TopAppnovel Chapter 102: On Stage Performance, an Accident Occurs
Chapter 102: On Stage Performance, an Accident Occurs
First came the chorus "The Army and the People Are United as One Family," with four members of the division's cultural troupe standing on the stage, their voices loud and clear.
The villagers below the stage quieted down and looked up to listen.
Su Wanwan was waiting backstage, peeking out through the gap in the curtain.
The audience was a sea of black people, the light from kerosene lamps illuminating their simple faces—the elderly, children, and women holding babies.
Many people had patches on their clothes, but their eyes were very bright.
She suddenly felt less nervous.
The chorus ended with enthusiastic applause.
Next came solo performances and clapper talk, with each program taking its turn.
When it was "Spring Comes to the Frontier," Zhou Min patted Su Wanwan and Wang Xiuying on the shoulders: "Go!"
Music began to play, a cheerful flute and hand drum.
Su Wanwan took a deep breath and followed Wang Xiuying onto the stage.
The light shone on my face, and it felt a little hot.
She could see countless eyes below the stage.
The music was upbeat, and the two danced to the beat.
Holding hands, spinning, gazing into each other's eyes, jumping... the movements are neat and fluid.
Su Wanwan was completely absorbed, a smile on her face, her eyes sparkling.
Cheers erupted from the audience, and the children clapped along.
Wang Xiuying danced very hard; her foot was completely healed.
She smiled brightly, and the silver ornaments on her head jingled and sparkled under the lights as she twirled.
The dance was short, lasting only a few minutes.
When the two held hands and bowed, the applause was even louder than before, and some people even whistled.
Su Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief, and when she retreated backstage, she realized that her palms were covered in sweat.
"Well done!" Zhou Min walked over, a rare smile on her face. "Your emotions were spot on."
Su Wanwan smiled and went to change her clothes.
The performance continued.
The last program was a grand chorus of "Ode to the Motherland," with all the performers on stage and many villagers in the audience humming along.
The performance ended successfully at around 9 p.m.
The villagers, still wanting more, slowly dispersed.
The members of the performing arts troupe began packing up their props and costumes.
Su Wanwan helped fold the performance costumes and pack them into boxes.
Wang Xiuying was talking to Gu Lin, both of them smiling, and they seemed to be having a good chat.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the yard, followed by a woman's tearful cry: "Dog Egg! Dog Egg, where are you! Have you seen my Dog Egg?"
The sound was loud; everyone who hadn't left the courtyard heard it.
A middle-aged woman in a blue cloth jacket rushed into the courtyard, her face ashen. She grabbed a villager's arm and demanded, "Have you seen my dog, Gou Dan? He's five years old, wearing a gray jacket. He was just watching the performance here!"
The fellow villager she had grabbed shook his head: "I didn't notice, there were a lot of people just now..."
The woman went to ask others, her voice growing more urgent and tearful.
Officer Zhang and Zhou Min went over: "Sister, what happened?"
"My dog, Gou Dan, is missing!" Tears streamed down the woman's face. "He was just watching the show here a moment ago, and he's gone in the blink of an eye! I've looked everywhere, but he's nowhere to be found!"
The villagers who hadn't left yet all gathered around.
"The child is lost?"
How big is it?
"I just saw him climbing that tree..."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
Wang Xiuying, who was standing not far away, heard these words and her eyes lit up immediately.
She subconsciously clenched her fists and glanced at Gu Lin.
Gu Lin frowned and took out her notebook: "When was it discovered? Where was the child last seen?"
The woman cried, "Just now, after the performance ended, I was holding his hand. I went to say a few words to the lady next door, and when I turned around, he was gone! Right at the gate of this courtyard!"
Officer Zhang immediately said, "Don't panic, everyone. Split up and search. The child is young; he might have run off somewhere to play."
People from the performing arts troupe also joined the search.
Su Wanwan followed Zhou Min and walked around the yard, calling out "Gou Dan's" name.
no respond.
As night deepened, a chilly wind swept across the Gobi Desert.
Torches were lit, and teams of people searched the village.
Su Wanwan held a torch as she walked along the dirt road.
The firelight flickered, casting long shadows on the ground.
She was anxious. Her child was only five years old, and it was dark. What if he ran far away...?
Just then, a few fellow villagers passed by and started talking in hushed tones.
"If you ask me, we shouldn't have put on these shows. They're a mess and they've lost all the children."
"Exactly, the arrival of these soldiers is lively, but it also causes trouble."
"Who knows if they did it on purpose..."
The last sentence was spoken in a very low voice, but Su Wanwan, with her sharp ears, heard it.
She felt a chill run down her spine, immediately stopped, and looked in the direction where the voice was coming from.
Three middle-aged men, dressed in ordinary coarse cloth clothes, were walking quickly out of the village and soon disappeared into the darkness.
deliberately?
What do you mean by "intentionally"?
Su Wanwan's mind raced.
Bai Rongbei's words echoed in my ears: "If you encounter someone you don't know strike up a conversation, don't engage in the conversation; go directly to the leader in charge of the team."
She didn't respond, but those few words...something was off.
Su Wanwan turned around and walked quickly back to the production team's courtyard.
Officer Zhang and Zhou Min are organizing people into groups to expand the search area.
"Officer Zhang," Su Wanwan walked over and lowered her voice, "I heard someone talking just now, and something didn't seem right."
Seeing her serious expression, Officer Zhang gestured for her to come aside: "What did you say?"
Su Wanwan repeated what she had heard, emphasizing the word "deliberately": "I think... the person who said that might not be an ordinary fellow villager. When our child went missing during our performance, they immediately pointed the finger at the soldiers and tried to sow discord. This doesn't sound like a casual complaint."
Zhang's expression turned serious.
He has worked in propaganda for many years and is highly politically sensitive.
Su Wanwan's words immediately put him on alert.
"Did you see what those people looked like?"
"I couldn't see their faces clearly, but they were three men of medium height, wearing coarse cloth clothes, heading out of the village," Su Wanwan said.
Officer Zhang nodded and patted her on the shoulder: "You reacted very quickly. I understand, I'll arrange for someone to keep an eye on things. You continue searching for the child with the team, but be careful yourself too."
"Okay." Su Wanwan responded, picked up the torch again, and returned to the search team.
Unbeknownst to her, while she was talking to Officer Zhang, a pair of eyes were watching her from the shadows in the corner of the courtyard.
The search continued for over an hour, but there was still no sign of the child.
Discontent began to emerge in the village.
Some villagers were influenced by what those people said and thought that the incident was caused by the performance by the cultural troupe.
Although no one said it outright, the way they looked at the soldiers clearly carried a sense of resentment.
Wang Xiuying followed Gu Lin, and the two were also in the search team.
Wang Xiuying, however, had her own plans.
She remembered that in her previous life, it was on this very night that Gou Dan ran away.
Actually, the child hadn't run far; he had fallen asleep in the abandoned brick kiln behind the village.
In her previous life, she "accidentally" discovered the child, took him home, and became a hero.
In this life, she knew in advance where the child was, so she wasn't in a hurry at all.
She even deliberately led Gu Lin in the opposite direction to buy time.
When everyone is frantically searching and desperate, she can "accidentally" discover the child, which would be a great achievement and make Gu Lin's report even more exciting.
Wang Xiuying had a plan in mind, but she pretended to be anxious: "What should we do? It's so dark. If the child runs into the Gobi Desert, it will be a real problem."