Chapter 29: A Heavenly Music Sends Off the Beloved

  Several people were talking happily, when they heard a loud rumble of thunder, and then the customers who had just paid and walked out came back, muttering "It was fine just now, why is it raining again?"

  Li Xiaoling said worriedly: "Is it raining? Let's go, don't let Xiao Yuan be scared at home alone."

  Chen Da and Niu Yan glared at each other: "You're all grown up, are you still afraid of thunder? I enlisted when I was only a few years older than him!"

  Yao Xiaohong raised her voice and asked those few guests who ran back: "Hey brothers, is it raining heavily outside?"

  "It's heavy, I just got soaked!" The guest complained and sat down in an empty seat. Yao Xiaohong said to Li Xiaoling: "Sister-in-law, the rain is heavy, let's wait a bit before leaving." Li Xiaoling nodded helplessly.

  At this time, a murmur of female voices came from the corridor outside the ballroom, followed by several women soldiers wearing green uniforms walking in. They were all young and wore military uniforms with each having a heroic spirit, especially the one at the front, with delicate eyebrows, bright eyes, originally with beautiful features, now even more stunning with that crisp green uniform, making her stand out as elegant and refined, unmatched by anyone else.

  When these female soldiers came in to take shelter from the rain, whistling immediately erupted in the dance hall. Everyone knew that Yan Mountain had a garrison, but for these lively female soldiers to enter the dance hall was a rare occurrence in a hundred years.

  The waitress came over to greet them, a round-faced female soldier with a Sichuan accent spoke timidly in Mandarin: "It's very expensive here, right? We're just taking shelter from the rain, we'll leave when it stops."

  The waitress, perhaps jealous of our elegant appearance, said with a hint of sarcasm: "Our place has a minimum consumption fee, twenty per person. Even if you just drink a glass of plain water, you'll still have to pay."

  At the entrance, a group of young men sat at a table, one of whom, dressed in bright clothes, loudly said: "Sisters, come and sit here, I'm a model for supporting the army." "Hahaha" The young men burst out laughing together.

  The elegant female soldier furrowed her delicate eyebrows but didn't speak. The tall and slender female soldier beside her said to the waiter, "Arrange seats for us and bring each of us a glass of Coke."

  Qijie looked at the female soldiers sitting down, poked Tang Yi's arm, nodded towards the elegant female soldier and said: "How is it? More beautiful than a movie star, right?" Tang Yi twisted her smooth and delicate face, smiled and said: "Who can compare to your beauty? What kind of red flower wouldn't become green leaves in front of you?"

  Chen Da and Li An laughed and echoed, while Tang Yi frowned at the waiter who was serving several female soldiers: "It's a bit unreasonable, where is there such treatment of guests? Moreover, as military personnel, even if they don't have money, they should be polite!"

  Qijie whispered a few words in Yao Xiaohong's ear, and Yao Xiaohong nodded, got up, twisted her waist and walked to the female soldier's table, smiled and said: "Ladies, I'm the boss here, sorry about earlier. What do you want to drink? Just speak up." She was about to say that the song and dance hall would pay for it as Qijie had originally said, but for some reason, she pointed at Tang Yi and smiled: "That gentleman is treating us."

  The elegant female soldier looked over at Tang Yi's table, Chen Da and the others were discussing what these female soldiers were doing, pointing and gesturing, although they were far away and couldn't hear them talking, but also knew that they were discussing the few of them. She didn't show any angry expression, just calmly said: "No need!" In fact, Chen Da and Li An were only discussing which unit they should belong to, whether it was the communication troops or the medical troops, not discussing their physical beauty.

  Under Chen Dahe's repeated urging, Tang Yi couldn't help it and drank a few more small cups of XO. His head was dizzy, his stomach was bloated, and he had the urge to vomit. He got up and said he wanted to go to the bathroom, pressing Qi Jie who was trying to support him onto the sofa.

  The bathroom was at the far end of the corridor, and by the time Tang Yi had walked halfway there, his throat was already sour and his stomach was churning with discomfort. He strode quickly down the corridor, pushed open the door to the bathroom, and rushed in to vomit into the sink, spewing out everything he had eaten until all that came up was clear water, at which point he slowly began to calm down.

  Washing his face with cold water, Tang Yi's mind gradually cleared up. He shook his head and smiled wryly. This wine is really something; it's better to drink less of it in the future. I definitely can't have another drinking contest with Chen Da Pao again, it's harmful to my body.

  The door to the bathroom was pushed open with a creak, and just as he was about to exit, a woman let out a loud shriek. His arm was suddenly twisted violently, his body slammed against the wall, and his neck was locked in place by a small, delicate hand. His forehead was pressed against the cold wall, and all he could see out of the corner of his eye was a flash of green. Then someone started applauding, and a girl's giggling voice said, "The class monitor's arm-twisting leg-lock is really beautiful."

  The girl who was smiling sweetly spoke loudly again: "Go call your manager, make a phone call to the public security bureau and say there's a hooligan here." The soft little hand relaxed slightly, and Tang Yi only then turned his head, discovering that the one holding him was that tall female soldier. Next to her, a round-faced female soldier was curiously sizing him up while loudly calling for the service staff to report the incident.

  Tang Yi's temper was notorious, how did he become a hooligan? Just as he wanted to speak, his throat tightened again. The tall and imposing female soldier shouted loudly: "Hooligan! Don't move."

  Before long, Yao Xiaohong, Qi Jie, Chen Dadao and Li An swarmed into the narrow corridor. Qi Jie saw Tang Yi being twisted in that posture and said with a heartache: "Hey, let go first, talk things over properly, you're hurting him!"

  "Let go! You little rascals are making a big fuss!" The corridor was in an uproar, fortunately the distance from the hall was quite far, and the loud singing inside the hall meant that no one came to watch the commotion.

  The tall and imposing female soldier released her grip on Tang Yi's throat, slapped out her military ID, and said coldly: "I am Cheng Ran, the leader of the second squad of the third company of the armed police. Whoever helps him today will be considered an accomplice."

  Chen Dahai was so angry that he almost went crazy, and after rummaging through his pockets for half a day, he finally pulled out his work ID from his pants pocket and handed it to the female soldier: "I am Chen Dahai, Deputy Director of Yanshan Public Security Bureau. I can guarantee that this person you've caught is absolutely not a hooligan." He had wanted to mention Tang Shu, but thought better of it - no matter what, getting involved in this kind of thing would only make things worse if word got out.

  Cheng Ran was taken aback for a moment, and then his mouth curled up in disdain. He let go of Tang Yi lightly and said coldly, "A den of thieves." He had heard that the local public security organs were not very clean, but he didn't expect it to be like this - the police chief and the hooligans were in cahoots with each other. Even if he sent Tang Yi to the police station, he would probably be released immediately. So Cheng Ran let him go.

  Qijie ran over, gently stroking Tang Yi's neck which had been pinched red and asked if it hurt. Tang Yi slightly shook his head, then turned to the female soldier with a cold expression: "This Sergeant Cheng, I have always respected soldiers, but if all soldiers were like you, calling white black and reversing right and wrong, that would be a national tragedy."

  "What?" Cheng Ran raised an eyebrow, furious, this little rascal was always speaking nonsense.

  Tang Yi said: "You say I'm a hooligan, what's the evidence?" Yao Xiaohong chimed in: "Yeah, did he touch you somewhere? Or was he flirting with you? Tell us!"

  Cheng Ran was so angry that her face turned red, and she said loudly: "He, he went into the women's toilet, isn't he a rascal?" She pointed to the sign on the toilet door. Qi Jie defended Tang Yi: "After drinking, even if he walked in the wrong place... Hmm? No, that's not right!" Pointing to the toilet, she said: "Did he just go into this one?"

  He nodded calmly, and Qi Jie said in a cold tone: "This is the men's restroom! Look at the sign yourself!" The signs for both the male and female restrooms were pictures of heads, but one had long hair and the other short hair, which was indeed somewhat difficult to distinguish.

  She turned her head to look at the round-faced female soldier, who had led her to this bathroom earlier and said it was a women's restroom. The round-faced female soldier stammered: "I asked, I asked when I came in, the service staff told me this was the restroom... I didn't meet any men inside..."

  Qijie was even more furious, and Tang Yi's humiliation made her feel even more uncomfortable. She said loudly, "You've been in there before, can't you tell the difference between the men's and women's restrooms?"

  Cheng Ran coldly smiled and said: "You're all in cahoots with each other, no matter what you say it's always your logic that wins."

  Qijie, furious, grabbed her and dragged her into the bathroom while she was still in a daze. Pointing at the urinals, he shouted: "Did you pee here?"

  It wasn't until then that he realized he was completely wrong, and he turned around to glare at the round-faced female soldier. He knew she came from a rural area and had never been in a high-end restroom before, so he couldn't blame her. He wanted to say a few words of apology, but they stuck in his throat.

  Tang Yi was originally full of anger, but seeing Qijie suddenly turn into a little tigress, looking at her fierce appearance, kicking open the bathroom door with one foot, couldn't help but laugh. Thinking about it again, it was just a misunderstanding, why bother not getting along with a few little female soldiers?

  "Never mind, never mind, it's just a misunderstanding." Qijie glared with big eyes and was about to say something, but suddenly saw the smile on Tang Yi's mouth, and only then remembered that her behavior was too un-ladylike. Seeing Chen Dahe and Li An staring at her with their mouths agape, she looked at the kicked-open bathroom door, her pretty face turned red, and she hummed a sound, hiding behind Tang Yi.

  Tang Yi turned his head to Cheng Ran and said, "Since it's a misunderstanding, let's just forget about it. As the class leader, you can't be impulsive, especially as a soldier, you must be cautious and steady. If you don't fire, then don't fire; if you do fire, make sure you hit your target. If you were to take this class onto the battlefield with this kind of impulsiveness, I reckon you'd all be annihilated by the enemy within minutes."

  Listening to Tang Yi's pompous and bossy tone, as if he was scolding himself, with a look of pain and regret, Cheng Ran felt his teeth itching with anger. Just as he was about to retort, he suddenly heard a clear and cold voice: "Sorry." Upon hearing that voice, Cheng Ran immediately became docile, hanging his head in shame and speaking to the elegant female soldier standing quietly at the corner: "Coach, I..." In an instant, he seemed to have transformed into a gentle little cat.

  The elegant female soldier didn't know when she arrived, just standing there quietly watching them. Chen Da and several others suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, the little girl looked gentle and quiet, without a hint of arrogance, but gave people the feeling as if she was high above, untouchable.

  Tang Yi furrowed his brow, he was somewhat unaccustomed to this feeling. Since his rebirth, no one had been able to give him pressure, and the beautiful female soldier in front of him was the first.

  Chen Da and only felt uncomfortable being looked at by the elegant female soldier, and laughed: "That... that's it, is it Brother Tang?"

  Tang Yi shook his head and said to the beautiful female soldier, "Who are you? What makes you apologize for them? Can you replace them when they go out on a mission?"

  The beautiful female soldier was visibly stunned, clearly having never encountered such questioning before. Cheng Ran's eyebrows twitched with anger, wanting to scold Tang Yi, but the beautiful female soldier stopped her with a hand gesture, looking deeply at Tang Yi and saying: "My name is Ning Jing, I'm their coach."

  Qiji pulled Tang Yi's sleeve, she had a good impression of the elegant female soldier, and didn't want to make things difficult for Tang Yi. Tang Yi understood her meaning, nodded slightly, and took Qiji's hand to walk outside. As Tang Yi passed by the round-faced female soldier, he saw her timid appearance and couldn't help but joke: "I won't tell you to flirt around, be careful in the future."

  Chen Da and several others burst out laughing, but the round-faced female soldier was overwhelmed with gratitude, bowing repeatedly: "Thank you, thank you so much." This made Cheng Ran even angrier, gritting her teeth in frustration.

  Tang Yi sat back in his seat, Chen Da and laughed: "Congratulations to Secretary Tang for clearing his name, let's have a big drink!" Li Xiaoling was so angry that she pinched his thick waist and said: "You only know how to drink, if it weren't you, would your brother be wronged?"

  Qijie leaned into Tang Yi's arms, asking with concern if he was in pain. Tang Yi took the opportunity to smile at Li Xiaoling and say: "Sister-in-law, I should thank Brother Chen too, without him, where would I go to enjoy the favor of a beauty?"

  Everyone burst out laughing. On the other side, Cheng Ran was scolding a round-faced female soldier. Hearing the laughter from this side, he became even more furious, looking at these guys with a smug expression.

  "Monitor, should I go and apologize again? We wronged him and haven't even formally apologized yet." The round-faced female soldier who was being scolded suddenly thought this was an opportunity to redeem herself, but it made Cheng Ran furious, saying: "What's there to apologize for? Just because we wronged him doesn't mean he's a good person. Look at him, slick and charming, surrounded by girls, what kind of good person is that? He must be a spoiled rich kid!"

  She sat quietly, as if all the hustle and bustle of the world had nothing to do with her.

  At this time, several female soldiers came in and the young man who was the first to cheer jumped onto the stage, picked up the microphone and said: "Everyone, my brothers and sisters, I'll sing a song for you, 'I'm a soldier', dedicated to the soldier sisters present!" The young men at his table immediately whistled, clapped their hands on the table and cheered, making a big noise.

  The young man sang loudly: "I am a soldier, from the common people..." At first, he sang in a similar tone, but later changed his tune on purpose, even altering the lyrics. "The revolutionary war tested me," he sang as "the female soldiers tested me." The audience below burst into laughter, and several female soldiers blushed with anger. Cheng Ran suddenly stood up, but saw Ning Jing frowning at him, and immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, slumping back into his chair.

  Chen Da's and Yue Ting's brows furrowed even tighter as they listened to the song, which carried too many beautiful memories for him. How could he bear being treated like this? If it weren't for Tang Yi's face and fear of messing up his business, he would have jumped up and scolded them a long time ago.

  Tang Yi smiled and patted Tang Yi's shoulder, saying a few words in Yao Xiaohong's ear, and Yao Xiaohong understood and left her seat.

  The young man was singing happily, when the music suddenly stopped. Yao Xiaohong went on stage and said with a smile: "Little brother, take a break, I have a guest here who wants to play a piano piece for everyone. Such an opportunity is not common!" What she said was not false, the piano placed beside the stage had hardly been played since it was bought, after all, it was a county town, and at that time, there were only a few people who understood this high-end musical instrument.

  The young man scowled and tilted his neck, saying: "What's the big deal, sis? He can play the piano and that's awesome, but I sing songs and it's like I'm a stepchild?"

  The people at the other table from the county bureau hadn't left yet, and a middle-aged man wearing glasses shouted loudly: "Dacheng, when you're told to get down, just get down! What's with all the nonsense? You little brat still haven't learned your lesson, have you?" The young man recognized him and didn't dare talk back, so he sulkily got off the stage.

  Yao Xiaohong's eyebrows danced with excitement as she said, "Great, next we have the handsome Mr. Tang Yi bringing us a song, 'The Blue Danube River'."

  Chen Da and the first to applaud, the county bureau's table followed Chen Bureau's spirit, the young man's table looked at the county bureau's eyes, the three tables that made the most noise simultaneously applauded, and the song and dance hall was filled with thunderous applause.

  Tang Yi smiled and walked to the piano, sat down, a ray of light shone on him, his black cheongsam suit added a few more dashing points under the dim light.

  Tang Yi lightly pressed the strings, testing the sound. The applause paused, and Tang Yi leaned his mouth towards the microphone, intending to say a few words of laughter. However, his gaze inadvertently swept across the gentle face of Qi Jie in the audience below. Tang Yi's heart warmed up, thinking about how he got to know Qi Jie, from initially liking her beauty to now enjoying her warmth and thoughtfulness. Scenes of their daily interactions flashed through his mind - mornings watching her brush her teeth silently, standing by the window watching her leave silently, waiting for him quietly in an empty room.

  She was like that, with a gentle and silent presence that always surrounded herself. Suddenly, a wave of emotion surged up in her heart, and Tang Yi picked up the phone, saying softly: "Originally, I thought my life would be dull and unremarkable, but heaven gave me a second chance, and let me meet her again. When I'm tired, I think of her; when I'm happy, I think of her. Here, I want to thank her, thank her for still being with me through thick and thin. Perhaps the road ahead is thorny, but I think she will always be by my side..." These words were Tang Yi's true feelings, without a hint of pretence, as he gazed deeply at Qi Jie, his heart overflowing with happiness. She would accompany him on this journey together.

  The hall was silent, with only Tang Yi's slightly hoarse voice, and Qi Jie's eyes were filled with tears, staring blankly at Tang Yi.

  "This piece is dedicated to my beloved, my darling - Miss Qijie!" Tang Yi smiled at Qijie, and then his fingers moved lightly, joyful and lively piano sounds rose, like a gentle brook playing out a slow melody, as if the dawn's light was opening up the thin fog on the river surface, awakening the sleeping earth, the water waves of the Danube River were gently rippling. The piano sound undulated and reverberated, soft and beautiful, yet warm; everyone present listened in a trance-like state, feeling as if they were floating on the Danube River, carefree and without worries.

  The sound of the guqin stopped for a long time, and then thunderous applause erupted. Tang Yi ignored the uniform "Encore! Encore!" from the audience in the hall, smiled and walked back to his seat. Qi Jie immediately leaned into his arms with happiness. Chen Da stretched out his thumbs, not knowing how to praise Secretary Tang. Li An sighed: "Secretary Tang's rise in politics is a loss for the music world of a genius!"

  Tang Yi smiled and shook his head. In fact, he played just fine, but to these people who had just been exposed to Western music for the first time, it was like hearing heavenly music.

  Yao Xiaohong gazed at Tang Yi and Qi Jie with a sigh, unable to help but envy Qi Jie's good fortune once again. How many good deeds must she have done in her past life to deserve such a perfect man?

  On the other side, the round-faced female soldier at the table let out a long sigh and said: "I really envy that sister, Class Leader, he's a good person, right? Just now, he helped us get out of trouble, and his piano playing sounds so good, he can't be a bad person."

  Cheng Ran snorted disdainfully and said, "What's so good about his playing? I know people who play better than him! Just look at that complacent expression of his, it's obvious he's showing off. This is what they mean by 'a half-empty bottle makes a lot of noise'!"

  The round-faced female soldier didn't dare to say anything else, but her face clearly showed a disbelieving expression. She wanted to ask the coach beside her if that young man was really a good person, but looking at the coach, who had a calm and serene face, she somehow felt that she was unapproachable. In the end, she still didn't dare to speak to her.

  Two quiet hands held a transparent small glass cup, sitting quietly, the joyful piano sound and thunderous applause seemed to have not been heard at all.