Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

The courtyard is busiest in the morning, when all the actors practice their skills.

The courtyard was full of people bending over backwards, kicking their legs, and singing.

Li Mancang came out of the woodshed, rubbing his eyes with one hand and holding an enamel basin in the other. He was suddenly attracted by this scene and couldn't help but look around curiously.

In his eyes, everything in the theater troupe was so novel, like a completely different world from the life he had experienced before.

"Ee-ya-ha-"

He Jianshe, who was tilting his head back and practicing his singing against the wall, noticed Li Mancang looking around, so he stopped singing, smiled at him, and said, "You little rascal, are you the new inspector who came yesterday? What's your name again?"

Li Mancang quickly used his elbow to hold the washbasin in place, and grinned憨厚ly at He Jianshe: "Uncle, my name is Li Mancang."

He Jianshe said, "You're not an actor, so you don't usually have to get up this early. But when there's a performance, you'll be busy moving props, setting up the stage, and pulling down the curtains. You won't be able to sleep at all."

Li Mancang rubbed his hands together: "Uncle, I'm used to waking up early, I can't fall back asleep once it's light."

As the two chatted idly, Xu Erdao strolled over from the group of people practicing martial arts early in the morning, his hands behind his back. He glanced at Li Mancang out of the corner of his eye, then raised his chin and said, "Hey, you're the new guy, Li Mancang?"

Li Mancang was taken aback. Looking at Xu Erdao's unapproachable expression, he replied cautiously, "Ah, it's me."

Xu Erdao strolled over slowly, sizing him up and down: "I'm Xu Erdao, the head of security for our troupe. I'm here to tell you that there are many people and things going on in the troupe. From now on, just do your job of checking the stage and don't wander around aimlessly. Got it?"

Li Mancang's smile froze. He hadn't expected to be given such a harsh lecture on his very first day. He quickly nodded, "Oh, I understand."

Xu Erdao gave a soft "hmm" through his nose, then turned and left with his hands behind his back.

Chen Xiangdong, who had finished practicing his basic skills early, happened to witness Xu Erdao scolding Li Mancang. Seeing Li Mancang shrinking back and not daring to utter a sound, he couldn't help but walk over and say, "Don't pay attention to him. That guy is just bored and wants to find a sense of presence in front of the newcomers."

As he spoke, he gestured with his lip in the direction Xu Erdao had left: "I was also scolded by that guy on my first day here. He just wanted to put on airs and intimidate one person at a time. From now on, just do what you normally do, and treat him like he's talking nonsense."

Li Mancang trusted Chen Xiangdong quite a bit, and upon hearing this, the tense expression on his face relaxed somewhat: "Brother Xiangdong, you're up so early too?"

Chen Xiangdong glanced at He Jianshe beside him and chuckled, "It's not even dawn yet, and Teacher He's still belting out his tunes. The whole compound can hear him. How can anyone sleep?"

He Jianshe immediately laughed and scolded, "You cowardly coward who can't sleep, and you're blaming me? I think you're just a virgin, too hot-blooded, thinking all sorts of things, tossing and turning like a pancake."

A few people were chatting idly when they heard a series of chaotic footsteps coming from the courtyard gate.

Chen Xiangdong turned his head and saw Qiao Haizhu riding a bicycle, turning in from the doorway. He had a thin rattan cane tied to the back of his cotton-padded jacket and was leading a group of male and female students, who were panting heavily, back from their morning run.

As soon as Qiao Haizhu entered the courtyard, someone greeted him: "Old Qiao, you're back so early today."

"Don't even mention it, I had an upset stomach and almost couldn't hold it in and pooped in my pants on the way."

Qiao Haizhu jumped off the bike, not even having time to kick off the kickstand. Crouching, clutching his stomach, he didn't bother to steady the old-fashioned bicycle. The bike slammed against the wall with a thud, and he stumbled towards the outhouse.

There was a moment of stunned silence in the courtyard, followed by several people bursting into laughter.

"Old Joe must have done something bad last night; he got a stomachache from it."

"Him? He's just a lone cop, probably using both hands to fight, right?"

"Hahaha……"

Li Zhangqing, Lou Jingru, and the other trainees were all sweating profusely, standing or squatting on the ground, panting heavily. Hearing the teasing noises in the courtyard, they didn't understand what they meant, but just chuckled along.

Chen Xiangdong waved to Li Zhangqing and the others: "What are you all standing there for? The kitchen made some fried dough sticks this morning. If you're late, you won't be able to get any."

As soon as these words were spoken, the students who were lying on the ground, unwilling to move, suddenly perked up their ears.

You see, the canteen usually served either thin porridge with pickled vegetables or black steamed buns with pickled radish strips for breakfast. Hearing that they were having a special day with fried dough sticks, Li Zhangqing and Wu Xiaolian's eyes lit up. Without even taking a breath, they cheered and ran towards the student dormitory. Wu Xiaolian muttered, "Quick, let's go eat fried dough sticks!"

The boys reacted faster than the girls, seemingly forgetting all their fatigue. They went back to get their own bowls and chopsticks and rushed into the cafeteria in a swarm.

Chen Xiangdong winked at Li Mancang: "What are you waiting for? You're not practicing your skills, so hurry up and go to the cafeteria. If you're slow, you won't even see a crumb of bread."

Li Mancang responded with two "ohs" sounds, and without even washing his face, he ran back to the woodshed to get his food bowl and went to the canteen.

After finishing his morning practice, Chen Xiangdong went for a stroll in the cafeteria and had already eaten the first batch of hot fried dough sticks.

He was strolling along, heading to the theater, when as he turned the corner in the backyard, he suddenly heard a series of whispering sounds coming from the corner behind the rehearsal hall.

He stopped in his tracks, listened intently for a moment, and vaguely discerned that one of them seemed to be Liu Benyi. The voice was low-pitched, yet it carried an barely suppressed excitement.

"Guess what I saw yesterday afternoon?" Liu Benyi asked excitedly.

"Are you asking for trouble again? Speak up! I'm eager to eat some fried dough sticks."

"Hehe, don't rush, I'll tell you now." Liu Benyi chuckled twice, then lowered his voice even further: "Just yesterday afternoon, Jia Dafang went to a meeting at the county committee, right? When I passed by his row of dormitories, guess who I saw?"

Who is it?

"Zhu Zhengwei," Liu Benyi whispered, "I saw Zhu Zhengwei sneak into Jia Dafang's house and close the door behind him. I thought to myself, since Old Jia isn't home, what is Zhu Zhengwei doing at his house? There must be something fishy going on."

"Well...it's not necessarily going to happen, is it? Jia Dafang's chubby kid is still at home, what could those two possibly be doing?"

"You idiot! Yesterday was Wednesday, didn't his chubby kid go to school?" Liu Benyi cursed, then imitated in a high-pitched, affected voice, "I knew something was wrong, so I went to his window, and guess what I heard? It was so noisy inside, calling 'Brother Gouzi!' 'Xiao Li!' and all those shouts gave me goosebumps."

"You can't just say things like that!"

"Hey! When have I ever told a lie? Why don't you believe me?"

The murmurs at the back of the rehearsal hall faded into the distance until they completely disappeared. Only then did Chen Xiangdong emerge from around the corner, his brows furrowed tightly.

In his previous life, he had heard some rumors about Zhu Zhengwei and Hao Meili, but now, Zhu Zhengwei had only been in the troupe for a few days, and he dared to sneak into Jia Dafang's room and try to steal his girlfriend?