187: Chapter 187 The Happy Gramophone

The words on the Jet stone made many people laugh and many people cry. Lin Feng squatted in front of the new wall, looking at those who stood in silence before the stones, feeling that words alone were not enough. Words are meant for people to see; once seen, they think, and once they think, they laugh or cry. But both laughter and crying are quiet. He wanted people to hear laughter. Not the distorted laughter of the Echo Wall, but real laughter, coming from a person's mouth, warm and carrying the vibration of airflow. He remembered recording the sounds of cats and people before, but those were all scattered. He wanted something that could collect laughter, store it, and play it back for people at any time. He didn't know how to make records, but he could make a tape recorder. Not a phone recording, but the old-fashioned kind that used tapes. Press the button, the red indicator light turns on, the tape slowly turns, and the sound is sucked in. Press it again, and the sound comes out, exactly as it was.

He went to find Molly for materials. Molly dug out an old tape recorder from the storage room; it was the kind with two big speakers, dusty, with unresponsive buttons, and the door to the tape compartment had fallen off. Lin Feng moved the recorder under the tree, took it apart, and studied its internal structure. The cat crouched nearby, watching him disassemble it, and reached out a paw to poke the compartment door on the ground. The door flipped over, revealing the spring inside. It poked it again, and the spring popped out, bouncing into the grass and disappearing. Lin Feng looked at the cat. "You lost it." The cat didn't answer; it crawled into the grass, rooted around with its nose for a long time, and pulled out a rusty wire with its paw, placing it at Lin Feng's feet. It wasn't the spring, but a wire. Lin Feng picked it up and tried it; it was too hard and couldn't be used. The cat crawled back into the grass, and this time it came out with a small spring in its mouth, placing it at Lin Feng's feet. Lin Feng picked it up, compared it, and it fit perfectly. He patted the cat's head. "You're better at finding things than I am." The cat narrowed its eyes, and a purring sound came from its throat.

Lin Feng fixed the tape recorder, wiped the casing clean, replaced the belt, and installed the compartment door. He pressed the record button, the red indicator light lit up, and the tape whirred. He spoke into the microphone: "This is the happiness recorder. The first sound." After speaking, he pressed stop. Then he pressed play, and the recorder played back his voice: "This is the happiness recorder. The first sound." The voice was a bit muffled, but not harsh. The cat leaned in and pricked up Ear to listen, stunned. It let out a meow at the recorder, and Lin Feng pressed the record button, capturing the cat's voice. When he played it back, the cat's meow came from the recorder, sounding exactly like the real cat. The cat was stunned, circled behind the recorder to look, then circled back to the front and meowed at it again. The recorder didn't answer; it just repeated. The cat stopped meowing and crouched nearby, the tip of its tail swaying gently. It seemed to know that wasn't another cat, but just a shadow of a sound.

Lin Feng decided to record laughter. The first person he went to was Margaret. Margaret was washing mushrooms in the kitchen. Lin Feng squatted at the door, held up the recorder, and pressed the record button. "Laugh for me." Margaret was stunned. "What for?" Lin Feng said, "To record laughter." Margaret looked at the dusty recorder and laughed. It wasn't a loud laugh, but a soft one, hummed through her nose. The recorder captured it. Lin Feng pressed play, and the recorder played Margaret's laughter, soft and humming. Margaret laughed again, this time really letting out a sound. Lin Feng recorded it again. He recorded many times, from Margaret's soft chuckles to her laughing out loud, and from laughing out loud to clutching her stomach. Finally, she said, "I can't laugh anymore," and only then did Lin Feng turn off the recorder. The cat crouched nearby, tilting its head as it watched Margaret laugh, and opened its own mouth, revealing its teeth as if trying to learn how to laugh. It couldn't laugh, but it could open its mouth.

The second person Lin Feng went to was George. George was picking mushrooms on the farm. He was stunned when he saw Lin Feng approaching with the recorder. "What's this?" Lin Feng said, "It's for recording laughter. Give me a laugh." George didn't know how to laugh; he could only grin. He grinned, revealing several teeth that weren't very white. The recorder captured it. Lin Feng pressed play, and what came out of the recorder wasn't laughter, but two sounds of "Heh—heh—" like sighs. Hearing this, George laughed himself, a real laugh this time, coming from his belly—hahaha. Lin Feng recorded it again. He recorded George's laughter, resonant like a drum. He recorded Eric's laughter, soft like wind blowing through leaves. He recorded Martha's laughter, slow like an old pendulum clock. He recorded Lao Zhou's laughter, intermittent like a bicycle chain. He recorded Lin Xiaohe's laughter, high-pitched like a flute. He recorded the cat's meow; it wasn't laughter, but when the cat meowed, people laughed too.

He edited these laughs together, composing a "Happiness Symphony." Not music, but laughter. George's hahaha, Eric's hehehe, Martha's hehehe, Lao Zhou's gagaga, Lin Xiaohe's gegege, Margaret's hums, and the cat's meows. He arranged the laughter rhythmically, from slow to fast, from low to high, finally ending with the cat's meow. After recording, he put the tape into the recorder and pressed play. Laughter poured out from the speakers like a group of people chatting. George's laugh followed Eric's, Eric's followed Martha's, Martha's followed Lao Zhou's, Lao Zhou's followed Lin Xiaohe's, Lin Xiaohe's followed Margaret's, and finally, the cat's meow. Hearing its own voice, the cat was stunned; it walked behind the recorder to look, then walked to the front and meowed at the speaker. The cat in the speaker meowed back. The two cats' voices layered over each other, making it impossible to tell which was real. The cat stopped meowing and crouched by the recorder, listening to the entire piece. When it finished, the cat closed its eyes and started purring.

When Lao Zhou came to deliver the mail, Lin Feng played it for him once. After listening, Lao Zhou laughed. "This sounds better than the Water Glass Harp." Lin Feng said, "The Water Glass Harp is an instrument. This is laughter. It's different." Lao Zhou pulled a letter from his bag and handed it to Lin Feng. "Yours." Lin Feng opened it; there was only one piece of paper inside with a single line: "Lin Feng, can laughter be sent?" There was no signature. Lin Feng thought for a moment, took out pen and paper, and wrote a reply. "Yes. Send tapes. Tapes can last a long time." He posted the letter on the wall. Lao Zhou looked at him. "Are you planning to send laughter to every town?" Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. One tape for every town. Let them hear how others laugh." Lao Zhou looked at the recorder on the table. "Can this machine replicate them?" Lin Feng said, "Yes, but it's slow. I have to record them one by one." He paused. "You help me deliver them. I'll record them first, and you take them. Play them once in every town. If they listen and laugh, they keep it. If they don't laugh, bring it back." Lao Zhou put the tapes into his canvas bag, got on his bike, and rode away with the chain clinking. Lin Feng squatted under the tree and continued recording. He recorded a second tape, a third, a fourth. By the tenth tape, the recorder broke. The buttons wouldn't press, and the tape stopped turning. The cat crouched nearby and poked a button with its paw; the button popped up, and the tape started turning again. Lin Feng looked at the cat. "You know how to fix it too?" The cat didn't answer; it poked another button, and that one popped up as well. It poked several times, clearing all the stuck buttons. Lin Feng pressed the record button, the tape turned, and it worked. He patted the cat's head. "You're better at fixing it than I am." The cat narrowed its eyes, and a purring sound came from its throat.

After the tapes were delivered to various towns, some people laughed, some cried, and some were silent. But no one returned the tapes. Every time Lao Zhou went to deliver mail, he would ask, "Where's the tape?" The other party would say, "Keeping it." Lao Zhou would ask again, "Did you laugh when you heard it?" The other party would say, "I laughed. I laughed several times." When Lao Zhou came back and told Lin Feng, Lin Feng nodded. "As long as they laughed, it's fine." More and more tapes were sent; Lao Zhou's canvas bag was filled with tapes besides letters. Lin Feng made hundreds of them and wore out three recorders. Molly dug out two more old ones from the storage room, which Lin Feng repaired and used to continue recording. The cat crouched nearby every day, watching him record, occasionally poking a button with its paw. It seemed to know which button to press and which not to. It made fewer and fewer mistakes and more and more correct moves. Lin Feng felt the cat understood the machine better than he did.

The red dots on the happiness map grew more numerous and brighter. Lin Feng stopped looking at it. He placed his phone by the roots of the tree and let the cat sit there. The cat sat on the phone, its tail covering the screen. It didn't look at the red dots; it looked at people. If people laughed, it watched. If they didn't, it still watched. After watching for a while, the people would laugh. Lin Feng squatted nearby, watching the cat. He felt the cat understood happiness better than he did. Happiness wasn't red dots, or laughter, or tapes, or puzzles, or the Echo Wall, or the words on the Jet stone. Happiness was that moment when the corners of the mouth curled up when a person laughed. That moment was very short, but if remembered, it could last a long time. He stood up, brushed off his pants, and walked into the Restaurant. Margaret came out with a plate of mushrooms, following behind him. "Not recording anymore?" Lin Feng said, "That's enough. They'll know how to record it themselves now." Margaret placed the mushroom plate on the steps and sat down. Lin Feng sat down too. The two of them sat there, looking at the sky. Stars lit up one by one. The cat jumped down from the phone, walked to their feet, crouched down, and looked up at the stars. It watched for a long time, then closed its eyes, curled into a ball, and started purring. Margaret looked at the cat. "It didn't listen to laughter today." Lin Feng said, "It did. It listened all afternoon. It got tired of listening, so it stopped." The wind blew, carrying the plastic scent of tapes, the metallic scent of the recorder, the aroma of coffee, and the sweet scent of mushrooms. Lin Feng closed his eyes and took a sniff. He opened his eyes, stood up, and brushed off his pants. "I'm going to sleep." Margaret stood up too. "Will you still make tapes tomorrow?" Lin Feng shook his head. "No more. They'll make them themselves." He turned and walked into the Restaurant, with Margaret following him. The door closed, and the lights went out. The cat jumped down from the steps, walked back to the new wall, crouched by the Jet stone, rested its head on the stone, and closed its eyes. The moon emerged from behind the clouds, casting the shadow of the recorder on the ground, square like a black box. The wind blew, and the shadow swayed, but it didn't dissipate. Lin Feng stood in the Restaurant, looking out the window. He saw the shadow of the recorder, the shadow of the cat, and the shadow of laughter. He watched for a long time, then drew the curtains and went to sleep.

[Chapter 187 End]