Jia Shuling is right; the higher-ups will be happy if there are more programs featuring military families.
Wang Feng looked at Li Shuhe with satisfaction, then nodded to Xu Ruantang, "Great! I approve it. You guys prepare well. If you need support from the troupe, just come to me and I'll help you coordinate!"
Wang Feng chuckled; the voice of this forty-year-old man was filled with joy.
Having achieved her goal, Jia Shuling stopped wailing and obsequiously saw the regimental commander off.
She turned around, gestured with her chin at Xu Ruantang, then turned and swayed away.
Anyway, she'll be embarrassed soon enough. This time, she doesn't have to do anything but wait and watch the show.
Not only will Xu Ruantang lose face, but Chen Ji will also lose face. Her older brother, who is so concerned about his reputation, will probably be furious.
She felt disgusted at the thought of the Chen family fawning over a country bumpkin and pretending to be happy together.
Now let's see how they pretend!
"Shuhe, aren't you being too impulsive?"
As the saying goes, an outsider's perspective is clearer. Some members of the band couldn't bear to watch any longer and spoke up with some concern as they watched Jia Shuling's figure disappear.
As soon as she spoke, the other girls chimed in, "Yeah, there aren't many days left. What are you planning to perform?"
Li Shuhe was also seriously considering, "Ruan Ruan, how about you sing and I'll accompany you?"
Xu Ruantang: "......"
You seem like a song to me!
Most revolutionary songs are sung by sopranos, which she wouldn't be able to do; she might be able to sing in a hoarse voice, though.
"Commander Chen's wife, what are your skills? Dancing, music, musical instruments, recitation are all fine!"
Someone nearby offered suggestions.
After discussing it for a long time without any clue, everyone quickly dispersed to attend to their own business.
Xu Ruantang pulled Li Shuhe along, "Come on, take me to see your piano."
"You can play?" Li Shuhe's eyes widened in surprise.
Xu Ruantang remained calm: "No, play it for me."
Li Shuhe sighed, "You still have the mood to appreciate it."
Xu Ruantang shrugged. "What can I do? I can't turn back time. If I could, I would definitely cover your mouth tightly."
Despite her words, Li Shuhe still led her over and sat her down at the piano.
As Xu Ruantang listened to the smooth piano music, her understanding of Li Shuhe deepened. This seemingly carefree young lady actually has quite a bit of talent!
They have strong professional skills.
After the piece ended, Xu Ruantang asked Li Shuhe, "If I played a piece of music for you now, without sheet music, could you play it?"
"Playing by ear? That's a bit difficult, but I can give it a try."
Li Shuhe frowned, a rare occurrence, and said seriously.
Having come this far, we can't let her lose. Xu Ruantang thought for a moment and said, "Does your troupe have an erhu? Help me find one."
Upon hearing this, Li Shuhe jumped up excitedly, "Ruan Ruan, you can play the erhu?"
After the initial excitement, I instantly felt down. The erhu and the piano are two instruments that go in opposite directions.
Xu Ruantang told her to go and borrow it first, but she wasn't sure if it would work. When her grandfather was still alive, he told her that the erhu was a traditional Chinese musical instrument and that he would reward her if she learned it.
During her summer vacation, she went back to her hometown and spent a long time sawing wood with her grandfather, which continued for several years. The neighbor lady would laugh at the two of them.
She was still young then and didn't really understand why she had to learn. At first, she thought it was fun, but later she found it boring and stopped learning properly.
Until her grandfather passed away, she was bored at home during the mask-wearing period. At that time, a Qing Dynasty time-travel drama was very popular, and the climax of the interlude was a solo erhu.
She found her dusty erhu and diligently learned that piece of music.
Xu Ruantang learned the unorthodox style from her grandfather, and didn't memorize sheet music much, relying purely on her musical sense.
We're desperate, so we might as well try anything. If Li Shuhe can really cooperate, then a duet version with erhu and piano might be possible.
Relying entirely on her memory, Xu Ruantang played the tune she remembered for Li Shuhe several times.
The two stayed at the cultural troupe until it was dark before going home.
Li Shuhe is really amazing. She is a natural talent and can quickly coordinate with Xu Ruantang, although the effect is not perfect yet.
But there's still some time; they can practice some more.
Before parting, Li Shuhe asked her with some concern, "Ruan Ruan, the idea of combining our traditional musical instruments with Western music is quite novel. But playing such a sad piece during a festival seems a bit off-topic."
Xu Ruantang patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I have a way."
Who says holidays have to be all about laughing and joking?
Festivals like August 1st aim to pass on the red gene, promote the spirit of heroes, and inspire all soldiers to create new glories on the new journey.
To promote the spirit of heroes, Xu Ruantang went home at night and sat in Chen Ji's study, deep in thought.
He took out a pen and paper and wrote for a long time, then looked at it with satisfaction and flicked the paper twice.
Xu Ruantang went to the shop early the next morning. Business hadn't been as good as before, and Qiu Liang couldn't sit still. He wiped the tables at the shop entrance until they gleamed.
When Sister Juan saw Xu Ruantang, she greeted her with a gentle smile: "Ruantang, you're here?"
"Well, Sister Juan, you should try to persuade Brother Qiu. If he keeps wiping, the table will be completely worn down."
Xu Ruantang jokingly told them that she might be busy lately and wouldn't be coming to the store for a while.
Sister Juan was very easy to talk to: "Go ahead and get busy. The shop isn't busy lately, so we don't need that many people."
Her tone was still somewhat worried, perhaps because she was thinking about her father-in-law's previous business dealings and feared that things might soon come to that point again.
Xu Ruantang comforted her, "Okay, don't worry, this is only temporary."
Now that things had come to this, Sister Juan knew that complaining was useless, so she just smiled and didn't say anything.
Xu Ruantang went directly from the market to the performing arts troupe, where Li Shuhe was already waiting for her and handed her a bottle of hot milk.
"Ruan Ruan, I brought this especially for you!"
Xu Ruantang waved her hand in refusal, "I don't drink milk, you drink it."
Li Shuhe's piano is in a separate room, mainly because pianos were precious in this era and needed to be properly preserved.
They always rehearsed behind closed doors, and no one knew what they were doing inside. All they knew was that the two of them would stay there for most of the day.
Jia Shuling passed by the door several times and heard the intermittent sound of an erhu coming from inside, which was terribly unpleasant.
Thinking that Li Shuhe had actually made Xu Ruantang use what she had just learned, she left with a snort of sarcasm on her face.
After a few days of getting to know each other, the two became more and more in sync.
"It's alright, it's at a level that's still listenable."
Li Shuhe stood up, her small face slightly serious.
Xu Ruantang noticed that she was very different when she was working; she was particularly charming and had high standards for herself.
For the first time ever, they didn't continue practicing in the afternoon. Li Shuhe dragged her to a department store and then to a silk shop next door for a stroll.
"They're all official performances, let's buy a team uniform for both of us!"
Li Shuhe wanted others to see that she hadn't made any boasts and that everything she did was perfect!
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