It was also December 23rd.

  Location is northwest, Shanxi Province, Yan'an Prefecture, Ansai County.

  On New Year's Eve, during the first tense dress rehearsal of the cross-year song concert, in a small hotel in this backward and even impoverished county town, Liao Liao was wearing thick down jacket, but still had to wrap himself in the quilt to barely avoid being frozen stiff.

  Outside the window, on the vast and empty plateau, an even more desolate wind is howling by without any restraint.

  The small coal stove in the room brought a faint warmth, but compared to the cold current sweeping outside, that little bit of heat could only be said to be barely sufficient.

  I thought the Northeast was cold enough, as a child growing up in the Northeast, Liao felt that she couldn't possibly be afraid of the cold. But when she really arrived here, she found out that the so-called cold on the Liaoning side wasn't worth mentioning because it had the support of the warm kang in the house, and in the face of the coldness that came from the vast sky and earth of the Great Northwest, it was simply not enough to be seen.

  Even so, even if it's cold enough to only wrap yourself in a blanket and lean against the headboard, the pen in your hand doesn't stop for a moment, constantly writing and scribbling on the notebook, sometimes even tearing off a page with a "ripping" sound, crumpling it up and throwing it away, then continuing to write.

  That's right, she is writing songs.

  After returning to Shuntianfu in mid-September, she only rested for a few days before re-entering the intense work, promising the company that they would release a new song for the sales commemorative edition, shoot music videos for several popular songs, take cover photos for several magazines that the company had promised, conduct interviews and promotions as needed, appear on two TV shows that she had agreed to, and also participate in advertising endorsements and various activities.

  The album sales are not bad, it's the kind that can continue to sell well. The three platinum certifications have already confirmed that there is no problem. The endorsement fees for the advertisements she has been helped with by the company are also not low, and her income this year will definitely be very good. However, she feels like every day is busy but meaningless...

  Fortunately. After entering November, the busy things basically came to an end. Under Huang Wenjuan's arrangement, she finally had no announcements and could focus on doing what she wanted to do.

  Then she rested at home in Shuntian Prefecture for a few days, then moved into a new house arranged by the company, and finally really calmed down.

  But after being cooped up at home for over a decade, she found herself unable to find inspiration for new songs. So she packed her bags and went back to her hometown alone for half a month. Ugh... anyway, it was really annoying. Her old man even asked her to be the spokesperson for his wine shop, while her mom was overly concerned that now that she's so famous, it would be hard for her to find a boyfriend.

  And the little sister... okay, she made Liao Liao stand up. She took a camera and had her take pictures, taking an entire roll of film, then this dead girl quietly took the film to develop several sets of photos, calling them "Liao Liao's Limited Edition Portrait Photos", selling them at their school for 500 yuan per set, earning several thousand yuan! Hmm, after the incident was exposed, not only did her mother confiscate all the money, she also got beaten half to death!

  As for that little brother... the stinky brat who still has a runny nose finally figured it out, that asking his sister for pocket money is much easier than asking mom... Hmph!

  Liao Liao finally couldn't stand his mother's nagging and ran away, returning to Shuntian Prefecture on the twelfth day.

  However, Shuntianfu was bustling with cars and people flowing like arrows, but it wasn't a good place to write songs. So, after performing at several famous bars at the invitation of friends, she left again.

  This time, her target was the Great Northwest.

  The beauty of Qinling, the greasiness of mutton soup, the grandeur of Qin Opera, and the endless mountains of Northwest China. And... yes, the passionate Ansai waist drum!

  She alone, with a very simple travel bag, wrapped herself tightly all the way, spent more than half a month, although aimless but interestingly turned around Shanxi, looked around, and finally stopped in this small county town of Anze.

  It's very poor and backward here, although there are audio-visual stores on the streets and alleys playing "My Hometown", but no one knows who Liao Liao is, or rather, everyone doesn't have any thoughts to recognize a singer.

  Liao Liao found a small inn to stay in and ended up staying there for over ten days.

  The local customs and people, the caves, the sour tune here, all made her overjoyed.

  Then, a few days ago, Huang Wenjuan called and knew that the time was almost up and she should go to Songjiang for the New Year's Eve concert rehearsal. However... just before leaving these two days, not only was something stimulated, but also accumulated enough, in short, inspiration suddenly came pouring in.

  So, for the past two days, she has been staying at home almost all day except for meals, just cooped up in her room writing and humming to herself, carrying a large notebook with her everywhere, writing and tearing out pages, already using up half of it!

  "I also want to be a hero!"

  She didn't just say it for nothing!

  She's popular now, so when she's busy, no need to say more. Once she has some free time, she should definitely go to Jinan Prefecture. Not to mention her mentor, at the very least, for Li Qian who made her famous with five songs, she should go and thank him in person. In fact, Huang Wenjuan had been advising her to do so repeatedly.

  But she didn't go.

  It's not that she didn't want to thank Li Qian, nor did she not want to go. It's just that she wanted to wait until she could produce something worthy before taking her work with her.

  "Hey, hey, kiddo... Alright, Teacher Li, help me take a look at how this song is written?"

  "Really? Wow, is it that great what you said? Uh... so, I can also be considered a singer-songwriter now?"

  It's so cool like this!

  Yeah, actually in the past few days, she has been writing a lot of works in one breath. Although by the end, she felt that only the best one could be shown to Li Qian, but the one that has been lingering in her mind recently is definitely better, it's just...she can't grasp it for the time being!

  Troubles, troubles, troubles...

  It's just can't be caught!

  She raised her wrist to look at the time and let out a helpless sigh: This time it's really time to get moving!

  According to Huang Wenjuan, the New Year's Eve concert will have its first dress rehearsal on the 23rd, which is today. For someone of her level, others are very polite and directly say that the first time is not necessary, just leave a good position. However, from the second dress rehearsal on the 25th to the two subsequent recordings, she must participate every time. It's not impossible to make an exception, but making an exception without special circumstances will ruin one's reputation.

  Even if we set off today, it's estimated that we can arrive in Yan'an Prefecture by evening, but then Yan'an Prefecture is not connected to the railway, and to go to Chang'an Prefecture, we have to take a plane, and also spend a day on a long-distance bus...

  She flipped through her notebook back and forth for a few pages, furrowed her brow in deep thought for a moment, confirmed that she really couldn't grasp that feeling, let out a sigh, stood up resolutely, put on her clothes and started packing.

  She has to set off now.

  …………

  Two days later. 10:30 am, Songjiang Airport.

  Liao Liao walked out of the airport passageway, Huang Wenjuan quickly jumped up and waved her arms, Liao Liao wrapped a large scarf around her neck, lowered her head and glanced over here, then walked over very low-key... I don't know if it's because she's been playing hide-and-seek for two months, but in the past few days, several reporters who have been squatting at the airport exit passageway waiting to take pictures of the stars attending the New Year's Eve concert haven't seen her.

  The two of them converged, carefully making their way out until they got into the company's arranged business car. Only then did she loosen her scarf and reveal her face, but instead of relaxing, she excitedly pulled out a notebook from her small bag and asked Huang Wenjuan, "Did you bring the guitar I told you to bring?"

  Huang Wenjuan reluctantly took the guitar from the third row of seats. She couldn't help but say, "Sister, you've been rushing for two days, why don't you take a break first? By the time we arrive at the TV station, I estimate that the second rehearsal will have already started, and you won't be able to rest for long anyway."

  Liao Liao smiled and took over the guitar, opened her notebook on her knees, tuned the strings simply, and started playing - on the long-distance bus from Yan'an to Chang'an, looking at the vast yellow plateau, she suddenly found that inspiration, and this road came down, a masterpiece that made her extremely proud was born!

  It's still a bit early to say it's a masterpiece... but this song is undoubtedly the best work of Liao Liang's songwriting career so far!

  The driver was a native of Songjiang Prefecture, Shanghai County, and the road was particularly familiar. Although the car was agile in the traffic flow, the body remained stable, and Liao's action of playing the guitar would not be affected at all.

  After finishing playing, Liao Liao was very pleased with himself and turned his head to look at his assistant, asking: "How's that?"

  Huang Wenjuan blinked her eyes and asked: "New song?"

  Liao Liao nodded, saying with satisfaction: "After being stuck in Yan'an Prefecture for several days without making progress, I actually got inspiration on the way to Chang'an Prefecture. After taking a ride, I completed it... how does it feel?"

  Huang Wenjuan nodded hastily, "Sounds pretty good, this should be on the same level as 'Wildflower'?"

  Liao Liao looked at her in surprise, "Wow, you're really something! Not bad, not bad, you've actually learned to analyze this too! However, hmm, okay, it's indeed similar to 'Dedication' and 'Wildflower', can be considered light rock, also has some folk elements."

  She looked ahead mysteriously, saw the driver focusing on driving, then leaned in and whispered: "Say, if I were to go to Jinan Prefecture, plop this song right in front of Li Qian, what do you think his reaction would be?"

  As Liao Liao's popularity rose, Huang Wenjuan had indeed been working hard to learn some music knowledge recently. However, based on the little she learned from a few months of cram school, it was really not enough to judge the quality of a song. At this time, she blinked her eyes and said: "He will... be very surprised?"

  Yeah, she's still very skilled at flattering people!

  Liao Liao couldn't help but smile triumphantly.

  She tapped the book on her knee and said confidently, "When I see this song, although I may not be able to count as a great hero in front of him, at least when I see those two big books of songs again, I won't feel so inferior!"

  "After some thought, she said: 'Hmm, it would be best if he was surprised and sincerely praised me a few times, that would be perfect, haha!'"

  …………

  Dongfang Star TV Station, Makeup Room.

  Liao Liao rushed over, didn't even have time to go and pay respects to the leaders of the directing team, just made a quick phone call to let them know she had arrived and was ready to be called upon at any moment, then hurried off to her designated dressing room to quickly wash up, put on makeup, and do her hair.

  During the rehearsal, she actually didn't need to do any styling, after all, it wasn't a real recording. But with Liao Liao's personality, since she had come, she naturally didn't want to put on those unnecessary airs, so she just honestly stayed in the room and let the stylist do their thing.

  The styling was done, and Huang Wenjuan came in from outside with a few sheets of paper, her face showing a strange and conflicted expression. She glanced at the stylist but couldn't help saying, "Sister, didn't I tell you on the phone that Li Qian helped a group under Huage Records release an album recently?"

  Liao Liao turned his head back with a sullen expression, nodded and said, "I've already told you, what's the big deal? What's so special about it?"

  Huang Wenjuan handed over the few sheets of paper in her hand and said, "The group is called Wu Xing Wu Su, they also came to the evening party, this is the new program list that the program team just gave, take a look, they are actually the opening song! And this song is actually called 'Farewell'!"

  Liao Liao took it over with a sullen face, and indeed, the work listed before the opening speech was called "Farewell", sung by Wu Xingwu Su, with lyrics, composition and arrangement all done by Li Qian.

  To be honest, Liao Liao was also a bit puzzled.

  Even if the song is great, if your name is "Farewell", it's okay to put it at the end or in the middle, but putting it at the beginning... you're saying goodbye from the start, can the party still go on afterwards?

  "Indeed a work by Li Qian, didn't the director team think this song was great? So they pulled it to the front to boost the atmosphere?"

  Liao Liao whispered something there, but Huang Wenjuan quickly said: "The problem is not just this one song, you flip to the back, at 9:30 that time slot, it's prime time, they have two more songs, I inquired about it, and according to what I heard, their last two songs had a great response during the previous rehearsal, so they adjusted the schedule and added another opening song!

  Just then, the stylist finished styling, and Liao Liao flipped to the back page. Sure enough, on the second page, she saw "Sisters Stand Up" and "The Heartbroken Frontline Alliance".

  The singer is of course Wu Xing Wu Su combination, lyrics and composition are also Li Qian.

  She suddenly had a move in her heart, stood up and said: "Let's go and listen! Let's see what kind of extraordinary good song Li Qian wrote for them, that the director team can actually put a song called 'Farewell' at the beginning!"

  ***

  The third update is delivered, and it's another 4,000 words!

  Updated nearly 13,000 words today, sincerely asking for monthly tickets! (.)

  P.S: The third update is delivered again, with 4,000 words!

  Updated nearly 13,000 words today, sincerely asking for monthly tickets!