“Huh?”
Wen Ci blinked her eyes upon hearing Yu Qing’s words. Coincidentally, a logistics soldier passed by, and she quickly caught up to ask, “Is the ‘Living King of Hell’ still in the primeval forest?”
“I don’t know,” the logistics soldier shook his head.
Yu Qing quickly chimed in, “He might be busy.”
“Possibly,” Wen Ci didn’t think much of it either.
The dark night sky was illuminated by stars, and the full moon shone with a pure, white brilliance. Suddenly, a meteor streaked across the night sky.
Wen Ci tugged at Yu Qing’s sleeve, excitedly saying, “A meteor!” As she spoke, she clasped her hands together and made a wish in her heart.
Yu Qing mimicked Wen Ci’s actions, also making a wish.
After a while, Wen Ci opened her eyes. The meteor had left a trail across the starry sky, and she felt a pang of regret that she didn’t have a camera to capture the moment.
The two walked three kilometers and finally exited the primeval forest.
“Wen Ci.”
Hearing her name called, Wen Ci turned to look and spotted the political commissar. She asked, somewhat puzzled, “Is there something you need from me?”
“Nothing urgent,” the commissar said calmly as he approached. “Huo Jingyuan asked me to let you know that he has been temporarily assigned to a mission at the border and won’t be back for the next few days.”
Wen Ci nodded.
In the 1980s, bandits were still rampant in border areas, and soldiers often went on missions. As a regiment commander, Huo Jingyuan needed to accumulate merits through such missions if he wanted to be promoted.
After a long and tiring journey, Wen Ci and Yu Qing sat at the back of the vehicle. The cool breeze helped dispel their fatigue. By the time they returned to the family quarters, it was nearly eleven o’clock.
Wen Ci headed straight for the bathroom at home. Bathing in the wild was extremely troublesome, as the temperature fluctuations meant that by the time one pot of water boiled, another would have already cooled down.
She had also been delayed by her menstrual cycle, which had prevented her from bathing earlier.
The next day.
Wen Ci slept soundly.
She stretched lazily, taking her time to get out of bed after resting for another ten minutes. Tomorrow was the day of the military art performance tour.
She and Yu Qing needed to borrow the water sleeve dance costumes today.
Wen Ci was also looking forward to seeing the predominantly white water sleeve costumes. Since there were still many empty rooms in the family quarters, they had been temporarily lent to the female soldiers participating in the tour.
As soon as she stepped out, Wen Ci ran into a few female soldiers who were already in makeup.
From their conversation, she learned that today was the final dress rehearsal for the performance tour, and all participants needed to be in full makeup.
Wen Ci scratched her head.
She and Yu Qing hadn’t officially rehearsed on stage yet, but they had been practicing their dance for an hour and a half every afternoon after waking up.
When they met at the military camp gate,
Wen Ci heard the announcer’s strong, clear voice on the field. The guard recognized Yu Qing and asked with a smile, “I heard Dr. Yu is also performing?”
“Yep.”
The military camp’s field could accommodate thousands of people, and the stage was enormous. Rows of benches filled the field. On stage, several female soldiers dressed in red floral patterns and holding handkerchiefs in their hands began performing the Yangko dance, a sight usually only seen during the Lantern Festival.
Backstage,
Wen Ci immediately spotted the leader of the military art performance tour and approached her, “Hello, leader. We are representing the Northwest Military District Hospital to perform the water sleeve dance.
Recently, only military vehicles have been allowed to pass through, so we couldn’t purchase the water sleeve dance costumes. We were wondering if we could borrow two sets?”
The leader looked at them and then instructed her subordinate to find the water sleeve costumes, “Before you came, your hospital’s head nurse mentioned this to me.”
“Thank you!”
Soon, a female soldier brought two water sleeve costumes. The outfits were predominantly white with embroidered accents at the waist, looking quite nice.
“Who came up with the idea of using the water sleeves to hit the drums?”
“Her,” Yu Qing immediately replied.
Using water sleeves to hit drums was extremely challenging for dancers. Each strike on the drum required the same amount of force, or it would sound off.
“Could you perform once on stage for me? If it’s good, I’ll place you as the finale.”
Hearing this, Wen Ci and Yu Qing exchanged glances, “We can.”
There was a changing room backstage.
After a while, Wen Ci walked out slowly, holding the water sleeves. Her lips trembled slightly, feeling genuinely nervous.
She and Yu Qing had practiced the dance many times in private, but this was their first time performing in water sleeve costumes on stage.
Even though Wen Ci wasn’t wearing makeup, the bright sunlight made her fair skin and graceful figure stand out in the white water sleeve costume.
The female soldier leader looked at Wen Ci with appreciation and said with a smile, “With your talent, have you considered joining the cultural troupe? As a female soldier with military status.”
Wen Ci shook her head.
Most female soldiers in the cultural troupe had to tour military districts across the country. She didn’t want to be separated from Huo Jingyuan for long periods.
The Political Commissar, as the second-in-command of the Northwest Military District, was paying close attention to this military art performance tour. As soon as he arrived at the stage, he heard the cultural troupe leader trying to poach someone.
And it was Huo Jingyuan’s wife.
“The cultural troupe isn’t as good as our Northwest!” the Political Commissar said as he walked over to the leader, “Leader Huang Qian, stop poaching our people.”
“Why not?”
The commissar and the cultural troupe leader were old acquaintances.
“Of course not. Xiao Wen is the wife of one of our Northwest’s key officers. If you take her away, how will my soldiers keep their homes warm?”
“Is she a military family member?”
“Yep.”
Huang Qian gave up on the idea of poaching. If it were a military family member from another district, she wouldn’t have missed the opportunity, but it had to be from the Northwest.
The Northwest Military District was remote and underdeveloped.
They desperately needed the nation’s best to settle in this land.
The issue of military family members having children was a top priority.
As they spoke, several drums were placed on stage, flanking the sides. The female soldiers holding flutes changed the music to the water sleeve dance score.
“The music group is ready.”
Huang Qian: “Are you ready to go on stage?”
Wen Ci and Yu Qing nodded solemnly, “We’re ready.”
The two then stepped onto the stage, with all the staff’s eyes on them. As the music slowly began, they started their dance.
The water sleeves in their hands were incredibly light.
Each time they struck the drums, they seamlessly switched positions, performing splits and backbends. The long water sleeves acted like drumsticks, energizing the audience.
When the dance ended, the entire venue erupted in applause.
Huang Qian looked deeply at the two on stage, then turned to the political commissar, saying unhurriedly, “I genuinely want to recruit these two. We can hold two military art performances in the Northwest each year.”
The military art performance tour was a nationwide event to entertain the soldiers.
But Huang Qian was willing to add an extra performance specifically for the Northwest.
“No, no,” the Secretary refused without hesitation.
Not only was Wen Ci Huo Jingyuan’s wife, but Yu Qing was also an outstanding doctor. Her household registration was in the Northwest, and the military district was grooming her to be the future hospital director.
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