CHAPTER 1 

The afternoon sunlight streamed brightly through the clean glass windows. The dance studio was quiet, with only a young girl stretching her leg on the barre. Her flexible body bent and overlapped itself, pressing down very low.

Song Qian’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she stared at the scene before her with confusion and disbelief.

A strange, old-fashioned dance studio, its walls painted in a dated shade of green—she was currently in the typical stretching posture of a dancer, propped up at the barre.

She slowly straightened up and lowered the leg she had placed on the barre.

Just moments ago, the original Song Qian had been rehearsing Giselle in her troupe for their upcoming tour in Spain. The European tour also included a cultural exchange with a dance company from Country M. As the principal dancer, Song Qian was under tremendous pressure and hadn’t properly rested in over a month.

The rehearsals were reaching their most critical stage.

Last night, they had practiced until past two in the morning. By the time she returned to the hotel and got ready for bed, it was nearly four.

Yet when she woke up, she inexplicably found herself here. If not for the sharp and real sensation of muscle stretch in her leg, she would’ve thought she was dreaming.

Directly in front of her was a mirror attached to the barre. In it, she could clearly see her reflection. Frowning, she examined her own appearance—this wasn’t her body.

The girl in the mirror had a slender and graceful figure, with curves in all the right places. From a dancer’s perspective, her proportions were nearly perfect—a body with ideal conditions for ballet, able to fully express its elegance and dynamism. But compared to Song Qian’s original body, which had already been honed to a principal dancer’s level, she could keenly feel that this one lacked muscle strength and was slightly on the frail side. Still, her looks were striking.

Wearing dance shoes, Song Qian instinctively rose onto her toes. She found the body surprisingly light and flexible, but the muscle control wasn’t quite there yet.

Song Qian had been learning dance since childhood, well protected by her family. Aside from the struggles she faced in her pursuit of a dance career, she had rarely encountered real hardship. But this current situation was more bizarre than anything she had ever experienced.

Thankfully, there was no one else in this unfamiliar dance studio for now, giving her time to gradually process what was happening.

So… had she transmigrated?

Her toes began to move subconsciously—basic ballet warm-up movements. Whenever she felt anxious or unsettled, she would unknowingly repeat these motions, as if doing so could calm her heart. At a time like this, only dance gave her a shred of familiarity in this strange environment.

She was lost in thought when a steady pair of footsteps suddenly echoed from the door. Still immersed in her daze, Song Qian didn’t notice until a deep male voice spoke:

“Comrade.”

Startled, her concentration snapped. Her unfamiliarity with the new body caused her footing to slip, and she nearly fell. A tall man quickly strode forward in two or three steps and grabbed her pale arm.

“Careful!”

Already off balance, she was pulled right into him, crashing into his solid chest.

The sudden contact left her stunned. Her first thought was: he’s so tall and strong. In his arms, she felt as small as a baby chick.

The man, clearly not used to being this close to a female comrade, quickly helped her stand upright and took a step back.

Still flustered, Song Qian instinctively replied, “Thank you.”

Only then did she start to carefully size up the man in front of her. She had no idea who he was. Did the original owner of this body know him? Her heart tensed with worry, afraid she’d run into someone familiar.

Before she could figure out how to respond, the man spoke again: “You’re Sang Miao, right? I’m Lu Xiao from the Infantry Regiment.”

“The program for your cultural troupe’s performance has already been decided. It’ll be The Red Detachment of Women.”

Upon hearing that, she instantly realized that he and the original Sang Miao likely didn’t know each other. So, the original body’s name was Sang Miao.

Though she was still confused by his words, she managed to glean some useful information. She nodded lightly and said, “Oh. Okay.”

Lu Xiao had just happened to be passing by the cultural troupe. Since he was nearby, their regimental leader had asked him to help finalize the details of the troupe’s performance.

After saying what he needed to, he subtly sized up the troupe’s little flower. Dressed in a simple leotard, her graceful figure was perfectly outlined. No wonder the moment she arrived at the base, she caught the attention of all the male soldiers.

Still, he couldn’t quite understand why she looked so flustered and uneasy upon seeing him.

Naturally, he had no way of knowing that someone else now inhabited this body.

Lu Xiao had heard the soldiers gossiping about Sang Miao before. In a place filled mostly with men, any bit of news about the female comrades in the cultural troupe quickly became hot evening discussion material—especially when it concerned someone as beautiful as Sang Miao.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Since his task was done and he had other things to take care of, he didn’t linger. He gave her a slight nod and turned to leave.

But just then, Sang Miao suddenly seemed to remember something. A storm surged in her heart.

Wait a second. Sang Miao? Cultural troupe? The Red Detachment of Women?

Why did that all sound so familiar?

Song Qian hadn’t even figured out the details of her transmigration yet, but now she was completely thrown off by how familiar this plot felt.

This… Sang Miao… The Red Detachment of Women…

Wasn’t this… a character from that novel she read just last month?

Song Qian blinked and looked more closely at the furnishings of the dance studio. It really did resemble the setting described in that retro-era novel, looking more and more like something straight out of the 70s or 80s. The studio was spacious and bright, but one wall was painted army green, with portraits of several great leaders hanging above it.

Weren’t those the very figures she used to see in her textbooks at school?

That book had been enthusiastically recommended to her by a new girl in her dance troupe. She had called it a retro version of the classic domineering-CEO-falls-for-me story, but with a ballerina and a stern military commander.

At the time, Song Qian wasn’t too busy and had read it to pass the time. The writing was decent, though the plot was a bit cliché. Still, she remembered the storyline quite clearly.

Sang Miao was the classic fake and pretentious second female lead. She had the looks but couldn’t endure hardship. Her dancing was all for show. Though she had the potential for a great career, she wasted all her energy chasing shortcuts.

Later, she clashed with the reborn female lead. Under the halo of the protagonist, she lost her wits, wasted her talent, and was eventually expelled from the troupe.

The author had clearly put a lot of effort into writing this supporting character so beautiful and charming—perhaps to make her eventual downfall all the more satisfying.

The novel’s heroine was a reborn girl from the countryside who joined the cultural troupe through military enlistment. In her past life, she was just a nobody in the troupe. Because she was from a rural background, there was a natural divide between her and the troupe’s city-born members, especially the children of high-ranking cadres.

Her dance foundation was weak, and she never stood out. She was simple, a bit awkward, and very proud.

The original Sang Miao looked down on her from the start. With her good looks, she had always been the center of attention in the troupe, and she couldn’t be bothered to treat a country bumpkin with any respect. While she didn’t go out of her way to target her, her everyday attitude alone was enough to make life hard for the heroine.

The reborn heroine, however, detested Sang Miao to the core—the girl who had everything, flaunted her natural gifts, and always put on a show. Upon her rebirth, she was overjoyed. Using the experience she had gained from her previous life in the troupe, she quickly caught the attention of the teachers and began her rise to power, defeating all the antagonists and becoming the true leading lady.

The heroine’s debut performance was The Red Detachment of Women, which was why this scene stuck so clearly in Song Qian’s memory. When Lu Xiao brought it up just now, it all sounded vaguely familiar. Once she pieced everything together, she remembered the plot immediately.

In her previous life, Sang Miao had originally been set to perform the lead role in The Red Detachment of Women. But for some reason, she injured her leg right before the performance, and the dance teacher gave the opportunity to the heroine, whom he had also been favoring.

The heroine lived up to expectations, delivering a perfect performance that made her name in the troupe. From then on, everyone knew her as “that Detachment of Women girl.”

This performance was the turning point of the reborn heroine’s comeback. Thanks to The Red Detachment of Women, she finally gained a foothold in the cultural troupe, earning recognition and shedding her former role as an invisible outcast.

At first, the original Sang Miao hadn’t cared much. But slowly, the heroine began to shine brighter and brighter, eventually replacing Sang Miao as the star of the dance division.

Sang Miao couldn’t stand it. How could a country girl she had always looked down on now be getting so much attention? She even overheard people whispering that the heroine danced better than she did.

Even the men who once admired Sang Miao began turning their attention to the heroine. She could no longer maintain her calm and confident image. Bit by bit, she lost her grip, grew bitter and twisted, and began targeting and mocking the heroine in every way possible. Driven by jealousy, she even plotted to ruin the heroine’s leg. But before she could go through with it, she was caught.

Everyone came to despise her.

The same beauty that had once attracted both the male lead and male supporting character only made her downfall more dramatic. She was reduced to a pitiful contrast against the heroine and eventually disappeared from the story altogether.

Thinking back to that man she saw earlier—Lu Xiao—his sharp, handsome features, the crisp military-style crew cut that made him look even more upright and intimidating… recalling this part of the plot, this should be—the male lead. So that’s what he looks like in real life.

Song Qian remembered that Sang Miao and the male lead didn’t have much interaction. Early on, the male lead seemed to have a vague fondness for her, but that quickly turned to disgust. Probably.

His character fit the usual mold of the novel’s strong yet deeply affectionate male lead. He had achieved multiple military honors at a young age, steadily climbing the ranks.

—

That afternoon, the rest of the cultural troupe returned. Sang Miao finally made sense of the situation and felt a little more at ease.

Her male dance partner, Liu Feng, brought her a bowl of noodles.

“This is for you. I know you don’t like lamb, so I went back to the dorm and cooked some noodles with an egg.” The canteen had served lamb for lunch today, so the original Sang Miao didn’t go.

She had a light palate. Although she wasn’t overly ambitious about dancing, she cared deeply about her appearance. She didn’t eat much and completely avoided foods she disliked.

She was delicate—everyone in the troupe knew this about her. Liu Feng, who had a bit of a crush on her, often made special meals for her, and the original Sang Miao accepted his kindness without hesitation.

Song Qian herself had also been pampered at home. When she first joined her dance troupe, she had been the youngest as well, so this kind of treatment felt familiar to her.

She had always been sweet-tongued, so she curved her lips into a smile and said to Liu Feng, “Thank you, Liu Feng. You’re so nice.”

Liu Feng flushed under the warmth of her smile, scratching his head. “It’s nothing.”

Sang Miao’s friend and roommate, Xiao Honghong, giggled. “Hey, Liu Feng, how come I don’t get this kind of treatment?”

Another girl, Liang Xiaoling, immediately teased, “Honghong, just get Zhao Jun to cook for you. He definitely would, hehe.”

Xiao Honghong pretended to swat her. “I don’t want him.”

Standing nearby was Zhao Weiwei—the reborn female lead—head lowered, her expression unreadable. Here we go again. Sang Miao’s entitled attitude, as if everyone should fawn over her… just looking at her was irritating.

Song Qian, now calm, had one simple thought: since the original Sang Miao met such a miserable end because she kept targeting the female lead, all she had to do now was stay far away from the heroine and never go against her.

Since she had ended up in this world, she had no choice but to accept it. At least she could still dance in peace.

Her achievements and focus in dance—along with the protection from her family and agent—had always spared her from having to deal with too many interpersonal troubles.

To outsiders, her aloofness sometimes resembled that of the original Sang Miao, who was also seen as proud and difficult to approach.