Dong Qingguo’s answer was very simple.
“There’s someone backing Shi Man. Let’s not provoke her for now.”
Yao Wenjing was stunned when she heard that. She had been best friends with Shi Man for so long—how had she never known Shi Man had a powerful supporter?
But Dong Qingguo looked deadly serious, even grinding his teeth, and it didn’t seem fake.
After failing to win Shi Man over and being publicly rejected by her, the affection he once felt had long turned into resentment—far deeper even than Yao Wenjing’s hostility toward Shi Man.
Dong Qingguo was deeply frustrated that he couldn’t punish Shi Man for the time being. Yao Wenjing felt just as upset.
Still, she followed Dong Qingguo’s instructions and went to look for Shi Man, putting on a show.
“Manman, you don’t need to write that self-criticism anymore. I pleaded for you. Qingguo listens to me—he said we should just let bygones be bygones. He’s forgiven you.”
“Manman, I hope we can get along peacefully from now on. I’ve always treated you as my best sister.”
“It was only because I liked Qingguo so much back then that I did those things to you… You can forgive me too, right?”
Yao Wenjing sounded extremely sincere. Her tears fell on cue as she repented for using petty schemes because she loved Dong Qingguo too much.
If Shi Man hadn’t seen this act countless times in her dreams, she might really have believed her lies.
So the clear-headed Shi Man simply capped her fountain pen carefully and stacked the self-criticism papers together.
“Actually, I’ve already finished writing it,” she said calmly. “I can read it out tomorrow.”
She even thought it was written quite well. It would be a shame not to read it.
Yao Wenjing was momentarily dumbfounded. She wondered if Shi Man’s brain had short-circuited—who in their right mind would actively want to read a self-criticism in front of the entire art troupe? Did she have no sense of shame at all?
“Manman, you—”
Before Yao Wenjing could say anything else, Shi Man cut her off mercilessly.
“I’m leaving. Make yourself comfortable.”
She didn’t want to spend even one extra minute with Yao Wenjing.
***
The next day, the deputy commanders gathered everyone from all teams of the art troupe into the main rehearsal hall to make announcements.
“Today, there are two matters I need to inform everyone about.”
“First, a neighboring small country, Lunsakejis, will soon be paying a friendly visit to our country. They also have notable achievements in the arts, so the leadership has arranged for us to put on a cultural exchange performance. We must showcase the spirit and image of our nation.”
“Second, the Yihua Autumn Evaluation is about to begin. However, due to the tight schedule of the exchange gala, the troupe has decided that this time, all teams will organize internally. Programs will be formed and registered by each team. Any program selected for the exchange performance—everyone participating will automatically receive an A-grade evaluation.”
This decision was meant to stimulate enthusiasm and motivate everyone to prepare more diligently for the exchange performance.
As soon as the deputy commander finished speaking, the hall erupted.
It seemed that the troupe was undergoing bold reforms this year. In the past, aside from the first squad of each division, when had other squads ever been given such a chance to perform?
For a moment, the art soldiers were fired up, rubbing their hands together, brimming with passion, vowing to come up with the most spectacular program.
Only after the excitement gradually subsided did the deputy leader clear his throat and call for silence.
Then he noticed Shi Man raising her hand.
He called on her. “Shi Man, do you have a question?”
“No,” Shi Man said, waving the self-criticism in her hand. “I just want to report that the self-criticism you asked me to write yesterday is finished. May I ask when I should read it publicly?”
The speed at which the hall fell silent was even faster than when the deputy leader had shouted earlier.
In an instant, not a sound could be heard.
No one had expected someone like Shi Man to be so eager to deliver a self-criticism.
Even the deputy commander was caught off guard, coughing awkwardly.
“Comrade Shi Man, your self-criticism… there’s no need to read it for now.”
He spoke vaguely, glancing nervously toward the door.
Only he knew who was standing outside the rehearsal hall at that very moment—
Ling Zhen.
At 1.9 meters tall, he towered over even the troupe leader, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Troupe leader Zhang Zhixin shook his hand politely. “Congratulations, Commander Ling. Another first-class merit—truly impressive for someone so young.”
Ling Zhen didn’t respond. His gaze was fixed on the photograph clenched in his palm.
It was a group photo taken on Shi Man’s first Sunday after joining dance squad one.
All the art soldiers were facing forward, lips pressed together in near-identical smiles, posing uniformly according to the photographer’s instructions.
Only Shi Man was different.
She seemed to find the pose old-fashioned and unstylish, so her expression stood out—made all the more eye-catching by her beauty.
Zhang Zhixin handed the photo to Ling Zhen.
“If you like it, feel free to take it. We had several copies developed.”
Ling Zhen didn’t say he liked it. He simply slipped the photo into his pocket without a word.
Zhang Zhixin kept smiling, though inwardly uneasy.
By rank, he and Ling Zhen were equals. Yet standing before Ling Zhen, he inexplicably felt inferior.
“Commander Ling, this was my failure to discipline my deputy properly. He acted rashly and believed Dong Qingguo’s report without verification, mistakenly thinking Shi Man had truly done something wrong.”
“It’s such a minor matter—there’s no need to report it to the higher-ups, right?”
Zhang Zhixin was helpless. Though he had seniority, Ling Zhen was a repeatedly decorated model officer, frequently praised by top leaders. His future was boundless.
Moreover, it truly was the fault of his subordinates.
So he could only lower his stance, hoping Ling Zhen would show leniency and spare him from criticism for lax supervision.
At that moment, Shi Man’s clear voice suddenly rang out from inside the rehearsal hall as she began reading her self-criticism aloud.
She truly seemed afraid the world wouldn’t be chaotic, reading that unheard-of self-criticism in a proud, willful tone—
“I reflect upon myself. I should not have misunderstood Dong Qingguo…”
Outside, Zhang Zhixin’s expression turned strange. He had completely lost the face to continue pleading.
Inside, the deputy commander’s expression darkened to the extreme.
“That’s enough, Shi Man,” he interrupted. “Stop reading. This matter was Dong Qingguo’s fault. I failed to investigate properly and wronged you. I was also in the wrong. The troupe will give you an explanation.”
After the meeting, the deputy commander’s back was soaked with cold sweat.
When he stepped out of the hall, both the troupe leader and Ling Zhen were already gone, having left at some point unknown.
He broke out in another cold sweat.
Everyone knew how much weight Ling Zhen’s words carried now. At the height of his success, who would dare cause trouble under his watch?
In truth, the deputy leader hadn’t committed any major mistake.
He merely had a distant family connection with Dong Qingguo and had recommended him for the light-duty job of reading documents at the art troupe.
Who could have known Dong Qingguo would be so useless?
He went to find Dong Qingguo and vented all his anger on him, scolding him mercilessly.
“Such a good position—I worked hard to get it for you! And what did you do? All you know is how to cause trouble!”
“I told you yesterday to go apologize to Shi Man. Did you go? Do you know how big a scene she caused today by reading that self-criticism in front of everyone?”
“Why did you have to provoke that little ancestor? It’s not like you haven’t dealt with her before. Don’t you know her temperament?”
“Dong Qingguo, rein in those wandering thoughts of yours! Stop flirting around everywhere! You think Shi Man would ever fancy you? She even rejected Ling Zhen—and you’re a toad dreaming of eating swan meat!”
“Get out!”
Dong Qingguo was scolded until he couldn’t lift his head.
He removed his gold-rimmed glasses and hung his head like an eggplant struck by frost.
Not only was he scolded by the deputy leader—after returning to his unit, he was scolded again by his superiors.
They said the army unit had already sent over an official letter of criticism and that he would no longer be allowed to read documents at the art troupe.
The impact of this incident was too severe. Several leaders, both senior and junior, took turns reprimanding him.
This time, the one who had to write a self-criticism was Dong Qingguo.
And it was serious enough that he was temporarily suspended, required to conduct deep self-reflection every single day.
Failing to pursue a girl and then retaliating by making things difficult for her—did he have any shame at all?
Dong Qingguo became dispirited and listless, staying home all day writing self-criticisms.
Dong’s parents hadn’t expected things to escalate so suddenly.
The son they once bragged about now stayed home even during the day. When people asked why, they couldn’t lift their heads in response.
“It’s all that Shi Man’s fault.”
“That girl must have water in her brain. She even turned down a man like our Qingguo, good men like him are impossible to find even with a lantern. She’ll regret it one day.”
“It’s fine, Qingguo. Write your self-criticisms properly, keep the right attitude. Once you return to work, things will improve. Your father and I went through so much trouble to find you this job—you can’t lose it.”
“Good thing you didn’t marry that Shi Man. If she entered our Dong family, who knows how badly she’d ruin us.”
“Look at this Yao Wenjing—she’s much better. She helped you out on the spot and knows how to care for you. I hear she’s the most hardworking and ambitious one in the art troupe. That’s great.”
“A pretty face doesn’t put rice on the table. Wenjing is good—she looks fertile. Once she gets promoted, you two should marry quickly and give me a few chubby grandsons.”
Yao Wenjing truly felt heartbroken for Dong Qingguo.
Now that he could no longer go to the art troupe to read documents, it also meant she couldn’t see him every day.
She transformed that longing into hatred toward Shi Man and motivation to advance and get promoted as soon as possible.
She, too, stayed every day in the small, stuffy side room of the Fifth Team, holding her fountain pen that often refused to produce ink, writing on paper.
She wrote about her longing for Dong Qingguo and occasionally helped him write one or two self-criticisms.
This was what they called sharing hardship and happiness together.
It proved her love for Dong Qingguo, making him love her more and depend on her more.
Such a good man—she couldn’t let anyone steal him away.
The other girls in the dormitory found Yao Wenjing rather laughable.
Afraid of losing face, she still tried to save appearances.
“My Qingguo will be back soon, reading documents for us again.”
One of the girls, long annoyed with Yao Wenjing, didn’t bother sparing her feelings.
“Your Dong Qingguo isn’t even a permanent employee. Shouldn’t you be more worried about whether he can keep his job at all? And you’re still dreaming about him coming back to the art troupe?”
Yao Wenjing’s weak point was exposed, and her expression instantly darkened.
She stood up and snapped, “Don’t look down on people! My Qingguo’s parents have strong connections. He’ll be regularized sooner or later. His family has so many capable relatives—rising rapidly won’t be hard at all! He’s talented too—he’s read so much poetry!”
The girls pursed their lips, not really wanting to engage with Yao Wenjing, who was on the verge of hysteria.
But Yao Wenjing insisted on proving herself.
She pointed toward the troupe office.
“We have a deputy leader here who’s Qingguo’s cousin. You didn’t know that, did you?”
One girl immediately turned around.
“Deputy Leader Liu?”
“Yes.”
Yao Wenjing lifted her chin proudly.
This was something Dong Qingguo had told her in secret, telling her not to spread it. But ever since she became his fiancée, Deputy Leader Liu had indeed taken extra care of her behind the scenes.
It was something she’d long wanted to boast about but couldn’t.
Saying it out loud today finally made her feel a little better.
Unexpectedly, someone soon said, “Deputy Leader Liu isn’t in our troupe anymore. You were on sick leave these past two days, so you didn’t know?”
“What?” Yao Wenjing’s face drained of color.
“deputy Liu resigned out of accountability and has been reassigned to a field unit. He even apologized to Shi Man, saying he shouldn’t have turned a blind eye just because Dong Qingguo was his relative and let him wave a chicken feather as if it were a command arrow.”
The girls delivered the cruel truth slowly, like a knife stabbing straight into Yao Wenjing’s heart.
She nearly fainted.
And then, as if that weren’t enough, one particularly heartless girl added, patting her on the shoulder,
“Accept reality. As long as Commander Ling still likes Shi Man, with him around, how would Dong Qingguo dare bully her? That’d be courting death.”
Yao Wenjing lashed out without thinking.
“What’s so great about him? Once my Qingguo gets regularized, he’ll rise rapidly. He has parents and relatives backing him—far better than an orphan like Ling Zhen with no father or mother!”
The other girls shook their heads, too lazy to argue further.
Yao Wenjing was too deeply trapped in the beautiful fantasy Dong Qingguo had woven for her.
“…an orphan with no father or mother…”
Shi Man happened to hear those words as she stepped out to pour some water.
The autumn night breeze was thin and scattered many sounds, but she caught those words with startling clarity.
She frowned instinctively.
Perhaps because Ling Zhen had once been her man, she found it especially unpleasant to hear anyone speak of him that way behind his back.
If one had a choice, who wouldn’t want to be born into a happy family with loving parents?
Ling Zhen simply never had that choice.
Shi Man was likely the only person in the world—aside from a few top leaders—who truly knew Ling Zhen’s origins.
Rumors said he was raised by wolves, lived on raw flesh, and didn’t learn to speak until his teens, when he finally put on Yihua clothing and entered human society.
Most people believed it was just a legend.
Many military family members even used the story to scare their misbehaving children, saying the fierce-looking Uncle Ling would come eat them. The children would immediately behave.
Other soldiers treated it as nothing more than an entertaining tale.
Only Shi Man knew—the legend was real.
Ling Zhen had no parents. He had been found and raised by wild wolves in a forest.
For a long time, he believed himself to be one of them.
By thirteen or fourteen, he had already fought his way to become the alpha wolf.
With a human body, he suppressed an entire wolf pack, becoming their king—leading them in training, hunting, and claiming territory.
When Ling Zhen was sixteen, he was discovered by a local field army unit.
They were utterly shocked.
They cautiously approached him, gradually teaching him language and human ways of living.
Ling Zhen deeply respected and was grateful to the commander who restored his identity as a human.
When that commander praised him as a natural-born soldier, Ling Zhen joined the army without hesitation and never once considered leaving.
Aside from combat and training, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Because of his upbringing among wolves, Ling Zhen’s combat instincts far surpassed those of ordinary people.
In close combat, he could face a hundred alone.
Others relied on techniques, but he fought purely on instinct—no form, every move lethal, enough to overwhelm even masters.
The blood he had seen, the life-and-death struggles he had endured, were experiences no one in a peaceful era could ever accumulate.
Shooting came easily to him, even without prior exposure.
His eyes had evolved like a wolf’s—able to see in the dark, sharper than binoculars, capable of locking onto fast-moving prey and killing with a single shot.
As for stamina, it went without saying.
He had once led wolves through days and nights of continuous combat in the forest. Compared to that, military endurance competitions like the triathlon were laughable—if he competed, it would be a crushing, unfair victory.
No one ever competed with Ling Zhen.
He was simply too strong.
People felt he resembled a wolf—not just any wolf, but a wolf king.
His tall, lean frame coiled with explosive power, his cold, sharp eyes, his keen reflexes and constant vigilance—everything about him was different.
Ling Zhen was indeed cold and fierce, difficult to approach.
Meeting his gaze felt like being locked onto by a beast. But all of that had once been his way of protecting himself.
Only by looking fierce enough and strong enough could he survive in a forest full of predators.
Only Shi Man had seen the scars covering his body.
Torn, pierced, crushed—each one shocking to behold.
“Manman, do you want to put on a program with us?”
A voice from behind snapped Shi Man out of her thoughts. She turned around and saw a few sisters she usually got along with quite well.
Whenever Wang Dongyun’s family sent food, they always shared it together.
“Sure,” Shi Man agreed readily.
“Then let’s discuss it now. What kind of dance should we do?”
“Wait a moment,” Shi Man said. “I’ll put the basin away and call Dongyun to come out too.”
She assumed naturally that Wang Dongyun was included.
But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw their awkward expressions.
Shi Man immediately understood and frowned.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Manman, we do treat Dongyun as a good sister, but…”
“You know a dance program needs flips. Without flips, it won’t look good, and there’s no way we’d get an A-grade.”
They felt indebted—after all, they’d eaten Wang Dongyun’s food many times.
But relationships were one thing. Performances were another. No one wanted to sacrifice their future in the art troupe just for sentiment.
Aside from wishing Wang Dongyun good luck, there was nothing more they could do.
Shi Man understood them. But she couldn’t agree.
Inside the room, Wang Dongyun was quietly stretching her legs on the heated bed alone.
No one went over to talk to her.
No one invited her to perform.
Everyone knew she couldn’t do flips and was considered useless.
But Shi Man was different.
She slid the enamel basin under the bed, wiped her hands, and walked up to Wang Dongyun, extending her clean, open palm.
“Dongyun,” she asked gently, “” want to join my performance?”