Chapter 87

Chapter 86: The Monkey King and the Buddha (Part 1) - It was also the 23rd of December.

The location was in the northwest, in Shanxi Province, Yan'an Prefecture, Ansai County.

While the New Year's Eve concert was undergoing its first tense rehearsal, in this backward, even impoverished small county, Liao Liao, wearing a thick down jacket, still had to wrap herself in the quilt to barely avoid being frozen stiff.

Outside the window, the wind howled across the vast plateau, more desolate than the emptiness itself.

The small coal stove in the room brought a hint of warmth, but compared to the cold wave sweeping in from outside, that little bit of heat was almost negligible.

Liao Liao, who grew up in the northeast, thought that the northeast was already cold enough. How could she possibly be afraid of the cold? But when she really came here, she realized that the so-called cold in Liaoning, with the addition of the warm kang (a traditional heated bed), was nothing compared to the bone-chilling cold of the northwest.

Even so, even though Liao Liao was so cold that she could only wrap herself in the quilt and lean against the head of the bed, the pen in her hand never stopped. She kept writing and scribbling in her notebook, sometimes tearing out a page and crumpling it up to throw away, then continuing to write.

Yes, she was writing a song.

After returning to Shuntian Prefecture in mid-September, she only took a short rest for a few days before diving back into her busy work. She had promised the company to record a new song for the sales commemorative edition, shoot music videos for several hit songs, take cover photos for several magazines that the company had already agreed to, do some interviews and promotions, appear on a few shows, and then there were still advertisements and various events...

The album sales were holding up well, and it was certain that it would reach triple platinum. The endorsement fees for the advertisements the company had arranged for her were also quite high, so her income this year would definitely be very good. However, she felt that her busy days were meaningless...

Fortunately, by November, the busy period had largely come to an end. Under Huang Wenjuan's arrangement, she finally had no more commitments and could focus on doing what she wanted to do.

So, she first rested at home in Shuntian Prefecture for a few days, then moved to a new house arranged by the company, and then really settled down.

However, after being cooped up at home for more than ten days, she found that she couldn't find the inspiration to write new songs. So, she decided to go back to her hometown alone for half a month. It was... well, anyway, it was quite annoying. Her father actually asked her to endorse his restaurant, and her mother was extremely concerned about whether she could still find a boyfriend now that she was so famous.

And her younger sister... well, she made Liao Liao stand still, took a roll of film with a camera, and then the little brat quietly developed several sets of photos, calling them "Liao Liao's Limited Edition Photos," and sold them at her school for 500 yuan per set, earning several thousand yuan! When the news leaked, not only was the money confiscated by her mother, but she was also beaten half to death!

As for her younger brother... that snot-nosed brat finally realized that asking his sister for pocket money was much easier than asking his mother... Humph!

On the twelfth day, Liao Liao finally couldn't bear her mother's nagging and ran away, returning to Shuntian Prefecture.

However, Shuntian Prefecture, with its constant traffic and crowds, was not a good place to write songs. So, after performing at a few famous bars at the invitation of friends, she left again.

This time, her destination was the northwest.

The beauty of the Qinling Mountains, the greasy mutton soup, the high and stirring Qin opera, the vast slopes of the northwest, and... yes, the passionate and powerful Ansai waist drum!

She traveled alone with a simple travel bag, wrapped herself up tightly, and spent over half a month wandering through Shanxi, enjoying the journey without a specific goal. She finally stopped in the small county of Ansai.

This place was very poor and backward. Although there were music stores and loudspeakers playing "My Beloved Hometown" on the streets, no one recognized who Liao Liao was. People had no interest in recognizing a celebrity.

So, Liao Liao found a small inn and stayed there for over ten days.

The local customs, the cave dwellings, and the folk songs all delighted her.

A few days ago, Huang Wenjuan called, and she knew that the time was almost up, and she needed to go to Songjiang to participate in the New Year's Eve concert rehearsal. But... just before leaving, something stimulated her, or perhaps she had accumulated enough, and suddenly, inspiration came pouring in.

So, in the past two days, she hardly left the house except for meals. She spent her days writing and humming in the room, and the large notebook she carried with her, filled with writing and tearing, was already more than half used!

"I want to be a great hero!"

She wasn't just saying it for the sake of it!

Now that she was famous and busy, once she had a bit of free time, she should have gone to Jinan Prefecture. Not to mention her teacher, at least she should have gone to thank Li Qian, who had used five songs to make her famous. In fact, Huang Wenjuan had repeatedly advised her to do so.

But she didn't go.

It wasn't that she didn't think she should thank Li Qian, or that she didn't want to go, but she wanted to wait until she had a decent piece of work to show him.

"Hey, hey, kid... okay, Teacher Li, can you take a look at this song I wrote?"

"Right? Wow, is it as good as you said? Uh... does this make me a creative singer?"

See, how cool would that be!

In fact, in the past few days, she had indeed written quite a few pieces. Although, when she went through them one by one, she felt that only the best one was really worth showing to Li Qian. But the one currently swirling in her mind would definitely be even better, it's just... she couldn't quite grasp it!

Frustrated, frustrated, frustrated...

But she just couldn't grasp it!

Lifting her wrist to check the time, she sighed helplessly: This time, she really had to leave!

According to Huang Wenjuan, the first rehearsal for the New Year's Eve concert would be on the 23rd, which was today. For someone of her level, they were very polite and said she didn't need to come for the first rehearsal, as her spot was reserved. However, from the second rehearsal on the 25th and the subsequent two recordings, she had to attend every time. Special treatment was not impossible, but it would ruin her reputation if there were no special circumstances.

Even if she left today, she would probably only arrive in Yan'an Prefecture by evening. And Yan'an Prefecture didn't have a train station, so she would have to take a long bus ride to Chang'an Prefecture to catch a flight...

She flipped through the notebook a few more pages, frowned in deep thought for a moment, and confirmed that she really couldn't grasp that feeling. She sighed, got up resolutely, put on her clothes, and started packing her things.

She had to leave now.

...

Two days later, at 10:30 AM, Songjiang Airport.

Seeing Liao Liao walk out of the airport passage, Huang Wenjuan quickly jumped up and waved her arms. Liao Liao, wrapped in a large scarf, glanced over and then walked over very low-key... perhaps because she had been playing hide-and-seek for the past two months, the few reporters who had been waiting at the airport exit to catch photos of the stars coming for the New Year's Eve concert didn't even notice her.

The two met up and walked out carefully. Once they were in the company's business car, Liao Liao loosened her scarf, revealed her face, and excitedly pulled out her notebook from her small bag, asking Huang Wenjuan, "Did you bring the guitar I asked for?"

Huang Wenjuan helplessly took the guitar from the third row seat and said, "Sis, you've been on the road for two days, why don't you rest first? By the time we get to the TV station, the second rehearsal will probably have started, and you won't have much time to rest."

Liao Liao smiled but still took the guitar, opened her notebook on her lap, and after a simple tuning, started playing. On the long bus ride from Yan'an Prefecture to Chang'an Prefecture, looking at the vast Loess Plateau, she suddenly found the inspiration, and by the time she arrived, a masterpiece that she was extremely proud of was born!

Well, calling it a masterpiece might be a bit premature... but it was undoubtedly the best work she had written in her songwriting career so far!

The driver was a local from Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture, and was very familiar with the roads. Although the car weaved through traffic, it remained stable, allowing Liao Liao to play the guitar without any interference.

After finishing a round, Liao Liao, very pleased with herself, turned to her assistant and asked, "How was it?"

Huang Wenjuan blinked and asked, "A new song?"

Liao Liao nodded and said proudly, "I couldn't come up with anything in Yan'an Prefecture, but I found inspiration on the way to Chang'an Prefecture. I wrote it on the bus... what do you think?"

Huang Wenjuan quickly nodded, "It sounds great, it's probably in the same style as 'Wildflower,' right?"

Liao Liao looked at her in surprise, "Wow, you're doing well! Not bad, not bad, you've even learned to analyze! But, well, yes, it's indeed similar to 'Persistence' and 'Wildflower,' it can be considered light rock, with a bit of folk style."

At this point, she looked forward mysteriously, saw that the driver was focused on driving, and leaned over to whisper, "If I go to Jinan Prefecture and suddenly put this song in front of Li Qian, what do you think his reaction will be?"

With Liao Liao's rising fame, Huang Wenjuan had indeed been working hard to learn some music knowledge. But with the little she had learned in a few months, she couldn't really judge the quality of a song, so she blinked and said, "He will... be very surprised?"

Well, she was still very skilled at flattery!

Sure enough, Liao Liao smiled proudly.

Tapping the notebook on her knee, she said confidently, "Seeing this song, I may not be a great hero in his eyes, but at least when I see his two thick books of songs, I won't feel so inferior!"

After thinking for a moment, she added, "It would be perfect if he were surprised and genuinely praised me a few times, hahaha!"

...

Eastern Star TV, preparation room.

Liao Liao arrived in a hurry and didn't have time to meet the directors. She just greeted them to let them know she had arrived and was ready to follow their instructions. Then she quickly went to her assigned preparation room to freshen up, put on