“What gives her the right? What are you talking about?”
Kang Zhimiao frowned. “Zhi Xin, what kind of tantrum are you throwing now?”
“Sis, the troupe leader is so unfair!”
Kang Zhi Xin said indignantly, “Shen Zhiqiu took a break for almost a year. During that whole year, the troupe leader kept delaying naming a new primary lead. We even whispered at the time, wondering if she was actually going to keep that spot open for Shen Zhiqiu. And it turns out, that’s exactly what happened.”
“Not only does she return to the team as the primary lead, but they also gave her a merit!”
“Oh, and I also heard they gave her one of the troupe’s advanced study slots.”
“Just because she married Yue Mingyuan, the troupe leader is fawning all over her like that.”
Kang Zhimiao couldn’t bear to listen to Kang Zhi Xin’s words anymore and cut her off. “Zhi Xin, if the troupe made these arrangements, there must be a reason. Leader Wu has never been one to fawn over anyone; otherwise, she wouldn’t still be in the troupe today.”
Kang Zhimiao held Wu Qingyun in particularly high esteem.
To her, Wu Qingyun was both a leader and a mentor.
They had both joined the troupe very young. She couldn’t speak for others, but she herself had learned how to conduct herself from Wu Qingyun; her very character was somewhat modeled after her.
And Wu Qingyun had always been very kind to her. She still remembered the look of deep disappointment in Wu Qingyun’s eyes when she announced her resignation to focus on her family.
All these years, she had actually deeply regretted that choice.
“Big Sis, get out! I don’t want to talk to you!”
Kang Zhi Xin pointed at the door. “No matter what I say to you, you always take an outsider’s side! I’m your little sister!”
“Zhi Xin, I’m not taking your side because what you’re saying is wrong.”
Kang Zhimiao tried to reason with Kang Zhi Xin. “You can’t just assume someone used underhanded methods every time something happens.”
“Zhiqiu’s dance talent is genuinely remarkable. I came from the Art Troupe too; I’ve seen her dance. More importantly, she works incredibly hard.”
“The primary lead position is very important. The troupe won’t play favorites in this regard. Whoever has the ability gets the part.”
“I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear it!”
Kang Zhi Xin covered her ears. “You’re lying! Shen Zhiqiu really is a fox spirit—not only does she seduce men, but she also bewitches women’s minds.”
“Lu Shuangshuang and you are both bewitched by her! You all take her side and bully me!”
Kang Zhimiao almost wanted to slap Kang Zhi Xin, to snap her out of it.
The hand at her side clenched and unclenched several times before she managed to suppress her anger.
“Just because you don’t want to hear it, does that make the truth disappear?”
Kang Zhimiao stepped forward and pulled Kang Zhi Xin’s hands away from her ears. “Zhi Xin, you need to change this temperament of yours. If you don’t, you’re going to end up suffering for it.”
“Mind your own business.”
Kang Zhi Xin pulled her hand away and shoved Kang Zhimiao hard, nearly knocking her over. Fortunately, Kang Zhimiao was quick enough to grab the corner of the table.
“Fine. Then I won’t bother with you anymore.”
Coming out of Kang Zhi Xin’s room, Kang Zhimiao said a quick goodbye to Kang Zhengqing and headed out with Xu Rui in her arms.
“Zhimiao.”
Kang Zhengqing called out to her. Kang Zhimiao stopped, hearing him ask Kang Zhi Xin, “Xiao Si, what’s going on? What were you arguing with your sister about?”
“She’s not my sister. She’s Shen Zhiqiu’s sister.”
“What kind of real sister doesn’t support her own little sister and sides with an outsider instead?”
“She says it’s for my own good, but I think she’s just doing well herself and can’t stand to see me do well.”
“She said she’d help find me someone, but look at the people she introduced—none of them were any good.”
Hearing these words, Kang Zhimiao’s heart felt like it had been thrown into an icy water vat in the dead of winter—utterly frozen.
She knew Kang Zhi Xin was spoiled by their older siblings, willful and prone to tantrums.
She thought she’d find her a man with a good temper, someone who could at least tolerate her personality.
She was wholeheartedly considering her happiness, and this is how Zhi Xin thought of her in her heart.
It felt like throwing her sincerity to a dog—at least a dog would bark a few times and wag its tail.
“Xiao Si, how could your sister possibly mean that? Go and apologize to her quickly.” Kang Zhengqing urged Kang Zhi Xin.
Kang Zhi Xin turned, went back into her room, and slammed the door hard. “Whoever wants to can go. I’m not going! Don’t think I can’t do well without her. Maybe I’ll do even better.”
“Zhimiao, don’t stoop to Xiao Si’s level. She’s still a child.”
Kang Zhengqing also felt Kang Zhi Xin’s words had gone too far. He stepped forward to soothe Kang Zhimiao.
Tears in her eyes, Kang Zhimiao shook her head. “Dad, she’s nineteen, not a child anymore. And even a child should know the difference between good and bad.”
“Dad, take good care of your health. Call me if anything comes up.”
Kang Zhimiao glanced toward Kang Zhi Xin’s room. “From now on, I’ll act like I don’t have a sister. Anything except matters concerning her is fine.”
It wasn’t like she owed Kang Zhi Xin anything. If Kang Zhi Xin treated her like a sister, she’d treat her like a sister in return.
If she didn’t see her as a sister, why would she beg for trouble? She wasn’t stupid.
Kang Zhengqing opened his mouth to say something, but he had heard everything Kang Zhi Xin said. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything to persuade Kang Zhimiao, so he just sighed and nodded.
Later, after Kang Zhi Xin had calmed down, she started to regret it a little.
“I shouldn’t have been so absolute.”
“Without her introductions, how am I supposed to meet any guys from the military compound?”
Meeting an ordinary soldier would be easy for her.
Every time they performed, there were so many soldiers in the audience. Plenty of them would be interested.
But the problem was, she didn’t want to marry a common soldier, and she didn’t want to marry an ordinary officer either. She wanted to marry someone from a military compound family, ideally like Yue Mingyuan—someone capable himself with a strong family background.
Just as Kang Zhimiao had told her before, many of the children of high-ranking officials were absorbed internally.
Childhood neighbors, or introductions through relatives.
It wasn’t that they never looked outside, but generally, the introduction had to come from someone who knew the person’s background well.
Few had purely romantic relationships, because they were usually in the military and didn’t have many opportunities to meet outsiders.
“Forget it, forget it. The ones she introduced were no good anyway. I’ll find someone myself.”
Kang Zhi Xin flexed her ankle.
Walking was fine now, but any bigger movement still caused a sharp, piercing pain. Dancing was definitely out of the question.
But even if she couldn’t dance, she still had to return to the troupe. She was going to snatch that advanced study slot away from Shen Zhiqiu.
But how?
Right, an anonymous complaint letter.
Kang Zhi Xin took some letter paper from her drawer. She embellished a story about Ye Zhiqiu using the Yue family’s influence to pressure Wu Qingyun into giving her the advanced study slot.
Of course, she didn’t spare Wu Qingyun either. She’d long held a grudge against her for always criticizing this or that about her dancing.
But when it came to Shen Zhiqiu, she was a completely different person.
She needed to teach this kind of sycophantic, snobbish person a lesson.
Hopefully, she could get both her and Shen Zhiqiu kicked out of the Art Troupe for good!
Kang Zhi Xin filled several pages. The next morning, on her way to the troupe, she dropped the letter into a mailbox.
