CHAPTER 15: Before the Performance 

Shen Qing chuckled, but when she saw the village cadre looking their way, she quickly shut her mouth.

Fang Erya stepped to the center of the group, her expression proud. “Sing through it once so I can hear. If it’s acceptable, then we can all save ourselves the trouble.”

The village cadre agreed from the side. “Come on, line up. We’re short on time and the task is heavy — no dawdling.”

Honghu Lake’s Waves Lap the Shore was a Hubei folk song, with a beautiful melody and deep, poetic lyrics.

Everyone sang in time with the beat, doing their best to perform well.

When they finished, Fang Erya’s face was stern. “What was that? The song was off-key, your stage presence was terrible — going like this will just embarrass us.”

Seeing her dismiss everyone’s efforts, Feng Shumiao bristled and stepped forward. “We practice every day, and the leaders all think we’re fine. How come the moment you show up, it’s all wrong?”

“That’s right. Why don’t you sing for us, and we’ll follow your example?”

They weren’t fools — they weren’t just going to take her word for it.

Fang Erya’s face flushed with anger. These educated youths were impossible to manage! If it weren’t for the village chief’s sake, she wouldn’t have bothered coming.

In the art troupe, singing wasn’t her strong suit; her only true talent was dancing. There was no way she’d make a fool of herself in front of everyone now.

Instead, she raised her hand and pointed at Su Yuan. Her tone was righteous. “The truth is always hard to hear. I wasn’t going to single anyone out, but since you all seem to have so many objections, I’ll have to sacrifice someone’s pride and point out the problem in the open.”

Caught off guard, Su Yuan blinked, feeling a little baffled.

“I never even sang. How could I be off-key? Did you hear wrong?”

“You didn’t sing?” Fang Erya’s disbelief was obvious.

Su Yuan looked over at the village cadre without offering further explanation.

Realizing what had happened, the village cadre quickly whispered the truth to Fang Erya.

Shen Qing rolled her eyes and muttered, “Looks like someone was trying to target you… and ended up tripping over their own feet instead.”

After understanding the whole story, Fang Erya gave an awkward cough. Thankfully, the village cadre stepped in to smooth things over, saving her from embarrassment.

“Alright, everyone, let’s hurry up and practice! Time is short—let’s try to run through it a few more times!”

Su Yuan’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. She really couldn’t figure out why Fang Erya seemed intent on targeting her.

For the rest of the practice, things went on relatively peacefully.

When the lunch break came, Su Yuan walked straight over to Fang Erya and asked, her expression serious, “Why were you targeting me just now?”

Fang Erya choked—she hadn’t expected her to come and “settle accounts afterward.”
“I… I wasn’t targeting you. I just didn’t hear clearly at the time.”

“Apologize to me.”

“…What?”

Fang Erya thought she’d misheard. She stared wide-eyed, frozen in place.

“I said, apologize to me.” Su Yuan’s gaze was calm and cool.

“Why should I apologize? Who do you think you are?”

Their raised voices soon drew the attention of the others. The village cadre rubbed his temples and quickly tried to mediate.
“Hey now, if there’s something to discuss, talk it out. You all live in the same village—what’s there that can’t be resolved?”

But with so many people watching, Fang Erya’s temper flared.
“I shouldn’t have agreed to help you in the first place!”

With that, she spun on her heel and stalked off, ignoring the cadre’s attempts to call her back.

In situations like this, the one who makes a fuss often ends up “in the right.” Shen Qing and Feng Shumiao exchanged a glance, then pulled Su Yuan along to leave as well.

As they walked, Shen Qing grumbled,
“Forget it, we’re not practicing either! We’re wasting time we could be earning work points, and now we’ve got to swallow our anger? What, do they think we’re pushovers?”

Seeing that everyone was about to walk out, the village cadre was even more distressed.
“What are you all doing? Don’t go!”

Unfortunately, no one listened. Two minutes later, the office was empty.

Since they were heading back to the village, Su Yuan ended up taking the same road as Fang Erya.

The group walked one after another, all with poor expressions.

Leaning close to Su Yuan’s ear, Shen Qing whispered,
“She’ll definitely go complain to the village head. She was the one who picked the fight, so we can’t back down.”

“Mm, right!” Su Yuan nodded firmly.

As they neared the village entrance, they spotted a green jeep parked in the distance, surrounded by villagers. It wasn’t clear what was going on.

Shen Qing craned her neck to look, just in time to see Fang Erya walking toward the jeep. She couldn’t help but curl her lip.
“I’d love to know who’s blind enough to take a fancy to someone like Fang Rou.”

Lately, Yang Xiaohong had been keeping up with all the village gossip. She immediately spilled what she knew.
“The Fang family is crazy about this soon-to-be son-in-law. I heard they’re getting married next year. Can’t deny it, Erya’s had quite the lucky break.”

“Wanna go take a look?” Shen Qing’s curiosity was piqued.

But Su Yuan tugged on her sleeve, clearly not interested in joining the crowd.

“How about this—Brother Jiang caught two wild rabbits in the mountains. They’re really cute. Want to come see?”

Yang Xiaohong was tempted, and Shen Qing perked up immediately.
“Is Jiang Song at home?”

“He should be.”

“In that case, let’s go!”

Before long, they passed by the jeep and headed toward the Jiang household.

At that moment, the young soldier standing beside Fang Erya happened to glance in Su Yuan’s direction. His brow knit instinctively.

Noticing his odd reaction, Fang Erya asked gently,
“What’s wrong?”

The man came back to his senses and shook his head.
“It’s nothing—must’ve been mistaken.”

That girl just now… she looked so much like his commanding officer’s childhood sweetheart…

….

That afternoon, Baiyun Village was in an uproar.

The village head sought out Su Yuan and the others, speaking earnestly, trying to persuade them to rejoin the military-civilian performance.

The program list had already been submitted. If things fell apart now, not only would Baiyun Village lose face, but his position as village head might be at risk.

Shen Qing’s eyes turned sly as she made a condition.
“We’ll participate—if Fang Rou apologizes to Comrade Su.”

The village head looked troubled.
“She has a dance performance tomorrow and has already gone back to the cultural troupe. How about this—once the show is over, I’ll give you an introduction letter so you can spend an extra day in Qingshan City. How’s that?”

Everyone’s hearts leapt, though they pretended to agree only reluctantly.

The next morning.

Su Yuan got up before five. She dressed quickly, slipped the broken fountain pen into her shoulder bag, and left the house.

It was autumn harvest season, so Jiang Song could only walk her as far as the village entrance.

Shen Qing and Yang Xiaohong were already waiting, smiling brightly.

Seeing Jiang Song, Shen Qing’s mood lifted, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
“Are you coming with us?”

“No, I’ve got to help with the harvest.”

He rarely spoke to girls. Scratching his close-cropped head, he looked slightly awkward.

Soon, the women’s director from the neighboring village arrived with Feng Shumiao and the others.

They were lucky—there happened to be a bus heading for Qingshan City that day. Before long, the vehicle pulled up, and Su Yuan boarded with the group.

Jiang Song handed her the hard-boiled eggs his mother had prepared, along with a reminder.
“Be careful on the road. If you run into trouble, call the village.”

“Alright, I will.” Su Yuan took the small bundle, her heart warmed.

As the bus rumbled to life, everyone found seats and settled in.

Sitting beside Su Yuan, Shen Qing eyed the bundle with a hint of envy.
“If someone treated me that well, I’d be smiling in my dreams.”

Afraid she’d misunderstand, Su Yuan clarified again about her relationship with Jiang Song.
“Aunt Ye is my godmother’s younger sister, so she’s my aunt. Jiang Song is my cousin. They’ve always treated me kindly, and I’m truly grateful. No matter what happens in the future, I’ll never forget their kindness.”

Shen Qing was moved by her sincerity, lowering her head with a sheepish smile.
“I was just speaking casually. You already have someone—you couldn’t like Jiang Song. I just… can’t figure out what’s on his mind, so I guess I’ve been overthinking.”

At eighteen or nineteen, it was natural to be confused about love. Su Yuan understood. She pulled a boiled egg from the bundle and handed it over, dropping the subject.

“Aunt Shen’s boiled eggs are especially tasty. Here, try one.”

The egg was right in front of her. Feeling a little embarrassed, Shen Qing touched the tip of her nose and said, “Yuan Yuan, you’re so kind. If possible… can we be best friends forever? I’ll treat you well—better than Jiang Song or anyone else!”

Seeing her so serious and earnest, Su Yuan gave a small nod and slipped the boiled egg into her hand.

The two of them exchanged a smile.

Afraid everyone might get bored, the women’s committee director started a tune, asking them to sing Waves on Honghu Lake as a final rehearsal.

Faced with a whole bus full of passengers, Su Yuan felt utterly embarrassed, though she was immensely relieved she only needed to mouth the words. Somehow, that made her shy heart feel just a little less exposed.

Hearing the beautiful melody, some passengers couldn’t help humming along. In no time, the whole carriage was filled with song.

The autumn wind blew gently, and time slipped away without notice. By the time they arrived in Qingshan City, daylight had fully broken.

Before getting off, many passengers offered encouraging words, telling them to do well. The atmosphere was warm and friendly.

Only after everyone else had left did the women’s committee director lead them off the bus.

The “Military-Civilian Gala” was being held at the Workers’ Cultural Palace in the city center. From the bus station, they still needed another half-hour ride on a public bus.

Yang Xiaohong had never traveled so far by bus before, and when she heard they still hadn’t reached their destination, her face instantly went pale. She couldn’t help gagging.

Recognizing the symptoms of motion sickness, Su Yuan quickly handed her a water flask and said with concern, “Drink some water first, that might help. Sit down and get some fresh air—maybe it’ll ease up.”

The women’s committee director glanced at her watch, a flicker of impatience in her eyes. She had originally planned for them to eat breakfast first, but made a quick change of plan.

“She didn’t eat breakfast, so she shouldn’t have anything to throw up. Let’s head straight to the Cultural Palace first, then find a place nearby for breakfast.”

Yang Xiaohong forced herself to suppress the nausea and nodded—she was afraid eating now would just make her throw up later and waste food.

Ten minutes later, they boarded the public bus.

The carriage was crowded. Su Yuan gave up a window seat for Yang Xiaohong and stood by, holding onto the seatback.

Looking out at the street scenes flashing past the window, she couldn’t help thinking about the day’s performance. Just then, a tall, broad figure in army green appeared across the street—cold, commanding, completely out of place with the everyday bustle around him.

Su Yuan froze, her eyes widening without thinking. But before she could get a clear look, the scenery kept sliding backward, and that splash of green vanished without a trace.

She shook off the unrealistic thought and brought her mind back to the performance. If they did well today, the village chief had promised to give each person twenty work points.

It wasn’t much, but… even a grasshopper’s leg was still meat.