: "What do you mean your cars are all running? I don't care, we're the Xinhua Bookstore in Xinjiekou! Is there any bigger store in this area than ours? We're going crazy with demand! Deliver to our store first!"

A few minutes later, the deliveryman came out and said, "Listen up, everyone. Warner Music has increased their record production, so there's definitely no shortage of records. But the truck won't be here until this afternoon, and if you're already queuing up, they're all gone. Why don't you check the record rental shops on the next street?"

A young man wearing glasses said, "They're gone! All the record stores nearby are sold out. They said you guys are the biggest store in the area, you have them."

Seeing this situation, the manager didn't know what to do, and the young man arranging the goods lowered his voice.

"Manager, if the truck can't deliver, could you please contact me and ask me to borrow some steamed buns from the restaurant next door?"

The manager's eyes lit up: "Take some things and go borrow the car now! I'll contact them! This Xie Jin is really strange."