Chapter 21 (Catching Bugs)
When Lin Xiang and Zhou Yuezhu entered the military district auditorium, it was as if they had walked into some large-scale blind date and dating event, even worse than those in later generations.
After all, people in this era are more obsessed with getting married and starting a family.
In the auditorium, soldiers in white uniforms were full of enthusiasm, determined to perform well and try to find a partner.
Almost all the female comrades changed into casual clothes. The white coats of military doctors and nurses added color, and the female soldiers in the art troupe also shed their green coats.
Together with some young female comrades who were former military dependents, they formed a series of beautiful landscapes.
The lesbians of this era are full of vitality and look particularly energetic. Lin Xiang always feels that they are different from herself who was a social animal in her previous life.
When I first started working, I burned out all day long, like a zombie.
The two found a corner to stay. Zhou Yuezhu was in high spirits. From time to time, she would use her hands to smooth her braided hair and then stretch her beautiful new braid. She looked around with her beautiful eyes, trying to find the one she liked among the many soldiers.
"Yuezhu." Lin Xiang smiled and couldn't help teasing her, "Look, isn't that Comrade Shen Jianming?"
"Oh! Sister Xiangxiang!" Zhou Yuezhu's girlish thoughts were exposed, her face flushed, and she scolded Lin Xiang in a coquettish manner.
However, perhaps the atmosphere was right at the moment. After a moment, Zhou Yuezhu wanted to speak up and took the initiative to tell Lin Xiang about her little thoughts.
Zhou Yuezhu also grew up in the village when she was a child. At that time, she would run around the mountains with He Hongyuan. But later, her parents took her to the military area and she began to grow up among soldiers.
She has idolized her father since she was a child, and has a special affection for soldiers. She feels particularly friendly when she sees someone in military uniform.
When she grew into a graceful young lady, it was inevitable that there were people around her who showed interest in her and pursued her. However, Zhou Yuezhu was still ignorant, and her parents were strict in this regard. It was not until she met Shen Jianming by chance at the beginning of this year that she fell in love for the first time.
Shen Jianming is a deputy battalion commander who has been in the army for five years. He is capable, but he is a little at a loss when facing the female comrade he likes. He and Zhou Yuezhu have a mutual affection, but they have never really pointed it out. This time, they both want to attend the social gathering at the same time, so there is needless to say how sweet the romance is.
Lin Xiang listened silently and couldn't help but sigh that it was really nice to watch others fall in love.
"Sister Xiangxiang, you are not allowed to laugh at me~" Zhou Yuezhu smiled shyly. After all, she was still a month away from turning eighteen.
"What a joke." Lin Xiang was delighted to hear this, as if the air around her was sweet. "You two are a perfect match, talented man and beautiful woman."
Speak of the devil and he will appear. As the two were talking, Shen Jianming and several of his comrades came over here.
Shen Jianming didn't even dare to look at Zhou Yuezhu. He even pretended to greet Lin Xiang first, and then he said softly to Zhou Yuezhu: "Comrade Zhou Yuezhu, hello. Your dress looks really good."
After just one sentence, her face turned red with nervousness and shyness.
Zhou Yuezhu curled her fingers around her skirt and said modestly, "Comrade Shen Jianming, you look handsome even in a military uniform."
Lin Xiang felt that she was very redundant at the moment.
Especially when she saw two innocent young men and women talking shyly, she felt that her wattage was too high.
Everyone dispersed tacitly, and Lin Xiang was naturally left alone, heading to another corner. Many soldiers began to pass by him intentionally or unintentionally.
Many of the braver ones came forward to greet her, but their faces turned red when they heard her reply.
Lin Xiang could only sigh that most people of this era are simple and conservative, really so innocent!
…
When He Hongyuan and Zhang Huafeng arrived at the party, many people had already entered.
Zhang Huafeng scanned the scene and found Lin Xiang surrounded by many soldiers in a corner.
Lin Xiang is good-looking and it is true that she easily attracts attention. Seeing the excitement, Zhang Huafeng turned his head and looked at his good brother: "Wow, it seems that Comrade Lin Xiang is very popular. These wolf cubs just want to find a wife like this!"
He Hongyuan: ...
Zhang Huafeng has always been like this. He is very careless with his words and especially likes to make jokes, which can make He Hongyuan's face change and look happier.
He Hongyuan had a deep look on his face at this moment, and didn't say much. He chose a seat not far away and stayed there.
"Please just stand here in military posture. I have to go find Yan Min!" Zhang Huafeng was determined to have sex with Yan Min today and confirm their relationship. He couldn't care less about his good brother at the moment.
"Go ahead." He Hongyuan knew what he was thinking. "Remember to treat me to dinner when you come back."
"Hey, you must treat me!" It is their old tradition to treat their partner to a meal.
He Hongyuan stood alone in the auditorium, surrounded by the noisy conversations of men and women, and all kinds of youthful restlessness factors jumping in the air.
He glanced around and saw Lin Xiang talking to several soldiers with a smile on his face, seeming very happy.
He Hongyuan just raised his leg to go over, but was suddenly stopped by someone.
"Captain He, you're really here?" Meng Jing trotted over, grabbed He Hongyuan, and said in surprise and joy, "I heard that you have a childhood sweetheart, this must be fake!"
She didn't believe it. Given He Hongyuan's personality, it was absolutely impossible for him to be manipulated and succumb to an arranged marriage!
However, this time, He Hongyuan was silent for a moment, thinking of the day when Lin Xiang repeatedly condemned her scumbag father and did a series of things that would shock others. His eyebrows were raised and he had an attitude of not caring at all.
He admitted calmly, "Yes."
Meng Jing was shocked and said in disbelief: "Then... you can't possibly accept a child marriage, right?"
He Hongyuan looked at her as if he was looking at some insignificant person. He opened his thin lips slightly and spoke softly. Just one sentence made Meng Jing's face change.
——
On the other hand, Lin Xiang was indeed very happy at the moment. He chatted with several soldiers and learned a lot of information about the base, especially about the work situation.
Originally, there were jobs for military dependents in the army and outside the army. In order to create more jobs, the army teamed up with Jinbian City to build a factory on the island and recruited female workers every year.
"Comrade Lin Xiang, do you want to find a job? Relatives of military personnel can sign up." The enthusiastic and simple soldiers answered every question.
Lin Xiang secretly complained to herself, if she and He Hongyuan broke off their childhood engagement, would they still be considered relatives of a soldier?
Well, this is a serious question.
After chatting with people in groups of three or four, Lin Xiang felt a little tired. It's not that she didn't notice that many people were interested in her, but she was going to find a job first.
After all, she had seen a soldier like He Hongyuan who had a great figure and good looks, so she didn't want to look at anyone else. If she really couldn't find a job, she would consider it later.
But everyone was too enthusiastic, which made her feel a little embarrassed, so she quickly found a corner to stay.
No one knew where Zhou Yuezhu had gone. She was probably expressing her love to her sweetheart. Lin Xiang recalled the plot in the book and tried to find Zhou Yuezhu's story in the quick plot of the dream that day, to see if she fell in love with Shen Jianming after the social gathering today, and what her life would be like afterwards.
However, she was thinking hard in her memories, but she couldn't find any plot related to Zhou Yuezhu. Instead, she suddenly remembered that there was a mess in the army's social gathering this year!
What was supposed to be an occasion for young men and women to express their affection for each other and solve personal problems turned into an embarrassing scene where a man and a woman were found to be disheveled and having sex.
This is a complete tragedy.
She was the sister-in-law of a certain regiment leader who came to visit her sister. She had the idea of marrying a military officer, but her confession at the social gathering was unsuccessful. In a fit of rage, she resorted to despicable means and drugged the man to make the marriage a fait accompli.
Unexpectedly, the first time she did such a thing, she was too nervous and something went wrong, which ended up harming another innocent girl. In the end, the girl had physical contact with the officer and was discovered on the spot by everyone in the association.
The girl already had a lover, and this incident happened just after she opened up to her lover at a social gathering. This incident was a great blow to the innocent girl, and the news spread throughout the entire military region, causing much discussion and ruining her reputation.
Unable to bear the pressure, she committed suicide by jumping into the river a few days later.
Her lover was also devastated and depressed. He died on the battlefield a year later, with a small photo of the girl tucked inside his underwear.
The two were originally a loving couple, but their lives were ruined by an accident.
Lin Xiang caught the details of the dream and remembered that the hero and heroine in the book had an emotional entanglement during this social gathering, which was an unexpected act discovered by the two of them. However, Lin Xiang did not know who the people involved in the incident were.
It is said that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Lin Xiang still wants to give it a try, but she can only recall the innocent girl who was discovered by everyone and was disheveled and wearing a pink dress.
Oh, and a pink dress!
Lin Xiang quickly looked around the room. The lesbians present were wearing all kinds of clothes, but the only thing missing was the most delicate pink...
Is that person not here yet?
Wait a minute! Just as Lin Xiang frowned in thought, she suddenly remembered that Zhou Yuezhu had originally planned to buy pink fabric to make a dress, and it was she who suggested that she choose goose yellow!
So, the innocent girl turned out to be Zhou Yuezhu!
Yes, she and Shen Jianming just had a conversation, they were in love and shy.
Lin Xiang was filled with deep fear. She couldn't believe that the girl who had just stood in front of her, wearing a beautiful goose yellow dress and chatting and laughing with her crush, would suffer such a tragedy today.
Even traveling back to the 1970s didn't make Lin Xiang so frightened.
She looked around frantically but couldn't find Zhou Yuezhu. She had to stop this tragedy from happening!
bang.
Lin Xiang was running and looking around, and accidentally bumped into a tall man, who was like a wall and made her nose hurt.
But now there was no time to waste, so she said without even looking up: "I'm sorry."
I just want to leave quickly.
The surroundings were quiet. Everyone looked at Lin Xiang who had intruded into a good show, and waited anxiously to see how He Hongyuan would react.
Two minutes ago, military doctor Meng Jing was still angry and kept talking to He Hongyuan, and Jiang Xiurong, a female soldier from the art troupe who had long been interested in He Hongyuan, also joined in.
Meng Jing acted like a young lady born with a superior family background and smiled brightly: "Captain He, I invite you to listen to the radio, you won't refuse, right?"
Similarly, Jiang Xiurong was also a bold pursuer of love: "Comrade He Hongyuan, come and try the freshly brewed tea."
Everyone had heard that Head He had a cold temper, so normally female comrades did not dare to approach him. Only these two female comrades with excellent family backgrounds were bolder than each other. Such scenes had happened at the social gathering, but these people were all celebrities, not to mention that standing next to them was Instructor Jiang Zhenghao, Meng Jing's childhood sweetheart!
It’s really a good show!
At this moment, Lin Xiang suddenly broke in, diverting everyone's attention.
"What's wrong with you?" He Hongyuan turned around and saw that Lin Xiang's face looked strange and slightly pale. He had never seen Lin Xiang so flustered before.
Meng Jing and Jiang Xiurong both remembered this beautiful girl. She said that she was not He Hongyuan's girlfriend and didn't even know him at all. She just showed up here...
Lin Xiang suddenly looked up and saw He Hongyuan, who was impossible to appear at the social gathering. She didn't know why he came, whether he was going to meet a lesbian, and it seemed that he was still entangled with the heroine in the book.
But she couldn't care less. She was not familiar with the place, so she had to seek guidance. She grabbed He Hongyuan's arm and said anxiously in a low voice, "He Hongyuan, help me find Yuezhu. Come with me."
He Hongyuan was not aware of Lin Xiang's sudden action. The temperature of her palms turned cold, but it seemed to be burning her arms.
Everyone gasped. This lesbian was really brave. Even Meng Jing and Jiang Xiurong didn't dare to do anything to He Hongyuan! This person was really crazy. He would definitely be thrown away by Captain He!