New Year's Day arrived, but Lin Yan couldn't get a good night's sleep. The artistic soldiers downstairs were practicing their singing in the morning.
Even though Lin Yan lived on the third floor, the house's soundproofing wasn't great. People coming and going at the door, the laughter and singing from downstairs all kept Lin Yan wide awake.
She began to miss her previous high-rise apartment with its renovations. No matter what sounds came from outside, as soon as she closed the windows, it was incredibly quiet.
After getting up and washing, Lin Yan went to the reception to get her breakfast.
The two receptionists downstairs were already very familiar with Lin Yan. After all, Xu Haoran had specifically instructed them to take good care of her.
Lin Yan also shared some of the snacks she had brought with them. They were sent from the Zaolin Brigade and included a lot of dried rabbit meat. In this era, meat was scarce, so dried meat was the best gift.
In the afternoon, Lin Yan and Xu Haoran went to the auditorium to watch a performance. During this time, Xu Haoran's superiors couldn't help but tease them. However, Lin Yan had become accustomed to it and could handle it calmly.
The performance was quite wonderful. While it certainly couldn't compare to the dazzling spectacles of later generations, it had its own distinct characteristics of the time.
Whether it was the model operas or the dances, one could tell that the performers had a solid foundation.
Of course, the female soldier who had been staring at her yesterday gave the best performance on stage. No wonder she was the star performer of the cultural troupe.
However, she didn't expect that after the performance, the soldier would confront her directly.
Xu Haoran had been called away, and not long after he left, this female soldier walked straight up to her.
"Hello, I'm Tao Ya," she said, putting on a friendly demeanor, but the pride in her eyes was undeniable.
"Comrade Tao, hello. May I ask what you need?" Lin Yan looked calmly at the woman before her.
She couldn't understand why the other person could so brazenly approach her. Did she think Lin Yan would willingly give up her partner out of guilt or some other reason?
"Don't you know that Company Commander Xu and I went on a blind date? We were supposed to be together." Tao Ya looked at the woman in front of her, comparing their respective qualities.
"Is that so? But what does that have to do with anything? And what does it have to do with me?" Lin Yan didn't want to bother with this person any further. It was New Year's Eve, a good day, and she didn't want to waste her time on someone so nonsensical.
"Didn't Company Commander Xu mention me? You should know that a large part of the reason for this joint event between the cultural troupe and the army was because of us."
"He didn't mention it. After all, we're both busy and don't have much time together, so we don't chat about people who aren't important," Lin Yan said lightly.
"Furthermore, our dating reports have already been submitted and approved by the leadership. Are you implying, Comrade Tao, that the leaders are going back on their word, approving our reports and then arranging blind dates for Xu Haoran?"
"You!" Tao Ya didn't know how to describe the woman in front of her. Wasn't she angry or jealous at all?
"But I knew Company Commander Xu even earlier, so..." Tao Ya tried to calm herself.
"So what? He is with me now. Comrade Tao, I don't think there's any need for us to continue this conversation. So, I bid you farewell." Lin Yan turned to leave.
Tao Ya blocked her path again. "Don't you want to know why I'm so sure he would be with me? Is there some kind of relationship between us?"
"I don't want to!" Lin Yan said firmly. "You don't even dare to show yourself when Xu Haoran is around, isn't that the best proof?"
Lin Yan said with a smile that was not a smile, "You were the one who had someone call Xu Haoran away, weren't you! You deliberately showed up when I was alone, perhaps afraid that Xu Haoran would expose your lies?"
Tao Ya hadn't expected this woman to be so difficult to deal with. She had thought her appearance would make this woman angry and create cracks in her relationship with Xu Haoran, especially since they hadn't been together for long.
But she hadn't expected this woman to be so rational. Not only did she fail to achieve her goal by appearing, but she also found herself in an awkward position.
"Comrade Tao, you're not the only smart person in the world, so don't treat everyone else like a fool! Also, don't covet what or who doesn't belong to you, or you'll regret it." Lin Yan's lips curved slightly into a mocking smile.
With that, she turned and left, leaving Tao Ya standing there.
Tao Ya's face flushed with anger and then paled. She had never been so humiliated. Lin Yan, was it? I'll remember you!
"Brother Xu, your wife is something else!" a young soldier said to the person next to him, giving a thumbs-up.
Seeing how she completely defeated her love rival with no recourse, his wife was truly formidable! He wondered if Brother Xu was also like this when facing his wife!
"Of course, she's the one I've set my sights on," Xu Haoran said proudly.
"But aren't you going to go over there?" After all, this person was causing trouble for your wife. Are you really not going to help, Brother Xu?
"No need, she can handle it. I trust her." With that, he saw Lin Yan preparing to leave and also prepared to go over.
He said he trusted her, but he was still rushing to find his wife. He pouted and followed Xu Haoran.
"Who was that you were chatting with just now?" Xu Haoran asked as he walked beside Lin Yan, completely unable to tell that he had seen the beautiful artistic female soldier yesterday.
"Someone who is, I suppose, one of your admirers," Lin Yan said with a smile that was not a smile.
Li Bin, who had arrived a moment later, was stunned. His Brother Xu was truly a talent. Look at his ability to feign ignorance; a crisis had been perfectly resolved.
"Admirer? I don't even know her. It seems this admirer was quite unsuccessful!" Xu Haoran sighed.
"What, do you want her to succeed?" Lin Yan smiled.
"How could that be! I already have a girlfriend! But why did she come to you?" Xu Haoran asked, puzzled.
"Perhaps she came to see where she lost," Lin Yan said calmly. She didn't take the woman seriously at all. She'd rather read for a while longer with that time.
"She lost to you in every way! There's no comparison!" Xu Haoran's stance was unwavering. He had the attitude of "my girlfriend is the best in the world."
Li Bin truly admired Brother Xu. The way he spoke was textbook. When it came to relationships, his Brother Xu was truly an expert.
It seemed he would have to learn from Brother Xu more in the future, to learn how to make his girlfriend happy. Although he didn't have a girlfriend yet, this skill would be very useful!
"Hello, sister-in-law. I'm Li Bin." Seeing that Xu Haoran had no intention of introducing him, he quickly stepped forward to introduce himself. "Brother Xu has mentioned you a long time ago, and today I finally get to meet you!"