Chapter 282: Chapter 111: Top Star of the 1960s Arts Troupe

"It’s a shame all the evidence from back then is gone."

Huo Tianhao gently stroked her back and chuckled. "Nothing is ever absolute. Anything that’s done is bound to leave a trace. Don’t worry about this; I’ll investigate it for you."

Xia Zhaoyun’s eyes sparkled as she gazed down at him. "Brother Hao, you’re the best," she said, playfully nibbling his chin.

Huo Tianhao hissed and swatted her playfully. "Are you trying to make it so you can’t go to work tomorrow?"

Xia Zhaoyun let out a mischievous chuckle and snuggled down on top of him again, like a lazy kitten.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes. ’This life is so different from my last one.

’For example, Huo Tianhao is still alive and well, and he’s become my man.

’Song Zhenbao still married Tong Yuanbin, only it happened more than two years earlier.

’And in my last life, the Song Family took from me at will and never faced any pushback. We weren’t openly opposed to each other, and the Zhang Family wasn’t dealt with as easily as they were this time...

’Even though so many things have changed, I still feel like some great hand is pushing everything toward a predetermined outcome.’

What Xia Zhaoyun worried about now was whether Song Zhenbao would get in touch with the reform committee members earlier than she did last time, use their power to throw her weight around the factory, and clear obstacles for the Song, Tong, and Huo families.

’If that happens, since I have no real ties to the Song or Tong families, I’ll probably be the first person Song Zhenbao makes an example of to establish her authority. And everyone on good terms with me could get caught in the crossfire...’

At this thought, Xia Zhaoyun’s lips tightened. She had to be the first to get some dirt on Song Zhenbao!

Her expression grew serious. ’I remember in my last life, even though Song Zhenbao married Tong Yuanbin as she wished and got pregnant, she lost the baby. It happened during an argument with me, when someone ’saw’ me push her over.

’After that, Song Zhenbao was never able to get pregnant again.

’I suspect Song Zhenbao suffers from recurrent miscarriages. Maybe she was pregnant back in the countryside and found some way to get rid of it, damaging her body in the process. That would explain why she couldn’t carry the later pregnancy to term, and why she decided to frame me for it!

’I wonder, this time around, since she got together with Tong Yuanbin two years earlier, if she’ll be able to carry the baby to term.’

Xia Zhaoyun didn’t want to stoop to her level, but if she didn’t get some leverage on Song Zhenbao, she’d be forced into a passive position. She’d just have to wait for her to become a lackey for the reform committee, and then her friends, family, and she would just be cannon fodder for her to cut her teeth on!

Her eyes darted, and she didn’t hide her thoughts, speaking directly to him. "Brother Hao, I suspect Song Zhenbao is pregnant. Do you think you have a way to get someone to find proof?"

Getting pregnant before marriage was considered indecent. If word got out, in this era and under the current political climate, it would be a complete catastrophe.

"I figure that with medical care becoming more advanced and people more health-conscious, Song Zhenbao will probably go to a hospital for check-ups."

No matter how much Song Zhenbao tried to hide it, Xia Zhaoyun could sense something was slightly off during each of their brief interactions. After thinking it over carefully, she had a strong suspicion.

’It wasn’t just me who was reborn. My nemesis might have been, too!’

Someone from the future would naturally get regular prenatal check-ups after becoming pregnant, especially someone like Song Zhenbao, who tried so hard to pass herself off as a sophisticated urbanite from a cadre family.

"She and her mother have tried to drag me down time and time again. I can’t just stand by and do nothing, right? At the very least, if I’m holding a fatal piece of leverage against her, she’ll have to think twice before making her next move."

Huo Tianhao grunted in agreement, his eyes turning icy. "Even if you hadn’t said anything, I was going to investigate this thoroughly. Does the Song Family really think you’re still that same pitiful girl they can bully whenever they want?"

"If they dare to stick their claws out, they’d better be prepared to have them broken off. It’ll stop them from making a habit of causing trouble for people!"

He generally ignored the affairs of women and rarely took them to heart.

But the Song mother-daughter duo had truly gotten on his nerves. He himself wouldn’t dream of harming a single hair on his wife’s head; how could he possibly stand by and watch those two scheme against her right under his nose?

Xia Zhaoyun chuckled softly and nuzzled against him. ’As long as I have something on Song Zhenbao, she won’t be able to cause much trouble. She’ll have to consider whether she can survive public scrutiny before she tries to fight anyone!’

’I hope this move will spare the people at the factory who were persecuted by Song Zhenbao in my last life from suffering the same fate.’

Huo Tianhao left for the city early the next morning. After Xia Zhaoyun took the kids to school, she got back to work composing music for the various dance movements.

The girls in Group Three were a bit lazy and lacked diligence when it came to dancing, but they had all been trained on musical instruments from a young age.

Xia Zhaoyun gathered them all to participate in composing the score.

The flute, guzheng, erhu, and pipa all came together, and the ethereal music instantly captivated everyone.

The music was divided into slow and urgent sections to match the different steps of the foot-painting dance. Xia Zhaoyun also wanted the music’s emotional tone to shift depending on which part of the image was being created...

In short, the foot-painting and the music had to pair perfectly, blending sound and sight to create a living tapestry and breathe life into the design on the silk.

After another week of meticulously refining the music, with countless revisions, they finally produced a final version that everyone was extremely happy with. They recorded it onto a cassette and made plenty of backup copies.

Now, they could fully focus on rehearsing the choreography. Once they were proficient, they would practice using chalk dust before finally performing on the silk cloth!

Meanwhile, Xia Zhaoyun found someone to research dyes. The silk cloth was precious, after all. They couldn’t just ruin a large sheet every time they rehearsed.

She needed to find a substitute for the traditional painting pigments—something with the same dyeing and smearing properties but that could be washed out easily. They would save the real pigments for reviewing the final product, the dress rehearsal, and the actual performance.

Huo Tianhao helped her get in touch with staff from a relevant research institute, and within a month, they had successfully synthesized the exact pigment she needed.

By then, the girls of Group Three were making good progress with the dance, and the workshop had produced a dozen sheets of silk cloth for them.

A month isn’t a long time, but it isn’t short, either. Just half a month after their engagement, Song Zhenbao and Tong Yuanbin had a whirlwind wedding.

Huo Tianhao had already used an informant to obtain Song Zhenbao’s medical records from the Southern City General Military Hospital, all the way across town.

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