Rock and Roll: Glorious Years

At this moment, Ding's mother had finished watching the video. Although her reaction was not as exaggerated as others, her obviously faster breathing proved that she was not calm at the moment.

She had some reservations about her son playing rock music, since in the early 90s, playing rock music was considered quite unconventional by the older generation.

But as time went by, and as Ding Tong bought a car and a house in Beijing with her rock music, got married, had children, and settled down, she let go of her prejudices and stopped looking at rock music with prejudice.

Moreover, as a former lead singer in the General Political Department's Art Troupe, she was intimately familiar with these kinds of patriotic and politically correct mainstream musical works, and there was a unique sentiment in them that belonged to their era. How could she not be excited to hear Bian Lang interpreting these works in a new musical form?

After calming herself down, Ding's mother finally spoke: "Ding Tong, you've been playing rock and roll for half your life, how come you haven't produced a song like this? You grew up with us in the General Political Department's Cultural Troupe, your upbringing should be much better than your little brother's... Also, since you're his little brother, why haven't I seen you in the videos? Are you not as good at guitar as that Magpie, or are you less experienced than Little Tiger...?"

This matter was already a source of anxiety for Ding Tong, and now that her mother was nagging her like this, she couldn't even talk back, which made her feel even worse.

With a determined look, Ding Tong replied resolutely, "Mom, the studio version of this song hasn't even been released yet! I'll buy a plane ticket to Kunming right after we finish having dinner! When the song is officially released, I guarantee your son's name will be on it!"

Hearing this, Ding's mother's stern face finally softened into a smile: "Actually, I was just saying this in anger. Think about it, it's been so many years since you've produced any decent work. We artists can't... Oh, right, I just saw that thing called 'bullet comments,' right? Why are people criticizing him for plagiarism? He just used eight bars of a military song as the arrangement, I think that kind of creation is perfectly reasonable, how come..."

Ding Tong was completely unaware of this matter. She picked up her phone to take a look, then glanced at the comments section, and followed the clues to find Sima Nan's video.

After watching the video, Ding's mother, suppressing her anger, listened to Ding Tong recount the whole story before angrily saying, "Who does this Sima man think he is? What right does he have to comment on your little brother's work? In the end, he's just a nobody. If I were to intervene... Ding Tong, I'd register a Weibo account for myself too..."

Just as Ding Tong was marveling at how wise his mother was, realizing she understood the true nature of the problem, he suddenly heard something and quickly advised, "Mom, those people online aren't to be trifled with. You saw how they were hurling insults at you just now. What if they upset you and cause you any harm?"

As Ding Tong said, it wasn't that he didn't want to help Bian Lang. Ding's mother had been with the General Political Department's Art Troupe for so many years. In addition to having the title of a national first-class singer, she was a level 6 civilian cadre, which was equivalent to the rank of major and enjoyed the treatment of a division-level officer.

This identity and status were enough to make 10 Sima men feel suffocated, but he was afraid that someone would actually dare to curse under the old lady's Weibo and anger her, then he would be a great sinner in the Ding family!

Upon hearing this, Ding's mother agreed that it made sense, but she also felt that they shouldn't encourage such unhealthy trends online. With that in mind, she took out her phone and began searching through her contacts.

A moment later, her gaze fell on a name called Commander Hao, and she pressed the call button directly.

The call was answered quickly. After a few brief pleasantries, Ding's mother got to the point: "Old Commander, I have something I'd like to hear your opinion on... You know, I'm just an old woman with my neck almost buried, and I don't have a proper title, but I really don't want talented and conscious young artists like Bian Lang to be ruined by those masses who are misled and misled by erroneous opinions."

After hearing Ding's mother's story, Hao Jianguo on the other end of the phone chuckled: "Hey Xiao Qin, we're the same, both of us are practically buried in the ground, how come you still have the same personality as when you were young?"

"Old Commander, I'm not exaggerating, but if you hear this song, you'll definitely have to give it a thumbs up!"

"Okay, what's the name of this song? I'll go find it and listen to it..."

After hanging up the phone, Hao Jianguo pushed his grandson's wheelchair to the door with great interest. After knocking twice and receiving no response, he simply opened the door: "Xiao He, do me a favor!"

Hao He, who was in the room wearing headphones and arguing with a male fan of Sima, was so startled by that shout that he jumped up from his computer chair.

Taking off her headphones, she saw it was her grandfather and asked in a slightly complaining tone, "Grandpa, what's wrong? I'm arguing with some trolls right now. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait a bit..."

"Hey kid, can you help me find a song called 'Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March'?"

Upon hearing this, Hao He's mouth dropped open. He looked at the video still playing on his computer screen, then at his grandfather, and slapped his forehead, saying, "Oh dear, how could I forget about you, Grandpa?"

After saying that, he quickly ran over, pushed his grandfather in front of the computer screen, put headphones on him, and then dragged the video progress bar to the front and pressed pause.

"Sir, listen up! This rock and roll is absolutely amazing! I'm going to get you some nitroglycerin!"

"Hey, you little brat, how can you talk like that? Can't you wish your grandpa well?" Hao Jianguo wasn't angry at all; instead, he became even more curious. What song was it that made the female lead singer from the original group call specifically to tell him that her grandson was actually going to get him some nitroglycerin pills?

"Sir, that's not what I meant. It's just that this song is definitely to your liking. I was just worried that you might get too excited during the performance..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hao Jianguo reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb-sized yellow porcelain gourd-shaped bottle, waving it in front of him.

"Alright, let's get started!" Hao He said, and then clicked the play button with his mouse.

Hao Jianguo, who was wearing headphones, didn't react much at first. But when he heard the melody of the military song and Bian Lang's shouts, he felt as if he had been electrocuted, and his originally hunched body immediately straightened up!

When the verses started, Hao Jianguo stretched his neck and stared at the screen with his mouth wide open.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Hao He was about to snatch the small gourd bottle from Hao Jianguo's hand, but Hao Jianguo stopped him with a hand gesture: "Don't make a fuss! Your grandpa is fine..."

Seeing his grandfather's reaction, Hao He's mind was already racing with calculations.

But just as Hao Jianguo finished listening to the song and took off his headphones, before Hao He could even speak, Hao Jianguo said, "Xiao He, are you a fan of this band?"

Seeing Hao He nod hesitantly, Hao Jianguo continued, "If there are any more songs like this in the future, remember to play them for Grandpa as soon as possible."

"Alright, if there's any more, I'll release it for you right away. There's one more thing, sir, could you perhaps put in a good word for Bian Lang…?"

Before he could finish speaking, Hao Jianguo interrupted, "Come on, push Grandpa to his room."

Half an hour later, the official Weibo account of the General Political Department's Art Troupe, which only had tens of thousands of followers, posted a message: "The General Political Department's Art Troupe highly affirms and praises 'Rock 'The New Long March,' with lyrics and music by Bian Lang and performed by the Rolling Stones! We hope that the vast number of literary and artistic workers in our country can learn from Bian Lang and make new contributions to the dissemination of Chinese culture!"

The little witch, who had been keeping a close eye on all the news about Bian Lang on Weibo, was so excited when she saw this post that she was practically bursting with rage: "Bian Lang is amazing! This is official media!"

After the initial excitement, she shared the link to Bian Lang's super topic, as well as the three main forums: Sima Nan, Bian Lang, and Bai Dao.

Perhaps because the insults were so satisfying and intense, a small group of Sima Nan's supporters, seeing the number of fans in the General Political Department's Art Troupe that was completely inconsistent with his reputation, completely ignored the blue V mark after his name and the series of posts he had previously made it their fourth main battleground.

"Your fans are shameless! An account with tens of thousands of followers dares to impersonate the General Political Department's Cultural Troupe to glorify this scoundrel. Report them!"

"Heh, just a small-time hoodlum, what makes him worthy of praise from the General Political Department's Cultural Troupe... Report him!"

"Hahaha, you really have a unique way of thinking. How could you come up with such a method? Why don't you just create a knock-off United Nations...?"

"Haha, well said! The United Nations Office at Rolling Stone has sent a congratulatory telegram..."