Shucun is located in Shangdi, a place in Haidian District outside the North Fifth Ring Road.

This "地" doesn't refer to the emperor, but rather to the land.

The famous Yuanmingyuan Garden is not far in front of Shucun, but it is also quite far from the center of Beijing.

There are many red brick houses here, and a dizzying array of electrical wires.

From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, this place was known as the mecca of rock music in Beijing.

The Midi Music School is located near Shucun, and the famous Midi Music Festival has been held here since 2000.

At this time, rock youths from all over the country would use Midi as a springboard to enter the Beijing rock scene.

After the turn of the millennium, this area was included in the urban village renovation program and underwent large-scale planning and construction. Rows of high-rise buildings and parks and squares sprang up, and the rock and roll mecca became just a line of text in history textbooks.

In the 1990s, rock music in Beijing was divided into two factions: inside the Third Ring Road and outside the Third Ring Road.

These two factions despise each other. Those inside the Third Ring Road believe that rock youths outside the Third Ring Road are a bunch of unoriginal people who can't amount to anything.

Those outside the Third Ring Road believe that those inside are just a bunch of spoiled brats squandering their parents' money.

Shucun is a representative of the area outside the Third Ring Road.

For Liang Liang, their mutual contempt was irrelevant; he hadn't come to Shucun to learn about their grudges.

The streets of Shucun are all dirt roads and very narrow. Even in winter, the soles of shoes can make a rustling sound when they rub against them.

It's only wide enough for about one car to pass, and some streets aren't even wide enough for one car to pass.

The streets were lined with red brick houses that looked like they had been built haphazardly, with a somewhat chaotic layout, clearly not following any formal planning.

However, some historical houses are interspersed among them, giving people a rustic and desolate feeling.

However, long-haired men often walk by on the street, which adds a contradictory element to this rustic scene.

The walls of those red brick buildings were covered with graffiti, mostly with the words "rehearsal room" written on them, but there were also empty words about ideals and pursuits.

It's impossible to count exactly how many musicians there are in Shucun, but one thing is certain: there are definitely more musicians than bands.

If there are five hundred musicians here, there could be six hundred bands.

Because many musicians work in multiple bands, they believe that if one of their bands succeeds, it's as if they succeed too.

Of course, there will be quite a few girls here, but Liang Liang has no interest in knowing whether they are Guo'er or not.

Douwei and his group stopped at the entrance of Shucun Village.

Then I led them along a street for about thirty meters.

We stopped in front of a red brick house with its windows and door blocked.

Although the windows and doors of the house were blocked, music could still be faintly heard coming from inside.

Douwei went up and knocked on the door. After knocking three times, the door opened.

"Brother Douwei! What brings you here today?" The long-haired young man who opened the door was somewhat surprised to see Douwei.

“Some friends from other places came to Beijing on business, so I brought them here to see what they’re doing here. They’re rehearsing.”

"Practice a bit when you have free time, please come in! It's just that the room is a bit small."

The room was indeed quite small, only about 20 square meters. There were already four or five people inside, and now with Liang Liang and his group of eight, there was simply not enough room to stand.

The walls are also covered with various graffiti, it's unclear whether they were painted by the current owner, their predecessor, or even the person before that.

Han Chui made an excuse to go to a small shop outside and went to hide there with Liu Yuyong, Wang Fan, Xiao Yu, and Ban Ya's comrade-in-arms.

This room is too small; there's not even a place to sit. Even a small shop should have a bench for horseback riding.

Only Liang Liang and Ban Ya remained.

"This is my friend Huang Jie and their Night Flight band."

Did you drink too much beer when you came up with this name? How could you come up with such a slang name?

There are so many bands in Shucun that the names are chosen rather casually, resulting in some rather peculiar band names.

For example, the Old Palace, Ouch, Rusty Nail, Fly, Sick Doctor, Angry Dog Eyes, Plague, Doomsday Tumor, Medicinal Plant Research Institute, etc.

With these names attached, calling it a pheasant doesn't seem so unacceptable.

"Hello, Brother Huang!" The other person looked older than him, so he naturally called him "brother."

"This is Liang Liang from Lianwan City, my closest friend!"

Huang Jie was a little confused: "Liang Liang? Which Liang Liang?"

Because they were going to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, their hair grew shorter again, with Liu Yuyong and Wang Fan's hair only reaching their necks.

This led Huang Jie to not initially believe that Liang Liang and his group were colleagues, nor did he recognize who Liang Liang was.

Although the name sounds familiar.

"It's Liang Liang from the Blue Shark band!"

"Holy crap! A big shot has arrived today! I was wondering why the magpies were calling so much this morning. Guys, open your eyes wide, the big shot is here."

Although Beijing bands wouldn't be very friendly to Blue Shark, that's a matter for bands within the Third Ring Road. Bands outside the Third Ring Road have no grudges against Blue Shark, so they are naturally very enthusiastic towards Liang Liang.

Logically speaking, Douwei is also a member of the faction within the Third Ring Road, so why would he hang out with rock musicians like Shucun?

The members of the Night Flight Band put down their instruments and came over to shake hands with Liang Liang warmly.

"Xiao Liang! Compared to you, we're like beggars. Don't laugh at us."

These people are really having a tough time. They're scratching their heads, they don't even have a cigarette, so they go to Douwei's pocket to ask for one.

Liang Liang asked Ban Ya to buy two large Zhong Jiu (a type of Chinese liquor) from a small shop and throw them to them.

The situation of the Night Machine Band basically represents the current state of this special rock group in Shucun. They rent a small room for one hundred to two hundred yuan a month, which is piled with a large number of CDs, music magazines and daily necessities. The messy wires of the speakers make the room look chaotic.

Their lives were essentially like those of ascetics.

Those who were better off could afford instant noodles and stewed or stir-fried dishes every ten days or so, while those who were worse off could only afford vegetable buns that cost five cents each, and they weren't even full.

Those with even worse circumstances can only afford to buy pancakes and drink hot water.

Sometimes it's not uncommon for someone to survive on just a few dollars in their pocket for a week.

As for income, part of it is called "performance-by-performance," where one performs at bars several times a week. After deducting the round-trip taxi fare, the earnings are just enough for a meal and some drinks.

Another group consists of those who calmly and wholeheartedly focus on creating original music, managing to survive on just a few dollars a week; this group is the majority.

It must be said that they are young people with ideals and aspirations, but unfortunately, the musical expression they chose cannot be accepted by society. Without support, they have ended up in this miserable state.