□□’S Dad Reborn as a Baby

After years of silence, the veteran Chinese band Original made a stunning debut at a top international music festival, setting the whole crowd ablaze with one song. That night, a message from the group owner, Qiao Mu, appeared in Original’s dwindling fan group: [The stars are shining again.] The stagnant waters stirred. But just as the celebrations began, news broke that a plane had crashed and every member of the band had died. The fans refused to believe it and begged the group owner to come out and set the record straight. But no matter how many times they called, Qiao Mu never appeared. Qiao Mu was Original’s benefactor, manager, leader, and drummer. Naturally, he had been on that plane too. The news was true: they really had been in an accident. The good news: they didn’t die. They were reborn. The bad news: they had gone back more than ten years, and the mighty CEO Qiao Mu was just a little kid. Back then, Original was still a rising band. Lead singer Shen Xi hadn’t been disfigured, and the drummer was still his healthy older brother, Qiao Xingchen. Bassist Chen Da hadn’t put on weight yet, so Qiao Mu didn’t have to force him to diet. Guitarist Fang Lin hadn’t been hurt by love or drunk himself into shaking hands. They were at their best, brilliant stars that shone without anyone needing to polish them. Backstage at a talent show, the camera focused on five-year-old Qiao Mu, the only family member in attendance for frontrunner band Original. He gazed at them with the weary, fatherly air of a much older man. The host looked at the adorable little boy, who was pretty and trying hard to look serious, and crouched down with a smile, speaking softly. “Mumu, is there anything you’d like to say to your big brothers?” Little President Qiao replied with the weary wisdom of an old man: “I’m tired. Do whatever you want.” As someone with Asperger’s, President Qiao was highly intelligent but socially inept. He hated social situations, noisy environments, and big events. He hated dazzling lights and the labels on performance costumes that scratched his skin. He was really tired. He didn’t want to keep polishing the stars anymore. Do whatever you want. In the talent show dorm, the poker-faced President Qiao lay sprawled out like a starfish. But the unruly Chen Da presented all his snacks to him and said in a low, hoarse voice, “It’s all here. I didn’t keep a single thing. If I did, I’m a dog. My waist is 72 centimeters, measured after breakfast. I didn’t hold my breath.” The melancholy prince Fang Lin ripped up a certain girl group poster from under his pillow in the middle of the night, then showed off on his guitar without stopping. “Your Majesty, what do you think of my string bends?” The mad beauty Shen Xi put down the mirror he’d looked into 180 times that morning. “Mumu, I can finally be your canary.” Qiao Mu’s older brother, Qiao Xingchen: “What canary? What’s wrong with you people?!” They really were ill, and badly so. In his past life, that child had faced thorny paths at every turn. Even as the burden bent his back, he had to wash the muck off them and send them soaring into the heavens. This time, it was their turn to protect their little benefactor, their own tiny sun. Note: Family affection at first, with a pampered little boy. The romance begins when he’s an adult. The pairing is with a canary (the canary in the blurb is a joke; the relationship won’t change before the boy comes of age!) 2023.4.15 Theme: The farther the dream reaches, the longer the road