“We don’t have any more. We only had four water sleeve costumes in total, and two of them are still soaking in water. We planned to wash and dry them all after tonight’s performance.”
The cultural troupe usually stayed at the local military base for a day or two after their performances to wash and dry all the costumes before leaving.
“Can we wring them out and dry them now?”
“That won’t work…”
The water sleeve costumes needed to be air-dried naturally. Wringing them out would leave them wrinkled, especially the sleeves, which would significantly affect the visual impact during the performance.
Huang Qian took a deep breath to calm herself. “Let’s try it first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll find another outfit and sew long sleeves onto it. We’ll have to cancel the drum performance for now.”
The Northwest Military Base was furious upon learning that the backstage had been vandalized.
They ordered an investigation to find out who had destroyed the performance costumes.
Wen Ci and Yu Qing sat helplessly backstage.
The performance they had been looking forward to for so long was ruined. They had practiced for over two hours every day, and now they felt an indescribable sense of loss.
By the time the lunch break ended, the audience had returned to the field.
“Did you hear? There’s a thief in the military camp!”
Zhu Jing, holding a Xiao Pihou in her arms, looked shocked. “What? A thief in the military camp? How much money was stolen?”
“No money was stolen, but most of the cultural troupe’s costumes were cut up. I heard from my husband that the higher-ups are investigating who did it.”
“They didn’t steal the clothes, just cut them up?”
“Yeah.”
Zhu Jing frowned, asking the obvious question, “What was the thief after? They didn’t steal anything, just ruined the clothes. What a strange thief.”
·
Backstage, Su Wanqing walked up to Yu Qing in a beautiful dress, gloating, “I heard your water sleeve costumes were cut up? What terrible luck. It looks like I’ll have to step in and bring glory to the hospital instead.”
Yu Qing couldn’t help but suspect, “Was it you who cut them?”
Su Wanqing took a step back. “Dr. Yu, don’t go accusing people without evidence. I didn’t even come to watch the performance this morning, let alone visit the military camp.”
“Hmph, that makes you even more suspicious.”
Su Wanqing shrugged. “Think whatever you want.”
Suddenly, Yu Qing remembered something and sneered at Su Wanqing, “Even if you can perform on stage, so what? Commander Huo isn’t even at the Northwest Military Base right now. He’s still lying in…”
Yu Qing realized she had misspoken and quickly shut her mouth, glancing guiltily at Wen Ci. Seeing that Wen Ci’s expression remained calm, as if she were deep in thought, Yu Qing changed her tone:
“No matter how pretty you look, it won’t make a difference.”
Su Wanqing’s eyes widened. She had hoped that her performance would be seen by Brother Huo, but now her mood plummeted.
“At least I can still perform, unlike you.”
Wen Ci sat nearby, pondering the list of suspects in the Northwest Military Base. From her perspective, both Jiang Ye and Su Wanqing were possible culprits.
They both liked Huo Jingyuan and didn’t want her to perform.
But…
Without any surveillance, Wen Ci didn’t dare to accuse anyone outright. In the end, she could only sigh and comfort herself, “We’ll just have to leave it to fate.”
Not long after, Huang Qian, the troupe leader, brought over two sets of costumes. One was the water sleeve costume that had been soaking in water and wasn’t dry yet, and the other was a modified version.
“The first one isn’t dry, and the sleeves on the second one don’t match in color.”
Wen Ci blinked. “Do we have to choose between these two?”
“Yes.”
Huang Qian’s words hit Wen Ci like a blow, leaving her breathless. Neither of the options was ideal, and the stage effect would be significantly diminished.
After much hesitation, Wen Ci chose the undried water sleeve costume. At least the long sleeves could still be waved and retracted, even if the wrinkled waistline wasn’t ideal.
“I, I.”
Suddenly, a male voice rang out. Xue Li rushed into the backstage, panting, holding two outfits covered with dust-proof fabric.
“Who are you?”
Xue Li took a deep breath. “I’m here to deliver the water sleeve costumes!”
As he spoke, he removed the dust-proof fabric, revealing a skirt that shimmered with a rainbow of colors, paired with a blue vest.
The sleeves fell straight to the waist, and it was clear from a glance that the material was extraordinary, radiating a dazzling brilliance under the sunlight.
“What is this?” Wen Ci’s eyes widened.
Xue Li took a moment to catch his breath before explaining, “Commander Huo had these custom-made earlier. They were just brought over from Haishi. I thought we wouldn’t make it in time.”
Hearing this, Wen Ci remembered that Huo Jingyuan had once mentioned a master tailor from a century-old family. At the time, he had offered to help her contact the tailor, but she had declined due to the high cost.
She hadn’t expected Huo Jingyuan to still commission the outfits.
Wen Ci gently touched the water sleeve costume in front of her. The fabric was incredibly soft and smooth, and she could already imagine how she would look wearing it.
But…
Huo Jingyuan was away on a mission!
Huang Qian’s gaze fell on the costumes. As the leader of the cultural troupe, she had seen many high-quality outfits, but these water sleeve costumes were clearly in a league of their own.
“These must cost at least three hundred yuan each, right?”
Wen Ci shook her head in shock.
She had no idea how much the costumes cost.
The other female soldiers gathered around, their eyes wide with amazement. With their monthly salaries of around twenty yuan, it would take them over a year of saving to afford even one of these outfits.
It was beyond extravagant.
Yu Qing swallowed hard, her face flushing with embarrassment. “Can I not wear it? Or maybe just let Wen Ci perform the finale alone?”
“Why?” Wen Ci asked.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Wen Ci realized that after Huang Qian mentioned the price of the costumes, Yu Qing felt too intimidated to wear something so expensive.
Wen Ci took Yu Qing’s hand, her eyes soft but determined. “Huo Jingyuan had two outfits made because he wanted both of us to perform together.
Yu Qing, I hope you won’t feel burdened by this.”
“But… but…” Yu Qing hesitated.
All the clothes she had ever owned in her life combined weren’t worth even a tenth of this water sleeve costume. Wearing something so expensive felt like a waste.
“No buts!” Wen Ci’s expression turned serious as she looked Yu Qing straight in the eye, speaking firmly, “We’re a team. If you don’t perform, then I won’t either.”
“This…”
·
On the field, the military families sat together.
Zhu Jing looked at the closed curtains on the stage, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Is the next performance Wen Ci’s finale?”
“It should be.”
Zhao Dongmei listened to the neighbors around her discussing Wen Ci and couldn’t help but smile faintly. She was curious to see what the finale performance would be like!
The host walked onto the stage, beaming. “Next up is our finale performance, the water sleeve dance! We need a bit more time to set up the stage, so please stay tuned!”
As the host finished speaking, the audience erupted into applause.
Xue Li, standing below the stage, rallied the soldiers from the fifth regiment to clap loudly, shouting, “Commander Huo isn’t here, so we need to hype up the stage for our sister-in-law!”
Leave a Reply