CHAPTER 2 

During the afternoon rehearsal, Sang Miao informed the lead rehearsal instructor of what Lu Xiao had said.

The instructor, Yang Xin, was a woman in her forties. She was the troupe’s Head of Arts and also the overall director in charge of all the programs performed by the cultural troupe.

Once Yang Xin confirmed the program would be The Red Detachment of Women, she immediately called everyone together for a brief meeting. Decisive and efficient, she assigned roles and distributed tasks. Casting decisions had always been hers alone—she had her own reasons.

“This time, our performance for the infantry regiment will be The Red Detachment of Women. Now let’s assign roles.”

“Sang Miao, you’ll play Qiong Hua. Liu Feng, you’ll be Hong Changqing. Xu Weiliang, you’ll play the captain. Zhao Weiwei, you’ll be Comrade Xiao Pang the messenger…”

Yang Xin quickly finalized the cast based on her vision for the show.

Sang Miao nodded naturally. She had always been a lead performer in her previous troupe, so she didn’t object. Even though the plot would typically have the female lead in the starring role, as a dancer, she never made compromises when it came to her performance.

Zhao Weiwei, meanwhile, had a flicker of expected joy flash across her eyes.

In this life, Zhao Weiwei had experience. Having seen life in the city, she no longer made a fool of herself as she had in her past life, avoiding the ridicule and mockery of others.

Before joining the troupe this time, she had gone into the city ahead of time, spending money to stay a night at a guesthouse, where she showered and bought decent clothing to change into before arriving. With the knowledge from her previous life, she managed to blend in well without being seen as different or out of place—avoiding the storyline where she’d once been looked down upon.

In her last life, her appearance and behavior had made her the subject of disdain, marking the beginning of her nightmare in the troupe. From then on, being excluded and ridiculed became the norm.

But now, to everyone else, she was just like them.

And thanks to the dance foundation she’d built in her previous life, she had successfully caught Yang Xin’s eye.

Originally, her role in The Red Detachment of Women had only been that of a background performer. This time, however, Yang Xin had assigned her as one of the key supporting characters.

Yet when she looked at Sang Miao, standing in the center of the group and effortlessly landing the lead role, Zhao Weiwei clenched her fists tightly.

It still wasn’t enough.

After the roles were distributed, everyone dispersed to begin their afternoon practice.

Yang Xin called out, “Sang Miao, stay behind for a moment.”

She looked at the pretty girl in front of her, tall and slender—a natural for dancing. Even without putting in much effort, she stood out far more than the others when performing.

That was exactly why Yang Xin kept giving her the lead roles—she had the look for it.

“This military performance is for the field infantry regiment. The political commissar and the others are taking it seriously. Train well—don’t take it lightly.”

Sang Miao had always approached dance with dedication. Whether the performance was big or small, she aimed to do her best. Naturally, she agreed with Yang Xin’s words.

“I understand, Teacher Yang. I’ll take it seriously,” Sang Miao replied.

Looking at her face, Yang Xin wasn’t sure if she believed her or not. This girl always said the right things, but every time, she treated it lightly. Hopefully, she’d truly take it seriously this time. If not, Yang Xin might have to consider grooming someone else.

After giving her instructions, Yang Xin left to coordinate with the music department on arrangements.

Once she was gone, Sang Miao took a moment to collect herself. She untied her messy braid—disheveled from earlier training—then rebraided her hair into two sleek plaits, black and shiny, hanging down her back and revealing the smooth line of her neck.

She stretched slightly, then began practicing.

The Red Detachment of Women was a well-known program. Her previous troupe had performed it too, so she had a general idea of how to approach the choreography.

She barely rested the entire afternoon. Perhaps needing to release emotions, Sang Miao let herself dance nonstop, immersing herself fully in the movement.

What she didn’t know was that the moment she began dancing, she looked completely different from the original Sang Miao. Her entire being seemed to glow. Even her already striking looks were overshadowed by the elegance of her leaps and spins, drawing people in.

There was a difference in someone who had once been a principal dancer. Though the others could see that Sang Miao danced well, they couldn’t quite articulate what made her better than before—just that there was a newfound aura about her. They simply assumed her skills had improved again.

Only Zhao Weiwei sensed something was wrong.

In her previous life, Sang Miao had practically become her obsession. She hated her, resented her—but she had watched her constantly.

She knew exactly how skilled Sang Miao was.

There was no way her dancing was at this level.

Impossible!

Zhao Weiwei’s movements came to a stop. Frowning, she stared blankly at Sang Miao’s figure.

Sang Miao, unaware she was already being closely watched and suspected by the reborn female lead, remained completely absorbed in her dancing.

When she finally emerged from that emotional trance, her fair face was covered in a fine layer of sweat. It dripped from her forehead down to the tip of her chin. Even her light training clothes were soaked through, clinging to her body and faintly revealing her skin beneath, making her figure appear even slimmer and straighter.

A few girls who usually got along well with Sang Miao immediately gathered around.

“Sansan, you’re dancing better and better!” Zhou Qin teased playfully as the group laughed.

Sang Miao shook off the sweat on her face and naturally accepted the handkerchief someone handed her. She leaned lightly against the girl beside her, catching her breath.

Back in her old dance troupe, she had a good relationship with everyone. She was young, many of the others were older sisters to her, and with her exceptional talent and strong work ethic, she earned everyone’s respect. In a place where skill was everything, she had the strength—and they were happy to befriend her.

And now, in this new world, it was the same.

The original Sang Miao, no matter what others thought, had always been the star of the dance department in the cultural troupe. Beautiful and skilled, she was always cast in the lead role.

Sang Miao, still not fully recognizing everyone, gave a small smile to the people around her. After resting for a bit, she continued practicing. Even though she had changed bodies, she still needed to get back in touch with the feeling of dancing. The large mirror in the practice room reflected the light and powerful figure of a young girl dancing with grace.

By the time Yang Xin returned to the practice room after finishing the task of assigning rehearsal duties to the various departments, she saw little Sang Miao dancing in the middle of the studio. Each move was executed with precision. Even when it was a move she wasn’t familiar with, she didn’t stop—she kept repeating it, studying every motion carefully, completely absorbed.

Yang Xin nodded with satisfaction. It looked like the girl had finally had a breakthrough. Feeling reassured, she turned and left.

As dusk fell, Sang Miao went to the canteen with a few others from the cultural troupe. She was still quite curious about the army environment in the 1970s. But since she was walking with the others, she could only suppress the wonder on her face and quietly observe her surroundings.

Red brick buildings, a long corridor outside—by the standards of the time, the troupe’s facilities were already quite good. To her surprise, Sang Miao even spotted a large swimming pool in the area designated for the cultural troupe.

The canteen wasn’t far from the rehearsal hall, and after a short walk, they arrived. Sang Miao didn’t eat much and asked the kitchen staff to serve her a smaller portion. She was used to eating lightly in the evenings to maintain her figure.

The dance department members sat together. The female lead, Zhao Weiwei, didn’t sit with the group but took a seat by herself, slightly further away. In this lifetime, though she didn’t have a bad relationship with others, she wasn’t particularly close to anyone either. She often kept to herself, giving off a rather aloof impression.

Sang Miao didn’t pay her much attention. Since she was no longer the original Sang Miao, there was no need to get involved with the female lead. All she had to do was take care of herself.

The group chatted noisily, and somehow the conversation turned to Lu Xiao—the captain who had delivered a message to the cultural troupe earlier that day.

After hearing from Yang Xin that Lu Xiao had visited today, the female soldiers were all very excited. Lu Xiao was famous across their entire military district. People often talked about how the infantry regiment under the field army was one of the most elite units in the forces, with a long record of battlefield achievements and the highest number of commendations.

And Lu Xiao was the most well-known captain in the infantry regiment. Tall and upright, nearly 1.9 meters in height, he had repeatedly been awarded the title of Outstanding captain. His name appeared frequently on the honor board, and he always ranked first in training exercises.

How could a bunch of young girls in the cultural troupe not be moved by such a man?

A young girl, Yang Xiu, asked, “Sangsang, you didn’t go to lunch at noon. Did you see Captain Lu?”

Sang Miao replied, “Yes, I saw him.”

“Ah! Sangsang, you really saw him? Is he handsome?” Everyone immediately perked up.

Sang Miao paused her chewing, thought for a moment, and answered honestly, “Pretty handsome, but he looks a little fierce.”

“Well, of course! Captain Lu’s actually been to the battlefield and killed enemies. That’s what makes him manly! Don’t you all agree?” said the most energetic one of them, Xiao Honghong, boldly.

Everyone burst into laughter at her blunt remark, and even Sang Miao couldn’t help but laugh. Thinking it over seriously, she had to admit—he was very manly.

While their side of the canteen was filled with cheerful chatter and teasing, Zhao Weiwei sat quietly by herself, eating in silence, her face expressionless.

Only when she heard the name Lu Xiao did her expression shift slightly. Lu Xiao… She had heard of him too.

That man was truly impressive. Even though her life in her previous timeline had been miserable, the name Lu Xiao had been ever-present in the army.

She had personally watched Lu Xiao rise from a captain to the commander of an entire army unit.

He would also be attending this military tribute performance. Zhao Weiwei’s heart stirred—if she could get the lead role in this performance…

—

After dinner, Sang Miao returned to the practice room to continue dancing. Even with her calm temperament, transmigrating into another world had been a shock.

Dancing in the rehearsal room helped to steady her emotions and allowed her to quietly process what she was feeling.

It wasn’t until around eight or nine in the evening that Sang Miao finally returned to the dormitory.

When she got back, the others had already showered. Seeing her come back all sweaty, everyone was a bit surprised. The old Sang Miao had never worked this hard.

Liang Xiaoling asked, “Sangsang, why did you practice so late today?”

“Teacher Yang told me to step it up a bit. She said this military performance is very important,” Sang Miao casually used Yang Xin as a shield to dodge the question.

The others all showed an “ah, so that’s why” expression. Yang Xin was known for being strict with them. If she said something, it made sense that someone would have to practice harder.

They looked at Sang Miao with sympathy.

“But hey, if we’re performing at the infantry regiment, there’s a chance Captain Lu might see us. Let’s all do our best—if we impress him, maybe we’ll leave a good impression,” Xiao Honghong said with excitement.

“Oh, please. You’re just a background dancer. Our Sangsang’s the pretty one and the lead. If anyone catches his eye, it’ll be her,” Li Lan poured cold water on her enthusiasm.

Xiao Honghong shot back, “You never know—maybe Captain Lu prefers a simple porridge kind of girl like me!”