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

Mu Wanqing nodded vigorously, her eyes regaining their light: "Director Wu, don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter well."

Director Wu glanced at Zhang Dabiao again and couldn't help but exclaim, "Comrade Zhang Dabiao, in all my years of making movies, this is the first time I've seen a twenty-year-old who can talk about things more efficiently than the veterans in our crew."

Zhang Dabiao smiled and waved his hand: "Director Wu, you're too kind. I'm just an artist, what do I know about movies?"

The young crew members silently complained to themselves—if you're just "an artist," then what are we? You're an "artist" who's number one in the country for comic books, whose songs are sung all over the country, and who can even come up with film proposals—we need a dozen of these kinds of "artists" in our factory, thank you.

After seeing Director Wu and his entourage off.

Zhang Dabiao stretched, making a few "crackling" sounds, and then plopped back down on the recliner under the grape trellis.

The authorization fee is one yuan, and it guarantees political security.

The chorus version of the end credits song, Wanqing's name can appear on the big screen in theaters across the country, which is better than any other GG;

The Sijiu City Art Academy also benefited; the school leaders were happy, and Wanqing's days at the school became even better...

Killing three birds with one stone, perfect.

He turned to look at Mu Wanqing—

The girl stood there, holding the copy of the contract in her hands as if it were a fragile treasure. Sunlight shone on her profile, making the fine downy hair gleam golden.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Zhang Dabiao kicked her chair. "As for the chorus version, go talk to Director Zhou from your department. You absolutely must be one of the lead singers, that's the bottom line. As for the rest—how many people sing, how to arrange it, when to record—you decide that yourselves, I won't interfere."

Mu Wanqing snapped out of her daze, carefully folded the contract, and put it in her pocket. She looked at Zhang Dabiao lounging lazily in the chair, feeling both annoyed and amused—

"Da Biao, this is such a big deal, aren't you going to come to the school to talk about it?"

Zhang Dabiao finally lit the cigarette he'd been holding in his mouth for ages, closed his eyes, and put his hands behind his head: "Leave professional matters to professionals. You're from the music department, I'm not. What would I do there? Be an audience member applauding you?"

Mu Wanqing: "..."

Qin Jingru poked her head out of the kitchen: "Big Brother Biao! The stew is ready! Let's eat!"

"Coming!" Zhang Dabiao sprang up from the recliner, his lazy demeanor vanishing instantly—eating was always his top priority in life.

"I came here to enjoy life; why should I suffer when I have resources?"

[Xiao Jingru's freshly stir-fried dishes! She even learned a lot of cooking skills from Sha Zhu. Eating is the most important thing!]

The setting sun cast its last rays onto the blue brick floor of the east courtyard, stretching the shadows of the grape trellis long. A rich aroma of meat wafted from the kitchen, mingling with the steam from freshly cooked rice. Qin Jingru, wearing an apron, bustled about, while Mu Wanqing helped set the table. Zhang Dabiao sat at the stone table, picking up a piece of stewed meat with his chopsticks and stuffing it into his mouth, wincing in pain from the heat.

At this moment, there is no such thing as being the first in the country, nor is there any film authorization.

There was only a twenty-year-old young man, eating a hot meal in his own yard, with people who cared about him sitting beside him.

Outside the courtyard wall, the three old men finally couldn't resist. Yan Bugui tiptoed to the crack in the door of the side courtyard, squinted and peered inside for a long time, only to see a family eating around a stone table.

He listened intently for a long time.

I heard nothing, only Zhang Dabiao's indistinct words—

"Jingru, this stewed meat is delicious. Have another bowl of rice."

Yan Bugui pursed his lips, turned around and left.

He muttered to himself as he walked, "Tch, I thought it was something serious... It's just eating meat."

"We had this at home just last month..."

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

The days passed uneventfully.

Zhang Dabiao remained as lazy as ever, showing up at the publishing house every day, sketching a few lines of manuscript, and then riding his motorcycle to pick up Mu Wanqing from school after get off work in the afternoon. Although it was summer vacation, the art students still frequently went to school to practice singing and rehearsing.

After picking them up, Zhang Dabiao would go to the east courtyard to tend to his vegetable garden and fishpond, or chat and joke with Mu Wanqing and Qin Jingru.

He Yushui also came over to join in the fun during meals, since the rations were shared among everyone. However, He Yushui and her classmates were busy with their senior year internships at the factory, so they didn't have as much free time as Zhang Dabiao and the others.

Since the burly men from the Zhang and Qin villages staged a full-blown brawl, beating Yi Zhonghai so badly he groaned at home for days and smashing the Jia family's doors and windows to pieces, the courtyard has become much quieter.

Jia Zhangshi dared not curse in the central courtyard, Yan Bugui dared not plot against Zhang Dabiao anymore, and even the second uncle Liu Haizhong, who always regarded himself as an official, had to avoid Zhang Dabiao.

Yi Zhonghai was avoiding Zhang Dabiao, the old deaf woman. In recent years, she generally wouldn't leave her house whenever Zhang Dabiao had something to do.

Zhang Dabiao was quite pleased with these peaceful days.

However, while things were calm on his side, a huge wave was stirred up at the Beijing Art Academy because of a pebble he threw.

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

The afternoon sun shone through the tall plane trees in the art academy, casting dappled shadows on the red brick teaching buildings.

In the music department's practice room, the piano music played intermittently, mixed with the girls' hushed whispers.

There are quite a few students staying on campus during the summer vacation. The music performance department has a lot of performance tasks, so they are all working overtime to practice during the summer vacation when there are no students around.

The bulletin board in front of the department office building serves as a central hub for information throughout the college.

Today, a brand-new, bright red paper was pasted in the most conspicuous spot. On it, written in beautiful Song typeface, was a headline: "Warmest congratulations to Mu Wanqing, a student from the Music Performance Department of our school, for participating in the theme song project for the key film 'Heroes and Daughters' of Changchun Film Studio."

The red paper with black characters, like a flag waving in the wind, proclaims an honor worthy of being recorded in the school's history.

A crowd had gathered in front of the bulletin board, mostly music students who were staying on campus for the summer. They craned their necks, pointing and whispering about the notice, their words filled with undisguised envy.

"My God, it's Changchun Film Studio's 'Heroes and Daughters'! I heard this movie is a key project this year!"

"Mu Wanqing has truly soared to new heights this time!"

"That's right. If this movie is released, the whole country will see her name. That's more impressive than any performance in a theater."

"You still have to have real talent. That song 'Ode to Heroes' is well-written; wasn't it written by her fiancé? And she sings it well too."

"How come she's so lucky to have found such a rich and talented fiancé?"

Surrounded by several familiar female classmates, Mu Wanqing's pretty face was flushed, and she seemed a little flustered. She just kept saying "thank you," still not quite used to this sudden and immense honor.

Just then, a commotion arose from behind the crowd.

The students spontaneously made way for each other.

A girl wearing a brand-new white polyester shirt and with two shiny black braids walked over, surrounded by a group of people.

Her name is Yang Yibai.

As her name suggests, she had fair skin and was among the most beautiful girls in the art academy. More importantly, her background was significant—her father was a leader in a municipal ministry, a true member of a privileged family, and—

She is recognized as the "pillar" of the music department.

In today's terms—she was a music major.

Number One!