Chapter 5: Joy Turns to Sorrow

Li Zhen was actually feeling a little smug about making it through the preliminary selection. Just as she was basking in everyone’s praise, Xu Ruyan had to come over and ruin the mood.

One moment she was chatting about the lively scenes at the auditions, the next she was talking about everyone’s makeup and styling—basically, whatever girls were into, she talked about it. Soon, everyone’s attention was drawn to Xu Ruyan.

Li Zhen wasn’t about to lower herself to please others. Feeling annoyed, she slipped out of the room.

The hot wind outside gradually cooled her overheated heart.

Li Zhen came from a military family. Her father was a division commander, her grandfather a retired general, and her uncles and older male relatives all held important positions. She was quite pampered at home, but compared to her highly accomplished and academically gifted cousin, she felt like a nobody.

She wasn’t trying to win a bun, she just wanted to prove herself. This time, she was determined to be selected. When she got on stage for the performance, she was going to shine so brightly that she’d blind all those people who looked down on her, who thought she wasn’t as good as her cousin.

The more she thought about it, the more fired up she felt. For once, she decided to go to the training hall for extra practice.

But what she didn’t expect was to find Su Xiangqin secretly using the space. Even more infuriating, Shen Nanqing was there coaching her!

That made her absolutely livid.

Li Zhen stood with her hands on her hips, her chubby cheeks puffed up with anger, eyes burning with fury. She raised her chin slightly, adopting a haughty posture.

Shen Nanqing calmed herself, gave her a glance, and walked right past her like she didn’t exist. Su Xiangqin instinctively clutched the hem of her shirt tightly, hesitating about whether to say something.

“Hurry up! Lights out is coming soon,” Shen Nanqing reminded Su Xiangqin, clearly unwilling to humor Li Zhen.

Upon hearing that, Su Xiangqin lowered her head and quickly caught up with Shen Nanqing.

Li Zhen: “……”

This wasn’t how the scene was supposed to play out!

Weren’t they supposed to ask her what was wrong?

When she saw that the two of them had no intention of stopping, Li Zhen stomped her foot in frustration, ran after them, and stretched out her arms to block their path.

Shen Nanqing: “If you have something to say, then say it.”

“I don’t care. If you’re going to teach her, you have to include me too,” Li Zhen said confidently, showing no sign of asking for a favor.

“Alright.”

With that, Shen Nanqing kept walking. To her, teaching one person or two made little difference.

Still, she had her own agenda. Even though she wasn’t interested in performing in the showcase, she wasn’t going to let someone like Xu Ruyan play her for a fool. If she couldn’t go herself, then she could at least send two of her own students. If, when the time came, they both made the cut and Xu Ruyan didn’t… well, that was something to look forward to.

Li Zhen hadn’t expected Shen Nanqing to agree so easily. She stood there in a daze.

Wait—was Shen Nanqing… trying to win her favor?

That had to be it. She must have been out of her mind before, listening to Xu Ruyan’s nonsense and constantly going against her.

Now, after taking a fall, maybe she’d knocked some sense back into her head.

She seemed to have forgotten that Shen Nanqing hadn’t liked her even before Xu Ruyan showed up.

The more she thought about it, the happier she got. She jogged up and started chattering excitedly, “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow? What time do we start?”

Over the next few days, Shen Nanqing’s schedule was packed to the brim. From what the two of them described, she roughly understood the skill levels of those selected this time. Li Zhen and Su Xiangqin couldn’t make a qualitative leap in such a short time; to stand out, they needed to find another way.

One day, while walking, Shen Nanqing was thinking about coming up with a secret weapon for Li Zhen.

Halfway through, she was stopped by Li Haoxuan.

They were in the same troupe and saw each other every day. Li Haoxuan deliberately acted distant, not initiating conversation, hoping Shen Nanqing would be the one to lower herself and approach him. But over these days, Shen Nanqing hadn’t even given him a glance.

Eventually, he couldn’t sit still and decided to take the initiative.

Li Haoxuan grabbed Shen Nanqing’s hand, pulling her into a secluded corner, raising an eyebrow: “Shen Nanqing, how long are you going to keep making trouble?”

Shen Nanqing hated being touched by strangers, so she forcefully shook off Li Haoxuan’s grip on her wrist, her face full of displeasure.

“Ruyan already apologized to you, can’t you be magnanimous?” He realized he might have hurt Shen Nanqing and softened his tone slightly.

In this era, there was great caution between men and women; a single wrong move could cause rumors about one’s conduct.

Shen Nanqing glanced around; seeing no one nearby, she relaxed her guard a little.

“If apologies were useful, what would the police be for?” she retorted sarcastically. “Besides, do you live by the sea or something? Mind your own business, I don’t need you to interfere.”

“I’ll be honest with you! I don’t care what’s going on between you and Xu Ruyan, nor do I want to. I was just accommodating you because we grew up together. Don’t think I like you or anything!”

“You like me,” Li Haoxuan said confidently. “You’re causing trouble for Ruyan because you’re jealous, right?”

“I seriously suggest you put your photo on the cafeteria door. That way, no one will want to eat—your narcissism will fill them up,” Shen Nanqing sneered, eyeing him up and down. “Honestly, I’m afraid of hurting your feelings. You’ve got greasy hair, a chicken-leg figure, and I really don’t think much of you. Boring.”

She even clicked her tongue a few times, showing obvious disdain. She knew men hated feeling inadequate and was hitting his sore spots deliberately.

“You… you shameless!” Li Haoxuan was so angry his veins bulged and his face flushed red.

Seeing how furious he was, Shen Nanqing felt satisfied with how things ended. Before leaving, she warned him, “From now on, you and I are done. If you make trouble for me again, I’ll report you and Xu Ruyan for having an improper relationship.”

Sometimes, people really do end up joyful one moment and sorrowful the next.

Shen Nanqing glanced toward the man at the corner and froze in place.

His eyes were deep, his facial features sharp, a high nose bridge above thin lips pressed firmly with determination. His fitted military uniform hugged his lean waist, his posture straight and commanding like a poplar tree. He radiated a heroic aura and stood out strikingly in the crowd.

If the setting were more suitable, Shen Nanqing would truly have stopped to admire such beauty. After all, this man was different from the handsome guys she usually liked to look at; he carried a calmness born of battle experience—a man with a story.

She tugged lightly at the slightly wrinkled sleeve on her wrist, outwardly composed, gave that man a polite smile, and then walked away gracefully, as if she hadn’t just been the one to snap at someone moments ago.

Of course, that was assuming her steps remained steady.

Watching her figure disappear, Song Huaiwen’s lips twitched. He really wasn’t eavesdropping; he had just been caught between a rock and a hard place and so hadn’t spoken.

The rehearsal hall was currently practicing the revolutionary dance drama “Surprise Attack on the Tiger Brigade.” Song Huaiwen was captivated by the girl center stage. She wore simple practice clothes, her hair tied high with a few strands falling playfully around her fair neck.

As the music started, she spun and leapt with the rhythm, her slender legs tracing perfect arcs in the air—elegant and lively, truly beautiful.

He hadn’t expected to see her again so soon.