Promotional Song

[ Ding! The host has finished filming Happy Family. Mission complete.]

[A-rank Talent: All Instrument Performance Skills, delivered]

After absorbing the talent sent by the system, Lin Chuan opened his eyes. He felt he had gained a whole new understanding of all kinds of musical instruments.

Before this, Lin Chuan's skill with most instruments had been, well...

Simply put, it was hard to describe.

Now, Lin Chuan could even use bowls, pots, and chopsticks to play a decent tune.

The difference was obvious.

He hadn't expected the talent rewarded by the system this time to be music-related again.

Lin Chuan thought of the promotional song for Balloon, Love Confession Balloon.

Back then, after getting Jay Chou's singing talent, he'd just wanted to make a simple joke with the netizens.

He hadn't expected the song to become surprisingly popular, earning Lin Chuan several million in royalties.

As it happened, Lin Chuan thought of another Jay Chou song that would suit Happy Family just as well.

That song was Rice Fragrance.

The song had won the Most Popular Single of the Year Award, the 2008 BJ Pop Music Golden Melody Award, the Best Arrangement Award, the Hong Kong and Taiwan Golden Melody Award, the Taiwan Golden Melody Award for Best Song of the Year, and one of the Top Ten Golden Melodies of the Decade from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It was no exaggeration to say it had won countless awards.

Besides, the song's mood went quite well with Happy Family.

He'd sung Love Confession Balloon after Balloon had been released.

This time, Lin Chuan planned to release Rice Fragrance before Happy Family hit theaters.

He believed the song's warm, touching emotional power would heal anyone who walked into the cinema.

He boarded Bus 17, heading for Old Zhou's recording studio.

Old Zhou's studio wasn't far from the school—only a few dozen kilometers away.

Lin Chuan had originally planned to run there, but then he remembered there were quite a few highways along the way.

He'd probably breathe in a lot of exhaust fumes, and the hard road would hurt his knees, so he decided to take the bus instead.

Although the combined follower counts of his several accounts on Bika Net and Weibo had passed a million,

and there were even people on the bus wearing headphones and watching Spoon Killer Demon and Balloon,

not a single person recognized Lin Chuan.

After all, Lin Chuan had never shown his face.

Of course, even if Happy Family became a huge hit after its release, Lin Chuan figured no fans would recognize him.

Under the influence of the Rubber Man Talent, the male lead's appearance in Happy Family was quite different from Lin Chuan's.

At the recording studio, Old Zhou was resting his chin in his hand, gazing out the window in boredom.

If Old Zhou had been a beautiful young woman, it would have been a rather picturesque scene.

Unfortunately, Old Zhou was a forty-year-old man who liked wearing floral shirts and sunglasses.

Ever since he'd heard Lin Chuan's Love Confession Balloon in the recording studio,

Old Zhou's artistic side had been thoroughly awakened.

Even the heart he'd immersed in business for decades had begun to yearn for art.

For the past month or so, Old Zhou had listened to Love Confession Balloon on repeat every day.

He listened to it dozens of times a day.

In a little over a month, he'd listened to it about a thousand times.

Old Zhou had worked in the music industry for decades.

After hearing it so many times, he knew every note of Love Confession Balloon by heart.

Naturally, he could tell the song had a few flaws.

But those flaws were entirely negligible.

After all, it was Lin Chuan's debut. Wasn't it perfectly normal for a debut to be a little rough around the edges?

Earlier, when Lin Chuan had come to record the voice-over for Balloon,

Old Zhou had only thought the movie was a little bizarre.

But after Lin Chuan sang Love Confession Balloon in the studio,

Old Zhou's attitude toward Lin Chuan had changed completely.

Geniuses were bound to have a few unusual quirks. That was perfectly normal.

In the music industry, full of eccentrics, making a few horror movies was practically the most normal hobby imaginable.

While Balloon was in theaters, Lin Chuan had opened up the rights for everyone to cover the song on Weibo.

Anyone who liked Love Confession Balloon could sing their own version.

So Old Zhou had heard dozens of versions of Love Confession Balloon.

Some had been sung by female streamers, others by singers and internet celebrities.

But not one of them had reached even half of Lin Chuan's level!

That showed just how highly Old Zhou thought of Lin Chuan.

Now, Old Zhou was just waiting for Lin Chuan to release a new song and surprise music fans.

At the same time, he couldn't help lamenting: What a wonderful musician. How had he ended up becoming a director?

Every day, Old Zhou rested his chin in his hand and waited by the window for that familiar figure.

He waited for a long time, but Lin Chuan never appeared.

Old Zhou couldn't help feeling a little melancholy:

"Perhaps he'll never come back."

"Perhaps he'll come back tomorrow."

At last, Old Zhou saw a familiar figure approaching the studio.

He sprang to his feet, breathing fast. He started toward Lin Chuan with quick little steps, then picked up speed, wishing he could run straight over to him.

Lin Chuan felt a little unaccustomed to Old Zhou's warm welcome.

Actually, he missed the way Old Zhou had acted before, all arrogant and aloof.

Old Zhou led the way while Lin Chuan followed at an unhurried pace.

Old Zhou continued reminiscing. "You might not know this, Mr. Lin, but ever since Balloon became a hit,

lots of people have come here hoping to meet you. That girl Jiang Kui thinks about you all the time, too."

Lin Chuan nodded. He still vividly remembered the photos of Jiang Kui cosplaying the makeup from Balloon.

If he ever got the chance, Lin Chuan really would like her to star in a live-action version of Tomie.

It was just that the original Tomie was quite gruesome, and ordinary audiences might find it hard to accept.

So Lin Chuan needed to take things step by step and build up to it gradually.

When Lin Chuan walked into the recording studio, he saw that amid the photos on the entire wall of Old Zhou with various musicians,

there was a picture of Lin Chuan singing Love Confession Balloon with a guitar in his arms.

Without giving it much thought, he entered the recording booth.

Lin Chuan cleared his throat a few times and began to play.

Old Zhou put on his headphones in the control room.

Lin Chuan adjusted the microphone and began to sing:

"If you have too many complaints about this world, once you fall, you won't dare to keep moving forward~"

"Why must people be so fragile and lost~"

"Please turn on the TV and see how many people are fighting bravely for their lives. Shouldn't we be content with what we have~"

Old Zhou nodded gently along with the tune, completely immersed in the song's mood.

"Remember how you said home was the only castle? Keep running along the rice-scented river~"

"Smile softly. I know the dreams I had as a child~"

"Don't cry. Let the fireflies lead you away. The country songs will always be there for you. Come home, back to that beauty you knew at the beginning~"

As he listened, Old Zhou's thoughts were carried to a faraway place.

Just as the lyrics said, the song truly brought back memories of the beauty of his early years.

As a child, he used to poke frogs by the pond.

In summer, he'd sneak into the fields with his friends to steal watermelons.

Some of his friends would claim the watermelons in their own fields were bigger and sweeter, then steal from their own families.

At school, a group of elementary school students would compete to see whose paper airplane flew higher and farther.

Some people spent their whole lives healing from their childhood.

Others spent their childhood healing them for the rest of their lives.

Old Zhou was undoubtedly the latter.

After growing up, Old Zhou had experienced the cold and warmth of the world far too early.

He'd learned all the ins and outs of human relationships.

It had all been beaten into him by countless cold stares and mocking laughter.

Even when people laughed at him or pointed fingers, Old Zhou always greeted them with a smile, hoping they might give him some money.

Without realizing it, Old Zhou's back had grown more and more stooped, and an ingratiating smile had settled on his face.

Over time, he'd forgotten what he used to look like.

Maybe I've become the kind of person I hated most as a child without even realizing it.

After listening to Lin Bai's song, Old Zhou felt as if someone had pulled him a little way out of the mire.

He could clearly hear his childhood self telling him:

"It's okay. You've done great!"

Without thinking, Old Zhou tried to wipe the tears beneath his eyes with the back of his hand.

But he found there was nothing there.

Instead, a smile had crept onto his face.

So songs could do more than make people cry. There was an even more profound way to move people:

They could make people realize how beautiful the world was.

They could help people look at the world with a more peaceful heart.

Some songs made people sad and wistful.

Others helped people grow.

Lin Chuan continued singing:

"Just smile. Success and fame aren't the point. Making yourself happy—that's what gives life meaning~"

"The paper airplane from my childhood has finally flown back into my hands~"

When the song ended, Lin Chuan stepped out of the recording booth and walked over to Old Zhou.

He found the veteran musician wearing a calm, peaceful smile.

He looked just like a high monk who had passed away while meditating.