Chang Jia’s words were like a warm current, flowing slowly into Lin Jianqiu’s heart.
"Brother Jia..."
Seeing Lin Jianqiu’s eyes well up, Chang Jia ruffled her hair and said,
"Jianqiu, it’s not that I dislike you, or that I don’t love you. I just don’t like all this talk about etiquette and rules."
This ti, Chang Jia didn’t pull away. Instead, he very naturally took Lin Jianqiu’s hand.
They sat down on the chairs, and Chang Jia began to speak slowly.
"This is a new era, a new society. It’s not like the old days. You don’t have to keep following those rules."
’All that "the husband is the sky" bullshit can go to hell.’
Lin Jianqiu’s hand, held by Chang Jia, trembled slightly, her palm growing damp with a thin layer of sweat.
But Chang Jia held it as if it were a precious treasure, a faint smile on his face.
Lin Jianqiu wanted to say more, but when she looked into Chang Jia’s eyes, the words wouldn’t co out.
In Chang Jia’s heart, her willingness to change was all that mattered.
Their relationship progressed quickly. Su Tang and Lu Xiao saw this and were very happy for them.
One day, however, Su Tang heard so bad news from Lin Qian.
"The camp is disbanding the cultural troupe?"
Su Tang watched Lin Qian sobbing uncontrollably, unsure of how to comfort her.
She silently poured half a cup of warm water from an enal mug. On its side, printed in red, were the words "Serve the People."
Lin Qian’s hand, clutching the enal cup, was trembling so hard that scalding water splashed onto the web of her thumb without her even noticing. "The political instructor said it himself this morning. He said that what we do is... is decadent music..."
As if suddenly breaking down, she buried her face in her arms. A dark, wet stain quickly spread across her army-green dacron sleeve.
"They’re disbanding us next month! My household registration is here. Where am I supposed to go?"
"Maybe it’s a temporary adjustnt?"
’Even I don’t believe that,’ Su Tang thought. Hadn’t the group dance activity for the won at the textile factory been shut down just last month?
Lin Qian shot her head up, her eyes swollen like peaches. "Sister Su Tang, I’m so scared..."
She didn’t finish the sentence, but they both understood what she ant.
A heavy weight settled in Su Tang’s heart, as if a large stone was pressing down on it.
She sat beside Lin Qian, patting her back. "Lin Qian, don’t cry for now... It’s not worth making yourself sick over this... Maybe... maybe there’s still a chance things will turn around?"
’But that other event was canceled just as suddenly, without making a single ripple, wasn’t it?’
"A turnaround?"
Lin Qian jerked her head up, her face a ss of tears and snot. Her eyes were swollen into thin slits as she looked at Su Tang with despair.
"The political instructor said it himself this morning! It’s set in stone! Sister Su Tang... I’m not that worried about the troupe disbanding... it’s what cos after that I’m afraid of..."
The rest of her words were choked off by a fresh wave of tears, leaving only choked sobs.
’Once disbanded, I’ll be like a rootless drifter.’
The only sound in the dormitory was Lin Qian’s suppressed, intermittent sobs.
Su Tang’s mind was a ss, and she had no idea what to do. Just then, the door was pushed open with a CREAK.
Lu Xiao’s tall figure appeared in the doorway, bringing a chill of the autumn air in with him.
His brow was slightly furrowed. His gaze swept over Lin Qian, who was a crying ss, before landing on Su Tang’s worried face.
"Both here?"
Lu Xiao’s voice wasn’t loud, but it landed like a stone in a calm pond, making even Lin Qian’s sobs catch in her throat.
"News travels fast. There’s a major rectification campaign coming from above. Your cultural troupe... sigh. You’re right in the eye of the storm."
"The official docunt just ca down from on high."
Lu Xiao walked over to Su Tang, his tone heavy.
"But Lin Qian, you don’t have to worry too much. There might still be a chance."
He thought for a mont but decided not to tell Su Tang the whole truth.
In reality, Su Tang would be affected by this as well.
But since she worked at the hospital and was his wife, the impact on her wouldn’t be as great as it was for Lin Qian.
Su Tang subconsciously tightened her grip on the corner of Lu Xiao’s shirt, looking up at her husband’s sharp, chiseled profile.
"Lu—"
"You’re Su Tang’s friend. I’ll help you."
Lu Xiao cut Lin Qian off before she could finish.
This incident was sudden, but there had been faint rumors about it beforehand.
Su Tang was just about to ask Lu Xiao what this "chance" was when a flurry of urgent footsteps sounded from outside.
Before she could even react, Chang Jia burst through the door in a panic.
His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, and he said, panting, "Jianqiu just heard. She said there’s trouble at the cultural troupe."
Lu Xiao’s brow furrowed deeper. Without a word, he turned and headed out.
’If even Lu Xiao is in such a hurry, this must be really bad. Like the sky is falling.’
So she hurried after him.
Su Tang and Lin Qian practically had to run to keep up with Lu Xiao, and Chang Jia hurried to follow as well.
By the ti they reached the cultural troupe’s compound, they could already hear a commotion from far away.
Pushing the door open, they found total chaos. Dozens of young won in military uniforms were crowded together.
So were wiping away tears from red-rimd eyes, others were shouting at the top of their lungs, and a few of the more emotional ones were sitting on the floor, wailing.
Soone standing in the middle of the crowd, their face pale, caught sight of Chang Jia and Lu Xiao and looked as though they’d just found a lifeline.
A woman ran over in a panic, grabbing Lu Xiao’s sleeve. "Soone took a prop knife from rehearsal! They said they’re going to the political instructor’s office to settle the score!"
Just as she finished speaking, soone in the crowd yelled, "She went in!"
Su Tang stood on her tiptoes and saw Xiao Zhou, her pigtails flying and her hat askew, storming toward the political instructor’s office.
The usually cheerful young woman’s eyes were red from crying. The barrette in her hair had fallen to the ground at so point and been crushed underfoot.
"Everyone, calm down!"
Lu Xiao tried to break free, but he was surrounded.
The tall Wang Fang dropped to her knees, clutching his shirt and crying, "I’ve been in the cultural troupe since I was a child! Dancing is all I know! What am I supposed to do now that it’s being disbanded?"
A short-haired woman, Little Chen, collapsed next to Lin Qian, begging Su Tang through her tears, "Sister Su, you have to think of sothing!"
Lin Qian was nearly pulled to the ground. Just as Su Tang steadied her, a loud BANG echoed from the office.
The political instructor’s furious roar ca from the office: "You peddle this frivolous nonsense and you still dare to talk back?"
Chang Jia stomped his foot in frustration. "This is bad. Sothing terrible is going to happen!"
Lu Xiao’s expression darkened as he pushed through the crowd and rushed forward.
Su Tang pulled Lin Qian along and followed. The mont they pushed the door open, they were hit by the strong sll of tea.
Performance costus were strewn all over the room. The floor was covered in shards from a broken enal mug, and brown tea flowed along the cracks between the floor tiles. Even the portrait on the wall was askew.
The political instructor’s face was beet red, his chest heaving as he pointed a trembling finger at Xiao Zhou, who was shaking in the corner.
"This is outright rebellion! Threatening a superior with a prop knife? Are you trying to start a struggle session?"
Xiao Zhou bit her lip, tears falling PATTER PATTER onto the floor. She suddenly raised the wooden knife in her hand and shouted, "We didn’t do anything wrong! Every performance was to boost the soldiers’ morale!"
"Is arguing going to solve anything right now? The docunt orders a rectification, in black and white. If you don’t want to be punished, you all need to calm down first!"
His words made a few of the girls’ sobs subside, but Xiao Zhou remained defiant, her neck stiff and her red-rimd eyes fixed on the political instructor.
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