Carefree days, Li Qian had only spent five days.

  On the first day, he ate and ate and ate.

  The next day, the two of them went fishing in the afternoon and caught three big fish. The rest of the small fish were released. When they got back, as Li's mother said, it was worth 2 yuan and 50 cents, which was absolutely not enough for oil money.

  On the third day, it was just the father and son again, driving over 200 kilometers back to Li's hometown.

  The fourth day, return.

  On the fifth day, Li Qian accompanied his parents to the top of Mount Qianfo and had a buffet barbecue on the mountain.

  In the afternoon, when Li Qian returned home, he clearly felt that the atmosphere was not quite right. His mother was a bit silent and didn't seem happy at all after going out to play for a day, while his father was always smiling strangely.

  After dinner, Li's father stopped Li Qian and said with a smile: "Alright, just come back and live for a few days! You're not busy with one thing after another, even if school doesn't start yet, there are still many things waiting for you, no need to always accompany us!"

  He paused for a moment, then said proudly: "When other people's children grow up and are about to leave the nest, their parents are worried sick, afraid they'll suffer losses, afraid they won't have enough to eat or wear. But your mom and I... haha, we're at ease!"

  He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out for himself, looked up at Li Qian, thought for a moment, and also pulled one out to hand to him. Li Qian was taken aback. Li's father chuckled and said: "You still think no one knows? Haha, your mom found half a pack under your pillow, and I put it back for you. Come on, Dad knows that since you're doing music, you need to protect your voice, so you must know how to control yourself, and normally you probably wouldn't smoke. Here, have one."

  Li Qian hesitated for a moment, then took the lighter and lit his father's cigarette first. He himself hesitated again, didn't light one, but instead brought it to his nose and sniffed lightly twice before putting it on the table.

  Li's father took two puffs, feeling pleased and smiling, said: "Those things you did, I originally thought I could help a bit. But later I figured it out, I'm just a poor teacher, self-proclaimed literati, actually very sour, all from rummaging through old books, still so self-satisfied!"

  He smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "You're different from Dad, your stuff is unique. Whether it's music or lyrics, you've already surpassed me by a huge margin! So even if I wanted to help, I wouldn't be of much use! From now on, you really need to leave Mom and Dad behind and make your own way in the world. There's not much I can advise you on, just one thing: don't rush, take it slow. Ah, if you rush, you'll easily make mistakes! Remember that?"

  Li's mother had already begun to sob.

  Li Qian nodded with red eyes.

  Li's father blinked his eyes and puffed on his cigarette, the smoke quickly enveloping his entire face.

  A moment later, he turned his head and looked at Li's mother. "What are you crying about!"

  Li's mother's voice was a little softer, but she was still sobbing.

  Li's father's eyes had become slightly red without him realizing it.

  He paused, then said: "Your mom and I... we're still young, you know that! Our bodies are in good shape too! We have a house to live in, a car to drive, and we've got some savings set aside! When you're out there, if you miss your parents, just remember to give us a call from time to time. If you're busy, don't worry about coming back... ah!"

  Li Qian looked up and took a deep breath.

  He rubbed his eyes and sniffed his nose, then nodded.

  Mr. Li smiled and suddenly reached out to rub Li Qian's head, with an expression that was hard to describe as kind, just like his son was still that mischievous little boy.

  This feeling, whether for Li Baba or for Li Qian, was a bit strange and familiar. Li Baba's hand moved very slowly, lightly touching a few times, but then listlessly withdrew his hand.

  He seemed a bit proud, yet also a bit reluctant. He gestured with his hand and said, "It seems like you were just that tall yesterday, and in the blink of an eye, you're going to go out and attend university! Alas, if you don't think deeply about this matter, it doesn't seem like anything, but if you think carefully..."

  He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Li's mother, "Still crying? Clean up this table of plates and bowls!"

  At this time, saying something like "I don't want to go" would be too pretentious and unrealistic for Li Qian. So he smiled and said: "Dad, Mom, I'll definitely come back often in the future!"

  Mr. Li smiled and turned his head to look at Li Qian, saying: "Pack up your things, after a good sleep, you can leave!"

  …………

  The next afternoon, Li Qian bid farewell to his parents and drove out of the Shengshi Garden community in his own off-road vehicle, with several large packages of luggage and admission notices that his mother had packed neatly thrown into the trunk.

  He made a detour to the Wen Shu bookstore, sat with Cao Ting for about half an hour, and then set off again, heading straight for Shuntian Prefecture.

  …………

  "Hello, is this Director Sun of Era Records? I'm Qi Jie, Li Qian's agent... Ah, yes, it's me. You called the other day, but Li Qian was not in Shuntianfu at that time. Now he's back, and I told him about your call. He asked me to thank you for thinking of him... Yes, yes, he's back! Because school is about to start soon! Ah, so Director Sun, Li Qian is currently preparing to set up a studio... The location has already been purchased and is being renovated. So Li Qian said that he's really sorry, but he can't take you up on your offer right now. However, he also said that even though he's opening his own studio, there will still be many opportunities for collaboration in the future. He hopes... Yes, yes, ah, okay, I'll definitely pass on your message to him..."

  "Hello, is this Elite Records? I'm looking for Mr. Heo... Oh, he's not in... Ah, Miss Sun, hello, I'm Li Jian's agent... Yes, yes, that's right. Last time Mr. Heo called to discuss some matters, but Li Jian was out at the time and just got back now... Mmm, okay, thank you for your trouble. Please let me know when Mr. Sun returns, and I'll give him another call..."

  "Hello, is this Motor Records?"

  What Li's father said is actually right, Li Qian really has a lot of things to deal with on his hands.

  Even these things, any one of which might be more important than what he is about to face with the start of school.

  This time he came to Shuntian Prefecture and was going to set up camp here.

  That is to say, the days of wandering on the periphery of the music circle for more than a year are about to come to an end. He, Li Qian, is now going to officially enter this chaotic and complex circle.

  However, Li Qian had already thought of a plan in his heart, so handling it was not too much trouble.

  In short, no matter who replies, one topic is: Li Qian's studio is about to be established!

  Firstly, the simplest thing is that many people in the music industry called Qi Jie and said they wanted to communicate with Li Qian when he had time. Then Li Qian directly told Qi Jie to call them back one by one, saying that he also wanted to communicate with them, and if there were any gatherings or seminars within the industry in the future, he hoped to be notified, as he was very willing to go and learn from his seniors. He was currently preparing for the establishment of his own studio, and when it was established, he would welcome them to come and visit whenever they had time.

  In short, show a humble attitude, the lower the better, and be as open-minded as possible. The message to convey is just one - I'm no different from you guys, I'm not special or unique, so I'd love to play with you together.

  And then this part is done.

  Next are the record companies in the circle, which is also good to respond to, and still call back one by one. The main idea is that Li Qian's studio is being prepared, hoping for future cooperation opportunities.

  It's like this, no need to mention things like being invited to be a music director in the past. The other party will naturally understand, no need to bring it up again.

  Because Li Qian has already set up his own household.

  In fact, Li Qian was very clear in his heart that even if he didn't say it himself, with the smooth flow of information within this circle, it's likely that many people already knew about him buying a house and decorating it on East Fourth Ring Road. Since they already knew about this matter, then there's no need to keep the fact that he wants to set up his own studio a secret either. It's just as well to take advantage of this opportunity to make an announcement.

  Of course, these calls all need Qijie to make them.

  These phone calls alone would be enough for her to make all day.

  Then, after dealing with those people and things that originally had no contact, the next thing to do is to handle it a bit more carefully.

  First of all, it's the Sony record side.

  A music director Xie Mingyuan, a general manager Watanabe Kazuto and one of them asked to meet, and the latter also required confidentiality. In this case, even when Qi Jiejie just received the call, she could guess something, let alone Li Qian who had been reminded by her.

  So, Qijie will be responsible for making the phone call back. Liqian is about to start school soon and has a lot of work waiting to be done urgently. Mainly, his personal studio is being prepared, so he can't take time out temporarily. Then... at the end of September, do you have time?

  This way, it not only delayed the meeting time but also avoided offending anyone, and that's settled.

  It is said that He Runqing's side is currently negotiating with Sony Records to buy out the remaining contract, and it is estimated that whether it is Xie Mingyuan or Watanabe Kazumi, they are all worried. Li Qian took the initiative to make an appointment with them at the end of September, which was just what they wanted!

  Then it was Huaguo Records and Wuxingwusu.

  Li Qian had just shown up in Shuntian Fu a few days ago, and as soon as the news was received, he immediately called Qi Jie here. If we add up all the calls made to Qi Jie before, it's clear that their eagerness has reached a certain level, and their attitude has also been put to an extreme low - even if it's just out of self-interest, they absolutely won't let things go on like this without doing anything about it.

  However, Li Qiansi thought about it and felt that the timing was not yet ripe!

  So... just hang in there!

  Of course, the other party has already expressed an extremely strong attitude of seeking cooperation, and this attitude is basically equivalent to admitting their mistake, and they have already willingly acknowledged it, so even if we want to continue to drag things out, we can't make things too hard...

  So, sorry, Lao Li has been really busy lately. He basically agrees with the cooperation between Wu Xing and Wu Su, but he might not have the mind to think about it until after this period of time.

  That means - you guys keep waiting!

  These things have all been dealt with, next, there's only a bit of loose ends left with Chang Sheng Records.

  That's the title song written for the four male lead vocalists on their side.

  With little hesitation, Li Qian chose a song for each of them based on his understanding of their respective voices.

  Firstly, among these four works, there must be one that can guarantee a nationwide hit.

  Among the four of them, Li Qian decided to give the heaviest song to Lin Xiufeng, who was clearly going for a romantic ballad route. So even if the songs given to the other three were slightly inferior, this one had to be a hit - no matter what. Not to mention anything about digging up Liao Liao and leaving, or compensating him in some way, but simply considering his own reputation as a golden producer and maker of hits, this song had to be chosen from among works that had been extremely popular nationwide, to guarantee its success and avoid damaging his reputation.

  So, Li Qian prepared a song for him, which was "The Wanderer's Song".

  This song, you want to say classic, not quite, but absolutely matches the social context of the 90s. With the acceleration of economic development and the deepening of social integration, the talent flow in the whole society is very frequent, resulting in a large number of people leaving their hometown to develop elsewhere. So... whether it's classic or not, it doesn't matter. As long as everyone needs it and has similar psychological demands, this song can guarantee that it will be popular just like Li Jian experienced in that era!

  As for whether Lin Xiufeng can continue on his original path of singing romantic songs after finishing this song, it's really not something that Li Qian can control. However, thinking carefully, although "The Wanderer's Song" has a strong attribute, it still fits quite well with his original path, and will only bring him benefits and bonuses. There shouldn't be any negative effects. Moreover... the original author of "The Wanderer's Song", Li Qian still remembers a few of their works in his mind, so at worst he can just sell them to Lin Xiufeng later on.

  Nothing else needs to be said, with this one song. At least it's enough for him to be popular for a whole year.

  Then is... Zhou Feng.

  He is a typical small-born, not only in appearance but also with a soft and slightly sharp voice. As a male singer, his low-pitched voice is not great, but his high-pitched voice is quite beautiful. Moreover, as the top singer of Long Sheng Records after Liao Liao left, he had to maintain the image of a small-born while ensuring the quality of the songs. To be honest, Li Qian was reluctant to give him the best songs, so in the end, he decided to release "I Think I Am The Sea".

  The remaining two people, Duan Yixiong is an old singer, with solid singing skills, a very steady person, and a stable voice, with good explosive power. Li Qian chose for him a song that was also popular all over the country in another time and space, "Friends (Zang version)".

  As for Huang Mai, his voice has a distinctive feature, slightly hoarse, with a special sense of vicissitudes, so the song selection must also lean towards this aspect, and it's necessary to have some storytelling works.

  But the three songs brought out earlier, in Li Qian's opinion, although none of them are qualified to be called classics, they are all guaranteed to be popular, especially "The Drifting Song" and "Friends", which were once popular all over the country. So when it comes to Huang Mai, Li Qian feels a bit stingy. However, in the end, he still thinks that after all, he has been able to come this far today, whether it was when he first pinched his nose and agreed to let Liao Liao use his unknown newcomer's work for an album, or later when he used Liao Liao's new album to attack Wu Xingwu Suo. He still owes Chen Changsheng a little favor - of course, the great success of Liao Liao's two albums made him earn a lot, so in fact Li Qian doesn't owe him anything, this is just his inner small knot.

  So, in the end, Li Qian prepared for Huang Mai's work is "Big Head Shoes".

  There is no doubt that this was also a song that had been sung in every street and alley of another time and space.

  The lyrics need to be revised a bit, and it's not necessarily possible to match the original work's perfect fit with people's historical emotions at that time. But the rhythm is there, and Li Qian feels that his revised lyrics are also up to standard, so even if they can't reach the height this song should have had, at least making a splash shouldn't be a problem.

  Li Qian did things, always a complete set. After selecting the songs, he returned to Shuntian Fu and spent only a few days completing the composition. Then, he personally ran to Changsheng Records and handed over the four works, along with the composition, to Chen Changsheng.

  There is no doubt that the works are good, not only the singer himself, but also the professional producers and musicians on the Changsheng Records side are all connoisseurs. As soon as they got their hands on the work, everyone passed it around and quickly expressed their satisfaction - of course, considering Li Jian's past achievements, even if some of them didn't think these works were particularly good, no one would be foolish enough to directly question the quality of Li Jian's work before getting feedback from the market.

  Then it was simple, Li Qian quickly made an appointment with the other party. Once the four of them had practiced the song and the accompaniment was ready, they could start recording, and he would be in charge of overseeing the entire process.

  After finishing all these things, in fact, there are only a few days left before the opening date of September 1st.

  The decoration on the studio side has started to wrap up, and next is some tedious and trivial detail work. Liao Liao went out for a business performance, and it's just right that Li Qian changed shifts every day to take a look around.

  Just at this time, Li Qianman thought that everything had been handled properly and all he needed to do was wait for the renovation to be completed before the studio could open smoothly. However, soon after, he received a call from someone he hadn't contacted in a long time.

  Then he suddenly realized that his busy life had just begun.

  ***

  Yes, five thousand words.