Chapter 24

“I thought there was something on my face. You were staring at me.” Shen Guan Nan chuckled lightly.

Of course, Lin Shu Yin hadn’t noticed. She just felt that Battalion Commander Shen’s facial lines were softer than usual, not as stern.

She shook her head, “No, no. I was just lost in thought.”

“Um, Battalion Commander Shen, can I ask you a question?”

Shen Guan Nan, “What question? Ask away.”

“Well, do you have a girlfriend? Do you have someone you like?” Lin Shu Yin was direct.

Shen Guan Nan was taken aback by her question. He shook his head, “Neither.”

Lin Shu Yin nodded, “Okay, I understand, Battalion Commander.”

Well, this 6’2″ Battalion Commander Shen was so excellent. If he didn’t have a girlfriend or someone he liked, choosing him as a marriage partner wouldn’t be bad.

As her brother said, he was really good in all aspects.

An exceptional man, certified by the system.

Shen Guan Nan, “Why are you asking that? Are you going to introduce me to someone?”

Lin Shu Yin shook her head, “No, no, I was just curious.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Li Ting saw Shen Guan Nan suddenly walk towards Lin Shu Yin. They were talking for several minutes, and she didn’t know what they were saying.

She couldn’t help but come over and ask.

Lin Shu Yin, “Nothing much.”

Just then, Zhao Feng Nian called out to Shen Guan Nan. Shen Guan Nan took the opportunity to leave. Li Ting looked at Shen Guan Nan’s back and didn’t believe Lin Shu Yin.

She felt like Lin Shu Yin was flirting with Shen Guan Nan. She pressed, “How is that possible? I heard you talking. What were you saying?”

Lin Shu Yin, “What could we be saying? I just asked Battalion Commander Shen if he had a girlfriend or someone he liked.”

Hearing this, Li Ting quickly asked, “What did he say?”

“He said no. He doesn’t have a girlfriend or someone he likes.”

It was impossible for Li Ting not to be disappointed. When she heard the words “he doesn’t have someone he likes,” she felt terrible.

Actually, she should be happy. He didn’t have someone he liked, which meant he didn’t like Lin Shu Yin.

Of course, it also meant he didn’t like her.

Li Ting, “Why did you ask that?”

Lin Shu Yin, “Just asking randomly. Just asking.”

Li Ting, “Really?”

“Believe it or not.”

Lin Shu Yin ignored her and turned to move things.

An hour later, the stage was set up. The costumes, tools, and other things needed for the performance were placed in the brigade office for easy access.

Next was the issue of accommodation for the art troupe members.

There were quite a few art troupe members, about forty or fifty people. The village secretary and brigade leader discussed with the villagers and arranged for everyone to stay in villagers’ homes and the educated youth dormitory.

Lin Shu Yin and the other three stayed at Sa Ren’s house.

“Sister, why don’t you stay in the educated youth dormitory? We can stay together.” Lin Jian She wanted to stay with his sister.

Lin Shu Yin, “There are so many male educated youths in your dormitory. It’s not convenient.”

“That’s true.”

“Sister, what do you think of my friend’s cousin, Battalion Commander Shen?” Lin Jian She jumped topics so quickly that Lin Shu Yin was speechless.

She said, “He’s pretty good.”

Lin Jian She, “Really? My friend told me that his cousin has a pretty good impression of you. He wants to invite you to dinner next week.”

“Dinner? Really?”

Why did Lin Shu Yin sound so disbelieving? If he wanted to invite her to dinner, why didn’t he tell her himself?

Lin Jian She, “It’s true. Zhao Feng Nian told me.”

Lin Shu Yin, “I think you two are just messing around.”

Lin Jian She, “It’s true, sister. Trust me. We’re not messing around.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll talk about it next week. Help me move my luggage.”

“Okay.”

Lin Shu Yin originally planned to ask Shen Guan Nan if it was true, but when she came out after putting away her luggage, she found that he had already left.

She thought that the two of them were just messing around. It was like they were shipping them. If Shen Guan Nan wanted to invite her to dinner, why didn’t he tell her himself?

Actually, here’s what happened.

Half an hour ago, Zhao Feng Nian asked his cousin, Shen Guan Nan,

“Brother, do you think my friend’s sister is pretty? Do you like her?”

Shen Guan Nan, “Yeah.”

Zhao Feng Nian was anxious, “Yeah? What does that mean? Do you like her or not?”

Shen Guan Nan, “What do you think?”

Zhao Feng Nian, “I understand. You like her, right? So, do you want to have dinner together next week?”

Shen Guan Nan, “I’m not sure if I’ll be free next week.”

“I understand, I understand. If you’re free, we’ll eat.”

Shen Guan Nan, “Okay. Don’t blab to your friend. I’ll see next week. If I’m free, I’ll come find you.”

He said he would invite someone to dinner next week, and if he wasn’t free, he wouldn’t stand someone up. He wouldn’t break his promise.

“I know, I know.”

Zhao Feng Nian agreed readily. As soon as Shen Guan Nan left, he told Lin Jian She.

In this era, every household had a limited amount of food. So, their art troupe brought their own food, pots, bowls, and other things when they came to the countryside.

They set up a stove in the brigade yard to cook their own meals.

They arrived at 8 am. After setting up the stage, organizing their luggage, and doing everything else, it was almost noon.

They cooked a meal of cornmeal pancakes, vinegar-braised cabbage, and egg drop soup made with eggs given by the villagers.

After eating and drinking, they went to take a nap. When they woke up, they helped the villagers work.

His sister was here, so Lin Jian She was especially happy. He was originally herding cows, but he swapped with someone so he could follow Lin Shu Yin to work in the fields.

There wasn’t much farm work in May, but there was some. They had to weed the fields, removing weeds around the corn seedlings, mung bean seedlings, and other crops.

It was a real pain. Lin Shu Yin didn’t even know how to use a hoe.

She had never worked in the fields in her previous life or this life!

Fortunately, the villagers taught them. Lin Shu Yin wasn’t good at using a hoe. She wanted to throw it away and pull the weeds by hand.

“No, child, it’s too tiring to pull them by hand. You’ll be bending over all the time. Use a hoe.”

Not only Lin Shu Yin, but most of the art troupe members didn’t know how to do it. Only the few who were from the village were good at it.

“Weed carefully. Don’t accidentally chop off the seedlings.”

Deputy head of the troupe, Zhang Xia, gave the order.

They wouldn’t dare. Even if they worked slowly, they couldn’t chop off the seedlings. These were all the villagers’ hard work.

Different professions have different expertise. They were not as good as the villagers at farming and animal husbandry.

They finished work at 6 pm.

The group went back, cooked dinner, and then prepared for the performance.

Lin Shu Yin had three performances tonight: a trio with Chen Mei Lian and Xiong Zhi Yuan, a horsehead fiddle performance of “Ten Thousand Horses Galloping” with the band, and an erhu performance of “Racing Horse.”

Because they had a performance tonight, everyone hurried home after work, quickly ate dinner, tidied up, and brought their families to the brigade to watch the performance.

The performance started at 8 pm.

The first to appear was Song Wei Wei, singing “My Motherland.”

“Wei Wei, when you go on stage, don’t look at people’s faces. Look somewhere else. Just don’t look at the audience’s faces.” Meng Jia reminded her.

Last time, she looked at the audience’s faces and sang the lyrics wrong.