Chapter 64: Sichuan Kid A Jie

The room was utterly silent, leaving only Cheng Chen's slightly heavy breathing.

"Sis…"

"Mm?"

Gao Yuanyuan lifted her head and looked at him.

Her eyes were clear and bright, like a spring of water, sparkling, impossible to tire of.

Her rose-like skin carried a pink flush, her cinnabar-red lips had a distinct outline, and a trace of concern lingered at the corners of her slightly downturned mouth.

Below that was her smooth, rounded neck, the collar…

"I… I can do it myself."

Cheng Chen pulled his gaze back and took the medicine from Gao Yuanyuan's hand.

"Your wrist—was that from today's signing event?"

Gao Yuanyuan rose and sat down beside him, asking with concern.

"Yeah, signed several hundred copies, exhausted me to death."

Cheng Chen said while applying the medicine.

"That's wonderful—little bro, you've grown so fast! I can barely keep up."

Gao Yuanyuan remarked with a sigh from the side.

From their first meeting through *Heavenly Sword*, where one played a supporting role and the other the lead, to now, when he had revealed a terrifying gift for music.

One hit album after another, each setting sales miracles, then a monster who shocked the music scene—all in just a few months.

The speed of his growth had nearly reached a point where she had to look up at him.

Thinking of this, Gao Yuanyuan's expression couldn't help but dim.

What an incredible gift for music…

Noticing Gao Yuanyuan's mood was off, Cheng Chen stopped applying the medicine, turned to look at her, and said:

"Sis, are you still thinking about him?"

Gao Yuanyuan shook her head and gave a bitter smile:

"I'm just feeling it wasn't worth it for me—two years being toyed with like a fool. Love really isn't worth it."

Cheng Chen fell silent. In his previous life, Gao Yuanyuan's reputation had been ugly—words like "knowingly being the other woman" and "habitual homewrecker" had all been thrown at her.

In this life, by a twist of fate, he and Gao Yuanyuan had crossed paths, and after spending time together he discovered that this Gao Yuanyuan was no longer the unattainable goddess from later-era TV dramas or posters.

Now she was just a heartbroken little girl—confused by feelings, locking herself in her room to heal, and able to say with worldly wisdom: love isn't worth it.

A Gao Yuanyuan you could see and touch—she was even more lovable!

Cheng Chen slowly drew closer and gently gathered her into his arms. With warm jade in his embrace, his heart was utterly clear.

"Little bro, why do you think I'd meet a man like this… he's really too much!"

"Way too much…"

Gao Yuanyuan pressed her lips tight in Cheng Chen's arms, her tears soaking the front of his shirt.

Cheng Chen gently patted her back.

……

The next day, Cheng Chen got up and found his wrist was still a bit sore.

Luckily it wasn't like yesterday, where even a small movement stung—safflower oil really is pretty handy.

The moment he opened the door, Cheng Chen saw Gao Yuanyuan in an apron, bustling about in the kitchen.

"You're up—wash up quick and come have breakfast."

The Gao Yuanyuan of this moment was a completely different person from her of recent days.

Her ponytail pulled high, a white short-sleeved tee paired with fitted jeans—clean, simple, and fresh, very pleasant to look at, full of girlish charm.

"Oh ho, the goddess actually making me breakfast—what a blessing!"

Looking at the breakfast on the table, Cheng Chen teased.

"Sweet talker. 'Goddess' sounds pretty nice—keep calling me that from now on."

Gao Yuanyuan, frying eggs in the kitchen, laughed and responded to Cheng Chen's teasing.

Watching Gao Yuanyuan's tall, busy back, though he didn't know what had happened,

he could be certain that Gao Yuanyuan had walked out of the shadow of her breakup.

At least on the surface, that was the case…

After breakfast, Cheng Chen went along with the work schedule Tianhai Records had arranged for him—interviews, maximizing his exposure.

……

The whole month of September,

besides running his schedule, Cheng Chen lived together with Gao Yuanyuan—fairly uneventful, all things considered.

It was also this month that the nation rolled out the *Second Set of National Primary and Secondary School (Kindergarten) Calisthenics Series*—the later-era crowd-pleasers "Young Eagles Take Flight" and "The Times Are Calling" belonged to this set.

For the people of Jingcheng, the biggest change in life was the opening of Jingcheng Ditie 13 Hao Xian, greatly improving the convenience of their travels.

And at his very last signing event, Cheng Chen unexpectedly ran into the Sichuan kid A Jie.

At this time A Jie was only twenty and still a college student, but that one-of-a-kind air of his wasn't all that far from the later-era melon-stabbing youth under the moonlight.

His face full of youth and innocence, heart brimming with musical dreams, he had skipped class and traveled all the way from Sichuan Province to attend the Jingcheng auditions for the Singer Competition.

Hearing that the singer he idolized, Cheng Chen, was holding a signing event in Jingcheng, A Jie rushed to the mall without stopping, queued for a full three hours, and finally stood before his idol.

"H-hello, I'm from Sichuan Province, I-I'm your fan, I really love your 'Lonely Warrior'—even my nephew who just started elementary school can sing it!"

That unique air let Cheng Chen recognize him at a glance, but Cheng Chen wasn't surprised.

After all, A Jie was already a veteran of talent shows.

In 2003, he had participated in the Campus Fresh Air National Singer Competition and the Warner Star-Making Selection.

The following year, he took part in Modu Weishi's singing reality show "My Hero"…

Naturally, he wouldn't miss the Singer Competition now being held in full swing in Jingcheng.

Speaking of which, Cheng Chen quite liked him — driven, low-key, and his music was pretty high quality.

Of course, except for that wife of his who only knew how to play the fool and make a big fuss all day long…

Hearing A Jie's words, Cheng Chen couldn't help but laugh to himself: I especially like your "Against the World" too — the elementary school kids all love it!

After chatting a bit, he learned that he had also passed the Singer Competition auditions.

"Thank you for your support, and I wish you find the most beautiful sun soon."

After signing the album he handed over, Cheng Chen offered his sincere blessing.

"Huh?"

Although his idol had given him an autograph, the message on the album left him a bit puzzled.

What on earth does "the most beautiful sun" mean? Do people in Jingcheng always talk in such baffling ways?

The signing event ended, and Cheng Chen finally wrapped up this month of frenzied work.

But the fruits of his hard work were that, by the end of September, sales of Cheng Chen's second album "Lonely Warrior" were approaching the 600,000 mark.

Of course, these sales combined Gang Sheng, Tai Sheng, and the mainland.

In the past, no music critic would have believed that such an impressive achievement could be accomplished by a mere newcomer.

Cheng Chen's emergence was nothing short of a miracle for the Chinese music scene!

That same year, Jielun's "The Eight Dimensions" barely broke 500,000 combined across Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the mainland.

As for the closely following Stefanie Sun's "Greatest Hits," at 400,000 it was left quite far behind.

With his leading results, Cheng Chen broke through the blockade of the two powerhouse singers of the year one after another, advancing forcefully with solid sales!

This got the media all excited — in the past two years, too many prodigies had appeared on the Chinese music scene, and each one was stronger than the last.

The Chinese music scene flourishes today!

Riding the media wave, Cheng Chen overpowered the two powerhouse vocalists and officially rose to a top-tier singer on the scene!

At the same time, Cheng Chen also received a call from Lai Shuiqing.

Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre had wrapped filming…