Chapter 19 helped her secure a spot in the performing arts troupe audition...
Chapter 19
Upon hearing this, Qi Donghan should have been happy, but for some reason, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
Perhaps his current identity is Qi Xiaoer.
Qi Donghan didn't want to think about it too much. He reached out and took the pocket watch. His fingertips touched, and he felt an excessive softness and coldness.
This made Qi Donghan feel strangely familiar.
As if he had met her before, he focused his gaze on Meng Yingying. She was beautiful, with bright eyes and white teeth, fair skin, and a slender waist.
Qi Donghan confirmed once again that he had never met Meng Yingying.
But that familiar feeling still lingered.
He lowered his eyes to suppress his doubts and said directly, "I'll accept the pocket watch."
He took the pocket watch and put it in his pocket. "I'll inquire about the quota for the cultural troupe for you."
"I'll let you know separately once I find out."
At this point, Qi Donghan asked her in a low voice, "Do you have a place to stay now that you're here?"
Meng Yingying shook her head, "Not yet."
Qi Donghan pondered for a moment, then said, "Then I'll take you to the garrison's guesthouse; it's safe there."
Meng Yingying was a little confused. She didn't quite understand why Qi Xiaoer was still treating her so well after she had broken off her engagement with him.
However, she naturally couldn't ask him that question; she simply thanked him.
Qi Donghan shook his head, noticing that her luggage was rather large, and took it from her. "I'll take you there."
Meng Yingying nodded. She followed Qi Donghan the whole way, looking at his hard, dark back of the head, and felt a little uneasy.
Fortunately, the team's guesthouse wasn't far away, only a ten-minute walk. Staying here seemed more convenient than staying at the First Guesthouse, since Meng Yingying hadn't brought a letter of introduction, train tickets, or travel documents.
Qi Donghan and the guesthouse staff exchanged a few words, then Qi Donghan turned back and pointed at her. The staff member immediately understood, "Commander Qi, this is Comrade Meng's room key, the first room on the left on the second floor."
Qi Donghan nodded his thanks and then handed the keys to Meng Yingying.
He led her upstairs, and Meng Yingying watched him carrying such a large suitcase, while she lagged behind as he went up the steps.
For a moment, the surroundings were eerily quiet.
Fortunately, the room was on the second floor, and we arrived quickly.
Qi Donghan put his luggage at the door and stood outside as well. "I won't go in. You can rest first."
"I'll ask the performing arts troupe and let you know when the time comes."
"You'll stay here for now."
Meng Yingying let out a soft "Ai," clutching her luggage, and finally couldn't help but ask, "How much is the room at the guesthouse? I'll pay you first."
Qi Donghan said, "It's not much. You can stay here. We'll settle the bill later."
Meng Yingying opened her mouth, but her pretty and quiet face showed a hint of embarrassment. "Then when it's time to settle the bill, Comrade Qi, you must tell me."
Qi Donghan grunted in agreement and watched Meng Yingying go inside before noticing that he was still carrying an oil paper package in his hand.
"Roast chicken".
Meng Yingying was stunned for a moment and didn't come back to her senses for a while.
"Roast chicken?"
She murmured.
“Yes,” Qi Donghan said. “You’ve come from afar and traveled a long way. You probably haven’t eaten or slept well. Have something to eat first, and once you’ve recovered, I’ll take you to the team’s canteen.”
Meng Yingying suddenly looked up at him, then turned around and looked at Qi Donghan from behind, feeling a strong sense of coincidence. "You're the one who bought roast chicken at the state-run restaurant last night, right?"
Qi Donghan was somewhat surprised that she had actually recognized him.
His answer was straightforward: "It's me."
Meng Yingying was somewhat taken aback. She looked down at the oiled paper package, which was soaked in oil and had several oil stains. She could even smell the delicious aroma of roast chicken.
"Did you buy this roast chicken for me?"
She even pointed to her own nose.
Meng Yingying's nose was beautiful, with a slightly straight bridge and a tip that looked like a water droplet, white and smooth.
Qi Donghan stared at her delicate nose for a while before saying, "Yes."
That's true.
What a coincidence!
Meng Yingying felt a bit conflicted. "Comrade Qi, I didn't have a very good impression of you before, but I didn't expect you to be such a nice person."
Although the engagement was called off, the other person's character is truly impeccable.
He even worried that he himself hadn't eaten or slept well after such a long journey.
Qi Donghan didn't want to reveal his identity, so he just hummed in agreement, "It's only right that I come all this way to take care of you, a woman."
At this point, he raised his wrist to check the time. "Then I won't disturb your rest any longer. I'll let you know as soon as I get news from the cultural troupe."
Meng Yingying let out a soft "Ai" and watched Qi Donghan leave from the doorway before turning around and going inside to pack her things.
Finally, he sat down at the table, opened the oil paper package, and saw the roast chicken.
Meng Yingying's mouth watered, and she couldn't help but murmur, "How could it be such a coincidence?"
The roast chicken she was craving appeared in front of her again the day after it had been bought by someone else.
The person who gave her the roast chicken happened to be the childhood sweetheart she was about to break off her engagement with.
After Qi Donghan left the guesthouse, he stood downstairs, and above him was the room where Meng Yingying was staying.
He didn't rush to leave.
Instead, he took out a pocket watch from his pocket, and the watch fell to the ground, ticking and swaying.
He leaned against the old locust tree, opened his pocket watch, and with a click, revealed a rather blurry photograph.
The person in the picture is still young, with delicate features. However, due to the passage of time, their specific appearance is not clearly visible.
But since it appeared on the pocket watch, it wasn't hard for him to guess who the other person was.
Thinking about this...
Qi Donghan paused for a moment, his slender fingers toying with the pocket watch for a while, then snapped it shut, put it in his pocket, and left.
He turned around and went into the station. Instead of rushing back to the office, he went to the cultural troupe first.
The 101st Garrison is a large garrison, and the cultural troupe is located in the same area as them. However, apart from performances, the cultural troupe and the soldiers stationed there don't actually have much contact on a daily basis.
I only occasionally went to the canteen and might run into them, but most of the time, the female members of the performing arts troupe were arrogant.
They were unwilling to have too much contact with the soldiers stationed there. Of course, this varied from person to person.
For example, Qi Donghan is an exception. He is good-looking, has good conditions, and holds a high position. Anyone with eyes can see that he has a bright future.
So quite a few people had designs on him, but unfortunately, Qi Donghan was clueless and stubborn.
No matter what people are saying outside, it's none of his business.
After a while, people naturally shifted their attention away from him.
However, his arrival at the cultural troupe still surprised the troupe's performers. "Commander Qi, what brings you here?"
Qi Donghan glanced at the other person. "I'm looking for Commander Fang. Is he there?"
"Commander Fang is in his office."
"I'll take you there."
It's no wonder they showed respect; the difference in their status was simply too great. To some extent, Qi Donghan's position was on par with their direct superior, Commander Fang.
Qi Donghan thanked her and followed the young female soldier through the narrow corridor.
Inside the door on the side of the corridor, female soldiers were practicing their dances with all their might in the dance studio.
With its large glass windows, one can naturally see the scene inside.
So when they saw Lin Qiu bringing Qi Donghan over, the female soldiers practicing dance inside were momentarily distracted until the song ended.
They immediately stopped what they were doing and started chattering together, "Why is Commander Qi here?"
"Didn't he look down on our performing arts troupe?"
"Nonsense, how could Commander Qi possibly look down on our cultural troupe?"
“Yes, there is.” The short-haired female soldier looked angry. “After our last performance, we wanted to invite Commander Qi to give his evaluation, but not only did he not give his evaluation, he also said that he hadn’t even watched us dance.”
"What else could this be but looking down on our performing arts troupe?"
Amidst the discussion, Ye Yingtao cautiously peered out the window, looking somewhat suspicious, because she was far away and had come out late.
So all we could see was Qi Donghan's back as he entered Commander Fang's office.
Ye Yingtao was also puzzled as to why Qi Donghan would come to the performing arts troupe at this time. She glanced at the brightly colored and beautiful sisters and suddenly guessed, "Could it be that Commander Qi has taken a fancy to someone in our performing arts troupe and is planning to ask Commander Fang to help play matchmaker?"
This isn't something that hasn't happened before.
Previously, several of the women in their performing arts troupe had caught the eye of high-ranking leaders through similar circumstances, and then asked Director Fang to act as their matchmaker.
As soon as Ye Yingtao finished speaking, everyone's hearts started pounding. "No way?"
"I haven't seen Commander Qi showing any interest in any of us."
It's so easy to tell if a man is interested in a woman.
Those eyes seemed glued to them.
After scanning around, everyone realized that none of them had any private contact with Qi Donghan, so at the same time, they all focused their attention on Ye Yingtao.
"Could it be that Commander Qi has taken a liking to you?"
They were all well aware that Ye Yingtao wanted to marry into a wealthy family.
Ye Yingtao rolled her eyes and did a split in one go. "You still have your eye on me? You don't know, I made a move on Qi Changming before?"
"You all know this, do you think Commander Qi, Qi Changming's direct superior, wouldn't know?"
So, stop dreaming.
She didn't even consider Qi Donghan. First, Qi Donghan's position was too high, and second, he was too cold. She felt that marrying him would be completely unfunny and quite boring.
Of course, the third and most important point is that she doesn't know about Qi Donghan's family background.
Ye Yingtao has always been very clear about her choice of a partner: she wants someone from a good family background, and someone from a poor family is simply not within her selection range.
Qi Donghan has managed to sit in this position without any rumors about his family background, so it's highly unlikely that he's up to the task.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Ye Yingtao never considered Qi Donghan as a target.
"If you're not here for a blind date, then what is Commander Qi here for?"
Everyone shook their heads at that question.
Ye Yingtao waved her hand, "Why are you all looking at me? I don't know either."
She actually had a guess in her heart: could it be that Commander Qi came for Qi Changming's childhood sweetheart?
But that shouldn't be the case either.
Qi Changming's childhood sweetheart weighs at least 300 pounds.
What is this person doing in their performing arts troupe?
I'm even afraid I won't be able to squeeze into the uneven bars when I'm sweeping the floor.
What was supposed to be a proper dance practice session instantly turned into a bustling marketplace.
Officer Xu snapped, "Aren't you going to practice dancing? There are only twenty days left before the arts competition with the Jilin Provincial Cultural Troupe. Look at your dancing now, who can carry the show?"
"If you go into the competition like this, I think you'll get completely dominated by their performing arts troupe."
As soon as he said that, everyone immediately objected, "That's not necessarily true."
"We're not bad either."
"No matter how good you are, can you compare to Shen Qiuyue from that group?"
The mere mention of Shen Qiuyue's name made them feel suffocated.
Nothing more.
Who can blame them when Shen Qiuyue is such a genius? She's truly gifted in dancing; wherever she is, she's a force to be reckoned with.
Everyone else would be overshadowed by her brilliance.
*
The cultural troupe's office.
Director Fang was also worried about the competition between the performing arts troupes next month. She called out the name of every single person in her troupe and circled them individually.
After much discussion, it was discovered that while there were many hardworking female soldiers in their cultural troupe, there was one who could truly rival Shen Qiuyue in terms of talent.
It is not available.
If I come back with a zero on the day of the competition, I'll be laughed at to death.
Thinking about this, Commander Fang was extremely worried. She sighed and took off her glasses. "Someone like Shen Qiuyue, if she doesn't exist, she doesn't exist. Where else can I find someone?"
If you can't find it, then you've given up.
They've lost both substance and face.
They can't possibly have the 101st Stationed Cultural Troupe always coming in last place, can they?
Commander Fang was having a headache.
Qi Donghan entered at this time.
Commander Fang took off her glasses, looked for a while, and confirmed it was Qi Donghan. She was somewhat surprised, "Commander Qi, what brings you here?"
Qi Dong knocked on the door and came in before getting straight to the point: "I've come to ask Commander Fang for a favor."
Commander Fang, in his early forties, with short, ear-length hair and a square face, stood up decisively and poured him water. "I knew you, Commander Qi, wouldn't come here unless you had something to ask."
Qi Donghan smirked, "It's like this, I want to ask Commander Fang for a spot to participate in the cultural troupe's assessment."
Commander Fang was stunned for a moment, almost not even noticing that the tin thermos was full when she poured water. It was only after Qi Donghan reminded her that she came to her senses and hurriedly handed the water to Qi Donghan.
"But our cultural troupe isn't recruiting much these days," Director Fang said truthfully. "As you know, the staffing of the entire stationed units is tight right now, and we haven't recruited any new people this year."
Qi Donghan nodded. "I know."
"What I want is a spot to participate in the assessment; whether I can pass it depends on the other party's ability."
“Just in case,” he smiled, “the other party has amazing talent. Perhaps you, Commander Fang, will take a liking to him at first sight. In the future, when the cultural troupe competes, he might even win first place.”
Upon hearing this, Commander Fang blushed. It seemed that even Commander Qi had heard about their cultural troupe's three consecutive years of ranking last.
Now that things have come to this point...
It wouldn't be good for Commander Fang to refuse, so she didn't hesitate any longer. "Then bring the person over tomorrow, and I'll take a look."
"By the way, what's her name?"
“Meng Yingying.” Qi Donghan lowered his eyes, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze in March, “Her name is Meng Yingying.”
-----------------------
Author's Note: Second update~ Early update!
Comment on the nutrient solution for a chance to win a random red envelope! How about we draw two hundred? Come on, let me see who's the luckiest!
Here's a recommendation for some completed historical fiction novels. If you're interested, feel free to check them out in my author page!
"The Beautiful Stepmother After Seeing the Comments [70s]" has 110,000 favorites and is super good.
"The Beautiful Female Supporting Character Remarries with a Child [1970s]" has 100,000 favorites; investing in it is a sure win.
"The Vicious Stepmother in a Historical Novel" has 80,000 favorites, and everyone says it's good.
"Transmigrated into a Rich and Beautiful Woman in the 1970s" has 50,000 favorites, not bad.
"Transmigrated into a Spoiled Girl in the 1970s" has 40,000 favorites, check it out!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
