Entertainment: Starting with a Song of Rice Fragrance

"Director Gong, how about we urge Feiyang Entertainment again? The entire film of 'Spirited Away' will be finished by the end of the month, but the theme song is still delayed, which is really affecting everyone's work!"

Dongzhou, Haidong City.

In a messy office in a luxurious office building with more than 30 floors.

A middle-aged man with very little hair was hurriedly approaching a middle-aged man sitting amidst a pile of anime figurines, intently drawing something on a computer's graphics tablet.

"Next, we'll be diving into the intense post-production phase. The lack of a theme song would be extremely detrimental to our subsequent promotional efforts!"

"Brother Lu, I know your difficulties and I know you are anxious, but please don't rush."

The middle-aged man, whom he called Director Gong, wearing a round-topped cartoonist's hat, stopped drawing and turned to him calmly.

"The creation of a good song always requires time to polish."

"Feiyang Entertainment has collaborated with us many times. They have produced the soundtracks for almost all of our studio's works, and they have never let us down."

"So I think we should give them enough time this time. I know Old Yang from Shuncheng well; he's not going to give us any leeway. You can rest assured."

"But, Director Gong... there really isn't much time left..."

Although the bald man, whom he called Brother Lu, dared not speak out due to the other party's authority, he still dutifully expressed his concerns.

"Alright."

Director Gong stood up, slowly stretched, and moved his old arms and legs.

"I'll call Lao Yang again later and see if they can speed things up a bit."

"That's great! I really hope the theme song can be finished soon; the promotion team is pushing us really hard!"

Lu Heng bowed deeply to the other party, then backed out of the office and gently closed the door from the outside.

"Hey, Old Yang, he won't keep us waiting until the last day to give us the work again, will he?"

Director Gong sighed softly, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed a number.

……

These past few days, Zhao Gang's little tavern has been exceptionally busy.

Thanks to the promotion of Zheng Ning's song "Chengdu" before.

Countless netizens who have heard this song will try to visit this place whenever they come to Shuncheng for tourism or business, check in, take a picture, and if they have time, they can even go in and have a drink or two.

The bar now also has other resident singers, a local underground band.

In addition to their original Western pop songs, their repertoire also included other popular songs.

The main thing is to sing a few songs by Zheng Ning.

"Rice Fragrance" and "Chengdu" need no further mention.

Zheng Ning's two new songs released in January, "Seven Mile Fragrance" and "Tornado", have now become popular hits here.

Every time he releases a song, Zhao Gang immediately purchases the usage rights from Feiyang Entertainment.

Then let the resident singers hired by the bar get familiar with the music and start performing as soon as possible.

This place has practically become a gathering place for Zheng Ning's fans.

These past few days, the theme here has been the song "Seven Mile Fragrance." Zhao Gang even held a Zheng Ning imitation contest, rewarding whoever sang in the style of Zheng Ning with a free night of drinks, which was very popular with local drinkers.

After all, he is a local celebrity, meaning that everyone watched him grow up and became famous, so there is always a natural sense of familiarity with him.

Amidst the surging crowd, a remarkably small interview was taking place on the side near the main entrance of the pub.

"Excuse me, are you also here to take photos? Do you know Zheng Ning? Have you heard his songs?"

A reporter from a local newspaper was interviewing a young man taking photos in front of a bar.

"Hey, I'm a tourist from Lincheng! Of course I know Zheng Ning, his songs are really soothing. Congratulations on winning first and second place in this year's newcomer chart!"

The young man was clearly very outgoing, even a bit cocky, and made a face at the interview camera.

"But my favorite is still 'Seven Mile Fragrance', which he released in January."

"Oh? Your favorite song is 'Seven Mile Fragrance'? Many fans who aren't from Shuncheng say their favorite is 'Rice Fragrance,' after all, it was Zheng Ning's first song... Could you tell us why you like 'Seven Mile Fragrance' the most?"

The reporter promptly chimed in with a joke.

"Why? Because this song reminds me of my grandparents. Back in our hometown, their house was surrounded by these kinds of flowers."

"Every year in April or May, when they start to bloom, the old house is filled with this rich fragrance. When I was a child, I didn't know what it smelled like. I thought it was the fragrance of my grandparents."

"When I grew up, I realized that this was the kind of flower called 'seven-mile fragrance' that grows in the yard."

"Grandma once made a wreath out of these flowers and put it on my head. Grandpa let me ride on his shoulders and then took a lot of pictures of us."

"Now I work in a big city, and because it's so far from home, I haven't been back to my hometown for many years. But every time I pass by a street corner and inadvertently smell the fragrance of jasmine, I suddenly think of, think of, think of my grandparents..."

At this point, the once talkative young man suddenly had tears in his eyes, and even his voice became choked with emotion.

"I wonder if my grandparents will be able to see this interview? Grandpa, Grandma, I miss you, I miss you, I miss that old but incredibly spacious house, I miss the cats in the yard, and the fragrant jasmine that filled the yard..."

At this point, the young man, who had just been acting all high and mighty, covered his red nose with his left hand and waved his right hand repeatedly to indicate that the interview was over. He was so choked up that he couldn't speak anymore.

"Ah, thank you so much for granting us this interview. I imagine your grandparents would be very comforted to see how much you miss them..."

The female reporter quickly took out a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him, while softly comforting him.

"Our news is broadcast throughout West Asia, so they should be able to see it."

She thought the interview was over and was about to put away the microphone to finish her work for the day.

But suddenly the young man turned around again, grabbed the microphone, and brought it to his mouth.

"Zheng Ning, I knew you would see this news! Thank you so much for your new song!"

"I've just decided, I'm taking the weekend off! No matter how far it is, I'm going back to see my grandparents and smell the long-missed jasmine in the yard!"