The young women and wives who were reluctant to talk to her earlier now surrounded Su Yunyi, asking her to explain what happened.
Su Yunyi dared not mention how others gossiped about her behind her back, as that would stir up conflict between the two brigades. She only spoke about the interesting and arduous aspects of the rehearsal, which everyone listened to with great relish.
The brigade leader had heard the detailed version from Accountant Wang. Seeing Su Yunyi’s consideration for the overall situation, he was even more satisfied. As expected of someone praised by the leaders, he strode towards the deputy brigade leader’s house, ready to finalize the matter and report it to the commune as soon as possible.
After Xiao Ze finished packing up the tools, he saw his young wife surrounded by a group of women, smiling sweetly, talking about something unknown, with everyone around staring at her.
“This girl seems to have lost weight.”
He muttered to himself.
Mother Xiao quickly brought him the steamed buns and dishes she had brought for him.
Seeing his eyes constantly glancing outwards, she was happy, knowing he was thinking of his wife.
Mother Xiao sat beside Xiao Ze and chattered.
“Since this third daughter-in-law arrived, our family has been getting better and better. The brigade leader just said that she was praised by leaders at the commune, in front of so many people, and they praised me for being blessed. For so many years, our family has never been looked up to.”
Seeing that her son wasn’t responding, she continued, “Son, don’t gamble or drink anymore. You have such a good wife, live your life properly, and show them what a decent person looks like.”
Xiao Ze couldn’t help but think of his past life, the desolate graves of his parents. He looked at his mother, whose hair was not yet gray, and at Su Yunyi, whose soft laughter could be heard from outside the courtyard, and let out a low hum.
Mother Xiao intentionally left the young couple alone. With a beaming smile, she stood up and said to Su Yunyi, who was in the crowd, “Third daughter-in-law, Mom is going home first. Wait for Lao San to finish eating, and then bring the bowls back.”
Su Yunyi was just looking for an opportunity to get away. Taking advantage of Mother Xiao’s words, she quickly said to the sisters and aunties who were chatting with her, “Excuse me, sisters, aunties, I’m going in to see if my man has finished eating.”
She then smiled shyly, appearing every bit the shy new bride.
The crowd didn’t stop them anymore. With laughter and chatter, they each went home.
Xiao Ze heard the noise outside subside and a ball of snow approached him.
“Doesn’t the commune feed you? You’ve actually lost weight.”
Su Yunyi, hearing this, excitedly squeezed her face inward with both hands and asked him excitedly, “Have I really lost weight?”
Not understanding why she was so excited, Xiao Ze, with a dark expression, continued, “Didn’t I give you money, telling you to buy meat if you were hungry? Do you think I can’t afford to feed you?”
Su Yunyi looked stunned.
She was about to say she was on a diet, but then felt it might be a bit embarrassing.
“It’s just that dancing is too tiring, and I don’t have much appetite.”
Extreme fatigue can affect appetite.
Su Yunyi felt her explanation was perfectly reasonable.
“Then maybe I should tell the captain that you should come back and stop dancing?”
Su Yunyi finally realized that this man was concerned about her.
This realization inexplicably made her feel happy. She lowered her head and chuckled softly.
Then, mischievously, she tilted her head and looked directly into his eyes, a little coquettishly.
“Are you concerned about me?”
Xiao Ze felt he should deny it.
But looking at her charming face, the words of denial were difficult to utter.
After a long silence, he said with a half-smile, “You’re so greedy, I’m afraid you’ll run away from hunger. After all, you’re the wife my mother worked so hard to marry for me.”
He deliberately emphasized the words “worked so hard.”
Su Yunyi’s gaze never left his face.
She mumbled, “I won’t run away.”
Xiao Ze’s heart instantly softened to the extreme, and he couldn’t suppress the smile in his eyes.
“I heard Mom say you were praised. What are you dancing? I can’t come to see you while I’m building the house, so dance for me.”
Su Yunyi thought of the mini-exam tomorrow and wanted to practice. Seeing the newly leveled ground in front of her, she felt it was suitable for practice and nodded in agreement.
Since there was no music, she sang while dancing.
The girl’s clear singing voice paired with her soft dance made Xiao Ze feel that he had made a wrong suggestion.
The girl danced alone under the moonlight, swaying with the wind, like a twinkling star in the night sky.
At this moment, her beauty belonged only to him.
This thought made Xiao Ze’s throat dry and his blood surge. His eyes couldn’t move away from Su Yunyi, as if every step she took resonated in his heart.
Su Yunyi danced more and more fluidly on the smooth ground of her own home, perhaps because of the admiring gaze of the man or perhaps due to the familiarity of the environment.
After two rounds, Su Yunyi ran back to Xiao Ze and asked him how her dancing was.
However, she was almost drawn into his dark eyes filled with emotion.
Blushing, she snatched the bowl from his hand: “You… you should go to bed early. I… I’m going back to Mom’s. I have an exam tomorrow.”
With that, she fled.
The man, having eaten his fill, lay on the leveled ground, looking up at the sky. After a long while, he muttered, “Coward.”
The next day’s mini-exam, Su Yunyi performed exceptionally steadily.
Perhaps it was due to yesterday’s practice, or perhaps it was muscle memory. The dance moves seemed to be etched in her mind, refusing to fade.
Recalling Xiao Ze’s gaze as he watched her practice yesterday, Su Yunyi’s cheeks flushed, and her eyes held a hint of shyness, perfectly matching the emotions of the dance.
The exam continued until noon.
In the afternoon, Commander Zhang entered, holding a piece of paper.
Everyone knew that it was the list of who would be the lead singer and who would be the lead dancer.
They couldn’t help but hold their breath, waiting for Commander Zhang to announce the final results.
“Zhu Xiaomei, you will be responsible for singing the songs in this musical drama.”
Zhu Xiaomei smiled sweetly. She had originally aimed for this position, and indeed, no one here could pose a threat to her.
“Zhang Zhao will play the role of the cook in the PLA’s culinary squad, which is the male lead dancer.”
Zhang Zhao was the boy who had particularly defended Zhu Xiaomei on the first day.
Su Yunyi estimated he was about 1.8 meters tall, which was quite rare in this era, as everyone lacked nutrition and people generally weren’t as tall as in later generations.
Therefore, even though his movements were not entirely standard, Commander Zhang still chose him as the male lead dancer.
“Su Yunyi will be the female lead dancer for this musical drama.”
When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.
“It’s actually her?”
“On what grounds?”
Commander Zhang’s cold gaze swept towards the source of the voices, and the speaker immediately fell silent.
“If you have any objections, raise them after I finish announcing. What is this whispering about now?”
Su Yunyi herself was also incredulous.
Commander Zhang continued to announce: “Zhou Juanjuan and Su Yan will play the Tibetan girls fetching water by the river. The other female comrades will play working female commune members. Qiu Lei will play the young soldier in the culinary squad, and the other male comrades will play working male commune members.”