As soon as Su Yunyi heard this, she grabbed her small army-green bag and ran out.
“Your water bottle.”
Xiao Ze chased after her, holding her water bottle.
Seeing the girl, who looked like a little white rice ball, running back towards him, Xiao Ze suddenly understood. Why she stayed by his side was no longer important; in this life, he would ensure their ending was different.
Su Yunyi and her group arrived at the commune’s assembly hall with time to spare.
Only a few people were chatting amongst themselves.
With yesterday’s experience, knowing the dance they were to rehearse, Su Yunyi began her warm-up and stretching.
Having learned from yesterday, and knowing the rehearsed piece was a Tibetan dance, Su Yunyi put down her things and started her warm-up and stretching.
The warm-up was mainly to prevent physical discomfort at the beginning of practice, while stretching helped the body get into the right state.
After a round of warm-up and stretching, her body started to feel a dull ache.
Zhou Juanjuan imitated her movements and warmed up with her, but couldn’t last two minutes before crying out in pain, clutching her leg.
“Heavens, Yunyi, how are you so amazing? You can actually touch your toes!”
Su Yunyi hadn’t expected this either. The original owner’s body had poor stamina, but its flexibility was actually quite good; bending over and doing the splits were not a problem.
And looking at her figure in the mirror, she wasn’t really fat, just a little plump.
Su Yunyi nodded in satisfaction and continued to diligently practice the basic skills of Tibetan dance: trembling knees, long leans, short leans… She became more and more proficient with practice.
If she could lose weight while dancing, it would truly be killing two birds with one stone.
Su Yunyi was engrossed in her dancing and didn’t notice a gaze fixed on her for a long time from behind.
It was Zhang Hong, the head of the cultural troupe.
She had followed her husband when he transferred to Xiangyun Commune. Originally, she disagreed with the arrangement for each brigade to select people for this cultural performance and then gather them for rehearsal.
For the sake of the program’s effect, she had suggested selecting one or two people for solo singing or dancing.
However, the commune leaders felt that since it was a National Day cultural performance, they should showcase the unity of the entire nation, their love for labor, and the spirit of surpassing others.
Therefore, this arrangement was made.
But seeing Su Yunyi’s performance now, she couldn’t help but be glad she hadn’t insisted on her original decision.
There were indeed many promising talents in the brigades, and this young woman before her was quite good.
The only slight imperfection was that her figure wasn’t slender enough.
But this did not affect the overall aesthetic; instead, it gave a strong sense of power.
It was a classical beauty, as if the dancer herself possessed such an aura.
Zhang Hong nodded appreciatively.
This scene was then observed by Zhu Xiaomei, who had just entered.
She was about to go up and greet them when Zhang Hong made a shushing gesture.
When she clearly saw who was dancing, she felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on her heart, making it difficult to breathe. She had racked her brains to gain Director Zhang’s approval, yet the plump Su Yunyi had so easily caught Director Zhang’s attention.
She clenched her fists, her fingernails digging deeply into her palms, but she felt no pain.
It wasn’t until Su Yunyi sensed a burning gaze fixed on her and stopped her movements that she realized more than one person was staring at her.
She asked apologetically, “Am I disturbing everyone?”
“No, you’re practicing very well. What’s your name, which brigade are you from, and have you studied dancing before?”
Su Yunyi stared blankly at the woman in front of her, who exuded professionalism.
“Director Zhang is asking you a question, why are you standing there like a fool?”
Su Yunyi sensed Zhu Xiaomei’s hostility towards her.
She wondered inwardly when she had offended her.
“Hello, Director. My name is Su Yunyi, I’m from Dahe Brigade. I studied folk dance when I was little, but I haven’t practiced in many years, so I’m a bit rusty.”
Su Yunyi knew her own level and didn’t have the nerve to say she had practiced for many years.
“I can see you have a good foundation,” Director Zhang said to her gently.
Zhou Juanjuan was extremely excited.
The person recommended by their brigade was praised by the head of the cultural troupe on the first day, which was a great honor for the brigade leader. She would report it to the brigade leader as soon as she got back.
“Alright, everyone gather around. We will now begin choreographing the program. This performance is not just a simple dance, but a musical drama with the theme of the fish-and-water relationship between the army and the people. I will familiarize everyone for two days first, then determine the final role assignments. We will start by practicing the dance part…”
Director Zhang’s unhurried voice was inexplicably convincing.
As expected of a professional director, with her explanations, everyone soon got into character, making everyone feel like an indispensable part of this collective.
After lunch, they spent the afternoon refining movements. The same movement was practiced hundreds of times. Su Yunyi’s clothes became wet and then dry, dry and then wet, but her body became lighter and more agile.
As they got into the donkey cart sent by the brigade to pick them up, fatigue instantly struck. Zhou Juanjuan was no better off. They leaned their heads together and actually fell asleep on the bumpy donkey cart, much to the amusement of the three little ones who covered their mouths and giggled.
When they reached the village entrance, the two were woken up by the little ones: “Auntie, wake up, we’re home.”
The two exchanged a groggy glance. Zhou Juanjuan lowered her head in embarrassment. She was truly exhausted and felt that dancing was no less strenuous than farm work. Thinking of today’s achievements, she perked up, ready to report to the brigade leader’s house.
Su Yunyi habitually walked in the direction of her home, but after a few steps, she remembered that she was supposed to stay at Xiao mother’s place.
Thinking she still had to bring Xiao Ze dinner, she unconsciously quickened her pace.
She knocked on the door. Her family hadn’t returned from work yet, and only her second sister-in-law, Jiang Yunxia, was home.
Seeing her, she sarcastically said, “Oh, our actress is back.”
Su Yunyi just wanted to get along peacefully with her for these few days and calmly called out, “Second Sister-in-law.”
Jiang Yunxia seemed unfazed by her cold attitude. Hearing “Second Sister-in-law,” she immediately perked up and inquired, “Third Brother’s wife, how many days are you planning to stay?”
“Second Sister-in-law, I’ll move back when the house is finished and can be lived in.”
Su Yunyi was like a good child who answered every question.
“How much money did your parents from the city bring you? How can you afford to renovate the house whenever you want? I heard today that your yard is all paved with large blue bricks, how much did that cost?”
Su Yunyi didn’t dare reveal that the money was earned by Xiao Ze finding a big catch in the mountains, so she could only let her guess.
However, Jiang Yunxia’s assumptions became more and more outrageous.
“Thinking about it, you’re quite pitiful. You’re the only one in your family earning work points, and you even have to subsidize your in-laws with your dowry. I heard that for the house renovation, Third Brother hired people to work for eighty cents a day, while he himself acts like a lord.”
After speaking, she looked at Su Yunyi with pity.
Su Yunyi felt that Xiao Ze was even more wronged than Dou E.
Even his second sister-in-law said so. What must he be pretending to be in the village?
He was clearly portrayed as a freeloader, while she was definitely the big sucker from the city.
However, she figured Xiao Ze wouldn’t care.
Only she knew how her life was going. Thinking about the indoor toilet and bathroom she would soon have, Su Yunyi smiled faintly.