New Year's Eve.
The moment of crossing into the new year.
Fireworks and firecrackers blazed in unison.
While many places were prohibiting the use of fireworks and firecrackers, some cities were quite lenient. Coupled with the recent campaign by South Korea for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status for fireworks, cities like Shuangqing City organized grand official fireworks displays on New Year's Eve.
Of course, there were also many fireworks set off in rural areas. The sound of firecrackers at the stroke of midnight gave the New Year a sense of festivity.
Taiwan Province, China.
There were no longer any pedestrians on the streets.
The dim streetlights illuminated the deserted roads.
A child, carrying a schoolbag and a small lunchbox, walked slowly down the street.
The New Year's Eve wind was cold. The child pulled his coat tighter, lowered his head, and walked against the cool breeze.
His retreating figure exuded a sense of loneliness.
"Kid, where are you going so late?" a passerby asked.
These were all working people who hadn't returned home yet on New Year's Eve. They were just leaving work, dragging their weary bodies. Seeing a child on the street at night, kind strangers would always ask.
After all, a child of this age might be lost.
"Uncle, I'm going home." Wu Xiaohao's smile was innocent and bright.
"Do you know the way home?" the passerby confirmed.
"Yes," Wu Xiaohao nodded.
Only then did the passerby leave.
Not only were the streets sparsely populated, but it was also rare to encounter taxis.
Wu Xiaohao squatted by the roadside and waited for a long time, but no taxi appeared. His hand, clutching a crumpled banknote, was already red from the cold.
He tucked his small hands into his sleeves, pulling them inside.
Wu Xiaohao stood up, picked up the lunchbox next to him, glanced around, and started walking forward.
He decided not to wait for a car anymore and would walk instead.
After walking for an unknown amount of time,
The tall buildings by the roadside gradually gave way to old, small buildings.
At an intersection,
A police car stopped by the roadside.
Wu Xiaohao glanced at the police car beside him. The passenger side window slowly rolled down, and he froze in place.
"Is it him?" the policeman asked the man in the passenger seat.
The man looked at Wu Xiaohao. "Yes, it's him. He's my son!"
As he spoke, the man opened the car door. When he got out of the car, his cane wasn't placed properly, and it fell to the ground.
"Dad, why are you here?" Wu Xiaohao hurried forward to help him.
"Xiaohao, Xiaohao! My child!" The man was very emotional. After getting up from the ground, he hugged Wu Xiaohao tightly.
"Your father just reported you missing, and we've been looking for you," the policeman driving the car said as he got out. Two other policemen followed.
"I'm not lost..." Wu Xiaohao hugged his father, his voice calm. "Dad, you're finally out."
His father was finally out of the house, out of the bed where he had been lying for months.
Wu Xiaohao was very happy.
"You're not lost, but why are you out here in the middle of the night!" the man roared, his breathing rapid.
"Don't get so worked up. Be patient with the child!" the police officer frowned and reminded him.
Wu Xiaohao pulled his hand away from his father.
Then he looked at his father.
After a long silence,
He smiled and said, "I just heard a song, and I missed Mom. I wanted to visit Mom's grave."
On the dimly lit street,
It became incredibly quiet at that moment.
The few police officers stared blankly at the child in front of them.
Their eyes instantly welled up with tears.
They didn't know what this child had been through, but they knew how sensible he was to be able to say something like that with a smile.
The man also remained silent. He gazed at his child, feeling immense pain in his heart.
His eyes were dry, with no more tears to shed.
After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, "Mom must be asleep now. Dad will take you tomorrow, okay?"
Wu Xiaohao's smile became even brighter. "Okay!"
He knew that the father who loved him had finally returned.
...
After the Spring Festival Gala ended,
Many viewers who had stayed up to watch the gala also returned to their comfortable beds.
However, it being late at night, they didn't choose to sleep. Instead, they went to various entertainment platforms to browse the news.
As expected, the programs "Jiu Zhou Tong" and "Lu Bing Hua" had already topped the trending lists on major short video platforms.
The top two in the Spring Festival Gala program popularity vote were these two new works by Ting Yu.
Given Ting Yu's current popularity and fame, even a song of mediocre quality would cause a sensation and dominate the charts. This was the benefit of traffic.
However, precisely because of such immense influence, people who reached this level would usually cherish their reputation and rarely release songs, fearing that if the quality didn't meet expectations, they would be criticized and their reputation would collapse.
But Ting Yu was different. Just after crossing into the new year, in the middle of the night, Xinghui Entertainment released several blockbuster announcements!
The first announcement was that they would be producing albums for several of their artists. The producer for these albums was prominently displayed as Ting Yu, and the artists were those in Ting Yu's singer group.
As soon as this news broke, the netizens who were about to sleep were instantly energized!
"Holy cow, what incredible confidence!"
"It's finally the new year!"
"An album has over a dozen songs, meaning we'll get to hear dozens of new songs from Ting Yu before long!"
"Damn, he's too good to his singer group. The price of a song written by Ting Yu is probably a hundred million now, yet he's willing to help his singer group produce albums!"
"Ting Yu truly continues to shock us!"
The audience reacted very strongly to this news. After all, in their impression, let alone reaching Ting Yu's level, even an ace producer would usually cherish their reputation. The fact that Ting Yu remained so prolific was definitely the happiest thing for fans!
Who wouldn't want more good songs, especially songs produced by Ting Yu!
In addition to the news about the singer group's new albums,
Xinghui Entertainment also released a second earth-shattering piece of news, which contained an immense amount of information!
"Jiangnan's 'Condor Trilogy,' 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,' will be released on China Central Television Channel 1 during the Spring Festival!"
"Jiangnan's latest film, 'Dying to Survive,' will be released in cinemas nationwide during the Spring Festival!"
"Jiangnan's work for the international film festival has wrapped up filming. The total investment is two billion, with an estimated five months for post-production!"
This was a poster, divided into three sections.
Each section had a still from the film.
There had been news about the release of the "Condor Trilogy," 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,' for a while. However, Xinghui's consistent approach was that works by Jiangnan and Ting Yu were released with no promotion, only releasing news on their official Weibo when they were about to be released.
With the success of the prequels, 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' and 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' the anticipation for 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' had always been high.
However, among these pieces of news, the last one was the most shocking.
Jiangnan's work for the international film festival had wrapped up filming!
Jiangnan was actually preparing to enter the international stage and compete head-on with those Western blockbusters!
One by one, shocking news sent ripples through the domestic entertainment and film industry!
Many viewers had a faint premonition.
The domestic entertainment and film industry was about to undergo a seismic shift!