The plane touched down at Xinghai International Airport.
Xu Qingyan immediately hailed a cab to the city center, scrolling his phone in the backseat.
His head felt fuzzy as he swiped to a short video titled "Growth Rings."
Pei Muchan had mentioned it to him a few days ago—the "Growth Rings" single was selling moderately well.
It wasn't until Chanming Studio released a behind-the-scenes video of "Growth Rings" that, somehow, it went viral overnight, climbing to the top of the short video search rankings.
In the video, Pei Muchan was doing a sound check in the recording studio, bathed in warm light.
The camera captured a pure, gentle face with long hair tied back in a low ponytail, fair skin, black hair, and picturesque eyes and brows.
She was singing, "Three, two, one... The wild grasses of youth grow rampant, yet life goes by calmly. Instead of you, it's the growth rings keeping me company. Counting the rings around (off pitch)..... Sorry, teachers, let's do that again."