Chapter 14

Back in high school, Ruan Nianchu was once deeply immersed in sadistic romance novels. The stories depicted the female lead’s reactions after a breakup, either seeking death or living in unbearable pain. However, when it actually happened to her, she realized it wasn’t quite the same.

Her own breakup felt like losing a keychain, unrelated to any deep emotions. Insignificant.

The elite and his current girlfriend went on to create a happy life together.

As for Ruan Nianchu, she returned to the single life.

Upon learning that their daughter had been cheated on, Ruan Nianchu’s parents were furious and confronted Elite’s parents for an explanation. Elite’s family was well-educated, with both parents being professors, and they could only apologize profusely for their son’s actions.

Unfortunately, the sincere apologies didn’t appease Nianchu’s parents. The friendship between the two families sank like a ship.

Mother Ruan felt sorry for her daughter. She simultaneously cursed Elite as a heartless man and arranged for her daughter’s next blind date.

Ruan Nianchu went along with her mother’s plans.

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Her workplace was a military performance troupe under a certain army district in Yuncheng. She got in through her father’s connections and her own efforts. Ruan Nianchu was an ordinary contracted actress within the troupe, without military status or benefits. Her job was simple, mainly consisting of annual morale-boosting performances and rehearsals for other programs.

The performance troupe offered stable treatment and good benefits, and Ruan Nianchu stuck with it for four years. During this time, half of the actors who joined with her had already become regular members, while the other half was striving for regularization. She, on the other hand, remained an exception, not showing any ambition.

Colleagues close to her advised her, “You have a natural singing voice, solid basic skills, and a good appearance. People less talented than you have already obtained military status. You should put in more effort.”

Ruan Nianchu didn’t take her colleagues’ advice seriously. Having experienced a death and rebirth at the age of nineteen, her perspective on life was different from others.

Living is easy, life is hard.

Her current life was good enough for her. Being lazy, not wanting to strain her brain or get too tired, seemed pretty nice. However, the difficulty and wonders of life lie in its ability to create sudden waves in the calm sea.

One month later.

On a Monday morning, the troupe’s leaders called for another all-member meeting. It was the sixth meeting of the month, and the actors were used to it, knowing that a new mission awaited them.

Ruan Nianchu had been playing games until 1:30 in the morning, feeling sleepy. The leader was speaking incessantly, and she absentmindedly scribbled on her notebook. After the meeting, she sorted out the content.

The Air Force Political Department would organize a political study session in mid-next month. Officers from the Air Force, at battalion level and above but below regimental level, would attend. The troupe was instructed to assist the Air Force Headquarters Cultural Troupe in preparing for the entertainment evening of the session.

In short, there was an important performance coming up.

The troupe’s captain had already attended a meeting with the Cultural Troupe, and they were instructed to prepare a total of sixteen programs: six from the troupe, including three group dances, one instrumental ensemble, one large chorus, and one solo performance.

Everyone was eager to try. Vocalists wanted to compete for solo opportunities, and dancers wanted to vie for leading positions. The captain chose to follow the usual procedure and opened up sign-ups.

For someone like Ruan Nianchu at her level, a solo performance was impossible. At most, she could sing a high part in the chorus. She knew her limitations and didn’t bother signing up, as solo performance was unrealistic. However, since there weren’t enough people for the chorus, she would always be needed.

She was just like a thousand-year-old little green leaf, setting off the big red flowers of those first-class and second-class actors.

The work efficiency of the military performance troupe was very high.

In less than three days, all programs were finalized. The solo performance task was assigned to a first-class singer, Jiang Xue, while Ruan Nianchu would participate in “Yellow River Cantata,” with winds howling, horses neighing, and the Yellow River roaring.

This piece was performed in every show, and Ruan Nianchu was quite content. Well, she wouldn’t even need to put in effort for vocal practice.

Rehearsal time was not enough.

Everyone spent their days in the vocal studio, practicing their vocal cords until the first full rehearsal arrived.

Whether it was a good or bad thing, the night before the rehearsal, Jiang Xue, responsible for the solo performance, caught a cold and had inflamed vocal cords. The troupe leader was so anxious and had to make a last-minute change of singer.

This change fell onto Ruan Nianchu. She was bewildered. Later, she found out that Jiang Xue had recommended her to the troupe leader. Ruan Nianchu was usually quiet at work, displaying a lazy and indifferent appearance that didn’t bother people much. Jiang Xue didn’t want other flamboyant actors to take advantage, so she decided to recommend Ruan Nianchu.

She thought this might be what they call a stroke of luck.

And so, on the program list, Ruan Nianchu’s name jumped out for the first time from the list of “certain individuals” to become a solo performer. Her piece was from the “Voice of the Motherland” series, titled “Autumn – My Beautiful Hometown in Pamir,” originally sung by Yin Xiumei, a challenging soprano song.

Fortunately, Ruan Nianchu’s vocal range was wide enough to handle it.

In the subsequent rehearsals, her performance improved with each run-through. The day before the official performance, the chief director finally didn’t suggest replacing her.

“At the beginning, I completely disagreed with giving you this song. Your stage experience is insufficient, and you seem a bit stage-shy,” commented the chief director during the program review segment. “The audience for this evening is different from the grassroots soldiers you usually see. I hope you continue to work hard. Perform well tomorrow and don’t embarrass our performance troupe.”

Ruan Nianchu nodded with a smile on her face. From childhood to now, she had heard the most criticism, and she was immune to it. Moreover, the director’s words were fair; her skills were not up to par.

To be in the best condition for the performance, on the day of the show, Ruan Nianchu arrived at the backstage area very early.

The political department had chosen the venue for the evening at the People’s Liberation Army Art Palace. The art palace was quite old, with poor soundproofing on the walls, so the backstage and front stage were set up in two separate buildings.

At four in the afternoon, four hours before the start of the performance, the performers had not yet arrived.

Ruan Nianchu put her performance costume in the dressing room and then went to the small garden behind the art palace. The sunlight was serene, and there was no one around.

She began to warm up her voice.

A crisp and sweet female voice, high and bright, resonated, causing the nearby leaves to sway.

Midway through, footsteps suddenly came from behind, along with a woman’s voice saying, “Strange. It’s so early, who came here to warm up their voice?”

Ruan Nianchu recognized this voice. With a magnificent broadcasting tone, intonation, and rhythm that made her spoken words sound better than her singing, it was Li Xiaoyan, the female host for this evening’s event. So far, the evening had undergone nearly ten rehearsals, and Ruan Nianchu cringed every time she heard Li Xiaoyan open with the phrase “Respected leaders and distinguished guests.”

Ruan Nianchu stood in place without moving.

It was normal for singers to warm up backstage before a performance. Ruan Nianchu turned around, a smile forming on her lips, ready to greet the approaching duo.

Not far away, the female host walked over with a smile on her face.

Beside her was another person.

With a cold expression and icy eyes, in a crisply pressed military uniform, he stood taller than the already tall Li Xiaoyan. In just a few seconds, the curve of Ruan Nianchu’s lips froze on her face.

In the past seven years, she had never thought there would be a day when she would reunite with that person. However, mysteriously, against all odds, it happened just like that. What was even more surprising was that the memories that had been blurred by time suddenly became vivid in her mind at a single glance.

A name floated to the surface.

Due to this unexpected encounter, Ruan Nianchu couldn’t greet the female host with ease.

In Li Xiaoyan’s friendly greeting, “Hello,” directed towards her, Ruan Nianchu could only manage a smile. The evening’s performers numbered over a hundred, and Li Xiaoyan only knew that Ruan Nianchu’s program was a solo, but she didn’t remember her name.

After a moment of shock, Ruan Nianchu returned to normal and smiled, “Hello.”

“You were just warming up, right? Very diligent,” Li Xiaoyan’s perennially sweet smile remained unchanged. Turning to Li Teng, she introduced, “This is the solo performer for tonight’s event. She sings beautifully.”

A simple introduction, without even mentioning a name.

Li Teng nodded, his gaze politely and coldly shifting to Ruan Nianchu. “Hello.”

He didn’t remember her at all. This was Ruan Nianchu’s conclusion based on his expression. His eyes were as deep and calm as she remembered, showing no ripples.

For some reason, at this moment, Ruan Nianchu felt oddly calm.

Li Xiaoyan continued the introduction, “This is Li Teng from the Airborne Brigade.”

Ruan Nianchu’s peripheral vision caught sight of the two bars and three stars on Li Teng’s shoulder—Air Force Colonel, deputy regimental rank. A high-ranking officer. So, in her smile, there was a hint of flattery. “Hello, sir. I apologize for disturbing you with my vocal practice.”

Responding was Li Xiaoyan, expressing her apologies, “It’s our disturbance to you. I came over to adjust the microphone, and since Lieutenant Li arrived, it wouldn’t be right to keep him waiting, so we took a stroll here.”

Ruan Nianchu sensed their close relationship and tactfully excused herself, “Okay. Oh, I need to make a call. Goodbye.” With that, she smiled and walked away.

Li Xiaoyan bid her farewell, and Li Teng didn’t even spare an extra glance at her.

This reunion came suddenly and ended just as abruptly.

It wasn’t until she walked back to the dressing room that Ruan Nianchu had a chance to reflect on the encounter with Li Teng. He seemed to have changed a bit, yet also seemed unchanged. Seven years had passed, softening some of his wildness and leaving behind a more restrained demeanor. The Air Force uniform on him accentuated his naturally handsome and upright appearance.

Li Teng was no longer the Li from the Cambodian jungle. This was his true self.

Ruan Nianchu rested her chin on her hand. Thinking of the past, she couldn’t help but smile.

He had forgotten her, and she couldn’t remember him. In a way, it was a bit regrettable.

Sansukini: This reunion makes me sad, somehow. She never forgot him. But… there would be a surprise revelation later. The romance part starts here, btw.

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