Chapter 29 Commander Song, help!
Yan Ruyi also saw Yan Guoqiang, quickly hopped over, and called out, "Dad."
Yan Guoqiang hummed in agreement, but his eyes remained fixed on the jeep behind him.
The jeep quickly pulled up and stopped behind Yan Ruyi.
Yan Guoqiang walked over and said fiercely, "Kid, get down here! You've been following my daughter all this way, what do you want?"
Seeing that her father had misunderstood, Yan Ruyi quickly said, "Dad, he is Commander Song. He also went to see the performance tonight. We came back together. He was worried about safety on the road, so he followed behind me and escorted me back."
Song Yiping never expected to meet his future father-in-law under these circumstances.
Although it's a bit early to call him "father-in-law," he feels he'll call him "Dad" sooner or later.
His original plan was that when he made a formal visit, he would bring two bottles of Moutai, and the two of them would sit down and have a couple of drinks to warm up the atmosphere.
Yan Guoqiang loves playing chess. After having some drinks, he would play a couple more games with his father-in-law to further build rapport. If he performed well, he would earn a lot of points.
He never expected that he would meet Yan Ruyi's father like this.
Moreover, their first meeting led to a misunderstanding between the future father-in-law and his son.
This caught him off guard. He forced himself to remain calm as he got out of the car and greeted, "Hello, Uncle Yan, I am Song Yiping."
Yan Guoqiang, "..."
He had heard from his wife that their daughter's aunt had introduced her to a man surnamed Song, who was a regimental commander.
It's probably this young man.
Yan Guoqiang looked her up and down. She was tall and had long legs, and her appearance was also good-looking. She was a good match for his daughter.
But according to my wife, the two of them didn't get along, but it doesn't look like they didn't.
Regardless, the person kindly brought his daughter home, so as her father, he had to show his appreciation.
He wasn't sure if his daughter was dating anyone, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to put on airs and act authoritative, but shaking hands was still okay.
He reached out to shake hands with Song Yiping, but halfway there, he remembered that he was still holding a brick. He quickly pulled his hand back and quietly threw the brick away with a "thud".
He wiped his hands on his clothes before shaking hands with Song Yiping, saying, "Thank you, Commander Song, for bringing my daughter back."
Song Yiping pretended not to hear anything, shook hands with Yan Guoqiang, and said, "It's my pleasure. I'll be driving, it'll be convenient."
"We're almost home. Commander Song, why don't you rest at home for a bit before you go?"
Song Yiping glanced at his watch. "It's too late, so I won't go over. I'll come and bother Uncle Yan another day."
Yan Guoqiang didn't insist on keeping him, saying, "Alright, then drive slowly on the road."
Song Yiping responded and drove away.
Yan Ruyi stopped riding her bike. Her dad strolled around with his hands behind his back, and she pushed her bike beside him.
"Dad, I saw it all just now, what are you doing with that brick?"
"He wasn't wearing a military uniform either, and he kept following you in his car. I thought some rascal was trying to take advantage of you, but I ended up going up and hitting him with a brick."
Yan Ruyi said with a grin, "What if he really is a rascal? Even you can't beat him, Dad."
Yan Guoqiang said authoritatively, "Nonsense, I could take on three of Commander Song by myself."
Yan Ruyi was amused by her father and kept giggling.
Seeing that the father and daughter hadn't gone back, Ye Hongzhen was worried and followed them out. From afar, she could hear her daughter laughing and asked, "What are you two talking about that makes you so happy?"
Yan Ruyi: "My dad said he could take down three strong young men by himself."
Yan Guoqiang said, "Ask your mother. When she was young, she went to the market and three hooligans blocked her way. I happened to be passing by and took them down in no time. Otherwise, your mother would not have married me."
Ye Hongzhen, "Don't you even know how old you were back then, and how old you are now?"
Yan Guoqiang snorted, "I'm old but still vigorous."
Yan Ruyi imagined her father fighting Song Yiping.
Her father probably can't beat Song Yiping.
Wang Sicheng is tall and strong enough, standing there like a black tower, much stronger than Song Yiping. Yet, Song Yiping easily pinned him down. It's unclear whether Song Yiping used some clever tricks, but Wang Sicheng couldn't move at all from beginning to end.
Commander Song's physical fitness is exceptionally good.
The three of them went home, and once they were back in their own room, Yan Guoqiang said to Ye Hongzhen, "It was that man surnamed Song who brought my daughter back."
Ye Hongzhen asked in surprise, "Commander Song? Why is it him who brought my daughter back?"
"Ruyi said he also went to see a performance tonight, and they came back together. He was worried about safety on the way, so he sent his daughter back."
"You saw him?"
Yan Guoqiang: "I saw him. He's very tall and looks even more energetic than in the photos. He even called me Uncle Yan. What's going on between them? Didn't you say you weren't dating anyone?"
Ye Hongzhen regretted not going out with Yan Guoqiang.
He looks even more energetic than in the photos; just how handsome must he be?
But she wasn't in a hurry; if she really got together with her daughter, they would meet sooner or later.
If things didn't work out with my daughter, then there's no need to see her again.
"Since your daughter didn't say anything, don't ask. Let's just pretend we don't know anything."
Although Yan Ruyi kept encouraging herself, she was still a little apprehensive.
The main problem is that I'm not confident.
She practiced in front of the mirror at home several times, and her mother encouraged her, saying she had signed up well.
You can't trust her mother's words. Even if she stumbles over her words, her mother will still clap and say, "My daughter reads so well."
You can't trust her second brother's words either; he's just like her mother, only good-natured.
As for her second sister-in-law, out of ten words she says, at most half a sentence can be extracted as useful, and even that half sentence is just random commentary.
So she didn't know whether her application was good or not.
I wish she could hear the playback.
Just as she was worrying, the office phone rang. Xia Pengfei answered it, and a moment later called out to her, "Xiao Yan, the phone's ringing."
Yan Ruyi thought it was Luo Huihui, so she answered the phone and called out "Huihui".
She wanted Luo Huihui to come to her house after get off work so that Luo Huihui could give her some advice.
Then I heard someone on the other end of the phone say, "It's me, Song Yiping."
This was the first time Song Yiping had called her. She glanced around the office instinctively, and seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she whispered, "Commander Song, what's up?"
Song Yiping said he found a tape recorder for Yan Ruyi and asked her to come over after get off work so he could explain how to use it to her.
Yan Ruyi had seen a tape recorder before. When she was in college, her English teacher had one, and sometimes he would bring the tape recorder to the classroom and play English tapes for them to listen to.
Sometimes I record their English pronunciation and then play it back for them.
She herself had never used it.
If she could record her practice sessions and review them to identify areas for improvement, she would definitely improve her delivery.
Yesterday she told Song Yiping that she had practiced in front of the mirror at home, but she didn't know how well she was doing. She casually mentioned that it would be great to hear the playback.
Today, Song Yiping found her a tape recorder.
Unable to resist the temptation, she stopped inviting Luo Huihui to her house and went straight to Song Yiping's office after work.
Since it was already past get off work hours, most of the office doors were closed, except for Song Yiping's office door, which was open. When Yan Ruyi arrived, he was standing in front of his desk with his back to the door, bent over, fiddling with something.
Yan Ruyi knocked on the door, "Commander Song."
Song Yiping turned his head, and Yan Ruyi saw a tape recorder on the desk, which looked quite new.
Song Yiping: "Come in."
Yan Ruyi went inside and curiously touched the tape recorder. "How do you use this?"
Song Yiping pressed a button.
"Commander Song."
"Please come in."
How do I use this?
It turns out that Song Yiping had recorded their conversation.
Yan Ruyi narcissistically thought that, upon listening to it this way, her voice was actually quite nice, not at all inferior to the female announcer when the Su Guo Song and Dance Troupe performed.
Song Yiping's voice is also pleasant to hear. His voice is low and mellow, somewhat like the voice of a male news anchor on TV.
Yan Ruyi realized that her thoughts had gone a little off track, and her face felt a little hot.
Song Yiping didn't notice her discomfort, so he stopped the recorder and then explained to Yan Ruyi how to use it.
Yan Ruyi quickly memorized those few keys.
Song Yiping asked again, and seeing that Yan Ruyi had indeed memorized everything, he took two sheets of paper from his desk and handed them to Yan Ruyi.
Yan Ruyi took it and saw that it was their script for the program.
Judging from the handwriting, it should have been copied by Song Yiping.
It was probably copied from Qian Ganshi.
"You can try reading it, and I'll play it back for you in a bit."
Aside from her family, Yan Ruyi had never recited a poem in front of outsiders, especially since her thoughts had wandered off just now. Reciting a poem in front of Song Yiping made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
But then she thought, if she had such difficulty speaking to Song Yiping alone, how would she manage when she went on stage and faced thousands of people?
She mentally prepared herself, then cleared her throat, "Respected leaders, dear comrades, and friends here today, good evening!"
She read the lines of both the male and female announcers together, and after finally finishing, she said to Song Yiping, "Commander Song, could you play it back for me? I want to hear how I read it."
Song Yiping pressed the replay button, "Respected leaders, dear comrades-in-arms, and all friends present, good evening!"
Yan Ruyi, "..."
When Yan Ruyi was reading, she didn't think she was speaking very fast, but when she listened to the playback, it sounded like someone was urging her on from behind. Her speaking speed was extremely fast, and it kept getting faster and faster until there were almost no pauses at the end.
Fortunately, the script wasn't that long, otherwise she felt she would have suffocated herself by the end.
She was very frustrated. "How could this be?"
Song Yiping comforted her, "Your pronunciation is very clear, it's just that you speak a little too fast. You'll get better with a few more practice sessions."
Yan Ruyi's stubbornness flared up, "Again!"
He did it several more times, each time better than the last, but his speaking speed was still a bit too fast.
Yan Ruyi slumped onto the sofa, somewhat dejected. "I'm not a professional, so it's obviously no good."
Song Yiping poured her a glass of water. "Have some water and rest for a while."
He told Yan Ruyi to rest on the sofa, then picked up a pen and sketched on the paper according to his understanding. After finishing, he showed it to Yan Ruyi and said, "I added pauses on it. Try it again following this rhythm."
Yan Ruyi didn't want to disappoint him, so she cheered herself up and read it again. When she read the part that Song Yiping had marked, she paused consciously. Sure enough, it was much better than the previous times.
Yan Ruyi suddenly gained confidence, "Let's try again."
Only after I finished speaking did I notice that it was getting a bit hazy outside.
It's already so late!
She quickly packed her things. "I'm going home. I didn't tell my mom when I came. If I don't go back soon, she'll start to worry."
Song Yiping: "Okay, then we can continue tomorrow after work."
Yan Ruyi was very conflicted.
She's already taken up Song Yiping's free time once; will she take it up again tomorrow?
But if she were to borrow his tape recorder to practice at home, not only would she be unable to answer her family's questions about where the tape recorder came from.
Besides, the tape recorder is so expensive; if it gets accidentally dropped, she'll have to pay for it.
She hesitated for only a moment before replying, "Okay."
Too many lice don't itch, too much debt doesn't worry.
Whether you owe one favor or ten, it's still a favor!
After two rehearsals, the "Military-Civilian Unity and Friendship Performance Gala" finally kicked off on August 1st, Army Day.
After finishing her makeup, Yan Ruyi secretly lifted the curtain backstage.
During the first two rehearsals, there were only a few people scattered in the audience, but this time, the audience was packed.
The entire auditorium was brightly lit, and she found Song Yiping immediately.
Even though he was sitting among a group of people in military uniforms, she still spotted him at a glance.
Song Yiping sat in the middle of the 6th row, frequently glancing towards the stage.
Yan Ruyi waved to him, indicating that she had seen him.
Song Yiping smiled and waved to Yan Ruyi, but Yan Ruyi didn't see it because she was called away by Qian, the clerk. "Comrade Yan, the party is about to start, let's hurry up and go over the lines."
At 7 o'clock sharp, the performance officially began. The lights in the auditorium were turned off, and the huge circular light pillar on the stage shone on the purplish-red velvet curtain. The curtain slowly opened, and Yan Ruyi and Qian Ganshi walked out from backstage one after the other.
"Respected leaders, dear comrades, and friends here today, good evening!"
...
The audience was packed with people, and countless eyes were fixed on them.
Although she had practiced many times in front of the recorder and had rehearsed twice, Yan Ruyi was still so nervous that her palms were sweating and her heart was pounding. She even trembled when she said the first sentence.
She subconsciously looked at Song Yiping in the audience.
Actually, the stage was brightly lit while the audience was in the dark, so she couldn't see Song Yiping at all.
However, the thought that Song Yiping was sitting in the audience, watching her, made her feel inexplicably at ease, and she gradually became less nervous.
Song Yiping sat in the audience. The show was wonderful, but he didn't pay attention to what was being performed. When Yan Ruyi came on stage, he was watching her. After Yan Ruyi went backstage, he was thinking about what Yan Ruyi looked like.
Yan Ruyi was wearing a pink suit today, and with makeup on, she looked even more radiant than usual under the lights.
Moreover, it was clear that she was a little nervous when she first went on stage, but she became more and more fluent later on, unhurried and calm, with a beautiful and pure voice, and graceful demeanor, even better than he had imagined.
The hour-and-a-half performance ended quickly.
The performance was a great success. When the curtain fell, the lights came on, everyone stood up, and thunderous applause filled the auditorium.
Yan Ruyi stood on the stage, looked at Song Yiping, and happily waved to him.
After taking her bow, Yan Ruyi flew backstage like a little bird.
The cast and crew were all backstage, making a lot of noise. A young woman, holding a bunch of pink and yellow silk flowers, stood on tiptoe and looked around, but couldn't find the person she was looking for. She pulled a female colleague aside and asked, "Comrade, where is Yan Ruyi?"
The woman pointed inside and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Yan Ruyi, someone's looking for you!"
Yan Ruyi agreed and came over.
The girl handed the bouquet to Yan Ruyi, saying, "Comrade Yan Ruyi, congratulations on your successful performance."
The girl looked unfamiliar; Yan Ruyi didn't recognize her, guessing she was acting on someone else's behalf.
Yan Ruyi asked, "Who sent it?"
The girl smiled and said mysteriously, "You'll see when you see it. Mission accomplished, I'm leaving."
Most of the performers were women. When they saw that Yan Ruyi had received flowers, they all gathered around and chattered, "So beautiful."
"Quickly, see who sent it."
...
Upon inspection, Yan Ruyi found a small card tucked inside the silk flower. It read: "Congratulations on Comrade Yan's successful performance," and was signed with only one character: Song.
Who else could it be but Song Yiping?
Even without seeing the signature "Yan Ruyi," one could tell it was a gift from Song Yiping.
His handwriting is so legible.
Yan Ruyi put the card in her pocket, her ears burning. Why did he think of sending flowers? It was too conspicuous.
She was secretly happy; it was the first time in her life that someone had given her flowers.
When she got home, she wanted to find a vase, but after looking around, she couldn't find one. Ye Hongzhen found a pickling jar, which Yan Ruyi washed clean, put the flowers in, and placed it on the table. It looked quite nice.
After arranging the flowers, I lay on the bed, resting my chin on my hand, admiring the view, feeling a sense of joy.
At tonight's party, a female worker from the textile factory sang "Katyusha." Although she couldn't understand the lyrics, she thought she sang it very well.
She also wanted to sing "The Mountain Tree" fluently in Su language, just like the female factory workers!
She jumped out of bed and pulled out the "Basic Suzhou Language" book she had bought before.
The whole thing was filled with tadpoles of all sizes, and the more she looked, the sleepier she became.
She was so excited last night that she didn't fall asleep until very late, and she woke up very early this morning. She was full of energy all day and didn't feel sleepy at all. But now, the tadpoles have lulled her to sleep, and as she looked at them, her eyelids started to droop. In less than 10 minutes, she fell asleep with the book in her arms.
What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.
She fell asleep and began to dream. She dreamt that she went to the State of Su, surrounded by tall, strong Su people carrying guns. They chattered around her, but she couldn't understand a word they said.
She was terrified and tried to explain with gestures that she was Chinese and a good person, but the Soviets couldn't understand her.
Seeing that the Soviets were surrounding her more and more tightly, and one of them even raised a gun and aimed it at her, she felt that she was about to be shot at any moment.
She screamed in terror, "Commander Song, help!"
She woke herself up, and when she opened her eyes, she was startled to see her mother standing at the head of her bed.
Ye Hongzhen continued pulling the light cord, "Dreaming?"
Yan Ruyi woke up and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table; it was 11:20.
"Mom, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Ye Hongzhen: “I got up to go to the bathroom and saw that the light in your room was still on. I called you but no one answered. I thought you might have forgotten to turn off the light, so I came in to turn it off for you. I had just come in when you woke up. What kind of dream did you have that scared you so much?”
Feeling a little guilty about her dream, Yan Ruyi asked her mother, "Did I just scream?"
Ye Hongzhen shouted, "Wah wah wah, but I couldn't make out what she was shouting."
She actually heard clearly that he was shouting, "Commander Song, help!"
The shout was very clear.
I don't know what I dreamt about, but my whole family, instead of calling for Dad, Mom, or my two older brothers and sisters-in-law, were calling for Commander Song to save them.
If she weren't afraid of embarrassing her daughter, she would definitely ask.
Yan Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief. "I forgot what the dream was about, but it was pretty scary."
After saying that, he yawned and said, "I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep."
Ye Hongzhen: "Go to sleep."
I turned off the light for her, closed the door, and went out.
After Ye Hongzhen left, she put the book "Basic Suzhou Dialect" far away.
She didn't want to dream of being pointed at with a gun by Soviets again.
Thinking about the dream she just had, her face flushed slightly. How could she have called him Commander Song?
It's probably because he's the only person she knows who can speak Su language, so when she encountered danger, she instinctively called for his help.
Luckily, her mother didn't hear what she shouted.
She put the book away and fell asleep peacefully again, without dreaming, sleeping soundly until dawn.
She was woken up by Luo Huihui in the morning. "Ruyi, get up."
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Luo Huihui's large face standing in front of her, her face full of excitement. "I got paid yesterday. I got 52 yuan and 63 cents. How much did you get?"
She wanted to ask Yan Ruyi about it yesterday.
However, Yan Ruyi went to rehearsal early yesterday morning, and the show ended late, so she didn't see Yan Ruyi. Therefore, she rushed over early this morning.
Yan Ruyi yawned, "I went to rehearsal early yesterday morning and haven't had time to pick it up yet."
These past few days, she's been so preoccupied with the party that she's almost forgotten about getting paid.
Luo Huihui urged her, "Then get up quickly, eat your breakfast, and go to class to collect your salary and see how much you can get."
Ye Hongzhen chimed in from outside, "They only pay out if the person in charge of the money is on duty."
Luo Huihui chuckled.
She just wanted to be happy with her best friend.
This is the first time they've received a salary; from now on, they'll be people with salaries.
Yan Ruyi received her salary very quickly.
Her salary was 57 yuan, she received a 50 yuan bonus from the city, a 20 yuan bonus from the bureau, and a bicycle subsidy of 1.5 yuan. After deducting union dues, newspaper fees, and youth league fees, she received a total of 128 yuan, 20 cents, and 3 fen.
It's nowhere near as much as she earns from appraising antiques.
Thanks to He Zaixian and Li Guangyan's promotion of her, she has now made a name for herself in the antique circle. People are coming to her one after another to have their antiques appraised, and they are all vying to slip money into her hands.
Most of the people who seek her out are foreigners or overseas Chinese.
These people are rich and generous. The day before yesterday, an American, through He Zaixian's introduction, asked her to appraise a painting by a famous Tang Dynasty artist. She identified it as genuine, and the man was so happy that he gave her 300 foreign exchange certificates.
He is more generous than He Zai-xian.
Yan Ruyi hoped he would come to see her more often.
It was the first time she had ever seen what foreign exchange certificates looked like, and she was delighted with them for several days.
She had heard from her second brother that someone on Songshui Road was secretly collecting foreign exchange certificates, and that 10 cents of foreign exchange certificate could be exchanged for 15 cents of RMB.
A 300 foreign exchange certificate is equivalent to 450 yuan.
However, she didn't exchange it; instead, she bought gold bars at the Friendship Store.
He Zaixian told her, "Comrade Xiao Yan, instead of converting your money into RMB and depositing it in the bank, you should buy gold bars. No matter what era you live in, gold is always a hard currency. Depositing gold bars is definitely more cost-effective than depositing money in the bank."
Yan Ruyi thought He Zaixian's words made sense.
However, individuals are not allowed to buy gold bars on the market right now. If you want to buy gold bars, you have to go to the Friendship Store with foreign exchange certificates.
She used all her foreign exchange certificates to buy gold bars.
The price of gold at Friendship Store is 15 yuan per gram, and 300 yuan bought exactly 20 grams.
The gleaming gold bars are a delight to look at; they instantly lift my spirits.
For the next few days, she dreamt of lying on a pile of gold bars and laughing, and she actually woke herself up laughing.
However, no matter how much she earned from appraising antiques, it couldn't compare to the first paycheck she received.
Every penny was earned through hard work. After a month of hard work, she deserved to treat herself.
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Author's note: I love gold, and the older I get, the more I love it, but I only have 10 grams, sob sob...
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