Entertainment: A song that brought his deceased wife back to life.

Xu Qing read Ma Dongteng's message again, then handed the phone to Luo Qianyu.

Luo Qianyu took it and read it from beginning to end.

"A slow-paced music variety show? That sounds interesting."

"It's interesting, but that's secondary. Ma Dongteng said there are people from the Star Emperor inside."

Luo Qianyu returned the phone to him.

"So you mean you're not going?"

Xu Qing did not answer.

He stood up and walked to the balcony, where the guitar, which Luo Qianyu had sanded into a mess, leaned against the corner of the wall. The clownfish sticker on the headstock reflected the light.

Xu Qing reached out and plucked a string.

"I'll go."

Luo Qianyu was stunned.

"You're going? Didn't you say you'd take a look first?"

"I've finished watching it."

"What did you see? You just stood there blankly for ten seconds."

Xu Qing turned around.

"If you go on a variety show alone, and Star Emperor's gang is causing trouble in the shadows, can you handle it?"

Luo Qianyu opened her mouth, and Xu Qing continued.

"So I'll go with you."

Luo Qianyu opened her mouth even wider and shook her hands together a couple of times.

"You mean—you're going to make an appearance? Mingyue Qingfeng is going to go on a TV show?"

"Don't show your face." Xu Qing walked back to the sofa and sat down. "Wear a mask."

"mask?"

"Ma Dongteng was talking about a mystery guest. A mystery guest doesn't wear a mask, so what's the mystery about it?"

Luo Qianyu thought for a second.

"That makes sense. What about me?"

"You wear one too."

"I'm a regular guest, what kind of mask should I wear?"

"In the name of the group, the two of them wear it together."

Luo Qianyu was stunned for several seconds before she reacted.

"Wait, you mean, the two of us should form a group?"

"Um."

"And then go on this variety show together?"

"Um."

"Singing while wearing a mask?"

"Um."

Luo Qianyu jumped up and down on the spot.

What's the group's name?

Xu Qing glanced at her.

"Take it."

Luo Qianyu walked around the living room twice.

How about calling it the "Fish and Bird Duo"?

"It sounds awful."

"That 'Flying Fish Duo'?"

"Like a race car."

"'Qingfeng Fish'?"

"Like a dish."

Luo Qianyu sat down opposite Xu Qing. She rested her chin on her hands and thought for a long time.

"Your surname is Xu. Xu Qing, Qing. I am Qian Yu, Yu. Qing... Yu..."

Braised grass carp.

"Can you be serious for once?"

Luo Qianyu thought for another thirty seconds.

"Bluebird and Flying Fish".

Xu Qing's fingers paused for a moment.

"Bluebird. Flying fish. One in the sky, one in the water." Luo Qianyu looked up at Xu Qing. "But they can meet."

Xu Qing didn't say anything.

Luo Qianyu rubbed her fingers together.

"Doesn't it sound good?"

"good."

Luo Qianyu knew that "okay" in Xu Qing's words meant "very good." She took out her phone and started searching.

"You have to buy one of those half-face masks. Your half is a flying bird, and mine is a koi fish. When the two of you stand together, they form a complete picture."

Xu Qing watched as she frantically browsed through seven or eight stores on the shopping app.

"Didn't you say female celebrities don't carry wallets when they go out?"

"Online shopping eliminates the need for a wallet."

Luo Qianyu chose a custom handmade shop and ordered two half-face masks. The bird mask was dark blue, and the koi mask was red.

"It'll arrive in three days with express delivery." Luo Qianyu waved her phone. "Shouldn't you be preparing the song?"

Xu Qing pulled a piece of paper folded into three sections from the crack in the sofa.

Luo Qianyu took it and unfolded it.

"It's another quiet evening, and I'm curled up in a rocking chair enjoying the cool evening air."

Luo Qianyu touched the line of text with her finger.

"No need for dramatic eyeliner or foundation. I can still go shopping in the pouring rain and secretly laugh at others whose faces are smudged."

Luo Qianyu put the paper down.

When was this song written?

Xu Qing was putting the water glass back on the coffee table.

"just."

"That's a lie."

Xu Qing glanced at her.

Luo Qianyu turned the sheet music over.

There is a line of tiny, almost invisible pencil writing on the bottom right corner of the back of the paper.

That was the first time she went to the basement to find Xu Qing.

Luo Qianyu raised her head.

"You wrote it back then?"

Xu Qing did not answer.

Luo Qianyu felt a lump in her throat.

She carefully folded the sheet music three times and stuffed it into her pajama pocket.

Give it back to me.

"I won't pay it back."

"That's sheet music, not a love letter."

Luo Qianyu covered her pocket.

"The same."

Xu Qing looked at her, who was determined not to let go.

He turned around, walked to the corner, and picked up the guitar with the clownfish sticker on it.

"Come here. Memorize the lyrics."

Luo Qianyu immediately jumped up from the sofa.

She ran into the bedroom, pulled out a notebook and a pen, and then ran back to sit down next to Xu Qing.

"I'm ready."

Xu Qing plucked the strings twice to test a note.

The sound of the piano was very clean.

There are no extra tones, no effects.

It's just a guitar and one person's voice.

Xu Qing began singing the first verse.

"It's another quiet evening, and I'm curled up in a rocking chair enjoying the cool evening air."

The sound was very soft.

It has a slightly lazy feel to it.

Luo Qianyu quickly jotted something down in her notebook.

When Xu Qing sang, "I admit this is really peaceful, just like the old man downstairs," Luo Qianyu burst out laughing.

"Were you writing in that basement? The old man upstairs rocks that dilapidated chair in the hallway every night."

Xu Qing didn't respond.

It keeps bouncing down.

We've reached the section about Luo Qianyu.

"I heard you're still working on some original content, but it seems like it's all just so-so."

Luo Qianyu was stunned for a moment.

Who is this referring to?

Xu Qing looked at her.

"you guess."

Luo Qianyu glanced at the lyric booklet.

"Why don't you take some time to think about how you'll look, and put on some beautiful makeup tonight—I'm talking about you, aren't I?"

"right."

"When did I ever say that all you've done is this?"

Xu Qing thought for a moment.

"The second time you went to the basement, your exact words were, 'You're a grown man, holed up in the basement writing novels, and after all this time you still haven't made it popular.'"

Luo Qianyu stopped writing.

"Um... I didn't know you were a big shot back then..."

Xu Qing played the next chorus.

"If I looked at you again, would I still feel anything? Back then, you were so innocent and pure."

Luo Qianyu looked at the lyrics.

Plain noodles facing the sky.

She remembered that night at the night market food stall, when Sister Hong pushed her out and she almost had to work as a hostess. She squatted under the streetlight, too afraid to look up.

Xu Qing appeared around that time.

Then I took her to eat something.

Luo Qianyu closed the notebook.

She turned to the side and leaned into Xu Qing's arms, resting her chin on his shoulder.

She pushed the guitar to the side, making it tilt.

Xu Qing was so jolted by the impact that he mispressed the chords on his hand.

"What are you doing? The score isn't finished yet."

Luo Qianyu didn't say anything.

She buried her face in her hands, her hands tightly gripping the hem of Xu Qing's sweater.

Xu Qing glanced down.

The tips of her ears were red.

Xu Qing moved the guitar aside and freed one hand to rest on her back.

"Is it really worth crying over just reading song lyrics?"

"I didn't cry."

Luo Qianyu's voice was muffled.

"It's like dust got in your eyes."

"Sixteenth floor. Where did the dust come from?"

Luo Qianyu nuzzled against his shoulder.

Xu Qing didn't say anything more, and the two of them sat like that for a few minutes.

The living room was quiet, and there was a breeze outside the window.

Luo Qianyu raised her head, her nose slightly red.

"Xu Qing."

"Um."

"When you used to live in the basement, I would go to see you. You were never wearing makeup. Your hair was always messy. You were dressed very sloppily."

"Um."

"You've always looked like this?"

"What do you mean?"

Luo Qianyu stared at his face.

"Well... when you were in the basement, I thought you were just average-looking. But now, the more I look at you, the more pleasing you seem."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow.

"Because your nearsightedness has worsened."

Luo Qianyu slapped him on the chest.

My eyesight is 1.5.

Xu Qing straightened the guitar.

"Get your emotions in check. Let's go through it once, starting with the chorus."

Luo Qianyu wiped her nose and opened her notebook.

"Come."

Xu Qing plays the prelude.

Luo Qianyu opened her mouth.

"No need for dramatic eyeliner, no need to blend foundation—"

As soon as she spoke, Xu Qing shook her head.

"It is too sweet."

"What's too sweet?"

"You sang too sweetly. This song doesn't need that kind of sweetness."

Luo Qianyu rolled her eyes.

"You write love songs for me, but won't let me sing sweet ones?"

Xu Qing placed the guitar on her lap.

"This song is about reminiscing."

Luo Qianyu looked at the lyrics.

"What do you miss?"

"I miss you when you had nothing."

Luo Qianyu closed her mouth.

She stared at that line of lyrics in the lyric book for a long time.

Nostalgia can never bring us back to the past.

Xu Qing started the prelude again.

This time, Luo Qianyu's voice changed.

It's no longer that kind of deliberate sweetness.

It's very bland and tasteless.

With a slightly cautious tone.

When she sang the line "sneaking a laugh at someone else's smudged face," she actually laughed.

Xu Qing added a sentence.

"If I look at you again, will I still feel anything?"

The two voices overlapped.

One is aloof, the other is warm and gentle.

Surprisingly, we clicked.

Luo Qianyu sang more and more smoothly.

At the last sentence, both of them stopped.

There was a two-second silence in the living room.

Luo Qianyu swallowed hard.

"My voice trembled a little when I sang the last line, 'that vanished bare face.'"

"Don't change it," Xu Qing said. "Keep the trembling part."

Luo Qianyu looked at him.

Why?

"Because it's true."

-

At the same time.

Beijing's CBD. Star Emperor Entertainment Headquarters. President's Office, 68th Floor.

Wang Jianguo sat behind a rosewood desk.

On the table lay a program proposal for "Echoes from the Clouds." Next to the proposal was a performance-based agreement.

Sitting opposite me was a man in a black suit, around thirty-five years old. His hair was neatly combed.

She wore a silver ring on the ring finger of her left hand; it was an old-fashioned design and didn't look cheap.

Chen Che.

A top-tier music producer who returned from overseas.

He has received two Grammy nominations in Europe, has worked with a large number of well-known artists, and was Su Man's go-to producer for her overseas tours before she returned to China.

Wang Jianguo pushed the betting agreement in front of Chen Che.

"I've reviewed the terms. 'Echoes from the Clouds' has a total of eight episodes. Su Man will be joining in the third episode, and you'll be in charge of all the music production, stage design, and promotional resources."

Chen Che flipped through the agreement. He wasn't in a hurry to sign it.

"Is the performance-based agreement that Su Man's stage presence must surpass Luo Qianyu's in a single episode?"

Wang Jianguo tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"Crush it."

Chen Che closed the agreement.

"You know Mingyue Qingfeng's skill level. The songs he produced for Luo Qianyu would be top-tier productions even in the overseas market. If you ask me to go head-to-head with him, my chances of winning are slim."

Wang Jianguo stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside the window was the entire night view of Beijing.

"So I've arranged more than just these things for you."

Wang Jianguo pulled a folder out of the drawer.

"The sound director for the program production team has been replaced by one of our people. The equipment setup and on-site monitoring on the day Su Man appeared in the third episode were all taken over by the Xinghuang technical team."

Chen Che's finger paused on the cover of the agreement.

Wang Jianguo turned around.

"Just focus on perfecting Su Man's song. As for Luo Qianyu's stage performance—"

He threw the folder on the table.

"There's a technical malfunction on site; that's a problem with the equipment. It has nothing to do with you."

Chen Che stared at the folder and remained silent for five seconds.

Then he picked up a pen and signed his name.

Wang Jianguo smiled.

"This time, I'm going to make the whole nation watch Luo Qianyu make a fool of herself on stage."

"Then let everyone know—without Star Emperor, she is nothing."