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

Three days after the cultural performance ended, Director Zhou sent Mu Wanqing to call Zhang Dabiao and ask him to go to their art academy the next day.

Zhang Dabiao was hoeing and loosening the soil in the yard when he heard this. He looked up and asked, "What is it?"

"The dean didn't tell me either." Mu Wanqing shook her head. The department was acting all mysterious, and she didn't know anything about it.

Zhang Dabiao patted the dirt off his hands: "Alright, I'll go with you tomorrow."

He was also puzzled; the cultural performance was over, so what else could be going on?

Surely they're not going to give me a bonus?

That's impossible, it's not a revolutionary song.

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

The next day, in the Music Performance Department office of the Sijiu City Art Academy, a large box was placed on the table opposite Director Zhou.

Hearing the knock on the door, he didn't even look up: "Come in."

Zhang Dabiao pushed open the door and immediately saw the box—a wooden box, two suitcases stacked together, the paint polished to a shine, clearly a valuable item.

"Director Zhou, you wanted to see me?"

Director Zhou looked up and pointed to the box: "Do you recognize this?"

Zhang Dabiao took a closer look. There were several gleaming silver knobs on the box, as well as two cassette tapes with Russian writing on them.

"A tape recorder?" he asked.

Director Zhou nodded: "Made in Russia, Dnieper. There are only two sets in the whole school, and this set belongs to our music department."

He stood up, opened the box, and pressed a button. The cassette tape began to spin slowly, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

"We recorded your two songs, 'Do You Know' and 'The Song of Changle,'" Director Zhou said. "Old Han from the audiovisual room brought them over to record during the competition that day."

"The tape is here. I can make a copy for you. Do you need it?"

Zhang Dabiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed. Oh, so that's what it was about? This Director Zhou is quite good at handling people.

"That's great! I was just worried about not having anything to remember this place by."

Director Zhou glanced at him and suddenly asked, "Catalog duplication is easy, the department will provide it for you, but this..."

"You can't play it without the equipment."

Director Zhou was silent for a few seconds, then took out a piece of paper from the drawer.

"This is the approval slip from the hospital's purchasing department. You can take this and buy one."

Zhang Dabiao took the note and looked down at it—it read, "This is to introduce Comrade Zhang Dabiao to XX Equipment Factory to purchase equipment," and was stamped with the red seal of the department/college.

Wire recorders are classified as special equipment, and only relevant units and colleges are qualified to purchase them. This has nothing to do with whether or not there is a ticket; what is required is the procurement qualification.

He looked up, somewhat surprised: "Director Zhou, this..."

"You've brought honor to our department." Director Zhou waved his hand. "Both songs are being practiced privately by all the students in the department. We've already discussed making 'The Song of Changle' a required piece for the vocal exam, but it hasn't been announced at the department meeting yet. Your song 'Do You Know?' isn't really suitable for public teaching, but 'The Song of Changle' is very suitable as one of the required pieces."

He looked at Zhang Dabiao with a complex expression in his eyes.

"Our department is poor, so we don't have much to thank you for. I'll just give you a note so you can buy one yourself; it's a small token of my appreciation."

Zhang Dabiao looked at the note, then at the Russian-made tape recorder, and suddenly asked, "Director Zhou, how much does this thing cost?"

"Domestic ones are cheaper, the Zhong Sheng 591 model costs over 800 yuan," said Director Zhou. "Imported ones are more expensive, this set costs a little over 3,000 yuan."

Zhang Dabiao quickly did the math in his head.

More than 800, which is almost two years' wages for an average worker.

But it meant nothing to him.

However, if you buy a domestically produced one, it will be easier to repair if there is a problem.

After exchanging pleasantries with Director Zhou for a while, Zhang Dabiao excitedly took the note and the already copied cassette tape and went to buy a tape recorder.

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

The equipment factory had this in stock—a Zhongsheng 591 tape recorder. Zhang Dabiao strapped it to the back seat of his bicycle and rode it back to the courtyard house in a carefree manner.

These days, radios are a rarity, let alone tape recorders.

However, it's not surprising that Zhang Dabiao bought expensive items; he didn't even spend a tiny fraction of it.

The wooden box was heavy; when opened, the silver-gray metal panel gleamed in the sunlight. Zhang Dabiao fiddled with it for a while before finally figuring out how to use it.

That night, he took Mu Wanqing to the cabin and heard his own voice playing from the machine for the first time.

As for the "little nest," Zhang Dabiao wasn't confident enough to reveal it to Mu Wanqing right now; he'd talk about it later.

"It was rainy and windy last night——"

Mu Wanqing's own voice came through the speaker, and she was stunned.

The voice was slightly distorted, with a faint static, but its delicate and lingering quality was still clearly conveyed.

"This...this is what I sang?" She was somewhat incredulous.

Zhang Dabiao leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and smiled with narrowed eyes: "Not you, but a ghost?"

Mu Wanqing glared at him, then continued listening.

After the song "The Song of Changle" finished playing, she fell silent.

After a long while, she whispered, "Da Biao, thank you."

This man treated her with utmost care, and sometimes Mu Wanqing felt it was unreal. Did her background deserve Zhang Dabiao to treat her so well?

But what is the composition for Da Biao?

Why should I care about that stuff?

Men are like that; if I like them, I'll treat them well. Isn't that just a matter of course?

I admit I'm a sucker for good looks, so what? It's not like I'm breaking the law.

Zhang Dabiao glanced at her: "What are you thanking me for?"

"Thank you... for letting me keep these." Her eyes were a little red. "When I'm old, hearing this will remind me of this time."

Zhang Dabiao remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he reached out and flicked her forehead.

"Silly girl," he said, "you still have so many songs to sing in the future, this is just the beginning."

Mu Wanqing rubbed her forehead, wanting to retort, but swallowed the words back.

She leaned on his shoulder, listened to her own voice on the tape recorder, and smiled softly.

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

"The Song of Changle" became a required piece in the music department, a fact personally announced by Director Zhou.

That day, during a department meeting, Director Zhou slammed the sheet music on the table and said, "From today onwards, this piece will be included in the vocal examination."

The teachers below looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Director Zhou, is this appropriate? This song... was written by that vocational school student."

Director Zhou glanced at the man: "What, just because a vocational school graduate wrote it doesn't mean I can't sing it?"

The man choked.

Another teacher cautiously said, "Director Zhou, that's not what I meant. I meant that the style of this song... is quite different from what we usually practice. Won't it be too difficult?"

Director Zhou smiled.

"Difficult? You think it's difficult?" He pointed to the sheet music. "Listen to this part, 'The wind blows the grass low, revealing cattle and sheep,' what's so difficult about those notes?"

The teacher fell silent.

Director Zhou stood up and scanned the teachers present.

"We musicians can't keep focusing on those outdated things. Good works, no matter who wrote them, are worth learning from."

He paused.

"I really enjoyed listening to this 'Song of Changle'. Didn't you hear the reaction at the competition that day? So many students cried after listening to it."

He patted the table.

"It's settled then."

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

When the news spread, the students reacted in different ways.

Some people are happy—this song is catchy and not boring to learn.

Some people are worried – this song is different from the style they usually practice, and they don't know how to handle it.

Others have mixed feelings.

Zhao Weiguo and his group were among those with mixed feelings.

In the afternoon, they squatted by the playground, watching Mu Wanqing practicing singing in the distance.

"This whole thing is a mess," Zhang Mingyuan sighed. "I heard she's become a teaching assistant, is she going to teach us singing? And the seniors too?"

"Should we call her again—"

"Teacher Mu?"