Regiment Commander Zhou had just put Yuan Xiumei in a tight spot. He believed that if Yuan Xiumei suggested Xia Anran as the lead singer, he would have the perfect rebuttal.  

*You accuse me of favoritism, yet you want a rookie who just joined the song and dance troupe to be the lead singer—just because she’s your student? If that’s not favoritism, what is?*

Yuan Xiumei hesitated. Truthfully, none of the current members in the troupe could compare to Shen Xueli from the Second Military District.  

Xia Anran had natural talent, but she was still new to the cultural troupe and lacked stage experience. Newcomers often froze under pressure during their first performance—she might even perform worse than Zhou Yuxin!  

Seeing that he had stumped Yuan Xiumei, Commander Zhou leaned back in his office chair, picked up his teacup, and leisurely skimmed the tea leaves with the lid, a faint smirk playing on his lips.  

Xia Anran wisely kept silent. Whatever she said now would inevitably offend one side. As a newcomer, it was better to speak less.  

Honestly, the solution was simple—hold a fair competition where the best singer wins the role. But people in this era probably wouldn’t think of that.  

To her surprise, Teacher Yuan actually did. She looked at Commander Zhou and said:  

“This is easy to resolve. Let’s hold a competition where everyone in the troupe can participate. We’ll judge based on stage presence, vocal quality, and overall control of the song—veterans and newcomers alike. The winner becomes the lead singer. No nepotism, no unilateral decisions. Pure meritocracy.”

Regimental Commander Zhou shot her a glance, inwardly fuming. She was clearly insinuating that he was autocratic and played favorites!  

He let out a cold laugh, his tone dripping with sarcasm:  

“A fine suggestion, Teacher Yuan. But who will be the judges? Can you guarantee they won’t show bias?”

Teacher Yuan pondered carefully, running through the list of troupe members before replying:  

“Of course, we can’t have just one judge. Let’s select four. Old Liu from the band is experienced and senior—he’ll be one. As the vocal team leader, I’ll be another. Teacher Fang has a keen sense of musicality, so she’ll be the third. As for the last one…”

Before she could finish, Regimental Commander Zhou cut in decisively:  

“I’ll be the chief examiner. The four of us will each give a score, then we’ll average them. The highest score wins the lead. Fair and square.” 

The reason Regimental Commander Zhou insisted on a scoring system was that he was confident he could manipulate it.  

Old Liu was timid—a subtle hint from him, and he’d obediently give Zhou Yuxin a high score.  

Teacher Fang was shrewd enough to give Zhou Yuxin a decent score out of respect for him, and he himself would give her full marks.  

Even if Yuan Xiumei gave a low score, the average would still work in his favor. He was certain his niece would remain the lead singer.  

Xia Anran lowered her head. She was all too familiar with the dirty tricks of such competitions in her past life. On the surface, Commander Zhou’s proposal sounded fair—but averaging scores left room for manipulation.  

Yuan Xiumei, oblivious to the scheme, actually thought it was fair and nodded. “Alright, it’s settled then.”

Regimental Commander Zhou smiled and gestured dismissively:  

“Then let’s all get back to work. The competition will be held tomorrow morning in the rehearsal hall.” 

Teacher Yuan left immediately to prepare without delay.  

Regimental Commander Zhou kept Xia Anran behind, boasting about his “fairness,” and she played along with polite gratitude before finally leaving the office.  

The moment she was gone, his smile vanished. A gut feeling told him—she would be Zhou Yuxin’s toughest competitor.  

Here, Xia Anran successfully became a disciple, while over there, Huo Ruiyang endured the pain of his wound as he led the troops forward.

Last night’s heavy rain had soaked his injury, making it prone to infection. Zhang Hengye, concerned about Huo Ruiyang’s condition, had the medic check his temperature every time the troops paused to rest.  

Huo Ruiyang pushed the medic aside, ordered the troops to assemble, and stood before them, his voice booming as he addressed them:  

*”No matter how much dry rations we prepare for the march, it’s never enough. So what do we do? Nature has provided us with abundant food—we just have to find it ourselves. Each battalion will split up to search for food and water sources.”**  

This wilderness training exercise was designed to hone the soldiers’ survival skills—an annual drill that every special operations soldier had to master.  

Battalion commanders relayed orders to company leaders, who then instructed platoon leaders, dividing the men into small teams to forage.  

The moment Huo Ruiyang had a moment to himself, Zhang Hengye approached him again:  

“Ruiyang, Dr. Wang said you’re running a slight fever. You should go to the hospital before it gets worse.”

“It’s fine. I’ve already taken medicine.”

Huo Ruiyang refused. He knew he had a fever—he had asked Dr. Wang for anti-inflammatory pills and aspirin the night before, taken them, and rested for a while.  

Was it because of the fever? He had dreamed of Xia Anran again!  

Now, with a moment of quiet, the scene of Xia Anran outsmarting Ye Lingling resurfaced in his mind.  

Her eyes had gleamed with intelligence, her words methodical and well-reasoned.  

Step by step, she had cornered Ye Lingling—her seemingly casual remarks laying traps, forcing Ye Lingling to expose herself. And then, without the slightest hesitation, she had swiftly canceled the engagement.  

A woman this sharp, this strategic, this decisive—how could she possibly be the same Xia Anran from before? She had thoroughly captured his attention.  

Aunt Li had mentioned that Xia Anran had joined the cultural troupe. That wasn’t an easy place to survive—without connections, she wouldn’t last long before being pushed out.