1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 103 More Talented Than You
When Xue Wanen was at home, she only wore a silk knee-length nightgown and a pair of khaki soft-soled slippers with Mickey Mouse printed on them.

"You're home alone today, teacher, would you like to come over and sit with me? I'll have someone pick you up."

As she spoke, she stood up from the desk, picked up the phone, walked towards the curtains, and listened to Professor Du Qinlan's voice on the phone.

Xue Wanen's study was built by connecting two bedrooms and covers an area of more than 300 square feet.

Draw open the curtains, and you will see that half of the wall is equipped with one-way floor-to-ceiling glass windows, through which you can directly see the view of Victoria Harbour outside.

Xue Wan'en stood in front of the window and did a few simple stretching exercises. The glass window reflected her graceful figure.

The white calves and arches of the feet were revealed under the nightgown.

After a few simple greetings, Du Qinlan's inquiring voice came from the other end of the phone.

"There is a young man named Zhai Yuan. I heard he is your friend?"

Xue Wan'en was leaning close to the glass window, observing her own eyes in the reflection. When she heard the name mentioned by Du Qinlan, she was slightly startled.

Two seconds later, the image of Zhai Yuan with a cynical smile on his face emerged in my mind.

That's the guy who's good at swearing.

"The student from Sau Mau Ping Middle School? I did meet him twice. A friend... so be it."

"Yes, it is. No, it is not. What do you mean by even if it is?"

Du Qinlan asked with a smile on her face, and then she told him again about how Peng Jiayan and Zhai Yuan found her.

Xue Wan'en frowned slightly. It had been several years since she graduated and she didn't know her junior sister Peng Jiayan. But when she heard that she and Zhai Yuan asked Professor Du to help them with something under their own name, she felt a little dissatisfied.

"Teacher, I am sorry to bother you again. I just found out about this. If you feel it is inappropriate, just pretend it never happened. I will tell Zhai Yuan not to bother you in the future."

She thought Du Qinlan was here to call her to task, and wanted to speak more bluntly to distance herself from Zhai Yuan.

But then he thought again, Zhai Yuan came from a housing estate after all and had no connections in Hong Kong Island. He might have been forced to use himself as a shield, so he left some room in his words.

"If you can help, please do your best to help him. I will come to thank you next time."

"It's rare that you would come back to say that."

Du Qinlan smiled and teased, "But I'm calling you to really call you to find fault with you. How come you've never told me about this talented friend of yours?"

"Ok?"

Xue Wan'en was slightly surprised when she heard this, and her tone rose.

Zhai Yuan is talented? Does it refer to his linguistic talent when he curses people?
She couldn't help but think of the verbal sparring that Zhai Yuan had used on Tao Jiajun, without giving him any face, which directly led to the other party almost disappearing from her sight.

In response to Xue Wan'en's curious questions, Du Qinlan told her that Zhai Yuan had composed two pop songs.

"In addition to his creative ability, this young man also has a very stable voice. With more practice, he will become an all-round singer."

Du Qinlan finally gave Zhai Yuan a comment.

Xue Wan'en thought that his breathing was indeed very steady and he didn't even need to take a breath when he was cursing.

But the old lady's evaluation of Zhai Yuan undoubtedly made her more curious.

"When he finishes recording the tape, please let me know. I also want to hear what level of work you are praising like this."

"More talented than you were back then."

When Xue Wan'en heard this, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

She felt that she had a great talent for music, but she just didn't have the time to pursue it, and Du Qinlan always felt sorry about this.

How could a person like Zhai Yuan deserve such a high evaluation from her?
After hanging up the phone, Xue Wanen thought for a moment, then opened a storage box and started searching.

The contents of the storage box were mixed, including comic books, cartoon toys, and several unlabeled tapes.

Xue Wanen found a note inside.

This was the phone number that Zhai Yuan had left for her in the club classroom at Hong Kong University.

Looking at the string of numbers on the note, Xue Wanen's fingers hovered over the phone buttons, and after hesitating for a while, she still didn't dial the number.

It doesn't seem that familiar.

She had already imagined in her mind the awkward scene of having nothing to say after the pleasantries when she dialed the phone, and she immediately suppressed her impulse.

Then his brows frowned a little more.

Because she remembered that she had clearly left her phone number to Zhai Yuan twice, but he never called her.

Even when contacting Professor Du, he found a junior sister whom he didn't know.

When Xue Wan'en thought of this, her eyes narrowed slightly again.

……

Zhai Yuan did not waste time and arrived at Yimei Building on Qinhuai Street in Yau Ma Tei early the next morning.

There is a recording place here which just opened after the New Year, called Yawang Recording Studio.

Du Qinlan was an old professor after all, and Zhai Yuan always respected gentlemen who worked in education. It would seem unprofessional for him to sing and record himself with a tape recorder, so he specially found this recording studio.

The building is 13 stories high, with each floor renting out approximately 1,400 square feet. Avon Recording Studio has space on the second and fifth floors.

Zhai Yuan came to the front desk of the recording studio, briefly told the staff his needs, and was then led into a private room.

The walls of the room are crooked, and are covered with irregular cedar and bricks, supposedly to avoid acoustic diffuse reflections.

Unlike the production room next door which is filled with mixing consoles and other equipment, the single recording studio only has a few simple equipment such as microphones and headphones.

Zhai Yuan put on his earphones and re-recorded the two songs "Secretly Obsessed" and "Self-Sentimental" a cappella.

It must be said that good equipment can indeed make the sound more transparent.

Zhai Yuan felt as if he was singing in the bathroom, and for a moment he seemed to be possessed by the god of singing.

It didn't take long after recording the song for the staff to bring the burned tape over.

I could have burned a vinyl record, but that would have taken even longer, so I had no choice.

I listened to it once and thought there was no problem.

Zhai Yuan went to Hong Kong again to give the tape to Peng Jiayan and asked him to pass it on to Professor Du.

After everything was done, Zhai Yuan felt exhausted as he sat in the taxi back to Kowloon.

It’s so tiring to do everything by myself!
……

"so tired!"

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Peng Jiayan was walking on the campus path of Hong Kong University with a tape in her hand, and she had a similar idea to Zhai Yuan.

I was busy writing the script until the early morning last night, and got up early in the morning to attend class. After class, I took the script to consult teachers in the film industry, and then I had to help Zhai Yuan deliver the tapes.

"No! What am I trying to achieve by running around like this?"

The rich second-generation girl thought more and more that something was wrong.

When they first met, I lost a bet, but I accepted the loss and helped him make a pornographic film.

Then I heard that he was stabbed, so I went to visit him out of kindness, and for some unknown reason I took another role in a drama.

Now I have to act as his messenger and deliver the theme song of his advertising company.

Have I been fooled?
I haven't seen any of my friends dare to order me around like this. Peng Jiayan gradually realized that Zhai Yuan was treating her like free labor, and she slowed down her pace.

"No! Be careful next time, don't let him fool you with his pitiful words again!"

With this thought in mind, she decided that this would be the last time she would help Zhai Yuan, and then she came to the door of Du Qinlan's office in the Music Department.

Knock lightly on the door.

Professor Du's voice came from inside: "Please come in."

Peng Jiayan straightened her skirt and pushed the door open.

"Professor Du, Zhai Yuan's two songs yesterday have been recorded on tape. I'll send them over..."

She spoke with a smile, but stopped talking midway, with a look of surprise on her face.

Because he saw a woman sitting in front of Du Qinlan's desk, and it was his idol Xue Wan'en.

"Senior Sister Xue!"

Pang Ka Yin instantly turned into a fangirl, her heartbeat quickened, and she felt that the old-fashioned office had become elegant and bright.

"Are you Junior Sister Peng Jiayan?"

Xue Wanen stood up on her own initiative, walked to Peng Jiayan, and stretched out her slender fingers to her.

She smiled and said, "If I hadn't heard Teacher Du mention it, I wouldn't have known that you were Uncle Tai's daughter. When I first opened my Hua En Department Store, I often went to your Heng Tai Store to get goods, and Uncle Tai took good care of me."

Pang Chia-yan excitedly held her idol's fingers with both hands, feeling her smooth and delicate skin, and each knuckle was as soft as a magnolia.

She nodded frantically, making no secret of her star-chasing behavior.

Hua En did purchase goods from his own grain store a few years ago, and at that time he also had a grain and oil counter.

However, later, Xue Wanen reorganized the department store, using electronic products, trendy toys and popular clothing as the main selling points, and the cooperation with Hengtaihang gradually decreased.

"Are you Zhai Yuan's friend?"

"Mmmmmmm!"

"He asked you to send over the tape?"

"Mmmmmmm!"

"Shall we listen to it together?"

"Mmmmmmm!"

Seeing her like this, Xue Wan'en smiled helplessly, took her hand and sat on the sofa beside her.

Pang Ka Yin had such close contact with her idol that her eyes were curved with smiles, and little stars were almost coming out of them.

I put the tape into the recorder, pressed the play button, and soon Zhai Yuan's deep singing voice could be heard.

It’s the song “Secretly Obsessed”.

Xue Wan'en listened to his singing with a focused look and a thoughtful expression on her face.

beautiful!

Peng Jiayan stared at her profile and felt like drooling.

But why is the idol so interested in Zhai Yuan’s songs?

If they have a good relationship, I have known Zhai Yuan for such a long time, but I have never seen them contact each other.

Just as Peng Jiayan was daydreaming, the song quickly ended.

"how do you feel?"

As the recorder button bounced back, Du Qinlan's voice rang out, asking Xue Wan'en.

"Let's listen to the second one."

Xue Wan'en raised her eyebrows and pursed her red lips without commenting.

Then the song "Self-Consciousness" started playing in the tape recorder again.

After the song finished playing again, Xue Wan'en let out a sigh of relief, glanced at Du Qinlan who was looking at her with a smile, and couldn't help but smile helplessly.

“It seems to be better than me.”

“He’s still self-taught.”

Du Qinlan added with a smile.

Xue Wan'en, who was already feeling a little frustrated, felt like she had been stabbed again, and actually showed a hint of coquettish anger towards Du Qinlan.

Peng Jiayan, who had been looking at her profile, was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out when she saw this scene.

My senior sister can’t be this cute!
"Teacher, I haven't tried composing for a long time. I happen to have some free time, so why don't you let me participate in the two songs this time?"

After a moment's silence, Xue Wan'en seemed to have thought of something, looked up and said to Du Qinlan with a smile.

Professor Du's eyes lit up: "That's great, this kind of pop music is suitable for you young people."

She taught Xue Wanen music for several years and always felt that this student was very talented. Unfortunately, Xue Wanen later gave up creative writing to do business, and Professor Du always felt sorry for it.

Now that she was willing to speak up, Du Qinlan of course agreed with both hands.

"Zhai Yuan and you should be very good friends, right?"

After Xue Wan'en asked for Du Qinlan's opinion, she turned to look at Peng Jiayan beside her.

"Okay! Of course!"

Peng Jiayan heard the message from her conversation with Du Qinlan.

The idol composed the song for Zhai Yuan? No, it should be that the idol can actually compose music?

As expected of you!

So she immediately showed her close relationship with Zhai Yuan, and almost took a couple of photos at the airport as a guarantee.

I thought that with this relationship, I would be able to be closer to my idol in the future.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

Xue Wan'en asked a rare gossipy question.

Peng Jiayan was almost frightened to the point of having a double chin, and she waved her hands repeatedly to deny it.

Afraid that Xue Wan'en and Du Qinlan would misunderstand that he was eating young grass, he added: "His girlfriend is a young girl, and they are cousins."

The person I was talking about was naturally Zhou Haimei, whom I met in the ward a few years ago.

Xue Wan'en nodded in understanding, thought for a moment and then said, "Then could you please keep this secret for me and not let him know that I'm involved?"

Peng Jiayan looked puzzled and recounted the scene in which she had seen the two people greeting each other in the club classroom before.

She asked, "I remember that you and he are friends, why don't you tell him directly?"

Xue Wan'en regained her usual cold expression and said, "I'm not familiar with her."

(End of this chapter)