The Book of All Things: Born for Joy

They had only been apart for a day when Lin Xuehua called. Li Zichun quickly sat up, and after a few quick mental scans, he understood what she wanted to do.

There are only a few reasons why such important figures would take notice of him. His known identities are nothing more than singer, musician, and piano prodigy—all related to music. He had considered things like serving drinks and engaging in romantic pursuits, but a little thought told him that people from such powerful families wouldn't waste time on romance. Therefore, the reason she called him was undoubtedly for his songs, and songs were precisely what he had plenty of on his mind.

After exchanging pleasantries and congratulations, Lin Xuehua finally got to the point: "Since the New Year is just around the corner, I'd like to ask you to write a song about the New Year to lighten the mood for various occasions. I originally wanted to invite those three singers from your company to perform, but I didn't expect you to be so stubborn, refusing to accept commercial performances even during the New Year, practically dividing yourself into two camps with the other singers."

Li Zichun laughed and said, "Haha, it's not that we don't want to do it, it's just that no one has asked us. But since you asked, I'll take the job. But one song isn't enough for the New Year, it's too meager. There are four of us in the company, so we'll each sing one song for you, making it five songs in total. By the way, I wish your family five blessings, good health, and longevity."

Lin Xuehua had only expected one song, but she was surprised to receive five at once. She was a little taken aback, but she patiently said, "Don't let these songs be like those catchy pop songs that you forget after you've heard them. The songs I want will be featured in major shopping malls and event venues. If you don't like them, you'll get a refund."

Li Zichun said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll personally handle it, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Lin Xuehua smiled and said, "That's more like it. Only you can accomplish this. Is three days enough? After all, the New Year is just around the corner."

Li Zichun said with a smile, "Three days is too long. It's the New Year holiday season now. If we miss this best opportunity, it might affect your business. We'll try our best to record it tomorrow night and send it over. We hope you'll be satisfied."

Lin Xuehua couldn't hold back any longer and exclaimed, "Tomorrow? So soon? Did you already have some in stock? The old guys we found took at least ten days to half a month from songwriting to recording, and the final results were just so-so, uninteresting to listen to. You wouldn't be fooling people like them, would you?"

Li Zichun said solemnly, "Rest assured and watch closely. We, the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust, are always reliable in our work. If we say we'll do it well, we will definitely do it well. Just wait for the inspection."

Lin Xuehua didn't expect him to be so straightforward. She smiled and said, "Alright then, I'll transfer the deposit to your company account first, and I'll transfer the remaining payment after you've finished making it."

Li Zichun asked in surprise, "No contract needs to be signed?"

Lin Xuehua smiled and said, "Of course I will. My people are already on their way to your place. With such a talented person like you personally supervising the construction, it shouldn't be too bad. I'll wait and see."

Li Zichun and Lin Xuehua exchanged pleasantries for a while before hanging up. He put down the phone, and less than ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Li Zichun, along with Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan, went downstairs to greet them. The four of them finalized the contract, and after both parties agreed, Lin Xuehua's people took the contract and left, telling him that he could send it to his email address after recording it.

Li Ke was stunned when he saw the price of one million per song on the contract. Wow, good heavens! They've only been running the company for a short time and they're already making so much money? And this is just the deposit. If it's confirmed in the end, it means he can get two million per song.

Looking at his naive and unsophisticated expression, Li Zichun said speechlessly, "Giving you a little less is a bit of an understatement."

Upon hearing this, Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan both stared at him in disbelief, thinking, "Are you getting too big for your britches? You think a million isn't enough?"

Seeing their reaction, Li Zichun slowly explained, "The Lin family wants the copyright to the entire song. We only have the rights to commercial performances and singing. As for other rights such as download revenue, cover versions, and performance licenses, those belong to them. Not to mention their high demands, the popularity and influence of the songs I wrote alone are worth more than this price. If these songs become hits, the Lin family will have more leverage in Kowloon just in Hong Kong. With our influence, helping them open up the mainland market and expand their influence will be a piece of cake. However, this is a win-win situation. Two million per song is fair for a newly established company like ours, and it's even a huge sum of money."

After hearing his analysis, Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan exchanged a glance and agreed that it made sense, so they didn't say anything more.

Li Zichun told the two to wait while he went to the recording studio to write lyrics and record accompaniment.

Half an hour later, Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan took the lyrics and accompaniment and began practicing after Li Zichun hummed the song briefly.

After giving them the lyrics and music, Li Zichun started recording the song himself.

Li Zichun stood in the recording studio, cleared his throat, and began to sing "Little New Year's Greeting":

The first month of the lunar calendar is the New Year!

The first day of the Lunar New Year, ah...

Families gather for a reunion!

The younger generation sends New Year's greetings to the older generation.

Regardless of whether it's a man or a woman, oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear,

Everyone, put on those new clothes! Oh my gosh!

Everyone put on those new clothes, oh dear~.

Spring begins on the eighth day of the lunar new year.

The new bride is staying at her mother's house.

Lead my little son-in-law/my darling.

Take two boxes of fruit, oh dear.

When I saw my mother-in-law, I exclaimed, "Oh my, oh my, oh my!"

Clapping and laughing, haha, ah, oh oh oh oh oh,

Clapping and laughing, hahaha, yay!

The son-in-law is coming to our house!

What should we do for him?

Stewed pork with vermicelli, and then kill that little chicken/kill that big speckled chicken, ah ah.

Little chicks, stewed with mushrooms, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

My uncle is most proud of it!

My son-in-law loves to eat it!

My son-in-law is so handsome!

My daughter is as beautiful as an angel!

What a perfect match the young couple is!

May your love last a hundred years! / My mother-in-law is delighted!

After the second day of the second lunar month/the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,

Let's go back together / Let's catch the train home, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Together we sent them back/rushed the train home, oh dear~

"Little New Year's Greeting" is a folk tune performed before the main act of Northeast Errenzhuan (a traditional Chinese folk art form). It serves as a warm-up and vocal exercise before the formal performance, creating a festive atmosphere. The singing style in this type of performance is high-pitched and robust, with humorous and witty lyrics.

The reason why the first song performed was Errenzhuan was because it was unique. In Li Zichun's mind, it seemed that no other form could be as lively as "nine tunes and eighteen melodies, seventy-two 'hai hai's". It seemed that as long as Errenzhuan came on stage, the scene would be heated up. Accompanied by sung, recited and acted on the side with rogue instruments such as suona and erhu, followed by dance, acrobatics and martial arts skills, it was rough, bold and humorous. It seemed that there was no scene that it could not heat up.

After finishing the song, Li Zichun let out a long sigh and remained silent for a long time.

Originally, she planned to switch between two voices while singing, but she found it really difficult and almost made her voice hoarse. In the end, she had to sing it directly in a male voice.

Perhaps it was because singing "Little New Year's Greeting" was too strenuous. He had originally planned to record it all in one go, but now he could only sit in a chair drinking water to recover. Lively things are truly exhausting; to engage others, one must give it their all, and any slight slackening is easily noticeable. And a small oversight can easily cause the audience to lose focus. Once they've lost focus, it's even harder to bring them back.

Li Zichun didn't understand why he chose this song either. It was probably because it was too eye-catching. Once you've seen it with your own eyes, you can't forget it even if you want to.

After listening to his recording a few times, Li Zichun reluctantly nodded. Looking at the simple equipment in his own recording studio, he wondered if he should change it. If it weren't for the fact that the three of them had pretty good voices, he would have doubted whether they could pass the test.

After quickly calming myself down, I went up to the rooftop for a stroll and played around with Qitong for a while, finally managing to shake the previous song out of my head. Then I tossed Qitong back onto the sofa and went back to the recording studio to start recording the next song.

Qi Tong's mind was completely blank. He just came over and dragged her off the bed and started stroking her wildly. Halfway through, he just turned around and left. What a scumbag! Wait until I return to human form and see how I'll make you suffer.

Li Zichun didn't go to record immediately. Instead, he went to check on Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan's practice. He felt it was going well, so he didn't say much.

The second song he sang was in Li Yuehe's voice. After all, they claimed there were four people involved, and one of them couldn't just suddenly disappear. He always liked to have backup plans, just like his identity as Senluo—no more than five people knew about it.

After the two transcribed the songs, the next few were easy.

Li Zichun coughed a few times, adjusted his throat position, and began to sing "Congratulations, Congratulations":

Every street and alley

In everyone's mouth

The first words upon meeting

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

congratulations congratulations congratulations

Winter is coming to an end

That's great news!

warm spring breeze

It will awaken the earth.

Congratulations!

congratulations congratulations congratulations

The vast ice and snow melt

As the plum blossoms begin to bloom

The long night passed

Hearing a rooster crow

Congratulations!

congratulations

congratulations congratulations congratulations

After overcoming numerous difficulties

After many trials and tribulations

So many hearts longing for

Hoping for news of spring

Congratulations!

congratulations congratulations congratulations

Every street and alley

In everyone's mouth

The first words upon meeting

congratulations

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

congratulations

congratulations"

This song has been sung by many people. It was first performed by the siblings Yao Min and Yao Li. The most widely sung versions now are the 60s version by Teresa Teng, the 90s version by Zhuo Yiting, or the 90s TVB version featuring Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, and other stars. Li Zichun, however, prefers the 2006 version released by China Dolls, a complete remix of the original, incorporating more pop elements to make the song more straightforward and upbeat. It's less affected and perfectly captures the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year. Anyone with basic pitch and intonation can sing it, and it remains a popular version still heard everywhere today—it's incredibly lively and instantly evokes the feeling of Chinese New Year.

It is worth mentioning the composer of this song, Mr. Chen Gexin, also known as Chen Changshou, who was called the "Song Immortal".

If you don't know him, you must know his son, Chen Gang, one of the composers who wrote the "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto at the age of 23, mentioned earlier. It is no exaggeration to say that he comes from a family with a strong academic tradition.

Chen Gexin's representative works are not limited to "Congratulations, Congratulations." Well-known works include Zhou Xuan's "Night Shanghai" and "Phoenix Soaring," and Yao Li's "Rose, Rose, I Love You," among other classic masterpieces.

Among them, "Rose, Rose, I Love You" was introduced to the United States in 1951, becoming the signature song of American singer Frank Lane. It topped the American pop charts and earned him millions of dollars in royalties over ten years (that was in 1951! Considering his fate, it's a pity for this controversial musician!). This song also became one of the very few truly shining examples of Chinese pop music in its more than eighty-year history to resonate on the world stage!

Li Zichun was thinking about whether to try to record "Rose, Rose, I Love You" as well, but sigh, maybe we'll talk about it another time.

He's finished singing his two songs. The rest are Li Ke and Zhao Qianfan's songs, and there's one more duet at the end.

He racked his brains trying to come up with a song for the duet, but couldn't decide. Finally, he stopped limiting himself to the three men and one woman option and started thinking freely. A whole bunch of songs flashed through his mind, including the Mandarin version of "Tomorrow Will Be Better".

Before he could decide which song to use, Zhao Qianfan came over and said, "It's ready. The recording should be fine. Can you take a look?"

Li Zichun nodded and said, "No problem, if it's not recorded well, we can just re-record it. We have plenty of time."

Zhao Qianfan smiled and nodded, then began to sing the song "The God of Wealth Arrives":

(White) The God of Wealth has arrived!

God of Wealth arrives! God of Wealth arrives!

Good deeds bring good rewards

Myth of Wealth Myth of Wealth

Earn money through honest means

God of Wealth arrives! God of Wealth arrives!

Walk two steps faster

Once he sees you, you have a future

The whole family celebrates the New Year with joy and happiness.

May you be blessed with good fortune and strong health.

I also wish you a successful promotion this year.

May you have plenty of laughter morning and night, and a bright future ahead.

May the couple be loving and considerate to each other.

Auspicious stars shine upon you every day, ensuring that nothing goes wrong.

They met with relatives and friends and had a pleasant conversation.

Full of New Year's joy and happiness

La...

God of Wealth arrives! God of Wealth arrives!

Walk two steps faster

Once he sees you, you have a future

Congratulations to all couples! May your love be as enduring as flowers.

May all my fellow workers achieve success in all their endeavors.

No fighting, everyone is happy and carefree.

Listen to a song to relax and let go of hatred.

La...

God of Wealth arrives! God of Wealth arrives!

Walk two steps faster

Once he sees you, you have a future

La...

God of Wealth arrives! God of Wealth arrives!

Walk two steps faster

Once he sees you, you have a future

People celebrate the New Year and hope the God of Wealth will arrive.

PS: Data is from the internet.

"Congratulations" is a song composed by Chen Gexin in 1945 and sung by siblings Yao Min and Yao Li. The song was released on the eve of the Lunar New Year in 1946. Originally a song to celebrate the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, it gradually evolved into a New Year's greeting song.

"The God of Wealth Arrives" is a pop song composed by Sam Hui, with lyrics by Sam Hui and Peter Lai, and sung by Sam Hui. It was released in 1978. In 1994, George Lam made minor revisions to the lyrics, making them more accessible and his rendition more powerful and positive. (This is not a commentary on who sang it better; they are both music industry giants, and whoever you think is better is better.)