Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

Coca-Cola Greater China Headquarters.

Marketing Director Li sat on the left side of the conference table, with a silver laptop in front of him.

The screen displays an email sent by Starry Entertainment ten minutes ago.

The attachment contains only one audio file.

Filename: 【CocaCola_CN_2026_Fang Yu_master_final】.

Director Li didn't click on it immediately.

He first glanced at the body of the email.

The main text consists of only one line:

"Hello Director Li, the song is complete. Please listen to it."

There was no preamble, no formalities, and no phrases like "I hope you are satisfied."

Neat and tidy, like a college student handing in homework.

Director Li's lips twitched slightly as he turned to look at the person sitting opposite him.

Marc Anderson.

Brand Creative Director, Coca-Cola Asia Pacific.

Fifty-two years old, American.

I worked in the Coca-Cola system for 26 years, handling music production for no fewer than 40 brands worldwide.

He met with the world's top musicians, from Atlanta to Tokyo to Sydney.

I flew in from Singapore today specifically to keep track of the progress of this Greater China theme song.

At that moment, Mark had his hands crossed on the table, and his expression wasn't very pleasant.

"Wait."

He tilted his head to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"You mean he's already submitted the manuscript?"

Director Li nodded.

"Just sent it."

Mark frowned.

"How long has it been since we signed the contract?"

"One week."

"A week?"

Mark spread his hands, his tone full of disbelief.

"Our deadline is one month."

"Even a month is a tight budget."

He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"Do you know how long it takes Taylor Swift to write a custom-made song for a brand?"

Director Li did not respond.

"At least three weeks."

Mark held up three fingers.

"With the full cooperation of her entire team, it took three weeks."

He lowered his hand, his tone softening slightly, but his dissatisfaction remained.

"A deadline of one week is either the mark of a genius or a sign of carelessness."

He paused for a moment.

"In my experience, the latter is much more likely."

Director Li understood his concerns.

Custom-made music for a brand is not free creation.

Tone, rhythm, duration, memorable elements, and the way the brand slogan is embedded—each of these has a rigid framework.

Writing a good song within these constraints is several orders of magnitude more difficult than writing one randomly.

Globally, there are very few musicians who can be both fast and good.

"Mark," Director Li said cautiously, "Fang Yu is... a bit special."

"In the variety show live broadcasts, he basically improvises on the spot."

"Some songs go from inspiration to completion in the time it takes to eat a meal."

Mark shrugged.

"Impressive. But this is Coca-Cola."

"We are not a live streaming platform."

"If a song doesn't meet the standards, even if the endorsement fee has already been paid—"

He looked directly into Director Li's eyes.

"I will kill it."

Director Li's expression remained unchanged.

He worked at Coca-Cola for eight years and knew Mark's style all too well.

This guy is ruthless; he never hesitates to kill someone.

For the last custom-made song for the Japanese region, they hired a top-tier Asian production team, and after two months of work, they delivered three versions.

Mark shook his head immediately after hearing the first version.

The second version still gets a shake of the head.

The third version finally passed. But Mark's comment was just one word: Acceptable.

It's barely usable.

Today, a new Chinese singer, who has only been in the industry for half a year, submits his manuscript in a week.

Don't say Mark doesn't believe it.

If anyone who has worked in this industry for more than 20 years were sitting here, they wouldn't believe it.

"Play it."

Mark looked at Director Li's laptop.

Director Li turned the computer to face the two of them.

My finger hovered over the touchpad for a second.

Press the play button.

-

When the intro started, Director Li didn't look at the screen.

He was looking at Mark.

Mark crossed his arms, leaned back in the chair, and sat in a relaxed posture—the standard "I'm waiting to be persuaded" attitude.

Ten seconds passed.

Director Li noticed that Mark's fingers, which were resting on the table, twitched.

It's very light.

As if touched by something, I reflexively shrank back, then pretended nothing had happened.

Twenty seconds.

Mark's right leg started to tremble.

He probably didn't even realize it himself.

Director Li remained silent.

He looked down, pretending to read emails, but his eyes were constantly on Mark out of the corner of his eye.

Almost two minutes later.

Mark loosened his crossed arms.

He moved forward a little, then a little more.

Three and a half minutes later, the audio finished playing.

The meeting room fell silent.

Director Li was just about to ask, "How is it?"

Mark spoke first.

"He is Taylor Swift."

Director Li was taken aback.

Mark opened his eyes and turned his head.

His expression was so serious that he didn't seem to be joking.

"No, faster than her."

He stood up, took two steps to Director Li's side, and bent down to stare at the audio waveform on the screen that had already completed.

Play it again.

Director Li dragged the progress bar and started over.

Mark didn't sit down during the second playback.

He just stood there, his hands resting on the edge of the table.

Three and a half minutes later, the audio returned to zero.

Mark straightened up.

"Call their company right now and tell them—"

"This is the one."

Director Li breathed a sigh of relief.

He picked up his phone and dialed Mr. Zhang's number at Xingyao Entertainment.

After the call was connected, Director Li only said two sentences:

"Mr. Zhang, we've listened to the song."

"Approved, use this version."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then came Mr. Zhang's slightly trembling voice:

"...Okay, Director Li, I'll confirm the process right away."

hang up.

Director Li put down his phone and looked at Mark.

Mark has already sat back down in his chair.

The fingers tap rhythmically on the table.

He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, lost in thought.

Then suddenly a sentence popped up:

"This person has only signed with the Greater China region so far?"

Director Li nodded.

"The contract covers the endorsement of all brands in Greater China."

Mark turned his head.

Do you think it's possible in the Asia-Pacific region?