"Huh?"

After hearing what Yu Qing said, Wen Ci blinked. A logistics soldier happened to be walking past, and she hurried over to ask, "Is the Living Yama still in the primitive forest?"

"I don’t know." The logistics soldier shook his head.

Yu Qing quickly added, "He’s probably busy."

"Probably," Wen Ci said, not thinking much of it.

The dark night sky was lit up by countless stars, and the round moon shone with a pure, white brilliance. Suddenly, a shooting star streaked across the sky.

Wen Ci tugged on Yu Qing’s sleeve, her expression excited. "A shooting star!" As she spoke, she pressed her palms together and devoutly made a wish in her heart.

Yu Qing copied Wen Ci’s gesture, also making a devout wish.

After a moment, Wen Ci opened her eyes. The meteor had left a trail across the star-dusted sky. She felt a twinge of regret that she didn’t have a camera to capture the moment.

The two walked for three kilometers and left the primitive forest.

"Wen Ci."

Wen Ci heard someone call her name and looked toward the sound. Her gaze fell upon the Northwest Youth Committee, and she asked, confused, "Is the Northwest Youth Committee looking for me for some reason?"

"It’s nothing serious." The Northwest Youth Committee approached and said calmly, "Huo Jingyuan asked me to tell you that he was sent on a sudden mission to the border. He won’t be back for the next few days."

Wen Ci nodded.

In the 1980s, bandits still ran rampant in the border regions, so soldiers were often sent on missions. As a regimental commander, Huo Jingyuan had to take on many missions to accumulate merits if he wanted to be promoted in the future.

Exhausted from the long journey, Wen Ci and Yu Qing sat in the back of the vehicle. The cool, crisp wind blew away their fatigue. By the time they returned to the family compound,

it was nearly eleven o’clock.

Wen Ci made a beeline for the bathroom at home. Bathing in the wild was extremely troublesome; because of the day-and-night temperature difference, by the time one kettle of water was boiling, another had already gone cold.

On top of that, she had gotten her period, so she had been putting off bathing.

-

「The next day.」

Wen Ci slept soundly.

She stretched languidly, then rested for another ten-odd minutes before slowly climbing out of bed. The Military Art tour performance was tomorrow.

She and Yu Qing had to go borrow the costumes for their Water Sleeve Dance today.

Wen Ci was rather looking forward to seeing the primarily white sleeveless dresses. Since there were many empty rooms in the family compound, they had been temporarily loaned out to the female soldiers from the performance tour.

Just as she stepped outside, Wen Ci ran into a few female soldiers who were putting on makeup.

From their conversation, she learned that today was the final on-stage rehearsal for the tour, and everyone participating in the performance had to wear makeup.

Wen Ci scratched her head.

She and Yu Qing had never formally rehearsed on stage, but the two of them practiced the dance for an hour and a half every day after their midday nap.

After meeting at the military camp gate, Wen Ci could hear the announcer’s powerful, resonant voice coming from the training grounds. The gatekeeper recognized Yu Qing and asked with a chuckle, "I hear Doctor Yu is going to perform on stage too?"

"Mhm."

The camp’s training ground could hold several thousand people. The stage that had been set up was enormous, and rows of stools covered the entire field. On stage, several female soldiers in red floral-print outfits were holding two handkerchiefs each.

They began to perform the Yangge dance, a sight usually only seen during the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Arriving backstage, Wen Ci immediately spotted the leader of the Military Art tour in the crowd and approached her. "Hello, Ma’am. We’re here representing the Northwest Military Region Hospital to perform the Water Sleeve Dance."

"Only military vehicles have been allowed in or out recently, so we couldn’t buy costumes for the Water Sleeve Dance. We were hoping we could borrow two outfits from you."

The leader’s gaze fell upon the two of them, and she immediately had a subordinate search through the chests for the sleeveless dresses. "The head nurse from your hospital already spoke to me before you came."

"Thank you!"

A short while later, the female soldier returned with two sleeveless dresses. The garments were primarily white, with embroidery in other colors at the waist. They looked quite nice.

"Whose idea was it to strike the drums with the water sleeves?"

"Hers," Yu Qing said immediately.

Using water sleeves to drum is an extreme test of a dancer’s skill. The force used to strike the drumhead with the sleeves must be identical for every hit, or it will sound strange.

"Can you go on stage and rehearse it for me once? If it’s good, I’ll put you on as the finale."

Hearing this, Wen Ci and Yu Qing exchanged a look. "We can."

There was a changing room backstage. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

A little later, Wen Ci walked out slowly, holding the water sleeves in her hands. Her lips trembled slightly, and she felt a genuine sense of nervousness in her heart.

She and Yu Qing had practiced the dance many times in private, but this was the first time she would be performing it on stage in costume.

Even though Wen Ci wasn’t wearing makeup, when she stood in the sunlight wearing the white sleeveless dress, the bright rays made her skin look even fairer and accentuated her graceful figure.

The female soldiers’ leader watched Wen Ci with an appreciative gaze and said with a smile, "With your talent, have you considered joining our arts troupe? Becoming a female soldier with military status."

Wen Ci shook her head.

Most female soldiers in the arts troupe had to tour military regions all over the country. She didn’t want to be separated from Huo Jingyuan for long periods.

The Northwest Youth Committee, as the second-in-command of the Northwest Military Region, placed great importance on this Military Art tour. He had just arrived at the stage when he heard the head of the arts troupe trying to poach someone.

And it was Huo Jingyuan’s wife, no less.

"How could the arts troupe possibly be better than our great Northwest!" As he spoke, the Northwest Youth Committee walked up to the female soldiers’ leader. "Director Huang Qian, don’t just go around poaching people."

"Can’t I?"

The Northwest Youth Committee and the leader of the arts troupe were old acquaintances.

"Of course not. Xiao Wen is the wife of one of my Northwest’s most capable officers. If you poach her, how are my soldiers supposed to find warm beds to go home to?"

"She’s a military dependent?"

"Mhm."

Huang Qian gave up the idea of poaching her. If she were a military dependent from any other military region, she would never have let this opportunity go. But she was a dependent from the Northwest.

The Northwest Military Region was remote and its conditions were still primitive.

There was an urgent need for the "flowers of the motherland" to be planted in this land.

The issue of military dependents having children was the top priority.

As they spoke, several drums were moved onto the stage and arranged on the left and right sides. The female musician holding a xiao, who was providing the musical accompaniment, switched to the sheet music for the Water Sleeve Dance.

"The music section is ready."

Huang Qian asked, "Are you ready to go on stage?"

Wen Ci and Yu Qing nodded solemnly. "We’re ready."

The two of them then ascended the stage. All the staff members’ eyes turned to them. As the music slowly began to play, the two began to dance gracefully.

The water sleeves seemed impossibly light in their hands.

Each time they struck the drumheads, they would switch positions in perfect sync, performing splits and backbends. The long water sleeves acted like drumsticks, creating a thrilling and invigorating sound.

When the dance ended, the whole area erupted in applause.

Huang Qian watched the two on stage with a profound look in her eyes. She then turned to the Northwest Youth Committee and said unhurriedly, "I am serious about poaching these two. Our Military Art tour could come to the Northwest for two performances every year."

The Military Art tour was a national performance meant to entertain soldiers.

But Huang Qian was willing to add an extra show just for the Northwest.

"No way, absolutely not." The Northwest Youth Committee refused without a second thought.

It wasn’t just about Wen Ci being Huo Jingyuan’s wife. Yu Qing was also an exceptionally talented doctor. Her household registration was in the Northwest, and the military region was grooming her to become a future hospital director.