When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 290: Chapter 113: The Top Star of the 60s Cultural Troupe (Finale)

Xia Zhaoyun tilted her chin up slightly. "This is a new era. What’s the point of getting a wife these days? To cherish her and spoil her, of course. Otherwise, a life of poetry and romance just becomes the mundane drudgery of daily chores."

"Otherwise, they should just prepare to be bachelors their whole lives!"

The young women all nodded. "Exactly! We’re talking about gender equality. Why should we have to work a job and then come home to do all the housework too?"

Another young woman whispered, "Besides, we women can have children. What can they do?"

Everyone shrugged and laughed. "That’s right! We can do anything men can do, but they can’t necessarily do everything we can. And they still want to be treated like lords and have us wait on them? The nerve!"

Xia Zhaoyun turned to Teacher Su. "Teacher Su, please join us for lunch. My partner didn’t know how many of us there would be, so he went ahead and booked three tables."

Teacher Su wasn’t one to be coy, so she nodded and joked, "Well then, it looks like we’re in for a treat, thanks to Little Xia."

There were eighteen women in Group Three, including Xia Zhaoyun. Since a standard table sat ten, this left twelve empty spots. The accompanying support staff, including the driver, numbered about nine.

In those days, regardless of one’s family situation, most people’s diets were lacking in rich, oily foods, so they had big appetites. Even the women of the performance troupe, who had to watch their figures, didn’t need to be too strict about how much they ate. After all, they were young and burned a lot of energy.

Usually, when they went out for a nice meal, they could finish nearly everything they ordered for their party size. Add to that the bottomless stomachs of the male staff members, and the extra food for the remaining three spots would be polished off in no time!

At this realization, the expressions of the women in Group One soured.

Someone couldn’t help but mutter, "Hmph. As if we’ve never been to a state-run restaurant before. What’s there to show off? If she’s going to treat people, she should treat everyone. Why insist on dividing the troupe like this..."

"Exactly. This is blatant factionalism. She’s deliberately isolating our group."

Once one person spoke up, the other women from Group One, already feeling resentful, began to whisper and complain amongst themselves.

"Comrade Xia Zhaoyun is still holding a grudge about not being made the lead dancer for Group One. She’s just trying to get even now."

The women of Group Three weren’t about to take that lying down and were about to retort, but Xia Zhaoyun held them back.

She chuckled softly and glanced at the members of Group One. "It’s true, I can be petty. When I treat someone to a meal, I do it to have a good time. I’ve never seen anyone spend their own money just to get aggravated."

"Treat you all? I’m sorry, but I live by the principle: if you repay resentment with kindness, what do you use to repay kindness?"

"Can you honestly say you ever treated me as a comrade, as a partner fighting alongside you? Even if you’d seen me as a rival, at least that would have meant you were taking me seriously."

"If I recall correctly, you were so jealous of my talent and my looks that you constantly isolated me. Even though I was the lead dancer, we never gelled as a team, which was the main reason Teacher Su considered transferring me in the first place."

"I remember the ’warm’ welcome you all gave me when I first joined the troupe. A long time may have passed, but like I said, I’m petty enough to remember."

Xia Zhaoyun’s voice was pitched just right—loud enough for every woman in Group One to hear, but not so loud that it would reach the ears of staff from other work units.

’People are so forgetful. She’d be more than happy to help them remember, one detail at a time.’

The faces of the Group One women flushed red again. It was true. Xia Zhaoyun had transferred to Group Three and led them to new heights. This didn’t extinguish the flames of their jealousy; it only made them burn hotter.

’How dare someone they had bullied turn around and fight back?’

In that moment, any pretense of civility between Xia Zhaoyun and the women of Group One was utterly destroyed.

"I’m going to the state-run restaurant to book us a table. Anyone who wants to go in on some dishes together, come sign up with me." Jie Xiaoqin’s eyes were downcast as she pulled a pen and paper from her bag and raised her voice to ask.

"Me..."

The women of Group One exchanged a look and quickly raised their hands. After deciding on what dishes to order, they pulled out their money and ration tickets and gave them to Jie Xiaoqin.

Then, in unison, they all huffed disdainfully at Xia Zhaoyun.

Xia Zhaoyun pressed her lips together to hide a smile and helpfully gestured toward the long line of people waiting for the Cultural Palace to open. "My partner probably booked those tables days ago. You might not be able to get a table if you go now. It’s especially hard to find a whole empty table during the lunch rush."

Jie Xiaoqin clutched the money and ration tickets in her hand and gave a faint smile. "Then you needn’t concern yourself with that, Comrade Xia Zhaoyun."

Without wasting another moment, she hurried off toward the nearest state-run restaurant.

It was the peak of the breakfast rush, and the restaurant was bustling with a steady stream of customers. Jie Xiaoqin explained her purpose for coming.

The server replied without even looking up, "We don’t take reservations. Comrade, do you think this restaurant is your own private kitchen? You expect us to have a table waiting for you at a specific time?"