Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

As they emerged from the alley of dilapidated houses, Chen Xiangdong held Lou Jingru's cold little hand the whole way, still able to feel her fingers trembling slightly.

Lou Jingru followed beside him with her head down, clutching her disheveled braid in her other hand. Her eyes and nose were red, and she walked forward without saying a word.

Chen Xiangdong glanced at her sideways and asked, "Where do you live? I'll take you home."

Lou Jingru said softly, her voice slightly hoarse, "Xiguan... Hongguang Lane in Xiguan, just turn in and you'll get there."

Chen Xiangdong nodded and said "Mm," then took her hand and walked forward.

Throughout the journey, Lou Jingru remained silent, only pursing her somewhat pale lips as she walked forward in silence.

When they reached the intersection of Hongguang Lane, Chen Xiangdong stopped, released her hand, and gestured with his chin towards the alley: "We're here. Let's go home."

Lou Jingru stood there, then looked around nervously for a moment, as if just coming to her senses. She moved her lips slightly, "Thank you..."

After saying that, he walked into the alley.

Chen Xiangdong watched her figure disappear into the alley, then looked away and let out a long sigh.

Fortunately, I stumbled upon it by chance; otherwise, the tragedy of my past life would have been repeated.

I just hope that what happened today won't have too much of a psychological impact on her...

When Chen Xiangdong returned to the county theater troupe, it was already past three in the afternoon.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa carrying two thermos bottles each, preparing to go to the rehearsal hall.

Upon seeing him, Li Mancang couldn't help but ask, "Brother Xiang Dong, were you... alright?"

Lin Gouwa also looked over with his mouth agape, only to see Chen Xiangdong shake his head: "It's nothing, just ran into an acquaintance and chatted for a bit."

As he spoke, he glanced at the thermos in their hands, smacked his lips twice, and turned to look towards the rehearsal hall. He saw figures moving around inside the windows, and heard bursts of music drifting out: "Oh, are you thirsty from eating sunflower seeds?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mancang and Lin Gouwa both pursed their lips. Lin Gouwa said, "Of course! Secretary Zhu asked us to get some hot water, saying that the female comrades at the cotton mill will be so thirsty if they just keep eating sunflower seeds and not drinking water. He told us to make sure to provide good logistical support."

Li Mancang muttered to himself, "We don't even know if we'll be able to find a partner yet, but they've already turned us into donkeys for the production team."

Chen Xiangdong chuckled and took a thermos from Li Mancang: "Come on, I'll go in and take a look with you guys."

The three of them pushed open the door to the rehearsal hall with a laugh. Inside, there were dozens of people, including Lin Datou, Qiao Haizhu, and Liu Dezhu, several older single men from the troupe, who were sitting upright in their chairs, chatting and laughing with the cotton mill girls sitting next to them.

Qiao Haizhu's parted hairstyle looked like it had been licked by a cow, shiny and oily, probably from using at least half a bottle of osmanthus hair oil. Wearing that dark blue Zhongshan suit, which he'd kept at the bottom of his trunk, anyone who didn't know better would think a spy had infiltrated the theater troupe.

Lin Datou was also very neatly dressed, his hair was slicked back and shiny, and he grinned, seemingly trying to get closer to Qiao Haizhu.

Not only him, but also art director Guo Jufu and production assistant Liu Laowu were staring longingly at the same spot: two female workers from a cotton mill were sitting in the window seats on the east side.

One of the women was being pestered by Qiao Haizhu. No one knew what he said, but it made the woman cover her mouth and laugh, her shoulders shaking and her eyes crinkling with laughter.

Chen Xiangdong glanced at it and immediately understood.

No wonder it attracted a pack of hungry wolves to sniff around; it turned out that the woman in the corduroy jacket and braided hair was Lin Qiuyue from the cotton mill.

With willow-leaf eyebrows, an oval face, and skin as white as a freshly peeled hard-boiled egg, her large eyes seemed to hold a pool of water. Her appearance was no less stunning than that of Pan Lanxiang and Lu Meiyin.

Qiao Haizhu fawned over him, offering him melon seeds and hot water, which made Lin Datou, who couldn't get a word in edgewise, so anxious that he kept clicking his teeth.

On the other side, Pan Lanxiang was also surrounded by several male workers from the cotton mill. They were talking about something that made Pan Lanxiang laugh so hard she covered her mouth.

Sitting next to her, Ma Dongmei looked displeased, rolling her eyes at Pan Lanxiang, her lips pouting so much they could have tied a donkey to her.

There were few male employees in the cotton mill to begin with, and only seven or eight came in total. As soon as they arrived, most of them were seduced by Pan Lanxiang, and the rest all ran to the other side to fawn over Lu Meiyin.

Her place was deserted and she couldn't even gather a single person.

Liu Dezhu, on the other hand, was much more well-behaved. He was chatting and laughing with a female worker with shoulder-length hair. His hands were resting awkwardly on his knees, but his eyes kept sneaking glances at Lu Meiyin's movements.

Chen Xiangdong put the thermos on the ground, strolled over to Guo Jufu, and nudged him with his elbow: "Brother Fu, do you still have enough eyes? If not, can you lend me mine?"

Guo Jufu, who was craning his neck to peek at Lin Qiuyue, snapped back to reality when touched, his face flushing red. "Go away, you coward, what do you know! What's with all this eyeballs? I'm thinking about how to draw the background art for 'Miaoling Storm'!"

"Wow!" Chen Xiangdong suppressed a laugh, feigning surprise and giving him a thumbs up. "You're at a social gathering and still thinking about work? If Brother Fu doesn't get this year's Outstanding Individual Award, it'll be a serious dereliction of duty for the entire troupe's leadership!"

"Dry skin!"

Guo Jufu laughed and cursed, then glanced at Lin Qiuyue, his voice tinged with sourness: "You know, that cowardly old Qiao can't take his eyes off any pretty girl. Look at his behavior, he's just a disgrace to our troupe."

Chen Xiangdong finally couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Come on, you're just a sour grapes. Opportunity only favors the prepared. If you don't make your move now, you'll be crying when Qiao Haizhu takes that girl away."

As they were talking, Qiao Haizhu made some noise again, and Lin Qiuyue actually took the initiative to extend her fair little hand, letting that guy grab her hand with his dog paw.

The two were still huddled together, Qiao Haizhu lowered his head and gestured in her palm, while Lin Qiuyue tilted her head and watched intently.

This left Chen Xiangdong stunned, thinking to himself, "Qiao Haizhu is quite something!"

You've already gotten the hang of things after just meeting for the first time?

Guo Jufu, seeing this, stamped his feet in frustration and muttered curses under his breath: "Look, look! That bastard is already touching her hand! They've only known each other for a short time! You shameless scoundrel!"

Chen Xiangdong curled his lip: "You're just going to sit here and stare blankly, hoping a beautiful girl will fall from the sky?"

As he spoke, he gestured towards the fair-skinned woman next to Lin Qiuyue: "It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat! Isn't there one right here? I think that round-faced one is quite attractive."

Guo Jufu followed his gaze and saw that there was indeed a round-faced, short-haired girl sitting next to Lin Qiuyue. At first glance, she looked ordinary, but upon closer inspection, he found her increasingly attractive.

The girl was holding a cup of hot water, sitting there quietly. When she smiled, she had two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, which made people feel at ease.

Guo Jufu was already planning how to approach the girl and had taken half a step forward when Liu Laowu, who was sitting next to him, jumped up from his chair and strode over to her. He plopped down next to her, grinned, and started talking: "Hello comrade, I'm Liu Laowu, I work in the production crew..."

Guo Jufu froze on the spot, his eyes wide open, and it took him a while to come to his senses. He muttered, "Wait, why did that guy get in front of me?!"

Chen Xiangdong glanced at the impotently furious Guo Jufu, shook his head, and turned to walk out of the rehearsal hall.

Standing next to this cowardly bastard who has lust but no guts is beneath me!