"Warmly celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of Army A!"
"Warmly welcome the leaders to visit the Army A region!"
Every road in the Army A region was adorned with large red banners.
The 10th anniversary represented a significant journey, and in the afternoon, all officers and soldiers ceased their training. The usually quiet grounds, known only for the sound of commands, bustled with rare activity.
In the entire military region, aside from the hundred members of the women’s medical team, there was also a female soldiers’ company. Due to their innate nature as girls, these two units, normally situated apart on the east and west with little interaction, both eagerly wished to stand out as the brightest spot on this day.
At this moment, Chuxia was coaching Sun Shangmei in singing. Luo Xiaoqiong and Liu Meijun, who were listening, wore expressions full of "O" shapes—eyes, mouths, and even their legs seemed to trend towards "O"-shaped...
As an instructor, Luo Xiaoqiong felt this most profoundly. She had been teaching Sun Shangmei for nearly half a month, yet aside from the first line, the rest were mostly out of tune.
But now, in just over half an hour, Sun Shangmei could sing each sentence in the correct tune! As Sun Shangmei sang the entire song again, flawlessly from start to finish, Luo Xiaoqiong finally dropped her "O" stance and spoke up, "Chuxia, how come I never knew you had this talent?"
Chuxia replied with an embarrassed look, "It’s a mediocre talent, nothing worth mentioning."
"Psh!" Luo Xiaoqiong rolled her eyes, then with a puzzled face, she said, "Chuxia, I’m really starting to doubt whether you’re the same Chuxia I knew. You usually can’t wait to announce to the world whatever you know; why would you hide it? Tell me, you’re not a fake Lin Chuxia, are you?"
Chuxia’s heart skipped a beat, but her face remained calm and smiling, "What do you mean by fake? Could there be another Lin Chuxia out there who looks exactly like me and has been switched with me?"
"Hehe..." Luo Xiaoqiong laughed sheepishly, "I was just joking. Even if someone were to be switched out, they couldn’t switch with you. There’s nothing to gain from it, hehe..."
After hesitating for a moment, Sun Shangmei looked at Chuxia with a sullen expression, "Lin Chuxia, do you really dislike me?"
"It’s not about disliking," Chuxia replied, "but I’m not fond of you always accusing people rashly. I wouldn’t have taught you if you hadn’t spoken up for me."
Chuxia was frank about her true feelings, which indeed stemmed from Sun Shangmei’s defense of her.
When Rao Xue and the members of her squad were speaking ill of Chuxia, Sun Shangmei overheard and interjected without hesitation, leading to an argument and then to a fight.
Latter, Sun Shangmei claimed that Rao Xue was badmouthing Squad Three, without mentioning that Rao Xue was targeting Chuxia specifically. The truth of the matter was revealed to Chuxia by Jiang Xiaodie and Xue Qinqin, who were assigned to Squad Four.
In reality, Rao Xue, being the least capable in Squad Four, was reprimanded by her Squad Leader for holding them back. She retorted out of discontent, claiming that Lin Chuxia of Squad Three was even worse, always playing weak to gain sympathy. If not for the Commander’s favoritism, she would have been sent home long ago.
Rao Xue then whispered mysteriously that she had personally seen Lin Chuxia walking hand in hand with a male soldier, concluding that Lin Chuxia joined the military not to serve as a soldier but to seduce male soldiers...
When she said these things, Sun Shangmei happened to overhear, leading to the altercation that Chuxia had witnessed.
"I didn’t make baseless accusations. I genuinely believe that we should bring honor to the Red Flag Commune. If it wasn’t for Rao Xue mentioning Lin Chuxia of the Red Flag Commune in her remarks, I wouldn’t have confronted her, much less fought her," explained Sun Shangmei.
By this time, Chuxia’s admiration for Sun Shangmei grew; she knew how important participating in this collective performance was to her. Chuxia believed Sun Shangmei must have felt grateful for her help in solving such a significant problem. Her insistence on her point of view revealed that she genuinely felt that way and wasn’t pretending.
"Why are your feelings for the Red Flag Commune so deep?" Chuxia asked curiously. She felt that Sun Shangmei couldn’t have such strong ties to the Red Flag Commune for no reason. Even in that era, people’s sense of regional belonging couldn’t be that intense.
"Without the leaders of the Red Flag Commune, I could never have become a soldier," Sun Shangmei said with a slight sigh. "I’ve always known you all dislike me, but in my heart, the Red Flag Commune is like my second parents."