Free Web NovelChapter 86: Chapter 44 Do you love walking down dark alleys alone?
The Chief of Staff, not yet over forty, had a lean and dark complexion with a handsome visage, although he had a distinct Southwestern accent, he bore the distinct features of a Northwesterner.
But at this moment, his incessant cursing carried the distinct flavor of a Chuan Yu lady.
"Damn my motorcycle!"
"Hao Chengbin, surprise! Surprise!"
"You just brought back a broken lute to surprise me!"
Fang Huai couldn’t help but remind him, "Chief of Staff, it’s not a lute, it’s a guitar..."
Hao Chengbin immediately agreed, "Right! Fang Huai wrote a song! The day before yesterday, when the Commander called a meeting, didn’t he ask us to sign up for the Opera House evening party? I plan to let him try."
The Chief of Staff covered his face with his hand.
"You know it’s an Opera House evening party and you’re going to play a lute?"
Fang Huai had a burst of black lines on his forehead: "Guitar..."
"Guitar, guitar! Who among us didn’t know how to play this thing back when we were soldiers?" the Chief of Staff said, and went straight for the guitar.
He opened it, looked at it, and tuned the strings.
Very skilled.
He strummed it twice and actually started playing.
You could tell it was "Truly Love You," but the playing was pretty rough, he strummed the six-string that he shouldn’t have, and there was no dynamics, it sounded very flat.
But having the ability to strum the strings, it barely counted as having a talent.
After finishing a segment, everyone started clapping.
"The Chief of Staff plays it well!"
The Chief of Staff didn’t take it to heart and handed the guitar over to Fang Huai.
"Go on, you play! Don’t think I don’t understand! Plenty of people in our troops know how to play this thing! Play a segment and let’s see!"
Squad Six Leader and Wang Jian immediately wore a "You’re pretending to be an expert but encountered a real one, huh?" smile as they looked at Fang Huai.
Fang Huai stood at attention: "Yes, Chief of Staff!"
Then his body relaxed: "Chief of Staff, this is a classical guitar, it doesn’t have a pickguard, I need to sit down to play, is that okay?"
Squad Six Leader immediately laughed: "Kid, have that many requests? Didn’t the Chief of Staff just play standing up?"
When the Chief of Staff heard his request, he didn’t refuse: "Hao Chengbin, go downstairs to the Brigade Department and get him a stool."
"I’ll go get it!" Fang Huai immediately followed Hao Chengbin into the New Training Building.
Within a minute, he borrowed a roughly suitable chair.
Also coming out with them were a few curious squad leaders and cadres who wanted to see some Western spectacle.
Seeing that he had an audience, Fang Huai tuned the guitar again and familiarized himself with its strings before embarking on a rather difficult piece of harmonics and fingerpicking. freewёbnoνel.com
"Clear Bridge in the Rain" was a rather difficult tune from ’19, and Fang Huai, lacking the skill, had only managed to get about three parts of it right—which probably no one could tell anyway.
But it was evident that it was far more challenging than what the Chief of Staff had played just before.
"It doesn’t sound good!"
"Right, right, right, play something we can understand!"
"The Chief of Staff can play too? Give us one, Chief of Staff!"
The speech in the air was all courtesies and pleasantries.
Fang Huai had no choice but to rush and started strumming the strings to switch to a different melody.
The classic "Country roads take me home."
It also was the song that got him through his days working in bars.
As the tune picked up, Fang Huai tried to keep his voice as low as possible.
"Almost heaven, West Virginia
(Feels like heaven, West Virginia)
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
(Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River)
Life is old there, older than the trees
(Life there is older than the trees)
Younger than the mountains
(Younger than the mountains)
Growing like a breeze
(Growing slowly like a breeze)
Country roads, take me home...
(Country roads, take me home)..."
It’s an English song! Sounds pretty familiar!
The surrounding crowd had to admit, Fang Huai sang well, and even the Chief of Staff started stroking his chin.
Excitement also began to show on Hao Chengbin’s face. This guitar borrowing really paid off.
Once the song was over, the Chief of Staff decided to give him a chance.
"Young man, the song you wrote yourself, will you sing it for me to hear?"
Fang Huai was taken aback, then pointed to the front: "Chief of Staff, right here?"
The Chief of Staff snorted with laughter: "Are you afraid someone will steal it?"
Fang Huai shamelessly feigned difficulty: "I’ve been adapting it for two years! If I take it outside, I’ll definitely sell it!"
Sell for money?
People around became curious.
A squad leader immediately shouted: "Don’t worry! Our troops have discipline and regulations! No one will dare to spread it!"
The Chief of Staff, glancing around at the familiar faces, also promised: "I assure you! No one will spread it! If it’s a good song, we’ll help you apply for copyright!"
"No need for that... This is an adaptation of a Mongolian folk song."
Fang Huai said, then nodded, "Okay then, I’ll play and sing right here."
Fang Huai had said this on purpose; he had hundreds, if not thousands, of songs in his head. He only said this to make everyone listen earnestly.
Folk songs, without a quiet environment and earnest listeners, really can’t make an impression.
Sure enough, after some reluctance, everyone felt that listening to this song seemed a rare opportunity, and the surroundings immediately quieted down.
Fang Huai began the melody, slowly singing.
"Through the wilderness winds, slow your pace,
I tell you with my silence, I’ve drunk my fill...
The nights of Ulan Bator
So peaceful, so serene
Even the wind is silent, unheard
Clouds drifting to the sky, slow your pace,
I tell you with my running, I won’t look back..."
Three minutes, the song softly ended, and the surroundings remained silent a bit longer.
Everyone looked up with closed eyes, each with an expression as if to say, "Dear, are you listening?"
Lost in the music.
"Great song! Great song! It has a sense of solitude like that of a soldier guarding the frontier!" the Chief of Staff led the applause.
They were kind of being forcefully put on the frontier.
Fang Huai’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
Ulan Bator, huh? The capital of Outer Mongolia! Are you trying to forcefully expand our territory by 1.56 million square kilometers?
A bunch of soldiers just felt the song was nice and clapped loudly.
"Is this the melody of the original song?" the Chief of Staff asked.
Fang Huai nodded, "Yeah, the main tune is from the original, but it’s in Mongolian, which is a bit of a mouthful, so I changed some parts of the tune along with the lyrics."
"How much did you change?"
"Fifty... seventy to eighty percent, maybe."
The Chief of Staff, clearly knowledgeable in the matter, said, "Isn’t that basically an original creation then?"
"Ah, I wouldn’t dare, Chief of Staff, it’s just an adaptation."
Fang Huai repeatedly waved his hands. Before his rebirth, the song "Rakshasa Sea Market" had already caused a stir. Even touching a tune characteristic of the Northeast could earn a hammering, he dared not claim this territory.
Whether it was an adaptation or not, those who understood would know. As long as it spread out, and people recognized his "musical talent," that was enough.
The Chief of Staff thought hard about the lyrics and felt this kid was indeed talented, and couldn’t help encouraging him.
"Good! This kid, not bad! With such talent, you should take some time to see if you can compose a song for our new recruit group!"
Fang Huai was stunned.
A group song?
Forget it, I’m not interested in such things.
But... this could also be an opportunity; it was time to unleash a big move.
"Chief of Staff... Actually, I’m working on creating a firefighting publicity song. I’ve written part of it already, but without musical instruments to assist, I probably have to wait until I’m down from the brigade and find a professional recording studio."
The Chief of Staff’s eyes bulged like bells.
Damn? You actually have the goods?
A firefighting propaganda song, that’s a big deal! If you can really put it together, then this year’s new training work will have a major highlight!
Firefighting is different from other troops; most of the funds and benefits come from the government every year, so publicity is of the utmost importance.
Who could resist such temptation?
As he thought about it, he noticed the smug smile on Fang Huai’s face, and said somewhat irritably.
"Don’t be a tease! Sing a bit, let me hear it!"
"Singing a bit?" Fang Huai said with a smile.
Hao Chengbin immediately took on the majesty of a squad leader, standing with his hands behind his back, "If the Chief of Staff wants to listen, then sing a bit for him!"
Saying that, he glanced at the Chief of Staff smugly.
Isn’t this a surprise? Huh? Old Yang!
"Yes, squad leader!"
After Fang Huai responded, he picked up the guitar again and played an invigorating prelude.
"Love you... walking alone in dark alleys!"
He paused.
"Love the way you never kneel!"
He paused again, even glancing at the Chief of Staff.
The Chief of Staff swallowed.
Fuck, it’s quite catchy, huh!
He resumed strumming.
"Love your standoff with despair, refusing to weep!
Love your tattered clothes, daring to defy fate’s guns
Love your serious demeanor, your darkened visage!
Should I go, do I belong, in this worn and torn cape
Fight, oh, fight, with the humblest of dreams
To the night’s sobs and roars
Who says only those who stand in the light are heroes!"
The line "Love your serious demeanor, your darkened visage" was improvised on the spot while looking at the Chief of Staff’s dark face.
"Who says only those who stand in the light are heroes..." the Chief of Staff murmured the line twice, then touched his head, marveling.
"Bravo, bravo! You’re quite something, young man! You’ve got talent!"
Fang Huai immediately played up to him, "It’s all thanks to the squad leader encouraging me to create! He thinks it could bring honor to the Firefighting troops and even went out of his way to borrow me the instrument!"
The Chief of Staff beamed, "Good! Hao Chengbin, that’s indeed a huge surprise! We’ll forget about the motorcycle compensation! Did it graze your leg just now? Go check it out at the infirmary later!"
Hao Chengbin wanted to laugh and curse.
So if it wasn’t for the surprise, would I not even be worthy of checking out the infirmary?
But the Chief of Staff’s next words smoothed over all his hurt.
"This song... Young man, if you can complete the creation, I’ll report to the Brigade Commander, no, I should report to the whole corps and commend you!
Don’t worry, you don’t have to wait until you’re down from the brigade. We and many units have firefighting training plans at our Base. A recording studio is a minor issue; I’ll find one for you!"
The Chief of Staff, thinking of him waiting until he was down from the brigade before creating, felt like he was watching one publicity opportunity and news report after another slip by. He hastily added another sentence.
"Young man, focus on your creation! I will report this to the Brigade Commander and Political Commissar at the weekly meeting tomorrow!"
Everyone looked on, green with envy.
Especially the leader of Squad Six, who now wanted to rush back and see if the new recruits had any hidden talents yet to be tapped.
"Yes, Chief of Staff! I’ll make sure not to delay training!" Fang Huai promptly stood up and saluted.
With such generous conditions, it wouldn’t do for him to play dumb.
The Chief of Staff’s lips quivered, wanting to say something but finding it hard.
You... if you can truly create it, it’s okay to delay the training a bit!
Fang Huai didn’t need to delay training.
All he needed was for the System to enhance his memory, and even a fire protection version of "The Bravest", he had heard it before; he just couldn’t recall the lyrics.
He weighed his options internally.
In fact, he could do without the next mission reward for leg strength enhancement.
...how about taking out a high-interest loan from the System?
[Interest policy: 50% rate (min. two rewards as collateral)]
At the thought, the rule appeared before Fang Huai’s eyes.
A steep interest rate sobered one up.
Cough, let’s reconsider, reconsider.
