Chapter 53: The Flight of the Insects

Speaking of this song "Insects Fly", it was actually the first complete musical work by Xiao Yao that Xiao Siqi ever heard of. The appearance of this song was somewhat coincidental.

It was during the fourth filming session of "Where Are We Going, Dad?", and the location was set in a tropical rainforest. On the first night, everyone involved in the shooting had already crawled into their tents and fallen asleep. Xiao Yao, who had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, quietly woke his father up and pulled him outside, then quietly went to wake up the father-and-daughter duo Sun Zhihao and Sun Tingting. While the three sleepy-eyed individuals were utterly baffled by what Xiao Yao was up to, he led them to the water's edge at a short distance from the campsite. A swarm of dancing fireflies instantly chased away all sleepiness from the three of them. An excited Sun Tingting immediately rushed straight into the midst of the fireflies. Because they were right by the water, Sun Zhihao quickly hurried over to protect his daughter's safety. Xiao Siqi and his son Xiao Yao simply sat down to one side, quietly watching Sun Tingting dance around amidst the fireflies.

After about ten minutes or so, Xiao Siqi suddenly heard Xiao Yao singing softly:

"The dark sky hangs low,
Bright stars keep company.
Insects fly, insects fly,
Who are you longing for?
The stars in the sky shed tears,
The roses on earth wither.
Cold winds blow, cold winds blow,
As long as there is you to accompany me.
Insects fly, flowers sleep,
Only pairs upon pairs are beautiful.
Not afraid of the dark, only afraid of a shattered heart.

No matter if tired or not,
Regardless of the southeast, northwest."

"It's very pleasant to listen to," was Xiao Siqi's first reaction, so he did not interrupt and quietly listened to Xiao Yao finish singing. "I've never heard it before," was Xiao Siqi's second reaction, and he immediately looked over at Xiao Yao. His mind quickly reviewed the song he had just sung. It was a very short song, finished in a little over a minute, maybe under two minutes. However, it clearly contained two verse sections and one chorus section, which perfectly matched the most common song structures he had taught Xiao Yao when instructing him on composition. He then pondered the lyrics: "Insects Fly"? Xiao Siqi turned his head and saw the fireflies fluttering around Sun Tingting. Was this improvised by Xiao Yao on the spot? It definitely was; there was no doubt about it. Because Sun Zhihao and Sun Tingting were still present at the scene, Xiao Siqi kept his composure and said nothing. However, as soon as they returned home from the shoot, Xiao Siqi immediately wrote down the melody and lyrics from his memory and asked Xiao Yao for the song's title. At that time, Xiao Yao was also looking at the beautiful scene of swarming, dancing fireflies, and he recalled the scene from the previous life's movie "The Storm Riders" where Nie Feng and Kong Ci watched fireflies at the Sword Graveyard. Moved by the moment, he had hummed that very famous song from his past life, "Insects Fly". He never expected that Xiao Siqi beside him had memorized every single note and word. Having spent a considerable amount of time learning lyric and song composition from Xiao Siqi, combined with the song's brevity and relatively simple melody and lyrics, it led Xiao Siqi to firmly believe that this song was entirely improvised and composed on the spot by Xiao Yao back then.

In this world, there were no Lin Xi, no Mark Lui, nor were there "The Storm Riders" or Ekin Cheng. Claiming this song as his own creation was no big deal, so Xiao Yao shamelessly told Xiao Siqi that the song was called "Insects Fly".

Possessing something good and keeping it hidden away had never been Xiao Siqi's personality. Although the song was simple, both its melody and lyrics possessed quite a poetic mood, making it a truly rare and excellent work. Coupled with the fact that it was composed by his own son, Xiao Siqi immediately thought about publishing it.

Yet for a song like this, let alone a full album, releasing it alone was simply out of the question. Even if they released it as a single, the song—even with the intro added—barely lasted a little over a minute, making it somewhat difficult to handle. Eventually, Xiao Siqi thought of his own new album, which led to the idea of including it as a bonus track on his upcoming release. Xiao Yao naturally had no strong objections to this, but he rejected Xiao Siqi's request for him to go to the recording studio to sing it. In his view, this song was best suited for a chorus of young children singing together, and he did not want to join in just to make up the numbers as part of a large chorus.

The recording and production of the album began methodically. Regarding the song "Insects Fly", Shen Yinan agreed with Xiao Siqi's decision to use it as a bonus track. However, he still felt that since it was Xiao Siqi's album after all, having it sung entirely by children might not be entirely appropriate. He suggested that Xiao Siqi solo the first verse, while leaving the second verse and the chorus to be performed by a children's chorus. Xiao Siqi tried it out and felt that an adult singing the song didn't sound out of place at all, and the effect turned out quite well, so he agreed with Shen Yinan's suggestion.

The album was successfully produced according to plan and entered the promotional chart-climbing phase as per routine. Because it was a bonus track, it could not possibly serve as the album's lead single, so neither Xiao Siqi nor the record company arranged for "Insects Fly" to hit the radio charts. However, this new album by Xiao Siqi, released after a year's hiatus, was also of exceptionally high standard. Although it wasn't as explosive as "The Most Beautiful" from the previous year, the quality of the two lead tracks was still solid, and their chart performances were respectable. Coupled with the popularity he had accumulated in the second half of the year by participating in "Where Are We Going, Dad?", especially given that this album featured works of many different styles—which served as a great gimmick for promotion—the sales prospects of the entire album were viewed very favorably, with the general consensus being that it would at least not perform lower than the previous one.

Because of his previous collaboration with Xiao Siqi—or to be precise, his cooperation with through Xiao Siqi—Cao Zhongyun had also been paying attention to Xiao Siqi's new album release. As soon as the album went on sale, Cao Zhongyun bought a copy right away to listen to it. Regarding the twelve main tracks on the album, Cao Zhongyun thought they were pretty good, but when he heard the final bonus track, "Insects Fly," his eyes lit up. He picked up the case and looked at it, discovering that the lyricist and composer for the final bonus track was indeed not Xiao Siqi, but that mysterious . Cao Zhongyun smiled and picked up his phone nearby.

"What? Cao Zhongyun wants to buy the copyright for a song again? Which one? 'Insects Fly'? What's going on? I see, alright, I'll discuss it with and get back to you. Thank you for your hard work, Sister Xu." Xiao Siqi hung up the phone and looked somewhat jealously toward his son, who was practicing the piano nearby.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yao stopped playing and looked somewhat strangely at his dad.

"Oh," seeing that Xiao Yao had stopped, Xiao Siqi composed his emotions before saying to Xiao Yao, "That Mr. Cao Zhongyun—the one who bought 'Homeland Scenery' from you last time—has taken a fancy to the bonus track on my album again, which is your song 'Insects Fly'. He said he wants to buy the usage rights to use it as a movie soundtrack."

"If he wants to buy it, then sell it. The usual rules apply, just leave the price negotiation to Sister Xu," Xiao Yao said outwardly with an indifferent air. Inwardly, however, he was sighing that works produced by the great Lin Xi were indeed different; excellent works were excellent anywhere, even in a different world. But come to think of it, this song was originally made for the movie "The Storm Riders" in that other world, so it was completely normal for a movie in this world to take a fancy to it and use it as an insert song. Thinking of the movie "The Storm Riders" from his past life, Xiao Yao asked a follow-up question, "What kind of movie is it? What scene is the insert song for?"

"It's a martial arts film directed by Chen Zhuqi, called *Golden Lotus Sword*. There is a scene in it where the male and female leads use *qinggong* to fly across a swarm of fireflies, and they want to use this song as the background music," Xiao Siqi replied. Clearly, Xu Ting had already told him all this over the phone earlier. "The movie has finished filming and is currently in post-production. The director hasn't been entirely satisfied with the background music for this particular sequence, and Mr. Qin Kaixuan, who is in charge of the film's score, is a good friend of Mr. Cao. Knowing his friend's predicament, Mr. Cao recommended this song to him. Mr. Qin was also very satisfied after listening to it. Since Mr. Cao had previously purchased the copyright to the work, he entrusted Mr. Cao to help negotiate the copyright for this song this time."

"Oh, no wonder," Xiao Yao nodded, then smiled and said, "Turns out there are fireflies in it too. Doesn't your new album also have a song called 'Goodbye Fireflies'? It seems you also wrote that after watching fireflies that night?"

"Hey, do you have to provoke your old man like this?" Xiao Siqi shouted, feeling somewhat exasperated and angry at having his thoughts exposed. But he immediately laughed and said, "No matter how formidable you, Xiao Yao, are, you're still the seed of Xiao Siqi. No matter how brilliant the music you write is, it was still taught by me, Xiao Siqi. Didn't your grandfather ever teach you the saying 'the student surpasses the master'? The more formidable the son, the prouder the father feels."

"Yes, yes, yes. It's great if you can think that way," Xiao Yao smiled. He had noticed that Xiao Siqi's expression was a bit odd earlier, so he had deliberately provoked him with that remark. Having spent so much time together, Xiao Yao knew very well how to handle this father of his.

One week later, the movie *Golden Lotus Sword* began its promotional campaign, releasing its first official trailer. As a director who had won international awards, Chen Zhuqi's martial arts film had already attracted widespread public attention when filming first commenced. As a martial arts movie, the first trailer primarily showcased the action and fight sequences in the film. In this trailer, the gorgeous settings, stunning costumes, and brilliant choreography successfully whetted the appetite of moviegoers everywhere.

Just as the public was eagerly anticipating the film's release during the Spring Festival slot, exactly one week after the release of the first trailer, the movie's second trailer was simultaneously launched online and on television. This trailer featured only a single scene: the male and female leads performing *qinggong* and dancing amidst a swarm of fireflies. Unlike the grand and magnificent tone of the first trailer, the snippet displayed in this one was exceptionally aesthetic and ethereal. The background music for this trailer was none other than Xiao Yao's song "Insects Fly". The breathtaking visuals, paired with the tender, fresh nursery rhyme, portrayed the romance between the male and female leads in a manner that was utterly pure and beautiful, leaving people with a wonderful and warm sensation.

"Insects Fly" was a nursery rhyme, and being sung by children's voices gave it a feeling of youthful greenness, gentleness, and purity—three keywords that could equally apply to romance. When Xiao Siqi first saw the lyrics, he had interpreted lines like "the stars in the sky shed tears" and "who are you longing for" as Xiao Yao's longing for Chen Zilin, while interpreting "pairs upon pairs" and "as long as there is you to accompany me" as an expression of the dependent, mutual reliance between Xiao Yao and his father. He viewed it as an expression of familial affection and never associated it with romantic love. However, even though he didn't connect it to romance, others certainly would. A normal person's first impression upon reading the lyrics was a sense of solitary, melancholic beauty, using the image of wandering, flying insects to express the pursuit of love. Lines such as "as long as there is you to accompany me" and "only pairs upon pairs are beautiful" invariably evoked a sense of eternal vows that would last until the end of time. Coupled with the children's vocals, that feeling of melancholic loneliness and the taste of pure, poignant romance simply moved people to tears.

With the release of the second movie trailer for *Golden Lotus Sword*, the insert song "Insects Fly" became popular even before the movie itself.

The movie wasn't scheduled for release until the Spring Festival, and under normal circumstances, the movie's original soundtrack album would definitely not come out until after the film hit theaters. Those who originally liked the song assumed they would have to wait until next year to buy anything containing it. Fortunately, the number of fans following Xiao Siqi was already massive, and among them, fans who were equally paying attention to this movie were pleasantly surprised to find that the film's insert song turned out to be the bonus track from Xiao Siqi's new album. This bonus track was truly a delightful surprise. Consequently, some enthusiastic fans rushed online to break the news.

Originally, as a bonus track, neither Xiao Siqi nor the record company had felt it appropriate to use the song to promote the new album. To their surprise, through a highly anticipated film, someone had inadvertently given their new album another wave of powerful, free publicity. Shen Yinan's earlier joke had now borne fruit; right now, it clearly wasn't a case of Xiao Siqi helping others publish songs for free, but rather the film helping Xiao Siqi sell his album.

However, from the perspective of manager Xu Ting, it wasn't a loss either. Because of the song's surging popularity, it wasn't just Cao Zhongyun seeking the rights to use the film's background music; quite a few celebrities had already approached her to contact them about purchasing cover rights to perform the song at year-end New Year's Eve concerts. All of this stemmed from the moment Xiao Siqi had included the song in his new album and it was discovered by Cao Zhongyun.