The 1970s: Military Family Beauty

Jiang Furong doesn't understand music and doesn't like singing, but she knows how to divide a thing into several parts and then break them down one by one.

Now that there is such an opportunity, she wants to grab it.

During the lunch break, Lin Zhaodi went to get the song sheet for the chorus's performance:

"Xiao Jiang, the song they chose this time is 'Ode to Coral'. Take a look."

Jiang Furong looked at the musical notes on the simplified notation. She knew them all, one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. She also knew what the dots above and below them meant. It was just that it was a little difficult for her to sing and perform while looking at the simplified notation.

"Sister Lin, please sing it again for me."

Lin Zhaodi sang it a cappella.

Jiang Furong applauded and praised: "It sounds great!"

The songs of this era are really nice to listen to. Lin Zhaodi has a natural voice, a wide range, and a pious attitude, and she can sing out the vastness of the sky and the sea.

But Lin Zhaodi was unsure: "It's useless if I sing well alone. I'll be finished in the next round."

Jiang Furong asked, "Where do you think you'll end up?"

Lin Zhaodi thought Jiang Furong would comfort her, but she didn't expect her to ask this question. She was stunned: "Ah, it's really over, right? You can't practice well, right?"

"Sister Lin, what I'm saying is, where do you think you guys will disagree when you sing in chorus?" Jiang Furong asked in a simpler and easier-to-understand way.

Lin Zhaodi pointed to the spot where the fog was blocking the air and said, "It's right here. When they sang 'The Wind Blows' earlier, their voices were raised. When they sang this part, Zhang Hongxia and Li Hui's voices couldn't lower. They had to change their voices, and then the whole thing would be messed up."

Jiang Furong nodded: "It dropped an octave here. People who haven't learned singing professionally won't be able to control their breath and won't be able to change their voice."

She had attended Jiang Zhaohui's sight-singing and ear-training classes twice, and the little bit of music knowledge she learned happened to be put to good use.

Lin Zhaodi didn't know how to read music, but after hearing Jiang Furong's professional explanation, she was immediately filled with admiration: "Oh, that's right. How do we practice this part? You must teach us well tonight."

Now it was Jiang Furong's turn to feel unsure. The scale span of the song "Ode to Coral" was quite large, and it was not easy to sing it a cappella in a short period of time.

She thought quickly and asked, "Do I have to sing this song? Are there any others?"

She thought it would be better to have a less difficult song.

Lin Zhaodi said: "Teacher Wang helped us choose this song. She has several music books and copied many songs!"

Teacher Wang is the music teacher of the children's school.

Jiang Furong immediately had an idea: "Let's go find Teacher Wang and choose a new song."

Lin Zhaodi frowned and said, "'Ode to Coral' was chosen by Teacher Wang. I wonder if Li Hui and the others would agree to change the song."

Jiang Furong said, "I'll go talk to them, they'll agree."

It is not difficult to defeat them one by one. The real difficulty lies in making others believe in you, listen to you, and do what you say.

Lin Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief: "Xiao Jiang, do you dare to tell them? I'm just a small cashier from the countryside and I can't persuade them."

Jiang Furong smiled, knowing that this was also one of the reasons why the chorus could not be in sync.

Since I've decided to help, I have to act immediately: "Sister Lin, take me to Teacher Wang to borrow the songbook now. I'll choose the songs, print them out this afternoon, and start practicing tonight. If we wait until tonight to go to Teacher Wang, we'll have to delay until tomorrow, and we'll lose another day."

These words made Lin Zhaodi extremely nervous, and she almost wanted to run forward: "Okay, okay, right away!"

Fortunately, it was winter vacation at that time, and Teacher Wang was not at work. She was leading a dozen students she had selected to rehearse a program in the school.

The young female teacher sang the lead song and the students danced with her.

Lin Zhaodi said enviously, "Xiao Jiang, I like the song 'Little Swallow in Flowery Clothes' the most. Teacher Wang will definitely win first prize again this time."

Jiang Furong couldn't agree any more.

The melody of this song is simple and can be sung by one person. With the help of students dancing, it can be considered a collective creation.

The key is that they have a long practice time, and the students are obedient and cooperative, so there is absolutely no problem in getting the top three places.

When Teacher Wang heard that Jiang Furong was here to borrow the songbook and that she wanted to change the song, she asked in surprise, "Why? This song is so beautiful! When the program was announced, Zhang Bingliang in the office said that Director Liao really liked it."

Jiang Furong didn't mean to question Teacher Wang's poor song selection, but she didn't want to explain at this moment, so she took over Teacher Wang's position and said, "Teacher Wang, it's like this. Director Liao is out of a meeting. We want to choose two more songs to practice. When Director Liao comes back from the meeting, we'll ask him to decide which one to sing."

The first sentence is the truth, but it has nothing to do with changing the song. The third sentence is also the truth, because the leaders just need the comrades to perform successfully, and it doesn’t matter which song they sing.

Her real purpose is the second sentence.

To save time, I can only say it in a less obvious way.

According to the procedure, when changing songs, several members who want to perform in the chorus should confirm it together, then report to the leader and wait for the leader's approval.

There are less than ten days left until the Lantern Festival Gala, and such hasty requests for instructions, reports, and approvals will only interfere with the effectiveness of singing practice.

Teacher Wang was very naive. Without giving it much thought, he took out four thick handwritten songbooks and said, "Here they are. Take a look at them first. I don't have time to help you choose. I have to lead the students in rehearsal."

"Thank you, Teacher Wang." Jiang Furong was eager to choose for herself.

These four songbooks were all copied on letter paper, and you can tell from the handwriting that they were the result of a long period of accumulation.

Although Mr. Wang's handwriting is not very neat, it does not hinder Jiang Furong from reading it quickly.

Jiang Furong flipped through the songbook at the speed of reading twenty lines at a glance, skipping any lines of simple music that had two consecutive lines of music in a higher octave.

Lin Zhaodi watched from the side without blinking, thinking that Jiang Furong knew all the songs in the songbook.

It's impossible for it to flip so fast, right?

In less than twenty minutes, Jiang Furong finished flipping through the songs and selected three songs: "Coming in February", "On the Golden Mountain in Beijing", and "Evenings on the outskirts of Moscow".

She asked Lin Zhaodi which of the three songs she liked.

Lin Zhaodi hesitated and didn't dare to make a decision: "How about taking it back and asking them which song they want to sing? I can't sing at night outside Moscow."

Jiang Furong immediately asked, "Then sing the other two songs for me to hear."

While listening to Lin Zhaodi's a cappella performance, Jiang Furong looked at the lyrics and found that the lyrics of "Come in February" were more suitable for Jiangshan Machinery Factory.

It is very appropriate that all the hard work of military factories is for public construction.

She whispered, "Sister Lin, let's come in February."

Unexpectedly, Teacher Wang said in embarrassment that songbooks could not be borrowed and could only be copied here: "I used to have six copies, but I couldn't find them after borrowing them all."

Jiang Furong had no choice but to pick up a pencil stub in the classroom and painstakingly copied the music sheet. She was almost late for work when she returned.

While Lin Zhaodi and Shi Xiaolan were at the accountant's office to submit their accounts, Zhu Mingzhen said to Jiang Furong, intentionally or unintentionally:

"Xiao Jiang, you've become so close to Xiao Lin since you first arrived. People who don't know would think you knew each other before."

Jiang Furong thought she was referring to Xiong Juanjuan's arrogant attitude when she came to the Finance Department to get her dormitory key that afternoon. Lin Zhaodi couldn't stand it, so she said something to Xiong Juanjuan, which made Zhu Mingzhen suspicious. She explained, "Sister Zhu, if Sister Xiao Lin hadn't taken me to the library to look for someone, I still wouldn't be able to get into the dormitory. I never thought Xiong Juanjuan had another family in the factory."

But Zhu Mingzhen said, "Juanjuan was quite pitiful when she first came to the factory. I watched her grow up day by day from a little girl. Even though Xiaolin likes to talk here, she never says a word in front of Juanjuan."

The more she spoke in a roundabout way, the more obvious it became. Jiang Furong understood immediately that this was Zhu Mingzhen reminding her that others were being used as pawns.

Does Zhu Mingzhen have any problem with Lin Zhaodi?

Jiang Furong had no choice but to lower her attitude and said, "Sister Zhu, I understand what you mean."

Actually, I don’t understand.

Zhu Mingzhen smiled with satisfaction: "Well, I understand."

Lin Zhaodi, clueless, came back excitedly and shouted at the door, "Xiao Jiang, Xiao Jiang, Li Hui and the others have agreed to come in February instead. Zhang Hongxia is carving wax paper. After work, I'll go to the activity room to reserve a spot. Can you help me get some food and bring it over?"