Chapter 85

After the incident of catching the thief, Shi Tingyu clearly noticed that Lijian seemed even braver than before.

Taking advantage of Lu Weiguo’s break, the two of them took Lijian to the military dog training base.

Lijian walked briskly, as if embodying a phrase from the future: “I want to work, and work makes me happy.”

If Lu Weiguo hadn’t been holding the leash, Shi Tingyu might not have been able to keep up with his speed.

Captain Li was bathing a military dog at the time. When he saw Lu Weiguo and the others, he wanted to salute.

Lu Weiguo waved his hand and said, “It’s rest time, we’re all brothers here. Continue bathing the dog, don’t let it catch a cold.”

Captain Li nodded and gently rinsed the dog. Once it was clean, he dried it off.

Unlike in the future, there were no dedicated dryers for military dogs, so they had to command the dogs to stay put.

Fortunately, the dogs were obedient, and since the temperature was relatively high, their fur dried quickly.

Lu Weiguo released Lijian’s leash, and Lijian immediately ran to the front of the hurdle bridge.

He looked at Shi Tingyu expectantly.

“Woof, woof!”

Shi Tingyu walked over helplessly, and Captain Li brought the freshly bathed dog, Junba, over as well.

Shi Tingyu hesitated before saying, “How about a race?”

It wasn’t that she was shy about competing. In fact, previous competitions had shown that the dogs that lost to Lijian often became depressed.

Lijian, now brimming with confidence, seemed unstoppable.

Captain Li gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s race!”

Lu Weiguo found it amusing and said, “Why don’t you use an adult dog?”

But this time, Captain Li firmly refused. If the adult dog lost, it would require a long period of psychological counseling. These adult dogs were now ready for duty.

In the end, Lijian competed with his siblings.

Hurdles, obstacle running, refusal to eat, and biting—all these tasks were performed excellently by Lijian.

Captain Li regretted his decision a bit. “Sister-in-law, if Lijian hadn’t already been given to you, I would want to take him back for official duties.”

Lijian’s head, previously held high, immediately turned towards Captain Li and then quietly hid behind Shi Tingyu.

He liked his current owner, and given a choice between work and his owner, he would definitely choose his owner.

Captain Li turned pale. “I was just kidding. No need to be so disdainful.”

Lijian responded with a bark.

Having shown off enough, Lijian thought it was time to go home. He fetched the leash and sat beside Shi Tingyu.

The message was clear: “Master, let’s go home.”

Shi Tingyu took the leash, put it on him, and then said goodbye to Captain Li.

Lu Weiguo followed behind his wife, looking at her and the dog, finding them exceptionally harmonious.

September 20th.

For the people in the family quarters, it was a good day.

Because the previously mentioned supply and marketing cooperative had opened.

The location of the cooperative was set in Zhu Family Village, the village where Shi Tingyu and the others had previously gone to buy fish.

This cooperative couldn’t just serve the military district but had to also cater to the surrounding villages.

The camp was in a remote location, and being a military zone, having a cooperative there would jeopardize its security with people coming in and out.

Thus, the final location was set in Zhu Family Village.

Zhu Family Village was not far from the camp and was close to several nearby villages, making it a suitable location.

Previously, people from the family quarters had to go to the town to buy things. Now, it was much more convenient.

On the opening day of the cooperative, a large crowd rushed in, and the sales clerks were extremely busy.

Because it had just opened, some counters hadn’t had time to hire staff.

These clerk positions were obtained by the military district.

There were many military wives in need of jobs.

When Lu Wenchan heard this news, she felt an urge to apply for a clerk position.

Since joining the art troupe, she had never been on stage.

She realized that there were many people in the art troupe without opportunities to perform. Many of them were still young and were being trained as reserves. As a newcomer, it wasn’t easy to get on stage.

Let alone getting close to any officers.

Around August 1st, the art troupe was extremely busy.

After the performance task in the military district, they had to visit other grassroots units for performances.

Some of these units were in very remote areas, and they stayed with local families.

Every performance required them to carry their equipment, which was exhausting.

Those who needed to perform on stage were somewhat better off. Since they were afraid of getting injured from carrying things, a lot of the menial tasks were done by those who didn’t need to perform.

At this time, she greatly missed her days in the women’s federation’s publicity office.

She had thought about going back to the publicity office, but she knew that her departure hadn’t been very gracious, and Director Liu would definitely not take her back.

The art troupe is not a place where you can come and go as you please.

Without the publicity office requesting personnel from the troupe leader, she couldn’t leave.

Unable to return to the publicity office, she could only watch as the salesperson job slipped away.

Now, she only hoped to get on stage soon, so life would be easier.

By the time the art troupe returned to the Jinling Military District, it was almost National Day.

That day, Lu Wenchan went back to her brother and sister-in-law’s house. Upon seeing her brother, she immediately burst into tears.

Although Lu Wenbin didn’t like his sister’s ambitious nature, she was still his biological sister. Seeing her cry like this, he assumed she had suffered a great grievance and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Wenchan sobbed, “Brother, I don’t want to stay in the art troupe anymore. It’s not about performing; it’s all about doing menial tasks.”

Lu Wenbin frowned, “What nonsense are you talking? The art troupe is a great job, many people would kill for this opportunity.”

“Anyone who wants this opportunity can have it!” Lu Wenchan was on the verge of a breakdown. “We spend every day traveling to different units, constantly on the road, having to do everything ourselves. This isn’t an art troupe, it’s a labor camp!”

Lu Wenbin felt a headache coming on. He was in charge of ideological work, but he hadn’t expected to need to use those skills on his own sister.

“The art troupe job is really good. You’re not performing on stage yet, but once you do, things will get much better. Besides, look at the girls from the village who joined the troupe with you. None of them have the dignity you have now.”

“When you tell people you’re with the art troupe, they’ll look up to you.”

“And when you get on stage, you’ll meet more outstanding people. Your future match might just be among them.”

After painting this rosy picture, Lu Wenbin gave her a reality check, “Besides, you hid your application from Director Liu to join the art troupe. If you leave the troupe now, do you think Director Liu will take you back? You might end up with nothing and have to return to the village to farm.”

The thought of such a possibility turned Lu Wenchan’s face pale. She was the prettiest and most accomplished girl in the village; she couldn’t accept going back to the village.

Seeing that his sister was listening, Lu Wenbin sighed in relief. Fortunately, his persuasion skills were still effective.

Watching from the side, Su Qiaoyue rolled her eyes. If it weren’t for the fact that this was her sister-in-law, she’d have given her a piece of her mind.