Lovesickness

A Lifetime of Loneliness suddenly caught fire.

It was like a dazzling firework.

With Immortal Sword Asking for Love dominating screens and Always Been Quiet becoming a smash hit, it shot into the sky without warning and exploded with a bang!

Hu Wei's voice, vocal technique, intensely full emotions, and terrifying ability to move listeners gave this song a soul.

By comparison, Song Dao's two songs, which had only just gained some recognition, were almost instantly forgotten by many people.

Some even used them for comparison.

"See that? This is what a truly heartbreaking love song sounds like!"

"I think Brother Dog's two songs are pretty good too. We shouldn't praise one while tearing down another. Honestly, they each have their own style, right?"

"A Lifetime of Loneliness is the real masterpiece. Mark my words, this song will stay popular for many years! It'll definitely become a classic!"

"Brother Dog's two songs had already struck a lot of chords with me, but honestly, after hearing this one, I got goosebumps all over. It hit way too damn hard. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt!"

"I love this song. From low to high, it feels like it's telling a story, pulling you in. You experience a love affair as if you were the protagonist, then listen to a tragic and beautiful love story as if you were a passerby."

"I'm a damn single dog. Why do I feel like I just went through a passionate romance after hearing this song?"

Music critic Cui Luo: This is a genuinely good song. I really want to meet Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand.

The music critics on Audio-Visual and My Show also stepped forward one after another.

"Why does it suddenly feel like the Chinese music scene has come back to life?"

"Let's be fair, Song Dao is good! But Kong Xi and Hu Wei are even better. This is what the music scene should be like."

"The Chinese music scene is alive!"

"An in-depth analysis of A Lifetime of Loneliness."

"I agree with Kong Xi that this is a healing song..."

At Feiyang Music Movement.

The place was filled with laughter and cheers!

Everyone seemed pumped full of adrenaline, shouting excitedly.

The rankings of the two new songs had already been written on the company's big whiteboard.

Always Been Quiet—

Soaring Chart: No. 5

New Song Chart: No. 6

Popularity Index Chart: No. 5

Without spending a single cent on promotion, it had successfully crushed a whole batch of trash songs that major companies had spent heavily promoting.

A Lifetime of Loneliness—

Soaring Chart: No. 10

New Song Chart: No. 11

Popularity Index Chart: No. 10

The two hundred thousand they had prepared beforehand had not even been spent!

At this point, Lin Fei knew she had won her bet.

That business partnership that would once have made people laugh themselves silly—giving Song Dao the terms of a top-tier producer—had proven more than worthwhile!

And there was something even more worthwhile.

That was Lovesickness!

Yesterday, she had gone to meet Director Zhang.

Also present were a deputy director, the producer, and the investor from their side.

The producer was a woman.

Everyone called her Sister Wang. She was a famous strongwoman and a major figure in the industry.

After Lin Fei arrived, she sang it a cappella in front of them.

Without any accompaniment, not even a guitar, she had reduced this female producer, nicknamed the Iron Lady, to tears with her singing alone.

Among big shots who had spent years in the entertainment industry, who hadn't had a few romantic entanglements in their youth?

Whose heart did not hold some lingering regret?

This kind of grand, lyrical ancient-style song might not leave much of an impression on many young people.

They might even feel nothing at all.

At most, they would think it sounded nice.

But for people with rich life experience and stories of their own, such a song was like a sharp sword piercing straight through the heart.

[Red Beans Grow in the South, a matter from long ago]

[What is Lovesickness? No one cares anymore]

[Drunk beneath the sleepless city's lights, neon everywhere]

[Within the wine cup lies such a profusion of passion]

[Most willing to forget the poems of old, most dismissive of Lovesickness]

[Guarding love, afraid of laughter, yet afraid of being seen through]

[Spring comes again and red beans bloom, yet no lovers come to gather them]

[Fireworks embrace fleeting romance; true love is gone]

The lyrics were simply beautiful, brimming with poetry.

More importantly, although it was a love song, it carried a sweeping, majestic grandeur.

To interpret the emotion of Lovesickness from such an angle and in such a manner showed just how skilled the lyricist was.

More importantly, Lin Fei's singing ability was simply too strong!

Her chest voice, falsetto, and breathy voice all reached the ear.

She handled everything effortlessly, smooth as flowing clouds and water.

Having not sung publicly for years, the moment she opened her golden voice, she stunned everyone present!

If not for the fact that everyone present was an immensely important figure, they might have been unable to resist recording the scene.

For them, this kind of song was an absolute killer.

Sister Wang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and took Lin Fei's hand. "Teacher Lin sings beautifully, and the song is beautiful too. Everything is wonderful! It's so wonderful!"

The deputy director looked utterly shocked. "This song is fucking incredible! I thought Director Zhang was the first to use red beans as a metaphor for Lovesickness. No, wait, Director Zhang was the first, but these lyrics are just too perfect, aren't they? Director Zhang, you're still the best!"

When Zhang Yi had previously told them he was asking Lin Fei to arrange a song, several of them, including him, had found it rather absurd.

It wasn't that they thought Lin Fei was a washed-up singer, but if she truly could produce a top-tier song, she would not have suffered so much criticism.

They had heard Always Been Quiet, but it did not fit Director Zhang's Demon Love either!

How could he be so sure Water Strike Three Thousand would work?

They had even said to his face that Director Zhang was grasping at straws in desperation.

At the time, Zhang Yi had merely smiled and waved it off. He said it was fine, what was there to fear in trying? Hadn't Immortal Sword Asking for Love also failed to expect that hiring an internet celebrity with decent vocal skills for traffic would bring such an unexpected gain?

That was true.

The director of Immortal Sword Asking for Love was also from the Jing circle and had previously said that hiring Kong Xi to sing had been purely for the gimmick.

Yet once the song came out and matched the plot at the time, it immediately exploded.

People said the entertainment industry ran on mysterious forces, and that was indeed true.

Since Water Strike Three Thousand could write songs for Immortal Sword Asking for Love, why couldn't he write one for Demon Love?

And just as Lin Fei had expected, Zhang Yi had not only approached her.

Behind the scenes, he had called in favors and invited several major figures in the music industry to work on it.

Whoever came up with the best one would be used.

Even if their work was not used, he would not let them work for nothing. A fee of one or two hundred thousand for their efforts would keep everyone satisfied.

Zhang Yi was very satisfied with this song.

It would be more accurate to say he was exceptionally satisfied!

He smiled and said, "'They gather beans, filling their baskets,' there is such a line in Gathering Beans from the Minor Odes of the Book of Songs. But the 'beans' there are a general term for legumes, not specifically red beans, and it isn't about Lovesickness either.

"But at the time, I was thinking, what could represent the five hundred years of longing between Wu Zhiqi and White Tiger, this demon couple?

"So I thought of red beans!

"First, they're beautiful. Just looking at them gives people a sense of joy. But the more memorable something is, the more easily it stirs one's thoughts and Memories.

"For example, admiring red beans together back then..."

As he spoke of it, Director Zhang became quite pleased with himself and talked at length.

The others watched him boast with admiring expressions.

After all, even bragging sounded fascinating when it came from someone cultured.

Especially since the song Lin Fei had brought was so perfectly fitting.

It was practically a massive buff added to Director Zhang's idea!

Actually, Lin Fei had known it would work before she sang the song.

More precisely, she had known it would definitely work the moment she received it.

Song Dao was too incredible, almost demonic!

When the deputy director said Director Zhang had been the first to use red beans as a metaphor for Lovesickness, her heart could not help but tremble.

Perhaps Director Zhang had thought of it first, but Song Dao, who had never had any contact with him... had thought of it too!

Not only had he thought of it, he had done even better by writing an imitation ancient five-character quatrain!

That poem... in the eyes of her, a talented woman from Jing University, could even be put into a textbook!

As Zhang Yi continued speaking, he noticed that Lin Fei seemed a little distracted and smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry, Teacher Lin. Once I start rambling, I lose track of myself."

Lin Fei smiled lightly. "No, Director Zhang. Just now, Deputy Director Xu said that you were the first to think of using red beans as a metaphor for Lovesickness, and it suddenly reminded me of something."

"Oh?" Zhang Yi's eyes lit up.

Before hearing this song, he had not really believed that anyone could resonate with him on the same wavelength, but these lyrics were simply too beautiful!

And they fit the plot of Demon Love perfectly.

Could it be that Water Strike Three Thousand, the author of this song, had already had thoughts about red beans before this?

That was impossible, wasn't it?

Lin Fei smiled. "It happened like this. When I approached Teacher Sanqian, I asked him to create something with a try-it-and-see attitude, but then..."

She briefly explained what had happened, then opened her phone. She unfolded its foldable screen like a small tablet and entered the account page for Water Strike Three Thousand√.

She showed it to everyone.

"I can hardly believe there could be such a coincidence in this world. Director Zhang should remember the date you contacted me, and then you can look at the publication date of his poem."

Zhang Yi carefully took Lin Fei's phone and casually cracked a joke. "I heard this thing can hold down two instant noodle cups at once?"

Everyone laughed and curiously leaned their heads closer.

"Red beans grow in the south; with spring, how many branches bloom? I hope you gather more of them, for this is the thing that best inspires Lovesickness."

Hiss!

Everyone present, including the investor who had barely spoken the entire time, was not illiterate.

Even if they did not possess particularly high literary appreciation, they could still tell whether a poem was beautiful.

"So this song really was created by Teacher Water Strike Three Thousand? And this imitation ancient five-character quatrain... was written by him too?"

Zhang Yi looked at Lin Fei with shining eyes.

He looked as though he had found a kindred spirit.

Lin Fei nodded. "Yes."

Afraid that Director Zhang and the others might want to meet Water Strike Three Thousand, she immediately said, "Teacher Sanqian is rather low-profile and doesn't really like meeting people. We mostly communicate by phone as well."

"Haha, talented people are always a little eccentric. That's normal. But please convey my thanks to him, Teacher Lin. This song is truly wonderful! The poem is especially wonderful too. I need to think carefully about whether I can add two shots and include it!"

Zhang Yi was initially somewhat regretful, but then he became excited again. "If I use it, I'll pay an additional copyright fee!"

That was how a major director handled things—with generosity.

Many others would not only use it without a second thought, they might not even give credit.

After the matter was settled, Zhang Yi readily made the decision on the spot to hand all the soundtrack work for Three Kingdoms to Feiyang Music Movement.

He also casually asked whether they had any leads on several songs for Three Kingdoms.

He was not disappointed when he received a negative answer, since there was still plenty of time.

For now, he could look forward to it.

Listening to the chirping discussions outside, Lin Fei sat in her office with a thousand thoughts running through her mind.

She truly loved singing.

Otherwise, even after leaving the industry for so many years, she would not have continued practicing her voice every day.

She was not even as strict with managing her figure.

She had also used the years when she could finally settle down to diligently study music of all styles and related knowledge.

Saying that her skills had already reached perfection was no exaggeration at all.

It was just that before she met Song Dao, she had possessed all that inner strength with nowhere to use it.

Those formidable top-tier producers had either completely retired to enjoy their old age, or they lusted after her and harbored improper thoughts.

She had never imagined that one day, she would have another chance to sing.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a little uneasy deep down.

Subconsciously, she picked up her phone and opened Song Dao's Shuibo account under the pen name Water Strike Three Thousand, wanting to look at that poem again.

But she was shocked to discover that the account had suddenly gained over a hundred thousand followers.

What was going on?

She hurriedly opened its only post.

The comments inside left her utterly stunned.