She pursed her lips, but before she could speak, there was a knock on the door.
Xu Ruantang opened the door, and Li Shuhe rushed in. She was stunned when she saw Chen Ji. "Why are you still at home?"
Without waiting for Chen Ji's reply, she grabbed Xu Ruantang's arm and said, "Let's go."
"Where to?" Xu Ruantang asked, looking puzzled.
Without turning her head, Li Shuhe said, "The cultural troupe, didn't you promise me yesterday? There are only a few days left until August 1st, we need to hurry up."
Xu Ruantang was about to break down; she still wanted to go to the shop, especially since Chen Ji was still there.
Besides, she was just bragging!
Do you even understand what bragging is?
Hmm, it seems Li Shuhe doesn't understand.
When Li Shuhe realized she wasn't leaving, she immediately switched to a whiny tone, "Ruan Ruan, you promised me yesterday, are you going back on your word? If you keep this up, I..."
She doesn't seem like a member of a band at all; she's more like someone who studied acting, and her acting skills are becoming increasingly refined.
Xu Ruantang was still being pulled by the arm when she turned around and looked at Chen Ji, whose face was filled with coldness.
Chen Ji glanced at Li Shuhe with a serious expression, but ultimately didn't make things difficult for Xu Ruantang. "Go ahead."
The two walked away arm in arm.
Chen Ji closed the courtyard gate and turned around to see an easel placed on the side of the courtyard.
On the wooden easel lay a drawing board with several sheets of paper clipped to it, and on top was a still life sketch.
Looking at the weather forecast, which suggested it might rain, Chen Ji helped her bring the room back inside.
He took them down one by one and looked at them. There were still life sketches, portrait sketches, and watercolor landscape copies.
Li Shuyang was absolutely right. Even a layman like Chen Ji could see Xu Ruantang's talent.
Her sketch of him was very lifelike.
He's just a bit too serious; his face isn't that long.
Chen Ji looked at it for a while, then put it back on the easel untouched.
He had originally planned to take Xu Ruantang to the military dog training ground today, but she wasn't home, so he naturally went back to his unit.
Li Shuhe clung to Xu Ruantang's arm like a koala, chattering away: "I started training in the art troupe when I was ten. My dad was really mean back then. Every day I would come home crying, saying I was too tired and didn't want to go, but he would ignore me."
Xu Ruantang didn't know that one could join a performing arts troupe at the age of ten. It sounded quite novel, but it also seemed quite tough.
Li Shuhe may seem carefree and indifferent, but when it comes to the infighting and backstabbing within the troupe, she is quite knowledgeable.
"Don't underestimate this bunch of kids. They're all very shrewd. They'll ostracize anyone who's different from them and isolate anyone who's not like them!"
As they talked, the two arrived at the cultural troupe building.
Outside the building, a group of people, mostly women, were dressed in military uniforms, with a man standing in front of them.
Xu Ruantang felt a strange sense of familiarity with that scene; it looked so much like university military training.
"Shuhe, what are these for?"
Xu Ruantang leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
Li Shuhe whispered back, pulling her along quickly, "Every year, new members who join the cultural troupe have to participate in military training. These are this year's newcomers."
Oh my god, Xu Ruantang felt that she was ignorant. She didn't know that cultural troupe soldiers also had to participate in military training!
The thought of university military training makes her legs tremble. She feels like she has to crawl 400 meters instead of run 800 meters. It seems that not just anyone can enjoy such flowers and applause.
Anyway, she's not good enough.
Li Shuhe pulled her into the building and introduced each room one by one, "This is the dance team. The program they are rehearsing now is called Grassland Women Militia."
"Is there no stage?"
"The auditorium is in use today; we rehearse here regularly."
Li Shuhe pointed to another group of people, "This is a choir. Your second aunt is a soloist and even has her own little room!"
The performing arts troupe wasn't all women; there were men too.
Walking into the innermost large room, Li Shuhe pulled her inside and said, "This is our band."
There were about ten people together, including trumpeters, organists, and pianists like Li Shuhe.
When Xu Ruantang looked up, all those people were looking at her.
"Commander Chen's wife!"
A girl put down her instrument, stood up, and exclaimed in surprise.
Xu Ruantang didn't recognize them at first, but after thinking for a while, she remembered that they were the girls who had gone to her shop to cause trouble.
Later, they even helped her resolve the issue of Jia Shuling spreading rumors.
She greeted them with a smile: "Hello."
Li Shuhe didn't know they knew each other and wanted to ask how they met, but the girls were embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.
Don't bring up the childish things they did before; it's too embarrassing.
They asked Xu Ruantang why she had come here.
Xu Ruantang was also curious as to why she had come here.
Li Shuhe answered first: "The helper I found!" She seemed very optimistic and proud, with a confidence that came from who-knows-where.
Xu Ruantang: "......"
Are you sure he's a helper, or just a lazy bum?
The group chatted and laughed, creating a harmonious atmosphere, with someone playing the accordion nearby.
If Jia Shuling hadn't come in, this harmonious atmosphere could have lasted until Xu Ruantang left.
"Shuhe, August 1st is almost here, and you're still in the mood to chat? Have you found a partner yet?"
Jia Shuling walked in with a big smile on her face, dressed like a big red flower.
She kindly reminded Li Shuhe, "If you don't submit this program soon, the troupe leader won't accept it."
I don't know what's gotten into Jia Shuling. She used to be all over Li Shuhe, but recently she's suddenly been targeting her like crazy.
They were so crazy that everyone else in the band knew about it.
Taking advantage of being a solo singer, she stole Li Shuhe's original partner, claiming that her performance required accompaniment.
The team leader originally thought that it would be fine for one person to participate in two programs.
But Jia Shuling insisted that her accompaniment was constantly being rehearsed and she didn't have time to attend to anything else.
They're all shrewd people who came from the performing arts troupe; anyone could see that she was doing it on purpose.
Knowing that although Li Shuhe came from a wealthy family, his father never cared about such matters, Jia Shuling dared to be so blatant.
Li Shuhe immediately stood up from the stool. "Of course I'm ready! I'll go find the commander right now."
She was also a little proud.
Not only Jia Shuling, but everyone else was shocked. They had thought she was joking, but they didn't expect her to actually find an amateur.
"Really? What are you planning to perform? A piano solo?"
“The troupe leader probably won’t approve of this kind of program. This time it’s different from the past; the theme is to convey the spirit of August 1st, and the piano doesn’t seem suitable.”
The members of the performing arts troupe considered the piano to be a foreign culture, so everyone paired up on their own to fit the theme, which is why Li Shuhe was left out.
Jia Shuling is different; she can casually sing a revolutionary song and perfectly embody the spirit of the August 1st Army Day.
Jia Shuling's words were like daggers to the heart. Li Shuhe, who had been full of fighting spirit just moments before, was now as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant.
She turned her head and looked at Xu Ruantang with a pitiful expression, as if she had decided that Xu Ruantang was her lifeline.
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