Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

In the training room, male and female students lined up along the wall to practice splits. After this period of training, almost everyone was able to put their crotches on the ground, and the initial screaming and howling had completely disappeared.

Qiao Haizhu slowly walked past the trainees, carrying a rattan cane, weighing each trainee's training progress and nodding in satisfaction from time to time.

"Old He, how's the training going for these kids?"

Qiao Haizhu gestured with his chin toward He Jianshe, who had just entered the training room, his tone tinged with a hint of pride. He had personally taught these students how to do the splits.

He Jianshe stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping around the training room. He chuckled and said, "Not bad, not bad. These kids are improving at a rate not much slower than we were when we were in school."

Although He Jianshe and Qiao Haizhu were both instructors for basic physical training in the training class, Qiao Haizhu volunteered to take charge of basic flexibility training such as splits, backbends, and handstands.

Since he wanted to do it, He Jianshe was naturally happy to have some free time. Originally, the two of them took turns leading the morning classes, one person per day, which wasn't too tiring.

But with him taking on all the responsibilities, He Jianshe became completely idle. Apart from getting up early to practice his singing and basic skills, he had most of his time free, wandering around the compound like a retired old man.

"Old Qiao, why don't you hurry up and finish your meal and get yourself ready? The ladies from the cotton mill are coming this afternoon, and I heard that the Water Resources Bureau is also coming to our compound for a social gathering tomorrow." He Jianshe winked at Qiao Haizhu.

Qiao Haizhu scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "I didn't expect Secretary Zhu to actually invite the employees of the cotton mill and the water conservancy bureau... I thought he was just saying it casually."

He Jianshe leaned closer mysteriously and lowered his voice: "I heard that more than 30 people are coming from the cotton mill, most of them young and beautiful women. Our troupe of bachelors has finally got a chance."

Qiao Haizhu's eyes lit up, and he grinned widely: "Really?"

"How could this be fake? I heard that among the female workers attending the social gathering, there's even the most beautiful girl from the cotton mill." He Jianshe glared at him and nudged him with his elbow: "You'd better do your best, put on some spirits, and leave a good impression."

Qiao Haizhu chuckled twice and rubbed his hands together: "Alright, I got it. If I manage to find someone this time, I'll definitely send Secretary Zhu, the matchmaker, a big pig's head."

His mind was already on the afternoon's social gathering, and he had no interest in dealing with those mischievous students anymore.

As soon as He Jianshe left the training room, he kept looking up at the mechanical clock on the wall. He felt that the second hand was moving slower than a donkey pulling a millstone, and the endless rounds were like an eternity.

After finally getting through to 11:30, Qiao Haizhu couldn't sit still any longer and clapped his hands: "That's about enough. That's enough for this morning's practice. Oh, and you're all on leave this afternoon. You don't need to come to the practice room."

"Really?" Xue Wei jumped up from the ground, his eyes wide with surprise. "They're giving us a day and a half off?"

Li Zhangqing and the others were all stunned for a moment, then a group of male and female students exclaimed "Wow!" and swarmed around her, chattering, "Teacher Qiao is so great!"

"Finally, I can sleep in tomorrow!"

"Long live Master Qiao!"

Qiao Haizhu was getting a headache from their noise. He waved his hand with a stern face and said, "Alright, alright, stop making such a fuss. Hurry up and pack your things and get out of here. If you don't leave, I might change my mind."

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of students forgot all about flattery, grabbed their coats, and rushed towards the door like a gust of wind.

After finally seeing off the trainees, Qiao Haizhu grinned and strode towards the dormitory, humming a tune from the song "Hua Wei Mei" (The Matchmaker).

.........

The unmarried young men and women in the troupe were busy getting ready. Chen Xiangdong, Li Mancang, and Lin Gouwa were also busy. Since it was a social gathering, they couldn't just sit there staring at each other, could they?

Zhu Zhengkuo waved his hand and, under the pretext of "improving the quality of life of the troupe's staff," allocated a special fund of thirty yuan from the finance office and sent Chen Xiangdong and his team to purchase peanuts and melon seeds.

In Zhu Zheng's own words, "When you're having a get-together, you need something to talk about so you can chat more freely."

Chen Xiangdong pedaled his tricycle, with Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa sitting in the back. The three of them left the theater troupe's compound and headed straight for the supply and marketing cooperative in Xiguan, the county town.

The wheels clattered and thumped over the stone pavement, causing Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa in the truck bed to sway back and forth.

"Brother Xiang Dong, are we going to use all this money to buy peanuts and melon seeds?" Lin Gouwa's eyes gleamed with greed as he craned his neck to ask.

Chen Xiangdong glanced back at him: "What? You're planning to use public funds for personal purposes and buy other things?"

Lin Gouwa quickly waved his hand, his face beaming with a smile: "How could that be! I mean, if you buy peanuts and melon seeds with all thirty yuan, that's a lot! It would fill two sacks."

Li Mancang chuckled and winked at Lin Gouwa: "Once we buy the stuff, let's each put a pocketful in our pants. If we're short a little, no one'll notice. There's a huge pile, who'll be able to tell?"

Lin Gouwa smiled, revealing his two big front teeth, and then cautiously looked at Chen Xiangdong, waiting for him to make the final decision.

"Sure!" Chen Xiangdong pedaled quickly, then grinned at the two greedy guys, "We can't just run errands for nothing, can we do it without charging some interest?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa immediately gave a fawning thumbs-up: "Brother Dong is awesome!"

Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Chen Xiangdong parked his tricycle in front of the store, jumped off nimbly, and strode into the store.

Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa followed Chen Xiangdong timidly, pushing and shoving each other. Once inside the store, they looked around curiously, like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, finding everything new and exciting.

The jars of colorful pastries and candies on the glass counter almost made them unable to look away. Especially Lin Gouwa, whose gulping sounds could be heard even by Chen Xiangdong.

Chen Xiangdong walked straight to the counter and smiled at the saleswoman, "Sister, how much are the peanuts and melon seeds? Our company is having a social gathering, so I'll get fifteen yuan's worth each."

The saleswoman was a plump woman in her thirties. She looked Chen Xiangdong up and down, then glanced at his two little followers behind him. Without even using an abacus, she said, "Fried peanuts are five mao, sunflower seeds are four mao. I'll weigh out thirty jin of peanuts for you, and thirty-seven and a half jin of sunflower seeds."

Seeing Chen Xiangdong take out money and food coupons, the plump saleswoman turned around and took two large bags down from the shelf. As soon as she opened the bags, the unique aroma of roasted nuts and seeds wafted out and went straight into people's noses.

While weighing the goods, the sales clerk chatted with Chen Xiangdong: "You're from the county theater troupe, right? Are you having some kind of social event with those girls from the cotton mill?"

Chen Xiangdong was taken aback by the question and instinctively asked, "How did you know?"

The saleswoman grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "My sister-in-law works at the cotton mill. She's going to your theater troupe's performance this afternoon. That girl was rummaging through her closet trying on clothes early this morning. If I hadn't asked her what she was doing, drawing her eyebrows and applying face cream, I wouldn't have known about it."

Chen Xiangdong said "Oh," and his mind immediately started to stir. His eyes darted around, and he asked casually, "Big sister, is your sister-in-law pretty? What's her personality like?"

Upon being asked, the saleswoman beamed, "My sister-in-law's name is Lin Qiuyue. She's the most beautiful girl in the cotton mill, absolutely gorgeous. Go ask around the mill, everyone knows Lin Qiuyue!"

She paused, then said with a hint of helplessness, "It's just that she has a... strong personality, and she can't hold back her words."

Lin Qiuyue?

Upon hearing the name, Chen Xiangdong couldn't help but blink, and the image of a shrew who often stood with her hands on her hips and cursed in the courtyard immediately came to mind.

Lin Qiuyue?

That shrew who always scolds Qiao Haizhu like a grandson?

In their past life, they were a married couple who bickered and argued their whole lives. No one expected that these two sworn enemies would meet again in this life through a social gathering.