Rebirth and the Beautiful Soaring

Every change in mood is a source of artistic creation.

Waving goodbye to the building where he had started his first business in his previous life, Yu Fei walked down the streets of Zhongguancun and suddenly felt a strong urge to create.

Every time he goes out, his backpack is always by his side.

Besides the ukulele, the backpack would also contain a sketchbook, a fountain pen, and a set of tiny stamps.

Yu Fei quickly took out his sketchbook and pen and stood under the billboard on the street, already having a picture in his mind that he wanted to draw.

He held the sketchbook against his chest and abdomen with his left hand, while his right hand held a fountain pen that flew across the paper.

The swishing sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper is what Yu Fei enjoys most; it feels like the music of his dreams is playing.

The images forming in his mind were gradually captured on the sketch paper. When all the images were completed, Yu Fei left a simple inscription.

The painting is not complicated; it records the scene of Zhongguancun streets in 1996 in a simple style.

He named the painting "Goodbye Zhongguancun," which means not only seeing Zhongguancun again in this life, but also saying goodbye to his entrepreneurial journey in his previous life.

Perhaps the inspiration for creation had come, and another image flashed through Yu Fei's mind: the girls' dormitory building of Huachen University, the place he originally wanted to pursue his dreams, but fate played a joke on him, causing him to miss his beloved.

The pen sketch "Girls' Dormitory Building 520" was completed. Although she did not meet Lin Yang this time, it was the place where the search for love began. If she looks back on it in the future, it will be a beautiful memory.

If one day I were to show it to Lin Yang, I believe she would be very happy.

For Yu Fei, painting is a hobby and a way to record his feelings. It has nothing to do with whether the painting is good or not, or whether anyone appreciates it.

Of course, in fact, he draws very well, and his skills are constantly improving.

A second chance at life is a life lived freely and unrestrained.

Under the influence of this interest in painting, Yu Fei's initial frustration at not being able to see Lin Yang vanished instantly.

Heaven allowed him to be reborn in this era, destined to pursue his dreams; how could Lin Yang possibly escape that fate?

Yu Fei is confident about the future.

Once his interest in painting was sparked, Yu Fei began to sketch freely on the streets of Beijing.

Six more works have been released, including "Red Flags Fluttering Over Tiananmen Square", "Distant View of the Forbidden City", "The Lost Tianqiao", "The Eight Great Hutongs in My Eyes", "Approaching the Courtyard Houses", and "Xidan Subway Station". Together with the two previous works, they now total eight.

Having gained a lot from this experience, Yu Fei decided to stop painting for the day.

As Yu Fei walked through the underground passage after exiting Xidan subway station, a beautiful guitar melody suddenly drifted into his ears, followed by someone singing.

Yu Fei was very familiar with this song; it was Teresa Teng's "I Only Care About You".

The singing voice is a magnetic male voice, completely different from Teresa Teng's sweet, mellow, and delicate voice. It is the emotional expression of a mature man, and it has a different kind of pleasant sound.

If I hadn't met you~

Where will I be?

How are you doing?

Should we cherish life?

Maybe I know someone~

Living an ordinary life~

I don't know if it will happen~

There are also loves as sweet as honey~

Time flies by.

I only care about you~

I'm willing to be infected by your scent~

How many true friends can one find in a lifetime?

It's not a pity to lose the power of life~

So please, I beg you~

Don't let me leave you~

I can't feel anything except you.

A touch of affection~

……

The beautiful melody and touching lyrics seemed to echo in my mind, deeply moving and warming Yu Fei's heart.

Teresa Teng's "I Only Care About You" is a classic, and the singer performed it very well.

Not only was his singing excellent, but his emotions were also deeply felt, which made Yu Fei quicken his pace, wanting to see who this person singing in the underpass was.

Yu Fei knew that Beijing was a place where countless people with dreams of music struggled, but only a few could truly become famous, and most of them faded into obscurity.

In his previous life, Yu Fei had seen too many terms like "Beijing drifter" and "Beijing drifter group," and he had even read many novels that depicted similar groups of people.

For example, Yu Fei remembers that "Beijing Bubble" tells the story of a music girl and a wandering painter pursuing their dreams in Beijing.

Yu Fei couldn't remember the specific details of the story, but he could still vaguely feel the intriguing helplessness emanating from it, just like the title, which contained the word "bubble".

In the later era of online media, there seems to be an increasing number of wandering singers who have migrated to Beijing, gradually coming into the public eye.

Yu Fei remembered that in later generations there was a singer who also sang in the Xidan underground passage and was known as the Xidan Girl. She later appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage as a folk singer.

There are actually quite a few such examples in later generations, such as the Xidan Girl, the Xiangshan Boy, the Zhongguancun Boy, and so on.

However, only a few can stand out.

In 1996, the internet was not as developed as it is today, and mainstream media rarely paid attention to or reported on the group of street performers, making it even more difficult for them to find opportunities to become famous.

As Yu Fei walked, listened, and pondered, he soon arrived at a corner of the underground passage.

At the corner, a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, was sitting on the ground with a guitar, playing and singing. He squinted and sang with great enthusiasm, seemingly unaware even when passersby threw him money.

Perhaps because he sang so well and with such emotion, some pedestrians stopped and stood by to listen to him sing.

After the song ended, someone shouted, "That was well sung! Give us another one!"

“Yeah, keep singing, we haven’t heard enough!” the others chimed in.

The young man didn't speak, but gave a bitter smile, and then began to play and sing "Friends, Don't Cry".

"Is there a window that can keep you from despair, so you can see the dazzling world and realize it's all just a dream... All these years, I've accumulated so many heartfelt words for you. What wine can't sober you up, what pain can't be forgotten? Keep moving forward, there's no turning back... Friend, don't cry, I'm still your refuge. Friend, don't cry, believe in your own path... It's rare to have a few true friends in this vast world, please don't take this friendship for granted."

Yu Fei listened intently. This person was really good at both playing the piano and singing, much more professional than some so-called big stars. However, judging from his clothes and his somewhat bitter and downcast eyes, he probably hadn't been having a good time lately.

When "Friends, Don't Cry" finished, applause and cheers rang out again. Yu Fei observed his emotions while clapping and clearly saw that his eyes were slightly moist.

With such amazing singing skills and such rich emotions, as long as he continues to strive on his musical path, it's only a matter of time before he becomes famous.

Yu Fei couldn't resist taking out his sketchbook and pen to record the scene of him singing and playing the guitar, which became known as "Xidan Boy".