Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Zhao Weiguo stood below the stage, his face ashen.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a word.

Liu Yuanchao tugged at him: "Let's go..."

Zhao Weiguo did not move.

He looked at Zhang Dabiao on the stage, at that slovenly man standing there, and suddenly felt—

They had no chance of winning from the very beginning.

It's not a problem with the creative process.

It's not a problem with the instrumentation.

It's not a problem with the singing.

It's a matter of levels.

They were on the first floor, thinking they were on the second.

But that person is on the fifth floor.

Old Zhou stood up and cleared his throat.

"Today's competition has come to an end. First place—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire audience before finally settling on the four people on the stage.

"Mu Wanqing Group"

There was thunderous applause.

Han Xiaomeng held Tang Min's hand and jumped around.

Mu Wanqing stood there, her eyes red-rimmed, but she was smiling.

She, Mu Wanqing, sang solo and came in first place!

In front of the entire department!

My dream has come true!

Zhang Dabiao leaned against the wall, watching all of this with a smile.

Han Xiaomeng ran over and tugged at his sleeve: "Zhang! Did you hear that? First place! We're number one!"

Zhang Dabiao smiled but didn't say anything.

Tang Min also walked over and solemnly extended her hand.

"Thank you, Zhang."

Zhang Dabiao shook his hand: "Don't mention it, you all contributed too."

Tang Min shook her head: "No, we couldn't have won without you."

Zhang Dabiao looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Alright, stop getting sentimental. It's my treat tonight."

Han Xiaomeng's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"real."

"Where should we eat?"

"Let's have a barbecue in my little courtyard, all you can eat."

All four of them laughed. Zhang Dabiao said there would be plenty, so there would definitely be plenty!

When the event ended, Zhao Weiguo and his group stood at the door, watching Zhang Dabiao and his party walk out.

Zhang Dabiao paused as he passed by them.

Zhao Weiguo subconsciously took half a step back, genuinely a little scared.

Zhang Dabiao glanced at him, said nothing, and continued walking forward.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, without turning his head, and slowly said:

"Zhao Weiguo, classmate."

Zhao Weiguo was taken aback: "Huh?"

"Before you raise any questions next time," Zhang Dabiao said, "think about whether the other party has any tricks up their sleeve."

Then he continued walking and disappeared into the crowd.

Zhao Weiguo stood there, stunned, for a long time without moving.

Liu Yuanchao tugged at him: "Let's go..."

"I just asked Director Zhou, and their group actually prepared another piece."

"He's a monster! If he's so talented, why did he even study art?"

Zhao Weiguo suddenly gave a bitter smile.

"Liu Yuanchao, tell me, aren't we being ridiculous?"

Liu Yuanchao opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Zhao Weiguo shook his head, turned around and left.

The setting sun shone on his back, casting a long shadow.

------------

Mu Wanqing and Zhang Dabiao said they won, but it also seemed like they didn't.

The wager was that Zhao Weiguo and his group would no longer interfere in Zhang Dabiao and Mu Wanqing's affairs. In fact, this wager was completely meaningless to Zhang Dabiao, because Zhao Weiguo and his group couldn't interfere even if they wanted to.

It just means there's less harassment.

However, Mu Wanqing's situation at school did not change much.

The duet in "Do You Know?" is too melancholic and doesn't fit this era.

"The Song of Changle" won first place in the experimental course and, according to the pre-competition rules, was directly recommended for the college's arts and culture gala.

But the problem is—Mu Wanqing is too "seductive".

The beauty of this era should be the kind that embodies peace and prosperity, or the kind that features a square face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes, exuding a strong sense of power!

Mu Wanqing has a face that resembles that of a modern-day internet celebrity or socialite, with a somewhat delicate appearance. In this era, however, she would be considered a typical seductive vixen.

The song was sung very well, that's undeniable; no music student could resist "The Song of Changle".

But during rehearsals, her presence became a thorn in everyone's side. Not only was she beautiful, but her singing was also exceptional, and her performance style was different from that of this era...

Anyway, everyone felt that the song was already outstanding enough, and having Mu Wanqing sing it made it feel like the whole gala was held just for her.

During rehearsals, the moment Mu Wanqing appeared and sang, all the male students were drawn to her—and the female students were almost the same; they all wished they were the ones singing, thinking how wonderful that would be.

Mu Wanqing's appearance disrupted the overall rhythm of the cultural performance.

Moreover, Mu Wanqing's background has been brought up again by some people with ulterior motives.

Ultimately, the school decided—

Substitution.

Oh dear, this really infuriated Zhang Dabiao—my song, the song I wrote for my wife, won first place and was guaranteed a spot in the arts gala, and now you're telling me to change the singer?!

He went straight to the art academy to settle scores with Director Zhou of the Music Performance Department.

But Director Zhou took him to the rehearsal hall in the auditorium and let him see and listen for himself.

Everyone was wearing green military uniforms and had red cheeks, singing revolutionary songs. To Zhang Dabiao, their voices sounded like a poorly sung village loudspeaker, and many of them spoke Mandarin with accents.

Looking at Mu Wanqing beside her with a worried expression, firstly, wearing a green military uniform for "The Song of Changle" is very inappropriate; secondly, look at Mu Wanqing's face, which doesn't need makeup; and then look at those on the stage...

It feels very out of place, doesn't it?

Zhang Dabiao didn't even know how to describe it.

Director Zhou sighed as well: "Zhang Dabiao, the song 'Chilige' that you and Mu Wanqing composed is very good. Although there is nothing prohibited in terms of lyrics, the singing style and arrangement are far ahead of this era."

Then he pointed to the students rehearsing backstage.

"They can't keep up."

"If Mu Wanqing were to sing 'The Song of Changle,' the difference in the works would be too great, and the sense of dissonance would be too obvious."

"This cultural performance has been ruined."

This reason...

Zhang Dabiao was actually persuaded by Director Zhou.

Besides, if you show off too much, all four grades will make trouble for you, Mu Wanqing, and that would be even worse.

but--

My wife is unhappy!

As for Zhang Dabiao "not allowing" the art academy to use his music...

To be honest, it's not very intimidating. If you don't use it, you don't use it. It's not a big deal.

But if the school doesn't use it, and the students want to use it, nobody can stop them. Is there any copyright protection these days?

Finally, after several teachers discussed the matter together, they actually came up with a compromise.

This song is indeed very good because this version blends ethnic, popular, and Mongolian long song elements, vividly expressing the vastness of the Chulechuan grassland and the folk songs of Gao Huan and his ministers' hometown.

This is a tragic hero, too old to fight anymore, reminiscing about his grassland homeland and his carefree childhood.

Moreover, after some discussion, the group realized that the song could be sung using bel canto techniques, accompanied by piano and bamboo flute, or even as a solo or ensemble performance. It also had a very good a cappella effect, demonstrating a variety of expressive techniques.

Therefore, the school wanted to include it as one of the required pieces for music performance students, with Mu Wanqing performing it as a demonstration.

That is, the one and only song – the personal assistant coach!

For the entire four years, Mu Wanqing was in charge of teaching and demonstrating! This level of respect and favor was truly exceptional!

The song was included in the school's self-developed teaching materials, which stated: [Adapted by Zhang Dabiao, Original singer: Mu Wanqing, Morin Khuur: Tang Min, Bamboo Flute: Han Xiaomeng, Xun: Zhang Dabiao]

It's essentially a form of copyright with a record.

Every art student knows who the original singer of this song is.

At this point, Zhang Dabiao and Mu Wanqing both nodded; this move was indeed brilliantly executed.

But Zhang Dabiao still disagreed with his and his wife's song, which was meant to please others.

So, after discussing it in the courtyard, they decided to just do it—

Let's have a big sing-along!

Mu Wanqing's class sang together as a group, turning solo performances into group versions, with Mu Wanqing standing at the very front, in the center position!

Then several teachers got itchy to try their hand at it and together they adapted the song into a version with piano accompaniment, adding bamboo flute, violin, morin khuur, and a professional conductor.

Isn't that all there is to it?

Zhang Dabiao and Mu Wanqing's eyes lit up—

This can be!