Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

The evening in Sicily is filled with a long, sweeping wind.

The setting sun was generously painting the entire Mediterranean Sea in surging gold and red hues. A salty, slightly cool sea breeze drifted through the white corridor of the seaside terrace, lifting the loose hem of Gu Zhiwan's cotton and linen skirt.

The two enormous suitcases were closed and locked. Inside, there were no haute couture gowns for the red carpet, but rather black volcanic rocks collected from Iceland, pine carvings from Swiss mountain huts, and three thick travel albums covered with faded train tickets and Polaroid photos.

Gu Zhiwan sat on the wooden chair, her fingertips tracing the sunset photo taken in Florence in the album, when she suddenly looked up at him: "Are you really going back?"

Lin Yuan stood by the railing, a pebble, smoothed by the waves, between his fingers. Two years had not left any mark on him; on the contrary, it had completely shed the sharpness he once possessed in the world of fame and fortune, and his eyes now held a touch of composure.

"The two-year agreement has come to an end today." Lin Yuan gently tossed a pebble in his hand, letting it fall into the rolling waves below. "No matter how beautiful the scenery outside is, it's just passing through. There are still people waiting at home, and it's time for our battlefield to begin."

He patted his pocket. Inside was a small metal USB drive, containing all the demos and manuscripts he had personally written over the past seven hundred days and nights, under the snow-capped Alps, beside the canals of Venice, and in the Mediterranean evening breeze.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, the domestic entertainment industry had already undergone a complete transformation.

Two years is enough time for a weed to grow into a towering tree, and enough time for capital to create several new gods.

Inside the top-floor conference room of Starway Entertainment, a whole wall was covered with various gold-plated trophies.

During the 24-month absolute hiatus, Starway poured all its resources into securing Bo Laikun's place on the throne of top Chinese pop stars. Three consecutive high-profile tours, headlining spots at major music festivals, and a deluge of top-tier luxury endorsements made him the absolute new king in the eyes of the younger generation.

However, beneath the lush greenery, cracks spread silently.

Berlekine sat on the sofa in the corner, his hair slightly drooping, holding the master tape plan for his latest single in his hand, his brows furrowed.

"Brother Zhao, is the chorus of this song also outsourced to an overseas team?" His voice was slightly hoarse.

The manager, without looking up, flipped through the schedule: "What's the problem? It's avant-garde electronic music from the West, with a catchy melody. It'll be featured on all platforms next week, and fans will drive sales to over 100 million. Ah Kun, this is a fast-paced era. Who has time to care if you polished every single word yourself? The stage is amazing, the concept is high-end, you're the new king."

Berlekun gripped the proposal in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white.

He enjoys the applause, but he also has a genuine musical sense. In the past two years, no matter how much the online trolls of Xingtu (a popular music streaming platform) flooded the internet with posts about "the passing of the torch," whenever he faced those half-finished products with only a glamorous exterior but no substance in the recording studio late at night, he would think of the CDs that Lin Yuan had left behind two years ago.

Whenever top music critics in the industry talk about the "ceiling of Chinese music," that name, which had disappeared for two years, weighs heavily on his back like an invisible mountain. He was pushed onto a pedestal by capital, but he always felt like an actor who had stolen a dragon robe.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the top-floor office of Tianxing Entertainment was filled with smoke.

Fei Zhao rubbed her throbbing temples. For two whole years, she had endured relentless commercial hijacking and malicious poaching from all sides, making it an extremely difficult journey. There were even several rumors that Tianxing was about to be dismantled by capital, but she stubbornly held on to the bottom line of film and music quality by relying on the vast copyright library left by Lin Yuan and the group of hard-hearted creators under her who refused to follow the trend.

She had never bothered Lin Yuan once. But this morning, a quiet email from Sicily lay in her private inbox, containing only four words:

Arrive in Beijing tomorrow.

Fei Zhao stared at the line of text for a full three minutes, then abruptly stubbed out his cigarette. A sharp glint that had been dormant in his eyes suddenly flashed, and he dialed a number: "Notify the performing arts department and the publicity department that everyone must enter conference room number one for a meeting within half an hour."

……

The following afternoon at 3 PM, Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport.

It's unclear who leaked the flight information, but the arrival hall outside the gate was already completely packed with layers upon layers of people.

Some people were wearing T-shirts commemorating the first release of the game "Zhu Xian," which were long out of print; others were clutching worn-out books wrapped in kraft paper; and several young people who looked like they had already started families were silently holding up several blue and white light-up signs that shone with light: "Welcome Home."

Countless media telephoto lenses were densely pointed at the exit of the passage, and the capacitor flash of the cameras made a faint hum.

"Click, click."

The faint sound of suitcase wheels rolling came from deep within the aisle.

A tall, slender figure stepped into the crowd's view first. He wore a light gray hoodie, black casual pants, and his loose hair fell loosely. Beside him, Gu Zhiwan wore sunglasses, her arm linked with his, and a calm, gentle smile played on her lips.

Without any sunglasses to conceal his identity, Lin Yuan stumbled into the crowd without any warning.

Someone in the crowd sniffed and let out a tearful cry: "Lin Yuan!!"

In an instant, it was like a spark falling into a wasteland!

The flashes of light created a blinding daylight, the shutters clicked wildly, countless arms were raised high, and the signs lit up at the end of the passageway.

Lin Yuan stopped, his gaze slowly sweeping over the faces and the novels with their folded corners. His expression softened completely at that moment.

He nodded slightly to the crowd directly in front of him:

"Thank you all for your hard work. I'm back."

Gu Zhiwan gently removed one of her sunglasses and waved softly to the crowd.

These few simple words brought tears to the eyes of several longtime fans at the scene.

Two hours later, the hashtag #LinYuanReturnsToChina# overwhelmed Weibo's servers!

Lin Yuan's longtime fans, who had been holding back their anger for a long time, were now celebrating wildly in the super topic as if it were New Year's Day:

[I'm crying my eyes out! Over 700 days! You old bastard, you finally decided to get out of bed?!]

[These unedited airport photos are amazing! No retouching, no filters, Lin Shen's aura completely outshines all the assembly-line idols in the Chinese entertainment industry. This is what you call a natural, overwhelming victory! (Tactical lean back)]

[Where are those family members who rely on buying articles to dominate the scene? Come out and show yourselves! The person in question just landed and hadn't even posted on Weibo yet, and the trending topics were already overwhelmed and crashed. Is this what you've been touting as the 'end of an era' for the past two years?]

This strong counterattack was immediately met with a fierce backlash from Bolaikun's massive new generation of fans. Starway's paid online trolls, along with dedicated fans, quickly launched a counter-offensive on various forums, resulting in the most intense online war of words in nearly two years.

[Hilarious! Some old-fashioned people are really something else. They get all worked up over buying a trending topic about being welcomed back at the airport when they return to China?]

[Admit it, half of the Chinese music scene now belongs to Kun Ge! On all the major overseas music charts and in every high-end international endorsement, isn't Kun Ge leading the charge? A semi-retired person who hasn't produced anything in two years is completely out of touch with the times!]

[You keep bragging about your past achievements, but show us something new! The aesthetic standards in the Chinese entertainment industry have changed drastically in the last two years. Don't let your comeback fizzle out; that would be a real disgrace!]

……

However, while the outside world was in uproar, the living room of the Lin family's old house was filled with a warm and cozy atmosphere, seemingly isolated from the outside world.

The large coffee table in the center of the living room was piled high with the spoils Lin Yuan and Gu Zhiwan had brought back from all over Europe:

The items included a crooked-necked wooden ox hand-carved by Swiss mountain people, small grains of sand from Iceland's black sand beach contained in a transparent glass tube, a painted ceramic chubby bird sculpted by an old craftsman in Sicily, and even two packs of Davidoff cigars that Gu Tiancheng had been longing for.

"Oh my, Lao Lin, look at this little wooden ox! There's even a hidden compartment under its belly!" Jiang Wanqing, wearing her reading glasses, examined the wooden carving with great affection, grinning from ear to ear. "The craftsmanship is exquisite, much better than those machine-made ones in the mall."

Su Yu held Gu Zhiwan's hand, looking her up and down for a long time, her eyes full of heartache: "You've lost weight, your chin looks so sharp! European food is nowhere near as nourishing as home cooking. Can your stomach handle eating cold salads and steaks every day? Mom made you some old hen soup tonight, you have to drink two bowls!"

"Mom, I haven't lost weight. I ate pasta and ice cream every day in Italy, and I've gained three pounds!" Gu Zhiwan affectionately linked her arm with her mother's, leaning softly against Su Yu's shoulder, and excitedly recounted the embarrassing incidents from her trip. "You wouldn't believe it, Lin Yuan was rowing a gondola in Venice and insisted on showing off by trying to learn how to row from the gondolier. He ended up sticking his pole into the mud and almost fell into the canal with the boat!"

"Pfft... Is that really true?" Lin Liguo nearly spat out his tea, turning to glare at his son. "You little brat, you wouldn't even touch a mop at home, and you're going abroad to row a boat with other people?"

"That was about experiencing local customs and culture," Lin Yuan retorted lazily, leaning back on the sofa. "Besides, if I hadn't used my strength to help in the end, the boat would have capsized long ago. Wanwan's statement was a dramatic exaggeration with subjective bias."

"You're just being stubborn!"

Gu Zhiwan retorted without any hesitation.

The laughter in the living room gradually subsided. The two elderly fathers exchanged a glance, clearly having witnessed the online turmoil of the past few days.

"Xiao Yuan," Gu Tiancheng said with an unusual gentleness, "your father and I have also seen those rumors circulating online these past few days."

Lin Liguo put down his teacup, sighed, and frowned, saying, "That young man named...Beraikun, the company behind him, Xingtu Entertainment, is really ruthless. Your father-in-law and I are furious about all the insults circulating online these past few days. Young people these days are too aggressive, always saying things like 'outdated' or 'climbing over others to get ahead.'"

The elderly father leaned forward slightly, looking at Lin Yuan and earnestly giving him instructions:

"The moment you came back, countless eyes were on you, waiting to find fault with you. Dad knows you're ambitious, but you've been away for the past two years, clearing your head and avoiding the murky waters of this country. Don't let those crazy rumors online put you in a difficult position. If you're tired, it's okay to take another two years off. Our family isn't short of money; it's not worth getting worked up over those actors promoted by capital, understand?"

Gu Tiancheng nodded in agreement: "Your father is right. It takes courage to retire gracefully, but it takes even more composure to return to the battlefield. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your achievements speak for themselves; true classics won't be erased by two years of turmoil. Whatever decision you make next, your four elders will always be your support."

Listening to the heartfelt advice from his two elderly fathers and feeling their unreserved tolerance and care, Lin Yuan felt a genuine warmth welling up in his heart.

He handed half of the peeled orange to Gu Zhiwan, then placed the other half on the coffee table in front of his father, a calm yet confident smile playing on his lips.

"Dad, father-in-law, don't worry."

Lin Yuan leaned back on the sofa, his eyes clear and bright, his expression so calm that he seemed completely unconcerned about the raging storm outside.

"I went out to see the world to recharge my life, not to escape hardship. No matter how loud the clowns outside make their noise, it's only because the tiger isn't on the mountain. Now that I'm back..."

He paused, his tone calm yet each word carrying immense weight:

"The pressure should be left to the people on the other side."