Just now, Li Zongsheng was 62 years old: I understand, but it's too late

July 19, 2020, Li Zongsheng 62 years old.

, the musician who has used songs to make countless people cry, was finally given the right to be called "Uncle" by the years, but he began to call himself "Xiao Li".

He seldom regrets the passing of youth. He had been able to accept his aging steadily a long time ago, but for the past, many people missed

day by day, saying that they didn't understand Li Zongsheng when they were young, and they were already in the song.

However, he said:

"You don't really understand the songwriter Li Zongsheng."

In September 2013,

has been used to evaluate Li Zongsheng, who has held the 3zz5 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz concert for nearly 10 years. Before

officially started the preparatory work, the staff of

asked him what theme he was going to set for the show

,

Li Zongsheng was silent, thought for a while and said:

"can be called "since youth can't stay". "

Somewhat helpless, some reluctance, some nostalgia, it is with this kind of sentiment that Li Zongsheng began his "Youth Cannot Be Retained" debut in his hometown of Taipei.

Li Zongsheng "Since Youth Cannot Be Retained" Concert On the night of the Taipei premiere

, the "Little Arena" was full of seats. Among the crowd of

, Li Zongsheng glanced at the old friends in the front row. He smiled and said:

"I am most afraid of singing in Taipei." Yes, because everyone in the audience is knowledgeable. So today is not like a performance, more like a gathering of old friends." After 6 years away from singing on stage, Li Zongsheng returned to "where everything started."

The old days passed by, Li Zongsheng said:

"I want to tell you about the past."

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became the most famous music producer after Li Zongsheng became famous. "Why do you understand women's mind like this?"

Faced with such problems, Li Zongsheng occasionally said half-jokingly:

"Perhaps because there are too many women around me."

The women who appeared around Li Zongsheng a long time later They have become extremely important footnotes in his life.

can look back on the way he came, what Li Zongsheng cared most was the reminder of his mother when he was young.

Li Zongsheng’s childhood photo with his mother

"I am very strong, very strict, but also love me very much."

This is Li Zongsheng’s deepest impression of his mother.

In the 1950s, Father Li left his original job and opened a gas shop in Beitou.

When Li Zongsheng was born, the shop's business was already on the right track. The family was not rich and expensive, but he was not worried about food and clothing.

Li Zongsheng's hometown

"A Zong" has three sisters, and is one of the few males in the family. The mother hopes that the "only son" can win, but only a few years ago, so that the dream of being a dragon is lost The result written on the test paper is judged as "wishful thinking".

Li Zongsheng is not good at learning, especially for mathematics.

He was still competing with (a＋b)² when others were busy with the entrance examination.

"Stupid, very stupid, so stupid."

mentioned the childhood Li Zong againSheng, in the tone of the elders, there is still a bit of grievances of hatred for iron and steel.

Li Zongsheng’s father

is approaching the high school entrance examination, and Li Zongsheng’s score is still pitiful. The strong mother didn't want to let it go. After busying for a long time, she finally spent a lot of money and sent her son to a cram school of "education and education package".

In the class where the enrollment rate is as high as 90%, Li Zongsheng, who is always counted down, is the key to be trained. Teacher

used a cane to pull his thigh to warn him of the cost of failing, and hope he will try his best next time. But the reality is that no matter how hard the process is, Li Zongsheng will still get a rather ugly score in the end.

"I went to school with my schoolbag silly, and I didn't know what I was studying." This kind of day lasted about ten months.

Li Zongsheng took a photo with his family in his childhood

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It is no exaggeration to say that the scores and rankings written on the score list are the things that Li Zongsheng feared most in his school days.

When the results are announced, he will ride his bicycle to the school on the slope.

saw the classmates crowded in front of the list, he would hide away, after wandering for a long time, and then quietly ran home, but did not see the results.

Even though he participated in a "very powerful" cram school, Li Zongsheng still failed in the first grade examination, and it was still twice in a row-

was a bit embarrassing. At that time, only two students in the class failed, one Li Zongsheng, and the other One is a "boy with a slight intellectual deficit".

Li Zongsheng’s hometown

’s son’s failure from the list hurts his mother, who is an elementary school teacher. The neighbors and colleagues in the neighborhood like to talk, and they laugh at A Zong. Mother Li was very angry, but never complained to her son.

She just endured it, and then did her own thing as usual. And this kind of "silence" was not understood by Li Zongsheng until many years later:

"Family has no hope of me being'promising', so they never blame me for not being successful. And this is just a reminder. I don’t have anything special, I don’t have any superb abilities, I’m just a very ordinary person.”

childhood "A Zong"

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After failing the high school entrance examination, Li Zongsheng basically said goodbye to the matter of studying, and he started spending More time to help at my own gas shop. The daily calls made by customers

became the reason why he had to go out. Riding a not-so-new electric car, stepping on dirty flip-flops, and two gas tanks hanging in the back seat are the only people he can talk to on the delivery road.

The winding roads in the afternoon are very quiet, and the sun in the subtropical climate is always hot. In the summer that seems not to end, the time becomes more lazy.

Li Zongsheng occasionally thinks that he can only do this in his life.

The small town boy A Zong has no ambitions for life, so he has always been accustomed to accepting boring days, but the guitar that he accidentally touched when he was young sold out all his unwillingness.

"I shouldn't be like this? At least, my guitar is pretty good."

Youth Li Zongsheng

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Around 1976, a whirlwind of campus folk songs blew in the music scene. That year, Li Zongsheng was just 18 years old.

When he was 14 years old, when he first came into contact with guitar, music became an obsession. So when he learned that his favorite group was performing in the backstreet, he ran to the scene without even thinking about it.

Taking advantage of the gap between the performances, Li Zongsheng ran backstage and said to the idol: "I also play music, do you want to get together and do something?"8z

So these young people formed the "Acoustic Guitar Choir".

"Acoustic Guitar Choir" record cover

Xiao Li, who liked to play the piano at that time, was just an inferiority teenager with a pimple face. When

appeared on stage, his voice would tremble because of excessive tension, and his guitar would be wrong. Even the eyes of the audience were erratic and blurred. Many people have said:

, the foolish A Zong, surely won’t be successful. of.

The young Li Zongsheng

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Li Zongsheng, who is always slow to life, seems particularly bright when it comes to dating. As a member of the "Acoustic Guitar Chorus", Li Zongsheng had a girlfriend named Zheng Yi. When

met, the woman was already a well-known female singer with "Yueqin", but the man was on the verge of disbanding the band.

Zheng Yi valued her boyfriend's talents, so she found a job as a music producer for him at the Rolling Stone Records store where he was.

stumbling and walking for nearly ten years, Li Zongsheng barely saw the light of his dreams. This year, he was 23 years old.

The first row from left to right: Jin Shijie, Li Zongsheng, Zheng Yi, Su Lai

The second row from left to right: Tao Xiaoqing, Tai Zhaomei

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entered the production of Rolling Stone Records, after participating in the first project, Li Zongsheng Album of girlfriend Zheng Yi.

Men and women in love always have an unspeakable understanding. To some extent, this has become the inspiration for Li Zongsheng's creation.

At that time, he named the album's main song, "It's Time for Light Rain."

Zheng Yi's "The Light Rain Comes Just Time" tape (1983)

During the production process, he quickly captured Zheng Yi's very moving side, almost effortlessly, he made his girlfriend popular with just one song.

"I played with the artist (Zheng Yi), hiding in the background, and saw so many people cheering for her. That kind of feeling was very proud, I told myself, this (music producer) is to do a lifetime thing."

liked it very much. "Xiao Li" who plays the guitar

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"Light Rain Comes at the Right Time" was born in the alternate period of Taiwanese campus folk songs and pop songs.

After this, the development of Taiwan's music industry has officially entered a period of prosperity, but the flame of love between Li Zongsheng and Zheng Yi has gradually extinguished.

Say goodbye to the light rain of love, and Li Zongsheng's career has been overwhelming. After officially signing with Rolling Stone Records, he began to help many first-line singers such as Pan Yueyun and Zhang Aijia produce albums.

Luo Dayou, Zhang Aijia, Li Zongsheng

When creating Zhang Aijia's "Busy and Blind", Li Zongsheng became close partners with her. They often drink and chat together, and even travel long distances to find inspiration.

Many people speculated about their relationship, and this slightly ambiguous atmosphere was also pushed to the peak by public opinion when "The Price of Love" appeared.

In the year "The Price of Love" appeared, Zhang Aijia happily married her husband. Li Zongsheng wrote in a song to her: "Let's go, let's go. People always learn to grow up by themselves."

Two diametrically opposed emotions are regarded by the spectators as the strongest evidence that the two have "loved", but Zhang Aijia said: "I am not the type Li Zongsheng likes."

Zhang Aijia, Li Zongsheng

"Do you think he (Li Zongsheng) liked you." ?" Many years have passed and this is stillIt is a topic that Zhang Aijia can't avoid.

and the exact same question, she also asked Li Zongsheng.

just dodges the latter, and then on another occasion, gave an "answer" that is not an answer:

"Actually, this song ("The Price of Love") I wrote to my sister, it was just Misunderstood as a love song.” After

Zhang Aijia and Li Zongsheng

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worked with Sanmao to write "Seven o'clock" and "Fly", Li Zongsheng took a short holiday for himself.

Sanmao, Qi Yu, Pan Yueyun

Li Zongsheng wrote "Seven o'clock" and "Fly" for Qi Yu and Pan Yueyun based on Sanmao's works

He rushed abroad, preparing to spend a vacation with his girlfriend at the time. But waited for news of the breakup.

The frustrated Xiao Li Hua was inspired by his grief and anger, and wrote more than a dozen songs in one breath, and these works he wrote with tears will later form the album "Elf in Life"-this is the life of Li Zongsheng The first solo record in China.

Li Zongsheng's "Elves in Life" tape side B (1986)

In this significant album, "Loneliness" has become his "unique signature".

Decades later, Li Zongsheng, who was over half a hundred years old, once again sang the song written when he was young. He said:

"The most important thing for men is that they can't stand loneliness." "Xiao Li" finally relied on his own strength to become a well-known "big brother" in the industry.

When invited to participate in a charity event in Hong Kong, Li Zongsheng met a beautiful female radio DJ under Su Rui's introduction and fell in love with her at first sight. This woman is his first wife, Zhu Weiyin.

"Do you know how to play Taiwanese Mahjong?"

This is Li Zongsheng's first words to the girl he loves.

is not romantic, even slightly clumsy, but it is enough to touch Zhu Weiyin's heart.

Zhu Weiyin

After a short stay, Li Zongsheng returned to Taiwan, while his girlfriend Zhu Weiyin stayed in Hong Kong.

For 2 years, most of the time they could only communicate with the phone via text messages, until Zhu Weiyin said: "I am running out of phone bills, we have two choices, either get married or break up."

Li Zongsheng did not hesitate about this He chose the former. In 1988, A Zong, who was just 30 years old, got married.

Li Zongsheng and Zhu Weiyin's wedding scene (1988) "A Zong" and his wife "silly two people laugh so sweetly"

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After their marriage, Li Zongsheng and Zhu Weiyin ended their long-distance life and moved to Taiwan together. It's just that compared with the "husband", Li Zongsheng was the first to adapt to the status of "gold producer". When

married Zhu Weiyin, he was busy making Chen Shuhua's album. Because she was still unable to get rid of the stereotyped "Jade Girl" image, Chen Shuhua's singing career has not been able to make a breakthrough.

Chen Shuhua

After thinking about it, Li Zongsheng’s first "order" when he took over the project was to ask the stylist to cut off one of Chen Shuhua’s long hair. He believed that the market would be more willing to see it than the cookie-cutter "Jade Girl" A distinctive and capable urban woman.

with a brand-new look, Chen Shuhua appeared in her new song MV, and what she sang in her mouth was "Dream Time" tailored by Li Zongsheng.

this singThe film later became the first album in the music history of Taiwan that sold over a million. It's just that no matter how brilliant the past is, it can only be "the past."

Nearly thirty years later, Li Zongsheng held a "Rationality and Sensibility" concert, with the theme of the premiere being "Song for Chen Shuhua".

But at this time, Chen Shuhua had suffered from bankruptcy and bereavement, and suffered from severe depression and was unable to attend.

Chen Shuhua

Li Zongsheng, who had no old friends present, looked a little lonely. At that time, he said:

"Long time no see, Shuhua. Are you looking at the stage? Look, Xiao Li has become a real old Li! His hair is gone and his beard is white. Now, people are wandering and their hearts are vicissitudes of life, but they still have to sing loudly, as they did in the past. It doesn’t matter. Days will go on smoothly. We will meet again and sing just like they did in the past."

"Xiao Li" Becoming "Old Li", "Shu Hua" has "woke up from dream", look, years have never spared anyone.

"Rolling Stone" Record Company Artist Chorus (1986)

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After successfully breaking through with Chen Shuhua, Li Zongsheng ushered in his heyday.

Li Zongsheng and Zhao Chuan

In those years, he helped Zhao Chuan write "I am a little bird", and also wrote "Clear My Heart" for Jackie Chan, and Zhou Huajian's "Make Me Happy and Make Me Worry" "", he was sitting on the toilet, "writing indiscriminately in front of the makeup mirror."

"Li Zongsheng is a ghost, so talented that people want to hit him." This is Zhou Huajian's evaluation of Li Zongsheng after he wrote "Recently Annoying", and it is also the voice of countless female singers who have worked with him.

Zhou Huajian and Li Zongsheng

In 1991, Li Zongsheng prepared to write a song for "baby" Jin Zhijuan. After learning that the other party had just ended an unpleasant relationship, he invited her to a noodle shop near Rolling Stone Records.

In the hot summer weather, Li Zongsheng was sweating profusely while eating beef noodles while listening to Jin Zhijuan's past experiences. Within five minutes before and after, he completely remembered the other party's story.

"Doll" Jin Zhijuan

That afternoon, Li Zongsheng wrote on a piece of greased placemat paper in his own way, and wrote the love that the doll just started and ended-"For you and I spent half a year of savings drifting away. I’ve been across the sea to see you... I’ve even practiced my breathing when we meet... In the wind and sand in the sky, watching you go away, I’m so sad that I can’t hope that I can send you a thousand miles to the end of my life. You depend on each other"

and these are the lyrics of "Across the Ocean to See You".

"Doll" Jin Zhijuan "Across the Ocean to See You" album cover (1991)

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When recording "Across the Ocean to See You", the doll crashed and cried three times in the recording studio. Li Zongsheng watched from the side, full of melancholy, crying for love, he had seen a lot of this, and at the same time he had a deep understanding.

Because of being busy with work for a long time, the marriage of Li Zongsheng and Zhu Weiyin seems to be in a dilemma. At that time, they already had a daughter. Zhu Weiyin hoped that her husband could spare time to spend time with herself and the children, but Li Zongsheng could not stop the work at hand.

Under the contradiction between "home" and "karma", this marriage has become a tug of war, and they seem to be waiting for each other to compromise.

Li Zongsheng’s old studio photo

At this time, Li Zongsheng accepted Chen Kaige’s invitation to write a theme song for the movie "Farewell My Concubine".

It was the winter of 1992. The 34-year-old Li Zongsheng rushed to Beijing to go to a promise made long ago.

packed up and set off for the landing. Everything was expected. The only accident was Lin Yilian who suddenly appeared on the set.

Movie "Farewell My Concubine" Shooting Highlights (1992) Leslie Cheung, Lin Yilian, Li Zongsheng

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Li Zongsheng first saw Lin Yilian at the filming site of the movie "Farewell My Concubine". The crowd in the backstage was busy and the atmosphere was tense, but she was sitting there quietly, with no emotions on her face. After a brief discussion, Li Zongsheng learned that Lin Yilian had concluded the contract with the "old club" and was seeking new partners. Perhaps it was just a moment of throbbing, and Li Zongsheng immediately made up his mind to invite Lin Yilian to Rolling Stone Records.

almost exhausted all the vitality and blood in the unit time, Li Zongsheng wrote the song "When Love is a Past".

Two-person chorus-

Lin Yilian sings: Don’t mention the past

Li Zongsheng Ying: Love is a difficult problem

Lin Yilian back: I really want to break the past

z Li Zongsheng Answer: You are always in my heart 5z8 a 3 The protagonist's love and hatred; time has booked the joys and sorrows of Li Zongsheng and Lin Yilian.

Lin Yilian and Li Zongsheng

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After returning to Taiwan from Beijing, Li Zongsheng and Lin Yilian officially started their cooperative relationship.

wrote to her in the song "Scars", he said: "Although love is a kind of responsibility to give it to be complete, sometimes the beauty of love cannot be eternal, love is as ecstasy as it hurts you, if you are brave to love, you must be brave. "Fen"

In a crowd of songs expressing dazzling love, "Scars" seems particularly sober. People praised it as being in line with Lin Yilian's tone, but they did not realize that this was also Li Zongsheng's inner monologue.

In 1994, after successively writing classic songs such as "Love Like Tide" and "True Hero", Li Zongsheng, who thought he was "unavailable", decided to stop and look at the world outside the recording studio.

"True Hero" chorus scene Zhou Huajian, Jackie Chan, Huang Yaoming, Li Zongsheng

At the farewell concert that year, he invited "Gossip Girlfriend" Lin Yilian to the stage to sing for 35 minutes. They sang and laughed. When excited, he dances with his hands. In the excitement, those feelings that were only secret in the past are finally revealed at this time.

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After this performance, Li Zongsheng went to Vancouver alone, and coincidentally, Lin Yilian was also there.

In the future, the "tacit understanding" between the two was once described in various forms by public opinion. However, the parties never responded positively to the details of the story.

When he was 58 years old, Li Zongsheng described his life in Vancouver with this passage in his half-life memoirs: "Because of jet lag, I woke up early for a few days and walked in the moist, dark, and deciduous woods. Not far away, the shimmering waves on the lake surface can pass from the forest." Quiet and profound, peaceful but not boring, even loneliness has meaning. This is Li Zongsheng's memory, the day when he "ran away" with Lin Yilian. In the memoirs of

, Li Zongsheng explained the reason for the long journey with "anxiously fleeing his original identity". The sound, light, and smell of

's hometown slowly faded from his mind, and he was concealed together, as well as the first marriage that he was already exhausted but had to insist on.

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After the long vacation, Li Zongsheng returned to his homeland and soon wrote "Comprehension".

Xin Xiaoqi didn't care, just said that he tried his best to sing well, and then used this song to create a hit A record of 20,000 copies sold in a day.

Xin Xiaoqi's "Comprehension" MV screenshot (1994)

"Comprehension" became popular, and Lin Yilian was also at this time, taking Li Zongsheng to write "Blowing the Cold Wind for You and Me" for her return. It was at this moment that Zhu Weiyin suddenly heard The overtones of the song.

On January 30, 1997, the day before the ninth anniversary of the marriage of Li Zongsheng and Zhu Weiyin, the couple who had fallen in love across mountains and seas decided to divorce by agreement. The scenes of

were calmer than expected, or they were all prepared.

Zhu Weiyin later described her and her ex-husband’s performance in their marriage with "you and I will each suffer 50 slabs". She had half grievances and no right or wrong. She let herself go and liberated her lover.

Li Zongsheng and his ex-wife Zhu Weiyin

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One year after the end of their first marriage, Li Zongsheng and Lin Yilian got married, and in the second year they had a daughter "Xi'er."

Everything is logical, but Li Zongsheng feels faintly uneasy. When attending a friend's wedding banquet, Li Zongsheng, who was invited to the ceremony, suddenly remembered his past, and wrote "Cloudy Sky" to Karen Mok that night.

"Looking back on that day, was the noisy wedding banquet sounded in the ears of the overture or the end?" No one could have imagined that these two simple sentences summed up Li Zongsheng's two marriages.

Zhou Huajian, Karen Mok, Li Zongsheng

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After 2000, the Chinese music scene "shuffled" one after another. "The King of Heaven" and the "Queen of Heaven" changed wave after wave, and the era exclusive to Li Zongsheng also quietly ended in this process.

One summer, Li Zongsheng heard a "very recognizable" voice in a new chorus CD sent by a colleague. At that time, because he refused to produce cheap pure commercial songs, he had not participated in the internal meeting of "Rolling Stone" for a long time, and had not written a song that satisfied him for a long time. The bright voice of

aroused all Li Zongsheng's creative desire. He hurried to Singapore and met the owner of the voice, Jingru Liang.

Li Zongsheng wrote to Liang Jingru’s first song "Grow Up One Night"

Liang Jingru, Li Zongsheng

At that time, Liang Jingru was just a little girl who did not receive the attention of the company because of her ordinary appearance. She wanted to go home and continue living as a "student girl", but Li Zongheng said to her: "Would you like to try the songs I wrote?" Less than three years before and after

, Li Zongsheng produced two albums for Liang Jingru, and among them That included the "Courage" that later gave countless boys and girls strength.

Liang Jingru's "Courage" album cover

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was also accidentally discovered in this way, in fact, there is a band called Mayday. In the words of Ashin:

"Fortunately, he (Li Zongsheng) picked up our demo from the trash can."

When the "case" between Liang Jingru and Mayday is over, it is already in "market demand" and "music concept." Li Zongsheng, who had been struggling for a long time, finally decided to turn around and leave.

He took Lin Yilian and his daughter to settle down in the mainland. In a completely strange city, the omnipotent "big brother" has turned back to "little Li".

Li Zongsheng was silent for a long time.

only boardedEntertainment headlines, because his six-year marriage with Lin Yilian came to an end. In the divorce statement issued, Li Zongsheng wrote:

"If our love is wrong, I hope you and I do not suffer in vain."

This sentence comes from "Understanding" and was also written by him in the preface of Zhu Weiyin's autobiography.

"Almost half a hundred years old, my wife is scattered." Li Zongsheng commented on himself at that time.

Li Zongsheng's divorce statement

I remember when I first met Lin Yilian, Li Zongsheng wrote "I Really Love You" for her: "I saw you for the first time, alone and beautiful in the crowd"

Later, the last time he collaborated, he wrote the lyrics "The Rose Clang" ": "That girl is precocious like a rose, she never depends on anyone"

originated, he saw her in the crowd;

died, he saw her in the crowd.

It turns out that those seemingly passionate loves, in the end, are just regrets of reaching the same goal by different routes.

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ended the marriage, Li Zongsheng concentrated on playing the guitar. This was a dream he had when he was 14 years old, and it was really realized when he was over forty.

During those years when he was fascinated by piano making, Li Zongsheng returned to his hometown with his family.

study and make guitars in the piano room during the day. At night, he will ride an electric car home to sit with his mother and daughter for dinner and chat. Every night, he would open the children's door one by one and kiss them on the cheek gently. "Father" has become one of his most important identities in the second half of his life.

Li Zongsheng, Lin Yilian and their youngest daughter Li Xier took a photo

He said:

"From the day when a daughter was born, a father can only teach herself one thing, that is, you can only love her. Accept your fate, you can't help her choose a male Friends can’t decide who she marries. The only thing you can do is to hug her whenever she comes back to call your father.”

Maybe, this is another price for love.

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Speaking of the time spent with his daughter, Li Zongsheng said happily:

"Even if I can't write better works in the future, I will not have any regrets, because God has given me what I can have. I am. I don’t need to go to heaven after I die, because I’ve seen angels.”

Because of his daughter, Li Zongsheng looked a lot away and let go. He no longer deliberately chased anything, and seldom wanted anything.

He returned to the slow-growing town in Beitou. Fortunately, it was not too few to recognize him as the "A Zong who gave gas".

The young Li Zongsheng

walked back to the original path, and he could still feel that the tea that he had no intention of savoring when he hurried away was still warm, and those who bid farewell to him were still in place.

Li Zongsheng finally became "Little Li" again.

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Crossing the hills, Li Zongsheng began to welcome his twilight years with the most comfortable posture. After forming a "longitudinal line" performance with his friends, Li Zongsheng suddenly wanted to know who has been listening to his songs for decades.

"Vertical Line" members: Li Zongsheng, Zhang Zhenyue, Zhou Huajian, Luo Dayou

So he held a few concerts that were not for the purpose of making money, and sang several not-so-new, popular classics.

From "Elves in Life" to "Songs for Myself", Li Zongsheng said: "Actually, I just want to tell everyone that Xiao Li has been very good these years."

Since you can't keep your youth, it's better to be an uncle.

This is Li Zongsheng's theme for the concert. On the day of the debut of

in Taipei, there was constant music on stage, and the audience was full of friends.

He sits in the bright place and sings quietly, while people sit in the dark and listens quietly. At the end of the song, the song stops, and it’s been half a lifetime looking back.