Jiang Si looked up upon hearing the voices and saw five or six people approaching, all wearing smiles.
This only deepened her confusion, as at a glance, she didn’t recognize any of them.
Hu Meili, however, recognized one of them. "Officer Zhou, what brings you here?"
She then introduced him to Jiang Si as a propaganda section officer from the Second Flying Regiment.
The others didn’t wait for Hu Meili to speak and introduced themselves one by one.
Colonel Shi wasn’t in a hurry and waited quietly without interrupting.
After the introductions, Jiang Si learned that these individuals all lived in the eastern district and were propaganda section officers from various regiments.
Their purpose for coming was simple: they wanted couplets.
Once their intentions were clear, Jiang Si didn’t hesitate. She had brushes, ink, and red paper ready at home.
Writing a few couplets was no trouble for her.
"What about the content of the couplets?" she asked.
"Anything is fine—we’ll leave it to Comrade Jiang’s discretion," they replied.
Jiang Si: "..."
She had expected as much!
Fortunately, couplets in this era didn’t require strict parallelism as long as the themes and political stance were appropriate. If all else failed, she could always write quotations.
With that in mind, she nodded in agreement.
"I still have some matters to attend to now and won’t be back until after 10:30. You can come by after 11 to collect them."
"Of course, of course. Thank you, Comrade Jiang."
Reassured, the group left in good spirits.
As soon as they were gone, a young soldier who had accompanied them stepped forward to introduce himself.
"Sister-in-law, I’m the new orderly, Qian Bao."
Jiang Si knew that He Ping had already completed all the handover procedures before the New Year.
She just hadn’t expected the division to assign a new orderly so quickly.
"Hello, Comrade Qian Bao," she greeted with a smile.
The orderly’s sudden appearance could only mean one thing—it was arranged by Huo Tingzhou.
"Is your regimental commander busy?" she asked.
Qian Bao nodded. "Sister-in-law, the regimental commander is in a meeting. After it ends, he’ll have a regimental meal at the canteen, followed by the barracks’ cleanup in the afternoon. He probably won’t be back until after six in the evening."
"He asked me to inform you and see if you need any help."
Without waiting for Jiang Si’s response, Qian Bao took the basket from her.
"Look how thoughtful," Hu Meili teased.
"Sister-in-law—" Jiang Si coughed lightly.
She was well aware of Hu Meili’s tendency to make risqué remarks and didn’t want her to start now.
"Alright, alright, I’ll stop," Hu Meili said, miming zipping her lips.
At that moment, Colonel Shi stepped forward and extended her hand.
"Hello, Comrade Jiang Si. I’m Shi Lan, the head of the division’s cultural troupe."
"Hello, Colonel Shi," Jiang Si replied politely, shaking her hand. "What brings you to me?"
"I saw you earlier while waiting in line at the logistics department, and you immediately caught my eye!"
Shi Lan was direct, her tone sincere and brimming with undisguised admiration.
"Comrade Jiang, your physical attributes are exceptional! Your height, proportions, and shoulder-to-head ratio are one in a million—you’re practically born to dance."
Jiang Si wasn’t oblivious. The way Shi Lan had been sizing her up earlier had already given her an inkling of what was coming.
Still, she responded courteously, "You flatter me, Colonel Shi."
"Not at all. I never exaggerate—I call it as I see it."
As she spoke, Shi Lan took another step forward, her face alight with excitement, as if she’d struck gold.
"Comrade Jiang, on behalf of the division’s cultural troupe, I’d like to extend a sincere invitation to you."
"With your natural talent, I guarantee that with diligent training, you could become our troupe’s star performer within six months."
"After that, you could represent our military district in performances at the general military headquarters—even nationwide events!"
Jiang Si had no interest in joining the cultural troupe to begin with.
The idea of traveling for performances made it an outright no.
At this stage in her life, work was merely a way to pass the time.
She was content with having something to do during idle moments—no need to upend her life for it.
"Colonel Shi, I appreciate your high regard, but my aspirations lie elsewhere. Besides—"
Shi Lan, assuming she was worried about keeping up with training, quickly interjected, "Don’t worry about the training—I’ll personally guide you."
More than technical skill, Shi Lan valued innate physical talent and potential.
With years of experience, she could tell Jiang Si had some prior dance training.
"Comrade Jiang, with your natural advantages and existing foundation, you’d pick it up quickly."
It was true that Jiang Si had learned dance as a child, but her heart wasn’t in it.
"Colonel Shi, I’m already pregnant and can’t handle intensive training," she said firmly.
"You... you're pregnant?" Colonel Shi's expression froze for a moment.
She couldn't help but glance at Jiang Si again, feeling a pang of regret.
A dancer's career only lasts a few years, and pregnancy would inevitably affect her stage performance.
But a talent like hers was rare—Colonel Shi couldn't let it go so easily and pressed further.
"What about after the baby is born? Our military district has a nursery. You could still come back then."
Jiang Si maintained her gentle smile. "Thank you, Colonel Shi, but I truly don’t have much interest in stage performances."
Just as Colonel Shi was about to persuade her again, a teasing voice suddenly cut in.
"So this is where all the commotion is. No wonder I couldn’t find anyone."
Everyone turned to see Section Chief Niu from the division’s propaganda unit.
"Minister Niu, what brings you here today?" Colonel Shi greeted him with barely concealed annoyance.
Ugh, this nuisance!
Why was he always sticking his nose where it didn’t belong?
Minister Niu thought to himself, If I didn’t come, would that be acceptable?
If he waited any longer, someone else would snatch her away.
Comrade Jiang was a rare talent—he’d had his eye on her for months. There was no way he’d let the cultural troupe get to her first.
Ignoring Colonel Shi’s dark expression, Minister Niu strode straight up to Jiang Si.
With a beaming smile, he said, "Comrade Jiang, happy New Year!"
Ugh, what a suck-up.
It was only New Year’s Eve!
Colonel Shi snorted. "Minister Niu, your New Year’s greetings are a bit early, aren’t they?"
"Better early than late when it comes to good wishes," Minister Niu replied smoothly before turning a cool gaze on Colonel Shi.
"Old Comrade Shi, I hate to say it, but your cultural troupe is always jumping around on stage."
"Comrade Jiang is pregnant now—why don’t you give her a break?"
Listen to this nonsense coming out of his mouth!
"What do you know?" Colonel Shi glared, furious. "Comrade Jiang’s talent is one in a million. It’d be a waste not to let her shine on stage!"
"And who are you calling 'old'?"
So what if she was just a month older? He kept calling her "Old Comrade Shi" as if he wanted the whole world to know!
"My apologies, I shouldn’t have spoken the truth."
"Next time I see you, I’ll call you 'Young Comrade Shi.'"
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Colonel Shi fumed—was he mocking her age now?
"Fine, how about 'Colonel Shi' then?"
Minister Niu chided himself for being sarcastic, but he wasn’t backing down.
"Colonel Shi, what I mean is, she doesn’t have to join your cultural troupe to shine."
He then turned to Jiang Si with earnest sincerity.
"Comrade Jiang, since you’re newly pregnant, you should focus on resting."
"But if you really want to work, I’d suggest joining our propaganda department instead."
"Aside from being busy during holidays, our workload is quite light."
"Plus, the work environment is excellent, and it’d allow you to make the most of your talents."
