Chapter 31: Actually, I Miss You

There’s no point trying to hide the truth here—it probably meant Song Huaiwen at this very moment.

He tried hard to sound convincing, but in Shen Nanqing’s eyes, it was kind of amusing. He was really not cut out for lying; his reasons always sounded forced.

Song Huaizhi was someone who paid great attention to her health. Once, a troupe member had starved herself for the sake of her figure and was marked as a bad example by her.

She said: People are like iron, and food is like steel; health is the foundation of revolution—you can’t let small matters get in the way.

Moreover, having spent so much time together, Shen Nanqing had never seen her suffer from stomach problems.

Shen Nanqing stepped forward and looked straight into Song Huaiwen’s eyes, pretending to be disappointed: “I thought you came just to see me, but it turns out it was only an afterthought.”

“I…” Song Huaiwen was already guilty and didn’t dare meet her gaze. His eyes instinctively darted away, lips slightly parted as if to explain, but no words came out. He could only stand there, helpless.

The saying “love makes people lose their wits” was thoroughly proven true in this moment.

Seeing him so flustered, Shen Nanqing couldn’t bring herself to tease him further. Instead, she smiled sweetly and reached out to take the backpack: “Let me see what delicious things you brought me this time.”

She opened the backpack. Besides cookies and candy, there were also jerky and chocolate.

These two were rare treats, usually hard to find. The Shen family was fairly well-off, but even she had never tried them before.

She immediately gave in to the temptation and tore off a piece of chocolate, lightly biting into it. The taste was okay, but compared to modern chocolate, it wasn’t as refined—somewhat coarse.

As a dancer, Shen Nanqing wasn’t big on cravings. Apart from her regular three meals a day, she rarely snacked, and this habit of eating lightly was ingrained in her bones.

She smiled and said, “It’s sweet.”

At her words, the tension around Song Huaiwen instantly eased, and he smiled along with her.

Before they could chat much longer, a voice from backstage urged Shen Nanqing to get on stage. She raised the backpack in thanks: “Thanks for the love and care.”

After saying that, she turned and walked quickly toward the backstage area, but after just a few steps, she turned back and dropped this line: “Actually, I miss you. I’m really happy you came.”

Song Huaiwen stood where he was, watching her disappearing figure with a doting smile on his lips.

In an instant, all the fatigue from the journey vanished, as if everything had been worth it.

On stage, Shen Nanqing wore a gorgeous performance costume. She danced gracefully to the music, every move light and elegant, her face glowing with confident smiles.

Song Huaiwen quietly stood among the crowd, eyes fixed unwaveringly on her, as if the whole world had shrunk down to just her.

As the performance reached its climax, applause thundered from the audience. Despite his reluctance, Song Huaiwen turned and quickly walked away into the crowd, disappearing.

“Hey! Why are you back so soon?” Xiao Liang, who had come to deliver supplies, was a little surprised.

Xiao Liang was a vehicle soldier, usually responsible for driving and transporting supplies and personnel. Someone else was originally supposed to take the mission with him this time, but at the last minute, Song Huaiwen replaced that person.

Xiao Liang was a rookie and didn’t know Song Huaiwen, but from the pockets on his military uniform, he could tell he was an officer.

Moreover, he seemed like a hard-to-approach commander, his serious demeanor even more intimidating than Xiao Liang’s old squad leader.

At first, Xiao Liang was so nervous he didn’t dare say a word, but halfway through the drive, Song Huaiwen told him to rest while he took over driving. Only then did Xiao Liang relax, and his talkative nature gradually came out.

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The drive took four hours, and he kept talking nonstop like a solo comedian for two of them.

At this point, Xiao Li noticed Song Huaiwen wasn’t responding and, feeling annoyed, asked, “I heard the female soldiers in the troupe are pretty handsome. Did you get a chance to see any?”

“I saw some,” Song Huaiwen replied strangely.

Hearing this, Xiao Li’s eyes lit up. With envy in his voice, he said, “If only I could watch a performance once. The prettiest girl I’ve ever seen is Cui Niang from my village…”

Xiao Li went back to rambling on by himself.

Song Huaiwen started the car and drove off, his expression noticeably softer than when he had arrived.

Back on stage, it was intermission with a scene change, and the performers needed to quickly change into different costumes.

After stepping off stage, Shen Nanqing headed straight to the place she had just parted from. Even though she knew the other person was probably already gone, she wanted to see with her own eyes before feeling at ease.

Sure enough, the tall figure had already disappeared. Feeling a bit disappointed, she went to change costumes.

Shen Nanqing shook off the extra emotions, took a deep breath, and lifted her head to confidently take the lead on stage again. Before every appearance, she would check her outfit — a habit cultivated during her earlier training.

Normally, this kind of check was routine, but this time she noticed that the seam connecting the shoulder and the yoke was a bit loose. If she raised her arms high, it would definitely tear.

Before performances, someone was usually responsible for inspecting and ironing the costumes. If there were issues, they should have been caught.

Shen Nanqing didn’t believe such an accident would happen to her, so to avoid alerting anyone prematurely, she scanned the area. Except for Liu Huixin, who glanced at her suspiciously as if she was forgetful, no one seemed out of the ordinary.

She silently pinned a few safety pins to reinforce it and reported, “Troupe leader, I need to use the restroom.”

Song Huaizhi was focused on coordinating the stage matters. Hearing this, she frowned slightly, her face flashing with displeasure. They were about to go on stage, and Shen Nanqing was slipping up now?

She stopped what she was doing, turned her head, and said with some reproach, “You’re not a kid anymore. How can you make this kind of mistake? Where have you been until now? It’s almost your turn. What if your absence delays the performance?”

Shen Nanqing looked embarrassed, lowered her head a bit, and quietly explained, “Troupe leader, I’m really sorry. I just suddenly felt unwell in my stomach and couldn’t hold it.”

She said this while clutching her belly, her face clearly anxious.

Song Huaizhi took a deep breath and suppressed her anger. Knowing arguing would only waste time, she reluctantly waved her hand, “Go quickly then.”

Time was tight and the task urgent; the restroom was a bit far from the stage.

As soon as Shen Nanqing left backstage, she went to the adjacent tent. Dr. Liu, who was accompanying her, was surprised to see her and immediately stood up, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Nanqing waved her hand, somewhat embarrassed, and said, “Um, Dr. Liu, I think I might have been bitten by an insect. I’m not sure. I wanted to use your place to check.”

Dr. Liu, also a woman, didn’t ask more and understood immediately. She stepped out of the tent and even drew the curtain to give Shen Nanqing privacy.

Shen Nanqing quickly took off her skirt. Sure enough, several stitches at the seam had come undone. It wasn’t a big deal if she wasn’t moving much, but once on stage performing professional moves, it would definitely cause embarrassment.

She pulled the loose threads tight, tied several tight knots, repeated the process a few times, and then pinned the seam with safety pins as a final safeguard.

The patched-up costume was somewhat uncomfortable to wear and looked crooked from the outside, but the performance was urgent. Shen Nanqing could only make do. Fortunately, the audience was far away and wouldn’t notice the flaws unless they looked carefully.

When Shen Nanqing returned to backstage, Song Huaizhi sighed lightly in relief. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “We women should always put our well-being first. Everything else comes second.”

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